The Film:
What a weird flick this is. Imagine Twilight-meets-Power Rangers that has a little Texas Chainsaw Massacre in its blood. Odd, yes, and not what one would expect coming from a title like Negative Happy Chainsaw Edge.Director Takuji Kitamura avoids the recent blend of gore and camp like in films as Vampire Girl vs. Frankenstein Girl, which allows for character to pop-out instead of the wild visual gooey aspects. High school is hard, but its harder when your girlfriend is a bad-ass sword fighter. And I thought my high school days were woeful.
Without the mushy-mush love story of something like Twilight, Negative Happy Chainsaw Edge marketing might be misguided as a fight-heavy film, and while that’s incorrect, it’s unfair too. The fights are a blast, refreshingly fun, and are naturally incorporated into the narrative, but it’s the characters we follow. While the film does...
What a weird flick this is. Imagine Twilight-meets-Power Rangers that has a little Texas Chainsaw Massacre in its blood. Odd, yes, and not what one would expect coming from a title like Negative Happy Chainsaw Edge.Director Takuji Kitamura avoids the recent blend of gore and camp like in films as Vampire Girl vs. Frankenstein Girl, which allows for character to pop-out instead of the wild visual gooey aspects. High school is hard, but its harder when your girlfriend is a bad-ass sword fighter. And I thought my high school days were woeful.
Without the mushy-mush love story of something like Twilight, Negative Happy Chainsaw Edge marketing might be misguided as a fight-heavy film, and while that’s incorrect, it’s unfair too. The fights are a blast, refreshingly fun, and are naturally incorporated into the narrative, but it’s the characters we follow. While the film does...
- 12/14/2010
- by Jon Peters
- Killer Films
Expectations are a funny thing. Depending on which way you’re swaying, they can either completely ruin the movie you’re about to watch or turn it into one of the greatest cinematic experiences you’ve ever had. Because the Internet is a virtual bee’s nest of syrupy fanboy buzz, sometimes it’s hard not to get sucked in, especially when you’re dealing with films that tend to garner a huge cult following. And while I do try my best to avoid becoming yet another nameless victim of the soul-shredding, flesh-munching Hype Machine, sometimes I find myself tumbling helpless into its gaping maw. Insert putrid crunching sounds here. Takuji Kitamura’s melancholy 2007 romantic action flick “Negative Happy Chainsaw Edge” is a rare example of a motion picture greatly exceeding my admittedly lofty, unrealistic expectations. It was recommended to me by a friend who absolutely adores this current wave of extreme Japanese cinema,...
- 11/20/2010
- by Todd Rigney
- Beyond Hollywood
The winners have been picked and notified. Thanks for participating in the contest.
Well Go USA is releasing a Region 1 DVD of Happy Negative Chainsaw Edge on March 30th, 2010. Twitch readers have shot at winning one of five copies of the DVD that have been signed by director Takuji Kitamura. Email contest@wellgousa.com with "Twitch Film - Happy Negative Chainsaw Edge Contest" as the subject line to enter (U.S. residents only). Winners will be personally notified by e-mail, and an update will be posted after the winners have been selected.
Well Go USA is releasing a Region 1 DVD of Happy Negative Chainsaw Edge on March 30th, 2010. Twitch readers have shot at winning one of five copies of the DVD that have been signed by director Takuji Kitamura. Email contest@wellgousa.com with "Twitch Film - Happy Negative Chainsaw Edge Contest" as the subject line to enter (U.S. residents only). Winners will be personally notified by e-mail, and an update will be posted after the winners have been selected.
- 4/12/2010
- Screen Anarchy
Director: Takuji Kitamura. Review: Tim Irwin. Negative Happy Chainsaw Edge is a rather charming romantic drama/coming-of-age film, gorgeously shot on some fabulous locations. Young Yosuke (played by pretty-boy Hayato Ichihara) is a fairly typical high school kid. He lives in a boarding school, goes to class, has a couple of close friends, and is fairly apathetic about life. His coolest friend, Noto (Yôsuke Asari), dies in a motorcycle accident, leaving Yosuke confused about life. He can never be as cool as Noto (Yôsuke Asari), a kid who runs the laps received as punishment for being tardy in double-time. A kid so cool he can't stand to see two rival gangs face off only to have their leaders apologize to one another, forcing him to take on both gangs simultaneously. A kid so cool that he drives his motorcycle very fast, not caring whether there might be a car around the next corner.
