Go, Go Second Time Virgin (1969) Plot Summary Explained

Poppo wants to die because she has experienced repeated trauma throughout her life. She reveals in a flashback that she was raped before, and her parents both committed suicide when she was a child, her mother on one occasion and her father on another. This accumulated trauma has left her believing that oblivion is the only escape from her suffering.

Foreshadowing: Earlier, the film establishes Poppo's vulnerability through the brutal rooftop assault, setting up her desperate plea for death.

• poppo
• death wish
• suicide
• trauma
• rape
• parents

Tsukio kills the gang members in response to them assaulting Poppo again. His violence is triggered by witnessing the repeated rape and his own suppressed trauma. In a color flashback, it is revealed that he was previously sexually abused by a neighboring foursome, whom he already killed in retaliation. The gang's renewed attack on Poppo reignites his capacity for lethal violence.

Foreshadowing: Tsukio's earlier confession about stabbing his abusers foreshadows his willingness to kill again when confronted with sexual violence.

• tsukio
• gang
• killing
• revenge
• violence
• abuse

Tsukio refuses to kill Poppo because, unlike the gang who only see her as a victim to exploit, he has formed a genuine connection with her. Their shared trauma creates a bond, and despite his capacity for violence, he cannot bring himself to kill the one person who understands him. His refusal represents a twisted form of protection, he will kill for her but not end her life.

Foreshadowing: Their conversations throughout the day and night establish their emotional connection, making his refusal consistent with the relationship they've built.

• tsukio
• poppo
• kill
• refusal
• protection
• bond

Poppo follows Tsukio during the killings because she is conflicted about her desire for death. While she wants Tsukio to kill her specifically, she watches him kill the others who abused her. Her protest that he will not grant her request even as he commits murder highlights the paradox of her situation, she witnesses extreme violence yet remains unsatisfied because it is not directed at her.

Foreshadowing: Her earlier pleas for death establish her desperate state, making her presence during the killings consistent with her psychological state.

• poppo
• tsukio
• killings
• protest
• following

They jump from the roof because their bond is built entirely on shared trauma and despair, with no hope for a future together. After Tsukio commits mass murder and Poppo's plea for death goes unanswered, they see no alternative but to escape together through death. The leap represents their final act of agency, a choice they make together rather than being victims of others' violence.

Foreshadowing: Their repeated discussions about fate, oblivion, and escape throughout the film foreshadow this final decision.

• suicide
• roof
• ending
• death
• jump
• final act

Poppo reveals that her parents both committed suicide when she was a child, though on separate occasions. Her mother took her own life first, and later her father did the same. This loss of both parents to suicide contributes to her worldview that death is the only escape from suffering, and it informs her desperate desire to end her own life.

Foreshadowing: Poppo's early trauma from losing her parents establishes the foundation for her desire for oblivion.

• poppo
• parents
• suicide
• childhood
• death

Tsukio's color flashback reveals that he was repeatedly sexually abused by a neighboring group of four people. Rather than enduring the abuse silently, he fought back and stabbed all four of them to death. This explains both his presence watching the gang assault Poppo and his willingness to kill again, the violence against the gang is a repetition of his own past response to sexual abuse.

Foreshadowing: His initial passive observation from the shadows hints at someone who has experienced violence before and knows how it escalates.

• tsukio
• flashback
• abuse
• stabbing
• past
• color

Poppo and Tsukio form a bond because they are both teenage outsiders who have experienced extreme trauma and violence. On the rooftop, they find someone who understands their suffering without judgment. Their relationship is less romantic than it is a mutual recognition of shared pain, they cling to each other because no one else can comprehend what they have endured.

Foreshadowing: Their initial meeting is framed as an encounter between two damaged individuals seeking connection in isolation.

• poppo
• tsukio
• relationship
• bond
• trauma
• connection

The film's ending is bleak because neither character finds redemption or escape through violence. Despite Tsukio killing their abusers and fulfilling a revenge fantasy, Poppo still dies by suicide rather than being saved. Their leap from the roof suggests that trauma, once inflicted, cannot be overcome through external actions, only oblivion provides the peace they seek.

Foreshadowing: The film's title and the repeated discussions about death and fate establish the inevitability of this tragic conclusion.

• ending
• bleak
• tragedy
• suicide
• redemption
• nihilism