Kids review

In this post-J-horror landscape, where fresh new ideas for supernatural stories are scarce and financing is even scarcer, author Otsuichi has been sort of a one-stop shop for intriguing setups that haven’t necessarily been done to death already. The Japanese film industry absolutely loves him because he has the unique ability to write stories that speak directly to teens and preteens that feel misunderstood, neglected, or downright ignored. They do, however, have the yen to buy up books, manga, and movie tickets. Case in point is his short story “Kizu / Kids” (a play on how the word for wound sounds a lot like “kids” in Japanese) which revolves around a young boy with the ability to take the injuries of others onto himself and his close friendship with a fellow outcast, Takeo. It’s a nice, somewhat dark story about a boy who finally finds someone willing to share his burden after being betrayed by everyone else in his life. Unfortunately, the makers of the film adaptation chose to go the saccharine, melodramatic route and the end result plays more like a run-of-the-mill TV drama than an actual movie.

Instead of young schoolboys, the movie puts Asato (Teppei Koike) in high school and Takeo (Hiroshi Tamaki) in his 20s. Takeo works at a scrap yard shifting junk car cars around with a fork lift. In his spare time he single-handedly beats up gangs of thugs that wander onto his turf without permission. One day he walks into the local diner where the surgical masked Shiho (Chiaki Kuriyama) works and orders his daily avocado burger. While there he notices a young man he’s never seen before named Asato move the salt shaker on his table without touching it. Fascinated by this guy’s weird powers, Takeo takes him out to the local arcade and makes him do it again to win a free stuffed animal. The two get separated and Asato is accosted by yet another gang of thugs. Takeo jumps in at the last possible moment, saving Asato but bloodying his hand in the process. Suddenly Asato touches Takeo’s arm and the injury shrinks down to half the size, with an equal injury appearing on his own hand.

Over time, taking the injuries of others becomes a habit of Asato, especially those of little children. Takeo keeps warning him to stop, but one day when a gang member with a vendetta breaks his leg with a baseball bat Asato shows up, takes the broken leg onto himself, and passes it back to the thug with a simple touch. This gives Takeo the bright idea of dumping all of Asato’s collected injuries off on his own comatose father who was a drunk and abused him as a child. Asato reluctantly agrees, and goes on to collect various minor injuries from children with more frequency now that Takeo doesn’t object.

When Asato begins to take an interest in Miho he discovers that the reason she always wears a surgical mask is a rather large scar on her face left over from cruel childhood bullying. Takeo warns him not to take it, saying that if he actually loves her he should leave her the way she is. But ultimately Asato is as stubborn as he is unselfish, setting up a scenario that will have lasting implications for all three characters.

Being based on an Otsuichi story, I was expecting something a little bit darker. There are brief moments that seem foreboding, but then the sappy pop music kicks in and we’re suddenly put right back in TV drama-land. The characters have no emotional range to speak of, mostly because every motivation is spelled out in the script and the actors don’t even have the option of being subtle. Koike plays Asato with such vacancy in the face of emotional trauma that by the end you’re just waiting for him to go psycho. Or, at the very least, get a little peeved. Unfortunately, that moment never comes. The film just sort of meanders on, stretching what was originally an interesting short story into an overly-talky feature film with very little to offer in the way of impact or depth.

Still, there is an audience for this sort of thing, and it’s obviously targeted like a laser beam. If you’re looking for your fix of sentimental drama, complete with star power and a fantasy twist this is certainly worth watching. Others may just be better off waiting for the next Otsuichi adaptation, as there are sure to be plenty to choose from in the very near future.

Watch trailer

Availability:

There are currently two English-subtitled DVD releases of “Kids” available for import. Malaysian distributor Vscape released a bare-bones DVD-5 version with English, Chinese, and Japanese subtitles on September 5, 2008. For full specs, see this link. Taiwan distributor Alpha Music released a 2-disc Collector’s Edition on October 2, 2008. For full specs, see this link.

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