Nazo no tenkousei (1998)

User Rating:

6.0/10   

Director:

Kazuya Konaka

Writers:

Taku Mayumura (novel)
Sadayuki Murai (screenplay)
(more)

Plot Keywords:

Based On Novel

Cast

Masami Horiuchi	...	Kishibe The Scientist
Dai Kanai	...	Old man
Ken Nishida	...	Dr, Konoike
Chiharu Nîyama	...	Midori Kagawa
Yasue Sato	...	Mayumi Iwase
Satoshi Tsumabuki	...	Koichi Iwata

Directed by
Kazuya Konaka

Writing credits
Taku Mayumura		(novel)
Sadayuki Murai		(screenplay)
Barry Banner		(English adaptation) (English language version) (as Kip Kaplan)

Produced by
Tomoyuki Imai	....	producer
John O'Donnell	....	executive producer (english version)
Stephanie Shalofsky	....	producer (English version)
Kiyoshi Sugiyama	....	producer
Tom Wayland	....	associate producer (english version)

Cinematography by
Yoichi Shiga

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Hideki Onuki	....	second unit director

Visual Effects by
Yoshihiro Shiki	....	digital effects artist
Masao Yoshiwara	....	digital effects artist

Other crew
Barry Banner	....	voice director (English language version) (as Kip Kaplan)
Kevin Mckeown	....	translator (English language version)
Yoshihiro Ueno	....	planner
Tom Wayland	....	dubbing manager (English version)

Production Companies

• Bandai Visual Company
• Kadokawa Shoten Publishing Co.
• Tsuburaya Productions

Also Known As:

The Dimension Travelers (USA) (DVD title)

Runtime:

USA:95 min

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Color

Company:

Bandai Visual Company

Weird, interesting and enjoyable!

This movie, while not the strangest yet, was one of the stranger movies I've seen to be sure. The story is about Midori Kagawa, a somewhat ordinary Japanese schoolgirl at a random Japanese school. A transfer student, Mayumi Iwase, arrives, and immediately strikes people as somewhat strange, hence the meaning of the Japanese title, Nazo no tenkousei, which basically means Mysterious Transfer Student. The subtitle, which was used for the US DVD release, The Dimension Travelers, together with the translated title, gives some clues as to the content of the movie, though neither title, nor the description on the back could ever have prepared me for the ride this movie took me on!

There were things said that, combined with what they showed you, gives ample food for thought. What are we doing? What effects will this have, not just on us but on the world as a whole? etc. At the same time, it didn't seem all that serious or deep. Interesting!

It is quite hard for me to tell you anything else about this movie without spoiling anything, but one thing I can say is that I would very much like a chance to read the novel by Taku Mayumura, on which it was based.

On a whole, I enjoyed this particular movie, and I'm very happy I got to see it.