Wtf-film: cult cinema and video reviews

Toho Co. Ltd [1977] 87′
country: Japan
director: NOBUHIKO OBAYASHI
cast: KIMIKO IKEGAMI, KUMIKO OHBA,
cast: YOKO MINAMIDA, MITSUTOSHI ISHIGAMI

Oshare (Ikegami) is just your average everyday schoolgirl. One day she comes home from school to find that her musician dad (who apparently works with Sergio Leone) is about to remarry. Not willing to accept a replacement for her deceased mother, Oshare tries to visit her mom’s home where her aunt currently lives. The aunt (Minamida) invites her to come for a visit.

Oshare and her pals Fanta, Kung Fu, Melody, Sweet, and Gari hightail it to the country where they find Auntie’s miniature house sitting on a set hilltop. Residents try to dissuade them from going, but they move on. Once there, they are greeted by the charming, but wheelchair-bound Auntie, who may just be the most attractive elderly person ever.

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Toho Co. Ltd [1977] 87′
country: Japan
director: NOBUHIKO OBAYASHI
cast: KIMIKO IKEGAMI, KUMIKO OHBA,
cast: YOKO MINAMIDA, MITSUTOSHI ISHIGAMI

Things are not looking good for high schooler Oshare. Just a week before she is supposed to take a wonderful holiday trip with her widowed father (a film composer who, at present, is working with none other than Sergio Leone), she discovers his plans to remarry. Furious at the prospect and not at all willing to accept the death of her mother and move on, Oshare decides that, instead of going on the trip with both her father and his lover, she’ll visit her real mother’s sister instead. Even though the two do not know each other well, Oshare knows that her mother was very close to her aunt and that the two were quite alike.

Bad news breaks for her six friends as well – it seems their summer camp trip has been ruined by the fact that the woman who owns the property is expecting a child. With nothing better to do, the six decide to tag along with Oshare. Each one of them has a particular quirk – Kung Fu is athletic, Mac (short for “stomach”) is always hungry, Gari is a nerd, Melody is musically inclined, Sweet is sweet and Fanta has an imagination. Their teacher, Mr. Togo, is supposed to accompany them on their trip but, after suffering an unfortunate accident involving stairs, a bucket and a car, is forced to delay his departure but promises to follow along in his buggy.

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