is a 2013 Japanese film directed by

Nobuhiro Yamashita is a Japanese film director. Career Born in Aichi Prefecture, Yamashita attended Osaka University of Arts where he worked on Kazuyoshi Kumakiri's ''Kichiku Dai Enkai''. His graduation film ''Hazy Life'', took the Off Theatre Competition Grand ...

and starring former

AKB48 AKB48 (pronounced ''A.K.B. Forty-Eight'') is a Japanese idol girl group named after the Akihabara (''Akiba'' for short) area in Tokyo, where the group's theater is located. AKB48's producer, Yasushi Akimoto, wanted to form a girl group with it ...

member

Atsuko Maeda is a Japanese actress and singer. She is a former member of the idol girl group AKB48, and was one of the most prominent members in the group at the time, regarded as the group's "absolute ace", "immovable center", and the "Face of AKB." After ...

. The film had its world premiere at the 2013

Busan International Film Festival The Busan International Film Festival (BIFF, previously Pusan International Film Festival, PIFF), held annually in Haeundae-gu, Busan (''also'' Pusan), South Korea, is one of the most significant film festivals in Asia. The first festi ...

and was released in Japan on 23 November 2013.

Plot

Tamako is an unemployed university graduate living with her divorced father, who runs a sports equipment shop. Tamako spends her time sleeping, eating, watching TV, reading

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 ...

, and playing video games. She is disdainful of her father, who is fond of her, but wants her to find a job. He often comes home drunk, full of affection, and buys her expensive gifts, which she demands he return. With the help of a local boy, Tamako has an amateur photoshoot and secretly applies for an idol group. Her father finds out, embarrassing her. Tamako learns that her father is dating a local teacher. She attends her accessory making class to learn more about her. They strike up conversation, and the woman realises who she is, trying to make friends. After Tamako complains to her about her father, the woman tells her she is mean.

Cast

* Tamako Sakai -

* Yoshitsugu Sakai - Suon Kan * Jin - Seiya Ito * Keisuke Sakai -

Keiichi Suzuki is a Japanese musician, singer, and record producer who co-founded the Moonriders, a group that became one of Japan's most innovative rock bands. He is known to audiences outside Japan for his musical contributions to the video games ''Mother'' ...

* Yoshiko Sakai - Kumi Nakamura * Yoko - Yasuko Tomita

Reception

It was ranked number nine in the top ten best Japanese films of 2013 by ''

Kinema Junpo , commonly called , is Japan's oldest film magazine and began publication in July 1919. It was first published three times a month, using the Japanese ''Jun'' (旬) system of dividing months into three parts, but the postwar ''Kinema Junpō'' ha ...

''. The

Japanese Professional Movie Awards The are an annual Japanese film award. The first awards were given to films made in 1991. This award is hosted by Hiroo Ōtaka. Categories *Best Film *Best Director *Best Actor *Best Actress Editions * 1st (1991) * 2nd (1992) *3rd (1993) * 4th ...

ranked it at 6th place in its Best 10 2013 rankings.

Awards

* 23rd

- Best Actress

References

External links

Official Website
(Japanese language) * Films directed by Nobuhiro Yamashita 2010s Japanese films {{2010s-Japan-film-stub