CK & The H!P Film Festival, Part 2

Welcome to the second episode of CK (and his cat, Dexter) Go To The Movies.  I am so pleasantly surprised to hear such a positive response to the first part of this series.  Especially all of the love for "Tokkaekko"!  In this episode we will focus on the three "serious" Hello! Project films.  Frankly, I am more of a fan of their cute and funny entries.  But the three following films all have something nice to offer.  And they all give a really good look at the acting abilities of the girls in H!P.  First up...

Koinu dan no monogatari

仔犬ダンの物語 (2002)

Koinu Dan No Monogatari, (The Story of Puppy Dan) was the companion film to The Minimoni Movie.  I believe they both premiered December 14th, 2002 (which just happens to be my birthday, hah!)  The film is unique in that the main parts were mostly played by the H!P Kids.  It tells the story of Mao-chan (Tsugunaga Momoko), a young girl dealing with the pending divorce of her parents.  Angered by her parents decision, she decides to go and live with her Grandfather in Gunma.  Being the new kid at a new school, Mao-chan is a bit standoff-ish at first, until she meets Chika (Shimizu Saki), a schoolmate who is hiding from her mother a little blind puppy she found.  Because neither of them are allowed to keep a pet, they attempt to find a suitable home for him.  But as time goes by, Chika becomes more attached to the dog, and the girls are willing to do whatever it takes to enable Chika to keep him.

Although the members of Berryz Koubou and C-ute are the main focus of this film, what I love are all of the "bit parts" played by the girls of Morning Musume.  Abe Natsumi is very sweet as Chika's neighbor and daughter of the building superintendent.  I just loved the scene with her working at an AM/PM!  Konno Asami also has a wonderful cameo as a schoolgirl who helps Mao find her way.  It's a really cute and heartwarming story, and the kids all do a terrific job of acting.  Yajima Maimi is especially good as the leader of the clique that Mao doesn't get along with.  There is a touching moment toward the end when Mao leaves town to go and live with her father.  All of her classmates show up to bid "sayonara" to their friend.  It is so cute to see them all crying as they say goodbye.  The movie ends with two great PV's for Ganbacchae and Hey Mirai!.  And the DVD extras include "making of" and "premiere" footage.

Of the "serious" H!P movies, this one is probably my favorite.  However, Dexter vehemently disagrees, as evidenced by the constant hissing every time Puppy Dan appeared onscreen.  Dexter also pointed out that just because a dog chases it's tail, it doesn't mean that it is blind!  But we both agreed that Okai Chisato is so cute in the part of Chika's little sister!

CK gives it 4 out of 5 stars, Dexter gives it Zero out of 5 stars.

Nama Tamago

  ナマタマゴ (2002)

Nama Tamago (Raw Eggs) was released in 2002 as the companion film to Tokkaekko.  Both times Hello! Project released two feature films simultaneously, they did one funny film coupled with a serious film.  Now this movie is going to be a lot harder for me to review because I have never seen a subtitled version of it.  In fact, the only reason I bought it was because Ohta-san was selling it so cheap that I couldn't pass up at least giving the movie a try.  This is by far the most serious of all of the movies.  And at times it is downright depressing.  It stars Iida Kaori, Yaguchi Mari, Goto Maki, and Tsuji Nozomi.

Wiki describes this film as the story of four girls who want to make it as table tennis players.  But after none of them improve, they decide to make a wager on who will be the best, inspiring a big competition.  After watching the movie, I didn't really get that description at all!  Yes, they are playing table tennis.  But I had never seen people so depressed while playing a game.  It seems more like a story of four girls who are troubled in life, and the friends and family members who are affected by them.  You find out later in the movie that they are in some sort of incarceration.  I'm not sure what kind, it could be a jail, juvenile detention, or mental health center.  Table tennis seems like a way for them to merely pass the time (sybolized by a ticking metronome), and to think about the mistakes they have made in life.  Of course I could be completely off in my assessment of the plot, I am merely guessing based on what I could understand.

I can't really be fair in stating how much I liked the film.  Although it has a very pretty musical score (jazz piano), and the girls do some really good emotional acting toward the end when they meet with members of their respective families.  But overall the film is long on talking and short on action.  2 stars out of 5. 

Dexter took a nap for the entire movie.

Pinchrunner

ピンチランナー (2000)

Pinch Runner was the first H!P movie I ever saw.  I stumbled upon it accidentally when I first discoved Hello! Project.  Abe Natsumi is "Ayumi"  A new girl in school who keeps to herself and the lone member of the Track and Field Club.  Sanae (Goto Maki) wants to join the club, but finds Ayumi difficult to talk to.  One day a fire breaks out in the school supply shed, and Ayumi's schoolmates team up to help save her from succumbing to the fire.  Suddenly Ayumi has quite a few friends, and they all want to be members of the track and field club.  The girls all have various motives for joining the club, and it is these serious themes that make up the backstory of the movie.  The girls deal with child abuse (Ichii Sayaka), depression and suicide (Iida Kaori), terminal illness (Yasuda Kei), physical handicaps (Abe Natsumi) and unrequited love (Yaguchi Mari).  Soon "running" toward a goal becomes a metaphor for the girls to confront their personal demons.

I will always have a soft spot for Pinch Runner because it was the first H!P movie I found, and the first one I bought a copy of.  I really liked the setting of the film, I would love to know the name of the small coastal town it was filmed in.  I also enjoyed the musical score.  At times it has a retro, almost 60's euro quality to it.  I have never bought the OST, as the only Momusu song actually in the film is "Dance Suru no Da"...on vinyl!  Yaguchi Mari and Maki Goto played my favorite two characters.  Gocchin is the one "happy-go-lucky" girl in the group.  There are a couple of great scenes involving her and bicycles.  The first is a cute sequence on the back of her boyfriends' bike stealing a banana from a vendor, and the second involves her taking a boys bike in order to chase down a professional runner she wants to meet.  Marippe is just damn cute throughout the movie, especially when she is interacting the cute surfer guy she loves.  But Nacchi is the star of this movie, and she does a great job.  Even doing some of her scenes in sign language.  And then there is this famous scene...

I give this film 3 1/2 of 5 stars.  I really like the first half of the film, but it begins to drag toward the end.  And the whole long distance relay scene was really hokey.  Thousands of people maniacally cheering on a bunch of girls jogging?  And did they win?  I guess whether or not they won the race wasn't really the point, but why did it seem like the entire crowd was cheering on the interaction between Nacchi and her mother?  How did all of these people get emotionally invested into that drama?  I guess we'll chalk it up to "artistic license".

Dexter did a lot of "purring" during the movie, so I think he liked it.  Or it might have simply been because I was petting him the whole time.  Dexter also wants to remind everyone to watch for the cute cameo by Momusu 4th generation during the closing credits!

So there ya go, another three H!P films.  I also consider "Sukeban Deka, Codename: Asimiya Saki" an H!P movie too, but I'll review that as a seperate post.  ***And now that Andra has informed me that I am leaving out 2 H!P films (see her comment below) I guess there will be a third episode of CK at the Movies!!!  Until next time, The balcony is closed!

Dexter

CK in California