Random Curiosity

With Tsukushi in her last year at school and engaged to Tsukasa, the Doumyouji Group announces to the world that the heir’s fiancee is Makino Tsukushi, along with a picture of her stuffing her face with ramen. Embarrassed by the picture he used (and how it made front pages on international papers/magazines), Tsukushi later tells Tsukasa how mad she is for not consulting her about this. She finds out that the picture was chosen with the help of Rui, Soujirou, and Akira though as they were going for the biggest impact to ensure that everyone remembers who she is. However, things get complication for the Makino family as their small apartment is bombarded with media and even catch a television program about Tsukushi’s life (including a clip of her as a really young kid hopping up and down before punching someone). Wondering where the media got the information from, Tsukushi soon finds out that it was Yuki and Okami-san after they air an interview of them with very their faces poorly hidden (i.e. black line across their eyes that doesn’t always cover them) and their voices poorly masked.

Some time later, Tsukushi’s parents formally meet Tsukasa’s mother, Kaede, as part of the wedding engagement. At this meeting, Kaede presents Tsukushi with a tiara known as “The Smile of Venus” (ビーナスの微笑み), which supposedly grants eternal love to the bearer and her partner. On the tiara are four large jewels, which have various significant meanings, including the “Tears of Hong Kong”. Honored and speechless to be presented with such a precious heirloom, Tsukushi accepts it. Later on in an enormous hotel room rented by the Doumyoujis, Tsukushi and her family are still mesmerized by the tiara, when Tsukasa shows up inviting everyone to dinner. Realizing that they don’t spend much time together lately, Tsukushi’s father suggests that the two of them eat alone, which makes Tsukasa extremely happy. Alone in the room together, the two of them eventually see eye to eye and are about to kiss when a man dressed in all black with a ski mask on crashes right through the window from a helicopter outside, grabs the case with the tiara, and runs off.

Instinctively, Tsukasa goes after the thief and catches up to him in the hotel kitchen. There, Tsukasa is able to beat up the thief a fair bit and take off his mask, but the man still manages to get away. On the rooftop, Tsukushi finally meets up with Tsukasa again and the two of the witness the man jumping off the building with the tiara, only to be airlifted away by a helicopter. Frustrated, the two return to their room where they notice that the huge window that was just broken is fixed, and that everything in the room is orderly as if nothing happened. Tsukushi’s family then returns from dinner, but have no idea what the two of them are talking about, so Tsukasa decides to check with the hotel staff, who claim they don’t know of this disturbance that he’s referring to either, even though Tsukasa ran into a hotel personnel during the chase no more than thirty minutes ago. Some time later, Nishida presents Tsukasa with some information that the thief may be in Las Vegas, so Tsukasa tells Tsukushi that they’re going on a trip to America to get the tiara back.

At the Hanazawa house, Rui is on a phone call with Toudou Shizuka, who’s in France and just about to walk down the isle for her marriage. After congratulating her and hoping for her happiness, Rui says that he also needs to “graduate” from several things, including her. Once they hang up, Rui is somewhat depressed about the whole thing, but Tsukasa shows up shortly and tells him that he’s leaving everything up to him if by some unlikely chance, something were happen to him. While Rui is confused by what he means, Tsukasa leaves it at that since he doesn’t want to drag him into anything. When asked why he didn’t go to Soujirou or Akira instead, Tsukasa explains that they’re busy with huge tea ceremony duties and avoiding assassination attempts in Hong Kong respectively, so it defaulted to him because he seems to have the most free time on his hands. (The short assassination attempt scene is the only time in the movie when guns were involved, as seen in the trailer.)

Two weeks since then, Tsukasa and Tsukushi are driving through the Nevada desert towards Las Vegas. Along the way, they’re almost run over by a semi-truck driving on the wrong lane, but manage to swerve out of the way at the last minute. Emerging from the truck is a huge Caucasian man, who Tsukasa wants to beat the crap out of anyway. (He even says, “what the f**k are you doing?” in English!) The huge guy recognizes Tsukasa as heir to the Doumyouji Group though, so they jarringly get along on the spot. After receiving directions to a nearby trucker’s restaurant, Tsukasa brings Tsukushi a burger and some fries which she absolutely loves, so he gives her his one as well. While stuffing her face, Tsukushi asks Tsukasa what he’d do if she got fat or became unattractive, but he says that he likes her because she’s Makino and what’s important is what’s inside, so it’s all meaningless talk. Touched by his words, Tsukushi finishes eating and the two of them make their way to Las Vegas.

