ZDorama
USA
I’ve just seen a J-movie that is such a mish-mash of genres that it's end result must be one of the most unusual amalgams ever! This movie has it all: Romance, Roughnecking, Triumph and Tragedy, and it’s all set to campily enthusiastic SONG AND DANCE!
For reals, when I sat down to watch AI TO MAKOTO (For Love's Sake), I was only in it for the sweet babe-ness of its main star Emi Takei, but as soon as I saw the opening scene where delinquent bad boy Makoto (played by Satoshi Tsumabuki) beats up a rival gang all the while singing and DANCING, I knew I was in for SOME movie! Seriously, this was the Jets fighting the Sharks all over again!
I have to say that this a pretty innovative flick, and though the songs seem to break out at the most inopportune times, some of them are in fact pretty catchy, it was a thrill to hear Emi Takei singing her sweet proclamation of love to Makoto, and I have special fondness for the dark, drawling, song “Dreams Bloom at Night” which rival-love-interest Yuki (Ono Ito) hypnotically purrs to Makoto to take him away from innocent Ai’s arms…
Ai To Makoto is really like a Manga brought to life, and with waltzing Gang Members, Angry Singing Parents and enemy students brawling at the drop of a hat, it’s sometimes hard to take things seriously! But just like Romeo and Juliet (which West Side Story was based on , of course), this story has the shadow of TRAGEDY looming all over it, and you just KNOW that our heroes and heroines will not come out of it unscathed…
Ah, but let us not bring the zany vibes down! The Verdict for Ai To Makoto: Highly Original movie with an insane amount of nuttiness. Camp Factor: High, Emi Takei Cuteness factor: Maximum! Cautiously Recommended Viewing!!!
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So the other day over lunch, my friend was telling me about these weird clips that him and his friends watch on youtube at work from this Japanese Movie called FUNKY FOREST. He tried to describe the show to me, stories of deformed humans with weird powers, etc, which sounds positively cartoony to me. I ask, “Is it Animated?” He says no. “Is it like a Super-Hero type?” He says, “Dude, I just gotta send you the clip. It’s too weird to explain.”
That evening he sends me a clip and it’s of an old guy with extended boobs shooting milk at a girl trying to hit it with a tennis racket, then he starts pulling these alien pod things out of his shorts and begins throwing them at her which stick to her like leeches which are revealed to have humanoid features under their hide…. My mouth DROPPED open in a kind of a "WHAAAAAA!???" as I rubbed my eyes in disbelief at what I’d just seen! What da HELL was I WATCHING??? My friend said that it would be weird. WEIRD!? This is the most BIZARRE freakin’ thing I’ve ever seen in my life! Eccentric Individuals, Electronics with Orifices, Placated Fetal Creatures, Slimy Living Instruments, Secret Space Agents AND First Contact with an Alien Race, this was Japan's Cinematic ZENITH of Nuttiness!!!
And MAN, If I thought I couldn’t be more surprised by the movie’s absolute KRAZEENESS, I was even MORE surprised when I began scrolling through some of the other clips and saw actors I RECOGNIZED in it! And these weren’t unknown b-list actors either- these were some of best-known actors out there, like Rinko Kikuchi, Kaho, Fukushii Kazue, Kase Ryo and adorable Chizuru Ikewaki! What in the HECK were they doing here? Gads, that meant I HAD TO ACTUALLY SIT DOWN AND WATCH THE WHOLE MOVIE, if only to see what exactly the HELL they were DOING here!
Well, in the end, I’m STILL not sure if I ever figured out what was going on, but WOW, WHAT A FLICK!! Not only Did I get to see these actors in the wackiest situations ever, this movie actually introduced me to a bunch of new BABES to lust after, among them beauties like Ono Machiko (whom I’d actually just seen in JOKER Yuzurenai Sasokan), Takahashi Mariko (as a breathy sultry class student named Yoshiko), the adorable Nana Shimoda and Aoi Miura as hapless victims, and ESPECIALLY stunningly gorgeous Erika Nishikado as Notti, the dreamy, nature-lovin’ muse of Ryo Kase’s Extra-Terrestrial obsessed Takafumi!
