A Film That You Couldn’t Possibly Expect

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MOVIE REVIEW
The Cherry Bushido

Genre: Drama, Fantasy
Year Released: 2022
Runtime: 2h 5m
Director: Hiroshi Akabane
Writer: Sayaka Okawa(screenplay), Ryuho Okawa(original story)
Cast: Fumika Shimizu, Hiroaki Tanaka, Rin Kijima
Where To Watch: Opening March 11 in select theaters

What a great surprise, I wasn’t sure what to expect, but this ended up being a great film that covered a little bit of everything. The film is listed as a drama/fantasy, but we had action, suspense, CGI, fighting, and more.

With solid performances throughout, the film offers you something around every corner. I was a little confused at first, but once I put the pieces together and the film expanded on the story, it became clear how fun this would be. The real twist that made the movie so appealing was how it pulled from so many different genres. I usually wouldn’t offer any sort of spoiler, but this is just the synopsis from IMDb, “Shizuka, a college student, is recruited by a group named the "Japan Salvation Conference" for a mission. She and her pals leave their astral bodies and head for the spirit world to face the Great Demon of Hades that aims to destroy Japan.” That’s a lot to digest, but it makes for an exciting experience from start to finish

I was a little bummed out that I had a copy with English voiceovers, but other than that, the film exceeded expectations. That’s just my personal preference; I would much rather watch something with subtitles than a voice-over; my only exception would probably be animation.

If you’re interested in a film full of magic, suspense, action, and more, then this is the movie for you. I was impressed with the CGI throughout the film, it was used sparingly, but when it was, it was very well done and usually on an epic scale. Director Hiroshi Akabane managed to blend the fantastical with straightforward dialogue driver scenes.

Fumika Shimizu (Shizuka), the film's lead, really takes the reigns and doesn’t let go. She is the glue that holds the story together. I’m not familiar with any of her other work, but she seems to have an extensive history in “Kamden Rider” films (think Power Rangers.) I’ll be looking into some of her other roles as well.

A huge thanks to MPRM Communications for allowing me to check out this exciting new film.

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