The Hyōronka

Just a 20 something-year-old who reviews japanese movies

[shichousha-san]

A Banana? At This Time of Night?

A Banana? At This Time of Night? is a Japanese drama and comedy movie based on a true story that follows the life of Yasuaki Kano who suffers from muscular dystrophy during the years 1995 to 2002 where he passed away. This movie is directed by Tetsu Maeda and is also based on a novel by the same name which is written by Kazafumi Watanabe which was published March, 2003 by Hokkaido Shimbun. Some of the main actors are Yo Oizumi, Haruma Miura and Mitsuki Takahata.

This movie follows the life of Yasuaki Kano, a middle-aged man who was diagnosed with muscular dystrophy at the age of 12 and was told he wouldn't live past the age of 20, and his volunteers Hisashi Tanaka and Misaki Ando. Yasuaki Kano is an eccentric 34-year-old man who doesn't want to end up in the hospital and is an ambassador for the independent living project which aims to help disabled people gain the courage to live independently while also being brave enough to ask for help when it's needed.

A lot of heartwarming and thought-provoking quotes came from this movie which were mainly said by Yasuaki Kano. Some of these quotes are ' if your will is strong enough you can do anything', 'our positions are equal, we're both human' and 'my volunteers are my family'. The first two quotes are very meaningful to me and i will reread them whenever I feel down and that I am not good enough as they really did hit me hard and I really needed some words of encouragement at this moment in time.

I saw this movie as part of the japan foundation touring film programme at the ICA. This movie was amazing and I'd definitely watch it again and again for many years to come. It has given me a push forward and courage to keep going knowing that there is a brighter future out there waiting for me to conquer it. And I would love to look into Yasuaki Kano's story a lot more now that I have seen this movie as I bet he was as eccentric and fun-loving as he was portrayed in this movie.

[shichousha-san]

Kagen no Tsuki

Kagen no Tsuki or Last Quarter is a Japanese drama and romance movie that was released in 2004 and based on the manga by the same name written by Ai Yazawa. This movie is directed by Ken Nikai and the main actors are HYDE, Hiroki Narimiya, and Chiaki Kuriyama. It is set in a Japanese town, an abandoned mansion as well as in London.

This movie follows a 19-year-old girl called Mizuki,  Adam, and Sayaka, who were lovers who were both torn apart and are now trying to find each other in death by using Mizuki as their catalyst. It also follows two high school students and Mizuki's boyfriend as they try to save her from becoming lost in purgatory while her body is comatose after an accident.

Like the title suggests when translated into English, 'Last Quarter of the Moon', this movie features a lot of footage of the moon and talks a lot about the different phases of the moon, for example; the new moon, waning moon, full moon and waxing moon.

In my opinion, this movie is a major train wreck and a total waste of 112 minutes. With poor CGI graphics and a plot that makes hardly any sense, I don't know how people managed to enjoy this movie when it was first released. I also feel that it was just another way to promote HYDE and his overly large ego. Another thing I dislike about this movie is that even though this movie is based on a manga it revolves mainly around HYDE and is basically one giant advert for his song 'cape of storms' which just adds to the poor execution of this movie in general.

[shichousha-san]

Lesson of the Evil

Lesson of the Evil is a Japanese suspense-thriller and horror movie based on the novel "Aku no Kyoten" by Yusuke Kishi (first published serially from July, 2008 to July, 2010 in the monthly magazine "Betsatsu Bungeishunju" and then published in novel form July 30, 2010, by Bungeishunju). This movie is directed by Takashi Miike a hugely anticipated suspense-thriller screenplay writer and director. This movie is led by the actor Hideaki Ito, who plays the main character known as Seiji Hasumi aka Hasumin by his female students, and set solely in a high school and revolves around class 2-4.

Seiji Hasumi is described as the cool and charismatic English teacher, however, this façade starts to crumble as the film progresses as he is plagued by his past and the students start to disappear. As time progresses he sets his sites on three teachers and puts both students and teachers alike against each other in order to 'weaken his prey'. He also uses two of these teachers who are known to be having sexual relations with students in his homeroom class as his "greatest weapons" and exclaims that their lives are in his hands.

I would describe this movie as a suspense-thriller disguised as a shoujo/ slice of life drama flick contrived of romantic encounters, student/teacher affairs, and things that happen in a normal high school in Japan such as bullying, club activities, exams and preparing for a school festival. However, this theatrical façade starts to crumble about a third of the way into the movie as a fire starts to brew both literally and figuratively.

This movie focuses largely on Norse mythology and mainly focuses on  Odin and his two ravens as well as how Hideaki's character, Seiji Hasumi, detests them and sets out to kill them. This is quoted in the film when Hasumi is monologuing and says "In Norse mythology, a pair of ravens named Huginn and Muninn patrol the world as agents of Odin. Their names mean 'thought' and 'memory', these two ravens fly over the Earth and bring tidings to Odin, king of the gods". He especially detests Muninn who he refers to when talking to one of his students at the end of the movie when he says to them "Say hello to Odin for me".

Another concept that is prevalent in this movie is the Werther effect also known as copy-cat suicide which is a spike of emulation suicides after a widely publicized suicide is known as the Werther effect, following Goethe's novel The Sorrows of Young Werther. This is where a publicized suicide serves as a trigger, in the absence of protective factors, for the next suicide by a susceptible or suggestible person.

A final thing to note from this movie is the use of English words like 'good', 'great', 'excellent' and 'magnificent' that are used by Hasumi throughout. He uses these words as their usual expressions of fondness but, as the movie progresses these expressive words seem to take on a much deeper and darker tone. Another English saying Hasumi uses is "united we stand, divided we fall" which he says in English and repeats in Japanese as the movie is coming to its climax and the students start to panic and become moving targets that Hasumi can cross of his list.

This is where I leave my review in hopes that I haven't spoilt the film too much so you as my audience can decide whether you want to see for yourself why this is my favourite movie of all time.

[shichousha-san]

12 suicidal teens

12 Suicidal teens is a Japanese mystery and suspense movie based on the novel "Jyuni Nin no Shinitai Kodomotachi" by Tow Ubukata (published in 2016 by Bungeishunju). this movie is directed by Yukihiko Tsutsumi. The film is slow-paced at first but this helps to introduce all 12 of the characters to the audience in a way that isn't confusing and helps us feel for the characters at a more personal level. This film is set solely in and around an abandoned hospital.

At 15 minutes into the film, we are introduced to the 12 teens and an extra character. the characters are introduced with their first names as well as their designated number that they were given when they entered the abandoned hospital. In order of when the characters arrived, we have no.0 toman a 'dead' boy who was already in the hospital's basement, no.1 Satoshi who has run three of these suicide gatherings so far due to his father's suicide, no.2 Kenichi who has been bullied through highschool, no.3 Mitsue who wants to die as the idol she loved killed himself, no.4 Ryoko who is an idol who wants to be free, no.5 Shinjiro who has cancer, no.6 Meiko who took out a life insurance policy on herself to save her father's company from going bankrupt, no.7 Anri who was caught in a fire when she was a child which killed her younger brother and scarred her leg, no.8 Takahiro whose mum has Munchausen by proxy and abuses him by giving him unnecessary amounts of medications, no.9 Nobuo who killed a classmate in junior high who was bullying him and now wants to attone for his crime, no.10 Seigo whose mum and stepfather took a life insurance policy out on him so wants to kill himself before they kill him and get the money, no.11 Mai who was assaulted by an older man she met online and now suffers from herpes, and no.12 Yuki who wants to set her and her brother 'free' as they were in an accident when they were on their way home from school which has left her brother paralyzed and no feeling in her left arm. ​ In this film, there is a lot of symbolism on birth, this is frequent throughout the film using a statue that looks like a pregnant woman and is seen throughout during many of the scenes whether it be on an advertisement board in the abandoned hospital where the film is set, as a miniature on the hospital's front desk and as a statue itself in the hospitals courtyard. This could also be connected to the twelve teens' wish that they were never born or the film's true ending which in a way is about rebirth and new beginnings.

Even though, this film is slow-paced it gets the audience hooked with the suspenseful element as you are left wondering who no.0 is, where he came from and whether he is really dead or not. All these questions will be answered during the film's climax however, I do not want to spoil the film's ending for you so I'll leave these up to you to find out as well as if the teens really go through with their plan to kill themselves.