, stylized as ''BANDAGE'', is a 2010 Japanese independent film directed by

Takeshi Kobayashi (born June 7, 1959), is a Japanese keyboardist, lyricist, composer, arranger, and record producer. History Kobayashi started his professional career in the late 1970s. After working in the backing bands for singers such as Yosui Inoue, Misato Wa ...

, who also served as the editor, producer and composer and written and produced by

Shunji Iwai is a Japanese film director, video artist, writer and documentary maker. Life and career Iwai was born in Sendai, Miyagi, Japan. He attended Yokohama National University, graduating in 1987. In 1988 he started out in the Japanese entertainment ...

. Based on the original novel by Chika Kan, Iwai adapted it along with Kan and renamed it ''Bandage''. The movie title has actually two meanings, a literal one, which is a play on the words "Band Age", because the story takes place in Japan's early 1990s, the boom of indie

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

bands. And a figurative one, in which a certain character uses music as a "bandage" to heal the feeling of worthlessness.

Plot

Back in the 1990s, way before the manufactured pop acts we now see on TV, there was a flood of indie rock bands that were televised during talent contests that guaranteed instant fame. Amongst that band boom, a group of young musicians managed to dominate the music scene, a band that shone brightest for a brief moment in time. Between popularity and talent, they go through various trials and lineup changes in the process. As Lands begins to climb the ladder towards major stardom, tensions within the band rise, they clash with the dark side of music industry, greed and discord surfaces, inevitable frictions emerge, and unrequited love strains their friendship, threatening to pull their bonds apart. These ups and downs are shown from the perspective of Asako, a high school girl who becomes the band's manager through an unexpected coincidence.

Production

Apart from being Kobayashi's directorial debut, he is also in charge of the music production. The project was originally taken by Ryuhei Kitamura, then dropped in 2006. When filming finally started in late 2008, Kobayashi hand-picked a completely different cast for the movie, casting pop singer and actor Jin Akanishi with actress Kie Kitano for the lead roles.

Music

In addition to the film,

Jin Akanishi is a Japanese musician, singer, songwriter and actor. He has been active since 1998 as one of the two lead vocalists of the J-pop boy-band KAT-TUN before starting a solo career in 2009. Akanishi has also acted in several films and dramas. Biog ...

, who portrays the lead singer of Lands in the movie, collaborated in real life with Takeshi Kobayashi to create the rock band

Lands Land is the solid surface of the Earth that is not covered by water. Land, lands, The Land, or the Lands may also refer to: Entertainment and media Film * ''Land'' (1987 film), a British television film by Barry Collins * ''Land'' (2018 film), ...

as a temporary unit. On September 5, 2009, they debuted at the fashion event ''Tokyo Girls Collection'', appearing as a ''special guest'', performing the movie's theme song.
Kobayashi wrote most of the lyrics and music of the band, with special collaboration of Shunji Iwai and also Jin Akanishi. Although not an official member, the songs feature actual drummer and actor

Nobuaki Kaneko is a Japanese drummer and actor. He is nicknamed and N.K. He is a member of the rock band Rize. He is represented with Itoh Company and his label is Illchill. He graduated from Horikoshi High School. Kaneko's father was Johnny Yoshinaga who w ...

Rize Rize (Greek language, Greek: ρίζα, Laz language, Laz: რიზინი, Georgian language, Georgian: რიზე, , Ottoman Turkish: ريزه) is the capital city of Rize Province in the eastern part of the Black Sea Region of Turkey. Rize ...

, who also plays the role of the drummer in the film. Their first single, "

Bandage A bandage is a piece of material used either to support a medical device such as a dressing or splint, or on its own to provide support to or to restrict the movement of a part of the body. When used with a dressing, the dressing is applie ...

" was released on November 25, 2009, reaching number one in the Oricon chart. Later on, they also released a studio album titled ''Olympos'' in January, 2010, which also ranked number one in the Japanese music charts. During their short life, Lands has had two consecutive number one releases, breaking a Japanese soundtrack record for an ''album released in the name of a movie character''. The only other time in the history of Japanese music this had happened was in 1996, when Kobayashi's Yentown band (made for Shunji Iwai's movie ''Swallowtail Butterfly'') topped the Oricon charts with their album ''Montage''. Lands held their first and last concert on January 19, 2010, called ''Lands Last Live'' in the

Tokyo Metropolitan Area The Greater Tokyo Area is the most populous metropolitan area in the world, consisting of the Kantō region of Japan (including Tokyo Metropolis and the prefectures of Chiba, Gunma, Ibaraki, Kanagawa, Saitama, and Tochigi) as well as the pre ...

