Just when I was about to give up on Japanese cinema ever producing anything good, other than a Techno-Horror, I ran across this gem at the video story.
American audiences may think that Momoko and Ichigo are extreme examples of Japanese girls, when in fact they are actually well developed profiles of 2 of Japan's most prolific subcultures. In Japan the bike riding Yankis are everywhere (and typically the women quit the gangs after getting knocked up, an example of which the actress Anna Tsuchiya followed), and the Momoko (The lolitas, but I always referred girls like her as "Raggedy Anns on crack") like styled girls can be find shops for their clothing all over Shibuya and Harajiku (The "Baby; The Stars Shine Bright" is an actual label, but quite a few of the "Raggedy Anns on crack" make their own clothes just as Momoko did).
To me the Momoko and Ichigo characters were like so many Japanese girls I have met, and the ordeals that they went through were like re-tellings of personal stories I had heard so many times before.
I loved this movie so much I had to buy it just so I will know I will always have it when my own Japanese-American daughter grows up, but this movie is a must see for anyone who wanted to know anything about Japan or wants to see a touching movie about 2 girls who come into their own.
Movies this insightful are rare, and this is the best "coming of age movie" for women I have ever seen in any language.
American audiences may think that Momoko and Ichigo are extreme examples of Japanese girls, when in fact they are actually well developed profiles of 2 of Japan's most prolific subcultures. In Japan the bike riding Yankis are everywhere (and typically the women quit the gangs after getting knocked up, an example of which the actress Anna Tsuchiya followed), and the Momoko (The lolitas, but I always referred girls like her as "Raggedy Anns on crack") like styled girls can be find shops for their clothing all over Shibuya and Harajiku (The "Baby; The Stars Shine Bright" is an actual label, but quite a few of the "Raggedy Anns on crack" make their own clothes just as Momoko did).
To me the Momoko and Ichigo characters were like so many Japanese girls I have met, and the ordeals that they went through were like re-tellings of personal stories I had heard so many times before.
I loved this movie so much I had to buy it just so I will know I will always have it when my own Japanese-American daughter grows up, but this movie is a must see for anyone who wanted to know anything about Japan or wants to see a touching movie about 2 girls who come into their own.
Movies this insightful are rare, and this is the best "coming of age movie" for women I have ever seen in any language.