In the original novel by Tomoka Shibasaki, Asako associates the names of Baku (wheat) and his sister Mai (rice) with those of siblings River, Rain, and Summer Phoenix, finding a similarity in kind of nature-oriented way of naming them. Although the film version makes no direct mention of Phoenix siblings, all three (rivers, rain, and summers, as each word literally means) make up distinct elements of the film with more emphasis than in the original story. (As for summers, the first Tokyo sequence until the Tohoku Earthquake of March 2011 is exceptionally set in winter based on real history.)

Film

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