School Mystery
(1995)
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School Mystery
(1995)
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| Credited cast: | |||
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Takayuki Inoue | ... |
Takuya Sakamoto
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Ai Maeda | ... |
Natsumi Sakamoto
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Yuka Kono | ... |
Saeko Mizuno
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Etsushi Toyokawa | ... |
Yuji Sakamoto
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Nene Ohtsuka | ... |
Yuriko Suzuki
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| Rest of cast listed alphabetically: | |||
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Kanako Fukaura | ... |
Hiroshi's mother
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Yasuto Hida | ... |
Degenerate
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Maya Imuta | ... |
Yuki Miyazaki
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| Chiaki Kuriyama | ... |
Little Child
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Zo Ozawa | ... |
Principal
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Kotaro Santo | ... |
Hiroshi Gato
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Yuka Suzuki | ... |
Kanako Ota
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| Naoto Takenaka | ... |
Hiroshi's father
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Kumiko Tsuchiya | ... |
Miss Kubota
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Sakae Umezu | ... |
Tsubasa Sakamoto
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There are two versions of "Toire No Hanako-san." The first version, released in 1995, was set in an elementary school and centered on a boy named Takuya and a new transfer student named Saeko (Maeda Ai plays Takuya's younger brother). Takuya's classmates think that Saeko has been possessed by Hanako, the ghost that lives in the bathroom. The rumor is especially encouraged by a girl who has a crush on Takuya and is jealous since Takuya likes Saeko. The second version, released in 1998, centers on a group of high school girls (among them Maeda Ai and Nomura Yuka) who inadvertently release a demonic doll from a shrine outside of their school. Maeda Ai stars in both versions, although she plays a boy in the first movie, and a girl in the second. Prior to the second movie, there was a 1997 video series "Toire No Hanako-san, " that also dealt with a group of high school girls and their encounters with the infamous Hanako. Written by Rodolfo Rincon <rrincon10@earthlink.net>
Toire No Hanakosan is actually from 1998; the original 1995 version also starred Maeda Ai, although she played a boy in that version. The first version was intended more for an elementary school age audience and, although its premise and plot was more plausible than the 1998 version, it had an ending that was a major disappointment. The 1998 version is superior to the 1995 movie. Even though the premise of the 1998 version is a little less plausible, the pace and performances help to make it an exceptionally good film. Hopefully the 1998 version will be released someday with English subtitles so the U.S. audiences can enjoy this clever thriller.