Heaven's Bookstore (Tengoku no honya - koib / 戀火 -2004)

Starring:
Yuko Takeuchi ... Shoko/Natsuko
Tetsuji Tamayama ... Kenta
Karina ... Yui
Hirofumi Arai ... Satoshi
Teruyuki Kagawa ... Takimoto
Yoshio Harada ... Yamaki
Akashi Takei


KENTA (Tetsuji Tamayama), a young pianist who has just lost his job, is drowning his woes at a bar, when he meets a man in a Hawaiian shirt named YAMAKI (Yoshio Harada). He invites Kenta to work with him, and the next thing he knows, Kenta wakes up to find himself in a room he has never been in before. It is a strange room that seems to have no connection to life. He descends a staircase to find many shelves of books. Yamaki appears once again, and tells him that this is Heaven's Book Service and Kenta is going to start working a short-term part-time job here. In addition to selling books, this bookstore, owned by Yamaki, provides a service of reading aloud to customers. Although he is unsure of his new surroundings, Kenta follows their actions and starts to work in his new part-time job.

One day, Kenta meets SHOKO (Yuko Takeuchi) who had been the pianist that was the inspiration for him to first to start playing the piano. She was a gifted pianist whose promising future was destroyed when an accident caused her to have trouble in hearing.

Meanwhile, back on Earth, KANAKO (also by Yuko Takeuchi), the daughter of a Japanese patisserie store, is planning to bring back the fireworks show, which used to be held until 14 years ago. Everyone who watched the fireworks would look forward to the last piece, the "Loving Fireworks." It was told that couples that watch it together would be forever united in true love. However, the fireworks shows were discontinued when TAKIMOTO (Teruyuki Kagawa), a young fireworks technician had an accident that caused his fiancee to lose her hearing, and the tragedy lead him to disappear. The pianist, as it turns out, is Shoko, Kanako's aunt.



Okay, this was my second try at this movie. I watched maybe 15 minutes of the first time and was bored. I came across it again and realized that "Dang it!", Tetsuji-kun (my love) was in this and that I needed to finish it. Just because it bored me at the beginning didn't me it wouldn't pick up, right?

Wrong.

It was still slow...not as boring...but it wasn't heart-poundingly exciting either. There were a few moments of "ahh"ness to it. Yui and the realization of why she was in Heaven. Satoshi falling in love with her. *so sweet!* And then when Yui got to "meet" her brother. *sniff, sniff*

The ending was actually quite predictable so it wasn't like I melted or had to wipe away tears. Nope. It was nice but not awe inspiring. But it was nice to see "watashi no koibito". *sigh* That man has never, ever, ever, ever looked bad....EVER!

Blood and Bones (Chi to hone / 血と骨 -2004)

Starring:
Takeshi Kitano - Joon-pyong Kim
Hirofumi Arai - Masao Kim
Tomoko Tabata - Hanako Kim
Joe Odagiri - Takeshi Park
Kyoka Suzuki - Yong-hee Lee
Yuko Nakamura - Kiyoko Yamanashi
Jae Baxley - Fight Spectator
Mari Hamada - Sadako Toritani
Atsushi Ito - Yong-il / Young Joon-pyong
Shuuji Kashiwabara - San-myung Jang
Kazuki Kitamura - Yoshio Motoyama
Jun Kunimura - Yong-sang Jo
Yutaka Matsushige - Nobuyoshi Ko
Naoyuki Morita - Young Masao
Mami Nakamura - Sanae Otani
Takashi Nishina - Yong-su Kim
Kozo Sato - Tae-su Kim
Sansei Shiomi - Sung-ki Kim
Miako Tadano - Chun-mi Kim
Susumu Terajima - Hee-bom Park



Blood and Bones painstakingly describes the life of infamy lead by Kim Shun-Pei, an unskilled laborer from Cheju, an isolated island in the far South of Korea, from his arrival in Osaka in 1923, full of dreams and ambitions, for lack of more distinctive qualities, to his unmourned death in North Korea. Expatriated into Japan during the era of its colonial rule over the peninsula, he seems to be seeing/seeking (as do his compatriots) a land of opportunities for fortune, fame (to a lesser extent) and prior to these fantasies, work.

But unlike his fellow immigrants, Kim is a man who knows no law but the one dictated by his own iron will, and hardly any other means of expression than his two fists and his rage, with which he will establish his authority over the small community of his peers, a silent diaspora scattered in a few alleys that will remain their horizon for the rest of the film.


