Taiyou no uta タイヨウのうた [movie]

Nice touch with the sunflowers. Where are my tissues?

Unmistakable voice, even though I didn’t recognise her face at first, as soon as she sang I realised it was Yui. I knew it was going to be a sad film from the premise but I actually think it was a cheerful movie for the most part. Very pretty and sweet, just a little heartbreaking too.

 

If anyone’s voice could sound like the sunshine it would be Yui, she sounds like spring. To play a girl trapped in eternal night is more lonely than if it were some sombre serious person with a sad voice – Yui’s innocent smile and completely childlike presence is almost otherworldly and adds to the context of her character who can never leave the house during the daytime or properly feel the sunrise.

 

 Yui plays Kaoru, a girl who is allergic to sunlight and is slowly developing a serious nervous disorder that will ultimately paralyse and kill her. She goes out into the streets at night to play her guitar and sing, and can only see a short amount of the daytime from her bedroom window through tinted blinds.

Kaoru watches Fuji, (Tsukamoto Takashi) from her window every morning as he waits with his surf board for his friends. Eventually she sees him in the street one night, chases after him and blurts out a bizarre ramble of things about her self after pushing on to the railway tracks in the road. She mentions that she doesn’t have a boyfriend about 16 thousand times in her speech and her complete lack of shame for that moment shows how innocent and sheltered she is.

It is hard not to warm to her, especially after hearing her sing and it doesn’t take Fuji long to fall for her as she sings the song she had written with him in mind.

 

As she starts to become more disabled by her illness Fuji works hard to help her regain her strength and sing again, and watching her stay strong gives him the strength to become a better person as well.

It is so sad, there is no cure for this disease and very little treatment once the brain starts going into crazy nervous dysfunction mode, and deterioration passed this point is quite fast. From the outset it is obvious it will be quite upsetting but I think there is more to this movie than just a weepy story.

For a start, Yui sings a lot in this film, which can never be a bad thing. I love to watch her sing – she pulls these strained faces that don’t tell in her voice at all. There is something endlessly endearing about the expressions she pulls as she pours her heart out into her music. And of course, her voice is lovely. She has a very calm young voice that is absolutely impossible to miss.

I first heard Yui on the Bleach anime soundtrack – I think it was the first one; it was very near the beginning of the series a few years ago anyway. The songs featured in this movie are on my short stories.

Also in this film is Kishitani Goro who was the dad in samurai high school – loved him in that. He has a really nice character in this movie, he plays Kaoru’s father who tries anything he can to give her a good quality of life, including orchestrating a dinner with Fuji when Kaoru is too depressed to see him, in spite of how angry she might get at first.

It is a very sweet film but the sunflowers got me. You’ll know what I mean when you get to the end. I liked the movie even just as an excuse to listen to Yui sing for a while. She is actually the definition of adorable.

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young black jack ヤング ブラック・ジャック[movie]

all I was waiting for was his hair to go white. Through the whole film. I think I deafened my neighbours when it finally did.

 

Right, so I’ve come to like this guy Okada Masaki was in Half Way, among many many other things, and saw on some random thing he was only in the movie version of Blackjack [insert wide eyes and exclamation marks here] that anime fecking rocked.

At some point I will finish the manga but lack of space and money has meant reading it online and reading manga onscreen is a little bit of a chore for me and my light sensitivity – when the brightness on my laptop screen is turned right down as it usually is I can’t really see f*ck all.

This movie is the back story [yay] that explains what happens to that rogue doctor and why he became a secret genius with a two tone hair do. I was like *he shouldve had white hair in this movie damn it, he would’ve looked so good* then KYAA mother f*cking KYAA it is white later on in the film. Woo. I had to fan girl at my friend who didn’t really get why I was so exited [being a boy and all] but he was the only one I knew who had seen blackjack so methinks I should’ve made some more people watch that with me in order to rejoice in this cheesy ass awesome movie. Jeez girl put in some commas.

Naka Riisa is also in this, and we all know how much I adore that girl. So I was happy all round. I like this as a standalone movie, but as a back story it works well – they could soooo do a series with this cast. Aish seriously the white hair works. It really does.

