Blue Spring (film)

Blue Spring

Blue Spring DVD cover
Directed by Toshiaki Toyoda
Produced by Dai Miyazaki
Written by Toshiaki Toyoda
Taiyō Matsumoto
Based on Blue Spring 
by Taiyō Matsumoto
Starring Ryuhei Matsuda
Hirofumi Arai
Sosuke Takaoka
Cinematography Norimichi Kasamatsu
Edited by Mototaka Kusakabe
Distributed by Arts Magic
Release dates
  • June 29, 2002 (2002-06-29)
Running time
 83 minutes
Country Japan
Language Japanese

Blue Spring (青い春 Aoi haru) is a 2001 Japanese youth drama film, written and directed by Toshiaki Toyoda[1] and based on Taiyō Matsumoto's manga of same title. It tells a tale of apathetic school students at a run-down Tokyo high school for boys. It was released on June 29, 2002.[1]

The film title can be understood as "inexperienced years" or teenage years, but it also can be understood as "fresh start". According to manga artist Taiyō Matsumoto, the title is intended as a play on irony.

Since its release it has become a cult classic in Japan and overseas.

Plot

At Asashi High, a run-down senior high school for boys, Kujo (Ryuhei Matsuda), Aoki (Hirofumi Arai), Yukio (Sousuke Takaoka), Yoshimura (Shugo Oshinari) and Ota (Yuta Yamazaki) are a gang of school friends lost in apathy and dissatisfaction. They are aware their future offers limited options. Even most teachers have already written them off as a lost cause.

Kujo's gang is part of the school's illegal society, which is controlled through a rooftop game as a test of courage: the Clapping Game. Who wins the game gets to be the society's leader, and rules all gangs throughout Asashi High. No teacher can stand up to this society.

After a round of the Clapping Game, Kujo wins the leadership, which excites his best friend Aoki, who wants Kujo to dominate the school with punches of casual violence, but Kujo passively resists.

Aoki eventually realizes his best friend only took part in the Clapping Game to pass the time, and that Kujo never wanted to be the school's leader. Devastated, he challenges Kujo for his leadership, and loses.

As Aoki becomes disillusioned, alienated and hostile toward Kujo, friends around them slowly fall apart, bringing their school to a series of mini violent climaxes.

Cast

Soundtrack

The Blue Spring original soundtrack rose to #24 on Oricon Albums Chart Top 30 shortly after the film release and Drop, a track from the soundtrack, rose to #13 on Oricon Singles Chart Top 30 in July 2002.

Track Translated Artist Notes
September Punk Children セプテンバー・パンク・チルドレン Thee Michelle Gun Elephant
Akage no Kelly Red-haired Kelly Thee Michelle Gun Elephant from the 2001 album Rodeo Tandem Beat Specter. The opening scene.
NEWS analers
Black Limousine The Blondie Plastic Wagon later appears on the 2004 album, Bitches Blue
Raspberry Dance The Blondie Plastic Wagon later appears on the 2004 album, Bitches Blue
Beautiful Dreamer Stephen Foster Yukio (Sôsuke Takaoka) strums this piece on his guitar
Beat Specter Garcia Thee Michelle Gun Elephant from the 2001 album Rodeo Tandem Beat Specter.
Boogie Thee Michelle Gun Elephant
Benjo Toilet analers 'Benjo' is slang for 'toilet'.
Glory during the sequence of baseball player Kimura (Oshiba Yusuke)'s departure.
Mona Lisa Thee Michelle Gun Elephant from the 2001 album Rodeo Tandem Beat Specter.
Beat Specter Buchanan Thee Michelle Gun Elephant from the 2001 album Rodeo Tandem Beat Specter.
My Name is Bob analers
Drop Thee Michelle Gun Elephant Aoki (Hirofumi Arai)'s rooftop scene.
Drop (live) Thee Michelle Gun Elephant During the closing credits.

DVD

Released under Artsmagic in 2004, the DVD features extras including two interviews with Toyoda, biographies and filmographies of the main actors and a feature-length commentary by Tom Mes, who edits Midnight Eye, an online English-language magazine of Japanese cinema.

Reception

On Midnight Eye, Tom Mes said the film was "magnificent but much overlooked".[2]

References

  1. 1 2 青い春 (2001). allcinema (in Japanese). Stingray. Retrieved September 2, 2014.
  2. ↑ Tom Mes (September 4, 2003). "9 Souls". Midnight Eye. Retrieved September 2, 2014.

External links

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