‘How to Find a Lover’: Quirky rom-com is deeper than it seems

Many Japanese comedies are about lonely guys looking for love, which reflects a sad reality. According to a recent government survey, four of 10 Japanese men in their 20s have never gone out on a date. And since a date does not guarantee a relationship, it would be safe to assume that even more have never had a girlfriend.

The protagonist of Koji Maeda’s energizingly offbeat rom-com “How to Find a Lover” belongs to this group. Though he’s a good-looking guy and personable in a puppy-doggish way, Towa (Yuki Kura) becomes tongue-tied in the presence of Sonoko (Haruka Imou), a convenience store clerk he likes.

A worker on a three-man landscaping crew, Towa comes up with an unusual meet-cute: Lay a trail of leaves from the store to where he is waiting with a pocketful of newspaper clippings to use as conversation starters.

Though his co-workers are skeptical about his stratagem, Towa insists that “human psychology” will tempt Sonoko to follow the trail — and it does. More than that, she enjoys Towa’s company, though his tongue is slow to untie.

Based on an original script by Ryo Takada, the film thus zips through the “how to” part of its title. The free-spirited Sonoko likes everything about Towa, even his habit of reading verbatim from the clippings when he gets nervous (we learn a lot about the world’s rare earth supply over the course of the film). And he is gleefully happy to be with her, especially after he finds out she’s as unconventional as he is: The average convenience store clerk does not make fantastic beasts from paper-mache in a warehouse atelier.

For Maeda, whose go-to genre has long been screwball comedies (the 2021 “You’re Not Normal, Either!” being a hilarious example), this story is both a change of pace and a challenge. “This is a melodrama,” an opening caption proclaims — and that’s what we get. Sonoko, we soon learn, is not as free as she seems and Towa’s “find a girlfriend” project ends in abject failure. Or does it?

In the hands of another director, this turn of events might lead to tears and treacle, but with his signature brisk pace and effervescent verve, Maeda keeps the film’s semi-comic vibe alive, even as the two principals’ no-so-funny realities come to light.

Also, Sonoko and Towa never become cartoons or, in Towa’s case, merely a pathetic oddball. We see that his difficult past makes him yearn for connection and security, so he does goofy things to get them. Newcomer Kura expresses the hidden side of Towa’s personality with delicacy and force and without descending to the cutesy and twee, though his performance flirts with both.

Meanwhile, Sonoko is an enigma to Towa’s down-to-earth co-workers, who can’t understand what she sees in him. Revelations about her personal life clarify much, but like Towa, she doesn’t fit into standard categories, beginning with the “manic pixie dream girl,” a type who exists solely to help the hero realize his romantic fantasies.

As played by the firmly centered Imou, Sonoko is more complex: an emotionally wounded woman who blossoms in ways she wasn’t expecting through her relationship with a naive younger guy.

“How to Find a Lover” is a deeper film than its whimsical surface suggests; it is really more about finding a richer and more fulfilling life, even when a romantic relationship is off the table.