2017.02.28 Futsuu Janai ShokuGyou [Review]
I was very lucky to grab a ticket to the ‘Futsuu Janai Shokugyou’ Stage Greeting event where first we watched the movie and then at the end some of the actors from it would come to the stage and talk about it for a bit.
Official Website here
Official Trailer here
Press Coverage 1, 2
SYNOPSIS
『普通』の日常の中、『普通』じゃない男たちの、『普通』じゃない職業の物語-。 = A story about two abnormal men doing an abnormal job amongst those living normal everyday lives.
Kin and Yamato are killers. They kill for a living and for money. They get their work through Master, who runs a bar and clients come to him for jobs which he then gives to them. Kin and Yamato do not see eye-to-eye due to their reasons for doing the job are different. They often get in the way of each others jobs on purpose.
The three jobs they get given are: a father who wants to die but doesn’t have the courage to, a girl who wants to see her dad killed in front of her, and a Yakuza who wants to take out his competition.
CAST and CHARACTERS
Kinjyou Yamato as Yamato
Nireki Naoya as Kin
Tomita Sho (aka Sho-san) as Maabo/Ma-Bo
Aramaki Yoshhiko (aka MakiChan) as Shinya
Kishimoto Takuya (aka KishiTaku) as Taro
Ishiyama Izarion as Chris
Mori Seiji as Master
Shimazu Kentaro as Takamura
Kagaya Kei as Kawauchi
Kanna as Hitomi
Sugami Kazuhiro as Director
NON-SPOILER
This is a short movie but this is so much fun. It definitely has that indie feel to it which I love and I really enjoyed the story, the plot, the characters, the music and more. The action and choreography was amazing. The only downside is that I wanted more, I needed to know more; about the plot, about the characters; I want more(!) This movie is already 80/90 minutes long which is the minimum guidelines for a feature length movie but it felt so short and went by so fast and I want to know more!
Rating: 8/10*
*I’ve noticed I’ve marked a LOT of stuff a flat 8 out of 10 so far this year. Maybe I need to reevaluate everything so far...
SPOILERS
I want to do the negatives first because they’re super simple and not really negatives at all:
1. This is TOOOO short! (It’s 80-90minutes but still...) I seriously wanted more! More character development, more plot, more ending, just more of everything!
2. You can tell their stage actors because of the slight exaggeration in some parts. But we can forgive them because they are damn good actors on stage, but it’s clear to see that there is a different approach needed when it comes to being in front of a camera.
Before I start the fangirling, just remember (if you do see this movie): this is not a high budget, massive company production, so don’t go in expecting some high budget la-di-da because then you will be disappointed. I’m used to Japanese style movies and I’m used to Japanese Indy movies and I actually prefer these styles of movies so my brain knows not to go expecting expecting Marvel Hollywood level production value.
Nevertheless: Lets get to the fangirling!!
I wasn’t expecting this to be a good as it was! This was so much more than I was expecting! To be honest I went it only knowing three things: The title of the movie, the fact it’s probably a dark movie, and that MakiChan and Sho-san were in it. So I went in expecting just a slow paced (quite like Please, Please, Please - review here) about (going off the titles name) a group of guys who swindle for a living. As soon as the movie started it became apparent that this was going to be a killers movie! I was so down for that!
I really like how not only we have these three Kill Hits in the movie, but we also have internal turmoil and competition between even the two leads and seeing how messed up their relationship is too which so interesting to watch! For example, Yamato ends up turning up at Kin’s Kill Hit at the last moment and kills the Hit himself and Kin is like ‘what the hell are you doing here?! This was my job!’ and then in revenge Kin steals Yamato’s gun which, when Yamato figures out, he is NOT impressed about and is about ready to get revenge himself.
I really like how we follow Kin’s journey in him trying to figure out ‘Why do I do this job?’, especially when Yamato asks him and isn’t satisfied with his answer at all.