Girls like this (and the aforementioned Ikewaki et al) were the primary force that made me stick around watching the movie even as the situations got stranger and STRANGER!! Though in any other movie that got THIS wacky I would have bailed, I just HAD to stick around for these girls...And stick around I did- and I GOTTA SAY, in the end, it was a good thing because Funky Forest turned out to be one of the most FREAKIN' FUNNIEST, INNOVATIVE, IMAGINATIVE, and CRACKY MOVIES OUT THERE!!!
I’m not even kidding- though some parts of the movie veered off into long, spacey drawn out intermissions (some musical and some literal, yes, LITERAL intermissions), some of the stories were downright HILARIOUS, especially faves like the “Babbling Hot-Springs Vixens” stories with Chizuru Ikewaki, Kazue Fukiishi and Machiko Ono as non-stop chattering salesladies taking a break at an onsen, where a good story is the goal and a tale with no point gets you a beatin’…
…and the OTHER arc I just DUG was the super FUN “Home Room!!!!!!!” stories where the students are charismatic, energetic and outspoken, and their teacher (played by Terajima Susumu in what may be the only non-Yakuza role I’ve ever seen him in) is the coolest instructor any Hall of Education ever had! Every day a student is invited to tell his or her tale in front of the class and the room reaction is never anything short of explosive!
FUNKY FOREST~THE FIRST CONTACT, or, rather, it’s original Japanese Title Naisu No Mori is an abstract Alien + UFO Speculation Movie of sorts, and that’s about as coherent a synopsis as you’re likely to get- for whatever the bigger story here, it’s for SURE that the ride of GETTING THERE is far more integral to THIS ship than any silly thing like a COHERENT PLOT!! A fun, FUN Movie!!!
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First off, It wasn’t quite that she “ took the time to create a perfect dish” for each client, more precisely, if you eat at her restaurant, amazingly, your GRANDEST WISHES COME TRUE! Whoa. A bit more fanciful than I was prepared for, but still somewhat on ground level, at least so far...I thought to myself, "OK, Um... So, this is like a fairy tale, then?" It certainly was SURREAL enough!
As the show progressed, however, the movie seemed to get more and MORE quirky, with zany singalong narration and animated vegetable picking (and of course, all those wish-granting meals) til it finally built up crazier and crazier til I had to stop and pull out a majestic WTF?!
AHAHAHA, Oh well, ya can't say that this movie wasn't entertaining, 'cause it was THAT, FOR SURE!!!
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MAN, this was SUCH an AWESOME movie!!! To think I would have just let this one sit on my desktop for weeks... At the time I guess I thought it would be nothing more than a wacky movie, (and with the premise of a girl who looks like SADAKO from RING scaring her fellow students, who could blame me? ) who would have thought that I would find such an UTTERLY SWEET and HEARTWARMING Show? Such an earnest and sincere film, this one really made you feel good!
And HEY!!! Tabe Mikako aside, no one told me this show was gonna be FILLED with SO MANY HOT, SMOKIN’ CHICKS! I mean, I DID. NOT. KNOW. that MIREI KIRITANI was in this show, and I mean to tell you, she was lookin’ fine. Renbutsu Misako plays one of her best characters yet with the tough but loveable Chizu, and I got my first introduction to the sultry Natsuna Watanabe, playing the sexy and cool-headed Ayane (And I’ve got more to talk about HER next time). There were these gorgeous gals all over this film!
KIMI NI TODOKE is the tale of a girl named Sawako who, because of her scary looks, is feared by her students, till an outgoing and cheerful boy named Shota (played by Haruma Miura) takes a liking to the shy, insecure but good-hearted girl, and along with friends..This would be a fine story as is, but what I really, REALLY loved about it was the fact that the heart of this movie clearly centered around the importance of FRIENDSHIP. The way they showed Sawako’s bonding with Shota, Ayane and Chizu is so thoughtfully paced and actually quite believable. When it gets to the point when they think to ask her if they are friends, they realize that they’ve already passed the point where you even have to!
When things like backhanded lying, gossiping rumours, and aggressive attitudes develop in front of them and threaten to tear their friendship apart, it’s that very friendship that they draw their strength from, and you watch this movie truly feeling like, Hey, these kids really love each other!
This movie came as a bright, clear breath of fresh air after the somewhat disappointing HANAMIZUKI which seemed (to me) to be mired in melodrama. While I’m sure (positive, actually) that there are people out there who disagree with me, Kimi Ni Todoke is the way to go- This one is a winner!
