Zhong Qingxuan's heart trembled.
What was going on?
Because Su Yan's dramas were often set in Sakurajima, she knew the cultural context well—high school students weren't allowed to date openly, so romance had to be handled subtly.
And because of that—
She also knew something else:
When girls there went through heartbreak, they sometimes cut their hair as a way of expressing it.
But—
Why would Mitsuha do that?
Was it because Taki went on a date with Okudera-senpai?
That didn't make sense.
Wasn't that opportunity something she herself created?
If she liked him, shouldn't she at least meet him, confess, and only after being rejected… consider it a failed love?
Zhong Qingxuan felt increasingly confused.
Something about this film—
Was off.
But the linear storytelling made it hard to pinpoint exactly what.
Soon—
That sense of unease surfaced.
Mitsuha, dressed in a kimono, her hair now short, appeared at the lively festival.
Above Itomori Town—
The comet appeared.
Brilliant. Radiant. Trailing long streams of light.
It cut across the sky, splitting apart midair—
A fragment breaking off and falling downward.
Something wasn't right.
If Itomori could see the comet—
How could Tokyo not?
The scene cut.
Taki, holding his phone, hesitated again and again, wanting to call Mitsuha.
He wanted to confess his feelings.
But after an entire night of hesitation—
And not seeing the comet—
He decided to wait until the next body swap to write it in her notebook.
However—
From that day onward—
The body-swapping stopped completely.
Zhong Qingxuan's mind was now racing.
She hadn't expected a romance movie to suddenly turn into something this mentally engaging.
The film had already explained why they could swap bodies—something tied to Mitsuha's family lineage.
Her grandmother had said it before:
The women in their family would experience "dreams" during adolescence.
That part made sense.
But—
Why had it suddenly stopped?
The story quickly responded.
After realizing the phenomenon had ended—and that he could no longer reach Mitsuha—
Taki set out immediately.
He brought along his friends and Okudera-senpai (now more of a friend than a crush) and traveled to Itomori Town.
Zhong Qingxuan blinked.
["Wait… that's an option?"]
Of course, there had always been a subtle issue in the original premise:
If two people were swapping bodies regularly—
Wouldn't they notice differences in time?
After all, the first thing anyone does in the morning is check the time.
If it happened once or twice, maybe they'd miss it—
But over months?
Impossible.
So in this version, Su Yan added a detail:
After each swap, it felt like a dream.
They could remember vague events—
But not specific details.
Time, in particular, was completely blurred.
And then—
The answer came.
Why couldn't Taki contact Mitsuha anymore?
Why had the connection disappeared?
Because—
When he arrived at Itomori Town…
Guided by locals—
He reached its remains.
Next to the original crater—
Where he once placed the kuchikamizake—
There was now another crater.
A larger one.
One that had destroyed the entire town.
Itomori—
Had been obliterated three years ago by a meteor strike.
Miyamizu Mitsuha—
Had died three years ago.
The moment this revelation dropped—
Zhong Qingxuan felt goosebumps spread across her skin.
So the body swap…
Wasn't happening in the same timeline?
It was Taki in the present—
And Mitsuha from three years in the past.
The two craters had merged, forming a lake over time.
The town Taki had once grown familiar with—
It was now nothing but ruins.
The female lead—
Had already died.
Zhong Qingxuan's eyes reddened.
["Old sadist… You tricked us again."]
"What romance comedy… this is a full-blown tragedy!"
Now it made sense—
Why hadn't Taki seen the comet during his date?
The comet Mitsuha spoke of—
Had already fallen three years ago.
As the truth set in—
Memories began collapsing.
Messages Mitsuha had left on Taki's phone turned into garbled text.
Even his memories started fading.
But soon—
Taki found a way.
He returned to the cave where Mitsuha had stored the kuchikamizake.
Crossing water, walking through rain—
He recalled Mitsuha's grandmother's words about dreams.
Inside the cave—
He picked up the sake.
Zhong Qingxuan held her breath.
She knew what he was about to do.
But—
["Wait… seriously? That's… manually chewed and fermented… you're really going to drink that?!"]
