The Sea Is Watching (2002) [Film Review]

The Sea Is Watching; or, The Measure of Love
     Misfortune added to misfortune only doubles the misery.
The Sea Is Watching is yet another Akira Kurosawa’s project that did not see its realisation before the director’s death. As a result, it was made as a tribute to Kurosawa after his passing. I have been meaning to watch the movie together with After the Rain (1999), but somehow something kept coming up and I kept forgetting about it. Thankfully, I finally managed to check it out and I share my thoughts on the film.

Release Info

Directed by: Kei Kumai Starring: Nagiko Tono, Hidetaka Yoshioka, Masatoshi Nagase

Language: Japanese Original Title: 海は見ていた Runtime: 119 min

Synopsis
Japan, 19th century. Oshin (Nagiko Tono) works as a prostitute. She lives in a house inhabited by other ladies for company. One day, a samurai named Fusanosuke (Hidetaka Yoshioka) arrives in a house looking for safety after injuring a man in a fight. Oshin shelters Fusanosuke and falls in love with him. Unfortunately, the samurai breaks her heart by marrying somebody else. Then, Oshin meets a wanderer Ryosuke (Masatoshi Nagase).

Distant Stillness
Maybe it’s an insane wall of expectations from myself, but I think that The Sea Is Watching is an inferior film when compared to After the Rain. Indeed, both have the spirit and charm of Akira Kurosawa, yet the story of The Sea Is Watching feels so out of place from the director’s dramatic repertoire. All in all, the centre focus of the script is a prostitute with romantic feelings.

Come to think of it, if I hadn't known anything about the film, I would have assumed it was crafted by Nobuhiko Obayashi because of the female-oriented plot, traditional Japan setting, rich colour palette, and a touch of violence. That being said, we know Kurosawa is the one who wrote the script and director Kei Kumai did the directorial chores, and he pulled off the job in a satisfactory way.

While watching the film, I really sympathised with the difficult plight of Oshin, but at the same time, I thought her profession is overly romanticised in the film. Oshin’s professional friends are wholeheartedly supportive of the main heroine while dealing with their own share of toxic relationships. To be honest, all of the them function like remixed variations of Cinderella waiting to be saved and there is no Cruella de Vil in sight to stir things up for Oshin.

Still again, Kurosawa’s story is very poignant and it highlights the unpredictability as well as the sad uncertainty of life. You invest yourself emotionally into another person only to discover that this person does not understand you at all.

With regard to performances, Nagiko Tono played Oshin beautifully and it makes me all the more surprised that this actress did not have greater gigs in historical dramas. Super young Hidetaka Yoshioka convincingly portrays a scared samurai, whereas Masatashi Nagase does a great job as a disillusioned and pitiful loner. A word of mention also goes to Misa Shimizu who portrayed Kikuno.

Recommendations
I won’t write “if you like Kurosawa, then…” Just watch The Sea Is Watching and judge for yourselves if you sense the cinematic master’s vibe. It’s a well made slice-of-life tale, but After the Rain resonated better with me.
Overall score: 6/10

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City Hunter (1987) [Anime Review]

City Hunter; or, Mokkori Mania
     There’s a chance you will celebrate your next birthday in hell.
Inspired by the Netflix live-action adaptation of City Hunter that came out this year, I decided to finally check out the glorified anime series from the 1980s that ran for four seasons and was followed by theatrical OVAs. My motivation for picking up the anime consisted mainly of action-packed vibes of the previously discussed movie, but also of the opinions of my dear MDL friend, SumiTheCat.

Release Info

Developed by: Toshio Nakatani, Masuo Ueda Voice actors: Akira Kamiya, Kazue Ikura

Language: Japanese Original Title: シティーハンター No of eps.: 51 (season 1)

Synopsis
Ryo Saeba is a sweeper for hire. He basically rushes to action as a detective, bodyguard, or enforcer for hire whenever the police are helpless. Oftentimes, he aids beautiful women simply because… he likes beautiful women. People in need get in contact with Saeba by leaving the XYZ mark on a blackboard at Shinjuku Station. Initially, Saeba operates the business with a friend and former cop Makimura, but when he gets killed by mobsters, his sister Kaori takes over as City Hunter’s partner.

