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[NIHON BUNKA KENKYUU] BUNKEN 101: Reviews, comments, and insights on Japanese pop culture.

SHIMOTSUMA MONOGATARI is a funny, heartwarming friendship movie -- not unlike MOONCHILD, but without the angst and GACKT's bad acting. The movie stars FUKADA KYOKO (KAMI SAMA MOU SUKOSHI DAKE) and TSUCHIYA ANNA (a top TOKYO model in her first starring role) as MOMOKO and ICHIGO, two of the most unlikely best friends on the face of the planet.

The film begins with a brief flashback of MOMOKO's childhood. MOMOKO is the only daughter of a bumbling, low-level YAKUZA gang member and his former-hostess wife. The family business involves making and selling fake VERSACE merchandise, which lands them into a lot of hot water with both the cops and the local gang lords. MOMOKO's mother subsequently leaves the family for the doctor who presided over MOMOKO's delivery, prompting her father to pack up and move back in with their grandma in their ancestral homestead in SHIMOTSUMA, IBARAKI prefecture.

MOMOKO has always been a good girl, taking care of her permanently inebriated father and senile grandmother. However, on her sixteenth birthday, whilst walking around trendy DAIKANYAMA, she sees a window display for chic lolita fashion house BABY THE STARS SHINE BRIGHTLY, and falls dreadfully in love with their baby doll dresses and french maid accesories.

She now makes her father pay for his paternal shortcomings by milking him for spending money, which she uses to add to her growing collection. However, despite the increasingly large amounts she was able to con out of her father, she still needed to make more pocket money, so she decides to peddle some of their remaining VERSACE knock-offs to unsuspecting buyers.

ICHIGO is one of these unsuspecting buyers. She drives up to MOMOKO's house in a pink scooter done up to resemble a HELL'S ANGELS bike, wearing a modified school uniform and an exaggerated sneer. ICHIGO is a member of a LADIES gang, which is the female equivalent of a YANKEE gang -- and for these (ensembly challenged) juvenile delinquents, VERSACE is the king of brands. ICHIGO is visibly impressed with MOMOKO's collection of goods, but is unable to pay up for the purchases immediately, so she decides to hang around the other girl until she has enough to foot the bill.

The unusual friendship these two strike up land them in a lot of comic situations. When ICHIGO discovers MOMOKO's unusual gift for PACHINKO, she drags her to the local parlor to win money and fund a quest for a missing SEMPAI, who ICHIGO feels she owes her life to. On the other hand, when ICHIGO agrees to accompany MOMOKO from IBARAKI all the way to TOKYO, they run into the owner of BABY, who notices MOMOKO's beautifully hand-embroidered accessories, and offers MOMOKO a job as one of his custom accent sewers.

However, their blossoming friendship is threatened when ICHIGO's LADIES gang hear of the two, and threaten to beat ICHIGO up unless she breaks off with MOMOKO. MOMOKO, with a little help from her former YAKUZA dad and retired LADIES gang grandma, rides to ICHIGO's rescue. During the fight, MOMOKO sheds her LOLITA persona and shows the upstarts from IBARAKI how a real gangmember's daughter is brought up. After beating up and scaring the bejheezus out of most of ICHIGO's fellow gangmembers, the two girls, bloodied noses and all, ride off into the sunset.

The movie is a funny, light, and refreshing hour-and-a-half of pure pop entertainment. The treatment is rather unusual, and while some might argue that it would have been better off as an anime, the wierd juxtaposition of reality and hyper-reality gives the film its flavor. However, it would have been better if the ending did not appear so brutal or serious, as it felt a little out of place among all the kitschy LOLITA influences sprinkled throughout the film's 120 minutes.

Props go to FUKADA KYOKO's squeaky-voiced, ultra-prim protrayal of a LOLITA stuck in the middle of nowhere. TSUCHIYA ANNA's unapologetic turn as a foul-mouthed uncouth gangmember was great, despite this being her first starring role. The chemistry between the two is sweet and funny and a bit slap-stick, but you cannot doubt the affection between the two girls. And speaking of affection, watch out for the end credits. There's a little surprise there for everyone.

SHIMOTSUMA MONOGATARI was shown in theatres in early 2004, with the DVD released later that year. It is currectly airing on Japanese pay-per-view channel WOWOW; the next screenings are on 6/29 (1000 ASTRO; 900 PHILS), 7/09 (1700 ASTRO; 1600 PHILS), and 7/18 (1330 ASTRO; 1230 PHILS).

Wednesday, 20 July 2005

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