“Death is not the opposite of life but an innate part of life.”

Norwegian Wood

If you’ve run out of good movies to watch, take time to see this Japanese movie. Of course, it ain’t Japanese if it doesn’t have a hint of perversion. But in this movie’s case, it’s not just a hint… it’s the movie itself. 😀 No, it’s not porn.

This movie is an adaptation of the hit novel with the same title by Haruki Murakami. After watching this movie, I have this urge of reading the book too. I feel like I’ll understand/ appreciate the story better if I see it in words. The movie was great but it kind of got dull and boring at times especially in the first part. But I have this philosophy that if a movie starts off boring, it’s sure to have a big ending. I guess it applied to this movie.

The movie was set in Japan in the 1960’s. The movie starts off with the main character/ narrator, Toru Watanabe (Kenichi Matsuyama) and his best friend, Kizuki (Kengo Kora), goofing off like normal high school students as Kizuki’s girlfriend and childhood friend, Naoko (Rinko Kikuchi) watches them, enjoying herself. They were shown to have really close ties with each other. The story developed gradually when Kizuki committed suicide at the age of 17, thus living a scar on his friends. Watanabe, wanting to forget that event, decided to live and study in Tokyo to start a new life. There he learned the ways of the city and made a new friend, Nagasawa (Tetsuji Tamayama). Watanabe initially went with the playboy Nagasawa so he could have sex with the girls Nagasawa picks up. Later on, the both of them didn’t really have a close relationship. The movie progressed when Watanabe met Naoko in Tokyo. They started to have feelings for each other but Naoko being emotionally unstable didn’t help in making their relationship work. Naoko then decided to confine herself in a sanitarium in the mountains so she could relieve herself. Because of Watanabe’s strong feelings for her, he would visit her often and they would attempt to make out. But Naoko seemed to have a problem with getting turned on so in the end, they would resort to handjobs and blowjobs to satisfy Watanabe. Meanwhile, in the city, Watanabe also started to have feelings for a different girl, Midori Kobayashi (Kiko Mizuhara). She was rather outgoing compared to Naoko and loved Watanabe deeply despite having a boyfriend. Watanabe is then torn between Naoko, a person whom she really loves but is emotionally unstable (and later on developed Schizophrenia, I think.) and is unable to have intercourse with him and Midori, whom he loves as well but the circumstances doesn’t allow him to. This movie sheds light on various topics we might encounter as we grow. It talks about Sexuality, Death and Relationships — which is probably why it appeals to young audiences.

Props to MatsuKen’s acting. And to Rinko Kikuchi as well. Their roles were well pulled off. The story is awesome enough and putting in great actors makes it even awesome-er. For sure, this heartbreaking movie is guaranteed to touch you. And if you’re lucky enough it might turn you on sometimes. LOL.

 

Too Many In One Day!

Can this week get any better? Too many good news breaking on me!

First we have Kenichi Matsuyama. He’s the guy who played the boyfriend in “1Liter of Tears”(even though I haven’t watched it yet) but he is better known for his superb portrayal of L in the movie adaptation of the hit anime/manga Death Note. It’s been long since I’ve heard of this guy and just recently, I happen to tumble across some screen caps of another hit movie (I think) of his entitled “Norwegian Wood”. I heard it’s an adaptation of a hit novel in Japan, so I decided to watch it — but I’ll talk about the movie next time. As always, I was impressed by Matsu-Ken’s acting and since I haven’t heard much about him (wow. Close?) for some time now, I decided to google him up. That’s when I found out he actually married a month ago on April Fools’ Day. What a joke, right? I guess it’ll be forever embedded on me that he is L, and knowing L getting married is surreal. I guess I have to face the fact that Matsu-Ken is not an anime character. And what’s surprising is that his wife is 9 years older than him. But who cares about the age difference if your wife starred in 2 Hollywood movies namely Last Samurai (with Tom Cruise. IKR.) and Blood: The Last Vampire? That’s right, he married Koyuki Kato. It’s always shocking to hear someone you know (whether you are close or not) getting married after not hearing from them in ages but well, I wish nothing but happiness to the both of them!

Second! Oh. Shit. My dream is slowly coming true. Girls’ Generation will finally have their 2nd Asia Tour! I still don’t know the chances of them coming here in the Philippines but I bet SM has heard our pleas and I’m sure they’ll do something about it. They better.

Third… and probably the best news I’ve heard so far. They’ll finally have a drama adaptation of Ouran High School Host Club! No, it’s not some shitty rumor fans created because the line up has been set and boy, am I satisfied with the cast! Im excited with the Hitachiin twins, the guy that plays Hani and of course Tamaki and Haruhi. I’m not really in to JDramas but this is a must watch!

Just great news everywhere! And BTW, I just saw the BTS for SHINee’s Japanese MV of Replay and I swear, Yoona makes my heart flutter. All the unecessary hate on her should be eliminated. Face it, it’s Victoria no more. I love mommy Vicky and I love Yoona too. Seriously, anti’s should try seeing more of Yoona. She’s not just a pretty face. *points gun*

Hoping for more good news! asjdhaksf