Countless places write about onsen experience, sushi experience and so on, but behind the simple act of going to the cinema lie further little quirks about the Japanese.

Unless you head to Toho in Roppongi, the most internationalised cinema I know of (they have penny sweets!), Japanese cinemas are an interesting lot.

My first visit was to Q Front, a tiny cinema with little more than a sweet counter and the screen. How economical and yet such a contrast to the reams of merchandise sold in small shops attached to every cinema. Much like going to a theatre at home, you can buy pamphlets and other assorted trinkets such as phonestraps and uchiwa. This merchandise held us up from buying snacks before Batman at the Yurakucho Picadilly as a woman in front spent an inordinate amount of time choosing what plastic Batman toy she wanted to act as her drink lid.

Batman also revealed to me the love of the Japanese to sit through the credits. At Kurosagi and HanaDan I paid this little attention – my friends and I bolted out and I could understand sitting through Japanese credits. At Batman everyone waited and watched patiently until the final reel before quietly standing, gathering their belongings and filing, still silently, out of the cinema. The same then happened at Sex and the City. I have tried to think of a reason why but something I am sure of is that it cannot be for reading purposes. Credits tend to move too fast for even native speakers to read, and they are also quite hideously dull interesting only if your son/daughter was a part of the production. Without even subtitles though… I imagine it is simply considered polite to wait out the entire show until it has finished.

The final small quirk I recently noticed was at the Shinjuku Picadilly yesterday. The Picadilly is of the new breed of Japanese cinemas with it’s sleek modern design of opaque white glass covering the interior, designer snacks and multi-screens. What was quite different though was that people waited patiently and at the time printed on the ticket an announcement came over the tannoy that the screen would now be opening. No laxadaisical hanging around the door but instead clean and smart efficiency.

It’s funny to think something I considered to be a very uniform activity of modern culture could be populated by so many quirks. I never witnessed anything similar in HK or indeed any other city where I have seen a movie, just Japan.

In this world there are three types of swindlers:
Those who defraud other peoples’ money, Shirosagi
Those who deceive others by manipulating their feelings, Akasagi
And then, using the Shirosagi and the Akasagi as his only source of food, is the ultimate swindler in history.
A swindler of swindlers. His name is…Kurosagi
~opening to Kurosagi drama~

I have been anticipating the Kurosagi movie for quite a while. Yamashita Tomohisa or Yamapi took the lead role and he has been fairly central in my love of Jpop for the past four years (I blame him and Kimura Takuya for giving me an interest in Johnny’s). Kurosagi was also one of my favourite dramas of recent years; with tight, exciting storylines, a theme of revenge that took some cues from Shakespeare and a sweet semi-love story. Kurosagi was another drama that was originally a manga, although this time one that was not quite so well known, especially among western audiences.

That I loved the drama though also gave me reason to approach the movie with trepidation. I wanted Yamapi to do well. I wanted NEWS (whose song has become tied to the movie) to do well. Moreover I did not want the drama to be ruined. I have now seen Kurosagi and it was a … strange experience. I really wanted to love this film. I wanted it so much to be a great ending to the drama but alas even my undying love for Yamapi cannot blind me to its flaws…

As a film it seemed all over the place with subplots that wove in unexpectedly and unexplored potential of genuine conflict between Kurosagi and his mentor/boss/enemy, Katsuragi (Yamazaki Tsutomu). Instead it felt like an extended episode with some tacky references to Julius Caesar, as if the comparisons already being drawn between Yamazaki (Caesar) and Kurosagi (Brutus) were not already obvious. The line ‘Et tu Brute’ was said at least three times. Horikita Maki and Aikawa Show were vastly underused. Maki appeared in small cameos simply as the annoying neighbour rather than a force of conscience as she had been in the drama. The attempt to give her a plotline revolved around her University friends putting on a play of Caesar, except that all we saw was the set they built, upon which Kurosagi and Katsuragi played out their drama. Aikawa Show meanwhile, as the Police Officer, Kashima was relegated to making commentary on how they needed to catch Kurosagi but were failing. There was little of the tension between Kurosagi and Kashima that we enjoyed in the series. As for the actual plot… it was based over a complex swindle that went wrong when a death inconvenienced it and then right again. Again the potential of this death to reveal a grave baddie was not explored and Kurosagi essentially went unchallenged. He was smart, ok, but unchallenged. I shouldn’t reveal too many details but suffice to say the resolution of this story made me cringe.

Yet despite all this criticism I enjoyed the film. I put aside plot for the focus on characters and some of the scenes were beautiful. The female ex-love interest of Katsuragi was particularly interesting, as was watching the pain in Kurosagi’s face as he realised he couldn’t kill Katsuragi. The theme of betrayal came up time and time again and for some reason one could empathise with Kurosagi as he found it impossible to put the katana closer to Katsuragi’s neck. I though Yamapi did very well in his role and the cinematography was stunning. It contained some beautiful aerial views of Tokyo and Shibuya in particular. One shot over Roppongi gave the city a distinct LA feel. I want to rewatch with subs in case I missed anything. The basic plot criticisms will still stand but I feel I should give the film a proper subtitled watch before making a final judgement (on a personal note though I am astonished as to how much of the film I could understand without subs!). It is a great film for Yamapi watching though. There are some awesomely funny moments, including Yamapi speaking English (that made me so very happy) and watching some of his more clever tricks pull off. He is also gorgeous throughout: I think this has influenced my enjoyment a great deal and I will probably buy the DVD when it comes out!

So there we have it. Kurosagi the movie: for fans of Kurosagi or Yamapi only.
I was right to feel some of that fear…

Meanwhile… the cinema, Cine Front was a nice auditorium and I have heard the only one resembling a cinema back home. Others don’t have concessions stands! After a day of work I felt super peckish so bought an ice cream filled crepe which was tasty for a cinema-bought crepe. When I first received it though it was rock-hard; if I hit someone it could have done some damage! I also discovered an interesting quirk of Japanese cinemas: they sell movie merchandise! For 600 yen I bought the Kurosagi program, a delightful memory of the whole drama (for me) and a Yamapi photobook.

A couple of keitai photos of the book: