Andromedia (1998) Andoromedia (original title)

Director:

Takashi Miike

Writers:

Masa Nakamura (screenplay)
Itaru Era (screenplay)
(more)

Release Date:

11 July 1998 (Japan)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Sci-Fi | Romance

Plot:

After her sudden death a teenage girl finds her father has uploaded her mind to computer form. With a rival corporation wishing to capture her the girl is uploaded to her boyfriend's laptop.

Plot Keywords:

Girl Group | Pop Music | Virtual Reality | Love | Based On Novel

Awards:

3 wins

Cast

Hiroko Shimabukuro	...	Mai Hitomi & Ai
Eriko Imai	...	Yôko
Takako Uehara	...	Rika
Hitoe Arakaki	...	Nao
Kenji Harada	...	Yuu
Ryô Karato	...	Satoshi Takanaka
Christopher Doyle	...	Sakkaa / Soccer
Tomorowo Taguchi	...	Gôda
Issa Hentona	...	Tooru
Shinobu Miyara	...	Hiroyuki
Yukinari Tamaki	...	Kazuma
Ken Okumoto	...	Daiki
Kensuke Toida	...	Bodyguard 1
Masataka Haji	...	Bodyguard 2
Naoyuki Yokoyama	...	Bodyguard 3
Mongoruman	...	Bodyguard 4
Anna Ide	...	Mai as a child
Akihiro Yoshikawa	...	Yuu as a child
Kazuki Kitamura	...	Sada
Ryuuta Itô	...	Boy A in the bus
Kônosuke Tôkai	...	Boy B in the bus
Yûki Nagata	...	Kurosawa as a child (as Yuuki Nagata)
John Gallock	...	White doctor
Michelle Gazepis	...	Sakkaa's / Soccer's secretary
Mikhail Vasilenko	...	White boy
Manzô Shinra	...	Bathroom visitor
Hiromi Suzuki	...	Mai's mother
Yukio Yamanouchi	...	Bus Passenger A
Chikage Natsuyama	...	Bus Passenger B
Kippei Shiina	...	Chinese-speaking man
Naoto Takenaka	...	Kurosawa
Tsunehiko Watase	...	Toshihiko Hitomi / Mai's father / Ai's creator
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Takahiro Itô	...	Boy on bus

Directed by
Takashi Miike

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Itaru Era		screenplay (as Kurio Kisaragi)
Masa Nakamura		screenplay (as Kurio Kisaragi)
Kozy Watanabe		novel "Andromedia"

Produced by
Kazuya Hamana	....	producer
Takashi Hirano	....	producer
Takashi Kasuga	....	executive producer
Morihiro Kodama	....	executive producer
Makoto Nakanishi	....	producer
Toshiaki Nakazawa	....	producer
Taishi Nishimura	....	producer
Tetsuo Taira	....	executive producer
Yasuo Takimoto	....	executive producer

Cinematography by
Hideo Yamamoto

Film Editing by
Yasushi Shimamura

Production Design by
Akira Ishige

Makeup Department
Yûichi Matsui	....	special makeup effects artist

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Bunmei Katô	....	assistant director

Art Department
Akira Sakamoto	....	assistant production designer

Sound Department
Akira Nakano	....	sound recordist
Hitoshi Tsurumaki	....	assistant sound designer

Visual Effects by
Bernard Edlington	....	shader artist

Stunts
Makoto Kenmochi	....	stunt coordinator
Makoto Kenmochi	....	stunts
Hiroo Sawa	....	stunts
Kenji Shimozaki	....	stunts
Hiroki Takano	....	stunts
Keiji Tsujii	....	stunt coordinator
Keiji Tsujii	....	stunts

Camera and Electrical Department
Saiko Hashimoto	....	assistant camera
Meichô Tomiyama	....	lighting technician

Production Companies

• Avex Inc.
• Excellent Film
• Rising Production
• Sedic
• Tokyo Broadcasting System (TBS)

Distributors

• Pathfinder Pictures
• Shochiku Company
• Tokyo Broadcasting System (TBS) (1999) (Japan) (TV)
• Toy's Factory (Japan) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Hoei Project  casting agency: Japanese cast
• Inagawa Motoko Office  casting agency: non-Japanese cast
• Super Action Megasystem (SAM)  stunt team

Also Known As:

"Andoromedia" - Japan (original title)

Runtime:

109 min

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Color

Company:

Avex Inc.

Certainly one of Miike's lesser films

Even if, in the future, he becomes the world's most beloved director and everyone everywhere seeks out all his films, Andromedia will be forgotten. There's really no such thing as "typical Miike", but this film is somehow definitely atypical Miike. It's a teeny cyber-thriller that stars not one, but two Japanese teen pop groups, Speed and Da Pump, both of which get a song. Da Pump, the boy band, even gets their own music video in the middle of the movie for no good reason. So, yeah, it's kind of corny, but it's corny in a fun way. And it's just fun to see Miike do this kind of pap. The film's villains – whose motives we never really understand – are goofy and entertaining, especially Christopher Doyle, best know as the cinematographer of Zhang Yimou's Hero, who plays a shorts-wearing evil corporate guy from Detroit. He looks like he was downloaded from the mid-80s. Doyle even gets to dance during Da Pump's big musical number. So Andromedia's not half bad if you can take a bit of goofiness.