Tajomaru

Today has been a good day. I went to see Tajomaru (the new Oguri Shun movie) with my mom at a theater in Shibuya. There are only two screens in the ‘theater’ because one is on the seventh/eighth floor of a building, and the other is on the ninth/tenth floor. Tickets were, as expected, quite expensive, though I learned that on Wednesdays, if you’re a lady, you get a special discount. When you exit the elevator, they take you ticket, and there is a concession stand, though it’s nowhere near as large as what we’re used to. There’s also a case with movie goods in it (a folder, a place mat, a cell phone charm, a bookmark, a seal/picture set) for the movie, as well as a pamphlet you can buy (and I’m kicking myself for not buying one, ‘cause now I really want one). There is also a wall of leaflets that advertise the upcoming movies, detailing the cast, crew, plotline and characters. When we went in, it was built more like a small playhouse than a movie theater, with only two sections of seats that descend a slope, and then in the front is an actual small stage. The screen itself is hidden behind two rows of curtains that are pulled back when the movie begins. I thought this was cool: when the lights went down for the movie to begin, the projector showed this pot on the stage, and then confetti started flying out of it, and then that went up onto the ceiling and over our heads (all digitally), and I thought that was a pretty cool effect. Before the movie, they showed a bunch of safety commercials about being sure to install smoke detectors in your house, and also about fire extinguishers; it was a mini-lesson in fire safety. Then of course, they had the part where they say, ‘Turn off you cell phones,’ and an ad for not pirating. Then, as with American movies, they showed previews for upcoming movies. Sadly and strangely enough, none of them were for actual Japanese movies. There was one for Airbender, which is based off the kids Avatar cartoon, there was 2012 (it really did look like how the end times will be), one for The Time Traveler’s Wife, and then another one, I’ve forgotten. Then the movie started.

It was really good and I kept up better than I'd expected. In a nutshell, it's about a young nobleman who's in love with this lady, they run off, he's betrayed by a friend who's life he'd saved years ago, the girl betrays him and he assumes the name Tajomaru, which I think is the name of a famous thief, and then it's about him going back home and sorting things out, everything getting explained and him getting revenge. I actually really liked it, even if it was prone to being a little melodramatic. It had a very Hamlet feel to it, if you ask me. Well, I'm going to go. I have to go up to the school tomorrow to get my ID and other stuff, so I'll catch you cats later!