Kamikaze Girls/Shimotsuma Monogatari 下妻物語

Fukada Kyoko as Momoko	Tsuchiya Anna as Ichiko (Ichigo)

Ah Kamikaze Girls…

Such a typical J-movie that comes out of seemingly no where to become a favourite. These kinds of movies are rare but Japan somehow always comes up with one every year. I can so totally name these lucky hits since 2000 if I wanted to.

This movie was released in 2004 and seeing its popularity, perhaps there are some of you that wonder why I have not talked about it until now. Well, there may be good reasons like me only coming across it just now (not true), did not have enough yuri to warranty a mention (also not true, well, partly not true) or maybe I was simply being a butt and simply not mention it. I mean there are plenty of movies I have yet to discuss but still.

Stranger still was that even the release of the BluRay not too long ago did not motivate me to re-watch it and discuss. So, why am I mentioning this now?

Well, I do value you dear Readers’ thoughts so when I was asked to say my thoughts on this movie (via tumblr) I figured, I already have it in my possession which means that it can’t be all that bad if it over-came trashing, so I whipped it up in queue last night and re-watched it in glorious HD.

 
 
 
 
 


  
 

Ichigo…oops…I meant Ichiko is a member of the local female gang. Her Aneki (The boss of the gang) is leaving soon  for a better life (marriage and pregnancy) and seeing as the Gang will ride out with her one last time as a send off, Ichiko wants to wear something special for the occasion. Her Aneki means the world to her as she completely changed Ichiko’s for the better. But what is Ichiko to do in a country town like Shimotsuma and obviously not with enough cash to impress? Oh wait, there is talk of a girl selling branded clothes in the hood. Time to steak out the warehouse and meet this Momoko character!

At the innocent side of the world, Momoko is a high school girl (17 so is Ichiko) whose life revolves around sweet life of frills (very sweet life) and self-loving. She doesn’t do bitter or sour. How can people stand eating none sweet things? It’s beyond her understanding! She has to be the most perfect girl you will find in Shimotsuma. Her life is going grand, she is very happy in her lonesome life and she does not have a single friend at both school or home but that’s pretty fine with her. In fact it’s the finest! If there was anyone to demonstrate that people can be happy without socialising, it would be Momoko. Momoko’s father once tried dealing in dirty business by forging branded clothes and selling them as the real thing. That got him in serious trouble which actually led to him running into Momoko’s mother and thus gave birth to Momoko. After years (18) Momoko stumbles upon the left over stash from hence when and has an idea!

This idea attracts Ichiko and thus the two finally meet when Ichiko pays a scheduled meeting with Momoko.

Now here is the most interesting thing about this movie.

The two, one so totally socially awkward (Ichiko) and the other so selfishly absorbed and antisocial, come together here and I just could not help but feel…something happen in that instance. I really can’t tell what it was but something happened. This all of course has nothing at all to do with the fact that the scene was so cheesy that Ichiko a guy, everyone one would be going like

“They are the main couple. They are so hooking up those two. I am so calling it now”

And then we would only have to watch and see how things play out with the introduction of stupid rivals and relationship complication that could only happen in, I don’t know, just any romantic drama, or better yet, any K-drama!

Dear God those K-dramas….

Getting back on the subject at hand, we have a straight forward Ichiko (disturbingly straight forward but there were reasons) and the loner Momoko who doesn’t understand the need for companionship and would sooner make out with a dress that write a letter or mail someone like a friend or something.

Momoka who has no need for anyone and it actually shows, and then Ichiko on the other hand who despite being very social is actually pretty lonely ( I said we will get to that) come together and unknowingly, both to themselves and to the viewer (I know, it’s amazing when a movie does that!) get closer and closer as the days pass.

Stranger still this is more apparent in Momoko who anyone would think would have totally passed the year as a loner and died alone in an apartment at 80 while her maid robot the only witness (Seen the movie yet? No? Well get to it…wait…um).

Ichiko on the other hand might not seem that changed and I gotta admit I missed her changes within the first watching but my eye cannot be deceived twice (sorry logic)!

Though it might have been early to jump to conclusions, that is to anybody else by yours truly, That scene of Momoko standing there looking after Ichiko after she rides away was very telling. Ichiko’s arrival in Momoko’s life that moment had changed something in her, despite what follows.

 
  

 
 

 

After that first encounter, Ichiko for some reason kept coming back to Momoko’s home for no apparent reason than to simply hang around, tell stories, disturb the usual Momoko alone free-time and all much to Momoko’s chagrin!

Funnier still is the fact that nothings makes sense for anyone, be it the viewer or the girls themselves. Momoko is obviously annoyed by Ichiko’s presence yet she lets her keep around and even listens to her stories (that take hours and she has to cut them up in summaries for us poor viewers to cut the time)

Ichiko on the other hand does not say her reasons. For someone in a gang ( gangs are supposed to be tight, right?), she must have had a lot of listening ears to talk to about her problems. For crying out loud, even their Aneki was particularly fond of her so why did she put up with this boring girl who is obviously not in want of her presence?

