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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AD Police Files [OVA Review]

 AD Police Files; or, Stop! An officer will shoot

     At least she died as a woman.
The weather outside is as beautiful as ever this time of the year, so it makes me all the more surprised that I found myself in the mood for some gloomy cyberpunk feels. Needless to say, I decided not to look for the most popular instances of the genre recommended on the internet, but instead I went for something more obscure. As a result, I ended up watching AD Police OVA from the year 1990.

Release Info

Directed by: Akira Nishimori Voice actors: Toshio Furukawa, Youko Matsuoka

Language: Japanese Original Title: ADポリス No. of eps: 3

Synopsis
It’s the year 2027. The advancements in the field of cybernetics allow people to replace their organs with artificial substitutes. There are also fully automated androids known as Boomers. If Boomer goes haywire and commits a crime, they are chased by the special mad criminal investigation unit known as AD Police.

Blade Running
It should be noted that AD Police is a spin-off series of the Bubblegum Crisis franchise. Actually, the title card at the beginning of each of the three OVA episodes says directly “Another Story of Bubblegum Crisis”. The events of the OVA take place before the first series of Bubblegum Crisis and indirectly focus on the cop character of Leon McNichol and his partner Gina Marceau.

With regard to AD Police,I have to say that I really like the traditional animation style because it’s really evocative of its late 80s/early 90s era. In terms of the visuals themselves and storyline themes, however, you can’t help but notice the overwhelming influence of Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner. AD Police grows out of the world crafted by Phillip K. Dick in which the uniqueness of human life is constantly questioned amidst hordes of androids who also have their fair share of desires, fears, and personal introspection.

That being said, I kind of regret watching this OVA primarily because of its NSFW content. With each episode, things get so adult-oriented and explicit that by the end of it, I felt as if I was watching hentai. Sure, the plot of each episode is engaging enough, but the way these are handled leaves a lot to be desired.

Allegedly, there were supposed to be more episodes of the OVA, but the studios responsible for it fell into some sort of dispute. As a result, AD Police had its continuation years later in the form of another short-lived series and a reboot OVA. People responsible for the creation of AD Police were Tony Takezaki and Suzuki Toshimitsu, who also crafted a manga called AD Police: Shuuen Toshi.

Recommendations
All things considered, AD Police Files is a product of its time when there was a huge boom on cyberpunk in the anime industry. Some franchises grew larger than life and lived to tell the tale through decades (see Akira and Ghost in the Shell) but many weren’t so lucky, including AD Police. If you want to get some entertainment value from this, I suggest you watch the whole OVA series at one go in the middle of the night and crank up the volume for the intro song and ending songs. It’s a fairly nice schlock anime experience for one time.
Overall score: 5/10

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Mechanical Violator Hakaider (1995) [Tokusatsu Review]

Mechanical Violator Hakaider; or, Requiem for a Destroyer
     Do you want to live? Do you want to live and have a free will of your own?
It’s been quite some time since I covered Tokusatsu outside the realm of Godzilla. Actually, while being on the lookout for some Goji clips on YouTube, I spotted some random video in Japanese characters, but the thumbnail caught my attention, so I clicked on it. All I cay is that looking at unknown 90s Toku vintage action sent me on a search to find the original source. This led me to Mechanical Violator Hakaider, directed by none other than the crazy nerd himself Keita Amemiya.

Release Info

Directed by: Keita Amemiya Starring: Yuji Kishimoto, Mai Hosho, Jiro Okamoto, Yasuaki Honda

Language: Japanese Original Title: 人造人間ハカイダー Runtime: 77 min

Synopsis
A group of criminals raid an abandoned prison facility. In one of the sealed chambers, they discover a man in chains (Yuji Kishimoto). The man turns himself into an android known as Hakaider and kills the criminals. He mounts a bike and rushes to a utopian world known as Jesus Town, which was built on the ruins of Jerusalem. Jesus Town is governed by the Parliament and psychotic leader Gurjev (Yasuaki Honda). A group of outlaws led by a girl called Kaoru (Mai Hosho) plan to destroy the Parliament. Hakaider teams up with Kaoru because she believes he is the black knight who saved her in her dreams. When the outlaws are attacked, Hakaider steps into action.

Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door
Having done some research online, it turns out the character of Hakaider is actually the original creation of Shotaro Ishinomori, the mastermind behind Super Sentai and Kamen Rider. The villainous robot was part of 1970s Toku manga and TV show called Android Kikaider; however, Amemiya’s movie is not in continuity with the previous media. Instead, Mechanical Violator Hakaider is a stand-alone sci-fi spin on the side character, turning him into a sympathetic anti-hero much in the vein as Terminator from T2: Judgement Day (1991).

If you are already familiar with Keita Amemiya (see my review of the Zeiram franchise), then you know you are in for a ride filled with old-school fireworks, miniatures, model work, stop motiion, front projection, and early CGI. Amemiya uses every single trick in the book to make a satisfying dark Toku spectacle driven by ridiculously satisfying action, Mad Max-inspired production design, and moments of genuine poignancy.

The story itself is simple enough to keep you engaged. We have the main hero who doesn’t know what exactly he is: a tool of destruction or perhaps misunderstood champion of morality. It is only when Hakaider meets the cheerful Kaoru, he experiences some real happiness.

I know that I am a sucker for love subplots, but I really like the romance between Hakaider and Kaoru because it wasn’t just “love at first sight”. In fact, the majority of the thing was presented through Kaoru’s dreams, which made it extremely poetic.

Now, moving to the baddies. Amemiya does some clever deconstruction of expectations here. Gujrev looks like an angel, and he even has a bunch of fake wings. The soft way he speaks and his affection for flowers makes you think he is a kind person, but nothing could be farther from the truth. The same goes for Gujrev’s henchman, android Michael, who looks all clean and slick, as if he came out of the Timeranger show. The android even claims to be a representative of justice, but he too is driven by twisted misconceptions about life, peace, and obedience.

Oh, and a bit of trivia! Perceptible viewers may spot among the outlaws a familiar face from Zyuranger; that is, Ami Kawai who played Lami in the show. Here, unfortunately, she doesn't have much a screen time, but it's great to see her in another Tokusatsu production. 

With regard to disadvantages, the movie’s runtime is quite short and I watched the director’s cut(!) This version lasts 77 minutes, whereas the theatrical one is 26 minutes shorter. It makes me think what exactly was cut to accommodate the shorter runtime, but I have no desire to watch the original version.

Recommendations
All in all, Mechanical Violator Hakaider is a lot of fun if you’re looking for something vintage, yet without gruesome violence. It took me like a whole week to track this movie down. I’ve searched for it anywhere, until my stupid brain told me to head over to YouTube of all places, and lo and behold there it was. Now I’m so super charged that I want to check out more of Keita Amemiya’s filmography.Overall score: 7/10

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City Hunter (2024) [Film Review]

City Hunter; or, Mr Private Eye
     I’ll take you on your case. Let’s go avenge your brother.
I’m back with new, belated update. This time, I take a look at another 2024 April release. To be specific, I really wanted to check out a Netflix live-action adaptation of the popular City Hunter franchise.

Release Info

Directed by: Yuichi Sato Starring: Ryohei Suzuki, Misato Morita, Asuka Hanamura, Fumino Kimura

Language: Japanese Original Title: シティーハンター Runtime: 102 min

Synopsis
Tokyo, 2024. Private detective Ryo Saeba (Ryohei Suzuki) is an excellent marksman, and also a pervert when it comes to relations with women. He is working on a case of a missing girl together with his friend Hideyuki Makimura (Masanobu Ando), who is an ex-cop. After the murder of Makimura, Saeba joins forces with his partner's sister, Kaori (Misato Morita) to discover the mystery behind a deadly drug known as Angel Dust.

Midnight Lighting
To be honest, my knowledge of City Hunter is limited only to the 1993 Hong Kong adaptation with Jackie Chan in the leading role, so please don’t hit me. I have no idea how it’s possible, but the City Hunter craze never caught me. I’m familiar with the premise of the show, but I don’t even think that the original anime and OVAs from Sunrise were broadcast in my country. The Korean and French adaptations from 2011 and 2019 respectively are also beyond me. As a result, I approach the 2024 film with the non-fan mindset.

The Netflix production directed by Yuichi Sato certainly caught my attention due to its stylish production design and over-the-top action set pieces. It is clear that this movie was made by the fans for the fans, so even though I am missing out on some vital easter eggs and plotlines from the manga, I still appreciate the fast pacing and interesting storyline.

