Sweet Rain: Accuracy of Death (2008)

Kaneshiro plays a Grim Reaper who appears to his victims in human form and spends a week with them before deciding whether to off them or not.

Director:

Masaya Kakehi

Writers:

Kôtarô Isaka (based upon the novel), Masaya Kakehi (screenplay)

Stars:

Takeshi Kaneshiro, Manami Konishi, Sumiko Fuji

Cast

Credited cast:
Takeshi Kaneshiro	...	Chiba
Manami Konishi	...	Kazue Fujiki
Sumiko Fuji	...	Kazue (as Junko Fuji)
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Yuki Enomoto
Mitsuru Fukikoshi	...	Kentaro Oomachi
Takuya Ishida	...	Shinji Akutsu
Ken Mitsuishi	...	Toshiyuki Fujita
Jun Murakami	...	Aoyama
Erika Okuda	...	Takeko
Hiroshi Yamamoto

Storyline

As the rain falls gently on the streets of Tokyo, Death emerges from the supernatural realm to decide whether or not a chosen individual will die in seven days time as scheduled. Chiba is the Grim Reaper. Precisely one week before a person is scheduled to die, Chiba appears to observe and evaluate their life, if the person have already fulfilled the purpose on earth and can step off the stage of life. At the end of those seven days, he makes the decision whether to "execute" or "pass over" his subject. It's not the most pleasant job imaginable, but Chiba always takes time to unwind by visiting the local CD shops and listening to some music. To Chiba, music is humanity's greatest invention. Chiba's latest subject is twenty-seven year old Kazue Fujiki, who leads unlucky life and seems to be ill-starred since everyone around her dies.

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Plot Keywords:

based on novel | death | adaptation | grim reaper | shinigami | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Fantasy

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Did You Know?

Trivia

The concept of the Grim Reaper taking human form to experience the mortal realm is not something particularly new; parallels can easily be drawn to Brad Pitt's turn as a Grim Reaper in Meet Joe Black (1998). Both films share several elements in common; they involve the Grim Reaper taking on the suave visage of a pretty boy, they remove the sinister from the concept of Death itself, and they end up as a study of Life instead of Death. However, this is where the similarities end, and Sweet Rain: Shinigami no Seido, based on the bestselling novel by Isaka Kotaro (The Accuracy of Death), turns out to be a great story in its own right.

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Quotes

Chiba: Reapers don't kill anyone. We just talk to those whose death is foretold.

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Soundtracks

Sunny Day
Performed by Manami Konishi (under alias Kazue Fujiki)
Courtesy of DefSTAR RECORDS

User Reviews

Beautifully Shot, But..

I watched this film in a sold out theater at the Japan Society in New York and rare is it that I would rather have watched this at home. The audience was laughing out loud at times, which was very obtrusive to me. There are funny moments, but the film is kind of schizophrenic in its approach. The story is about a Grim Reaper (the very good Takeshi Kaneshiro) whose job is to decide whether three separate people live or die. Of the three vignettes, the second, involving a Yakusa, is not good at all. It drags down the film somewhat. The first is very good, the third almost as good, so you have to sit through about a half hour or so of less than good cinema. I find the inclusion of the reaper's companion, the black dog who makes no sound but communicates nonetheless, to be annoying by the end. Also, the reaper is not up on his everyday slang. Why not? Doesn't he follow people around and spend time with them? I was baffled by that. Those lines caused big laughs in the theater, but I found them to be cheap laughs. Now, the film has great moments. The character of Kazue Fujiki is sweet and the third vignette has a little twist which, though I figured it out before it was voiced, was still pretty nice. So, it is a flawed, but worthwhile film. Takeshi Kaneshiro is a popular actor, and I've liked everything I've seen him in. I liked this too, but I felt it was somewhat uneven. A bit of it reminds me of the Nicholas Cage film "City Of Angels" and Brad Pitt's "Meet Joe Black". If you liked those films, this is better. I recommend it, but if you watch it on DVD, consider fast forwarding through the second part. The film becomes a nine, okay?

Details

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Release Date:

22 March 2008 (Japan)

Also Known As:

Accuracy of Death

Box Office

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$4,851,480

Company Credits

Production Co:

Mitsui Bussan, Nippon Television Network (NTV), Robot Communications

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1