is a 2013 Japanese science fiction drama film directed by

Kiyoshi Kurosawa is a Japanese film director, screenwriter, film critic and a professor at Tokyo University of the Arts. Although he has worked in a variety of genres, Kurosawa is best known for his many contributions to the Japanese horror genre, his honorific n ...

, starring

Takeru Satoh is a Japanese actor. He is best known for his leading role as Ryotaro Nogami in the ''Kamen Rider Den-O'' franchise, and as Himura Kenshin in the live-action ''Rurouni Kenshin'' film and its sequels. Satoh was born on 21 March 1989 in Iwatsuki ...

and Haruka Ayase. It is Kurosawa's first feature film since '' Tokyo Sonata'' (2008). It is based on Rokuro Inui's novel ''A Perfect Day for Plesiosaur''. It was released in Japan on 1 June 2013.

Plot

Suffering from writer's block, a manga artist Atsumi ( Haruka Ayase) has attempted suicide and is in a coma. Koichi (

), Atsumi's lover, tries to awaken her. With help from doctors Aihara (

Miki Nakatani is a Japanese actress and singer. She began her career as a member of the girl group Sakurakko Club from 1991 to 1993, wherein she formed the duo Key West Club with member Keiko Azuma. Nakatani focused on acting after her departure, making he ...

) and Yonemura (Keisuke Horibe), Koichi enters the mind of Atsumi by using the experimental technology called "sensing".

Cast

as Koichi Fujita * Haruka Ayase as Atsumi Kazu *

as Eiko Aihara *

Joe Odagiri , better known by his stage name , is a Japanese actor and musician. Personal life Joe Odagiri was born in Tsuyama, Okayama prefecture. Though he was accepted by Kochi University, he turned it down for an opportunity to study in the United States ...

as Sawano *

Shota Sometani is a Japanese actor from Koto, Tokyo. He is known for his protagonist roles in ''Himizu'' and ''Parasyte''. Career Sometani was a child actor. He has worked in both film and television, gaining his first leading role in ''Pandora's Box'', ...

as Shingo Takagi * Keisuke Horibe as Yonemura * Yutaka Matsushige as Haruhiko * Kyōko Koizumi as Makiko

Release

The film was released in Japan on 1 June 2013. It also screened at the 2013

Locarno Festival The Locarno Film Festival is an annual film festival, held every August in Locarno, Switzerland. Founded in 1946, the festival screens films in various competitive and non-competitive sections, including feature-length narrative, documentary, sh ...

, the

2013 Toronto International Film Festival The 38th annual Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) took place in Toronto, Ontario, Canada between September 5 and 15, 2013. '' The Fifth Estate'' was selected as the opening film and '' Life of Crime'' was the closing film. 75 films were ...

, and the 2013

New York Film Festival The New York Film Festival (NYFF) is a film festival held every fall in New York City, presented by Film at Lincoln Center (FLC). Founded in 1963 by Richard Roud and Amos Vogel with the support of Lincoln Center president William Schuman, i ...

Reception

On review aggregator website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wan ...

, the film holds an approval rating of 57%, with an average rating of 5.85/10, based on 7 reviews. Eric Kohn of ''

IndieWire IndieWire (sometimes stylized as indieWIRE or Indiewire) is a film industry and review website that was established in 1996. The site's focus was predominantly independent film, although its coverage has grown to "to include all aspects of Holl ...

'' gave the film a B− grade, saying: "While the two main leads share enough chemistry to inject their drama with purpose, it's hardly enough to justify the two hour-plus journey." Maggie Lee of ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' had a mixed reaction, describing the films as "

at his least disturbing or mesmerizing," and said: "Although the aesthetics retain the Nipponese horror maestro's trademark haunting quality, the yarn's U-turn from psycho-horror to hokey childlike fable is unexpected and disappointing". Boyd Van Hoeij of ''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Hollywood film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade paper, and in 2010 switched to a weekly large ...

'' praised the production design by Takeshi Shimizu.

References

External links

Official website
(archive) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Real Films directed by Kiyoshi Kurosawa 2010s science fiction drama films Japanese science fiction drama films 2013 films Films about comics 2010s Japanese films 2010s Japanese-language films