Bandage (2010)
"Bandeiji" (original title)

Four boys have their friendship and musical talents tested in the ever changing worlds of the music industry and real life in 1990s Japan.

Director:

Takeshi Kobayashi

Writers:

Chika Kan (original story), Shunji Iwai (screenplay),

Stars:

Jin Akanishi, Kii Kitano, Kengo Kôra

2 wins.

Cast

Credited cast:
Jin Akanishi	...	Natsu Takasugi (singing voice)
Kii Kitano	...	Asako Suzuki
Kengo Kôra	...	Yukiya
Ayumi Ito	...	Nobuko Yukari
Yuki Shibamoto	...	Arumi Suzuhata
Nobuaki Kaneko	...	Ryuji
Hideyuki Kasahara	...	Kenji Yamane
Anne	...	Miharu
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Hatsunori Hasegawa
Yoshiyuki Ishizuka
Mayu Kitaki
Yoshimasa Kondô
Yuki Saitô
Kazuo Zaitsu

Storyline

In the 90s there was a decade of indie rock bands in the japanese culture. Bandage tell a fictional story four boys whose friendship and musical talents are tested in the ever changing world of music industry and their experience in love and hardship in real life.

---

Plot Keywords:

friendship | music industry | 1990s | love | indie rock | 

---

Genres:

Drama | Music | Romance

---

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Release Date:

16 January 2010 (Japan)

Also Known As:

Bandage

Company Credits

Production Co:

Basara Pictures, D.N. Dream Partners, J Storm

Technical Specs

Runtime:

119 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Kengo Kora and even the director himself have confirmed that Yukiya's motivation is his deep and unrequited love for Natsu, but it's only hinted in the movie.

---

Soundtracks

"Genki (Ska version)"
Written by Takeshi Kobayashi
Performed by LANDS
Courtesy of Sony Music Entertainment

User Reviews

Thought I would enjoy this movie because of the style and premise, but was mostly left disappointed

The movie lacked depth and nothing was really engaging about it. Although it delves into the music industry a bit, nothing about it was all that interesting. The plot revolves around a pop/rock band that think they are way more cool than they really are and have this idealistic perspective on how rock band should be. There are other movies with similar premise and direction except it's done better. This movie sort of reminded me of "Twilight" except it revolves around a band and not vampires, which isn't necessarily a good thing. Because I was never a fan of the "Twilight" movies. It's like the director wanted to make a cool movie with a rock band and romance in it but it just didn't get my attention most of the way through. Few minutes of the beginning I thought the movie might have potential but was let down for the most part. I can see the direction it wants to go with a normal Japanese girl getting involved with a band somehow and see them go from underground to mainstream in japan. But it just doesn't really work because it isn't crafted very well, the romance part isn't very well done because the connection between all the characters isn't all that believable. Especially between Natsu Takasugi(Jin Akanishi) and Asako Suzuki(Kie Kitano), there just isn't anything really distinguishable about her that leads the audience to believe why the character Natsu would fall for her. He just does and that is about it. This movie just didn't have the elements to get me excited or anything like that. The reason this movie is liked by some is because of the "Twilight" movie elements that are in this. I personally found this movie to be boring for the most part and disappointed cause it had the premise and style I enjoy in other films. The emotion in this is repetitive and not very believable either.

4/10