Hula Girl to Inu no Choco (2015)

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Morita Sae (Takimoto Miori) lives in the town of Futaba in Fukushima Prefecture. One day, when she visits Spa Resort Hawaiians with her family and their pet dog, Choco, she sees girls doing the hula dance and gets completely engrossed. Time passes. Sae joins Spa Resort Hawaiians. She fulfils her dream to become a hula girl and enjoys her days to the fullest. But on 11 March 2011 at 2.46 p.m. when she is taking a break back stage after the end of a show, the Great East Japan Earthquake hits. Her peaceful, regular life undergoes a sudden change. Transportation and telecommunications are disrupted due to the earthquake. At the hotel, the manager Haseda Takeshi (Ihara Tsuyoshi) issues instructions to staff to take care of guest needs as much as possible. Sae and fellow dancers, Takezawa Kasumi (Haru) and Shimano Hikari (Sasamoto Rena), wait for their families to contact them. She focuses on her family and Choco. At the Moritas at that moment, her father Zenko (Taguchi Hiromasa), mother Ayano (Nakahara Kannan) and elder sister Ami (Sato Megumi) are all safe, but a temporary evacuation warning has been issued because of a second earthquake alert. Sae finally gets hold of her family. The next morning, she rushes over to the evacuation centre where they are waiting. However, Choco is not there. Sae dissolves into tears at the memories of Choco. She had always had her family and Choco by her side. It was Choco that cheered her up each time she came back home after she joined Spa Resort Hawaiians and got yelled at by the instructor, Yoshimoto Minako (Kikuchi Momoko), for not being able to dance to her satisfaction, and whenever she had difficult moments. Forced into harsh circumstances because of the earthquake, Sae and the hula girl members grow depressed. But they also believe in resuming their dance and begin to practice with Minako’s encouragement. Meanwhile, taking Hikari’s suggestion, they pay visits to evacuation centres as well as start the Hula Girls National Kizuna Caravan to hold free performances nationwide to cheer up and bring smiles throughout Japan with the hula dance. The hula girls including Sae transform their sorrow and pain into smiles for the sake of Fukushima’s rehabilitation and Spa Resort Hawaiians’ reopening. Like the hula girls 46 years ago, they head to various parts of the country. However, adversity beyond their imagination awaits them.