is a 1998 Japanese

experimental An experiment is a procedure carried out to support or refute a hypothesis, or determine the efficacy or likelihood of something previously untried. Experiments provide insight into cause-and-effect by demonstrating what outcome occurs when ...

coming-of-age film Coming of age is a young person's transition from being a child to being an adult. The specific age at which this transition takes place varies between societies, as does the nature of the change. It can be a simple legal convention or can b ...

directed and co-written by

Hideaki Anno is a Japanese animator, filmmaker and actor. He is best known for creating the anime series ''Neon Genesis Evangelion'' (1995)''.'' His style is defined by his postmodernist approach and the extensive portrayal of characters' thoughts and emotio ...

, based on the novel ''Topaz II'' by

Ryū Murakami is a Japanese novelist, short story writer, essayist, and filmmaker. His novels explore human nature through themes of disillusionment, drug use, surrealism, murder, and war, set against the dark backdrop of Japan. His best known novels are ''Al ...

''.'' It was Anno's first live action feature-length film. The film was shot almost entirely on hand-held

digital camera A digital camera is a camera that captures photographs in digital memory. Most cameras produced today are digital, largely replacing those that capture images on photographic film. Digital cameras are now widely incorporated into mobile device ...

s and contains some very unusual camera work, including many different mounted camera positions, such as on a

model train Railway modelling (UK, Australia, New Zealand, and Ireland) or model railroading (US and Canada) is a hobby in which rail transport systems are modelled at a reduced scale. The scale models include locomotives, rolling stock, streetcars, t ...

riding on tracks. The film also flips from

widescreen Widescreen images are displayed within a set of aspect ratios (relationship of image width to height) used in film, television and computer screens. In film, a widescreen film is any film image with a width-to-height aspect ratio greater than t ...

to fullscreen, distorts (with effects such as a

fisheye lens A fisheye lens is an ultra wide-angle lens that produces strong visual distortion intended to create a wide panoramic or hemispherical image. Fisheye lenses achieve extremely wide angles of view, well beyond any rectilinear lens. Instead of pr ...

), confuses, and makes use of overlays stacked in layers to convey the character's emotions. An official

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...

was released in 2004 by Kino on Video.

Plot

The film follows four Japanese high school girls who engage in enjo-kōsai, or compensated dating. This is a practice in Japan where older businessmen pay teenage girls more commonly to simply spend time with them, or for prostitution. The main character, Hiromi, does not have the direction in life that her friends already have. Hiromi's friends were going to buy her a ring, but Hiromi refuses to accept their offer because she does not want her friends to be jealous. Hiromi goes on dates by herself to get money for the ring. Soon, she gets in over her head. Hiromi falls too far into the world of enjo-kōsai as she tries to hold on to a "friends forever" vision of the past.

Personnel

* Director:

* Original story:

* Script: Akio Satsukawa * Effect: Ryota Matsumoto

Cast

* Asumi Miwa - * Kirari - * Hirono Kudō - *

Yukie Nakama is a Japanese actress, singer and former idol. History Biography She was born in Urasoe, Okinawa, Japan, into a fisherman's family, the youngest of five siblings. At the start of her career she was a gravure idol and singer (her debut single ...

- *

Mitsuru Hirata is a Japanese actor. He won the award for best actor at the 7th Hochi Film Award and the award for best supporting actor at the 4th Yokohama Film Festival for ''Fall Guy''. Filmography Films *''Fall Guy'' (1982), Yasu *''Theater of Life'' (198 ...

- Kagegawa *

Mitsuru Fukikoshi is a Japanese actor. Career Born in Aomori Prefecture, Fukikoshi moved to Tokyo at age 19 and joined the Wahaha Honpo theater troupe. Since leaving Wahaha in 1999, he has appeared in many films and television dramas, while continuing to act on ...

- Yoshimura * Moro Morooka - Yazaki * Tooru Tezuka - Uehara * Ikkei Watanabe - Kobayashi *

Tadanobu Asano , better known by his stage name , is a Japanese actor. He is known for his roles as Dragon Eye Morrison in ''Electric Dragon 80.000 V'', Kakihara in ''Ichi the Killer'', Mamoru Arita in '' Bright Future'', Hattori Genosuke in ''Zatoichi'', Kenj ...

- Captain EO *

Kotono Mitsuishi is a Japanese voice actress, actress, singer, and narrator. She was affiliated with Arts Vision and Lasley Arrow, but is now freelance. Mitsuishi lived in Nagareyama, Chiba. She graduated from high school and entered the Katsuta Voice Actor's Ac ...

- Radio DJ (voice) *

Akira Ishida is a Japanese actor and voice actor. For his portrayal of Saki Abdusha in '' You're Under Arrest'', Makoto Kurumizawa in '' BOYS BE'', Setsuna Aoki in ''Sakura Wars'', and Athrun Zala is a fictional character from the Japanese science fict ...

- Yoshio (voice) *

Megumi Hayashibara is a Japanese voice actress, singer, lyricist and radio personality from Kita ward in Tokyo and is affiliated with self-founded Woodpark Office. One of the most prominent Japanese voice actresses since the 1990s, Hayashibara is best known for he ...

- Telephone Dialing Voice * Nana Okada - Hiromi's Mother * Leo Morimoto - Hiromi's Father

DVD variations

An SR-Ban version was released in Japan on 24 July 2003. Apparently, it is the director's cut, has two minutes of extra footage and has been transferred directly from the original tape, whilst the American and Japanese DVDs appear to come from a different source. The American version appears to be the original

interlaced Interlaced video (also known as interlaced scan) is a technique for doubling the perceived frame rate of a video display without consuming extra bandwidth. The interlaced signal contains two fields of a video frame captured consecutively. This ...

version, whilst the Japanese, non-director's cut, appears to have been de-interlaced and given the impression of a pseudo-progressive style. Both non-director's cuts have more subdued colors, whilst the director's cut is more vivid and the motion is fluid. This fluidity in motion is due to the 60 fps

high frame rate In motion picture technology—either film or video—high frame rate (HFR) refers to higher frame rates than typical prior practice. The frame rate for motion picture film cameras was typically 24 frames per second (fps) with multiple flashes on ...

, compared to the normal 24 fps frame rates on the non SR-Ban DVDs.

References

External links

*
''Love & Pop'' at Kino Video

{{DEFAULTSORT:Love and Pop 1998 films 1990s Japanese-language films Japanese avant-garde and experimental films Films directed by Hideaki Anno Films with screenplays by Hideaki Anno Toei Company films 1990s teen films 1990s coming-of-age films Films based on Japanese novels Films scored by Shinkichi Mitsumune 1990s Japanese films