Living a life of routine where everything is planned down to the minute, including her sex life, Chihiro begins to grow bored of the regimented life outlined by her husband, causing her to begin an affair with an ex-co-worker. Still holding onto admiration for her husband, Chihiro struggles with her life choices, once believing that the lifestyle of a housewife would bring her happiness, she becomes resentful of her existence and longs for something more from life.
While contemplating her role in society, she curses all of Japan, wishing that it would be destroyed. Unbeknownst to her as she made this wish, God herself was looking for a person who could help restore faith in humanity. God hears Chihiro’s wish and tells her that in order to save all of Japan she must become a famous Idol, a childhood fantasy that Chihiro once held. Under the guidance of God, Chihiro begins training and going out on auditions. Things don’t go as smoothly as planned, with there being little interest shown for her act. As Chihiro’s disappointment grows, she soon finds an opportunity for instant stardom in a deal with the devil, a deal which comes at a great cost. On her quest to stardom, Chihiro must figure out how to save all of Japan, her relationship with her husband and her own soul.
Although there is not heavy emphasis is put on the visuals, the film is well shot and does a good job of capturing the characters’ natural charm. The script, albeit fun, does seem a bit tame compared to previous scripts Motosugu has worked on. It is light on the comedic perversion, and certain characters could have been built up more to garner more interest/entertainment. In particular, Karin Itsuki in the role of “God” could have had a bit more depth, and injected some humor. For being an all-powerful being she does not really get to do much with it. Overall the film is well written, and although not consistent with the comedy, it succeeds by containing a lot of great gags throughout. I particularly enjoyed the ending, it is far-fetched and comes abruptly, but it is humorous and well executed.
Director Motosugu Watanabe seems to be able to bring out the best in his actors, his female leads are always strong, interesting, endearing and often adorable, and “My Hero Chihiro” is no exception as Rin Sakuragi gives a great performancein the titular role. The rest of the cast rounds out nicely, with the one exception in the actor playing the Devil, who gives a performance that is a bit too goofy and over the top even for a production like this. Unfortunately, the longer and more graphic sex scenes are those containing the devil, which, if not for the strong female performances would have ruined the erotic aspect of the production. However, I will admit personal bias as men who play into these goofy characters hardly ever appeal to me regardless of genre. I can see others getting more entertainment out of the character.
Motosugu Watanabe’s ability to construct a fun and memorable Pink comedy is second to none. The Pink comedy sub-genre has many great titles, but there are few directors who seem to work so consistently well within it, turning out entertaining productions regularly. His ability to work well with a modest budget, bring out great performances from his actors and work with screenplays that favor his style, ensures that his films are always worth checking out.
With all the praise I can give Watanabe and enjoyable as “My Hero Chihiro” is. It does seem to fall short of some of his other work. Comparing this to his production “Milk the Maid”, which share a similar theme in having a godly being appear amongst a struggling family, the humor is not as consistent, the supporting cast feels under utilized and overall just seems to fall short of what makes his work so memorable. Fans of Watanabe’s previous work will still get a lot of enjoyment out of this production, for those wanting to familiarize themselves with his work “Milk The Maid” or “Sexy Battle Girls” I believe do a better job of showcasing the director’s talent. Overall “My Hero Chihiro” is still a great example of a competent and well executed Pink comedy that fans of the genre will enjoy.
Review by Adam Symchuk, Asian Film Vault.
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