Review of Shinizokonai no Ao

This may seem like a horror movie if you look at the poster or the DVD cover but honestly, other than the image of Ao played by Tanimura Mitsuki, there isn't much horror to speak of. The makeup on her face appears quite horrendous initially but after looking at it for a while, I sort of got used to it. Well, this is not the most frightening or disgusting makeup I've seen on a character in the dramas or movies. Being not very daring as I get older, I usually shun horror movies these days. I'm glad that I gave in to my urge to watch this movie since it turned out to be not so much of a horror movie after all.

The story revolves around Masao (Suga Kenta) who is an ordinary primary student. When a new teacher Haneda (Shirota Yu) comes to their school and becomes their form teacher, this marks the beginning of Masao's tragedy. Masao's desire to be a committee member caring for the animals at school causes him to lie to Haneda and this gets him into the bad books of Haneda. Subsequently, Haneda takes the lead in ostracizing Masao and everyone in the class joins in by bullying him, both physically and verbally. Haneda even insults Masao and undermines his ego by saying that he is a good-for-nothing child. Of course, Masao is pressurized by all these and even thinks of committing suicide. Just then, Ao appears in front of Masao and keeps instigating him to take revenge for what they had done to him. There is once when Masao gave in to his inner dark self and hit back at the bullies. This freaks him out to a certain extent because he never realized the repurcussions involved when he chooses to take revenge. However, when things go overboard to the point of endangering his life, Masao is faced with the decision of whether to cave in to Ao's taunts and his dark self...

I would classify it as more of a human movie but with a dash of induced fear manifested by Ao's presence. Not much is mentioned about Ao's existence or where she came from. I get the impression that she represents the dark side of Masao deep down despite the fact that Masao feels that she resembles his late sister who passed away due to an accident. Masao did ask Ao why her arms were tied up by the straitjacket and her answer gave me the idea that if Masao does not unleash his dark side or overcome it, she will remain in that state. That is why at the end of the movie, Ao becomes a normal-looking teenager and is set free.

Suga Kenta and Tanimura Mizuki's performances were extremely brilliant in this movie. Suga managed to show the internal struggles of Masao without being too exaggerating while Tanimura shows her expertise and versatality as Ao. Shirota Yu also impresses me to a certain extent because he successfully got me to hate his character, Haneda a lot. ^___^ My only grouse would be how Masao and Haneda came to resolve their differences at the end. It was a bit too rushed and sudden for my liking. I felt as if the movie was trying to preach the message of "no tit-for-tat" so I had hoped for a subtle message instead of being shown that directly.

And my ratings for this movie...
Story: 7 out of 10 (It would have been better if the ending was handled in a better way)
Acting: 8 out of 10 (Especially for Suga and Tanimura)
Visual effects / Scenery: 7 out of 10 (There is some variety besides the usual studio shots. I liked the bridge scenery where Masao and Ao met)
Teamwork / Chemistry: 7.5 out of 10 (For the chemistry between Suga and Tanimura as well as the intensity of the "hatred" displayed between Suga and Shirota)

Total: 29.5 out of 40