This was an excellent movie! Kitano Takeshi was awesome as the abusive, controlling father.

I've read that this movie was critiqued for the "abuse" towards Koreans in Japan during Japan's occupation of Korea. I didn't see that in this movie. What I saw was a normal reaction to how ANY ethnicity would react if a father who was the way he was would respond. Black, White, Asian, Mexican, Persian, etc...if were put about in those types of conditions, I would believe, would react the same as the Koreans did during that time.

I didn't even see a "Japanese" person depicted (even though the Koreans were actually Japanese actors) in the movie. It was all about the Koreans and how a family and the people involved in that family lived, loved, and learned and reacted to the man who took what he wanted and gave nothing back.

It was definitely a sad movie. There wasn't a single happy moment during the whole movie. I would hope they would have a part two of the movie because I'd like to see how the rest of the "children" became and how Masao lived after his father moved back to North Korea.

Oh yeah, Odagiri Joe was in it!! His part was quite big for the only 20 minutes he had in the whole movie. He was the first born son who was conceived out of rape. He was actually the most loving of the children especially towards Masao.

I wouldn't recommend this movie to everyone. Some serious mature scenes in this movie (yeah, I mean sex!) that was kind of gross since it was of the "old man". Ick!

Arai Hirofumi

I cannot believe I have not a single picture of Hirofumi-kun in any of my other previous posts of his movies. WTH? So here I go. He doesn't have the classic idol looks but he's cute in his own right. That Korean in him gives him a distinctive look that I really like. He can play tough guy or sweet guy...it works both ways for him. *muah!*

Sway (Yureru/ ゆれる -2006)

Starring:
Joe Odagiri ... Takeru Hayakawa
Teruyuki Kagawa ... Minoru Hayakawa
Masato Ibu ... Isamu Hayakawa
Hirofumi Arai ... Yohei Okajima
Yoko Maki ... Chieko Kawabata
Keizo Kanie ... Osamu Hayakawa
Yuichi Kimura ... Akihito Maruo
Tomorowo Taguchi ... Judge
Pierre Taki ... Funaki

From the director of Wild Berries and produced by Kore-eda Hirokazu (director of Nobody Knows, After Life and Maborosi) Sway is a tale of two contending brothers. Takeru is a successful photographer living the good life in Tokyo. Reluctantly, he sets off to visit his hometown on the first anniversary of his mother's death. Stopping in to see his older brother, Minoru, who has taken over the family gas station, he runs into a childhood friend, Chieko, now one of Minoru's employees. The three decide to take a drive to the ravine - a local beauty spot. Walking ahead on his own, Takeru crosses a bridge suspended high above the gorge to search for potential photos. Minoru and Chieko follow moments later but, as they cross, Chieko tumbles off the unsteady bridge into the ravine below. Following Chieko's funeral, Minoru is arrested. With only one witness, Minoru's defense hangs on his brother's testimony. As the trial progresses, it uncovers the gulf of jealousy and resentment that exists between the brothers and Takeru becomes unsure of what he actually saw that day.


Wow! Do I ever love Odagiri Joe? Let me count the ways......

Another incredible, incredible movie with him in it. This tale of brotherly love and rivalry will be recognized by some. For those of us with siblings, will probably think of the days when you wished you didn't have siblings at all. But yet, without those close to us, we really aren't who we are and don't really exist except to those who love us unconditionally. This is how I see this movie.

Takeru (Joe-san) is the younger brother. He has always looked up to his brother for everything. Where as, Minoru has always taken care of Takeru. Jealousy? Where did it begin? Why? This is what this story is about..........mainly.

I cried at the end. It's hard not to cry when the most gorgeous man alive (one of them anyway) is crying on screen. It really tears at your heart to see a man cry. I'm tellin' ya......

The script is awesome. The cast is awesome. The acting is awesome. This movie is now on my download list...........

