Schoolgirl Complex
Manami (Morikawa Aoi) is the president of the radio broadcasting club, and is a host on the school radio channel. She also has a second hobby in that she finds it fascinating to sneak around and look at other girls, especially one called Chiyuki. Chiyuki joins the club, but does not participate much, because she is a "bad girl", and seems to have personal problems.
For the cultural festival, Manami decides to make a radio program where the club will read from the book Schoolgirl by Dazai Osamu, because Chiyuki seems to like him. But because of Chiyuki's antisocial behaviour, conflicts arise in the radio club.
A small problem is the casting. Morikawa Aoi is super cute. She is also very small, and seems very shy. She is a fine actress, but it's hard to imagine how her character ended up as the club president, because Manami does not have any leadership skills at all. Chiyuki is also larger, so it is hard to imagine Manami as her senior, though such pairings happen in real life of course. Of all interactions between characters, those between Manami and Chiyuki are the most interesting.
Furthermore, I can't avoid making a comparison to when Shida Mirai played a radio host in the TV series 14-year-old Mother, and did it with much more energy.
It is also unclear what it is all about. There's some romance, but less than one would expect. The purpose of the movie still eludes me. Maybe I will get it if I watch it another couple of times, or by analyzing the book by Dazai Osamu.
An interesting part is the activity of the radio club. They are surprisingly serious about training their voices, with exercises that are no joke, almost like if it is a sport. This also explains why they look down on Chiyuki so much.
The high point is clearly the reading event. It may be unusual that the climax of a movie is a few girls sitting on a stage, reading from a paper. Their reading skill is just supreme.
For the cultural festival, Manami decides to make a radio program where the club will read from the book Schoolgirl by Dazai Osamu, because Chiyuki seems to like him. But because of Chiyuki's antisocial behaviour, conflicts arise in the radio club.
A small problem is the casting. Morikawa Aoi is super cute. She is also very small, and seems very shy. She is a fine actress, but it's hard to imagine how her character ended up as the club president, because Manami does not have any leadership skills at all. Chiyuki is also larger, so it is hard to imagine Manami as her senior, though such pairings happen in real life of course. Of all interactions between characters, those between Manami and Chiyuki are the most interesting.
Furthermore, I can't avoid making a comparison to when Shida Mirai played a radio host in the TV series 14-year-old Mother, and did it with much more energy.
It is also unclear what it is all about. There's some romance, but less than one would expect. The purpose of the movie still eludes me. Maybe I will get it if I watch it another couple of times, or by analyzing the book by Dazai Osamu.
An interesting part is the activity of the radio club. They are surprisingly serious about training their voices, with exercises that are no joke, almost like if it is a sport. This also explains why they look down on Chiyuki so much.
The high point is clearly the reading event. It may be unusual that the climax of a movie is a few girls sitting on a stage, reading from a paper. Their reading skill is just supreme.
- frostbow
- Jun 8, 2023