Mertseger
Interesting film. Not sure it worked.
After skewering the tropes and conventions of mysteries in last summer's series, Hatsukoi no Akuma, it's clear that Sakamoto understands the genre and could have written a satisfying, bog standard mystery set on a cruise ship. But, instead, he seems to have chosen not to, and it makes me wonder why.
Our intrepid, ersatz detectives are Ubukata and Banjuku who have a meet-cute as the cruise ship is leaving the dock in Hokaido for a 45 day cruise to the Aegean and back. Banjuku is trying to track down the woman she suspects of cheating with her boyfriend and who happens to be Ubukata's girlfriend, and somehow ends up on board with no ticket and no luggage but manages to have a week's worth of fashionable wardrobe to wear throughout the film. There are TONS of little details in the film like that which make no sense at all. None of them are insurmountable, but the filmmakers do not even seem to care. And so do not come to this film expecting to find a tightly woven thriller where every detail was intentional and counts towards the "solution" to the mystery.
But does it work as a romcom instead? Eh... There is SOME chemistry between the two leads, and Ubukata has some character growth, but Banjuku is just sort of an MPDG tugging that growth along, and we really do not get much a backstory and motivation for her other than her suspecting her boyfriend of cheating.
And so it's not much of a mystery and not much of romcom? Is there anything here to salvage the film? Well, you know: it's Sakamoto, and he generally does have things to say. (See, for instance, my coverage of his oeuvre through 2021 here on MDL: https://mydramalist.com/article/a-watcher-s-guide-to-the-series-of-sakamoto-yuji)
In this film, he touches a bit on classism and the divide between the haves and the have-nots who serve them, and, as usual, he questions the reductivism of eat-the-rich, and, while he does condemn all rudeness and abuse, he weaves a bit of complexity into that dichotomy by focusing on the resulting relationships and how they can bridge the gap between social classes.
He also considers at length the importance of people's intentions over their actions. Does it matter if someone intended to cheat, but did not in fact do so? Does it matter if someone intended to murder, but did not in fact do so? I do think Sakamoto intends to say yes and always. But I'm not sure that thesis is enough to bring this film up to his usual standard.
If you're looking for what Sakamoto has to say about mysteries go seek out Hatsukoi no Akuma: it's fun, and the acting is off the charts in that last episode. If you're looking for his views on romance, I'd probably go with Saikou no Rikon even though it's explicitly set after the bloom has come off the rose.
Our intrepid, ersatz detectives are Ubukata and Banjuku who have a meet-cute as the cruise ship is leaving the dock in Hokaido for a 45 day cruise to the Aegean and back. Banjuku is trying to track down the woman she suspects of cheating with her boyfriend and who happens to be Ubukata's girlfriend, and somehow ends up on board with no ticket and no luggage but manages to have a week's worth of fashionable wardrobe to wear throughout the film. There are TONS of little details in the film like that which make no sense at all. None of them are insurmountable, but the filmmakers do not even seem to care. And so do not come to this film expecting to find a tightly woven thriller where every detail was intentional and counts towards the "solution" to the mystery.
But does it work as a romcom instead? Eh... There is SOME chemistry between the two leads, and Ubukata has some character growth, but Banjuku is just sort of an MPDG tugging that growth along, and we really do not get much a backstory and motivation for her other than her suspecting her boyfriend of cheating.
And so it's not much of a mystery and not much of romcom? Is there anything here to salvage the film? Well, you know: it's Sakamoto, and he generally does have things to say. (See, for instance, my coverage of his oeuvre through 2021 here on MDL: https://mydramalist.com/article/a-watcher-s-guide-to-the-series-of-sakamoto-yuji)
In this film, he touches a bit on classism and the divide between the haves and the have-nots who serve them, and, as usual, he questions the reductivism of eat-the-rich, and, while he does condemn all rudeness and abuse, he weaves a bit of complexity into that dichotomy by focusing on the resulting relationships and how they can bridge the gap between social classes.
He also considers at length the importance of people's intentions over their actions. Does it matter if someone intended to cheat, but did not in fact do so? Does it matter if someone intended to murder, but did not in fact do so? I do think Sakamoto intends to say yes and always. But I'm not sure that thesis is enough to bring this film up to his usual standard.
If you're looking for what Sakamoto has to say about mysteries go seek out Hatsukoi no Akuma: it's fun, and the acting is off the charts in that last episode. If you're looking for his views on romance, I'd probably go with Saikou no Rikon even though it's explicitly set after the bloom has come off the rose.
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