69 (シクスティナイン-2004)

Starring:
Satoshi Tsumabuki - Kenichi Yazaki
Masanobu Ando - Tadashi "Adama" Yamada
Yuta Kanai - Manabu Iwase
Asami Mizukawa - Mie Nagayama
Rina Ohta - Kazuko "Lady Jane" Matsui
Yoko Mitsuya - Yumi Sato
Hirofumi Arai - Bancho
Hideko Hara - Kenichi's mother
Ittoku Kishibe - Matsunaga sensei
Jun Kunimura - Sasaki
Kyohei Shibata - Kenichi's father
Noriko Eguchi
Tasuku Emoto - Tatsuo Masugaki
Gen Hoshino - Yuzuru Nakamura
Haruka Igawa - Alpharomeo girl
Ryo Kase - Ryo Otaki
Rinko Kikuchi
Kenta Kiritani - Yuji Shirogushi
Fumiyo Kohinata - Yoshioka sensei
Hidekazu Mashima
Rie Minemura - Fumiko sensei
Yoko Mitsuya
Akifumi Miura - Goro Narushima
Yosuke Miyauchi - Shirai
Yoshiyuki Morishita - Adachi
Jun Murakami - Yakuza
Shunsuke Sawada - Ezaki
Toshiyuki Seyama - Scribe
Kyusaku Shimada - Aihara sensei
Suzunosuke
Kosuke Toyohara - Kawasaki sensei
Yoshiaki Yoza - Kiyoshi Fukushima

Sasebo, Nagasaki, Japan, 1969: inspired by the iconoclastic example of Dylan, Kerouac, Godard and Che, a band of mildly disaffected teenagers led by the smilingly charismatic Ken (Tsumabuki Satoshi) decide to shake up "the establishment" - i.e. their repressive school and the nearby US military installation. A series of anarchic pranks meets with varying levels of success, until Ken and company focus their energies on mounting a multimedia ‘happening' to combine music, film and theatre. Complications ensue.

This was an all out awesome movie. The version I watched had a few minor subbing boo-boo's (ie....incorrect English grammar) but I got the gist of it.

This was a great coming of age movie set during 1969. The comedy was hilarious. Teenagers, males, who thought of getting their first lay, becoming rock stars, making a name for themselves and all they had to go through to get there. LOL! This was a genius of a movie. Satoshi-san was a riot as Ken...oh, the first 30 minutes of the movie had me laughing so hard. Ken, loves to tell stories and one of them was about a certain particular body part. Then there was when the 3rd year student took over the school and one of the students played a naugty song over the loud speaker about the same particular body part. What a hoot!

Loved, loved, loved this!!

Tsumabuki Satoshi


Masanobu Ando

Neighbor No. 13 (隣人１３号, Rinjin 13-gô -2005)

Starring:
Shido Nakamura - 13-gô / No. 13
Shun Oguri - Jûzô Murasaki
Hirofumi Arai - Tôru Akai
Yumi Yoshimura - Nozomi Akai
Tomoya Ishii - Hajime Seki
Minoru Matsumoto - Shinigami / God of Death
Hitori Gekidan - Comedian on TV
Mitsuru Murata
Takashi Miike - Kaneda

"That was the other me who's in my body."

Juzo Murasaki is a young introvert who's moved to a new town where he has a new job.

On his first day at a construction site he meets his foreman and realises that, to his quiet horror, the foreman is no other than Toru Akai.

Akai was solely responsible for making Juzo's life hell by bullying him for years at school. It soon becomes clear that Akai - now a married man with a kid - hasn't changed one bit. He's still a callous, mean-streaked bully who's bent on mistreating people under his control. Although he doesn't recognise his former victim, he automatically adds Juzo to his list of victims at the construction site.

When Juzo discovers that Akai lives upstairs from him at their apartment block, he's started to feel the effects of his traumatic experiences of being bullied by Akai and his crones.

These effects give strength to his alter ego - a scarred, mentally deranged man named No. 13 - that slowly takes over Juzo to start a highly orchestrated vengeance against those who hurt Juzo, past and present.

OMG! This movie was totally wigged out! I was not expecting a totally new Oguri Shun. Okay, not new but a totally different character than his norm. Sweet, innocent, cute, nice, romantic......and so on.

If there was one movie that maximized the anti-bullying campaign it would be this one. DEFINITELY!

This movie harnassed the main theme that what comes around goes around. But, revenge doesn't always work the way you want it to. There are responsibilities from everyone not just the affected and the affectors.

OH! The naked Oguri Shun was a definite plus. He dances naked! LOL!

Oguri Shun

Go! (2001)

Starring:
Yōsuke Kubozuka - Sugihara/Lee
Kō Shibasaki - Tsubaki Sakurai
Hirofumi Arai - Won-Su
Taro Yamamoto - Tawake
Takahito Hosoyamada - Jong-Il
Tsutomu Yamazaki - Hideyoshi (Sugihara/Lee's father)


At first glance, Sugihara (Yosuke Kubozuka) looks no different than your average high school rebel-without-a-cause-except that he's concealing a carefully kept secret: he's an ethnic Korean-or zainichi-growing up in Japan. The 2001 Japanese film Go chronicles Sugihara's tribulations as he searches for his identity in a society that refuses to acknowledge him. The film is an adaptation of a novel by the same name by Kazuki Kaneshiro, who is also a zainichi.