Do you know what I see through all this?

Some type of colour that has no name forming energies between the two’s hears and keep getting stronger as the time passes…In other words

Perfect sense!

All I am waiting for now is the bond to be so strong that the two cores are simple forced to smash into each other!

  
 
 
 
 

It’s during these oh so obvious dates, that apparently are not supposed to be dates because, duh, they are both girls who don’t seem to like one another and all that! It’s on one of these dates that Ichiko tells us of her story and how she became a yankee.

The caps say it all but she was a loser pretty much and she seemed to have a happy family, well, happy in their ignorance of their daughter’s suffering! Suffering that was so strong that almost forced her to depart this plane of existence

Were it not for the chance meeting with her Aneki that night who showed her how to be strong and thus changed her life completely.

The night of the ride has yet to come and Ichiko has yet to find the perfect way to thank her Aneki for everything she has done for her. But she has an idea. To get it into practice, she forced Ichiko to go on another date to Tokyo where many interesting things happen!

 

 
 
 

 

First of all, Ichiko falls in love for the first time.

No, no, I know what you are doing but please, pause that finger on that mouse. No need to send this to the bin just yet!

I have to confess too that I was totally fuming at that Casino scene when that Dick head (literally! Like, what’s with that hair!?!) appeared and not only did he appear, he went and started to play Prince to the rescue by standing up for the girls, even though I bet you melons Ichiko could have taken that rotten-teeth manager by herself!

Having been the reject in her school, Ichiko of course had no chance of falling in love or make friends at that so when a guy gets in her business, touches her, plays hero for her, you bet she would be moved to the point of falling in love (In movies it’s a crime for her not to really)

Was Ichiko affected by this?

Not that anyone ELSE could see. In fact she seemed pleased with the idea that Ichiko fell in love! Well of course she is a girl after all and love is SRS business but my little eye is not to be deceived!

Some time time later, something interesting catches Ichiko’s eye and she runs off leaving Momoko by herself.

Okay, here is one thing I have to mention first. Momoko has been countless times to this place (buying her frills and everything, because God forbid if she were to shop in that local department store) and it is Ichiko who hasn’t been to Tokyo before.

So taking that into account, with the fact that Momoko seems to not like Ichiko’s company that much, could anyone explain to me then why Momoko got so ticked off when Ichiko took her time getting back to her? Why the sudden anger for the disappearance of Ichiko? She has been the constant receiver of many a Ichiko beating so far (including head butts, flying kicks, and many more head-butts) and yet she did not get angry at her at all so why now then?

You betcha my mind began formulating theories so fast that it would put any historical scientists to shame!

Momoko though did get a lot of free time (according to the screen-time not the time-frame) to think of things and probably understood what was going on with her right away. She is smart after all, so different from her baka parents. I guess two idiots do make an intellect!

By the time it takes Momoko to get to the train station, she already has her answer and they do patch things up when she meets Ichiko there, waiting for her. No apologies were given but me thinks none were necessary!

After all, you can’t just dump your date in the middle of the activity and run off until late night!

“…”

Dear God!

That thought was not in the theories I had before, I swear it! I best add it to the list then!

Any way, having gone on the date in guise of looking for the legendary Sewer to pimp up Ichiko’s coat and thus failing to find them, Momoko (having inherited her father’s stitching skills) offers to stich the coat for Ichiko, if it’s fine with her (This is made very clear).

Of course there is a reason Ichiko has stuck to Momoko like an annoying piece of gum on a shoe so she is not going to diss her here and now, especially if it seems this is Momoko’s way of apologising to her so she hands her coat over to Momoko. This a yankee coat so the decision is not to be taken lightly.

Momoko understands this…girls, does she understand….

 



 

 

“…”

Do I even need to comment on that?!

Do I really?!!

Okay, I just have to. Momoko, one of the most no fucks given type of persons, doing something for someone….This has got to be the first time in her life she does something for anyone!

No, it is the first time!

I swear I never thought stitching could be this romantic until I saw Momoko do it with such a deep profound ocean of love I’ve ever encountered!

To further ride my case home…

 

 

The world is ending!

Okay, let us take a silent moment to come to terms with the fact that Momoko, THE Momoko, is actually in need of someone’s company!!

It was this moment that everything came crushing down on my heart and suddenly all made sense!

Okay, get this, Momoko’s love for frilly dresses and everything lolita doesn’t compare to anything in her world! On their date, she met the guy behind all these dresses she has admired since she could remember. She even thinks him her God!

Her god asks her to help him in completion of a very big project after he sees her handwork. Could you imagine how happy she was at that moment?

Well, I can imagine how happy she was SUPPOSED to be!