Anyway, for those of you who haven’t a clue what the f*ck I’m talking about as you haven’t seen the anime or read the manga or heard anything about this badger-esque bouffant before, oshieteiruyo.

 

Basically this guy Hazama Tokio had some big ass accident in the past when he was a little chibi chiro, and he and his mum got a little bit blown up all to pieces. The wacking great scar he has is from the skin graft he needed when half his face decided it wanted to go separate ways. His mother lay comatose as a doctor saved the young boy with said grafty skinnage and through his desire to save his mother he vows to become Mr genius badger doctor man.

 

Flash forward to the main time in our story and we find Naka Riisa’s character Yuna, who is training to be a nurse, and this soon to be badger-esque apparent doctor saving some collapsed dude in the street. It soon becomes clear that he is a medical genius but not actually a licensed doctor. He has a secret surgery complete with makeshift operating theatre in some back alley somewhere and all the unsavoury customers that would bring. The two become entangled when Yuna realises a doctor she knows is actually the one who saved Hazama as a boy, and when Yuna’s sister falls desperately ill it is clear that Hazama may be the only one who can help her.

Helping him out is his friend from the medical school played by Kaku Kento (Q10, Tumbling, Samurai High School, Gokusen, Paradise Kiss) I cant help but give a little ureshii squee for him now too.

There is a brilliant homage to the manga which I wont spoil as it is right at the end so I would be totally spilling all the details to explain – but it is a lovely little wink at the original story mentioning Hazama’s little girl – who I love in the anime. Such a cute little munchkin.

 

It is a gravy little film that I thought was pretty damn cheesy – and rightly so. I think if they did make a series they could afford to pile in the weirdo comedy like in the anime, but for this movie it is pretty serious due to covering all the story of his growing up and then the later sad situations ending in his badger hair and his determination to remain a dodgy underground unlicensed doctor. There wasn’t really much room for silliness. But worth it all the same. More blackjack please. We like it.

half way ハルフウェイ [movie]

I want her calligraphy teacher. He is the best.

This is a quiet little film, full of people I like and shot with the feel of watching real life. The dialogue and pace is all very natural and calm, and the subtle humour keeps it flowing along so much so that it is over before you realise.

 

The discussion of whether ‘half’ is pronounced haafu or harufu made me really laugh, it was really nice to see that and think that is how I sound when I’m trying to get my head round some Japanese words. Such incidentals throughout made this a really warm sweet film, even though it obviously isn’t one for an epic fluffy happy ending.



cast:
Kitano Kie (14 Sai no Haha, bandage)
Okada Masaki (Blackjack, Hana Kimi)

Mizobata Junpei (Buzzer Beat, Akai Ito)

Naka Riisa (Yankii-kun to megane-chan)
Narimiya Hiroki (Yankii-kun to megane-chan
Shiraishi Miho (suppli, orange days)
Osawa Takao (ichi, a cheerful gang turns the earth)

The end of the final year of high school is a difficult time to be in a relationship. We watch these two characters awkwardly (adorably) become an item only to realise they may have to part ways soon due to the end of school and moving to attend their separate universities. How can you choose between your high school love and your education, dreams and aspirations?

 

It is a sad film really, in a way. But I think it’s because it is so realistic. There is no Tatta Hitotsu No Koi style flash forward to later down the line so we can see how things pan out, this movie is just one snippet of their lives shown to us as if it were a treasured memory conjured by an old photo.

It reminded me somehow of Kimi Ni Todoke but I couldn’t tell you why. They aren’t alike in story but maybe just that quiet feel. Actually I quite want to watch that now I’m thinking about it.

Getting the screen shots for this I find myself just watching it again. It pulls me in somehow. And while I’m brought into a sudden reality of living in the city again as I spend my first Friday night at my new flat listening to my neighbour through the wall shouting his mouth off in some beer soaked inaudible ugly way, I long for the sort of peaceful feeling this movie instantly gives me. I know my friend is just down the road with vodka but I can’t be assed to move, I spent forever walking by the sea today and my legs hate me. So screen shotting this movie is kinda nice and chilled which is welcomed by me right now.

