Maiko Haaaan!!!

August 28, 2009 — Zack Davisson

maiko

 
5.0 out of 5 stars Onizuka will stop at nothing!

“Maiko Haaaan!!!” delivers on two levels. Not only is it a highly entertaining screwball love comedy, but it is also one of the most authentic geisha-themed films I have ever seen. People wanting to know more about the Flower and Willow world would do far better watching this than Hollywood fantasies like Memoirs of a Geisha or My Geisha.

Pure over-the-top comedy delivered as only the Japanese can, the story follows four people, Onizuka Kimihiko (Abe Sado), Naito Kiichiro (Tsutsumi Shinichi), Osawa Fujiko (Shibasaki Kou) and Komoko (Koide Saori). Two guys and two girls. As Shakespeare said “the course of true love never did run smooth.” An understatement at best.

Tokyo-born Onizuka is obsessed with geisha and maiko (apprentice geisha), and has been ever since he first saw them on a school trip to Kyoto. The only reason he is together with his current girlfriend, Fujiko, is because he believes that she was born in Kyoto. Onizuka also runs a geisha/maiko website, where he is in a constant flame-war with someone who knows the geisha world better than Onizuka ever could. Eventually, Onizuka is transferred to the Kyoto offices of his company (a dream come true!) where he finds that money is not enough to open the closed doors of the geisha. His maniacal quest to gain an introduction begins, as well as his quest to win the love of Komoko, one of the newest maiko to debut. Naito, his rival, one-ups him at every chance.

But this little synopsis doesn’t cover even a small portion of the story. Things fly at break-neck speed, as Fujiko comes to Kyoto in order to apprentice as a geisha and win back Onizuka, and meanwhile Onizuka and Naito race each other through challenge after challenge, from professional baseball to blockbuster movies to K-1 Fighting even to being the mayor of Kyoto in an attempt to prove who is the better man and win the top spot in the geisha’s world. Everything moves so fast it is hard to keep up, but then there are punctuating moments of calm and silence that puts meaning into the chaotic frenzy.

Abe Sado (Uzumaki, The Great Yokai War) puts all of his energy into Onizuka, and you are either going to love or hate the character. He does nothing but to the extreme, and will crawl over everyone to reach his goals. Shibasaki Kou (Battle Royale, One Missed Call) is really far too lovely to be the rejected girlfriend Fujiko, but that’s the way it works in this kind of film. Tsutsumi Shinichi (also of “One Missed Call”) is understated and stern, and a perfect foil for Onizuka’s antics. The subplot with Naito and Komoko lends a really nice serious undertone for the film

I absolutely loved “Maiko Haaaan!!!” It had great balance as a film, winning performances from all the actors, and of course lots and lots of nice geisha eye-candy.

The DVD has a few bonus features like “The Making of Maiko Haaaan!!!” and Director & Cast Profiles. Some of the subtitles are a little funky, and I felt the translator tried a little bit too hard in spots to transfer the Japanese into “hip English,” and it comes off as forced and doesn’t carry the same meaning.

Note to the title: “Maiko” is the name for apprentice geisha, and “-han” is the honorific given in the Kyoto dialect, much like “-san” would be for a regular person. Normally, it would be “Maiko-han” but Onizuka never does anything like a regular person.

Posted in Geisha, Japanese Film. Tags: , , . Leave a Comment »

Love Hina: Complete Series Box Set

July 2, 2009 — Zack Davisson

 

5.0 out of 5 stars Looking for the Promise Girl,love hina

“Love Hina” is one of my all-time favorite anime series, and one of the few that ever made me laugh out loud. It has been quite a few years since I visited the girls at the Hinata Lodge, and I am happy to say that the series is just as fun now as it first was when I watched it eight years ago.

At first, glance, “Love Hina” seems formulaic. Lovable loser Keitaro dreams of success, but seems to fail at everything he tries. Out of luck and plans, he goes to visit his Grandmother Hina and winds up the manager of the Hinata Lodge, a fantastically beautiful building with a backyard hot spring that is populated only by beautiful and feisty girls. Keitaro, the incurable romantic, has long be searching for his “promise girl,” the love of his life that he knew back when he was about three years old, and to whom he promised they would grow up and attend Tokyo University (think Harvard) together, and get married. He can’t remember the girl’s name, but he hasn’t given up hope. Just possibly, one of the gals at the Hinata Lodge is Keitaro’s long-lost Promise Girl, and he just might find her if he doesn’t get killed first. Hijinks ensue.

