![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
spsn
Totally have no idea why I don't have this post in my LJ, and by now, I've lost count on how many times I watched this movie and go from *sobs* to *kyaaa* to *noooo* to *awwww*. Well without further a do, here's my 2 cents on Ooku (well, maybe more than 2 cents LOL)...
Yeah, Ooku is a thought provoking movie, despite being beautiful in every aspects. Heck, just look at the casts, the background, the setting, the costumes, the scores, are all gorgeous and kyaa worthy (this is just from my point of view). Not to mention with hefty amount of
Ooku is based on manga with the same title by Yoshinaga Fumi. I'm too curious about the manga that I bought the whole English translated set (until Vol. 5 only since they're still running). And now I know why there's no gap in the storyline for the 2 hours movie, because guess what, it's just taking from 1/4 portion of the first book! Smart move, and I gotta admit they took the best story in the manga series so far, so I got no complain here. The story itself is about what might happen in the Japanese feudal world (Tokugawa period to be exact) if the gender role is reversed. In Ooku world, male is so scarse that they're treated as a commodity to be trade off or symbol of status, exactly just like the way females are treated in the real feudal world. As in Ooku, there lives 3000 handsome males as a status of how great the shogun is, while outside of Ooku, you'll see females are desperately looking for man just to get their 'seeds' so that they can bear children, sons preferably.
So what makes it thought proviking? To me, it's what is displayed in both inside and outside Ooku. Inside Ooku, the males basically become so focused with their beauty to be at where they are (example, all the main characters, except well, Mizuno). If looks can kill, this is where you can see this phrase apply, literally. And, still related to beauty, outside Ooku, you'll see less fortunate families selling their sons for money and prestige, and for some, it's a hell to live in. They even put out the courtesan debutante scene, the exact same scene that Anna Tsuchiya has in Sakuran (another great but old movie to watch), to show how the females in Ooku world sees the males. It's basically a literally gender reversal, but it's thought provoking because it's gender reversal, the what-if scenarios are intriguing.
Mizuno (the main character) is a son of poor samurai family. However, he doesn't experience what's like to be sold off as commodity and he's very greatful at that towards his mom. And, when he enters Ooku, he encounters what we have nowadays as the homosexual and was disgusted with it because to him, it's such a waste while people outside Ooku treat the 'seeds' *cough*sperms*cough* as precious, it's thought otherwise in Ooku, and which later on, this thought is made real by the new shogun. Yes, this movie has quite a few (though, can't be said many) of those skinship. It's not as explicit as Korean's Antique Bakery (thank goodness for that), but it's enough for us to know what happens next.
So, with that said, earlier on, I keep mentioning that it's beautiful. Yes, it's beautiful, and it starts from the opening scene of the castle, and all the shots after that. They put into consideration on details and angle. Best example is when Mizuno's attendance put on the red tint on Mizuno's eyelid. That scene is enough to make my heart wrench (you'll know why when you watch it yourself). And off course, the kimonos are superb, though it's mostly on the males, but the craftiness is so neat, primp and crisp. Even Mizuno's brown hakama on the scene when he enters Ooku looks nicely done, though it's said to be a poor family clothes. Then, the most obvious one, the cast. To live up to Ooku's name, the cast is really full of pretty boys who can act (not just faces). Some time ago, I called Ooku as Samurai version of Hanakimi (literally, ikemen paradise). My faves is off course, Nino and Tamaki, but then there's Ohkura (from ROMES, but in here, he's the swordman), and lots of others, like Aoi Nakamura (the seamtress) and the older ikemen, Kuranosuke Sasaki (he's the tech guy from Zettai Kareshi). So, with all the pretty faces, beautiful costumes, scenaries and background music, this movie is really pleasent to the eyes.
OK, enough said, let's go to the fun part, fangirling. LOTS of fangirling in this movie which is why I'm so thankful I didn't watch this movie in the theater (and they never screen this in SG anyway). Having 2 JE boys in 1 movie is already a treat, although I must complain that Ohkura's screen time is so little and he dies too fast. As for Nino, he can act, so all those emo expressions are expected and the scene when he request to call the shogun 'Nobu' is just heart breaking because you can see at that moment his despair, desparation and sadness. Another heartbreaking scene for me is before that when he says to the attendant 'Onegai, please don't say more, my heart is about to crumble...'. But I realize one thing that Nino needs to learn from Matsujun, the kissing scenes. I don't know if those are supposed to be like that, but I feel that it should be more passion considering that Mizuno is quite a 'I do whatever I want' character. Then, those scenes that some people may find irking, yes, I'm talking about those boys on boys skinship. This may be disturbing to other people, but as a fangirl, it means, fan service! yay! and you'll find that Nino is more comfortable to kiss Aoi than Maki, sigh... is it because he's too comfortable doing fan service during concerts that he become like that? Can't never tell. Next is Tamaki. I find that he's good as being a villain, a deceiving one in deed. I find that his movement and behaviour from the beginning is quite suspicious and when he reject Ohkura's character, I start to hate him. It's really a treat to watch him scheming with Sasaki's character, especially when they're laughing on their successful scheme. And off course, lastly, ending OST is must be by the lead's boyband, which is 'Dear Snow' by Arashi. Not the best OST because it feels like they just slap the song in and pushing it, but hey, their live performance at Music Station is a must see, and mostly due to the beautiful 'snowy' stage.
