is a 2012 Japanese

musical romance film Romance films or movies involve romantic love stories recorded in visual media for broadcast in theatres or on television that focus on passion, emotion, and the affectionate romantic involvement of the main characters. Typically their journey ...

directed by

Takashi Miike is a Japanese film director, film producer and screenwriter. He has directed over one hundred theatrical, video, and television productions since his debut in 1991. His films run through a variety of different genres, and range from violent an ...

based on the

manga Manga (Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is u ...

series ''

Ai to Makoto is a Japanese manga series written by Ikki Kajiwara and illustrated by Takumi Nagayasu. It was adapted into a live-action television series in 1974 and into four live-action films in 1974, 1975, 1976 and 2012. TV series Cast * Yūsuke ...

'' by Ikki Kajiwara and Takumi Nagayasu. It premiered at the

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films o ...

on May 21, 2012, where it was presented out of competition. Previous adaptations of the manga series had been titled ''Love and Truth'' in English but this 2012 film version was alternatively titled ''For Love's Sake'' in English.

Plot

The film begins with a brief animated prologue set in 1961 in which Ai (

Emi Takei is a Japanese actress and model. Biography Takei was born in Nagoya. Aspiring to become a model, she declared to her parents on her entry to junior high school that she would become a model within three years. In 2006, she entered the 11th Japa ...

), the daughter of a well-respected Tokyo family, is skiing down a snowy hill and crashes into young Makoto (

Satoshi Tsumabuki is a Japanese actor. His breakthrough film was ''Waterboys'' for which he was nominated for the 'Best Actor' award at the Japanese Academy Awards, and won the 'Newcomer of the Year' prize. He is also the bassist and lead singer of the Japanese ...

). 11 years later in Tokyo in 1972, Ai is a senior in high school when Makoto shows up and is attacked by a local Tokyo gang of boys. Makoto fights them off single-handed during the film's first musical number, setting the style for the rest of the film. Ai jumps in to stop the fighting and Makoto recognizes her as the one who injured him and gave him a large scar on his forehead as a child. The police arrive and immediately recognize Ai as the daughter of a wealthy family while arresting all of the boys including Makoto, who is to be sent to a reform school. He is moments away from being attacked by a gang upon his arrival when he is informed that the Saotame family has arranged for his release and transfer to the prestigious Aobadai Prep School, where Ai is a popular student at the top of her class in academics and sports. Ai finds herself interested in Makoto and has convinced her family to sponsor him. The film follows the relationship between the delinquent Makoto and the privileged schoolgirl Ai.
Iwashimizu, president of the student council, is in love with Ai. Iwashimizu shows Makoto that Ai has been breaking school rules working part-time dancing at a club and Makoto attempts to blackmail her parents for 1 million yen. They have him expelled from school and sent to Hanazono Trade School to be with his "own kind". Gum-ko and Yuki, a member and leader of a gang of girls at the trade school, become interested in Makoto.

Cast

as Makoto Taiga *

as Ai Saotome *

Takumi Saito is a Japanese actor and filmmaker. He directs films under his birthname, , spelled differently in Kanji but pronounced the same. Early life and work Saitoh was born on August 22, 1981, in Minato, Tokyo. Saitoh's father worked in the film in ...

as Hiroshi Iwashimizu *

Ito Ohno is a Japanese actress and fashion model She is represented with Horipro is a large Japanese talent agency. History It was founded in 1960 as Hori Productions (ホリプロダクション ''Hori Purodakushon'') and changed to its present n ...

as Yuki Takahara *

Masachika Ichimura is a Japanese actor and voice actor. He was born in Kawagoe, Saitama and studied at the Theater Art College in Tokyo after graduating high school. He is best known to anime fans as the voice of Mewtwo. Ichimura is also the ex-husband of actress ...

as Shogo Saotome *

Yo Hitoto is a Japanese-Taiwanese pop singer. Her mother is Japanese and her father is Taiwanese. She can speak three languages: Japanese, English, and Mandarin. Tae Hitoto is her older sister. Her name Hitoto is not her real surname, it is her mother's ...

as Miyako Saotome *

Kimiko Yo is a Japanese actress. She was given Best Supporting Actress awards at the 2004 and the 2009 Yokohama Film Festival ceremonies. She won the award for best supporting actress at the 32nd and at the 33rd Japan Academy Prize (film), Japan Academy ...

as Toyo Taiga *

Seishiro Kato is a Japanese actor. He debuted when he was 13 months old. He became recognized after his breakthrough role as Higuchi Yoroku (childhood name of Naoe Kanetsugu, as well as Kanetsugu's first son, Takematsu) in ''Tenchijin'' the 2009 edition of ...

as Makoto Taiga * Sakura Andō as Gum-ko *

Tsuyoshi Ihara is a Japanese actor, martial artist, and writer of Korean descent. Biography Ihara is a Japanese person of Korean descent, born on November 6, 1963, in Kitakyūshū as Yun Yu-gu (윤유구/尹惟久) and who grew up in Ikuno-ku, Osaka. He is a ...

as Kenta Zaô

Production

Filming took place in the Japanese locations of

Odawara is a city in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 188,482 and a population density of 1,700 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . Geography Odawara lies in the Ashigara Plains, in the far western por ...

Shibuya-ku Shibuya (渋谷区 ''Shibuya-ku'') is a special ward in Tokyo, Japan. As a major commercial and finance center, it houses two of the busiest railway stations in the world, Shinjuku Station (southern half) and Shibuya Station. As of April 1, 2 ...

Shinjuku is a special ward in Tokyo, Japan. It is a major commercial and administrative centre, housing the northern half of the busiest railway station in the world (Shinjuku Station) and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building, the administration ...

, Tochigi, and

Toshima is a special ward in Tokyo, Japan. It is one of the eight central wards of the Tokyo Metropolitan area. Located in the northern area of Tokyo, Toshima is bordered by the wards of Nerima, Itabashi, and Kita in the north and Nakano, Shinjuku, a ...

Reception

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...

'' gave the film a moderately negative review, calling it overly long and characterizing the choreography and songs as simplistic, though praising the actors. Allan Hunter of

ScreenDaily.com ''Screen International'' is a British film magazine covering the international film business. It is published by Media Business Insight, a British B2B media company. The magazine is primarily aimed at those involved in the global film business. ...

wrote that "there is only so much fun to be had from watching people being repeatedly whacked over the head or endlessly punched in the face."

References

External links

* {{Takashi Miike 2012 films Films directed by Takashi Miike Films set in 1961 Films set in 1972 Japanese high school films Japanese musical comedy films Japanese romantic musical films Live-action films based on manga 2010s gang films 2010s musical comedy films 2010s romantic musical films 2012 comedy films 2010s Japanese films