Some female viewers felt awkward.
The male audience, however, seemed oddly excited.
And when Taki drank it—
The connection was restored.
Fragments of Mitsuha's life—key memories—flooded into his mind.
Zhong Qingxuan didn't question the logic.
In a story about time and body swapping—
Trying to apply strict science would be missing the point.
He woke up again—
Now in Mitsuha's body.
On the day she died.
The day she cut her hair.
He opened his eyes—
Tears streaming down his face—
And instinctively reached for his chest.
Zhong Qingxuan's emotional state instantly broke.
She burst out laughing.
["Old sadist, you did that on purpose!"]
Quickly regaining focus—
He began warning people about the meteor.
He worked with Sayaka and Tesshi to come up with a plan:
Cut the town's power supply—
So people wouldn't gather in one place and be wiped out.
They tried to convince Mitsuha's father—the town mayor—to evacuate residents.
But of course—
He wouldn't cancel a major event over something that sounded absurd.
["Will this even work? Can history really be changed?"] Zhong Qingxuan frowned.
["Is this going to be like 'The Longest Promise'?"]
But then—
A realization struck her.
No—
It could work.
Because something had already changed.
Before, Mitsuha met her friends at night.
This time—
Taki, controlling her body, met them during the day.
History had already shifted.
At the very least—
Even if they couldn't save everyone—
If Taki simply left town in Mitsuha's body—
She could survive.
But—
He wanted to save more than just her.
He wanted to save all 500 people who died that night.
Including Yukari Yukino—
The teacher from 'The Garden of Words'.
Meanwhile—
Mitsuha awakened in Taki's body—
In the present.
She saw the destroyed Itomori.
From this—
It became clear:
Taki had gone back to the morning of the disaster.
But Mitsuha—
Had come forward from the moment of her death.
As Taki rode a bicycle through Itomori, searching for a way to save everyone—
His memories resurfaced.
The story shifted into a flashback.
After helping Taki set up his date—
Mitsuha had woken up the next morning in her own body.
And immediately regretted it.
Because—
She had fallen in love with him.
She didn't want him to end up with Okudera.
So at noon—
She boarded a train to Tokyo.
Using memories from their swaps—
She tried to find him.
And on a crowded train—
She saw him.
But
Not the high school Taki.
A middle school version of him.
At that point
He hadn't experienced any of the body swaps.
Naturally
He didn't recognize her.
He didn't understand why this strange girl looked at him that way—
Or why she asked why he didn't remember her.
But Zhong Qingxuan understood.
Mitsuha recognized him instantly.
She believed
He would recognize her, too.
That only then could she stop him from going on that date.
But—
Time had betrayed her.
"Taki… don't you remember me?"
"Who… are you?"
The theater fell silent.
Gu Qingyuan's performance made Zhong Qingxuan's chest ache.
Soft music played.
The sound of trains.
A crowded carriage.
The girl's disappointed expression.
The boy's confused gaze.
The train stopped.
Doors opened.
She was pushed out by the crowd.
"Wait… what's your name?"
The boy called out at the last moment.
"Mitsuha… Miyamizu Mitsuha."
Before being carried away
She removed the ribbon from her hair
And handed it to him.
Zhong Qingxuan's eyes reddened.
Now she understood.
Their first meeting
Had been three years ago.
That ribbon
Was the one Taki always wore.
But time had passed.
Three years later
He no longer remembered that girl.
Even after swapping bodies
He still hadn't realized.
Only now, after drinking the sake and inheriting her memories
Did everything finally connect?
And that
That was why Mitsuha cut her hair.
Because in her "yesterday"
She had gone to Tokyo—
And been rejected.
He hadn't recognized her.
Which meant
She believed she didn't matter to him.
That her feelings were one-sided.
Even though
He simply hadn't met her yet.
That cruel mismatch of information
Led her to believe she had lost love.
She cut her hair
And the next day
Died in the disaster.
Zhong Qingxuan slowly exhaled.
Su Yan's films…
Really, it was something else.
In a romance movie
Could anything be more mind-bending than this?