The action in this is very good! It was entertaning and enjoyable! The choreography definitely is impressive! Especially Tomita Sho's choreography and fighting! It was impressive, and whenever Tomita was on the screen, my mind was just going 'ohhhh my gooooood he's sooooo hot.... oh my god he's so sexy..... hmgnnngnfngngnnn' which is not helping me NOT fall for Sho-san more and more xD but yes I am very impressed with the action and the choreography and how well it was executed. A specific action scene I like is in the bar and Kin walks in and realises Yamato is there and storms over by Yamato quickly grabs Kin's arm and slams him down into the table and it's so smoothly do and a great moment.
The music too is very interesting and very entertaining. The music reminded me a lot something but I can’t quite put my finger on what movie or TV show it is. Look at the composer's (Gotou Fuyuki) works now, he's written music and lyrics for Tenimyu (Sakurada Doori as Echizen Ryoma in 'Eien no Baton') and he's does music for Tenimyu 'Best Actor Series 005', and he does music for a lot of NHK Educational programmes, as well as his own music and albums and so much more! Even just listening to the music in the trailer you can enjoy it.
The opening for this is great too! Just the way it starts with the bartender talking to a guy and the actors credits popping up and it’s cutting between this bar scene and between Kin killing something down a back alley and then at the end of the scene he’s like ‘So... who is it you want killed?’ and it’s just such a great way to set up the entire plot and story and characters.
Kinjyou Yamato as Yamato: he looks like an older version of Kuroba Mario! I am seriously not joking. Look at them!
<< Kinjyou . Mario >>
Yamato is an interesting character; he seems serious about his job but he easily gets distracted by Kin and I really enjoy his relationship development with Kin. Especially at the end and the very last scene between Yamato and Kin. Their relationship changes quite dramatically somewhat at the end and it’s a cute but sad moment.
Nireki Naoya as Kin: I have to confess. Whenever he was on screen, I was like ‘ohhhhh he’s so cute! Oooooh he looks good in that white shirt! Awww I’d date him’ but THEN after looking at the pamphlet I learnt two things: He was a D-Boys Audition grandprix winner and was in Ayakashi (which was produced by D-Boys) which makes sense as to why I liked him so much (me and the managers at D-Boys seems to have the same tastes in boys and cute boys), AND he’s also only just turned 20.... 20! He’s still a baby! He’s barely legal(!), which means he was like 18 when this movie was filmed! So I feel very, very bad for thinking such things about him throughout this movie... I really enjoyed Kin and I enjoyed seeing him trying to figure out why he does his job and figuring out what he should do next. I really like the insight we have into his family life as well. We’re never really told about i or shown it but just the little things Kin says like ‘I wouldn’t know what a loving family is’ or ‘(my family) is dysfunctional’ and that obviously makes you think about the possible family and upbringing he’s had.
Tomita Sho as Maabo/Ma-Bo: I already mentioned how amazing his action is and how sexy he is. But I want to talk a little more about it. He is so BADASS. I really, really did enjoy the choreography and his action and he had a LOT of action which was so satisfactory for me to see! Going back to the sexy: his out fit! Oh my his outfit! It’s very simple; colourful jacket, white shirt, tight black jeans, and cool silvery high sneakers/trainers/converse BUT he looks so freaking good in it! Just so, so sexy... and there’s a moment before he fights a gang member where he brushed his hairs threw his hair (and then started throwing punches) and I was like ‘ooooooh! He means business!’ His fight between him and Yamato was so good!
By the way: He, Shinya and Taro are like the anti-Yakuza and go out of their way to stop blackmarket/underworld organisations (and that’s why they’re targeted).
Aramaki Yoshhiko as Shinya: You can tell MakiChan is a stage actor, just some of his facial features and his acting is a little too exaggerated for a movie BUT I still enjoyed his performance. There’s one moment where he’s sat on the floor and the camera is just at the right angle and he says this very serious line and it’s a very sexy and good moment. This movie does a very good job of characterising people so deeply in such a short amount of time. MakiChan is only on screen for about 10-15 minutes but within that short amount of time we learn he’s the cautious one, he’s very logical and is calm headed and is probably the main brains of the group. I’m very happy they were doing a pamphlet and bromides for this movie and obviously I snagged his bromides up!