- 3/31/2010
- 24framespersecond.net
Well Go USA is releasing a Region 1 DVD of Happy Negative Chainsaw Edge on March 30th, 2010. Twitch readers have shot at winning one of five copies of the DVD that have been signed by director Takuji Kitamura. Email contest@wellgousa.com with "Twitch Film - Happy Negative Chainsaw Edge Contest" as the subject line to enter (U.S. residents only). Winners will be personally notified by e-mail, and an update will be posted after the winners have been selected.
- 3/29/2010
- Screen Anarchy
Well Go USA have just announced they are to release Japanese action pic Negative Happy Chainsaw Edge on R1 DVD, a fact that we are more than happy about. Directed by Takuji Kitamura and based on the best selling graphic novel by Tatsuhiko Takimoto, Negative Happy’s Fairly low budget, exploitative and slightly dodgy CGI action is pretty much a must for Asian genre film fans. Even though it features giant Chainsaw wielding Ghosts and Knife wielding schoolgirls - gore hounds take note - don’t go into this thinking the movie is just an all out wild fight-fest. Just to add to the strange and surreal mix, Takimoto has also thrown in a liberal helping of comedy and coming-of-age teen love. Only in Japan. Negative Happy Chainsaw Edge goes on sale March 30th...
- 1/22/2010
- 24framespersecond.net
Well Go USA have just announced they are to release Japanese action pic Negative Happy Chainsaw Edge on R1 DVD, a fact that we are more than happy about. Directed by Takuji Kitamura and based on the best selling graphic novel by Tatsuhiko Takimoto, Negative Happy’s Fairly low budget, exploitative and slightly dodgy CGI action is pretty much a must for Asian genre film fans. Even though it features giant Chainsaw wielding Ghosts and Knife wielding schoolgirls - gore hounds take note - don’t go into this thinking the movie is just an all out wild fight-fest. Just to add to the strange and surreal mix, Takimoto has also thrown in a liberal helping of comedy and coming-of-age teen love. Only in Japan. Negative Happy Chainsaw Edge goes on sale March 30th...
- 1/22/2010
- 24framespersecond.net
Tokyo International Film Festival
TOKYO -- Negative Happy Chainsaw Edge by Takuji Kitamura, a teenage ninja vs. mutant flick, is coherently scripted, genre-savvy and visually stimulating, it features a kickass female lead, and even psychological insight into adolescent blues. Premiered at TIFF, Chainsaw was one of the few films in the Japanese Eyes section that received warm applause. Meant mainly for teenagers in Japan, the film will win over more mature genre fans in overseas fantastic film festivals and DVD markets.
Megumi Seki (Honey and Clover, Arch Angels) is Eri, a high school student who believes it's her destiny to fight a chainsaw-wielding monster who descends from the moon in a shower of snowflakes. Enter Yosuke (Hayato Ichihara), wuss-extraordinaire, who gets in Eri's way while dodging cops after a shoplift attempt. It's "love at first sight" for him, and "out of my sight!" from her, but somehow, Yosuke sticks around to become Eri's chaperone and beverage-server during her duels with the mysterious monster. In time, the two realize they share similar identity crises and tragic memories, and learn the meaning of interdependence.
At first glance, Eri appears to be cut from the same cloth as Lolita warriors of Japanese manga and action-fantasies like Azumi and Princess Blade. Looking undaunted and delectable in a yellow school blazer, she levitates and dives, throwing Ninja darts like a ballerina. However, it gradually transpires that her relationship with the Chainsaw Man has darker psychological roots that recall the Freudian undertones of Candy Man and Nightmare on Elm Street.
The film boasts some fabulous sets for the fighting scenes, such as an Edo period theme park, an aquarium and an indoor swimming pool. HD cinematography is technically robust, adequately showcasing the inventively-combined CGI and Japanese style action choreography -- which are used in moderation. Editing is clean and streamlined.
