Atenshon purîzu

There are some lucky coincidences... I love comedies, mostly and especially B/W classics...

Well, it's not a classic, because it's a TV series... Furthermore, it's not B/W, it's color...

But I laughed, cried and open broad eyes as I met this "Attention please".

Not more a youngster, and a man, usually I'm not fond of series nor TV, haven't even got one at home, but, as I was doing some searches about other movies, my attention was captured by the title.

What was this "Atenshon purîzu" ?

On Youtube there were plenty of clips, and already after a very short one, laughed a lot.

It was crazy, funny and witty ! Yes, all that together !

And then could find the episodes for online viewing or downloading. So I did.

Downloaded all of them... and I'm fond of it...

The first three episodes I watched them on a row, laughing a lot ! The next ones will I savour like a rare wine, as the series is over, and it had only a few episodes :-)

The girls are pretty, the teacher is a beautiful woman, all the actors are giving an excellent performance, and cherry on cake, the lead actress is soooooo cute !

The acting range of Aya Ueto, the lead actress is just perfect !!!

And the script might be not so original, for that in fact I don't know, but anyway the dialogues, if not transcendental, are full of flavor, human compassion understandings, and the whole thing is absolutely hilarious !

I laugh all along I write this... as I could not and should not resist to offer another comment for this joyous comedy.

This series is also a full cultural Japanese subtle relations explanation, not appearing on a superficial outlook.

So, in three words : absolute pure fun !

Back to the beginning of this comment as I said I love B/W classic... for me it can stay along forever in my videotheque with some of my favorites comedies, like One Two Three (1961), Unfaithfully Yours (1948), Ball of Fire (1941), Bringing up baby (1938), the best Sacha Guitry, Raimu or Fernandel comedies for instance...

As I said : not B/W, not a classic... but pure pleasure !

So it definitively took my attention !

Will be highly recommended to my friends, and one of these next days will be glad to watch the series again with my two boys...

I laugh already in advance of what they will say or not... They like martial arts movies, action flicks, boys movies, (me too :-) but also (sometimes) B/W, classics, and even (seldom) silent movies !

Love or hate ? we'll see... :-)

The flight attendant/cabin crew genre has been so done before in Hollywood -- mostly in forgettable B-rated flicks where big hair, big busts and bubble-brained blonds prevail. But that was in America -- this is Japan.

In Japan, the training of cabin/flight crew for JAL combines elements of pseudo-samurai/quasi-military indoctrination, with cram-school feverishness, with geisha-like attention to detail, wrapped in Japan Inc.'s unique brand of corporate "all for one, one for all" groupthink.

This Fuji-television produced series is enjoyable mostly because it sheds light on a method of training and mode of service that is mostly unfamiliar in the West, i.e., complete and unmitigated Zen-like devotion to an organization and one's job/duty.

Unlike most B-rated stewardess flicks, where the plot line predictably follows a bunch of likable American girl-next-door types who start out as friends, but succumb to the intrigue and strictures of flight attendant training and end up at each other's throats by graduation, for the ever cheerful and effervescent JAL trainees in "Attenshun Puriizu", it's quite the opposite.

In this series, it starts out with a few Japanese girls with little or no personality or identity in their civilian lives, who are drawn together after beating incredible odds to be chosen into one of the few elite professions open to college-educated young women in Asia: Flight Attendants/Cabin Crew.

Their training begins the day they are whisked off the streets away from their previously pointless and aimless lives, and drawn into a neo-fascist corporate environment of JAL where previous notions of themselves come under continuous assault. This is done military style --with a healthy dose of Samurai Bushido and Zen-like dedication thrown in for good measure -- through drill, routine, repetition and group brainwashing.

Memorable scenes in this series include one where the two starring characters -- both JAL flight attendant aspirants -- are caught in an elevator of a building on their first day of work, thus making them late for their first JAL orientation. No fear -- after a strict lecture by their Yoda-like training instructor -- a veteran flight attendant herself -- about the importance of punctuality and being aware of every possible emergency, the two distraught candidates are grudgingly allowed to re-enter the class and participate in orientation --but only after being properly shamed though in front of their peers about their behavior.

Other scenes worth mentioning are the endless rehearsals in the real JAL training facility cabin mock-ups and crew simulators, where we witness the trainees reciting over and over again -- like robots -- cabin evacuation procedures and other aircraft trivia and minutia in a wonderful montage sequence set to upbeat, martial music.