A short crash course in modern Japanese history is required for the movie to make the least bit of sense. Koreans numbering the tens of thousands migrated to mainland Japan for forced labor during the Imperial occupation of Korea during World War II. After Japan's defeat, many of the Koreans residing in Japan lost their Japanese citizenship because Korea was no longer under their rule. Also, Japan's laws determine citizenship through blood and not location. In other words, the Japanese government denies legitimacy to a Korean born in Japan, but an ethnic Japanese born overseas is guaranteed citizenship until the age of 21. Of course, there is an alternate process of naturalization, but it's so rigid that it offers plenty of room for discrimination.

Despite beginning a relationship with a girl named Sakurai (Kou Shibasaki)-under the guise of a Japanese citizen-things change for the worse when Sugihara's best friend from Korean school is murdered in a subway. Sugihara breaks down for the first time in the movie. His friend, Jog-Il, was his sole classmate from his previous school to approve of his attempt to blend into society.~Brett Fujioka

This movie was really good but seemed very confusing with many flashbacks. You had a hard time trying to figure out what was then and what was now. But in all, it was a great lesson in discrimination. More of a great learning experience for myself who really didn't realize the problems with Korean and Japanese relations. Again, American naivete reigned supreme for me. I live in this generalized American bubble that I'm so desperate to pop.

The most memorable moment in the movie, to myself, was the discussion between the Japanese patrolman and Sugihara. We all want to be seen as individuals. As an American, I'm a "mixed breed". Even though, I'd be categorized as caucasian, I'm a pure breed of English, French, Native American (more so of that than the others), German, and possibly Irish/Scot. I speak English, some Spanish, some French, some Japanese, some Korean, and some Latin. To be categorized by race or country really, truly apalls me to no end. All of us, when cut, bleed red.

I totally got pissed when Sakurai told Sugihara that her father said that Chinese and Koreans were "dirty". Eeeergh!!!! That for him to be inside her....was scary. Damn if I didn't want to reach through my computer and ring her neck. Love is love there should be no walls beween.

Definitely, this movie was an "A" class. Maybe not for most with race issues, but definitely a teaching and learning experience.

Aoi Haru (Blue Spring)

Kujo~"Aren't there some flowers that aren't meant to bloom?"
Sensei~"I'd like to believe all flowers were, eventually."

Things aren't looking so great at Asahi High. This all-boys school has a high drop-out rate and the boys are intellectually challenged since most skip school. Many are on drugs, they smoke, and in gangs. Sounds like any American inner-city high school right?

The new leader of the senior class is Kujo (Matsuda Ryuhei) whose general apathy is punctuated by moments of violence and physical prowess by those who challenge his control. All he had to do was play a "clapping" game on the roof that required him to hold on to the roof rails while standing on the outside. If you mess up, you fall to your death. Aoki (Arai Hirofumi) has been his best friend since elementary school and is considered his "gopher" in the gang, which Aoki doesn't like. Yukio (Takaoka Sousuke) learns to play the guitar but ponders killing and eventually does by killing Ota (Yamazaki Yuta) in a bathroom stall. Kimura (Oshibe Yusuke) was a pitcher on the baseball team but has been having a losing streak. Feeling down on his luck, he decides to quit school and join the yakuza (mob) his brother is affiliated with. Yoshimura (Oshinari Shugo) wants to join Kujo's gang but lacks the know-how to do so. His only option is to be their look-out and scout while they do nefarious deeds. The Ghost (Eita) is a sickly kid who sleeps through class, runs off during lunch, and takes care of the sakura trees that surround the school yard. (I've no clue really why this character was in the movie...seriously! Maybe so we could look at a sweet, cute Eita as a kid. *smiles*) All the while, Kujo considers quitting school.

Kujo~"Aren't there some flowers that aren't meant to bloom?"
Sensei~"I'd like to believe all flowers were, eventually."



All I can say is..is that this was a freakin' AWESOME movie. I'll admit that this movie isn't for most. The teen angst was amazing! Totally amazing. Sugoi! Sugoi! Sugoi!

Matsuda Ryuhei



And for those of you who didn't know...he's the older brother of Matsuda Shota of LIAR GAME! OMG! I didn't review Liar Game. Or I thought I did and it didn't save. What the.....?????