ryuganji: film news from japan

A tad NSFW, but sheer genius.

Nicked from Zaeega.

Tokyograph inevitably got there first, but I thought I’d add a little more context to the news that actress Yoshino Kimika is going hardcore. Although it’s not uncommon for former gravure and teen idols to resort to porn to prolong their lifespan in showbiz (and pay off debts accrued during their bid for stardom), until now the furthest that most recognised actresses facing career downturns due to age or indifference have been willing to go is a nude photo/video shoot, or the scorched-earth approach of a tell-all book.

In that sense, Yoshino has become somewhat of a pioneer as the highest profile Japanese actress ever to go porno. Although far from a household name, she has nonetheless built up a solid filmography that includes the first two “Eko Eko Azarak” movies, Nagasaki Shunichi’s authentic karate actioner “Kuro-Obi”, and numerous straight-to-video titles. But she’s probably best known to readers of this blog as the yakuza moll who gives birth to Aikawa Sho in Miike Takashi’s “Gozu”, or as the unfortunate bystander that Tsutsumi Shinichi accidentally stabs on his way out of a bank heist in Sabu’s “Unlucky Monkey”.

Just as gravure idols endeavour to avoid a future in skin flicks by parlaying their physical attributes into acting or celebrity careers, many women who go into porn here harbor dreams of breaking into television and film by following the examples of the few who have made the jump, especially the resilient and now retired TV celebrity Iijima Ai. Among recent converts are Takagi Maria, who was quickly devoured by the dead in Sato Sakichi’s “Tokyo Zombie” and now finds regular gigs in television serials; Ozawa Maria, who Jason Gray reports has been cast in “Taiwan’s first-ever slasher horror”; and “The Machine Girl”’s Asami and Honoka, the latter of whom has snagged a role alongside Danny Glover in U.S.-Japan co-production “The Harimaya Bridge”.

Now that Yoshino and celebrity-seducing specialist AV label Muteki have penetrated the flesh ceiling, will we see more faded thesps tempted by hefty porn pay-days?

If “The Sky Crawlers” is really Oshii Mamoru’s stab at making something more accessible and commercial than the challengingly dense and philosophical films we’ve come to expect from him, then he really needs to get out more. For better and for worse, with an emphasis on the latter, it doesn’t stray far from his comfort zone at all.

Europe is at war as corporations vie for territorial dominance in aerial battles, employing eternally young fighter pilots called Killdore to engage the opposition while the detached and unaffected general populace keeps score via television. A new recruit named Kannami immediately impresses his teammates with his deadly proficiency but grows increasingly distracted in seeking the truth about the fate of his predecessor, which has something to do with his aloof commander and former ace pilot Kusanagi.

Instead of delivering yet another anti-war message, Oshii unashamedly depicts the mechanical carnage with his typically meticulous attention to detail and to great aeshetic result, while the considerably less engaging characters struggle with the more personal (or perhaps self-absorbed) dilemmas of their own im/mortality and the meaning of life. It’s this gap between the exhilarating technical mastery displayed in the all-too-brief battle scenes and the cold, gravely serious interaction on the ground comprising the bulk of the film’s running time that lets it down the most. The photorealistic CG dogfights are visually breathtaking, but it’s the equally detailed audio design by Skywalker Sound that truly puts you in the thick of the action. Screaming engines and stuttering cannons rip through the air, then the scene switches to within the cockpit and we experience the pilots’ respirator-assisted breathing and the muffled explosions outside the canopy. Even after the camera returns to earth, every rustle of the uniforms and creak of the furniture is imbued with life. Some fine performances by Kase Ryo as Kannami, Tanihara Shosuke as fellow pilot Tokino and especially Kikuchi Rinko as Kusanagi help breathe some much-needed humanity into their less than vibrant animated surrogates, but unfortunately the script largely confines them (and consequently the audience) to an interminable sequence of gloomy conversations and underwhelming revelations. Then there’s the gratituitous chain smoking, ostensibly used as a motif for the Killdore’s disillusionment with their immortality but might just as well be to give the doll-eyed stony faces something to do as they gaze blankly into space. Somewhat fittingly, due to the protagonists being perpetual teenagers, it makes the film look all the more ‘emo’.

Oshii been quoted as saying he’ll quit directing if this doesn’t succeed at the box office, but after opening in 7th well below the chart-topping trio of Ponyo, Pokemon and Naruto, he could have done worse.

A teaser for Kiriya Kazuaki’s follow-up to “Casshern” has just gone up on its official site, although it contains no footage from the film and is instead comprised only of actors’ names flashing by at near-subliminal speed. I stopped blinking for its duration to write them all down:

Eguchi Yosuke
Osawa Takao
Hirosue Ryoko
Gori (half of Okinawan comedy duo Garage Sale)
Kaname Jun
Tamayama Tetsuji
Choi Hong-man (gigantic South Korean K-1 fighter)
Sato Eriko
Toda Erika
Tsuruta Mayu
Ryo
Fujisawa Ema
Sada Mayumi
Fukuda Mayuko
Nakamura Hashinosuke
Kohinata Fumiyo
Terajima Susumu
Hira Mikijiro
Ibu Masato
Okuda Eiji

The concept of a terminal disease tearjerker starring Eikura Nana and Eita sounds tailor-made for the small screen rather than a theatrical feature, but will Hiroki Ryuichi’s directing talents be enough to prevent it from becoming just another hankie wetter? “Yomei Ikkagetsu no Hanayome” (bride with one month left to live) takes its story from a TV documentary broadcast on TBS last year that followed Nagashima Chie, a young woman battling with breast cancer (pictured above with her husband Akasu Taro). Filming begins in October with a view to a release in May next year around the third anniversary of Chie’s death.