Three years ago, 32 year old history professor Ozawa Kouki was at a hospital about his brain tumour when he first passed by Ozawa Rio, a 14 year old girl. In the present, Fast forward to the present and we see that Rio is a very fashionable girl who supports her habits with enjo kousai/compensation dating. She has a very rich papa who lets her use this very big studio and a friend who extorts her clients for money.
She saved Tomoko from being bullied but it is all part of her plan to pull another member into her enjo kousai group. She uses the threat of friendship in order to get the innocent Tomoko to agree to sell herself. Unfortunately, we do not get to see much of the enjo kousai except for the rewards of them having lots of money. I say that it is unfortunately not only from a missed fanservice point of view but because it glosses over the negative impact of such a profession. Its almost as if its saying such things are such part and parcel of the life of Japanese high school girls that it is not even worth showing or mentioning. One could almost say it is close to glorifying it.
Tanihara Shousuke can't believe he's acting with someone half his age. Lucky bastard.
One day there is a mix up at the photoshop and Rio's photos were sent to Kouki's and vice versa. She seems to have a thing for him and arranges to meet him. It was raining on the day she she pulls the I don't have an umbrella, please walk me to the station stunt. (Note to self, add this to list of things to try when in Japan.) What follows is a series of whimsical, lyrical scenes of Rio basically stalking Kouki while he is trying to be indifferent. It is an attraction that doesn't make sense yet fun to watch.
Sasaki Nozomi is the new Erika-sama. She just looks so fucking stunning in front of the camera that I cannot help but be mesmerised by her. The courtship stuff has a distinct Korean movie feel to it. Walking in the rain. Really good close up shots. Beautiful background shots. PV like and well framed. Then we get to the second half with Kouki keeping his illness a secret and Rio turning over a new leaf, blah blah blah.
We then have your typical kmovie twists and turns before finally getting the ending at the end of the 2nd hour. Yes, Tenshi no Koi is your typical fatal illness kmovie without the long lost sibling plot and with the usual jmovie high school girl side stories of enjo kousai, bullying, rape, yuri action and suicide. What else can one expect from a keitai shousetsu?
Ignoring the angelic beauty of Sasaki Nozomi, this is a pretty generic if well executed kmovie clone. In some ways I am surprised at how good it looks and the soundtrack is awesome but in the end it is a superficial movie aimed at teenage girls. It didn't dare to take a look at the evils of enjo kousai or even portray Rio as evil but that doesn't stop me from recommending this movie just for Sasaki Nozomi. I so fucking regret having seen this movie after my Japan trip and not getting her photobooks. I had too much fun taking screencaps from this movie.
No comments:
Post a Comment