TheKinemaJunpocriticswere,ofcourse,mistakentothinkthatNarusehadabandonedhisemphasisonwomen.Hisnextfilm,Sincerity,featurestwostrongfemalecharacters,playedbyIrieTakakoandMuraseSachiko,eachofwhomhaveadaughter.Thegirlsareschoolmates,butone(Nobuko)isfromamiddle-classhomeandtheother(Tomiko)isfromapoorfamily.TomikosmotherTsutako(Irie)isasinglemotherwhoworksfromhomeasaseamstress,whileNobukosmotherlivesinaneleganthomewithherhusband,Kei.Eventually,itisrevealedthatKeihadaromanticrelationshipwithTsutako,andmaybeTomikosfatheraswell,butheisconscriptedshortlyafterthisrevelationandgoesofftowar.Thisisverymuchahomefrontfilm,inwhichthewomenareinvolvedinsupportingactivities,andthewholetowncheersonthenewrecruits.AsKeiisabanker,heisconscriptedasanofficer.Heisintroducedbrandishingamagnificentsword,indicatinghisreadinessforhiscall-up,forwhicheveryonecongratulateshimwhenitcomes.Thewartimecontextislittlemorethanabackdroptothestoryofpaternityandformerlove.Thecomplexemotionsamongthewomenareconveyedthroughcuttingoneyemovementsandeyelines,andthroughtheuseofthepastorallocation.