Although the movie is set in present day, you can clearly feel the vibe of the 1980s. What is more, I love the neon lighting of many scenes and great attention to detail (city skyline is oftentimes prevalent throughout the movie). In addition, the end credits are a real design treat.

In my opinion, Ryohei Suzuki totally rocks as Ryo Saeba. I really like his overconfident on-screen behaviour, so it’s much easier for me to buy his interpretation of the character than Jackie Chan’s. However, the NSFW jokes crop up a bit too often, in my opinion. Because of these, at times, I had a feeling that I was watching yet another Naked Gun movie.

Additional praise goes to Misato Morita as Saeba’s sidekick, Kaori Makimura. Personally, I think she steals a lot of the scenes, especially the ones that involve drama and moments of vulnerability between the characters. I think that Morita had better material to work on than in the case of The Naked Director, and I certainly look forward to seeing her in more movies and dramas. That being said, Takaya Sakoda really scared me as the main villain. Indeed, he gave a menacing performance and at first, I thought I was looking at deaged Ken Mitsuishi from Ouroboros drama. There is certainly a similarity in the crazed look of both actors. I also liked seeing Asuka Hanamura and Fumino Kimura in supporting roles.

Recommendations
To sum up, I greatly enjoyed City Hunter from Netflix and I’m definitely open for a potential sequel. In the meantime, the movie encouraged me to check out the Sunrise anime, but I still have no desire to watch Korean and French productions.Overall score: 7/10

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JDM Restoration [News]

This week, I would like to bring to your attention a Youtube channel called JDM Restoration. On the basis of the name, you’d think that it focuses on automobiles, but its main purpose is actually restoration and preservation of film media centering around JDM.

     Interestingly, the person behind the channel has taken it upon themselves to restore the Shuto Kousoku Trial movie series, about which I wrote on my blog and on Kayo Kyoku Plus blog as well. You don’t need to look further, just scroll down this post, to see all the movies restored by this Youtuber.
     Needless to say, they did an amazing job, and it is even more surprising that they worked on the only available DVD sources out there. The subtitles are also hardcoded from scratch. If you wish to know all the technical details beyond the restoration of these gems, then head over to description boxes under the first video.
     All things considered, they are doing God's work. I wish there were more channels like that out there preserving forgotten movies.

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GTO Revival (2024) [Special Review]

GTO Revival; or, A New Lesson
     Even if you don’t have these, you are you. You’re the cutest.
I have to start this review with a big thank you to Rise from Phoenix Talks Pop Culture Japan because without her, I would have completely missed out on the info that FujiTV actually cooked up a GTO Revival special with Takashi Sorimachi returning to his legendary role(!) Indeed, we live in the age where heroes of the 80s and the 90s keep coming for one last hurrah, from Indiana Jones to Batman, but I have never imagined in my wildest dreams that this phenomenon would also impact the GTO franchise.

Release Info

Directed by: Yoshihiro Fukagawa Starring: Takashi Sorimachi, Sae Okazaki, Rikako Yagi

Language: Japanese Original Title: GTOリバイバル Runtime: 91 min

Synopsis
26 years after the start of his unconventional career, and teaching the first class of high schoolers, Eikichi Onizuka works as a… food delivery man. However, he is soon called in by one of his former students who works for the Ministry of Education. Onizuka is asked to investigate a private school which is plagued by an influencer personality known as Judge-or-Laugh. Onizuka steps into action to free students and teachers from cyber-terror.

The Age of Cyberbullying
Honestly, as soon as Takashi Sorimachi appeared together with obligatory cameos from original cast members of the drama, I had a big smile on my face. On top of that, when a remix of the Poison theme tune by Sorimachi and Blue Encount kicked in, it was pure icing on the cake.

That being said, this TV special is not a perfect revival of the drama that manages to capture the lighting in the bottle, and understandably so. It’s been a heck of a long time since we saw Sorimachi’s GTO on the screen, and this episode has a lot of catching up to do to reintroduce the character into modern age.

The main conflict of the story is very interesting because it concerns all the schools across the globe: cyberbullying. It’s very exhilarating and cathartic to see Onizuka’s take on the matter, but his approach is mostly recycled stuff you’ve already seen in the drama episodes and the theatrical movie: With his unconventional approach, Onizuka empowers the victims and makes baddies confront their inner trauma.