Cast

as Natsu Takasugi, Lands vocalist *

Kie Kitano is a Japanese actress, singer and gravure idol. Career Kitano was born in Kanagawa Prefecture, and is a former member of the celebrity girls futsal team ''Miss Magazine''. In 2005, Kitano won a Miss Magazine Award, becoming the youngest (age 1 ...

as Asako Suzuki, a high school student *

Kengo Kora is a Japanese actor. Career Kora has gained recognition for his roles in films such as Shinji Aoyama's ''Sad Vacation'', Yukio Ninagawa's ''Snakes and Earrings'', Tran Anh Hung's '' Norwegian Wood'', Ryuichi Hiroki's ''The Egoists'', Yoshihiro ...

as Yukiya Nagato, Lands guitar player *

Yuki Shibamoto is a Japanese actress. Shibamoto is represented with Ken-On. Her father is Toshio Shiba, her mother is Kyoko Maya, and her aunt is Azusa Mano, who are all also actors. Filmography TV dramas Films Stage Magazines Advertisements Refer ...

as Arumi Suzuhata, Lands keyboardist *

Hideyuki Kasahara Hideyuki (written: , , , , , , or ) is a masculine Japanese given name. Notable people with the name include: *, Japanese footballer *Hideyuki Akaza (赤座英之), Japanese urologist *, Japanese engineer and physicist *, Japanese karateka *, Ja ...

as Kenji Yamane, Lands bass player *

as Ryuji, Lands drummer *

Ayumi Ito is a Japanese actress from Tokyo, Japan. Career Ito played a supporting role in ''Tokyo!''. She also appeared in Kiyoshi Kurosawa's 2012 television drama '' Penance''. Filmography Film * '' Samurai Kids'' (1993) – Chizuko Kusubayashi * '' Sw ...

as Nobuko Yukari, Lands manager and former musician *

Anne Watanabe is a Japanese fashion model, actress, and singer. She is the daughter of film actor Ken Watanabe and his first wife Yumiko. In her modeling work, she is known by the mononym Anne.Kuhn, Anthony"For Japanese Women, The Past Is The Latest Fad"/ref> ...

as Miharu, Asako's friend *

Kazuo Zaitsu Kazuo (カズオ, かずお) is a masculine Japanese given name. Possible spellings It has several written forms, and the meaning depends on the characters used (usually kanji, but sometimes hiragana). Common forms include: * 一雄: first son, ...

* Yoshiyuki Ishizuka * Mayu Kitaki *

Yoshimasa Kondo , born on August 13, 1961 in Nagoya, Japan, is a Japanese theatre and film actor. Biography He debuted as an extra in the series ''Chu-gaku-sei Nikki'', and was later written into the script. He later gained notability while working with the ...

as Kokubo *

Hatsunori Hasegawa is a Japanese actor who is known for his role as Takeshi Yamato in the 1980 '' Ultraman 80'' series. In this series, he is played the lead role as a school teacher who is also a UGM member. Filmography Drama series *1980: '' Ultraman 80'' *1994: ...

* Yuki Saito * Sogen Tanaka *

Kazuma Suzuki is a Japanese stage, film, television actor, film director, fashion designer, and former model. Career During his high school years, Suzuki was scouted at Harajuku and made his debut as a model in the fashion magazine ''POPEYE''. From there he ...

as Toda (Long Run Records employee) *

Toru Kizu TORU or Toru may refer to: * TORU, spacecraft system * Toru (given name), Japanese male given name * Toru, Pakistan, village in Mardan District of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan *Tõru Tõru is a village in Saaremaa Parish, Saare County in western ...

Natalia Silkina Natalia may refer to: People * Natalia (given name), list of people with this name * Natalia (Belgian singer) (born 1980) * Natalia (Greek singer) (born 1983) * Natalia (Spanish singer) (born 1982) Music and film * ''Natalia'' (film), a 198 ...

Details

The pre-screening was held on November 2, 2009 at the

Tokyo International Forum The is a multi-purpose exhibition center in Tokyo, Japan. The complex is generally considered to be in the Yūrakuchō business district, being adjacent to Yūrakuchō Station, but it is administratively in the Marunouchi district. Tokyo Int ...

. The movie sold 70,000 advance tickets on its first day of availability, selling more than the big budget movies of the season ("Gokusen: The Movie" sold 25,000 advance tickets and "20th Century Boys 1: Beginning of the End" sold 2,500 advance tickets), setting a live action film record.

Awards and nominations

2010 (12th) Udine Far East Film
- April 23 – May 1 - "My Movies Audience Award" *2010 (23rd) Nikkan Sports Film Awards - December 28, 2010 "Fan Award (Japanese Movie)" *2010 35th

Hochi Film Award The are film-specific prizes awarded by the ''Hochi Shimbun , previously known as , is a Japanese-language daily sports newspaper. In 2002, it had a circulation of a million copies a day. It is an affiliate newspaper of ''Yomiuri Shimbun''. ...

s - 5 Nominations - Best Actor (Jin Akanishi) and Best Newcomer (Jin Akanishi)

References

External links

* * {{Shunji Iwai 2010 films Films based on Japanese novels Films set in Tokyo Films set in the 1990s Japanese independent films Japanese coming-of-age films 2010s Japanese-language films 2010 directorial debut films 2010s Japanese films