Love & Pop (1998)

A high school girl engages in compensated dating in order to buy an expensive ring before the day ends.

Director:

Hideaki Anno

Writers:

Hideaki Anno (screenplay), Akio Satsukawa (screenplay)

Stars:

Tadanobu Asano, Mitsuru Fukikoshi, Megumi Hayashibara

2 wins.

Cast

Credited cast:
Tadanobu Asano	...	Captain XX
Mitsuru Fukikoshi
Megumi Hayashibara	...	Voice
Akira Ishida	...	Voice
Kirari	...	Chisa Noda
Hirono Kudo	...	Nao Yokoi
Kotono Mitsuishi	...	Voice
Asumi Miwa	...	Hiromi Yoshii
Hitomi Miwa	...	Hiromi's sister, sitting at table
Leo Morimoto	...	Hiromi's father
Yukie Nakama	...	Chieko Takamori
Nana Okada	...	Hiromi's mother
Tôru Tezuka	...	Uehara
Ikkei Watanabe	...	Kobayashi

Storyline

It is the '90s and the tradition of 'compensated dating' is well underway in Japan. Four high school girls are engaged in enjo kosai in order to satisfy their desire for different things. You can usually find them in Shibuya district of Tokyo where they will give you their time, and sometimes more, in exchange for money that buys pretty things.

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Plot Keywords:

inviting sexual advances | spread eagle | wanted sexual advances | sexiness | enjo kosai | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Did You Know?

Trivia

Filmed using miniature digital cameras.

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Connections

References Captain EO (1986)

User Reviews

Hideakl Anno proves that as amazing as animation can be, it can't make you feel as uncomfortable as intense realism does.

I have to give Anno a lot of props for making a movie about a topic so sensitive. Love & Pop is about a group of girls that are Juniors in high school (16 and 17 years old) who get hit on by older men and are offered money to be their "play dates" decide to essentially become call girls for lonely men to hang out with as they put up with their loneliness.

Without involving any sex at all, (thank the lord for that) Anno was able to portray these men as people that you can be both sympathetic towards but also creeped the hell out by. For instance, one of the guys has Turrets. But instead of having loud outbursts, he hss a large muscle spasm that makes it look and sound like he's spitting. He explains that this condition made him a social outcast and he has coworkers that look down on him when they think he isn't aware and it really makes me feel bad for him... until he takes one of the girls into a movie shop with him so that she can pretend to be his girlfriend. Then he made her lock her arm with his and purposefully drew attention to the two of them before proceeding to do something vile that I won't be typing here.

This is not a movie that I'd watch again, but it does showcase Anno's talents as a live-actiin director. Sadly my *cough cough* totally legal *cough cough* version of the film that I watched blurred a lot of the images and made it hard to see. But much like in Neon Genesis Evangelion, it's easy to appreciate how creative Anno can get when framing each shot. A lot of thought goes into it and it makes the film so interesting to watch. Plus, the jarring cuts in the film makes me think of the French New Wave which adds another cinematography que to keep my interest peaked. This was a fascinating film, and it makes me appreciate Anno even more than I already do.

Details

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese Japanese Sign Language

Release Date:

9 January 1998 (Japan)

Also Known As:

Любовь и попса

Filming Locations:

Shibuya-ku, Tokyo, Japan

Company Credits

Technical Specs

Runtime:

110 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1