The film begins with a teenage girl named Eri. She was having some coffee
with her friends at a well-known cafe in Japan. Eri was confused why her
friends hadn't noticed the change in her face. She then tried to ask her friends if
there was something strange about her. But her friends just said that she just looked
as the same as usual. Eri who wasn't satisfied with the answer,
tried to ask again if there was something strange about her smile. However, her friends
replied with the same thing that there was nothing unusual about her smile, they then
continued to talk about other things and ignore her.
When Eri heard the next answer from her friends,
she wondered why no one noticed about her face, which had turned into a doll with a
wide smile.
In fact, this oddity began when she was still in elementary school.
One day, her brother had accidentally broken a small aquarium containing Eri's favorite
fish. Despite the fact that her heart was broken as a result of the incident, she didn't
want to make her brother feel guilty, so she simply smiled and pretended it wasn't a big deal.
But behind her wide smile, Eri actually had to
endure a very deep pain over the death of her beloved fish.
Since that incident, Eri started to believed that just smiling will fix all of her problems.
Throughout the years, she kept smiling and hiding her sadness everytime she got into
trouble. People also think that Eri is a very kind woman and always willing to forgive.
But Eri didn't expect the smile would actually make her face turn into a doll with a permanent smile.
Eri was confused as to why no one had noticed her changes, despite the fact that
her face had turned into a doll. Even her friends thought it was just a matter of course.
One day, when Eri was walking in the middle of the city, a man suddenly approached her
and expressed his admiration for her unique face and wide smile. The man turned out to
be a producer, and he even offered to make Eri an idol. At first, Eri wasn't sure what
to do with the offer. But in the end, she decided to accept the offer.
After doing a photoshoot,
Eri's life starts to change, and her face is now displayed on a giant billboard.
She also made her first debut with a single entitled smile.
It didn't take long for Eri's popularity to spread across various social media platform.
Eri's haircut and wide smile have become a new trend among teenagers. Even a big companies
have started to produce a retainer so that people can imitate Eri's unique smile.
She herself never imagined that she would be famous and become an idol for teenagers just because
she had that unusual doll face. After some time has passed, Eri's new profession
as an idol keeps her so busy that she never has time to hang out with her friends.
Inside the cafe they used to hang out in, Eri saw her friends gathering there. However,
since she hasn't talked to her friends for a long time, she feels awkward and decides
to sit somewhere else. Eri then tried to send a message to her friends, in which she included
an offer to hangout together. But Eri's friend refused the offer, claiming
that she was too busy working at the time. Plus, her friends also thought she was doing nothing
special. According to her friend, Eri could only smile
the whole time and it was a stupid thing that people shouldn't be proud of. Eri who heard
it felt very upset but she could only smile and endure the pain, as she always did. She
also hoped that no one of his friends would not turn out to be like her. Since that incident,
Eri has been trying to remove the doll mask that has been covering her real face for years.
She wanted to prove the world that it was just a fake smile. Various ways were used
by Eri to remove the doll's mask. But it was all in vain, as it seemed the doll's
mask had been permanently attached to her face. A sense of regret began to arise in
Eri's mind. Maybe this would never have happened to Eri if she hadn't hidden her emotions in
the past.
Then, Eri got a call from the producer informing her that they got an offer to go
on a national tour. Eri who supposed to be happy after listen to the offer,
instead just sat there speechless.
The day came when she was about to appear on a concert during national tour.
She suddenly saw a glimpse of her favorite fish, which had died.
She then asked the producer to go first and leave her there for a moment.
After that, the fish appeared in front of her.
Eri tried to apologize because she had chose to smile rather than cry over the death of her
fish. The fish graciously forgave Eri because he actually knew how Eri felt behind the doll's
mask. She then asked the fish if she could true self. While leaving, the fish told her
that she can be herself if she has the courage to destroy all her lies. Eri who have been filled with
confidence then rushed to the stage and decided to follow the fish's advice.
The audience which had been very excited at first, gradually became silent when they saw Eri
just stood silently on the stage holding her mic. Suddenly, Eri started hitting her face
with the microphone, it then made the audience start screaming in fear. Eri didn't expect
that the real face behind the doll's mask had now disappeared. When Eri was brought
backstage, she screamed and told her fans not to lose their identities and to be honest
with their own feelings. After 2 months have passed, Eri now has a
different appearance than before. Eri's fake smile is now gone, but her new appearance is admired
and imitated by many. Even the producer praised her previous act and believed it was a very
genius act since it give a good impact to the company.
In the end, Eri with her new appearance will bring a new single titled Rage. And the
film is over.
The main point of this short film is sometimes it is cruel to forced ourselves to be happy.
So, put off your mask now and don't wait until you become another doll like Eri.