Last Quarter (2004)

If it was not that ending I should vote with 10. I really liked the movie, actors, playing, story... But is that some kind of a joke? They reborn to be together and she chose the other boy? How that? If I understand right love is beyond everything, she knew his song from the very beginning, she died for him, and she suddenly chose the other one. It's not fair. "You will find me again, promise? Till I'm playing with someone else you will wait for another eternity 'till I get tired and come back to you." Well, I realised Japanese movies are quite good and actually I missed a lot not watching them. My bad. I think they should make more scenes with Adam and Mizuki, we actually can't see their strong bound, only a few scenes from their memories. And I really liked the song, it was pretty good for the movie. All I can say it worth the watch.

Kagen no Tsuki might appear really strange/slow/targeted to fangirls only, but I think it would be unfair to underestimate it so much. Even if it's a movie inspired to a manga, and with a singer as one of the actors, in my opinion, it's not bad. It has its very annoying moments, anyway... - Spoiler alert - The very start is quite slow and makes it look like some romantic crap for teenagers, but if you can get after the birthday scene and the small "tragedies" striking Mizuki, it gets quite interesting later, if you're a person who likes ghost stories, reincarnation and romantic things. It's not a GREAT film, one of these movies that will make you clap your hands and talk about it to everyone you know, but it grants a good time anyway, especially to people who is more used to Japanese culture in general.The story is very sad, and a bit too much "romantic" sometimes, like a fairy tale... but some scenes are really well-designed. Spoiler alert 2 - At the very end of the movie, and the titles... you can see both Mizuki and Adam on a boat. That scene is still stuck in my mind. As the "gate" of the house, as symbol to the gate from limbo to the world of dead is another thing I can't forget. Sometimes, when I see a girl handing a present to someone, I immediately remember Sayaka.Maybe a part of me still likes fairy-tales.

I'm sorry for perhaps unfairly skewing the rating on this film by giving it two stars, but I could barely sit through it. I don't think it is necessarily a poorly made film. but it's a film clearly targeted at Asian early- and pre-teens with the inclusion of super-secretive Japanese rock star "Hyde" in a prominent, though not leading, role. Every time he appeared on screen I would roll my eyes and groan because he looked like a Keith Partridge wannabe trying to appear tough by smoking cigarettes. He might be a talented musician but he's a terrible actor, at least in this film.The rest of the cast did a credible job. Model, actress, and hair-do, Chiaki Kuriyama is always refreshing on screen. Western audiences may recognize her as Gogo from Quentin Tarentino's Kill Bill Vol 1. She appears to play the piano quite well, vamping on the film's musical theme, "Last Quarter", a couple times. I liked the theme a lot, but in the end this modern fairy-tale was just too sugar-coated and precious for my aged sensibility.

OK, I bought the Region 2 English Subtitled DVD of this movie and, first of all, I need to say that the subtitling was excellent despite several minor flaws along the way. Second of all, this film had some of the best special effects I've seen in a Japanese movie in a long time, far superior to those of the live-action Zeiram and Boogiepop films.Third, the acting is superb. Chiaki Kuriyama plays Mizuki and Eve well, and Hyde (despite his bad English accent) plays Adam well. However, the film lies more with the characters of Hotaru, Miura, and Tomoki in their quest to help Eve from her entrapment in the house.I only had a few small problems with the experience, but they did not take too much away from the film; the most major of these is a break in the flow caused by a short interlude explaining the meaning of Kagen no Tsuki, the "Last Quarter Moon," that feels almost completely out of place. Outside of this and a few small instances, the film was excellent and convincing.Although some segments of the trailer make the movie seem slightly on the ridiculous side at times, the extreme emotions (mostly Tomoki, Mizuki's boyfriend, screaming) are accounted for well in the film, being extremely appropriate when they actually appear.Overall, it was the best movie I've seen in years, with the most constant universe held within it. The characters and their circumstances feel real throughout the entire film. The first A+ film I've watched in years, and the most real. I can hardly wait to watch it again!