 Departures incorporates aspects of humour , an " unexpected " complement to the theme of death which Ebert suggested may be used to mask the audience 's fears . Betsy Sharkey of the Los Angeles Times opines that , through this use of humour , the film avoids becoming too dark and instead acts as a " warmhearted blend " of whimsy and irony . This humour manifests in a variety of manners , such as a scene in which " a mortified Daigo , naked except for a pair of adult diapers , is the reluctant model " for an educational video regarding the encoffining process , as well as a scene in which Daigo discovers that the person he is preparing is a trans woman . Takita stated that the addition of humour was deliberate , as " humans are comical by nature " , and that the humour did not conflict with the film 's darker themes . 
