There are two movies under the Pikanchi series i.e. the first being Life is Hard Dakedo Happy and Life is Hard Dakara Happy. The first series means life is hard but happy while the second means life is hard, that's why we are happy. It was about 6 months ago when I viewed the first movie so I'm making my comparisions based on what I remember and the brief flashbacks in the second movie which I just finished.
The first movie is set at Yashio, a small town in Shinagawa, Tokyo where the 5 main characters live in. The story basically revolves on their first trip to Harajuku which is downtown Tokyo and much more fashionable than their local area so they view it as a necessary stage to growing up. A series of events happen after that and the movie ends with them heading towards their individual goals.
The second movie is set at 3 years later when Takuma (Ninomiya) returns to Tokyo after his trip to California. I remember he left because he wanted to find what he wants to do with his life after his dad committed suicide. As he meets the rest of the guys, we get an update of what they are up to for the past 3 years. Chuu (Sakurai) met a fellow gangster Yayoi and did a dekichatta kekkon. Now he is a capable salesman with a 1-year-old son in tow and has stopped his gang activities. In order to take over his dad's food business, Bon (Matsumoto) went to learn the trade from a traditional Japanese restaurant but things are not going his way and he doctored photos to lie to his friends that he is doing well. Shun (Aiba) made it to Aogaku (Aoyama University) but he went to learn knitting and is currently running a successful knitting school. Haru (Ohno) is working in the local supermarket's food section and still living with the middle-aged lady. He was initially wooing her daughter but ended up having a relationship with the mother.
To be frank, if you are looking for a plot, I don't really see much of it here. Besides, such movies are meant for idol-watching rather than for a meaningful story although the concept was based on Inohara Yoshihiko's past. There's not much reference to him other than the part was Nino was asked to debut as a singer by a strangely dressed guy named Johnny. There is humour in this movie but that's only the first part. The moment when the focus shifts to the "justice prevails" theme where they try to stop developers from building Yashio Hills, everything goes downhill from there. The recap on the guys' lives especially Shun and Chuu's portions were the most entertaining in my opinion.
If you prefer shows like Kisarazu Cats Eye and Ikebukuro West Gate Park, I guess Pikanchi falls between these two extremes i.e. it's not as dark and serious as IWGP but it's not as mad and ridiculous as Kisarazu (not in a bad way). It's just that after watching the two movies, the central message is not very clear so it feels as if the story is not meaningful at all. For entertainment value and to see the guys together in one movie, this should be suitable for you.
No comments:
Post a Comment