Gâru supâkusu

What are those rockets that are being shot in the sky everyday? And why is everyone around Saeko acting so weird? Or is just her period? Who is Saeko? Saeko is a normal Highschool girl who wants to change the world, but everyone around her behaves kinda funny; her father stinks, her friends are barring her way, her teacher's a pervert. And Saeko's angry; not to say, hopping mad. But she doesn't know why. Maybe she's just having her period, after all ... Director Yuya Ishii confronts us with a wonderfully bizarre, yet oddly familiar reality which could very well be our own. We see the world through Saeko's eyes as she's trying to cope with everyday situations and her final days in school. "Girl Sparks" is one of those incredibly catchy and honest Coming-of-Age stories like they can only come from Japan. The humor feels fresh, the dialog is terrific, the pacing perfect, while still delivering a kind of bittersweet feeling of nostalgia. Ishii's camera-work is down-to-earth and realistic, the acting is as believable as it gets. Definitely among the best up-to-date films of relevance I've seen in a theater this year. Now all that's left for us to do is pray that this infinitely charming gem will eventually find its way on a subtitled DVD. Aaah, I dare not to hope ...