This Is I Review
Director: Yusaku Matsumoto
Date Created: 2026-02-11 02:25
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This Is I Review: Netflix Japan’s original biographical drama film ディスイズアイ is written by Masahiro Yamaura and directed by Yusaku Matsumoto. The film features Haruki Mochizuki in the lead role as Kenji Onishi, later renamed Ai, and Takumi Saito as Dr. Koji Wada. The supporting actors include Tae Kimura, Seiji Chihara, Ataru Nakamura, Megumi, Kaito Yoshimura, Shido Nakamura, and others. Based on the life of entertainer Ai Haruna, the film delves into themes of identity, belonging, and the long and often painful journey towards self-acceptance.
This Is I Review
In Netflix’s This Is I, we see the story of Kenji, a young boy who feels as if he doesn’t belong from a young age and struggles to find his place in a world that doesn’t understand him. Feeling as if he is a girl on the inside, Kenji has a dream of becoming an idol but is constantly thwarted by bullying, rejection, and loneliness. As Kenji grows older, his feelings only intensify, leading him to question his body, his needs, and his place in the world around him.
His world begins to change when he meets Dr. Koji Wada, a doctor who is struggling with his own emotional pain and who unexpectedly becomes a source of understanding and solace.
The Japanese film This Is I, is definitely one that feels like it’s been lived and observed, and one that takes its time with its subject. Rather than glossing over the important moments in Kenji/Ai’s life, it allows his life to develop in stages, each of which is influenced by confusion, longing, and quiet strength. The film does not make the journey of self-discovery easy or linear. Instead, it shows how identity is forged in the face of setbacks, tough choices, and moments of profound vulnerability.
You find yourself invested in Ai’s emotional journey as the film progresses through various stages of life: being bullied for being different, wanting to be less masculine, falling in love, wanting to live as a woman, and finally moving away from familiar relationships to start fresh in Tokyo. These are moments that feel intimate and personal, and the film approaches them with a sense of truth rather than drama. It knows that the process of self-acceptance is not a moment, but a series of difficult realisations.
This Is I gives its characters true weight. The depth of Kenji/Ai by Haruki Mochizuki’s performance comes from subtlety, intensity, and empathy. He has a reserved approach to acting that gives you an impression of suffering that resonates as coming from within rather than through an external dramatic situation or character.
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Takumi Saito also gives a wonderful performance as Dr. Wada, who serves not just as a surgeon but also as Ai’s trusted companion with knowledge and understanding, thus proving that this relationship does not necessarily have to involve any romantic overtone for the relationship to hold significance. There is one surgical procedure that is particularly memorable, where he comforts Ai with a phrase that is simple but profoundly affecting; it’s one of the most memorable moments in the film.
Tae Kimura’s Ai’s mother is also very wonderful in subtle, painful ways. Her visit to Ai’s room in Tokyo is loaded with unspoken emotions and lost possibilities. Ai’s mother apologises to Ai in a way that reflects the weight of years of unsaid words between them and reinforces the complex nature of how parents love their children; it is sometimes tentative, it can be flawed, but the foundation is extremely powerful.
The film maintains an overall soft sadness while exploring the effects of rejection, yearning and learning who you are by leaving parts of who you are behind. The musical score provides an emotional backdrop of nostalgia, which adds depth to Ai’s emotional journey while not imposing itself on Ai. There are no romantic notions presented in This Is I; there are no simple answers provided for the issues expressed. All of the emotions exposed in the movie are as they are.
Netflix This Is I Review: Summing Up
The Japanese movie This Is I is an intense, heartfelt film that will stay with you long after the last end credits roll. It explores the hurt caused when no one knows or sees you; the courage it takes to exist authentically; and the power of knowing you are understood by another person. Although this film has tough subject matter and can be hard to watch, it never attempts to manipulate the audience into feeling bad for the characters.
It offers a deep exploration of how our identities and how we think we are strong are important parts of who we are as human beings. So if you are looking for an emotional cinema experience that puts value on being authentic rather than entertaining, then you will want to feel this one.
