takatomon i feel so lucky to have caught this film on a 3 short subject film festival on PBS. it totally caught me by surprise. it's a very effective escape into Japanese culture that has an almost documentary feel.it's a slightly surrealistic look at a group of commuters who are always at the same station every day and how they relate to each other. it's told from the perspective of a young female who likes to observe the people around her and imagine what they're like in real life.the film is very low key, even slow paced, but it just has a way of keeping one riveted to the screen that's hard to describe. maybe it was that it was "authentic japan" as opposed to the "hollywood japan" in films like black rain.black rain never showed the hysterical, but REAL, "beware of perverts" signs posted in subway cars. LOLthe thing that really makes the film awesome though, is the ending. i was at the edge of my seat talking to my TV! it's that good! once it was over, i had to say WOW! i'd love to own this on video. man do i wish that i had taped it.independent films don't get any better than this.

Nyarlothotep At first glance, the film is a cute, innocent love story, but real life is bittersweet. The heroine, young Yumi, creates life changes for the group of strangers she sees every day. She's not sure she can do anything at all, but finds the power within herself at long last. The film is black and white, the story simple, but elegant. The camera angles reflect Yumi's view, and they especially highlight the dichotomy of large and small spaces within Tokyo's expansive city. The large traffic intersections collide with confining train cars as we watch Yumi run through the city. These visuals create an intriguing backdrop for the character development of Yumi's strangers. Ultimately, it makes this Japanese "Amelie" short, succinct, and sweet with melancholy.

uwmasianfilm-1 Everything about this short video was great except *spoiler* for a scene where a man being pursued by an admirer buys two iced teas, making the pursuing admirer wonder via narration who the other tea could be for, only to have it handed to her when she rounds the corner. The scene was painfully predicable and lacking in originality. What made this particularly unfortunate is that the rest of the video was very well done. Texture and space were remarkably well handled to the advantage of the story which was quixotically pleasant. It could have been a 9/10 or even 10/10 without the sappy tea scene. I still rate it at a respectable 8/10 for overall story portrayal.

echang1988 I managed to find this short film while flipping through the channels and stopped at KCET.... at first I wasn't sure what to expect but I found myself involved within the plot...I do admit that often i groan at conversations in student films and I usually avoid them but perhaps since it was in Japanese, I continued watching. And well, it surprised me....despite a few odd questions I had and petty details, I was impressed enough to jump on the internet to find out more about this guy.If you managed to find it on TV or at a festival, it's worth your time.....and hey, it'll be better than watching COPS or Elimin-date.