Maiko haaaan!!! (2007)

User Rating:

6.7/10   

Director:

Nobuo Mizuta

Writer:

Kankurô Kudô (written by)

Release Date:

16 June 2007 (Japan)

Genre:

Comedy

Plot:

Plot Keywords:

Exclamation Point In Title | Punctuation In Title

Awards:

5 nominations

Cast

Sadao Abe	...	Kimihiko Onizuka
Shin'ichi Tsutsumi	...	Kiichiro Naito
Kou Shibasaki	...	Fujiko Osawa
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Yûki Himura	...	Camera boy
Shirô Itô	...	Hiromi Suzuki
Katsumi Kiba	...	Genta
Midoriko Kimura	...	Yoshie
Kazuki Kitamura	...	Doctor
Saori Koide	...	Komako
Kotomi Kyôno	...	Koume
Miki Maya	...	Komatsu
Katsuhisa Namase	...	Senzaki
Koji Ookura	...	Oshita
Wakana Sakai	...	Mamefu
Kenta Suga	...	Camera boy
Hitoshi Ueki	...	Old Saito
Takayuki Yamada	...	Student on field trip
Kazuko Yoshiyuki	...	Satsuki

Directed by
Nobuo Mizuta

Writing credits
Kankurô Kudô		(written by)

Original Music by
Tarô Iwashiro

Cinematography by
Osamu Fujiishi

Film Editing by
Seigo Hirasawa

Costume Design by
Sachiko Ito

Visual Effects by
Masato Aonuma	....	cg artist: NTT Media Lab
Chieko Kurokawa	....	lead digital compositor: NTT Media Lab
Issei Oda	....	visual effects supervisor
Shinji Ohagi	....	digital compositor: NTT Media Lab
Takeshi Shin	....	visual effects supervisor: NTT Media Lab
Yuki Sugimoto	....	matchmove artist: NTT Media Lab
Kyoko Yamamoto	....	digital compositor: NTT Media Lab

Camera and Electrical Department
Shinichi Chiba	....	steadicam

Production Companies

• Maiko Haaaan!!! Seisaku Iinkai
• Nippon Television Network Corporation (NTV)
• S.D.P.
• Toho Company
• Yomiuri Newspaper Company
• Yomiuri Telecasting Corporation (YTV)

Distributors

• Toho Company (2007) (Japan) (theatrical)
• Viz Pictures (2008) (USA) (theatrical)
• Mei Ah Entertainment (2009) (Hong Kong) (DVD)
• Mei Ah Entertainment (2009) (Hong Kong) (video) (VCD)
• Viz Media (2008) (USA) (DVD)

Special Effects

• NTT Media Lab (visual effects)

Other Companies

• Ki/oon Records  soundtrack
• Tokyo Laboratory Co. Ltd.  digital intermediate
• Tokyo Laboratory Co. Ltd.  film processing

Runtime:

Japan:120 min

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Australia:PG

Filming Locations:

Kyoto, Japan

Company:

Maiko Haaaan!!! Seisaku Iinkai

Could Have Been Really Good, but the Lead Actor Killed It

I'm a huge fan of Japanese comedies. I'm also a huge fan of Kou Shibasaki. Needless to say, I was really excited to see Maiko Haaaan at my earliest convenience. Some extremely positive reviews added fuel to my fire, but that anticipation began to wane within the first 10 minutes of watching this film.

To be frank, the biggest problem is the main actor – Sadao Abe. This guy proves to be extremely annoying with his persistent, hysterical screaming. When I looked up his filmography I got flashbacks of other irritating performances. Remember Ryuji the Unicorn from the excellent "Kamikaze Girls" (2004)? Well, he was easily the most annoying actor in that one. Remember that psycho kid from the great "Uzumaki" (2000)? Well, he was easily the most annoying actor in that film as well. Seriously, they should have found someone else for Maiko Haaaan and ramped down the unnecessary shrieking, because he single-handedly destroys the enjoyability of this film. Kou Shibasaki is great as always, but she's got nothing to work with here.

Another big negative is the script, which is shamelessly weak. The greatest strength of Japanese comedies is the scriptwriting. Trust me, no country outside of Japan could come up with "Survive Style 5" (2004). Maiko Haaaan is reminiscent of Wong Jing's Hong Kong comedies that use cheap hysterical behavior for comedy. Just pump your lead actor full of caffeine and have him scream and jump around. It simply doesn't work that well. Now, there are a few funny moments to be had (like the ramen noodle sponsored baseball game), but for the most part it ranges between cringeworthy and mediocre.

Listen, there are a bunch of much better Japanese comedies out there to see before this one: "Swing Girls" (2004), "Kamikaze Girls" (2004), "Survive Style 5" (2004), "Happiness of the Katakuris" (2001), "What Did the Lady Forget?" (1937), "Sukeban Boy" (2006), "Ohayo" (1959), the "Trick" television series, "Cutie Honey" (2004), "Bubble Fiction" (2007), "Warm Water Under the Red Bridge" (2001), "Karaoke Terror" (2003), "Crazy Lips" (2000), and "Adrenaline Drive" (1999) to name but a few.