Review: Kenchou no Hoshi (県庁の星)

Hello guys,

I’m not dead or disappeared 8). Recently I got very few spare time to update this page. Please forgive me, I hope to make better in the future. Thanks to all friends that continuously supported me.

I watched a good jmovie, so I’m here again to give you a short advice.

It is titled “県庁の星” (Kenchou no Hoshi) or “The Star of Prefecture Government” or “Star Reformer”. It’s a 2006 movie starring Oda Yuji and Shibasaki Kou, plus other actor/actress on small parts which I remember to have seen in other Japanese productions.

It’s a closeup look to the Japanese politics, specifically to politics at the prefecture level, where corruption is omnipresent and unavoidable. In the Japanese world bureaucracy rules the government. That’s the world painted in this movie, a nice comedy that faces two major Japanese stars against each other in a battle of “work values”.

Nomura (Oda Yuji) is a heartless and ambitious mid-level young bureaucrat working at a nameless prefecture government office with a prominent career behind him. Thanks to his hard work, Nomura is on the way to the top and he is marrying the beautiful daughter of a rich and influential businessman. At that very moment the government involve him in a project where bureaucrats are sent to work in local businesses in order to observe the real world (and even serve it). For a period of 6 months.

He starts to work under Ninomiya (Shibasaki Kou), a young but veteran part-timer who manage the supermarket’s people since the real manager doesn’t do it. Ninomiya is different from Nomura. Her first priority is making the customers happy, and she manages the store in order to achieve this purpose. She does not follow the complicated instruction manuals or strict schemes.

Due to his “elite” character Nomura clashes immediately with all local employees. At the end the entire supermarket staff thinks that the new guy must be keep out from daily-work, as much as possible.

Can they really works together to save the department store ?

The movie suggests that a compromise can be reached between ideals and practicality. Oda Yuji plays perfectly the role of Japan’s favorite salary man, blending a bit of arrogance with the typical Japanese office worker. Shibasaki Kou is naturally likable, adding to her undemanding role a hint of youthfulness.

If you have some spare time to watch it you will not be disappointed.

By the way, don’t expect a movie in Hollywood style, but in Japanese style

 

Review – Ping Pong

The last film that I watched is “Ping Pong”.

It can be belonged to the classic japanese movies where sport scenes and sport events are the main features, where competition grows to the maximum levels, where the victory is always sweated. And however the defeat have always something to teach.

“Ping Pong” is an often surreal movie that examines the interplay of friendship, loyalty, rivalry, and selfesteem of a group of people pleying ping-pong. Based on a popular comic book, which explored the zen of table tennis in meticulous detail, “Ping Pong” have elegant visual dissection of the sport and examination of the differing philosophies among its players. It seems a common sport movie, based only on competitions, but the story follow a precise logic scheme, revealed little by little until the end of the movie.

The story is centered on the friendship between two high school ping-pong players, the arrogant and brazen Peco and the quiet and introspective Smile, so named because he never smiles. Like their clashing personalities, they have contrasting approaches to the game. Whereas Peco want only crushes any opponent that dares to cross his path, Smile thinks of it only as a means to pass the time. And though Smile is the more talented player, he frequently and intentionally loses to Peco out of his misguided ideas of friendship.

Unfortunately, the situation changes during an important interschool championship. Peco ends up being demolished by a strict disciplinarian from a rival school while Smile loses to China, a professional player who has come to Japan to reignite his flagging career.

Peco loses his enthusiasm in the game and prefers to waste his days in video arcades. Meanwhile, despite his loss to China, Smile has become the newest celebrity of ping pong, and begins training for the next championship. Not giving up on these things both players end up to meet again, long running rivalries are renewed, new victories are up for grabs, and most important of all, an old friendship is put to the test. The film is also an existential journey into the spiritual side of this sport.

The director mixed together a good music and slow motion filming adding the touch of class that every member of the audience want. During the matches the delight is fired up, with shot compositions and acrobatic moves of the players as they leap through the air and vigorously slice at their opponents. The director uses a cam that follows the ball as it is being served, as well as the use of computer graphics for some of the more daring shots that put viewers right into the game. Not a single spin, slam, or chop is wasted.

It’s one of these “worth watching” movies, with a good story well directed. For the “aficionados”, a cult movie.

With Yosuke Kubozuka (Peco), Arata (Smile), Sam Lee (China), Shidou Nakamura (Dragon), Koji Ohkura (Demon), Naoto Takenaka (Coach) and Mari Natsuki (Granny).

It’s really true, the heroes exists again!

 

Tennen Kokekkô

I watched (unfortunately!) also “天然コケッコー” (Tennen Kokekkô aka A Gentle Breeze In The Village).

In the isolated and mountainous countryside of Japan, Soyo (Kaho) attends a village school where she is the oldest of only six pupils, all in the same class though of different ages, creating a little family. The story is told from the perspective of the just-about-adolescent Soyo, whose dreamlike, innocent world (nevertheless with its bitter moments) is changed by the arrival of a city boy (Okada Masaki) and her imminent move to high school in frenetic Tokyo.

