Wait For Me (2016 film)

Wait For Me, fully titled Wait For Me, and I'll Come Back, is a 2016 Yamataian  produced and directed by Toyoda Etsushi, who former politician Ishihara Junichiro as a co-producer and written by famous historical novelist Masuda Ryu. The film follows the stories of a several Yamataian soldiers in the Chiseian theatre of the Second Escar-Varunan War. The film features an ensemble cast.

A passion project of Toyoda's, he had trouble getting financial support for the film before finally fundraising most of the budget and officially announcing it in 2017. Much of the cast joined in summer 2018, and filming began in Hinomoto in that September. With a production budget of 100 trillion En, it is one of the most expensive independent films of all time.

Wait For Me was theatrically released by Joho in Yamatai on November 8, 2019. It received mixed reviews from critics and grossed 125 trillion En worldwide.

Plot
The film opens with a Yamataian propaganda film explaining the current war situation to civilians in a movie theatre, including the mother of Superior Private Moroishi Kentaro, a soldier fighting on the front lines in Chisei. The propaganda film is extremely inaccurate and positive about Yamatai's progress in the war. As the propaganada film ends, the scene abruptly cuts to a heavy combat situation in Eito, as SPT Moroishi fights gruelling house-to-house urban combat with his unit against the tenacious Chiseian troops. SPT Moroishi witnesses a soldier being executed by sadistic officer Lieutenant Kato for attempting to flee the battlefield. The sudden arrival of Chiseian armour forces the unit to hastily retreat, losing the meagre territory they had gained in the past few days.

The perspective shifts to Captain Ida Hiroaki, an Imperial Army fighter pilot. He enjoys a relatively comfortable life behind the front lines as an officer, but in the air he faces a battle of life-and-death when he faces off against three highly skilled Chiseian aces. After shooting down two of the Chiseians and pursuing the last enemy plane, he spots a large column of Chiseian reinforcements bearing down on Eito along the old highway. By nightfall, he returns to base and attempts to convince his superiors of what he saw, but they refuse to believe him and are confident the enemy has no ability to reinforce Eito via that route due to the elite 3rd Imperial Guards Division blocking it. Shortly after, artillery strikes begin to zero in on the airbase.

In Eito, SPT Moroishi is suddenly awakened by mortar shelling. His unit, having fortified an apartment building for the night, suddenly finds itself facing off with a large Chiseian counterattack. Lieutenant Kato leads the platoon on a dangerous flanking manoeuvre through crumbling Chiseian residential buildings, and several soldiers are killed when they are spotted by Chiseian troops. With too few men to mount an effective assault, Kato demands the remnants of the platoon join him in a suicidal charge on the enemy forces. As the charge begins, SPT Moroishi is shot in the leg and is pulled to safety by a Yamataian combat medic.

As the war develops, the Yamataian forces are pushed back from Eito. The outflanking of the Yamataian lines by the sudden addition of previously-neutral Chanha into the war forces Yamatai to pull back its forces. Fighting the Shenxian troops at Enokaji is Sergeant Matsumura Toshiko, a tank commander.