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The film was interesting enough, but what really made the movie for me was the all star cast that included not only Fujiwara Tatsuya (of the aforementioned Battle Royale fame), Abe Tsuyoshi (Hanadan) and the mighty Kitaoji Kinya, but THREE (yes, count them, THREE) of my favorite actresses: Ayase Haruka, Ishihara Satomi and Hirayama Aya!
Each gal played a certain stereotype: Aya as the giggly kogal Wakana, Haruka as the quiet and introspective Shoko, and Satomi as the scene-stealing morose, dramatic and suicidal Miyu! I have to say that it was their presence that really kept me glued to the computer- Man, I haven’t had a Crush Overdose like this since “Mamiya Brothers” with Kitagawa Keiko and Sawajiri Erika!
Say, it looks like Ishihara Satomi is really getting into this new kind of haunted, morbid character persona like the one I first saw in Tobo Bengoshi, and I have to say it fits her well!!! Very sultry and on her way to becoming a true Femme Fatale!
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On that note I made plans to get around to watching the movie, but to say that Aoi Yu is “in” this movie is like watching the Blues Brothers for Peewee Herman, seeing as how they both appear onscreen in each respective movie for about the same amount of time! But despite that setback, something about the Honoka’a Boy’s slow and calming pace really drew me in, and before you knew it, I was really enjoying it!
Starring Okada Masaki as the fish out of water, or rather a Nihongo stuck on the Big Island, the show details his adjustment to life in the Islands as opposed to his life in Japan. The show is crammed full of interesting and eccentric characters, (including a fun performance by Matsuzaka Keiko, (whom I ADORED as Ikushima in Atsuhime), and Baisho Chieko (as the spinsterly lady who falls for Okada) but make no mistake about it: The true “star” of this movie just HAS to be Sexy Hasegawa Jun! From the moment Okada’s character Leo befriends the exotic “local” girl Mariah, her sexiness totally captivates Leo’s thoughts (and ours) and with Hasegawa rockin’ the cute denim short-shorts and skimpy bikinis, you just CAN'T TAKE YOUR EYES OFF HER!
Funny that until I watched this movie, I’d always believed :”Jun Hasegawa” to be an ACTOR, that is, a dude. What I didn’t realize is that there are actually TWO talents out there with the same name, a fact I sadly discovered when I tuned in on the drama Naka Nai to Kimeta Hi thinking I was gonna see some sweet local goodness and instead saw an up ‘n’ comin’ Johnny’s Boy. D’oh!
Living in Hawaii myself, I love going out to visit the outer islands, and I think this movie manages to capture the laid-back and relaxing vibe the islands give off perfectly! When the movie was over, I found myself strangely mellow, as if I'd just come home from a long, breezy visit to Honoka'a! AHAHAHAHAHA!
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Well, in the end, Ryoko’s story (a tale about a set of twins, both played by her) ended up being so-so, and I’m sad to say that statement rang true for most of the other segments, too. In fact out of the five, I only really liked a couple of them- the story SEVEN ROOMS starring Yui ichikawa as an abducted girl in a mysterious holding cell, and segment Four which, in direct contrast to the other tales, was a short clip that was completely animated...It was this story that TOTALLY MADE THE MOVIE FOR ME!
This chapter was called HIDAMARI NO SHI, a story written and animated by Mizusaki Junpei and featuring perfect voice acting by Suzuki Kasumi and Suwaru Ryu. Hidamari No Shi tells a tale of a Scientist and his Robot Girl creation in a futuristic world not so different from our own...
The great charm of this clip is the pacing. As the girl goes about her daily life, the viewer is allowed to look about and take in the scenery along with her, examining what she is examining, reacting as she reacts. Every action is deliberate and precise, every sentence of dialog meaningful and heartfelt, and as I’ve stated before, the voice talent is just awesome, fully fleshing out the animated characters onscreen and making the girl seem real and believable.
The story of HIDAMARI NO SHI is ultimately a philosophical one, for though the girl’s days are spent doing chores like laundry, tending the garden and fetching the water, there are also rabbits and butterflies in her life to observe and chase, sunrises and sunsets to experience, and the quiet, beautiful sound of wind-chimes as they tinkle in the breeze. Yes, he’s created her to cook and to clean, but beneath it all is the lesson he wants her to learn most, and that is the joy and gratitude of simply being alive.
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