The narrative sags a bit when it settles on comically chronicling the school life of Yosuke and his equally deadbeat classmates. Yosuke's dream of challenging his dead friend Noto -- a rebel who fought for what he believed -- somehow seems too manga-like to ring true. However, the film draws attention to the apathy and spinelessness of contemporary youth. Indeed a teacher is disappointed with his students for NOT talking back, and just caving in to the system.
NEGATIVE HAPPY CHAINSAW EDGE
Digital Frontier Inc/Nikkatsu Studio/Nikkatsu Corporation
Credits:
Director: Takuji Kitamura
Writer: Hirotoshi Kobayashi
Based on the novel by: Tatsuhiko Takimoto
Producers: Suguru Matsumura, Kazuhiro Hirose, Akira Yamamoto
Director of photography: Gen Kobayashi
Production designer: Yasuyo Kawamura
Costume designer: Yukiko Kosato
Cast:
Eri Yukizaki: Megumi Seki
Yosuke Yamamoto: Hayato Ichihara
Watanabe: Yosuke Asari
Noto: Haruma Miura
Running time -- 109 minutes
No MPAA rating...
TOKYO -- Negative Happy Chainsaw Edge by Takuji Kitamura, a teenage ninja vs. mutant flick, is coherently scripted, genre-savvy and visually stimulating, it features a kickass female lead, and even psychological insight into adolescent blues. Premiered at TIFF, Chainsaw was one of the few films in the Japanese Eyes section that received warm applause. Meant mainly for teenagers in Japan, the film will win over more mature genre fans in overseas fantastic film festivals and DVD markets.
Megumi Seki (Honey and Clover, Arch Angels) is Eri, a high school student who believes it's her destiny to fight a chainsaw-wielding monster who descends from the moon in a shower of snowflakes. Enter Yosuke (Hayato Ichihara), wuss-extraordinaire, who gets in Eri's way while dodging cops after a shoplift attempt. It's "love at first sight" for him, and "out of my sight!" from her, but somehow, Yosuke sticks around to become Eri's chaperone and beverage-server during her duels with the mysterious monster. In time, the two realize they share similar identity crises and tragic memories, and learn the meaning of interdependence.
At first glance, Eri appears to be cut from the same cloth as Lolita warriors of Japanese manga and action-fantasies like Azumi and Princess Blade. Looking undaunted and delectable in a yellow school blazer, she levitates and dives, throwing Ninja darts like a ballerina. However, it gradually transpires that her relationship with the Chainsaw Man has darker psychological roots that recall the Freudian undertones of Candy Man and Nightmare on Elm Street.
The film boasts some fabulous sets for the fighting scenes, such as an Edo period theme park, an aquarium and an indoor swimming pool. HD cinematography is technically robust, adequately showcasing the inventively-combined CGI and Japanese style action choreography -- which are used in moderation. Editing is clean and streamlined.
The narrative sags a bit when it settles on comically chronicling the school life of Yosuke and his equally deadbeat classmates. Yosuke's dream of challenging his dead friend Noto -- a rebel who fought for what he believed -- somehow seems too manga-like to ring true. However, the film draws attention to the apathy and spinelessness of contemporary youth. Indeed a teacher is disappointed with his students for NOT talking back, and just caving in to the system.
NEGATIVE HAPPY CHAINSAW EDGE
Digital Frontier Inc/Nikkatsu Studio/Nikkatsu Corporation
Credits:
Director: Takuji Kitamura
Writer: Hirotoshi Kobayashi
Based on the novel by: Tatsuhiko Takimoto
Producers: Suguru Matsumura, Kazuhiro Hirose, Akira Yamamoto
Director of photography: Gen Kobayashi
Production designer: Yasuyo Kawamura
Costume designer: Yukiko Kosato
Cast:
Eri Yukizaki: Megumi Seki
Yosuke Yamamoto: Hayato Ichihara
Watanabe: Yosuke Asari
Noto: Haruma Miura
Running time -- 109 minutes
No MPAA rating...
- 12/11/2007
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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