Basyauma-san to Bigmouth Review
Another movie because they're quicker to watch and there's a reason why this was at the top of my "to watch" list. I'm a recent fan of Kanjani8, and, since Yasuda is my precious Kansai child, I couldn't pass up watching his first leading role in a movie. Let's begin, shall we?
Synopsis: 34-year-old Mabuchi Michiyo and 28-year-old Tendo Yoshimi meet at a screenwriting class. Mabuchi, who is called "Basyauma," works hard to become a writer but can't see a future for herself as a screenwriter. Meanwhile, Tendo is a bigmouth who never tries hard at anything. These two people fall in love.
The synopsis interested me entirely because I wanted to see how these two people would fall in love. From the description, we get a basic sense of the two characters we'll be following for the next few hours to watch their delicate love bloom.
Important Characters:
Mabuchi Michiyo - a failed screenwriter who has never gotten past the first round of contests in ten years
Tendo Yoshimi - talks a lot of big game for someone who can never focus on anything
Breaking it Down: To put this bluntly, Basyauma-san to Bigmouth is the type of movie you think you don't care for until, at the very last moment, it wacks you over the head with emotion you didn't realize it possessed. Thinking over the movie in hindsight, you realize how much these two leads connect to you without you even noticing it....well, for me at least, the latter is true.
The film opens on Mabuchi entering completing then entering her latest screenplay to a screenwriter competition only to not make it past the first round of judging. She convinces a friend to join a screenwriting class with her thinking that relearning the material she learned ten years ago will help her accomplish her dream.
Mabuchi is the character that viewers can relate to. She has passion and determination to accomplish what she sets her mind to. She puts all of her time and energy into her goals, never dating or going out with friends because that time is better spent writing and thinking of new ideas. Her life is her work and anything outside of work is uncessesary and trivial. Yet, she is what the world of passionate dreamers becomes: older and nonthewiser, looking down onto the younger generation and not understanding why her ability hasn't been noticed yet. She has met the reality of the world yet is barely managing to stand on her own.
Tendo, on the other hand, represents those of the younger generation passionately dreaming of what could be. He calls himself a 'genius' and the 'future god of screenwriting' yet hasn't written any screenplays. But Tendou does not expect the world to hand him the prize. He is disctracted from accomplishing the big, bold ideas he has in his head by dirty magazines and all of the vices the world has to offer. When he is focused on his passion, he exists to only voice his thoughts on others' work without backing up his opinions with his own writing.
Although this film is categorized as a romantic comedy, I wouldn't call the interactions between the two romantic. From the beginning, the tension between the two is obvious. Tendou cannot read the atmosphere in conversations or just the air between himself and Mabuchi, such as when he takes the time to explain the situation between himself and his mother, gaining Mabuchi's sympathy, only to tell her it was a joke. During a serious talk with a movie direction, he sticks pens up his nose and ears. Because of Tendou's childish nature, the romance is a slow build into a tender love the audience can see between these two leads.
Score: 4/5
Final Thoughts: Basyauma-san to Bigmouth is the type of movie where it slowly drags by but, by the end of it, you want the story of Mabuchi and Tendo to continue. For the passionate dreamers and those who believe their dreams are coming to an end, this film is the one for you.