, also known as ''Crossfire'', is a 2000 Japanese

crime thriller Crime fiction, detective story, murder mystery, crime novel, mystery novel, and police novel are terms used to describe narratives or fiction that centre on criminal acts and especially on the investigation, either by an amateur or a professiona ...

/ horror/ romance/

science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

film co-written and directed by Shusuke Kaneko. The film is about a woman with pyrokinetic powers seeking to avenge the murder of her friend's sister.

Plot

Junko Aoki ( Akiko Yada) is a quiet, caring girl who was born with pyrokinesis, the ability to create and control fire with one's mind. From a young age, her mother told her, "You're not an ordinary girl. You mustn't get angry, you mustn't get close to your friends, and you mustn't use your powers." Because of this upbringing, Junko is unable to interact with others. She leads a gloomy existence and, upon entering the workforce, she is shunned by her fellow office workers. Despite this, she meets colleague Kazuki Tada ( Hideaki Itō). The two become close friends, and Junko secretly falls in love with him. However, her newfound happiness comes to an end when Kazuki’s younger sister Yukie is murdered by a gang of delinquent boys who kill high school girls for sport. The authorities display a shocking amount of apathy for the situation, and the boys are acquitted due to insufficient evidence and the connections of their ringleader, Masaki Kogure (

Hidenori Tokuyama is a Japanese actor and singer. A fan of tokusatsu, Tokuyama has had a role in several series, most notably Sou Yaguruma/ Kamen Rider TheBee/Kamen Rider KickHopper in ''Kamen Rider Kabuto'' and Hiroto Sutō/Go-on Gold in '' Engine Sentai Go-onge ...

), the son of a district attorney. This angers Kazuki and Junko, who, in their grief, desire to avenge the murder of Kazuki’s sister. Junko tells Kazuki about her powers, offering to use them as a means of vengeance. Kazuki agrees with this approach, though he cannot bring himself to let Junko kill. As Junko attacks the gang and uses her powers more and more, it draws others with similar abilities (known as "espers") to her. It also catches the attention of detectives Ishizu ( Kaori Momoi) and Makihara (Ryuji Harada), the latter bearing a mysterious grudge against Junko. Soon it is revealed that there is more to the killings than meets the eye, and Junko realizes her place in a vicious circle of violence that threatens to consume everyone.

Cast

* Akiko Yada as Junko Aoki * Hideaki Itō as Kazuki Tada * Kaori Momoi as Det. Chikako Ishizu * Ryuji Harada as Det. Yasuaki Makihara * Masami Nagasawa as Kaori Kurata, an

autistic Autism, also known as autism spectrum disorder (ASD), is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by differences or difficulties in social communication and interaction, a preference for predictability and routine, sensory processing di ...

esper who seeks out Junko as a surrogate mother. * Hisashi Yoshizawa (credited as Yû Yoshizawa) as Koichi Kido, a friendly fellow esper who can read and control minds by touch. *

as Masaki Kogure * Renji Ishibashi as Eiji Nosaka, chief of Teramachi Higashi Police Station. * Koichi Ueda as

Riot police Riot police are police who are organized, deployed, trained or equipped to confront crowds, protests or riots. Riot police may be regular police officers who act in the role of riot police in particular situations, or they may be separate unit ...

chief * Ayako Fujitani as Store staff * Toshiyuki Nagashima *

Yukijirō Hotaru is a Japanese actor. He is best known for the role of Gonza Kurahashi in the ''Garo (TV series), Garo'' television franchise. He has played Tsutomu Osako, a recurring role in the Heisei Gamera trilogy, along with the 2003 independent film ''GAME ...

Production

''Pyrokinesis'' was based on two novels by Miyuki Miyabe: the anthology novel ''Hatobuki Grass'' (鳩笛草, ''Hatobuesō''; specifically the

novella A novella is a narrative prose fiction whose length is shorter than most novels, but longer than most novelettes and short stories. The English word ''novella'' derives from the Italian meaning a short story related to true (or apparently so) ...

"Burnt Offering") and ''

Crossfire A crossfire (also known as interlocking fire) is a military term for the siting of weapons (often automatic weapons such as assault rifles or sub-machine guns) so that their arcs of fire overlap. This tactic came to prominence in World War I. ...

''. The screenplay also incorporated original story material. Kaneko made ''Pyrokinesis'' in-between two of his

kaiju is a Japanese term that is commonly associated with media involving giant monsters. Its widespread contemporary use is credited to ''tokusatsu'' (special effects) director Eiji Tsuburaya and filmmaker Ishirō Honda, who popularized the ''kaiju'' ...

films: '' Gamera 3: Revenge of Iris'' and '' Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack''. According to producer Hideyuki Honma, the production of this film was pushed up due to the sudden cancellation of a planned sequel to ''

Saimin Saimin is a noodle soup dish common in the contemporary cuisine of Hawaii. Traditionally consisting of soft wheat egg noodles served in a hot garnished with diced Scallion, green onions and a thin slice of , modern versions of saimin include ad ...

''. This was Akiko Yada's first starring role, as well as Masami Nagasawa's debut. A few cast members of Kaneko's

Gamera is a fictional giant monster, or ''kaiju'', that debuted in the Gamera, the Giant Monster, eponymous 1965 Japanese film. The character and the first film were intended to compete with the success of Toho's Godzilla (franchise), ''Godzilla'' ...

trilogy A trilogy is a set of three distinct works that are connected and can be seen either as a single work or as three individual works. They are commonly found in literature, film, and video games. Three-part works that are considered components of ...

had cameos in this film, such as Ayako Fujitani and Yukijirō Hotaru. The film's theme song, "The One Thing", was composed and performed by the Japanese band Every Little Thing. A single mix was included as the

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph record, vinyl records and Compact cassette, cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a Single (music), single usually ...

to their song " Rescue Me/Smile Again". For the climactic sequence in which the amusement park bursts into flames, a -scale miniature of the park was blown up in the studio.

Release

''Pyrokinesis'' was released theatrically in Japan on June 10, 2000, where it was distributed by

Toho is a Japanese entertainment company that primarily engages in producing and distributing films and exhibiting stage plays. It is headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo, and is one of the core companies of the Osaka-based Hankyu Hanshin Toho Group. ...

. The film was released directly to home video in the United States by

Tokyo Shock Media Blasters, sometimes abbreviated as MB, is an American entertainment company that was founded by John Sirabella in 1997 and is based in New York City. It is in the business of licensing, translating, and releasing to the North American mar ...

on August 26, 2003.

Footnotes

References

External links

* {{Shusuke Kaneko, state=collapsed Films based on Japanese novels Films directed by Shusuke Kaneko Films scored by Kow Otani Japanese horror films Japanese science fiction films 2000 horror films 2000 science fiction films 2000s Japanese films 2000s Japanese-language films