She was supposed to be so happy that she would spend a whole damn month, if it needed that much time, to complete that dress for her God! the work she had done for Ichiko would not even compare to the masterpiece that would be that finished wedding dress!

That’s how happy she was supposed to be!

But she was not!

Everything seemed senseless, loveless, demotivating, and plain unsettling when she could not even start on that dress!

What could have possibly been so wrong?

Other than the fact that the love she poured into Ichiko’s coat was much different, much deeper, more profound, than that of her God? Other than the fact that where Ichiko was concerned she was not expecting a reward and yet felt rewarded at the happiness radiating from Ichiko at her hard work?

I have no idea!

If I were the supreme court Judge, the case of this being gay or not, would so be over!

Actually, it is over now! I dare you, I double dare you to deny this right now!

But the movie is not over yet so let’s continue on…

 

Ichiko: Ne Momoko, Aneki said girls should never cry in public…

Momoko: It’s alright. It’s just us here.

Imma cry now~

So the reason why I did not dump this movie way back when was because of this scene, well, somewhat this scene…

Remember how I said Ichiko really looked up to Aneki? Remember how she fell in love to? Remember the reason why she met Momoko in the first place? Well, the unmentionables finally hit the fan when the Dude that Ichiko fell for, turned out to be none other than Aneki’s fiancée and lover whom she was going to marry and already have a kid on the way.

Talk about LIFE kicking you in the teeth!

Seriously, the girl just can’t have a break! The only best thing to happen to her life having been Aneki – Aneki whom she have had some bitter feelings towards at the end, even though she was too nice to be mean at her Aneki. Only for this Aneki to almost crush the happiness she had given her by being the catalyst to her first heart-break!

Nope! No break here.

 
 




 
 
 

Oh shi…She’s pissed!

 

My Princess, your chariot awaits…

 
 
 

Dem smiles, Dem gazes…Ahhhhh!

As if being Ichiko was not suffering enough, just after she finishes mending Momoko’s troubled heart (back at the wedding-dress issue) she receives a suspicious phone call that was about something challenge something.

Momoko gets worried. I still can’t believe it’s the same Momoko.

No! What am I saying?! Of course it’s not the same Momoko. She is so in love this current Momoko. Okay, not love but she has strong enough feelings to worry that much about Ichiko to go so far as to run to her rescue.

Though as I watched Ichiko race to the meeting place she had over-heard during Ichiko’s call, I was just sitting there trying to think of what exactly she is going to do when she gets there. Seriously, Momoko has not shown any signs of violence, let alone physical featness (No, it’s not a typo). She had to be the least physical girl ever, well, from what we were lead to believe through out the whole earlier parts of the movie.

That Momoko goes to ichiko’s rescue and girl, what an entrance she made – flying in and right into the middle of the action after falling off her ride. Oh by the way, that was the first time she had ever ridden anything, let alone a vespa but there you have it.

So many things happen here at the final showdown that I almost missed a few. First here right then and there, is where the two’s relationship is first accepted. Before when Momoko was still avoidy mean girl with ah dead heart, she had asked Ichiko why she kept coming to her and disturbing her peaceful life. Ichiko had said it was because they were friends. Momoko had simply gone off, bought a cabbage, handed it to Ichiko and introduced her to her new friend. Obviously she wanted none of that. That move earned her a flying kick to the spine  of course.

But seeing that Momoko here, the look on her face as she anticipated Ichiko’s answer to a question asked her of whether her frilly FRIEND was more important that the gang….It was mighty delicious. So was the one that came after Ichiko’s answer.

It’s really strange but of the two, while I would have expected Ichiko to fall for Momoko, it was the other way around.

Then suddenly, as if the POWER OF YURI had wakened within her at that moment, she proceeded to lay waste on the bitches that beat up her Ichiko.

Can you say…”WHAAAAAAAAAAAAA”

Needless to say, she totally earned 9000 more points from Ichiko to the already 100 points she had earned with everything she had done for Ichiko before, to make it over 9000!

Whether Ichiko notices Momoko’s feelings for her, and whether the response is good or bad, I just have a feeling that Momoko will have it her way and no other. First of all Ichiko owes Momoko her life, to the power of 5! In other words, she can be Momoko’s slave for this life, the next life, and three more and still be in debt!

Add in the fact that Momoko now seems to be going around with Ichiko playing heroic yankees, then that debt is growing day by day until the day Momoko grows old and dies, though not alone for hopefully, granny Ichiko would be there next to her.

And with a smile like that at the end, we are pretty sure Ichiko’s suffering totally came to an end for good!

Sorry Madokami but Momoko demolished despair before you >.<

Okay, so it was only one person but she is doing it still with Ichiko by her side of course, just like you have dearest Homura by you as well!

…..

Now it’s up to you dear Readers, to decide whether you are in or …

Ja ne