Poor Ichiko! She's self-indulgent and grungy. A humorous Million Dollar Baby (you know...that female boxer trained by Clint Eastwood), but still dramatic and sad as well. It's dramatic because of the ending which I *loved* because it was so intense wondering if she'll win or lose. But no, it's not this boring boxing film.
It's closer to Girlfight with Michelle Rodriguez actually, even though Ichiko's just as angry but in the beginning way less inclined to boxing, which makes her heroic when she starts getting better! OK to be honest the reason I adore this film and laugh and cry all throughout and sometimes both at once is because I literally AM Ichiko; only difference is, she actually went to become a boxer when all I did was approach the owner of a gym to my mother's chagrin as a disgruntled teenager. Ichiko also starts dating and living on her own after a very similar family dynamic to my own: A thin crow of an older sister who antagonizes couch potato Ichiko with nasty insults and instigating fights; there's a small child in the house, an indifferent dad and a stout, bespectacled, hard-working, sort of worry wart mother. And then the cave-woman that Ichiko is, who over the years has clearly let herself go in complacence. So her mother forces her out on her own, after too much dysfunction and sibling rivalry and entitled negligence of chores in the household.
However, the climb (especially sudden climb) to independence as an adult on her own reveals (in a hard to watch but also very funny way) Ichiko's clumsiness, loneliness, insecurity, and her lack of social, professional, fashion, and dating skills! That summary up there ^^^^ is literally my life. So I laughed because I related but also cried because I related. I was rooting for Ichiko all throughout because she ran into predators of men, horrible bosses, found no friends, a basic job, with a fringed relationship to her family. Yet the ending blasts viewers (at least me) with a realistic ass ending that really should remind you: It's not about winning; it's about trying!!!!
It's closer to Girlfight with Michelle Rodriguez actually, even though Ichiko's just as angry but in the beginning way less inclined to boxing, which makes her heroic when she starts getting better! OK to be honest the reason I adore this film and laugh and cry all throughout and sometimes both at once is because I literally AM Ichiko; only difference is, she actually went to become a boxer when all I did was approach the owner of a gym to my mother's chagrin as a disgruntled teenager. Ichiko also starts dating and living on her own after a very similar family dynamic to my own: A thin crow of an older sister who antagonizes couch potato Ichiko with nasty insults and instigating fights; there's a small child in the house, an indifferent dad and a stout, bespectacled, hard-working, sort of worry wart mother. And then the cave-woman that Ichiko is, who over the years has clearly let herself go in complacence. So her mother forces her out on her own, after too much dysfunction and sibling rivalry and entitled negligence of chores in the household.
However, the climb (especially sudden climb) to independence as an adult on her own reveals (in a hard to watch but also very funny way) Ichiko's clumsiness, loneliness, insecurity, and her lack of social, professional, fashion, and dating skills! That summary up there ^^^^ is literally my life. So I laughed because I related but also cried because I related. I was rooting for Ichiko all throughout because she ran into predators of men, horrible bosses, found no friends, a basic job, with a fringed relationship to her family. Yet the ending blasts viewers (at least me) with a realistic ass ending that really should remind you: It's not about winning; it's about trying!!!!