And that hat... I’ll talk about that hat (and his ridiculous costume) more during the Stage Greeting Talk section.
One moment I did love was when Shinya and Ma-bo were running to their hideout and the camera was situated in the middle of the stairwell (you know when stairs go up one way and then there’s the flat part you have to go around to carry on going up the stairs? There.) and it follows them leg it up (= run fast) the stairs and run past the camera (very, very closely) and up the other lot of stairs and I really, really like that shot. It added to the urgency as well as close up of my boys. Another similar shot is when the camera is right behind MakiChan’s back at one point when he goes up the stairs and follows him. Also I really like how they did the three guys death scenes differently. For MakiChan’s all we saw was him going into the room and then we hear his screaming - I had to giggle when he died because I’m SO used to that agony scream of his so I personally couldn’t take it seriously but it was very well done.
Kishimoto Takuya as Taro: I feel like KishiTaku was just playing himself. He was the positive but dumb idiot of the group and he gets left with babysitting and it’s cute seeing Taro and Chris’ relationship grow and there’s a very funny moment between them. Unfortunately Taro is killed off almost as quickly as he is introduced. And his death is a little funny. But his outfit is fabulous, you have to admit that!
Ishiyama Izarion as Chris: This kid was great. He had a lot to do with the plot actually and I think he did a great job and it was very easy to understand the kids motives and he felt very realistic. One point he starts stealing sweets from shops so he can sell it to get money. Another moment is when he’s saved he quickly runs to their side and goes against Yamato (who he had previously joined up with to seek his Hit). A final moment is after he’s witnessed gunfire and everything and he’s just sat shaking; it was all very realistic and kid-like and I appreciated that.
Mori Seiji as Master: He was the puzzling character of the entire movie I think. We understand he takes on Hit Jobs and that he gives them to either Kin and Yamato but it’s unknown how he and Yamato met, and he and Kin randomly met one night while Kin was halfway through killing someone; yet here they are now as a mini killing business. So it’s a little unexplained as to who this guy is and why he runs this business and how and why he has these two under his wing. And it gets even more confusing at the end when Kin goes to him to find Yamato’s whereabouts and Master is just on the floor of his bar bloodied, so it kind of implies that karma came back around to him and his business deals but Kin doesn’t care or even ask what happened to him and just leaves him there. So god knows what Master’s backstory and such is! Which is kind of the charm of this movie; sometimes it gives enough detail to be satisfying and then others’ we’re happily left to just make up our own minds about the characters and everything - which is a very Japanese style of storytelling I think.
I don’t really have anything else to say about the cast. They did their jobs fine. No problem with the acting. The two older guys roles’ where short and pretty explanatory and nothing really needs to be said about them. The girl’s story is short and simple too. Only one thing that really stood out about her was at the beginning where she easily manipulates Kin (even though he’s fully aware of it) to spend all his money on her at her hostess club. And ending her story in the way she’s left (crying ontop of her father after attempting to kill him) is fairly obvious where that story was/is going too.
The credits were really interesting because they listed what looked very much like a KickStarter list of everyone that had like pitched in to make the movie and some of the names on the list were like usernames, which really interested and amused me. The director did confirm during the talk that they were all the people who helped make the movie.
STAGE GREETING TALK
The stage greeting was Tomita Sho, Aramakai Yoshihiko, Kishimoto Takuya and the Director Sugami Kazuhiro. The MC was Kanna and she is so.... airheaded and so blunt that it’s funny. None of us could stop laughing. MakiChan even fell to the floor at one point in laughter and just stayed there for a while, trying to calm down xD
At the start, MakiChan came out and does his normal ‘ trying to speak English’ act and is like ‘yeah it’s (in English:) ‘Abnormal Job’ ‘ xD he was the least dressed up which proved he has Hatsukoi Monster rehearsals today and literally went from the rehearsal studio to this stage greeting; his hair was flat and he was in simple jeans and hoodie-type wear. His boots were nice though. He must’ve been tired though.