At the city that never sleeps, the two of them stay at a cheap $39.95/night motel, since Nishida had warned them not to stand out too much if they want to capture the culprit. While Tsukasa is shocked at how people can live in such a tiny room, Tsukushi’s relieved and finds the space more than enough. After checking in, the two of them venture off to a casino as part of the information they have, where they run into Shigeru, who’s overjoyed to see Tsukushi again. Tsukasa on the other hand is still calling her “monkey” (sara), but the three of them get along fine over dinner. Shigeru explains that she’s sort of seeing someone new now—Kaburagi Kazu (played by Fujiki Naohito), the son of some large scale company that owns the hotel that they stayed at. Hearing this pisses Tsukasa off though, as he thinks he’s been set up in some scheme that included the hotel staff. After going to question Kaburagi, Tsukasa eventually finds out that they were given five million USD to overlook anything that happened at their hotel on that particular day. As for who the actual culprit is, Kaburagi claims he doesn’t know.

A lead does come in fairly soon though, as Akira calls Tsukasa from Hong Kong and tells him that he heard the tiara will go up for auction here on the black market; however, it will probably go for somewhere around $300 million USD. Not worrying about the money, Tsukasa is determined to get the tiara back to ensure his happiness with Tsukushi, so he’s set on heading to Hong Kong. Outside the casino, Tsukasa asks Tsukushi if she’s scared at all, but she says she isn’t because he’s around. Back at their motel, Tsukasa is focusing his anger on Kaburagi, but then turns his attention to Tsukushi, thinking they should be doing “things” more like a married couple. After she refuses to give him anything, Kaburagi arrives at the door with a huge suitcase, saying that he heard about the tiara going up for auction and is giving them the five million USD that he received to help get it back. As Kaburagi leaves though, Tsukushi follows him out the door to thank him. Realizing that she’s getting married, Kaburagi questions if she’s really ready and realizes what she’s getting into, especially at the age of 22, which puts some doubt in Tsukushi’s mind. Back inside the motel room, Tsukasa asks what she was talking about with Kaburagi, but she chooses not to answer, which causes them to fight about it all night.

The next day, the two of them head back to a casino, where Tsukasa exchanges the five million in cash at the high limit section. At the roulette table, Tsukasa explains to Tsukushi how to bet (36 to 1 odds, 2 to 1 odds, etc.), so she thinks about putting a single $50,000 chip on red to start. Wondering what the heck she’s doing, Tsukasa pulls her bet back and stacks everything on double zero (00). With the roulette table already going, Tsukushi wants to pull that ridiculous bet back, but is told that they can’t change their bets anymore. Tsukasa on the other hand says that if they’re really destined to be together, a miracle of this level should be nothing (…I lol’d here). Before the ball stops though, the two of them notice the thief in the crowd provoking them with a smile, so Tsukasa chases after him, but he happens to have a getaway car waiting for him outside. Meanwhile, Tsukushi’s still waiting at the roulette table for the outcome, which landed on double zero, but Tsukasa stomping over the table caused it to jump to 1 at the very last second. Refusing to hand over the money because of that, Tsukushi desperately tries to grab the five million in chips back, but security guards come by to take care of her. After accidentally knocking two of them out while struggling, she eventually gets thrown out of the casino. There, she looks up from the ground and sees all of F4 standing in front of her.

As it turns out, Tsukasa had called them for help saying that Makino’s in trouble, so Rui, Soujirou, and Akira had flown over. Together in a private area, the rest of F4 tells Makino that protecting her is the F4 motto, so coming here was only natural. Hearing this brings Tsukushi to tears, while she thanks everyone. Tsukasa on the other hand is angry though and questions if she feels that he’s not reliable enough on his own, to which she now says he isn’t. Akira then brings up the black market auction in Hong Kong again and offers to guide them around, so everyone decides to head there and get the tiara back first and foremost. Taking a customized F4 Boeing 747 to Hong Kong, Rui, Soujirou, and Akira tell Tsukasa that the plane is a present from them. Going over the floor plans of the auction house, they hope to catch the real culprit there at the same time, but realize that it might be difficult due to the bidders being in private rooms.

