() is a 1991 Japanese film directed by Takao Okawara.

Production

Prior to working on ''Chōshōjo Reiko'', director

Takao Okawara is a Japanese film director, writer, and producer. Biography Most famous for his entries in the Heisei ''Godzilla'' series, Takao Okawara joined Tōhō in 1973, but would not get his first shot in the director's chair until 1980, when he joine ...

worked as an assistant director at

Toho is a Japanese film, theatre production and distribution company. It has its headquarters in Chiyoda, Tokyo, and is one of the core companies of the Osaka-based Hankyu Hanshin Toho Group. Outside of Japan, it is best known as the producer an ...

often pitching ideas for a script that were ignored. Okawara decided to develop a story and enter it into a competition and if he would win, it would get better attention from upper staff at Toho. Okawara developed a story that he stated had a "sellable script" aimed at teenage audiences which persuaded him to include a fantasy element of

Extrasensory perception Extrasensory perception or ESP, also called sixth sense, is a claimed paranormal ability pertaining to reception of information not gained through the recognized physical senses, but sensed with the mind. The term was adopted by Duke Universi ...

. He submitted his story to the Kido Awards which it won second place. This influenced Toho to allow Okawara to direct it. The film's cast included

Arisa Mizuki is a Japanese actress, singer, and model. Mizuki is represented by the talent agency Vision Factory. Born in Nerima, Tokyo to Japanese-American parents, Mizuki began modelling for magazines and appearing in commercials at the age of four. On M ...

who was an unknown actress at the time and would be known as a super model by 2000. Okawara described the shooting of the film as difficult, stating that the film's low budget did not allow him to have a special effects director for the film, making him do both.

Release

''Chōshōjo Reiko'' was distributed theatrically in Japan by

on November 16, 1991. Norman England of ''

Fangoria ''Fangoria'' is an internationally distributed American horror film fan magazine, in publication since 1979. It is published four times a year by Fangoria Publishing, LLC and is edited by Phil Nobile Jr. The magazine was originally released i ...

'' stated the film failed to find an audience in Japan referring to it as a "box-office dud." The film's producer

Shogo Tomiyama Shogo, Shōgo, Shohgo or Shougo (written: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , or ) is a masculine Japanese given name. Notable people with the name include: *, Japanese baseball player *, Japanese professional baseball player *, Japanese politician * ...

felt that despite the film not being strong in the box office, he thought the film was good enough that they would allow Okawara to direct later films in the ''Godzilla'' film series. Arisa Mizuki won the "Newcomer of the Year" award at the

Japanese Academy Awards The , often called the Japan Academy Prize, the Japan Academy Awards, and the Japanese Academy Awards, is a series of awards given annually since 1978 by the Japan Academy Film Prize Association (日本アカデミー賞協会, ''Nippon Akademii- ...

for her role in the film.

References

Footnotes

Sources

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External links