"Kirishima, he will quit his club."

桐島、部活やめるってよ(DVD2枚組)

I recently saw this movie in Japanese. This movie was available in 2012. It is a masterpiece of Japan Academy Award. It took best director, editing Award, Screenplay Award and an actor, Ms. Ai Hashimoto took the award too. It has a monopoly on the prize in the end and it has spread the reputation by word-of-mouth communication.

Kirishima is a very popular man in the high school. He is the center and a hero of the school. He can do everything. But Kirishima quit his club suddenly and he does not show up at the school. People lost the hero and this movie draws a panic in their life without the hero.

Hiroki is a friend of Kirishima. He is similar to Kirishima. He is also an all-rounder.  He is smart, can study, good for all kind of sports and popular among girls. After Kirishima had left the club, Hiroki lost his goal.

There is another person, Maeda (a boy in the picture). He loves movies. Maeda is taking the movie in the movie club at the school. He wants to take a zombie movie. His teacher said do not take the kind of movie at the school. But he takes it anyway. He is a kind of an Otaku boy. So he is not a friend of Kirishima and Hiroki. But Maeda will be involved in Kirishima's matter.

This movie is drawn from a first-person perspective. Like this time is Hiroki's view and the other time is Maeda's view and also some girls's view. They don't know what the others are thinking each other but you can know each person's thinking at the time and you can understand each person's feeling at the time. 

This movie is using a pretty amazing shooting technique. It got to take the same scene with multiple cameras in short, It is very complex. And the theme song by Yu Takahashi "The Sun Also Rises " is just cool. He is skinny guy but his voice is very powerful. I like it.
I want you to take a look this movie. However it is still in Japanese. I hope English version is released in the near future. You can see the trailer and listen the theme song on Youtube!

Thank you so much.

Whisper of the Heart

"Whisper of the Heart (耳をすませば、Mimi o Sumaseba)", is a 1995 Japanese animated drama film directed by Yoshifumi Kondo and wrtten by Hayao Miyazaki besed on the 1989 manga of the same name by Aoi Hiiragi. Yoshifumi Kondo was a very important person in Studio Ghibli, Inc. Unfortunately, He passed away in 1998 at 47, 3 years later from this film. It was a first long film and only one film for him. The meaning of the tiltle is slightly different between the English title and the Japanese title. It is very difficult to translate. It is a subtle nuance between them. The meaning of Japanese title is not like the English title. It often happens that the meaning of the title is different between Japanese and English becuase some words or phrases are in Japan but the words and phrases are not in English. Hayao Kawai also (was a Japanese Jungian psychologist) said "We can not translate Shuntaro Tanikawa (a Japanese poet)'s poem "Mimi o Sumasu". "Mimi (耳)" means ear, and "Sumasu (澄ます)" means clarify so it's "Clarified ear". But the meaning is not like that. "Mimi o Sumasu" is like "listen". But it is not just listen. Maybe "listen carefully". But it sounds a little bit strong. The Japanese title is more thoughtful and calm. I would say "Listen to your heart" instead of "Whisper of the Heart". I think there is no English word like "Whisper" for Listen. Listen is just listen. It is very difficult. 

By the way, this movie is very thoughtful and warm. Shizuku Tsukishima is 14 years old girl who is a bookworm. One day, she found out Seiji Amasawa is reading same books at a library which she read already. There were his name on the check out cards of some books which she was trying to read. He is reading a book which she wants to read and she is reading a book which he wants to read. Shizuku is wondering "who is Seiji Amasawa". She got a feeling that she wants to meet him. This story is a kind of a love story but it is not only the love story. This movie is drawing the youthful dreams and their struggle and conflict for threir dreams and love. This movie makes us realize we should not forget the kind of time forever.

Whisper of the Heart

Totoro

My Neighbor Totoro (Tonari no Totoro) is a Japanese animated fantasy film wrtten and directed by Hayao Miyazaki. Hayao Miyazaki is also a great Japanese director. He created so many fantastic anime like Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, Princess Mononoke and Sprited Away etc. The story of all his films are very interesting. My Neighbor Totoro is the one. A university porfessor Tatsuo Kusakabe and his two daughters, Satsuki and Mei, move into an old house. Satsuki and Mei met the monsters but they are not scary monsters. I think they love kids and love to play with kids. I believe they are the fairy. If I can, I want to meet them too. The film is good for the kids! Unfortunetely, Hayao Miyazaki has announced that he decided to retire a couple days ago... We wish we can watch his movie more...

You can get "My Neighbor Totoro" from Amazon!

Thank you so much!

High and Low

"High and Low" is created by Akira Kurosawa. He is a great Japanese film director. The title in Japanese is "Heaven and Hell". One day, Kingo Gondo got a phone call from a guy. The guy said "I kidnaped your son." But his son, Jun was just playing outside. Jun was OK. The kidnapper mistook to kidnap. The boy was Shinichi, a son of Gondo's chauffeur... There is no way to pay the ransom for Shinichi because he is not Gondo's son. But what if the kidnapper killed Shinichi? Shinichi is a best friend of Jun. Gondo has to make a decision.

You can buy "High and Low" from Amazon!
High and Low (The Criterion Collection)

Thank you so much!

Honey and Clover

Honey and Clover (ハチミツとクローバー) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Chika Umino. It is also known as HachiKuro (ハチクロ) and H&C. The series was also adapted as a live action movie, which was released in theaters in Japan on July 22, 2006. I actually watched the movie by DVD. It was so warm and lovely movie for me. 

Hagumi Hanamoto is a genius artist and she has a kind of magical overtone. Yuta Takemoto falls in love with Hagumi. Yuta is living in an apartment complex with Takumi Mayama and Shinobu Morita and they are students at an art college in Tokyo. Shinobu is also a genius artist. Hagumi and Shinobu found something same feelings in their hearts. I really like the story and the music in the movie. 

You can buy Honey and Clover from Amazon. Please watch this warm story!

Thank you so much!