Get Wild
I have to say that as a person struggling with anhedonia, it’s really hard for me these days to find an anime that would satisfy me and hold my disastrous attention span, but City Hunter does the job! I was quite surprised how brisk and freewheeling it felt. Obviously, the manga and the first season of the anime are from the 1980s, so they are products of their times, and it was quite easy to replicate the sense of Bubble Era, City Pop-charged mania of lavish lifestyle that consumed Japan back then.

With regard to the storytelling perspective, I invite you to check out the anime in its original, uncensored form. Yeah, it has a lot of adult jokes (it goes without saying that Ryo Saeba is a perverted man), but these are kept within the safe-for-work confines and not as direct or brutal as in, for instance, the Golden Boy anime.

Jokes aside, I’m a big fan of crime dramas (even to such an extent that once I used to watch Columbo and Detective Conan religiously) and City Hunter very much delivers on that front as well. Of course, the show is not about murder mysteries, but I like the premise of Saeba doing “bare minimum” detecting to uncover the baddies and serve them the comeuppance they deserve.

When it comes to the animation style, I love the bright colours this anime uses. They are vivid, but subtle, not flashy. As a result, the nightly world of City Hunter looks all the more inviting. The action stuff is of course wonderful, and it makes you wonder that the only rival worthy of Saeba’s skill would be Golgo 13.

The music itself is also worth mentioning. It’s not very City Pop (unfortunately), but the incidental bits are quite jazzy and catchy. However, I absolutely adore the opening theme Cool City and the closing theme Get Wild. It’s awesome that the Netflix crew used Get Wild for the closing credits of their adaptation.

Recommendations
All things considered, I am writing this review right after finishing the first season of the anime, but I really want to continue on watching and check out the whole animated domain of City Hunter. Maybe perhaps I will reach out for manga at some point in the future, but this is highly unlikely. Yeah, I definitely recommend this anime if you are looking for something light and fun.Overall score: 8/10

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Getting back in the swing of things (and my problem with Super Sentai)

 

This little post is something in between a blog update and just plain ramble. Most definitely, it’s not an editorial.
     Evidently, we are well over into the second half of 2024 and you some lurkers out there might have noticed that the blog is not updated nowadays as it used to be in the previous years. I was giving hints about it in some previous posts, but the fact is I am mostly consumed by work, and whenever I have time off (like summertime) I just get overwhelmed by the amount of Asian movies and dramas to check out, so I just shut it mentally and pick a Western movie from my shelf to watch. Lol On top of that, I have my own personal, creative aspirations and in 2024 I started writing poetry as well as a novel for the first time in my life (in English).
     Unfortunately, recently, I have been struck with another bout of LPR. It is a condition I have been struggling with for four years now, but two weeks of doing nothing and just lying and suffering made me realise that this blog, even with little to no activity at the moment, is a grand project that should be continued. So even if I fail each week or each month to muster up some spare time to watch and review something, I will not give up and keep on trying, until some more flexible times (2025 please?)
     This leads me to my Super Sentai problem. The franchise has almost 50 seasons, and just looking at all the possibilities feels overwhelming to me. I watched and reviewed only a handful of seasons, but where to continue on? I like the 1990s period (because I am myself from that decade), so perhaps I should limit myself only to this time frame? I did watch Zyuranger, Ohranger, Turboranger, Megaranger, and Timeranger, but what about the rest of the shows? Do you have your own recommendations or personal favourites? Please let me know. At the moment, I tried watching Dairanger and stopped after two episodes because I couldn’t figure out who exactly were the main characters. Instead, I started Kakuranger and I’m at episode four now.

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