I would have love it at thirteen
I didn't quite get on with this film, and I think the reason is that it might be aimed at young teenagers.Because the plot itself is nothing new -- group of underdogs discover corruption/a conspiracy, and must fight against the system/corrupt corporation/evil group to make it public. The only difference is that here, the setting is at an elite high school and the underdogs are a non-sanctioned newspaper club -- and it's all infused with messages about morals, truth and growing up. It also points out sexism, classism, adultism and how an imbalance of power easily leads to injustice. And the main protagonists and their idols are all girls and women, which I like a lot.
Viewed through this lens -- that the target audience are young -- some more things in this film make sense, for example that the evil CEO is a milk-drinking caricature of an antagonist, or that the young ones on the side of the good are Very Earnest and Very Brave.
The story starts out very slow, and builds up momentum along the script I mentioned above, with some but not many surprises who are already familiar with the tropes, and finishes in a finale that might be more emotionally satisfying for those unaccostumed with them.
Performances were appropriately earnest/comedic throughout; and there's nothing to complain about iregarding technical aspects -- I found the music slightly invasive at times, but I could blend that out quite quickly.
I wonder if this might be adapted from a manga. The actors spoke with the same speed and intonation as anime voice actors. The sets were strangely distinct, in an artificial way -- the small room for a tea ceremony in the school clashed with the modern school building, while the CEO's office would have fit in right into a business melodrama; and the way the actors stood and moved in the sets felt straight out of a manga panel.
Was it good?
It was done very well, and there was not much to complain about.
Did I like it?
I admit it, if this had been a series, I would probably not have finished it.
Who would i recommend it to?
Teenagers, aged 13 to 15. I think they might love it.
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shifting comedy
I'm still trying to work out how to describe this. It begins as a coming of age centred around high school problems taken very seriously by those involved in them. Too seriously as it shifts into stylised exaggeration (let's call it 'dry melodrama'), a bit tongue in cheek. Before it ends there's overtly comedic exaggeration countered by earnest high school students up against all odds.A lot is told rather than shown, it feels like a close adaptation of a novel. The acting suits the moods of the various strands, creating an engaging mix of flavours. It will help if you're willing to just go with the flow as it shifts. I wasn't sure at the beginning but by the end I really enjoyed it.
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This review may contain spoilers
Kariiiiiin
A born actress, albeit she was perfectly cast for the role and didn't really have to act as a completely different person, although that's what you'll take for a movie debut (tbf she had to pretend to be smart- do not ask her to do a times table).Overall the story is fun and engaging, making you guess things until the very last moment. Even if the "villain" in this case was a bit of a pantomime villain after they've been revealed as one, personally I see that as fine, as well as imagining the discussion's that do take place when deceit and bribery takes place, I mean most politicians sell out to Israel for only a couple $1000, even if this story isn't actually about such a grand scale of things, it is one that alludes to the nature of the greater world outside of school "scoops" and how nefarious things can be.
If you liked this movie, I'd seriously recommend watching "Caster!", a TV drama airing this year which similarly goes over in essence the same topics but over a grander scale of time and levelled up to the "adult world".
Honestly for criticism it's kind of hard to give any, I would like to say that the pantomime-ness is definitely exaggerated but even if it is there's nothing inherently problematic about it, yet honestly I can imagine the politicians acting in the exact same manner of accord every time they take a bribe (funnily enough the big "scoop" that costed the LDP's first defeat in Japanese electoral history post 1955 system, revealed that they were taking bribes the entire time- they also accuse the other side of doing it, classic whataboutism to try and save face, big parallels with the story told here https://archive.ph/wRkkh ), so even this criticism is pretty much clutching at straws, since I do honestly believe these people giggle to themselves (I mean they've sold their souls already they may as well laugh and drop the eloquence act) when they see the suitcases of money they receive after voting on sanctions on a country they voted to invade or weapons licensing contracts or discriminatory laws against immigrants (looking at you Sanseito).
If you're an imaginative person you can probably guess the gist off the plot from my review- although you shouldn't be reading spoiler'd reviews if you are the type, if you aren't then I'd say watch this movie and you probably will thoroughly enjoy it while watching out for some of the parallels that I have mentioned.
The pacing style is one of sequential movement and action, which is exactly what a movie should be- the slow burn build up stuff can stay with the multi-episode multi-seasonal TV shows- while this doesn't sacrifice any of the quality within the scenes nor the layer's of mystery within the story. Seriously watch this.
Also Karin is actually just the goat or what
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