OOIOO

It's 18 months old, but I came across this interview with Yoshimi (aka Yoshimi P-We, real name Yokota Yoshimi 横田佳美) of OOIOO (and Boredoms) fame. Or western audiences might know her as that Yoshimi from the Flaming Lips song. The most interesting part of the interview for me was her reaction to the idol groups that are dominating the Japanese music scene these days. Subtitles are available in English for those that need it.

And so I have been listening to my OOIOO records all weekend. A favourite of mine is the song UMO from the 2006 release Taiga. It reminds me a lot of the Sepultura song, Ratamahatta, both musically and the stop motion clip.

Eien no Zero

Eien no Zero (永遠の０) is the third movie to come from the work of Naoki Hyakuta, and the second this year after Monster was released in April. Eien no Zero was Hyakuta's 2006 debut best seller novel, which was also released in a 5 part manga series in 2010.

The story concerns a brother and sister who discover that their real grandfather was an ace pilot during the world war 2 who volunteered for the kamikaze squad. The film deals with some rather sensitive topics of wartime Japan, especially with the recently heightened tensions between Korea and China, and Prime Minister Abe's push to strengthen the Japanese military. The plot of the novel raises the question of whether the Kamikaze pilots are brave war heroes or terrorists, and it'll be interesting to see how that plays out on the screen.

From Ghibli's heart wrenching Grave of the Fireflies to Clint Eastwood's Letters from Iwo Jima, which gave me my first perspective of war from the non-American/Australian side, I'm hoping Eien no Zero provides a valuable perspective on the war, and those who fought it.

The "Zero" in the title is a reference to the A6M Zero used by the Imperial Japanese Army during the Pacific War. Chasing on from Ghibli's latest anime, Kaze Tachinu (風立ちぬ), there is plenty on offer in Japanese cinema this year for fans of World War 2 era Japanese airplanes.

Directed by Takashi Yamasaki (山崎貴) who has found recent success with the Showa era film series, Always 3 Chome. Starring Junichi Okada (岡田准一) and Mao Inoue (井上真央) as war torn lovers in the flashback part of the film and Haruma Miura (三浦春馬) and Kazue Fukuishi (吹石一恵) as the present day grandchildren trying to uncover their families hidden past.

The movie will be released on December 21st in Japan. Check out the film's website here: http://www.eienno-zero.jp/, or follow the news on twitter: https://twitter.com/eienno0_movie

Tsume to Me

The winner of the 149th Akutagawa Prize for the 1st half of 2013 was announced this month, and awarded to Kaori Fujino's (藤野可織) Tsume to Me (爪と目).

It was published earlier int he year in the April edition of literary magazine Shincho (新潮). You can check out an extract from the story here: http://www.shinchosha.co.jp/shincho/tachiyomi/20130307_1.html

Oyasumi Pun Pun #12

This series is a rarity for Inio Asano (浅野いにお) currently releasing the 12th and penultimate volume, with the final 13th volume due later in the year. Asano usually writes smaller stories within 1 or 2 volumes, such as A Girl By The Seaside from earlier in the year, or the 2005 hit Solanin.

But the brutal honesty presented in Asano's story are still present. Although how real can a story centered around a anthropomorphic bird-boy be? The surrealistic twist adds a softness to the harsh reality and emotional pain of the central characters.

The art of Asano is sublime, I'd love to frame some his artwork. But it is combined with emotionally crushing and gut wrenching stories that are so honest and painful that I sometimes find them difficult to read. Several years ago I read the first 7 volumes of this series as Pun Pun developed from a cute primary school boy with an innocent crush on a girl in his class, to an awkward adolescent, and onto an introverted sexually confused high school student. Picking up in volume 12, I see that Pun Pun's emotional strain has only increased as he tries to keep his dysfunctional life from disintegrating. Not for the faint of heart, but one of my favourite current series.

Links:
Asano Inio on Twitter: https://twitter.com/asano_inio
Oyasumi Pun Pun Website: http://spi-net.jp/rensai_sakuhin/oyasumi_punpun/index.html

I Am A Hero #12

The latest installment of I Am A Hero hit the bookshelves a few weeks ago. Issue 12 wraps up the introduction to the second group survivors including the mentally unstable and ultra-violent Kurusu (来栖).

The safety of the group's hideout becomes exposed after a break in by a wandering zombie, aka ZQN. And tension builds within the group as they argue about where to move.

We see several characters, like Hiromi from the first story line and Kurusu from the second story line, who manage to maintain some of their humanity and do not full succumb to the illness. With slurred speech but an inhumane strength and love of violence, these characters hold the key for the survivors, and future of the series.

These meme of immune and semi-immune carriers is slowly establishing itself as a zombie plot device. From 28 Weeks Later, to the current PS3 hit The Last Of Us, and now I Am A Hero. I mentioned this after the release of volume 11, but I'm really hoping to see this series picked up for a movie adaptation.

Sayonara Keikoku

Based on the 2008 novel of the same name by celebrated author Shuichi Yoshida (吉田修一). Sayonara Keikoku (Farewell Canyon さよなら渓谷) tells the story of a mother, Satomi (An Suzuki 鈴木杏), who is accused of murdering her young son after his body is found discarded along side a picturesque mountain stream. Her arrest brings to light her relationship with her neighbours Kanako (Yoko Maki 真木よう子) and Shunsuke Oszaki (Shima Onishi 大西信満). Directed by up and coming director Tatsushi Omori (大森立嗣).

Sayonara Keikoku is the second work by Shuichi Yoshida to see a feature film release this year. The first released earlier this year was Yokomichi Yonosuke (横道世之介) staring Kengo Kora (高良健吾) and Yuriko Yoshitaka (吉高由里子), directed by Shuichi Okita (沖田修一).

But it was the Japanese Academy Award winning Akunin (悪人) that brought the writing of Shuichi Yoshida to a worldwide audience. With a masterful performance by the lead actor Satoshi Tsumabuki (妻夫木聡), co-staring Eri Fukatsu (深津絵里), and directed by Saniru Li (李相日).

Space Brothers #21

If you grow up watching The Simpsons there is that moment when you realised that the star of the show wasn't Bart, it was Homer, and it was a deliberate decision by the writers. Similarly it seems to me, that even though the title is 宇宙兄弟 (Space Brothers), the focus of the story is Mutta (六太), Hibito (日々人) is just a supporting character.

It's great to see another cameo by the Ghostbuster inspired scientists, and a mustachioed Peter Venkman/Bill Murray adding a bit of humour.

I'm not sure if I mentioned this last time, but it must be difficult to write a science fiction in the near future when the pace of current technology, and political maneuvering outpaces the events in the story. 3D printing which has made such rapid advances in the past few years, features heavily. And with the manga originally appearing in 2008, NASA has since seen drastic cuts, especially in its manned space mission, that make the future envisioned in Space Brothers difficult to realise. I wonder if these real word changes have lead to the current story line that seems to be scale back the ambition of the earlier volumes. Now we see Mutta attending budgetary meetings, and campaigning to continue the International Space station in an environment of decreased space spending.

Space Brothers is a series that is slowly losing momentum, it would be nice to see Hibito return after a fairly long absence, or to see Mutta finally realise his dream of heading to space, but at the current pace of the series it may not happen for a while.