Going back to Tomita Sho being a sexy mf, his outfit last night was SO freaking sexy! He had this interesting black and grey patterned/striped jacket and pants which looked so good on him, and his boots - oh my god I want his boots so freaking hard! He just looked so freaking fine! And I noticed he stands kind of like I do where it’s like resting on one side with the other foot sticks out a little which was an interesting observation on my part. Anyway I’ll stop being creepy!
Also, KishiTaku (Kishimoto Takuya) messed up at the beginning where he went to say “Playing as Tarou, Kishimoto Takuya, thank yo- yoroshiku” xD
The Directors main job was to keep an eye on the time xD at one point Kanna went ‘Are you okay for time? Anyway, I have a question for you about the movie’ and everyone started laughing and Tomita was like ‘ (She said) “Anyway” like time keeping is your main job right now and not the movie’ xD
As I mentioned previous the Director confirmed the crowd funding and help he got to make the movie. He also explained that they originally did a short 30-60 second video with the two main leads and that’s what they presented at the crowd funding.
And now we get to the very and various humourous parts:
The first is MakiChan’s character’s Ramen Hat. So basically Sho-san was like “*looks at the poster* This is the person wearing the ramen bowl.”
MakiChan: It’s not ramen!
They also spoke about how they didn’t really discuss what they were all going to wear for the filming and that Sho-san ended up wearing some of KishiTaku’s clothing (I assume the jacket seen as it’s similar to Kishi’s outfit in the movie) and that he HAD tried on the hat (which was MakiChan’s) but he and the director decided he didn’t need it and so MakiChan ended up wearing it. Which makes sense if they go a say in the clothing and wore their own stuff because MakiChan has and does wear many different hats (most I hate, including this one. He has D-Boys Seto Koji/Yanagishita Tomo hat syndrome I swear).
When Sho-san first said ‘oh you’re the guy with the ramen bowl on his head” MakiChan stood in disbelief before slapping him on the shoulder and then KishiTaku joined in “That’s a bowl?!”
They discussed that the ‘shot’ that was taken of them by the Yakuza and was used as the ‘this is your target’ photo. On the day, the director simple said ‘stand there next to that building’ and it was taken quite naturally.
Another moment was when the Director was talking about Kinjyou and was looking at poster as he spoke and Tomita looked past the poster and into behind the black curtain, and was like ‘IS KINJYOU HERE?! HE’S HERE’ and MakiChan just went “the poster... the poster.” xD
Kanna spoke about how her final scene was filmed on a very cold day and while she gave the performance her all “all I was thinking was ‘It’s cold! End quickly!’” to which Tomita was like “During the filming Maki thought of saying ‘will this shoot not end soon?’ so you’re the same as Maki “ to which Maki was like “I never even thought that!” xD
During one scene in the movie there’s a very obvious HOLE in the wall and Tomita thought not many people had noticed it so he’s like ‘the next time you watch this film, I want you to pay attention to the hole in the wall. Who noticed it the first time?’ and almost everyone in the room put their hand up ‘oh quite a few already noticed... that hole was created by the previous take.’
They also spoke about how they want a spin off or a side story because the director doesn’t intend to just leave it there which is great news for me because I would be up for more of this world! Which a spin off or side story would be needed if these three wanted to come back into the world because... they’re dead! xD
During the ending speeches from them KishiTaku: I want everyone to see it one, two times if you can.
Tomita: they already saw it once.
KishiTaku: I mean two... two or three times!
I’m dying thinking of this moment now ^^
And then just as KishiTaku was about to finish with a ‘thank you’ Kanna cut him off straight away! It was so funny! Tomita complimented her on her very well done cut in.
NOW can you all sort of see why I keep falling more for Tomita Sho?! He’s always the center of the part and the joke cracker!
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And I’m done! Again I didn’t expect it to be as long as it ended up being but... oh well!