is a 2005 Japanese film directed by Kazuyuki Izutsu.

Plot

Kosuke Matsuyama ( Shun Shioya) is a second-year high school student who finds himself in the middle of a rampaging crowd of Korean boys, who are outraged by insults made by his classmates towards two Korean girls. Kosuke manages to escape, but he and his friend Yoshio (

Keisuke Koide is a Japanese actor who starred in Kwak Jae-yong's film '' Cyborg She'' and in ''Koizora''. Career In 2017, Koide admitted to drinking alcohol and having sex with a 17-year-old girl after allegations were published in ''Friday''. He was suspend ...

) are sent by their homeroom teacher to invite the Korean students to a friendly soccer game to restore peace. When entering the territory, Kosuke encounters Lee Kyung-ja ( Erika Sawajiri), a girl playing a Korean folk song on a flute. Kosuke and Yoshio are almost lynched by Lee Kyung-ja's older brother Lee An-sun (

Sousuke Takaoka is a Japanese former actor, known for his break-out performance in the controversial movie '' Battle Royale''. Career His break-out performance was in the controversial movie '' Battle Royale'', in which he played the pacifistic Hiroki Sugimu ...

) and his gang, but Kosuke is already smitten. Kosuke aims to learn and master a musical composition and earn the affection of a young woman from a hostile environment, while Lee An-sun and his group participate in street skirmishes with Japanese delinquents, which leads to multiple victories, and discovers that his partner Kyoko Yanagihara, is expecting a child and wants to keep it, which leads to Lee An-sun being left learning how to mature.

Cast

* Shun Shioya as Kosuke Matsuyama (松山浩介), the main protagonist and a second-year student who falls in love with a girl of Korean origin, Lee Kyung-ja. *

as Norio Yoshida (吉田紀男), Kosuke Matsuyama's best friend. *

as Lee An-sung (이안성/イ・アンソン), a

Zainichi Korean () are ethnic Koreans who immigrated to Japan before 1945 and are citizens or permanent residents of Japan, or who are descendants of those immigrants. They are a group distinct from South Korean nationals who have immigrated to Japan since t ...

troublemaker who is the hot headed older brother of Lee Kyung-ja. * Erika Sawajiri as Lee Kyung-ja (이경자/イ・キョンジャ), a

student who studies in a North korean school in

Kyoto Kyoto ( or ; Japanese language, Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan's largest and most populous island of Honshu. , the city had a population of 1.46 million, making it t ...

and Lee An-sung's shy younger sister who dreams of becoming a movie star. She's also the love interest of Kosuke Matsuyama. * Kazuki Namioka as Motoki Bang-ho (모토키 방호/モトキ・バンホー), Lee An-sung's best friend. * Hiroyuki Onoue as Park Jae-dok (박재독/パク・ジェドク), Lee An-sung's younger brother. * Kyoko Yanagihara as Momoko (桃子), Lee An-sung's girlfriend who gets pregnant by him, making him make a decision about his life. * Yoko Maki as Chun Gang-ja (전강자/チョン・ガンジャ), the best martial artist in the North korean school and the friend of Lee An-sung, Motoki and Jae-dok. *

Noriko Eguchi is a Japanese film and television actress. She became a student in the theater troupe Tokyo Kandenchi in 2000, and made her film debut in 2002 with Takashi Miike's ''Shangri-La''. She had her first starring role in Yuki Tanada's ''Moon and Cherry ...

as Hyeyoung (혜영/ヘヨン), Chun Gang-ja's best friend

Awards

48th

Blue Ribbon Awards The are film-specific prizes awarded solely by movie critics and writers in Tokyo, Japan, established in 1950 by , established under the name of the "Association of Tokyo Film Journalists Award", which was formed mainly by film reporters from th ...

* Won: Best Film 27th

Yokohama Film Festival The is an annual awards ceremony held in Yokohama, Japan. Ten films are chosen as the best of the year and various awards are given to personnel. The first festival, held on February 3, 1980, was a small affair by fans and film critics. In 1994, ...

* Won: Best Film * Won: Best Director - Kazuyuki Izutsu * Won: Best Cinematography -

Hideo Yamamoto is a Japanese manga artist. He is best known as the creator of the manga series '' Ichi the Killer'', which was adapted into a live-action film by Takashi Miike in 2001, and ''Homunculus''. Recurring themes in his manga are crime, sexual devi ...

* Won: Best Newcomer - Erika Sawajiri and Shun Shioya

References

2005 films Films directed by Kazuyuki Izutsu 2000s Japanese-language films Best Film Kinema Junpo Award winners Films about Zainichi Korean people 2000s Japanese films {{2000s-Japan-film-stub