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Hibana / Spark
Posted: Thu Jun 23, 2016 2:35 pm
by Michael Kerpan
A ten part Japanese mini-series (subtitled) on Netflix -- about two manzai duos, one a (VERY slowly) up and coming younger duo and the other an edgy, older duo (which is slowly declining). This looks and feel very cinematic. Hiroki's most well-known film in the West is his 2003 Vibrator, but in recent years he has been alternating between mainstream movies and personal projects. This project (despite being made for Netflix) seems to straddle the line. Seen 5 episodes so far, and have enjoyed them.
Re: Hibana / Spark (Ryuichi HIROKI et al 2016)
Posted: Thu Jun 23, 2016 3:19 pm
by roujin
Oh, this is already up. Gonna check it out for sure.
Re: Hibana / Spark (Ryuichi HIROKI et al 2016)
Posted: Sun Jul 03, 2016 4:29 am
by Michael Kerpan
This was quite good -- up until the last half of ep. 10 -- where it veered into weirdness.
Re: Hibana / Spark (Ryuichi HIROKI et al 2016)
Posted: Sun Jul 03, 2016 5:57 am
by repeat
Thanks for the tip! I liked Vibrator quite a bit and mostly enjoyed his more recent Keibetsu; Kabukicho Love Hotel is high up on my want-to-see list as well. Will try to watch this asap - I suppose it will stay available for some time?
(Might be worth pointing out that as a Netflix original series Hibana is available in all territories - as I imagine a good number of people outside the US are cancelling their now more or less useless subscriptions following the reinforced geoblocking...)
Re: Hibana / Spark (Ryuichi HIROKI et al 2016)
Posted: Tue Oct 10, 2017 5:54 pm
by Michael Kerpan
repeat wrote:Kabukicho Love Hotel is high up on my want-to-see list as well.
The HK DVD of Sayonara Kabukicho (a MUCH better title than the English one) has English subtitles and looks reasonably good. The film itself is quite good, one of Hiroki's better ones. Sort of a downscale riff on Mitani's Uchoten Hotel. In other words, a series of interlocking stories centered around a particular hotel over the course of a day (a grand hotel in Mitani, a shabby love hotel in Hiroki).
Re: Hibana / Spark
Posted: Wed Oct 11, 2017 11:46 am
by repeat
Thanks for the info, will put it on my YesAsia shopping list! The film is (was?) also on Netflix Japan but I can't access that for the time being.
Earlier this year I saw his recent manga adaptation Ōkami Shōjo to Kuro Ōji (Wolf Girl and Black Prince) and liked it very much - recommended if it pops up somewhere (might be doing the festival rounds still)
Re: Hibana / Spark
Posted: Wed Oct 11, 2017 2:19 pm
by Michael Kerpan
repeat wrote:Earlier this year I saw his recent manga adaptation Ōkami Shōjo to Kuro Ōji (Wolf Girl and Black Prince) and liked it very much - recommended if it pops up somewhere (might be doing the festival rounds still)
I got the HK DVD of this as well, but haven't yet watched it....