In Hong Kong, F4 and Makino attend the auction and also catch sight of Kaburagi there as well. While Tsukasa and Tsukushi are confused as to why he’s there, they all head over to their private room for the next auction. Meanwhile, the thief that stole the tiara is there talking to a mysterious man with a grey beard about whether or not this will go well. The auction for the tiara starts shortly after and the starting bid is over $100 million USD. Refusing to lose, Tsukasa starts bidding frantically on his computer screen, but the mysterious man is outbidding him constantly. After the current bid exceeds $500 million USD, the mysterious man tells his accomplice to stop bidding, allowing Tsukasa to win the tiara for around $621 million USD. Despite the ridiculously amount of money he dumped out, Tsukasa feels that he can now get married at ease and thanks the rest of F4 for helping him out. After the auction, Tsukushi is alone and happens to catch sight of Rui talking to the thief and shaking his hand. Puzzled by what this means, she later tells Tsukasa about it, but he thinks she’s mistaken because he feels that Rui wouldn’t trick him like this. Hearing this, Tsukushi decides to ask Rui herself, who adverts his eyes to the question and says he doesn’t know what she’s talking about. Perplexed more with the weight of $621 million on her shoulders, Tsukushi later runs into Kaburagi again on the roof, who says being able to throw out that much money definitely shows the wealth of the Doumyouji Group. He then gives her his card and tells her to call him if she ever needs some advice. Thinking that he’s so adult-like, Tsukushi gladly accepts it.

On a large Chinese boat, Tsukushi wants to ask Rui again about what happened at the auction house, but Tsukasa drags her away from him and the rest of F4. Being a commoner, Tsukushi feels that letting that much money just taken away is strange, but Tsukasa tells her that he doesn’t want to doubt his friends as he owes them a lot, so he doesn’t care if he was just cheated out of a large sum of money. What’s important to him is that he has the tiara back and that they can have their eternal happiness together, which causes them to argue again. Some time later, Soujirou and the others wonder why Tsukasa’s fighting with Makino when they just got the tiara back, which leads to Rui asking what the cause is. He then asks Tsukasa if he’s thinking about Makino’s feelings properly, but he claims that this is just an argument over the importance of male friendship. Soujirou however upsets Tsukasa with a comment of his and almost gets into a fight, but Tsukasa storms off “peacefully” thanks to Akira. Alone with Rui later, Tsukasa asks him if it’s okay that he just trusts him, which confuses Rui. In response though, Rui says that he’s still thinking about what Tsukasa meant by letting him take care of everything should anything happen to him.

After the drugging effect wears off, Tsukushi wakes up to find herself on the beach of an uninhabited island with a suitcase of luggage and Tsukasa still passed out next to her. After Tsukasa wakes up, the two are puzzled as to what happened, but quickly seek shelter by a cliff side, where they manage to start a fire. They then start rummaging through their luggage to see what they can make use of, and then start collecting whatever food they can. This includes Tsukasa trying to catch fish with his bare hands and Tsukushi collecting fruit from trees. They also create a large “HELP” sign on the beach, hoping that someone will come along and find them (I guess the Japanese aren’t quite familiar with “SOS”). After roughing it out for several days, Tsukushi tells Tsukusa how she kind of wishes that the tiara never came along, as nothing good has come from it. However, the two recall the stories behind the four jewels on the tiara, and realize that the wild goose chase they’ve been on resembles those joys and hardships.

Several days later, Tsukushi is climbing up a tree trying to collect more food, but ends up slipping and falling into a nearby stream. There, she hears the growling of a bear nearby and takes off running in fear, during which, she happens to drop her Saturn-shaped necklace. After getting a fair distance away, the growling and howls seem to be coming from all directions, so out of frustration, she screams out how unbelievable this is, and how she just wanted to have a normal life with normal happiness. All this emotional wavering then reminds her of being the “tough weed” Tsukushi, so she takes on hops on her feet and brings her hands up, preparing for whatever might come. Seeing a large dark shape moving towards her, she instinctively punches it, causing what was apparently a bear to whimper off. (Now THAT was unbelievable, but pretty nostalgic.) Amazed that her punch connected, Tsukishi is then reminded about how she punched Tsukasa for the first time, which puts a smile on her face. However, she then reaches for her necklace and realizes that it’s gone, so she backtracks her earlier path and searches desperately for it. Nightfall then comes around and she’s still unable to find it, so she starts falls to her feet and starts crying.

Meanwhile, Tsukasa is wondering why Makino still hasn’t returned, so he makes a torch and sets out looking for her. After frantically calling out her name and scouring the island, he manages to find her passed out on the beach. Tsukasa then quickly picks her up and carries her on his back, during which Tsukushi thanks him, but explains that she lost the most important to them–the Saturn necklace. Hearing this, Tsukasa pauses for a moment, then says that his most important thing is her, and to not worry about such trivial things. As long as they’re together, everything will be fine.

