originally released as is a 2005

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

ese

Pink film in its broadest sense includes almost any Japanese theatrical film that includes nudity (hence 'pink') or deals with sexual content. This encompasses everything from dramas to action thrillers and exploitation film features. The Western equiv ...

directed by

Shinji Imaoka a.k.a. is a Japanese film director, screenwriter, and actor. He is one of a group of '' pink film'' directors of the 2000s known collectively as the , which besides Imaoka, also includes Toshiya Ueno, Mitsuru Meike, Yūji Tajiri, Yoshitaka ...

. It was chosen as Best Film of the year at the

Pink Grand Prix The or is an annual Japanese film award ceremony which recognizes excellence in the pink film genre. Referred to by Miho Toda as the "Academy Awards of the Pink Film", the ceremony attracts a diverse audience of industry personnel, film schola ...

ceremony. According to author Jasper Sharp, the title, "Frog Song" is a pun referring both to a full-sized frog costume found outside a train station and worn by one of the characters, and to the Japanese verb ''kaeru'' "to go home". The translation of the title of the film could thus also be "Going Home Song".

Synopsis

Akemi is a housewife who discovers her husband has been cheating on her. She makes the acquaintance of a prostitute who hopes to become a ''manga'' artist. Another hopeful ''manga'' artist, Kyoko, also makes ends meet by working as a part-time prostitute. Akemi moves in with Kyoko and tolerating the practise of her profession while the two come to an understanding of each other's lives.

Cast

* Konatsu: Akemi Kudo *

Rinako Hirasawa is a Japanese AV idol and '' pink film'' actress. She has appeared in award-winning ''pink films'', and was given a "Best Actress" award for her work in this genre in 2007. Life and career Hirasawa had a part-time job at the video arcade in T ...

: Kyoko Ito * Takeshi Itō: Jiro Kiyokawa * Yōta Kawase: Saburo Kiyokawa * Kurumi Nanase: Nagisa * Mutsuo Yoshioka: Kudo

Critical reception

The ''Pink film'' community awarded ''Frog Song'' with the title of Best Film at the

. Honors given to the film also included the Best Actress award, which was given to lead actress Konatsu, and Best New Actress for

. ''

Allmovie AllMovie (previously All Movie Guide) is an online database with information about films, television programs, and screen actors. , AllMovie.com and the AllMovie consumer brand are owned by RhythmOne. History AllMovie was founded by popular-cult ...

'' calls ''Frog Song'' a "playfully eccentric slice of pink cinema". In his ''Behind the Pink Curtain'', Anglophone ''pink film'' scholar Jasper Sharp writes that it is the upbeat nature of Imaoka's films which have helped make them popular with film audiences. Pointing out the musical scene which concludes the film, he writes, "...Another key to the popularity of Imaoka's films is that they often end on such uplifting high notes."

Availability

The film was first released theatrically under the title ''Paid Companionship Story: Girls Who Want to Do It''. As with many ''pink films'' it was retitled when it was released on DVD. It was first released as ''Frog Song'' on DVD in Japan on January 14, 2006. It is under this title that the film is most widely known, and it has retained this title in international releases. Using the ''Frog Song'' title, Sacrament released the DVD with English subtitles in the U.S. on November 13, 2007.

Bibliography

English

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Japanese

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References

{{Shinji Imaoka 2005 films Films directed by Shinji Imaoka 2000s Japanese-language films Pink films Shintōhō Eiga films 2000s Japanese films