Reviews

A man's sex toy becomes self-aware. From that synopsis and the title, one would expect this to be a ribald sex comedy . . . but not at all! It is actually a melancholic and poetic reflection on loneliness and mortality. Well worth watching.

This consists of 6x1-hour episodes. I bought it on Amazon Marketplace from 'DramaPrincess' and despite their warning of the possibility of poor subtitling, this was excellent throughout.

It is very different from other Japanese TV series I have watched as there are no quirky characters or comedic moments: a sombre tone is maintained throughout. Set in the world of big business, it concerns Washizu, a hagetaka (vulture) working for an American fund that buys out Japanese companies in trouble then sells off the component parts to make a profit. Over a period of eight years , he keeps finding himself in competition with Shibano, a banker who is trying to save the companies that Washizu wishes to destroy.

Over several years, they struggle to gain control of a traditional family hotel whose owner wishes to pass it on to his son, a toy company run as a personal fiefdom by the family matriarch, and an electrical appliances company run by a dying entrepreneur who believes in loyally to one's workers. The aim of this series appears to be to contrast this ideal with the 'business is business' attitudes of Washizu. His opponent, Shibano, is not seen as ideal as his attempts to save companies still involves rationalisation and compulsory redundancies. Over the episodes, both men are forced to confront the human consequences of their business actions.

While not anti-American, the programme is anti-American attitudes to business and it is interesting that the only businessmen featured that wishes to emulates the ideals of the dying entrepreneur is Chinese.

The programme certainly does not talk down to its audience, expecting the viewer to follow such concepts as leveraged buyouts, and to its, credit, achieves quite a bit of suspense during the various takeover battles.

Chiaki Kuriyama has a meaty role as an investigative TV reporter who holds a grudge against Washizu for her bankrupt father's suicide many years before.

Three years ago, four schoolgirls disappear along with their bus. After one of them turns up in a coma, two Wide-Area Investigators are sent to the small town to assist the local police. They are played by Joe Odagiri (the crazy guy in white from 'Azumi') and Chiaki Kuriyama.

The 8x50-minute episodes are very 'Twin Peaks' in style, with frequent shifts in mood, eccentric characters who may or may not be significant to the investigation, and supernatural elements. Indeed, the whole thing may be sci-fi as there are occasional hints of trouble in Tokyo suggest it is set in the future and, as far as I know, there currently is no Japanese equivalent of the FBI. An obvious homage in a scene when the police discuss the case while sitting around a table upon which is a giant fish: similar to a scene in 'Twin Peaks' with a moose's head. Other surreal elements are the Pottery Club: a red-light area club where lascivious men pay to watch schoolgirls spinning pottery.

The actors appear equally mystified as to the tone of the show with some acting as if they are in a moody drama, others as if it is a slapstick comedy. A big problem with the realism is that all the school-kid actors are identical in size and appearance in the flashback scenes from three years ago.

I enjoyed the series a lot and there was considerable tension in the penultimate episode involving a shoot-out in a pitch black room. It was great to see Chiaki Kuriyama in such a big, leading role and, unusually for he, playing an authority figure.

Unfortunately for me, the subtitling went to pieces for the last two episodes. This was a particular shame as it had been so good for the first six, with puns explained and regional accents identifies. The last two episodes appeared to have been translated first into Chinese, then retranslated badly into English. (Can anyone enlighten me as to why this happens so frequently with the final episodes of Japanes TV series?) As a result, I am in a total state of confusion as to what happened at the end; the plot-lines appeared to be resolving themselves but in a way that made no sense to me at all! What was all the business with the schoolgirl starting a new religion; why were gangsters trying to blackmail the mayor; why did one of the only two schoolboys in a school full of girls pose nude for life drawing sessions by the soon-to-be-disappeared-girls in the flashback scenes; what on earth happened at the end? (As the programme seemed so well plotted until the last episode, I am wondering if it got cancelled before its time resulting in a rapid tie-up of plot-lines.)

A very funny film about a new University student, Takayuki Yamada, who joins a club (even though he is not sure what the club is about) hoping to meet girls. It turns out to be a club that involves directing teams of Oni spirits (like little fat Pikachus) to battle other University teams in a sporting contest.

Cast against type as a geeky Physics student with uncool hair and oversize glasses is Chiaki Kuriyama. She reveals a real flair for comedy playing the desperate girl who fancies the hero who fancies another girl in the team who fancies the team jock.

The CGI is excellent. The film flags a bit in the middle but is very different to anything I have seen before and well worth getting. I bought mine from Amazon.

Also known as 'Tomorrow's Kita Yoshio', this is a TV series of 11 45-minute episodes with good subtitling. It concerns a middle-aged man, Kita Yoshio, who has decided to commit himself in 11 days time on the anniversary of his friend's death. Each episode covers one day and there are many mysteries to be solved: Why did a rich man make friends with Kita in the first place? How did he die? Why did a beautiful young nurse agree to marry Kita many years ago? Why did she later leave him? How is she now the boss of a very large company.

