is a 2006 Japanese

monster A monster is a type of imaginary or fictional creature found in literature, folklore, mythology, fiction and religion. They are very often depicted as dangerous and aggressive, with a strange or grotesque appearance that causes Anxiety, terror ...

and

sports Sport is a physical activity or game, often competitive and organized, that maintains or improves physical ability and skills. Sport may provide enjoyment to participants and entertainment to spectators. The number of participants in ...

comedy Comedy is a genre of dramatic works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. Origins Comedy originated in ancient Greec ...

directed by Minoru Kawasaki and starring

Hiroshi Fujioka , better known by his stage name , is a Japanese actor. He is known for playing the hero Takeshi Hongo in the tokusatsu superhero series ''Kamen Rider'', and later the Sega Saturn mascot Segata Sanshiro (jokingly revealed to be Takeshi Hongo hi ...

and

Naoto Takenaka is a Japanese actor, comedian, singer, and director from Kanazawa-ku, Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture, affiliated with From First Production. He is married to idol singer and actress Midori Kinouchi. He is also known as the voice of Samuel L. ...

. The film portrays an oversized

crab Crabs are decapod crustaceans of the infraorder Brachyura (meaning "short tailed" in Greek language, Greek), which typically have a very short projecting tail-like abdomen#Arthropoda, abdomen, usually hidden entirely under the Thorax (arthropo ...

who plays as a football goal keeper. Kawasaki described it as being "like

Forrest Gump ''Forrest Gump'' is a 1994 American comedy-drama film directed by Robert Zemeckis. An adaptation of the Forrest Gump (novel), 1986 novel by Winston Groom, the screenplay of the film is written by Eric Roth. It stars Tom Hanks in the title rol ...

, but with a crab." The film was featured on the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

documentary '

Japanorama ''Japanorama'' is a series of documentaries presented by Jonathan Ross, exploring various facets of popular culture and trends of modern-day Japan. Each episode has a theme, around which Ross presents cultural phenomenon, films, music, and art t ...

' (episode of 5 October 2006)

Plot

Members of a Japanese

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

team decide to hire a giant crab to play as

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

Cast

* Arthur Kiroda

Background

Alongside with two other films, ''The'' ''Calamari Wrestler'' and ''Monster Seafood War''., ''Crab Goalkeeper ''has been noted as an example of one of Kawasaki's signature subgenres: "Sea Life Sports films". More generally, Kawasaki makes an extensive use of anthropomorphic animal creatures in his films, as in '' Kabuto-O Beetle'' or in '' Executive Koala.'' ''Crab goalkeeper'' is also considered part of "the voluntary kitsch apparent in Kawasaki's crazy productions".

Reception

The film was described as "another attempt at dealing with bizarre topics" in Kawasaki's career. Another review, calling the film a "mysterious work", found in this "series of emotional episodes provoking laughter and tears" an exploration of the way an animal can change through their contact with humans.

References

External links

* * {{Minoru Kawasaki 2006 films 2000s sports comedy films 2000s monster movies Films directed by Minoru Kawasaki Japanese sports comedy films 2000s Japanese films Films about crabs Japanese association football films Films about animals playing sports