One of the most endearing scenes in the pilot episode though, is when the aspirants finally pass their initial phase training and are awarded their official JAL cabin crew uniforms -- replete with name tags, JAL-emblazoned silk scarves, and shrink wrapped in protective cellophane to boot -- thus allowing them to continue the rest of the cabin-crew flight training.

It's witnessing scenes like this when one realizes how much being a part of a recognized group means to the Japanese, and how negotiating such compulsions are oftentimes an "all-or-nothihg" affair for many in Japanese society.

Very enjoyable comedy , which at least in the earlier episoodes is so light and frothy, you think it might float away.

I found the lead character delightful, although she is big headed, loud, and not in the least bit quite. You might say that she is not at all your stereotypical Japanese person. Others might want to shoot her. But as the show goes on, she does grow, although never quite losing those traits. Of course it wouldn't work if it wasn't for the wonderful lead performance by Aya Ueto.

Finally i got to watch this series (although being 8 years late since its live broadcasting). Attention Please is a series basically adapted from the shōjo manga and also a reboot from the 1971 version (same characters; names and title but with different plot, setting, and story). It tells about a Japanese girl named Youko Misaki who tries to achieve her dream becoming a cabin attendant (i.e. flight crew) which looks impossible to her. Surely unlike the 1971 version, this series changes all things into the more sophisticated version, also this one apparently focused targeting on young viewers unlike its predecessor which's more general for all ages in its style.

Aya Ueto as the main star really fits the character well which's cute, naive, sweet, a bit self-embarrassing, tough, full of energy, easy going, self centered, annoying, childish, immature, cheerful. That's why it's a must see film for her fans. Other than Ueto, there's certainly Maya Miki who's quite adept at delivering her character as Instructor Mikami and deserved appraisals for the acting. Being a strict and firm yet caring figure, the character's exceptional and an important part of the series as well. Other recurring characters like Shota, Yayoi, Sekiyama, etc support the story well and make the drama livelier with emotional conflicts added with the typical comedy that can make viewers smiling "Hmphh", tittering "Pfftt", and laughing "Haha".

In each episode,there's a major conflict (whether it's personal, professional, or technical) that needs to be overcome and that makes the main character to evolve step by step, and and change to be better till finally into the perfect cabin attendant. That just makes the viewers kept watching it. Some local Japanese cuisines're also introduced in some episodes and it might make the viewers hungry and curious to taste them. The theme song ("Oh, Pretty Woman") and bgm also quite fit and are memorable enough. Personally i find it just slightly better than the 1971 version. Though it only received one award as Best Titleback in Japanese Television Drama Academy Awards, the spirit to stand all obstacles & challenges, the attitude to never give up, the hard-work to reach the dedication and integrity in professions, also the cheerfulness which's shown especially by Youko (as well as other characters) are set and appreciated as good examples for viewers, so you can't help but admire the characters.

The series consists of 11 episodes, when it seems the story'd become a bit monotone after some episodes there's still an intriguing thing especially in the romance aspect which's also solved quite well in the finale. There're also 2 more TV specials (In Hawaii & In Australia) they show more about the continuation in story and shouldn't be missed (the former especially) although because they're longer in duration, some viewers might found them a bit less interesting & funny compared with the main series.

Attention Please certainly gives plenty educations generally about the airline personnel system (e.g. cabin crews, pilots/co-pilots, engine technicians, training instructors, & so on) for laymen and broaden the viewers with some new knowledges mainly about commercial aviation that can be useful and applied when dealing with them in real life situations, undoubtedly it also gives even some better perspectives/aspects about cabin attendants that there're still more than giving services, comforting, helping, and ensuring the safety of everyone on board (i.e. passengers/customers).

Fun & entertaining, a good choice to watch.

9/10

Attention Please (Atension Purizu), is a great funny Japanese show that will set you to set your seat belts and enjoy the flight from Japan Airlines.

The one main character from a young rock girl who was boy-ish to a grown-up cabin attendent, Misaki Youko is played by Aya Ueto who has yet again, struck a lightning bolt meaning that she has done another fabulous job playing a boy-ish rock chick! Considering her seriously whooping bloody performance in 'Azumi', this time, she goes funny!

As Aya Ueto plays Misaki Youko, Episode 8 is where Aya had to play her character in a way where she was put to failure by her instructor, in which Aya's character nearly gave up to where she climbed up in her path. It was the only episode where I've seen Aya playing her character, in a broken down situation.

This show is a great show in relations to JAL (Japan Airlines), that somehow each episodes has a subjected situation in parts of it.

7/10 - Good stuff.