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Fly Me to the Saitama: From Biwa Lake with Love (Tonde Saitama Biwako Yori AI Wo Komete)
Directed by Hideki Takeuchi
Official selection
Japannual Vienna 2023
Fantasporto 2024
Honors
Audience Award - Japannual Vienna 2023
Director
Hideki Takeuchi
Producer
Hiroki Wakamatsu
Writer
Yuichi Tokunaga
Cast
Gackt, Fumi Nikaido, Anne Watanabe
contact
MoCCA Shinji Sakoda Office
Official website
Venture back into a totally fantastical version of Japan—“definitely not a portrayal of any actual place”—where Tokyoites are the epitome of sophistication and privilege, while people from lower-class regions are mocked and persecuted. It’s been three months since the Saitama prefecture, thanks to its dashing rebel leader Rei Asami, achieved independence by abolishing Kanto’s visa system. But the Saitama Liberation Front still has work to do! Set on providing its citizens with their own tropical beach paradise, Rei sails off to the Kansai region in search of its legendary white sands… only to find that the West, where the mayor of Osaka reigns supreme, is also plagued with a discriminatory toll system and oddly familiar territorial conflicts. However, no amount of takoyaki torture can convince Rei to go back where he came from. With the help of his new ally Kai Kikyo, whose passionate crush on him doesn’t go unnoticed by Rei’s lover Momomi, he is determined to put an end to the tyranny.
After stealing our hearts at Fantasia 2019, where FLY ME TO THE SAITAMA won the Audience Award for Best Asian Feature, director Hideki Takeuchi is ready to sweep you off your feet again with this much-awaited sequel. This time it’s a completely original story, independent from the ’80s manga. Japanese music superstar Gackt and his co-star Fumi Nikaido are back as Rei and Momomi, now supported by an equally delightful cast of new characters as they crank up the genre-bending, highly stylized shenanigans that made the first film so unforgettable. Complete with a boys-love triangle, hilarious parodic references including a wacky Willy Wonka number, and the return of its meta story-within-a-story structure, FLY ME TO THE SAITAMA: FROM BIWA LAKE WITH LOVE is a worthy continuation with even more to offer! – Alyssia Duval-Nguon
Showings
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