This superb Japanese coming-of-age-in-dystopia drama is absurdly low-balled in the IMDB ratings because... it's maybe not for everyone. It is challenging and not really aiming to please wide audiences, but it will become a cult classic for sure.
With strong echoes of at least two other films from the past 25 years (to the point of blatant homage - to mention them would be a spoiler) this film makes some pretty abrupt twists in tone that didn't come off quite as well on screen as they did in the director's head.
Still, it's visually rich (hat tip, Chris Doyle) and with strong creativity in sound design, it plops you right into the sharp pain of survival in the 2022 economy for 19 year olds, but also the pain of trying to have friends, love, and meaning in your life with the ****show world we live in now.
Any film this unusual is a rare treat and makes this a must see for fans of Asian cinema, although "movie" fans might as well pass.
Plot summary
Nagase Ren takes on the role of "I," a university student who moved to Tokyo and is living alone for the first time. I has no friends. I has no girlfriend. The lectures at the university were horribly boring, and I was always looking at Tokyo Tower on the way back from his laborious job. While being attracted to the ruthless, dignified and intelligent "Senior," played by Ikeda Elaiza, whom he meets in the "Hide and Seek Circle" that he secretly falls in love with. Meanwhile, I meets a man called "Black Suit," played by Emoto Tasuku, who is an extremely charismatic and mysterious person. Little did "I" know that the two people he met would bring excitement to his mundane, humdrum existence.
Uploaded by: FREEMAN
Director
Top cast
Tech specs
720p.BLU 1080p.BLU 1.02 GB
1280*536
Japanese 2.0
NR
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