TheKinemaJunpocriticswere,ofcourse,mistakentothinkthatNarusehadabandonedhisemphasisonwomen.Hisnextfilm,Sincerity,featurestwostrongfemalecharacters,playedbyIrieTakakoandMuraseSachiko,eachofwhomhaveadaughter.Thegirlsareschoolmates,butone(Nobuko)isfromamiddle-classhomeandtheother(Tomiko)isfromapoorfamily.Tomiko'smotherTsutako(Irie)isasinglemotherwhoworksfromhomeasaseamstress,whileNobuko'smotherlivesinaneleganthomewithherhusband,Kei.Eventually,itisrevealedthatKeihadaromanticrelationshipwithTsutako,andmaybeTomiko'sfatheraswell,butheisconscriptedshortlyafterthisrevelationandgoesofftowar.Thisisverymuchahomefrontfilm,inwhichthewomenareinvolvedinsupportingactivities,andthewholetowncheersonthenewrecruits.AsKeiisabanker,heisconscriptedasanofficer.Heisintroducedbrandishingamagnificentsword,indicatinghisreadinessforhiscall-up,forwhicheveryonecongratulateshimwhenitcomes.Thewartimecontextislittlemorethanabackdroptothestoryofpaternityandformerlove.Thecomplexemotionsamongthewomenareconveyedthroughcuttingoneyemovementsandeyelines,andthroughtheuseofthepastorallocation. …