My Tomorrow, Your Yesterday (2016) Characters, Setting & Themes Explained

The film is set in Kyoto, Japan, primarily in modern urban settings including a university campus and city trains. The story blends contemporary metropolitan life with Kyoto's historic backdrop, using familiar everyday spaces to ground the extraordinary time-reversal concept in reality.

• kyoto
• japan
• setting
• location
• university
• city

The movie is set in present-day contemporary Japan, with scenes across Kyoto's urban landscape, college campuses, and transit systems. While the central premise involves time moving backward for one character, the external world remains recognizably modern and grounded in current reality.

• present day
• contemporary
• time period
• japan
• modern

The film explores a world where time runs backward for Emi, a narrative device that reshapes memory and how the two lovers relate to each other. Moments stack and fall away in reverse order, forcing Takatoshi to constantly re-evaluate what is real and what is memory. This theme examines how love can persist despite disjointed memories and shifting timelines.

Foreshadowing: Earlier scenes of Emi appearing confused about dates hint at her reversed temporal experience.

• time reversal
• memory
• timeline
• backward time
• temporal

The romance develops under a paradox: Takatoshi and Emi can meet fully only in a limited window as their time moves in opposite directions. The film treats affection as a force that survives and evolves even when chronology interferes, testing patience, commitment, and the true meaning of togetherness despite temporal impossibility.

• love
• romance
• time
• relationship
• connection

The narrative questions whether fate dictates encounters or if choices can redefine outcomes. By juxtaposing predetermined patterns with conscious decisions, the film frames love as a navigable path through time's labyrinth, suggesting that even within temporal constraints, personal agency matters.

• destiny
• choice
• fate
• free will
• decision

Takatoshi is a 20-year-old visual arts student in Kyoto who falls in love with Emi. He is portrayed as perceptive, earnest, and determined to follow his heart despite the confusing circumstances of their relationship. His character represents the perspective of someone experiencing a normal timeline while navigating the complexities of loving someone from a reversed-time world.

• takatoshi
• main character
• student
• artist
• protagonist

Emi Fukuju is a woman who lives in a world where time runs backward for her. She loves Takatoshi across a confusing chronology and relies on a journal to remember their moments together, as her memories form in reverse order. Her character embodies the central conflict of the time-reversal premise.

Foreshadowing: The presence of a younger Emi earlier in the narrative hints at her unique temporal existence.

• emi
• fukuju
• time reversal
• protagonist
• journal

Shoichi is Takatoshi's friend and confidant who encourages him to pursue Emi. He stands as the practical, grounded voice as the mystery of time unfolds around Takatoshi, offering support and perspective throughout the story.

• shoichi
• friend
• supporting character
• confidant

The film has a fundamentally bittersweet tone. The central romance is built on the inherent tragedy of Emi's backward-moving timeline, creating moments of pure joy that are inevitably overshadowed by impending separation. The gentle presentation prevents it from feeling overwhelmingly bleak while maintaining a poignant emotional weight.

• tone
• emotional
• bittersweet
• romance
• feeling

Kyoto serves as an ideal backdrop by blending modern urban life with its historic heritage. The city provides intimate, character-driven settings within a bustling metropolitan environment, making the extraordinary time-reversal concept feel personal and immediate. The contrast between ancient and contemporary mirrors the film's theme of time moving in opposite directions.

• kyoto
• setting
• japan
• city
• background

The ending is quintessentially bittersweet, showing the cyclical nature of the characters' connection across time. Takatoshi meets Emi at different ages, completing a poignant loop that emphasizes love's endurance despite temporal impossibility. The conclusion reinforces that love can survive and recur even when separated by impossible timelines.

Foreshadowing: The appearance of young Emi earlier in the film foreshadows the cyclical nature revealed in the ending.

• ending
• conclusion
• cycle
• loop
• recurrence
• love