The series is quite interesting in its mysteries. The main problem is the main character is such a drip. He wanders around, being terribly nice to people are are left deciding whether to help him or to use him for their own ends. The main character (who does both) is Keito, a club owner, who is played by Ryuhei Matsuda of '9 Souls' and 'Izo' fame.

The reason for my interest in the series is the presence of Chiaki Kuriyama as Keito's girlfriend. She is in each episode but only for about five minutes in each. She is still memorable, however, as she plays a very evil character. Not evil in her more well-known 'loving it' way, as in 'Kill Bill' or 'Great Yokai War', but as a selfish and weak-willed character who is willing to do the most terrible things to others to get herself out of the hole she has dug for herself. A very good performance!

Knocking down the stars I have awarded are inconsistencies in tone, such as a pair of comedy insurance investigators, amidst all this drama, who are trying to determine whether Kito's ex-wife murdered the previous boss of the company. Also annoying is the background music with frequent jazzy themes playing whatever the mood of the scenes being shown. But worth watching for the girl celebrity with a fetish for sucking toes who befriends Kito.

I obtained my copy from HKFlix. I have also seen it on e-bay.

An interesting film about the problems of women in Tokya who have to juggle the demands of their careers and their love lives. The main character is a jaded sub-editor on a newspaper who is given the task of profiling some successful career women. (She is no longer enjoying her job and her boyfriend treats her with indifference. The two she focuses on are the manager of a café who is having an affair with a married man and who has missed her period, and a former schoolfriend with a boring boyfriend and who is organising an advertising campaign featuring a famous male model that she is attracted to.

Chiaki Kuriyami plays the sub-editor's young, ditsy assistant and she is very good in what is a very different role for her that requires none of her trademark glares.

The film was well-made and acted, flipping between the various story lines without being confusing, and was surprisingly enjoyable. The subtitles had occasional oddities but were understandable and not off-putting. I obtained my R0 copy from HKFlix for $10.

The original 'Kisarazu Cat's Eye', I gather, was a TV series about a baseball team,one of whose members had cancer and had just six months to live.

This film is set three years after his death and, despite the above description, is a comedy. One of the teammates hears voices, telling him: "If you build it, he will come." He therefore reunites with his ex-teammates to try and carry out what he supposes to be his ex-team-mate's wishes. First they try building a massage parlour, but that is not what the mysterious voice requires, so they try building a Starbucks coffee-house before eventually trying a baseball pitch. At this point zombies turn up and the film gets really crazy.

At first I thought I was only going to be giving it three stars but as the film went on, I began to enjoy it more and more. It is quite surreal and extremely funny in places. It is very confusing, with constant flash-backs, but not knowing the original series was not a serious hindrance to enjoying it. It was fast-paced and enjoyable, although the baseball game in the final section dragged on a bit.

The film lasts 132 minutes and I obtained my Region 1 DVD from Amazon.com. The subtitles are good. (At the start of the film, I was concerned as the English subtitles appeared on top of burnt-in Japanese subtitles which did not appear to make much sense. But then the camera pulled back to reveal the characters were watching a Korean TV drama and the burnt-in subtitles stopped.)

I bought the film as Chiaki Kuriyama is my favourite actress but, unfortunately, she only provides a very brief cameo. She plays a very tough army trainer (Yes, really!!!) in a military camp and is absolutely brilliant in her few minutes of screen time.

If I was asked to choose something it was similar in tone to, I would say the old Australian TV series: 'Round the Twist'.

Asato (Koike Teppei) is a young man who returns to a slummy neighbourhood (referred to as 'The Street') to be near his Mum who is in prison. He is like the Empath in Star Trek, able to transfer other people's injuries and is unable to walk past a child with a grazed knee or broken arm without helping them. He is protected from street thugs by Takeo (Hiroshi Tamaki), another troubled young man who is a street thug and who has issues involving his father who is lying in a coma in hospital. The third member of their group is a young waitress, Shihi (Chiaki Kuriyama), who has her own secret.

Quite often, you watch a film without having any great expectations of it, and come across a pearl. I really enjoyed this film. It is extremely well-acted by the three principals and the relationships were moving. I think the film works so well because it focuses on the relationship, (those of friendship and those between children and parents), rather than making a big deal of the fantasy element: while Asato's healing powers are important to the plot, the director focuses on the drama.

I bought this a a Region 3 DVD from HKFlix but have also seen it available on Amazon.com and E-Bay. The sound is 5.1 and I was really impressed by the background music by Yoshihiro Ike which enhanced the mood of the film perfectly. The English subtitles are not perfect but they are understandable and do not spoil one's enjoyment of the film.

I have not given it 10 stars because of some plot inconsistencies, for instance the fact that Asato does not become a local sensation despite healing so many children in playground accidents.

An unexpected gem!

From what I gather, Kosuke Kindaichi is a fictional Japanese detective, similar to Sherlock Holmes, who was created in the 1940s and went on to solve 77 cases. He has been featured in many films and TV series. One of his cases, 'Joobachi' or 'Queen Bee' was first filmed in 1952, then remade in 2006. It is the 2006 version I am reviewing. I obtained it very cheaply from HKflix.com on a R0 disk called 'The File of Young Kindaichi: Queen Bee'.

