Kisaragi

Day Nine and Ten.

So I skipped a day, nothing really happened during day nine. I could barely remember it. So it was a Sunday right? And…uhm…I guess I worked for a bit, watched D.Gray-man for a bit, ate some food and watched TV. Crap, I can’t remember anything else. I guess, my brain was frozen or something because it was freezing back then.

On to day ten!I started this day really, really, really early! I woke up at 8:15 am! Seriously! That’s some sort of record to me! So the day started like any other day. Breakfast, shower, play with pets etc. Speaking of pets, I have a pet rabbit too and I was curious why he kept on circling my feet so I surfed the net and found out that that means he’s in-love. I wonder who’s the lucky rabbit or cat? Anyway, I went out to do some groceries. I wasn’t all cheery when I went out but the dark cloud on top of my head had begun to disappear. I guess, you could say that I’m finally moving on with my life. So I went to the mall, ate some really scrumptious shrimp burger with strawberry milk and watched a movie. I watched Spiderwick, by the way. I was going to watch Juno but I didn’t arrive on time and the next screening starts really late. But Spiderwick was not so bad. In fact it was really good. I haven’t read the book, which was a first since I’ve read the book version of all the fantasy movies that came out these past few years. Spiderwick was not a spectacular and heavily-budgeted film like Harry Potter, Narnia or the Golden Compass. The story was pretty simple compared to the other fantasy movies but somehow I felt a deep satisfaction while watching it. The characters were your typical heroes in fantasy novels: a bunch of ordinary kids. They’re all likable, relatable and plain. Unlike Harry who was the “Boy who lived” or Lyra who was the “The Girl in the witch’s Prophecies”, these kids were just your average, ordinary kids who happened to stumble into something magical, like the kids in Narnia. But instead of discovering different worlds, they discovered that magic was already all around them, they just couldn’t see it before. In terms of special effects, there’s nothing much this movie could boast about. Although the FX were pretty decent, they’ve all been done before. In short, there’s nothing new. But the strength of this movie was not in the special effects or the magical creatures, it’s the actors and the script. While watching this, I remember how I felt when I first watched the Neverending story when I was kid. The special effects were not good and the magical creatures didn’t look real back then but watching the Neverending story felt magical. When Bastien was flying on Falcor’s back I felt like I was soaring with him and I felt the same while watching this movie. I became a kid again and felt what watching a fantasy movie should feel like. Plus this movie didn’t just deal with magical stuff but also real-life issues, like the effect of divorce on children, the lack of communication and trust between parents and children and many more. The conflict between the family members felt so real and so did the love they had for each other. The part where Arthur Spiderwick was reunited with his daughter, Lucy, was incredibly touching. It made me feel warm and fuzzy inside. It surely is the best movie to watch with the whole family.

After the movie, I went straight home. I ate cheese popcorn and brownies while watching some old Jet Li movie on cable. Then I loaded some anime and the Oguri Shun movie, Kisaragi. After having a hearty dinner of tomato soup and sour gummi strips, I started watching Kisaragi. And “Oh my God!” was all I could say. It was so unexpectedly amazing! It left me dumbfounded. I watched it only because Oguri Shun’s in it. Have I mentioned before that I’m the ultimate Oguri Shun fan-girl? If male otaku worship voice actresses and cute female idols then I worship Oguri Shun! I don’t think he’s the best looking guy in the business but when it comes to talent, no other young actor could beat him. I often call him “The Johnny Depp of Japan” because he could take on any type of role and be amazing in it! He’s been a helpless abused boy, a tough school bully, a poor and gullible college student, a silent and mysterious prince charming, a surly high-jumper, a loner vampire, a mime/host, a carefree basketball superstar, a hot-headed virgin soccer player, a plain train driver, a modern-day Jekyll, a really strong and bad-ass fighter and a whole lot more… With Shun, the sky’s the limit! So I promised to myself that I would watch all of his movies! Every single one of them! So far, there are only 4 movies that I haven’t seen: Crows Zero, Sukiyaki Western Django, Is A. and Kisaragi. Well today, I’m finally down to 3!

Going back to Kisaragi: Kisaragi seems like a pretty boring movie at first glance. I mean, it’s a story about 5 fans of deceased model who gathered on her first year memorial service and tried to uncover how their idol really died. The movie had only one setting: The room rented by the president of the fan club, Guru, and the movie only have 5 characters: Guru (Oguri Shun), Oda, Yasou, Snake and Strawberry Girl (which is a guy). So just by looking at those facts this movie seemed pretty lame. But man, I was so wrong! At first the mood was pretty cheery: five otaku gathered to talk about their late idol, Kisaragi Miki. It was really fun watching them because they’re no different from anime otaku. They were so excited to see Miki’s pictures from the magazines, clippings of her interviews and other Miki-related items. They were laughing and comparing and trading items etc. But then from that light and cheery mood, the atmosphere changed drastically when they started talking about the real cause of Miki’s death. Even the change in the characters’ personalities were unbelievable. The nerdy guys who got excited about magazine clippings started taking on new personalities. And one by one, their true identities were revealed. No one was what they seemed to be. Everyone would really surprise you. In the beginning, the five characters were: the devoted fans club president, the geeky fat fan-boy, the cool and confident guy, the jumpy and eccentric weirdo and the serious and mature older fan. In the end, the characters were: the high-ranking police officer, the former rocker and Miki’s close friend, Miki’s childhood friend and first love, Miki’s strict manager and Miki’s own father. Strange huh? This was in fact one of the most unpredictable movie I’ve ever seen. I couldn’t even tell what type of movie this is until the very end. It looked like a comedy in the beginning but slowly started to become a detective movie, then as the situation got worse it slowly became a psychological thriller and surprisingly ended up as a heartwarming drama. I know it’s hard to believe but all that happened in one room with only five guys. I’m the type of person who usually guesses the end of the movie correctly or reveals what the twist would be early in the movie; but in this movie, none of my guesses were right and I always ended up shocked by the various revelations. I couldn’t believe that such a movie exists. As for the actor’s performances, of course, Oguri Shun did a stellar job. He started as a quirky and cheery otaku and then he seamlessly slipped into his Kudo Shinichi skin and then sheds it and wears it again. His acting was flawless and he looked like a completely different person when he was wearing the red glasses and dorky blue sweater. He just blew me away. But it wasn’t just Shun who shone brightly in this movie. Each and every one of them did an amazing job! They kept me guessing till the end! You know how you felt when you found out that Bruce Willis was a ghost in Sixth sense, well this movie made me feel like that over and over. I could keep mumbling praises for it all night so I better shut up now. Anyway, I’m signing off now. Gotta watch some more D.Gray-man.

End of Day Ten.