This is not a film of big events but of everyday adventures, details and growing emotions, in which the parents – with all their foibles – may be at the fringes, but are no less keenly observed participants in a marvellous evocation of village life. Here, he completely avoids the sentimental dangers of a popular genre to create, as one critic put it, ‘a flawless film about the innocence of youth’.

This movie is NOT worth watching. It’s a bit better that “Lemon No Koro” but very similar to it. Same slowness, light story, no emotions or action scenes. If you liked “Lemon no Koro” you will like it 8(

 

Chekeraccho! (aka Check It Out, Yo!)

Winter holidays are arrived so I have a bunch of time to spend at home … I watched some jmovies and jdramas on the free evenings. “Chekeraccho!” , aka “Check It Out, Yo!” is one of these.

It’s a very good movie, worth watching. It kept my attention alive until the end. The film offers a nice cast of performers with a nice background soundtrack, the story is brillant and well directed. It’s a hilarious romp, centered around high school girls that loved music. Be aware that this is a teenage romance film, not a musical film.

After the success of “Swing Girls” and “Linda Linda Linda” it seemed only a matter of time, before someone would take a similar approach while incorporating rap music into the film. Cringe or not, that time has come with this movie.

The most appealing aspect about “Check it Out, Yo!” would be its impressive list of young actors. A lot of the actors in the movie have already starred in other impressive films centered music. There’s Hayato Ichihara, who starred in Shunji Iwai’ “All About Lily Chou-Chou”. Co-star Yuta Hiraoka, certainly is no stranger to films based on a love of music, as he played the sole male band member in the “Swing Girls”. There’s also Ayumi Ito, who starred in another Shunji Iwai film with heavy music influences, “Swallowtail Butterfly”. Finally, Tetsuji Tamayama previously played the sulking guitarist in another movie centered around rock music, “Nana”. With a cast like this, there’s at least the glimmer of hope that “Check it Out, Yo!” could be the next “Swing Girls” or maybe the “Waterboys”.

“Check it Out, Yo!” is centered around three male teenage friends (Toru, Akira and Tetsuo) and one tomboy’ish girl Yui. As Toru introduced his friends in the movie, Yui is the wrestling freak, Tetsuo is the studying freak, and Akira is just a plain ole’ freak. Toru himself becomes a freak when it comes to a co-worker of his, named Nagisa. The guys are all going through a rough period where they are constantly thinking about girls, but have no real girlfriends. Things start to change when Yui invites the guys to a concert by a local rock/rap group named Workaholic. When the gang arrive at the Workaholic concert, Toru spots his co-worker and secret love, Nagisa dancing by herself. Unbeknown to Toru, Nagisa is dating the lead singer from Workaholic.

After the concert, the guys are all impressed by Workaholic’s music and their ability to attract girls. The guys start to dream about forming their own band and, before you know it, they actually do form their own band. Akira jump starts the band’s career by landing a gig as the opening band for none other than Workaholic. Unfortunately, Akira lied about the band’s abilities and the group has only 2 weeks before their first ever show.

Edit 15/04/2009: as requested here are the english softsubs for the movie. They are resynced by me for the 2 CD version (megaupload).

 

Review – Lemon No Koro (檸檬のころ)

I just finished to watch this movie. I really risked to fall asleep during the projection 8P.

In my opinion it’s a very slow movie, too slow. The story is simple, nice but nothing more of this. There is no scenes that keep the attention alive, scenes that make you think, smile or cry. If you have spare time and want to relax watching a simple movie, I suggest you … to select another movie. Watch this at your’s own risk. There are plenty of movies and dramas on similar subjects, worth watching, and better than this movie.

A short synopsis if you are interested anyway :

“Based on Toshima Miho’s popular novel, Lemon no Koro (a.k.a. The Graduates) is a bright coming-of-age film that brings viewers back to those high school years. Crushes, first love, secrets, insecurities, hanging out with friends. If there was a taste to describe high school, it would be that of the lemon, tart and memorable. Director Iwata Yuki vibrantly captures “the time of lemons” in this tender youth anthem to life, love, and friendship. The film features a refreshing cast of rising young stars including Eikura Nana (My Sister, My Love), Emoto Tasuku (Freesia: Bullets Over Tears), Tanimura Mitsuki and Ishida Hoshi from Canary, and Hayashi Naojiro of Hirakawachi Icchome in his acting debut. Lemon no Koro revolves around five normal seniors at a rural high school, and their experiences and emotions in the year leading to graduation. Band conductor Kayoko (Eikura Nana) is a smart and strong-willed girl who plans to attend a Tokyo university after high school. She seems to have her life completely in order, but her changing relationships with baseball players Takumi (Ishida Hoshi) and Tomizo (Emoto Tasuku) throw things into confusion. Meanwhile, aspiring musician Megumi (Tanimura Mitsuki) finds a soulmate in singer Kazuya (Hayashi Naojiro).”

It’s obviously not a summary of mine