There’s some nice scenes late on with a grief-stricken Tetsuo and these are arguably the strongest moments in the entire picture. What begins as a simple task of making dolls to serve its clientele becomes something much more heartfelt and meaningful toward the end of the film. Only, Sonoko has a secret of her own and across the 2 hour run-time, these come crashing to a head during the climactic third act that rounds things out nicely with a befitting final scene. What follows from here is a part-romance/part slice-of-life drama as Tetsuo keeps his true work a secret from Sonoko while their relationship blossoms and leads to marriage. It’s here we meet Sonoko and immediately it’s love at first sight for Tetsuo. Instead, he’s told to bring a model in for a more realistic depiction of body proportions. This eager, enthusiastic young man begins working as a modeler at a doll-making factory but his first attempt is laughed out the building, partly thanks to the disproportional breasts. The story begins with a brief moment of foreshadowing before jumping back 10 years.
With an intention of breaking down some of the preconceptions surrounding love dolls, the film slips up when it matters most, throwing in an abundance of long shots, an overlong run-time and a bare-bones story that, while emotionally engaging, takes far too long to get to the point. Japanese movie Romance Doll is an interesting drama in that respect. Even now, in an age of acceptance and understanding, owning and using a love doll is still something that’s frowned upon. There’s a lot of stigma attached to love dolls.
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