Don't judge a movie by its cover
This is definitely one of those cases. I mean, just look at that cover. That could be anything. It literally could be anything. I can guarantee that someone who is unaware of the indie Japanese film scene would definitely think that this is the poster for an Asian Porno! I mean, come on who wouldn't think that this looks like a porno. But that's just the cover. And why do I say don't judge a movie by its cover? Because by some miracle, the actress on this cover never appears in that outfit in the film. I'm being serious. Not once does she strip down into that number. In the film she's conservatively dressed...okay so her abs are showing but she's pretty much mostly covered. But back to the point, just by looking at this cover, what the hell is this movie about???
The answer...may be a little bit weird. And as an American, the view of weird films from Japan is actually not shocking, but we're still shocked. However I wouldn't call this film shocking nor confusing, but rather...head scratching? Yeah, I'll call it a head scratcher.
The Plot
A gangster steals money from his boss. A man he sees as a brother is charged with finding him. His ex-girlfriend demands payment for all his debts. Her new boyfriend is afraid she's leaving him. A peeping tom discovers a secret lair. In that lair is the mysterious Captain Banana. A psychotic hitman plans on eliminating the gangster. And all of this takes place in a hotel! Who will come out rich?
Analysis
If you find yourself confused by that, it's okay, I was confused too. But all in all the plot is about a string of interesting characters that converge in a hotel room. The best way to describe is fairly simplistic but for an American audience to understand it has to be said this way: It is a collection of Anime Characters thrown into a Tarantino style story.
Each character is an archetype of an anime character. The cocky laid back protagonist. The badass rival. The sexy criminal. The lovesick nerd. The pervert. The costumed hero. The psycho clown. All of them are characters that can fall easily into an anime archetype. It should be more evident due to the anime opening title sequence.
I should point out that how I discovered this film was through an anime. I was a huge fan of the 2009 anime film, Redline, that was frequently touted as the first full hand drawn anime in a long time. It was a visual spectacle that shows just how far hand drawn animation can be pushed without the aide of cell shaded CGI. The director of that film was Takeshi Koike, and I wanted to find out more about this ambitious director. That's how I discovered this gem. He wasn't the director of the film, but he was the creator of the aforementioned anime title sequence. The chair of director actually belonged to the man who gave Takeshi the story for Redline: Katsuhito Ishii.
Review
As I've said before, this is an unusual film. The setting is very standard. In fact there are several American low budget films that dominantly take place at a hotel or even a single hotel room. What the film has going for it though are a cast of really interesting characters. You got Shunichiro Miki (Masatoshi Nagase) the pompadour gangster with a pink leather jacket. Shingo Sonoda (Keisuke Horibe) the badass (or at least he thought so) clad in black gangster who grew up with Miki. Kana Mitsukoshi (Akemi Kobyashi aka the hottie on the cover) the ex-girlfriend of Miki. Todohei Todohira (Yoshinori Okada) Kana's new very nerdy boyfriend and fiancé. These four make up more a majority of the titular Party 7. Their plot in this story mainly consists of Miki stealing money from his former boss in order to leave a life of crime. Kana and Sonoda track him down to the hotel he's staying at for different reasons while Todohei arrives at the hotel simply because he was afraid Kana was cheating on him.
Their story consists mainly of conversations that reveal some hidden secret about themselves to everyone. And that's pretty much it. They talk and they reveal hidden secrets. The opening anime title sequence makes this movie seem like its going to be an action movie where all hell will break loose. But no, its just people talking and revealing secrets they didn't want to reveal. That's the A-Plot.
The B-Plot revolves around two peeping toms: Captain Banana (Yoshio Harada) and Okita Souji (Tadanobu Asano). Okita is a recently released inmate who discovers that his father built a secret room in a hotel room specifically for peeping, which ironically is what got him in jail in the first place. It is there that he meets Captain Banana, a pro peeping tom pervert in a superhero outfit that wishes to make Okita his new sidekick. They spend a majority of the movie watching the A-Plot. And...That's what happens. They talk, and watch the A-Plot.
Then there is the final member of this titular Party 7. Wakagashi (Tatsuya Gashuin) the psychotic hitman who is hired to kill Miki and Sonoda to retrieve the stolen money. His badass action scene was mostly in the opening anime title sequence. He barely shows up in the film but makes himself prominent at the end of the film when the real action goes down. However that action, if choreographed better, could've been truly a funny end but it was funny because it was so horrible. I would've preferred if that final action scene was done as an anime due to how over exaggerated it would've been.
It really seems like there's nothing interesting here, but as I stated before, the CHARACTERS are what would keep one locked into watching this whole movie. The dialogue is interesting and does drive whatever plot it is trying to drive. Though halfway through you do wish something else would happen besides talking. Some might even wish that Kobyashi did strip down into the striking number she posed in for the cover just to add more visual. You just keep hoping for SOMETHING to happen. And when it does happen it is rather comical. Whether intended or not, it is very comical.
I can't really comment on the acting due to having only seen a few Japanese films but seeing a young Tadanobu Asano did caught me off guard. Some might remember him as being Hogun in Thor. I look forward to what his performance will be for legendary anime character Zenigata in the live action Lupin III film.
Their story consists mainly of conversations that reveal some hidden secret about themselves to everyone. And that's pretty much it. They talk and they reveal hidden secrets. The opening anime title sequence makes this movie seem like its going to be an action movie where all hell will break loose. But no, its just people talking and revealing secrets they didn't want to reveal. That's the A-Plot.
The B-Plot revolves around two peeping toms: Captain Banana (Yoshio Harada) and Okita Souji (Tadanobu Asano). Okita is a recently released inmate who discovers that his father built a secret room in a hotel room specifically for peeping, which ironically is what got him in jail in the first place. It is there that he meets Captain Banana, a pro peeping tom pervert in a superhero outfit that wishes to make Okita his new sidekick. They spend a majority of the movie watching the A-Plot. And...That's what happens. They talk, and watch the A-Plot.
Then there is the final member of this titular Party 7. Wakagashi (Tatsuya Gashuin) the psychotic hitman who is hired to kill Miki and Sonoda to retrieve the stolen money. His badass action scene was mostly in the opening anime title sequence. He barely shows up in the film but makes himself prominent at the end of the film when the real action goes down. However that action, if choreographed better, could've been truly a funny end but it was funny because it was so horrible. I would've preferred if that final action scene was done as an anime due to how over exaggerated it would've been.
It really seems like there's nothing interesting here, but as I stated before, the CHARACTERS are what would keep one locked into watching this whole movie. The dialogue is interesting and does drive whatever plot it is trying to drive. Though halfway through you do wish something else would happen besides talking. Some might even wish that Kobyashi did strip down into the striking number she posed in for the cover just to add more visual. You just keep hoping for SOMETHING to happen. And when it does happen it is rather comical. Whether intended or not, it is very comical.
I can't really comment on the acting due to having only seen a few Japanese films but seeing a young Tadanobu Asano did caught me off guard. Some might remember him as being Hogun in Thor. I look forward to what his performance will be for legendary anime character Zenigata in the live action Lupin III film.
Final Thoughts
This movie is not for everyone. Especially if you're looking for action or hoping that Akemi Kobyashi does something sexy (the cover is the only thing you're going to get from her), then this movie is not for you. However if you want to see an interesting play of words among really weird characters being watched by two peeping toms that are all being hunted by a crazy hitman then this is for you. I enjoyed it, but again, its not for everyone. But a little curiosity doesn't hurt, right?
SCORE: 6.5/10 - A fairly entertaining Tarantino story starring Anime Characters
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