Heavenly Forest (2006): cast, story & where to watch

Released in 2006, Heavenly Forest is a drama and romance film directed by Takehiko Shinjo, running about 116 minutes. “A relationship evolves between a photographer named Makoto, and two of his female university classmates, Shizuru and Miyuki.” — that tagline sets the tone.

What it’s about. The story begins with Makoto Segawa, a freshman at Meikei University. On the day of his university entrance ceremony, Makoto meets a fresh-faced, quirky girl named Shizuru. Makoto has a complex which causes him to shy away from contact with other people, but she succeeds in getting him to open up to her naturally. All Shizuru wants is to be with Makoto, so she takes up a camera too. The two spend their days together taking photos in the forest behind the campus. However, Makoto has feelings for another student named Miyuki. Shizuru decides that if Makoto likes Miyuki, she wants to like her too. She wants to like everything that he does. One day, she tells Makoto that she wants to take a photo of them kissing in the forest as a present for 'her birthday'. He obliges for her sake, and they kiss in the forest.

Who’s in it. Heavenly Forest stars Hiroshi Tamaki as Makoto Segawa, Aoi Miyazaki as Shizuru Satonaka, Meisa Kuroki as Miyuki Toyama and Munetaka Aoki as Ryo Shirohama, among others.

How it landed. With an audience score of 7.6/10, Heavenly Forest has been warmly received by audiences.

Where to watch. Streaming options change often. See the full, country-by-country breakdown on our where to watch Heavenly Forest page.

If you liked it. Fans of Heavenly Forest tend to enjoy The Shawshank Redemption, The Godfather, Schindler's List and The Godfather Part II.