It appears to be part of a series as there are plenty of other Kindaichi titles on the site, although the part of Kindaichi appears to be regularly re-cast. In 'Queen Bee', he is played for the first time by Goro Inagaki. The movie lats for two hours although, from the way it is paced, I am wondering if it was originally a 3-part TV series.

It really is very bad: the acting is over the top and melodramatic and the plot is convoluted and senseless. Kindaichi wears a cape and floppy hat and stands around doing significant poses. Things get worse after he solves the case with half an hour to go leaving the rest of the film excruciatingly boring as all the plot points are slowly explained.

The main reason to watch is Chiaki Kuriyama but unfortunately she is given little to do except stand on cliff-tops, look helpless and demure then suddenly give one of her trademark glares to camera. She plays Tomoko, an 18-year old girl who has spent her life on a remote island but who is now brought to the mainland by her rich step-father to meet three candidate husbands. Murder ensues! She also plays, in flash-back, Tomoko's deceased mother who was suspected of murdering Tomoko's father. Neither character is strong but merely reacts to events.

The subtitling on the DVD is pretty poor. All in all, not very good but Chiaki completists will want it . . . plus all the other users appear to be giving it much higher ratings than I have!

I believe that 'Kowai Dowa' was an anthology series of stories using fairy tales as a starting point for a modern reinterpretation. The only one I have seen is 'Oyayubihime' which was based on 'Thumbelina' but has no relation to that story apart from having little people. I tracked this down because it stars Chiaki Kuriyama.

I have been keen to see more of her work since coming across her in 'Kill Bill', 'Batale Royale' and 'Azumi-2'. This has been interesting but frustrating. While she adds a touch of class to poor films like 'Mail', she often seems to be there just for her looks, as with 'Persona'. Even in genuinely interesting films such as 'Scrap Heaven', her screen time tends to be small and her role in 'MPD-Psycho' was blink-and-you-miss-it. I have therefore enjoyed her recent work, such as 'Ekusute' and 'The Great Demon War'.

But finally to this review. . . It is a gritty magical fantasy called 'Oyayubihime'. It is four x 25 minute episodes and features Chiaki prominently - she has about 90% of the screen time and she is at her nastiest, psychotic schoolgirl best. She starts off as a schoolgirl with a crush on a classmate who rejects her. She obtains a spell which shrinks him to Thumbelina size and she imprisons him in a drawer in her bedroom. At first she treats him kindly but as he continues to reject her advances, she becomes increasingly crazy and takes to humiliating and torturing her captive. Chiaki is brilliant in this: she plays a really nasty person but is not a cardboard villain and even manages to keep the viewer's sympathy, despite doing the most terrible things. The special effects are surprisingly good.

Also appearing in it is Kou Shibasaki who would be reunited with Chiaki Kuriyama the following year in 'Battle Royale' in which she played Bad Girl Mitsuko.

So, how to get it? I found it here: http://www.geocities.com/oyamovie/ The page explains how to download it with subtitles - it sounds terribly complicated to do but turned out to be quite easy. There are plenty of clips on U-Tube but I do not recommend watching these as they are just extracts - I really wish I had not watched these before watching the full-length version.

I had no idea something like this existed and when I heard rumours of a long piece of work featuring Chiaki throughout, I thought the rumours were too good to be true but it is really good so try it. I hope you enjoy it!

I loved this. I bought it on Amazon.com as I am a fan of Chiaki Kuriyama and it was great to see her in something where she was being light-hearted and not getting killed.

It is about Ichiro (Koki Tanaka), an arrogant young man determined to make something of himself, who ends up as at a third-rate university. He joins a club in order to meet girls but for some reason, joins a club of train enthusiasts. Chiaki Kuriyama plays Terumi, an office temp. Early in the first episode, in a Maralyn Monroe moment, a gust of wind allows Ichiro to see that her knickers feature a picture of the train on which he was born. This convinces him that she is his destined to be his girl. The series then follows the ups and downs in the relationships between Ichiro and his two buddies from the train club with Terumi and her two fellow office temps. All six characters are very well-developed and the series is funny and tragic in turn as the characters have their career and love hopes raised and dashed.

The DVD set is very good value as it contains 11 episodes, lasting eight and a half hours. All other reviews I have seen of this have slammed it, saying Ichiro is a seriously annoying character and it is impossible to get through the first episode. I do not disagree: the first episode is certainly very hard to get through but if you manage it, the rest of the series makes the effort worthwhile as Terumi (along with us) begins to see the innate qualities of Ichiro that he keeps so well hidden behind his annoying facade, realising that he is prepared to sacrifice his own chance of happiness for the sake of friends and family.

Why only 7 out of 10? It's because of the subtitles. These are outstanding for the first ten episodes, allowing the humour to come through and showing the different speaking styles of the characters. The 11th episode of my DVD is a different matter, however, appearing to be a very bad, virtually unintelligible, translation of a version previously translated into Chinese as different names are used for the characters. This was a pity as I had enjoyed the series so much up to then.