The next morning, Tsukasa finds a birds nest and snatches an egg from it, thinking that it will help cheer Makino up. At the same time, he notices something else in the nest and brings it back as well. After cooking the egg for Tsukushi, Tsukasa returns the Saturn necklace to her, which had apparently been picked up by the bird. This brings a big sigh of relief to Tsukushi, who despite being in a rough survival life for the past few weeks/months, doesn’t seem to care anymore. The two of them start enjoying their life together on a daily basis and are able to smile and laugh about doing all the little things together.

Some time later, Tsukasa is taking a swim in the water and Tsukushi is happily looking on from the beach, when she asks him how long he thinks they’ve been on the island. Tsukushi guesses at least a month, while Tsukasa figures longer than that, but he says he doesn’t care because he gets to spend all this time with her and without any interference. He also reminds Tsukushi that her school graduation has probably passed by now, and adds how he was going to marry her right after she graduated. Makino then says she totally forgot about it, but since she didn’t take the exams, there’s no point worrying about it now. Thinking for a bit, Tsukushi then brings up the same question again, and asks Tsukasa what his dream in life is. Pausing for a second, Tsukasa then points to Tsukushi, saying that his dream has already come true. Rendered absolutely speechless, Tsukushi stands quietly on the beach, while Tsukasa hugs her closely. While almost moved to tears in their silent, blissful moment, a helicopter soon arrives and the thief comes out, saying that he’s come to get him and that it’s time to move to the final stage.

Taken to a large, traditional, Japanese estate, the two of them are introduced to the grey bearded man that Tsukushi caught glimpse of at the auction in Hong Kong. Presented with the tiara now, Tsukasa grabs it from Tsukushi’s hands and throws it into a nearby pond, saying that he doesn’t want or need it anymore. The mysterious man then snickers and asks if Tsukasa finally noticed that the tiara was an immitation and that there was no such thing as The Smile of Venus to begin with. He explains that this was a test for them to see how deep their love for one another is, as young people don’t quite have a grasp of what it means to be in a marriage with both the joys and the hardships. Realizing that they’ve been tricked all this time, Tsukasa angerily questions as to why and attempts to hit the man, but is easily brushed aside. Tsukasa questions what would have happened if him and Makino went their separate ways, to which the man simply replies that it would’ve meant they weren’t destined to be together. He also adds that he was entrusted with this task by someone. As it turns out, it was not Tsukasa’s mother this time though, but Tsukushi’s parents who had asked Kaede to help verify if this marriage will really make Tsukushi happy. The mysterious man on the other hand, is actually a good, long time friend of Kaede’s.

Tsukushi’s parents then arrive in tears and hug her, while asking her if she’s okay and apologizing for putting her through all this. The two of them then kneel on their hands and knees and apologize to Tsukasa even more, but he picks them up saying that they should never kneel to him. With a smile on his face, he tells the tearful Makinos what great parents they are for caring this much about their daughter’s happiness, and thanks them for giving birth to her and for raising her. Going down on his hands and knees now, Tsukasa thanks them both from the bottom of his heart. Leaving the room, they run into the thief (Sonny), who apologizes for having deceived them as well. Hearing this, Tsukasa says he just wants to hit him in return. When Tsukasa draws back his fist back, Sonny closes his eyes and stands his ground, but is surprised to only receive a light tap on the forehead. Walking past him with a huge smile, Tsukasa thanks him as well.

Seeing all this, the mysterious man then meets up with Kaede later and explains that Tsukasa’s grown into a great man, so she thanks him in return for everything. Relaxing together now, Tsukasa and Tsukushi talk about how this ordeal has helped them understand their feelings for each other better, and at the same time, made their love even stronger. They talk about how perhaps they have The Smile of Venus with them now, after which Tsukasa’s mother arrives with a smile on her face. Tsukushi then calls “mother” (Okaa-sama) for the very first time, and she hugs them both in return.

As they leave the premises, Soujirou and Akira are waiting outside and apologize for tricking them all this time. As for the five million USD that they lost at the roulette table, Akira offers to pay Tsukasa back. As for Rui, he didn’t show up because he was (supposedly) a bit uneasy about doing so, but Soujirou and Akira tell Tsukasa and Tsukushi that they have the ultimate present for the both of them. Taken off in a limousine, the engaged couple passes out from exhaustion, but when they wake up, they find themselves in an extremely decorated Ebisu Garden Place, and are greeted by a large group of people dressed in tuxedos and dresses. As for the gift, it happens to be the ultimate wedding reception, with Shizuka, Shigeru, and Sakurako attending as well.