Blue Spring (2001)

A group of a run-down Tokyo high school students face the struggles of growing up, growing apart from their friends and worrying about their future, while living in a highly violent environment.

Director:

Toshiaki Toyoda

Writers:

Toshiaki Toyoda, Taiyô Matsumoto (comic strip)

Stars:

Ryûhei Matsuda, Hirofumi Arai, Sôsuke Takaoka

1 win & 2 nominations.

Cast

Credited cast:
Ryûhei Matsuda	...	Kujo
Hirofumi Arai	...	Aoki
Sôsuke Takaoka	...	Yukio
Yûsuke Ohshiba	...	Kimura
Yûta Yamazaki	...	Ota
Shûgo Oshinari	...	Yoshimura
Takashi Tsukamoto	...	Freshman in Baseball Club
Eita Nagayama	...	Obake (Ghost) (as Eita)
Onimaru	...	Suzuki
Kiyohiko Shibukawa	...	Leader of Rival School Gang (as Kee)
Kyôko Koizumi	...	Kiosk Woman
Mame Yamada	...	Hanada-sensei
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Genta Dairaku	...	Guidance Counselor
Erena	...	High-school girl
Hiroyuki Kobayashi

Storyline

A group of a run-down Tokyo high school students face the struggles of growing up, growing apart from their friends and worrying about their future, while living in a highly violent environment.

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Plot Keywords:

yakuza | high school | based on manga | based on comic | 

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Taglines:

Blue Spring

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Genres:

Drama

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Did You Know?

Quotes

Yoshimura: I'm not choosing ice cream. I'm choosing my life.

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Connections

Version of Revolver - Aoi haru (2003)

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Soundtracks

Black Limousine
The Blondie Plastic Wagon

User Reviews

the wonder years...

I'm told the title Aoi Haru can be read two ways: "blue spring" or "teenage years". Anyway, I liked this movie. What I liked were the dark aspects of this movie and the attempts at symbolism. What I didn't like was the somewhat aimlessness of the plot and the attempts at symbolism. I find it a lot like "go" which also has Hirofumi Arai (Aoki). Both violent highschool movies. Some people have compared it to Battle Royale... although I think this has a better basis in reality. Someone mentioned this movie was strung together from several short manga stories, which makes sense, since we tend to jump through several character's story lines. It isn't necessarily a bad thing, as we get to see where each character is coming from and where they end up. The variety is nice but it I felt like the movie lost it's focus at points. Overall, though, I felt it draws the viewer in and manages to stay kinetic throughout. There was rarely a boring moment. Even a girl waiting for her boyfriend ended up being very amusing. The movie is rather violent and disturbing at points, but managed to still be funny and introspective. I'd probably recommend it to people who can still remember what highschool was like.

Details

Official Sites:

Official site, trailers, clips, pics (Japanese)

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Release Date:

29 June 2002 (Japan)

Also Known As:

Blue Spring

Box Office

Budget:

$800,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Filmmakers, Omega Micott Inc.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

83 min

Color:

Color