Fumi and Kazu are life partners, both professionally and privately: they run the first and only law firm in Japan set up by an openly gay couple. The lawyers know all too well the realities of being a minority in a conformist society, where the collective unity is absolute and often maintained at the expense of individual rights and freedom. Not being part of the majority could lead to prosecution by law and alienation by society at large - illustrated by the cases that the two lawyers take on. The individual freedom is viewed as a privilege not a right, and the fundamental human rights of equality and security are only extended to the majority. In a 2014 report, Amnesty International slammed Japan for 'veering away from global human rights standards', while the World Economic Forum places Japan 101st out of 145 countries in the global gender equality ranking, far behind developing countries such as Rwanda and the Philippines. Laws of Love and Other Things follows the two lawyers as.
Reiko Asakawa is researching into a 'Cursed Video' interviewing teenagers about it. When her niece Tomoko dies of 'sudden heart failure' with an unnaturally horrified expression on her face, Reiko investigates. She finds out that some of Tomoko's friends, who had been on a holiday with Tomoko the week before, had died on exactly the same night at the exact same time in the exact same way. Reiko goes to the cabin where the teens had stayed and finds an 'unlabeled' video tape. Reiko watched the tape to discover to her horror it is in fact the 'cursed videotape'. Ex-Husband Ryuji helps Reiko solve the mystery, Reiko makes him a copy for further investigation. Things become more tense when their son Yoichi watches the tape saying Tomoko had told him to. Their discovery takes them to a volcanic island where they discover that the video has a connection to a psychic who died 30 years ago, and her child Sadako.
2017. An old man being treated in a hospital is always clinging to what appears to be a screenplay for a film. When a young nurse, Amane, asks him, "What's it about?" he bashfully begins to tell the story. "It's a magical tale of a young man..." 1960. Makino Kenji is an Assistant Director at a film studio. He dreams of one day becoming a director, but all he does now is run errands. Kenji's outlet and secret pleasure is watching his favorite old romantic movie at the theater - an old black and white treasure that only showed for a brief period before being cancelled.
Aspiring journalist Masuda is working a menial job where he grows suspicious of the loner and mysterious Suzuki. Masuda decides to write an article on his co-worker and new acquaintance whom he comes to suspect is a long-lost murderer. Then it occurs again. A murder similar to the old case is afoot and Masuda is now sure that Suzuki is the culprit.
On the anniversary of their matriarch's passing, the Shinjo family congregate in their ancestral village on remote Okinawan island of Aguni. In line with the ancient tradition practiced on the island, the family must carry out a senkotsu - or a bone washing ceremony - by exhuming the remains and ritualistically cleansing them. Returning home from mainland Japan is unwed daughter Yuko, who immediately sets local tongues wagging with her advanced pregnancy, while eldest son Tsuyoshi lashes out at their estranged father any opportunity he gets as he nurses his own wounds. The two are dismayed to find that their father Nobutsuna had been drowning his sorrows in alcohol. As the clan prepares to bid a last farewell to their wife and mother, they might just find that the journey forces them to face several other unresolved issues.