Princess Toyotomi (2011) User Reviews

Builds to a disappointing cliché after a great start

[gymnast_01 · 5/10 · 10 October 2011]

Quite a disappointing film because it starts out brilliantly, for the first 45-60 minutes, you are led into the most intriguing beautiful world of Osaka which left me spellbound and expecting a huge pay off. All the lead characters are intriguing in their own way, particularly Torii who's innocence, cuteness and zest for Osakan food makes her a Japanese Amelie Poulain of sorts. A stunningly beautiful city, sympathetic protagonists and loads of delicious Japanese food - can this movie go wrong? Yes, it does.

The plot doesn't pay off in the end, it all builds to a rather unconvincing, downright cliché climax which felt terribly dated. Maybe some 1980s Japanese TV movie might have gotten away with something like that, but I had hoped for something a lot more intriguing than this. Perhaps it's because I am not Japanese, that I don't really get the whole concept of having regional identities within Japan - but surely that's the job of the film to draw me in and make that clear to me. There is also a gay/transgender subplot that seemed important in the first half of the film but is strangely abandoned in the second half of the film.

This film will make you wanna visit Osaka and have some okonomnyaki andtaoyaki, but would I recommend you watch it? Not really, I was left very disappointed.

A story about fathers and sons and the protection of a princess

[mitminow · 6/10 · 6 April 2012]

The plot revolves around the story of a royal line of Osaka that was thought of being terminated 400 years ago and nowadays is protected by all the men of Osaka.

Three government inspectors visit the city to audit a mysterious Osaka foundation called OJO. In reality it protects this royal line and during the film the investigation takes the protagonists to uncover the story.

In my opinion the film is about the passing down of this story from generation to generation and although some funny things happen it's just at the end, a feel good movie about fathers and sons and the bond between them.

Don't expect too much plot like the Da Vinci code, or complication in the characters. Still good to watch if you are warned.

Outstanding Movie

[ebiros2 · 8/10 · 21 December 2012]

Based on a novel by Manabu Manjome, Princess Toyotomi is a story where three threads of story comes together to form one grand and somewhat unusual story.

The first thread is about the Toyotomi clan that ruled Japan before the Tokugawa (who became the Shogun of Japan) clan took over Japan. It was believed that Toyotomi clan was killed to the last one, but it turns out that Hideyori's son Kunimatsu who was believed to been executed escaped the fall of Osaka castle. His heir, and the people of Osaka covertly formed an independent country called Osaka state. They have their own parliament building underground the city of Osaka. In this movie, people of Osaka covertly lead a double life for 400 years, on one hand acting like a citizen of Japan, but in reality believed themselves to be a sovereign country of their own. Premise was this happened from the hatred of people of Osaka against Tokugawa that ruled them with iron fist, as opposed to Toyotomi who has style and culture. Every generation of men of Osaka when they become 14 years old gets to visit the underground parliament accommodated by his father.

The second thread is in modern day Japan. Toyotomi's princess is still alive in Osaka as a regular school girl named Chako Hashiba (Luka Sawaki) . Hashiba is the surname of Toyotomi clan, and Chako is a name taken from Cha Cha who was the mother of Hideyori. She has a classmate Daisuke Sanada (Yuuki Morinaga) who likes to cross dress with school uniform. His father Koichi (Kiichi Nakai), is one of the body guard protecting princess Toyotomi. He runs an okonomiyaki restaurant named "Taikou". Sanada was one of the samurai warlord that was loyal to Toyotomi.

The third thread is about three Japanese government officials who comes to audit OJO (the modern "official" organization name of Osaka state). Last audit was done 35 years ago. Their lead manager Matsudaira also has his roots in Osaka. Matsudaira also is the surname of Tokugawa Shogunate's clan. has two subordinates Tadako Torii (Haruka Ayase), and Asahi Gaynesbool (Masaki Okada). Tadako saw many white cross at the slope of Mt. Fuji when she was a child. Matsudaira ends up seeing the same thing on his way back to Tokyo. Arrival of these three in Osaka triggers the rise of people of Osaka state. People of Osaka rises using a gourd as the signal for assembly.

Manjome's novels has a streak of fantasy mixed with reality, and ancient history of Japan. This story is no exception. The fantasy part goes deep into the "unusual" or "surreal" and in this story the entire city of Osaka has a conspiracy of being its own country. Love of Osaka citizen for its own country almost starts a revolt, but Matsudaira takes a bold action. He also discovers the true meaning of what transpired between him and his father when he was a young man. The story supposedly takes place between Monday to Saturday, and each day is delimited by a title during the movie.

Saff that created Manjome's other novel "Shika Otoko Anioyoshi" into a TV mini-series moved on to make this movie.

This is one of the best movie to come out of Japan recently. The production, and acting are superb, and story as it is with all Manjome's novels is very original. It may take few sittings to really appreciate what's going on, but this movie is highly recommended for all Asian movie fans.