Purple Sunset

In the late days of World War II, Yang is captured and lined up for execution. A Soviet T-34 tank crashes through the wall behind the line, killing a Japanese soldier and sparing him. He becomes the sole survivor under the care of Nadja and begins a difficult escape toward safety.

Nadja and Shakov lead the group as they trek toward headquarters. A truck driver named Shakov takes a wrong turn and drops them into a tense forest route filled with danger. The moment sets a grim tone for the journey.

A teenage Japanese schoolgirl Akiyoko and her elder sister trigger a grenade attack to block the group. The sister sacrifices herself with a cyanide capsule, and Shakov intervenes to spare Akiyoko. Nadja decides to force the girl to guide them, recognizing her knowledge is essential to survival.

The group discovers a deadly minefield, and Shakov is killed by a hidden device. Nadja chooses mercy and spares Akiyoko, recognizing that her navigation is essential. Yang and Nadja commit to trusting the captive as they press on.

Yang is given a dagger and urged to kill Akiyoko. A memory of his mother's death during the invasion floods back, overwhelming him. He drops the blade in tears, unable to strike.

The trio continues the march, oscillating between distrust and mutual need. They decide to keep Akiyoko alive, recognizing that her navigation is essential to survival. The moral tension remains, but survival takes precedence.

On the third day they reach open grasslands and hear a dogfight overhead. A plane crashes nearby, igniting a fast moving fire that threatens them. Akiyoko uses her quick thinking to help them endure the inferno, and Yang learns that she can speak Chinese, linking her backstory to Manchuria.

As they move, Akiyoko urges heading south rather than north to improve their chances. A heavy rainstorm tests their bond, and Yang begins to master Nadja's PPSh-41, a turning point in his self reliance and their reliance on one another.

They realize Akiyoko has steered them in circles to force surrender in exchange for food and shelter at an abandoned camp. The radio crackles with news of Emperor Hirohito's surrender, underscoring the collapsing war around them.

Akiyoko grabs Nadja's submachine gun and aims at Yang and Nadja, but Yang reveals that he had removed the ammunition earlier. He steps forward with quiet resolve, shifting the balance and cementing their uneasy alliance.

Yang urges Akiyoko to return to Japan and rebuild life after the war. She hopes to find Onishi, her Kamikaze pilot friend, who dies in a doomed mission. News reels recount the broader losses as the war nears its end.

In the wake of surrender, many Japanese choose mass suicide rather than capitulate. Akiyoko runs to intervene but is fatally shot by a Japanese captain. The okiagari koboshi doll rolls away, becoming a haunting symbol of innocence lost, while Yang and Nadja retaliate against remaining threats.

Yang and Nadja drive their truck through enemy lines to kill the remaining soldiers threatening them. The act is framed as a grim survival measure rather than vengeance and is followed by a quiet, mournful affirmation of life beyond the war.

Back in the present, Nadja places flowers on the Poklonnaya Gora war memorial in Moscow, giving face to a life shaped by conflict. The radio repeats the declaration of peace, and a purple sunset lingers as a reminder of memory's hold over the living.

The okiagari koboshi doll embodies innocence and devastation, tipping between mercy and tragedy. The closing imagery ties memory and endurance to the possibility of light after the darkest times, even as the credits show the toll of war.