Unfortunately, getting to the gist of Onizuka’s modus operandi is repeatedly interrupted by the episodic and disjointed narrative of the TV special that throws lots of new characters and constant exposition at you within the span of 90 minutes. As a result, this episode feels like a pitch for a new GTO season crammed into a movie format. This, unfortunately, doesn’t work well.

With regard to performances, Takashi Sorimachi IS (and will always be) Great Teacher Onizuka. This man is literally “too cool for school”, even when he is 50 years old. I also enjoyed the performances by Rikako Yagi, Mei Hata, Kosuke Suzuki, and Yosuke Kubozuka. Apart from numerous easter-egg cameos, there’s one that particularly stole my heart at the very end of the special, but I refrain from any spoilers.

Recommendations
All things considered, I enjoyed GTO Revival more than the theatrical movie from 1999, but still it doesn’t achieve the level of the classic drama. It’s an okay story for a one-time revisitation of GTO. However, I wouldn’t like FujiTV treat this as a backdoor pilot for a potential continuation of the drama next year. My thanks go to Skeweds Translations for translating this special.Overall score: 7/10

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Perfect Days (2023) [Film Review]

Perfect Days; or, The Art of Mindfulness
     Next time is next time. Now is now.
When I heard about a new movie project by Win Wenders centered around public toilets for the first time, I thought that the famous German director was going to commit another weird “auteur stunt” like Fruit Chan with his movie about toilets over 20 years ago. Thankfully, I couldn’t be more wrong. Perfect Days directed by Wim Wenders is not toilet-oriented insanity, but a thoughtful examination of our existence, and how we can live in peace with our surroundings.

Release Info

Directed by: Wim Wenders Starring: Koji Yakusho, Arisa Nakano, Tokio Emoto, Tomokazu Miura

Language: Japanese Original Title: Perfect Days Runtime: 123 min

Synopsis
Hirayama (Koji Yakusho) works for the Tokyo Toilet company as a cleaner. His life is governed by structure and rituals. He listens to music on cassettes, cultivates plants, reads books, but most importantly, he loves trees and takes pictures of them, trying to capture the elusive phenomenon of komorebi. We observe Hirayama’s life through his unlikely encounters with other people.

Slow Living
Even though the movie had its premiere last year, and it has been widely discussed on the internet for a few good months, I was able to see it by complete incident, when I found out that a cinema in the neighbouring city was going to organize a screening (the distributor over here circulates the film over cinema chains for two months).

Well, I went to see the film completely blind. I did not read the synopsis and I did not watch any trailer. All I knew was that Koji Yakusho was the lead and Wim Wenders directed the film. I think the best way to describe the film is to call it a cautionary tale with a cathartic release.

I fell in love with the character of Hirayama and his simple approach to life. In this day and age, when we are bombarded with overstimulation from all sides, it is indeed refreshing to see the quiet lifestyle of a boomer who is only passionate about his hobbies and oriented within the moment. I dare to suspect that Hirayama is not Wenders’ attempt to romaticise Japanese people, but an embodiment of the director’s personal warning against hustle culture and digital slavery.

In addition, I couldn’t help but notice a few nods to Yasujiro Ozu. Indeed, Wenders is an Ozu fanboy and the clear expression of this is the traditional 4:3 aspect ratio of Perfect Days, which gives the film a wonderful vintage flair. What is more, I am not sure if the movie was shot on actual film tape or on a digital camera, but the vivid colour grading is outstanding.

With regard to performances, Koji Yakusho proves once again what a legendary actor he is. From Tampopo to Perfect Days, the man’s over 40-year-long career is sheer epicness. However, I am deeply convinced that Yakusho is the only guy on the planet who could play Hirayama. His withdrawal from society combined with genuine gentleness and sincerity very much echoes other character played by Yakusho, such as Sugiyama in Shall We Dance? and Kantake Kazumasa in Kamikaze Taxi.

Recommendations
All things considered, I experienced the film at a perfect timing. Perfect Days is the kind of fatherly advice everyone needs to hear from time to time. In some Polish review, I read that the film is the perfect example of a motion picture promoting mindfulness. The problem is that it is hard to find other examples from Japanese Cinema. There are plenty of comedies, and quite slice-of-life tales, but Perfect Days sets the tone for a very unique cinematic experience. Last but not least, I encourage you to visit the official page of the movie, which is a work of art in and of itself, and it includes additional info about Hirayama's life outside of the film.
Overall score: 9/10

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