s a so i decided to get around to watching this after seeing a pretty screencap from the film and googling it, reading a synopsis that sounded interesting and finding out that it had a cult following among both western and Japanese fans. i've viewed the film and *gasp* dear god my opinion is blasphemous--i really wasn't a fan. I was surprised to only see one other negative user review thinking it was my fault but nah not really. FIRST, i enjoyed the cinematography, acting and score. the j-alt/punk rock soundtrack was amazing utilized, not a lot of diversity but it was as rattly and raw as what was unfolding on the screen so props for that. the acting was also nothing crazy but the nihilistic tones of the film were conveyed very well with sincere acting that depicted withdrawn yet oddly human characters. the imagery and overall cinematography was quite beautiful, and visually it was pleasant to watch; special mention to the sakura porn that popped up every once in a while because those were especially beautiful but thats just my inner weeb talking. BUT i really wasn't a fan of the actual characters and plot. i thought they were icy--and i'm not talking reserved icy--i mean detached, disconnected and barely relatable. so as the events were unfolding throughout the film, i didn't really care to keep up with the people at the centre of the conflicts. i also didn't like the plot as it was vague with seemingly random events at times. i've seen other reviews defending the film saying its a fascinating take on disillusioned teenage Japanese boys a-la battle royale and how they struggle to find their meaning as adults blah blah blah. i'm not going to argue against that, i've just seen similar ground covered in related works that make this film look weak and barely pointed. if anyone's seen suicide club, i think that touched on similar themes but really drove the meaning home. in terms of trying to find one's place, NANA & a bunch of other manga series make a much greater effort and execute their message effectively. i didn't see that in this film, and a bit of metaphor and musing from characters for 5 minutes max definitely doesn't interest me towards the whole coming-of-age story its trying to push. maybe i don't get it, maybe if i was Japanese it would make more sense but i've enjoyed works in a similar vein and found little to love with blue spring (aoi haru)

EVOL666 I was pretty excited about BLUE SPRING based on a few reviews that I'd read comparing it to BATTLE ROYALE and LORD OF THE FLIES - well, this film is neither. BLUE SPRING was to me, a confusing and relatively pointless film, other than showing a bunch of angst-ridden Japanese teenagers in a weird school where they pretty much run the show.A gang leader is chosen amongst the students by participating in a potentially dangerous game called "clapping" - and Kujo is crowned the new leader of the senior class. His best pal Aoki is a slow-witted fellow who eventually gets tired of constantly playing second-fiddle to Kujo, and the two come to blows over it. There's a bunch of other random and pretty meaningless stuff that happens in between all this that never really amounts to anything...From what I had read about BLUE SPRING before seeing it, I was hoping for either a violent social-statement ala BATTLE ROYALE, or perhaps an engaging tale of "lost youth". Unfortunately, it didn't deliver on either end. Stylistically, the film was good, but I was never engaged by the characters and couldn't care less about what happened to any of them. A few of the sub-plots were interesting, but were never expanded on enough to take anything meaningful from them. Overall, I found that the "parts" of BLUE SPRING never converged to form any sort of worthwhile "whole". Other reviewers seemed to have found something in this film that I didn't - personally I thought it was average at best, and would only recommend it to Japanese cinephile completists...5/10

neenavaj I really enjoyed watching this film despite all those scenes that aren't every good to watch. You have to have a strong stomach to watch this film because there are some very disturbing scenes in this film. To me, I think its a movie about losers who can't forget about what they really want in life. The ending was good and every emotional. The film kind of reminds me of when I was in high school, choosing what I want to accomplish in life. Plus, the music went along so well with the movie, in fact I heard the songs played in the movie before I got my hands on the film. Overall, 7/10...there were some scenes that I just didn't enjoy watching.

Meganeguard If one pays scant attention to the news in Japan, seen Iwai Shunji's _All About Lily Chou Chou_, or read short stories and novels by Murakami Ryu, one knows that Japan, like other countries, suffers from an escalation of violence in schools. This violence works in three ways: student vs. teacher, teacher vs. student, and, the most common, student vs. student. Although it is still rare, the newspapers and news programs are peppered with stories of bullies beating someone to death or the bullied killing his bullies. Murakami Ryu and Yu Miri have both focused on these subjects in their literary works. Toyoda Toshiaki, through his film _Blue Spring_ also touches on this controversial subject.The kids attending the all boys Asahi High School would basically be considered the dregs of Japanese society. The school is rundown and the teachers teach such a drypan, apathetic manner that it is not surprising that the kids could care less. The only teacher who seems to actually care about any of his students is a dwarf who waters the flowers on the school grounds all day.However, although the teaching might be unstructured, there is a rigid code of hierarchy enforced by the tough kids. A leader is chosen by a suicidal ritual in which a student claps his hands as many times as possible while falling backwards. After he claps a certain amount of times, he grabs the guardrail. Miss the guardrail, instant pancake.At the beginning of this film, after the "graduation" of the senior class, Kujo, played by the extraordinarily handsome Matsuda Ryuhei, wins the contest. Kujo is a bit indifferent to his new found power, but goes along with it because he has the support of his friends: Aoki, Yukio, Yoshimura, and Kimura. Although many of the students are not satisfied with the way their lives are shaping, they seem to basically concede that good jobs and college are not in their future and that they are either on the track to become either a menial laborer or a member of the Yakuza._Blue Spring_ is an interesting film that depicts individuals who are not on the "normal road of becoming a good Japanese citizen": i.e. Graduation, work, stable family. It shows the dregs, but the dregs also show that social hierarchy exists from the lowest to the highest.I think that the film is quite well done. The filming is dark, but it fits the atmosphere of the film. The soundtrack is excellent.