 

While getting these shots I realise I have forgotten half the movie, and each scene is funny or sad all over again. I love how Hiro freaks when Sho asks her out and she rides her bike down a hill in a panic and falls flat on the grass, splat anime style. She is kind of headstrong and wilful but really scatty and girlie as well, which makes him tease her constantly.

The two friends of this main pair are played by Mizobata Junpei (akai ito, buzzer beat) and Naka Riisa (yankii-kun to megane-chan, kami no shizuku) who offer their own subtle realistic humour; I could watch the both of them all day long so I was glad of their presence in this. Also Osawa Takao (ichi) was so great as their calligraphy teacher – lazing about on the floor counselling love woes over tea. I’ve never seen him look so cool.

 

As sad at it is, it isn’t all death and woes so it doesn’t become a huge tear jerker. The constant smiles it brings just mean you can’t help but feel a little sad when the unfortunate but unavoidable end comes. All in all, it is an uplifting sweet funny movie with great characters and a flawless cast. Even just looking at screen shots from this film make me smile.

I think maybe that is why It reminds me of Kimi Ni Todoke, that warm, slightly sad but beautiful feeling, that surrounds honest but apprehensive love.

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tokyo shounen 東京少年 [movie]

That old story of boy [never] meets girl, falls in love, then they realise they are the same person. 

Is there something wrong with me? I totally crush on Horikita Maki when she is a boy. I like her best when she is playing a girl being a boy. It actually rocks my world. This film isn’t actually that great at all. It is kinda non eventful and doesn’t really have much going on but for some reason as soon as she dons the *ore* *daro* sh*t and swears like a trouper I go a bit funny. I love her boy voice, she walks differently and moves like – not like a boy – but like her own entity. I think she may have made up a new gender and I think it happens to be my persuasion.

This will be a mini review because I didn’t really notice much of the movie bar that. So I will spare you the ranting of my affections for androgyny and the like. Wait till I’ve finished IS Intersexual – god that is giving me enough gender confused issues to be going on with. Full up on that right now. (^_^)

This movie is a world away from her previous *accidental boy* role and potentially type casting character from Hana Kimi. Horikita Maki plays a girl with a split personality – one of which is a boy. In love with the other side. Of herself. The girl bit. They haven’t ever met. But they write to each other.

It is a little weird to describe it but why didn’t I find it weird watching it? I don’t know whether Horikita Maki is just a brilliant actor that always gets it right on the nose with hidden depth etc, or whether she has something in her own personal character that brings something necessary to these roles that would fall flat without her.

I feel like I could forgive her a millions sins if she played it with that in mind. She wound me up in Kurosagi as she was meant to do, she was phenomenal in about 50 different ways in Hana Kimi, and if I ever see her work with Tegoshi Yuya again as in Teenage Amnesiac I will jump for joy and most likely hit my head on the ceiling.

I like the movie in general as it has an unusual timeline order and pace, but that does cause problems for me as well. Due to seeing the story from many different perspectives we have to watch a lot of scenes twice. It really bugs me when I have just seen something and have to sit through another 10 minutes of it a little while later.




It wasn’t a huge bug bare but it made the film seem a lot longer than it was. I like seeing what happened earlier from a different side but I don’t like to see lots of footage I’ve already seen. Just the different bits please or I will get distracted and faze out.

There were some great moments in the film but it is all for the weird psychotic shenanigans of her male side. Like kissing herself in the mirror, that scene is almost indescribably perfect as it is more like psychosis than most movies would show. Usually there are an abundance of epic savage frantic actions with a huge musical score, but this movie is shot with the same disorientated, disjointed, sometimes normal sometimes confused – and often a blurry line between the two – type feel, and if you have ever even had sleep deprivation you will know that the world doesn’t make sense when you have any kind of psychosis but it isn’t always constantly pounding at your head.

This film does feel like that hazy, flickering, inconstant feeling that accompanies mental disorientation. It is more subtle than most films I have seen about this sort of subject. And I did like that.

But still, it wasn’t the most accurate (in terms of psychology) or intriguing movie on first viewing and I feel it was carried solely on the presence of Horikita Maki. Luckily she does have enough of that presence to make me happy to watch her in anything. And I may well even watch this again. Though I think for my own safety I think I should not really be allowed to watch her playing a girl playing a boy – It messes with my head too much.

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