So, there’s a new Kimura Takuya (like the popularest SMAP dude) Gatsby deodorant ad that’s totally metrosexual (this is not surprising considering that’s what many Japanese women prefer anyways) but rather homoerotic no matter how you take it. (Not that there’s anything wrong with that, as Seinfeld would say 😛 )
But this product’s targeting young men. I know women like to look at other beautiful women (can’t blame ’em). But I thought that even in Japan, half naked Kimutaku would attract women more than men, but somewhere in Tokyo a Mandom (the maker of Gatsby products) advertising exec must’ve thought differently. Is it just my North American trained mind playing tricks on what I see in Japan?
This is basically the Japanese version of Mighty Ducks, without the big corporate backing, as this was a personal pet project of the director Jinnai who fell in love with hockey when he became a hockey dad. It’s amazing that that the project got the go ahead at all, as hockey has been used in major Japanese dramas and movies only once within the last 10 years (weekly TV drama “Pride” with heart throb Kimura Takuya of SMAP who looked like bambi on skates in the starring role.)
The acting is typical for Japanese dramas and movies that don’t make it overseas (ie. cheesy overacting that seem to mimic manga and anime). But there’s enough entertainment packed into the movie and it’s fairly well edited, so it feels shorter than the actual nearly 2 hour running time. Oh yeah, and one of my new favourite geinoujin (TV personality/actor) Kato Rosa’s in it 🙂 http://go-smilers.jp/index.html
