Tonde Saitama

" Fly me to saitama " was not my cup of tea, but there were some aspects of it that I did appreciate.

First of all, this movie is not for everyone. It must not be taken seriously and there is no real meaning behind it. However, the pace of the story was pretty good, with the adventure having a nice start and a dynamic ending. The production was really good too, with the costumes being top notch, as well as the settings. It is slightly bothered me that the grandson was played by an actress and not an actor, even though she did a great job with her character.

So, overall, six out of ten.

Funny and hyper-stylized superhero tale about the triumph of the ordinary. Enjoyed watching this even without catching all of the cultural references. The song in the end credits is particularly hilarious.

The name on IMDB is crazy. It's not the same as the manga and makes no grammatical sense.

Anyway, Fly, Saitama is terrible. The acting is over the top, the universe it creates in inconsistent, the directing is flat... and I LOVE IT!!

Not despite, because of these flaws, the film is so enjoyable as everybody is in on the ridiculousness of it all. The only real problem I can see is that the jokes are very location specific. Some of the jokes are just one word and that's a place in Saitama. If you don't know that place, or you don't know the people from Saiatama, the jokes may just fall flat.

That (and IMDB's stupid naming) aside, I can still recommend that you give it a try. You may just have a lot of fun!

Momomi (Fumi Nikaido) is the son of the governor of Tokyo, a prestige position that puts him in the top echelon at his school, where he is (naturally) President of the students. When Rei Asami (Gackt) joins the school from America, Momomi's position is threatened; Rei is exotic, smart *and* beautiful. Momomi wants to dispose of Rei, but cannot. But then he learns that Rei is actually from Saitama, a degraded part of Japan that has no sea and therefore is considered worthless, its people even more so - people from there even need visas to enter Tokyo! But *then* Momomi's hatred for Rei turns to something else, and they join forces to lead Saitama's people from oppression to freedom....

Some 5 years ago, I was privileged to see "Thermae Romae," a Japanese film in which a modern Japanese man enters a bath in his world and emerges in the baths in ancient Rome; it was easily one of the most inventive, funny and memorable films I saw that year. So when I saw that "Fly Me" was made by the same director, I knew I had to see it. And I certainly was not disappointed! The above description only scratches the surface, as I didn't mention the framing device or all the complications of the many other characters. Suffice it to say that director Hideki Takeuchi brings in whimsy, mixed-up historical detail from real periods in Japanese history, scary monsters that turn out to be something much different, corruption in government, hilarious moments and the most androgynous characters (something that seems to be a "thing" in Japanese cinema), along with a bit of innocent love and dastardly deeds. Oh, did I mention absurdity? Yum!

Of whom I'm planning to watch the entirety of the Patalliro! Animated franchise, so I watched this to get a general idea of his style. Imagine a Judge Dredd setting mixed with elements taken from shoujos and shonen-ais and lots and lots of japanese cultural elements of which you probably will get 2% if you follow japanese Seiyuus on twitter (Funassyi I'm looking at you) and societal/political satire and you'll have this stylish movie in a nutshell. Highly rewatchable and enjoyable from start to finish. Absolutely recommended.