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

2 nominations.

Cast

Credited cast:
Ryûhei Matsuda	...	Kujo
Hirofumi Arai	...	Aoki
Sôsuke Takaoka	...	Yukio
Yûsuke Ohshiba	...	Kimura
Yuta Yamazaki	...	Ota
Shûgo Oshinari	...	Yoshimura
Takashi Tsukamoto	...	Freshman in Baseball Club
Eita	...	Obake (Ghost)
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:

high school | based on manga | based on comic | 

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Taglines:

No regrets for my youth

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Genres:

Drama

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Did You Know?

Quotes

Yukio: It's fuckin' slow Mizaguchi.

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Connections

Version of Revolver - Aoi haru (2003)

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Soundtracks

Aogeba Toutoshi (aka: Song for the Close of School)
At the graduation ceremony

User Reviews

Facing Reality, Growing up is tough

With a Soundtrack from 'Thee Michelle Gun Elephant' that most English Indie Producers would kill for, and amazing cast and crew. Aoi Haru draws us into the lives of Japanese teenagers who aren't so lucky in life, who have to make their own destiny from the left over scraps of others who happen to throw them their way.

Aoi Haru is based in a public all boys school called Asahi High.

A extremely miserable place where teachers don't bother to encourage the boys to excel, gang graffiti tags are everywhere marking their turf, and the yakuza's frequently hang around outside the school trying to recruit young members.

The boys learn early on that if you don't fight for what is yours and what you want, then you better keep your mouth shut and stay out of the way. And even though these boys do act tough and dish out violence like a ice cube down the back of your shirt, the boys feel lost and confused due to the fact they cannot understand why they can not make their dreams come true. Almost feeling forced into the violence and self destruction they create because it will be their only real legacy they can leave behind before they enter the real world and pretty much dead end lives.

On the 25th Graduation ceremony at Asahi High a group of the new seniors head up to the Schools roof for a deadly tradition held by the boys who wish to rule the school. A initiation that involves the boys hanging off the side of the building and seeing how many claps they can do before they give up or just fall to their death when they can't grab the rail in time.

And this time Kujo wins the leadership, which does confuse the other boys abit because he is quiet and constantly deep in thought about things but accept it because he won fair and square.

Even though Kujo does seem to be harmless and gentle, when it comes down to it he can be the most violent member of his gang. Though Kujo is the leader of the gang and his Best friend Aoki adores him deeply, Kujo doesn't really want to change anything. He doesn't want to rip the school apart with violence unless he has to. He just feels lost about not knowing what the future holds and what is beyond High School, and constantly asks his friends what they will do after High School because he secretly doesn't know what to do himself. Which annoys Aoki greatly, because he has all of the power and he doesn't want to do anything with it. With this Aoki decides to break off and turn Asahi High into a living hell for everyone who is unlucky enough to get in his way, which in turn rips these Childhood friends apart.

But can they fix their friendship before it's too late?

In the end this Movie really is for all the Gofers, Wanna-bes, Dreamers and lost souls out there. Because everyone can relate to at least one of these characters in Aoi Haru

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