The storyline is pretty typical of “harem”-style anime series, but somehow “Love Hina” does everything right. Series creator Akamatsu Ken (Negima!) knows how to work an ensemble cast, giving each girl a distinct personality and story arc. Sure, much of the hijinks comes from Keitaro doing his best only to wind up with panties on his head, or walking in on one of the girls naked, only to get a swift kick for his troubles. That is standard Akamatsu fare. But “Love Hina” has some serious undercurrents and nuances that makes all the over-the-top stuff just that much funnier.

The animated series differs from the manga, which is pretty common in Japanese anime. I love both, personally, and felt that they did some really creative things with the “Love Hina” anime. One of my favorite episodes features the kendo girl Makoto in the in the flickering, black and white style of old Samurai films. There are other homages as well, to places as various as Godzilla and Pokemon and nods to other anime series.

This release from Funimation is just great, with nice picture and sound. The subtitles can be a little hard to read in spots, when the white fades into the background, but that is my only really complaint. I haven’t listed to the English-dubbing because, well, I just generally don’t like English-dubbing for anime.

This set collects the original twenty-four episodes of the series plus the bonus twenty-fifth episode, which was not included on the previously released Love Hina Anime Legends Complete Collection. The entire series is packed on four DVDs collected in slim cases. I have heard that some people had trouble with the packaging, but mine arrived in perfect condition and is nice and sturdy, so no complaints there. I love the slim-case packaging because, with the size of my anime collection, my shelves can use some relief.

Not included in this collection are the Love Hina Christmas Movie, the Love Hina Spring Movie, or the Love Hina Again OVA series, which have been released separately by other companies and as part of the Love Hina – Perfect Collection. I can only assume (and hope!) that Funimation will be coming out with a follow-up “Love Hina” collection that completes the series.

Posted in Anime, Funimation, School Girls. Tags: , , , . 1 Comment »

Big Man Japan

April 28, 2009 — Zack Davisson

big-man-japan

3.0 out of 5 stars Beware the Big Man Japan!

If you aren’t fairly familiar with modern Japanese comedy then you are probably going to miss a lot of what “Big Man Japan” has to offer. For example, “Downtown” is not a name that is going to mean much to most Americans, but they are a phenomenal comedy-duo that are incredibly influential and whose style dominates much of modern Japanese comedy. Think Monty Python’s Flying Circus, The Second City Theatre, or Saturday Night Live.

“Big Man Japan” (Japanese title “Dai-Nipponjin” or “Giant Japanese Person”) is “Downtown” member Matsumoto Hitoshi’s big screen debut as both a staring actor and a director. Much of the humor is in his trademark style, and he brought along plenty of famous friends for cameos, although noticeably missing is his “Downtown” partner Masatoshi Hamada.

The film is done in a mockumentary-style, following the life of slacker Daisatou Masaru who has inherited his power to grow to an enormous size from his father and his now-senile grandfather, both who previously served as “Big Man Japan.” Masaru draws a government salary to protect Japan from the various Godzilla-like monsters that attack from time to time, but his heart isn’t really in it. The public mocks him and complains about the property damage and environmental aspects of his battles. His manager sells advertising space on his giant body. Things just aren’t going well.

Most of the first part of the film is just following Masaru around, looking in on his daily life, dingy apartment and how he looks after his senile grandfather. When duty calls, however, he swells up to battle the monster-of-the-week (many of whom are the aforementioned cameos of famous friends), sometimes managing to beat the monster away but sometimes getting it handed to him. The final sequence goes to even more left-field, as Big Man Japan gets to live his dream by joining the Ultraman squad, and all pretense of story goes out the window.

All of the monsters are CGI, and they are intentionally done in a cheesy manner. Like the bad special effects on shows like “Saturday Night Live,” much of the humor comes from how terrible and unrealistic the special effects are, and from seeing famous comedians morphed into giant versions of themselves. Other than these big flashes, the humor is done in a deadpan-style, and it isn’t a fast-paced movie until the final payoff in the end.

I really enjoyed “Big Man Japan,” but I think this is because I lived over in Japan for several years and am a huge fan of “Downtown.” Like the film Takeshis, which also was cameo-ridden, this just isn’t something that was made for the overseas market, and I think if I was seeing it cold then I wouldn’t have enjoyed it. Fans of pure absurdity will probably get a kick out of it, and people who enjoy a good man-in-suit giant monster movies like The Super Robot Red Baron and All Monsters Attack might find something good here too. Otherwise, it is probably going to be a snoozer for you.

Posted in Japanese Film. Tags: , . Leave a Comment »
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