[Hard to Find on DVD] Juvenile ('00)

"Juvenile" ('00 Juvenile Project)
Shingo Katori / Miki Sakai / Takashi Yamazaki
Price: ¥4800

A hot SF adventure film that uses the latest VFX technology to depict the exploits of boys who, along with a small robot 'Tetra', confront aliens trying to steal the sea from Earth.

A SF fantasy where children, along with Tetra, a robot from the future, protect the Earth from an alien invasion. The director is Takashi Yamazaki, who makes his debut with this film and comes from a visual effects background.
This is an entertainment work with a solid structure that incorporates the universal themes of juvenile literature (children's books) such as the friendship and courage of the boys, and their longing for a girl, as well as the conventions of SF movies such as time travel and the local electrician = a genius physicist.
The natural acting of the child actors, including Anne Suzuki as the Madonna, and the sense of life of the children running around the port town, doesn't make the battle between the CG-synthesized robot and the aliens a mere fantasy; this is a testament to the director's thorough knowledge of visual effects. The ending may be impossible to watch without tears for "Doraemon" fans.

Director/Screenplay: Takashi Yamazaki
Photography: Kozo Shibasaki
Cast: Shingo Katori / Miki Sakai / Anne Suzuki / Takayuki Yoshioka / Tamaki Ogawa / Yuya Endo / Kyotaro Shimizu / YUKI

・DVD