Sawako Decides

Countless films put us in the shoes of the underdog, but never has there been such a negative, misfortunate, unmotivated, loserish anti-hero as Sawako. A pretty and comical girl, we desperately want to root for her, but the film just makes this so hard. Sawako is such a passive character that the story quickly gets boring. I can see how Japanese audiences would like the humour, which caricaturises their customs and attitude, but this black comedy of social squirming was not my cup of green tea.

First off, this film is very slow in terms of plot pace. Its also not really very funny - the only amusing moment I could think of being when the female clam business employees are made to sing along to a song about working at the business, I assume intended to raise the spirits of said employees. From what I could tell its mostly about small town gossip and moving on from mistakes of the past. Its an alright watch, not great but not entirely awful. I wouldn't recommend it, no.

Hikari Mitsushima is cuuuuuute, but this movie is dull.