MORIYAMACHU driving school 森山中教習所
PRODUCTION NOTES
Shuhei Nomura & Kento Kaku pair up in the film version of a popular manga by rising writer Keigo Shinzo.
Serialized in “Monthly Spirits”, “MORIYAMACHU driving school” is a bestselling comic strip penned by 23-year-old Keigo Shinzo, who is being lauded as the second coming of renowned manga artist, Taiyo Matsumoto, for powerfully distinctive artwork and highly readable stories full of surprising plot twists.
Now, a premium blend of youth and talent bring to life a feature length adaptation starring two of Japan’s brightest young actors in Shuhei Nomura and Kento Kaku. The film is directed by versatile director Keisuke Toyoshima, known for a unique sense of pacing and narrative style (“Softball Boys,” ’10, “Hero Mania Lifestyle,” ’16).
STORY
For one college student, getting a driver’s license means complete freedom. For a young yakuza gang member, it means the loss of freedom. The two are unlikely to ever cross paths again, but for one particular summer, they were the best of friends.
Kiyotaka is a college student with a positive if not lackadaisical outlook on life. This summer, he resolves to get his driver’s license. And then while out one day, he gets hit by a car driven by a young yakuza, who turns out, to be a former high school classmate, Todoroki. Always cool and poker-faced, Todoroki dropped out of high school to become yakuza gang member. Todoroki had been driving without a license is ordered by gang boss to take lessons and get one. The unconscious Kyotaka is thrown into the trunk of the car and taken with Todoroki to an off-the-books driving school where Kiyotaka is overjoyed, once conscious again, to learn that the yakuza gang will pay for his driving lessons as well.
Although complete opposites in personality, lifestyle and circumstances, the two boys, Kiyotaka and Todoroki, strike up an odd friendship and spend an entire summer together at the driving school. There, Kiyotaka experiences his first pangs of love, falling for a driving instructor named Saki. Life is looking great as he anticipates the extra freedom the license will earn him. Meanwhile Todoroki laments getting a license as it will push him more deeply into the suffocating world of the yakuza.
- Starring
- Shuhei Nomura (野村周平), Kento Kaku (賀来賢人), Kumiko Aso (麻生久美子) / Ken Mitsuishi (光石研)
- Written
- Kiyoto Wada (和田清人), Keisuke Toyoshima (豊島圭介)
- Original Comic
- Keigo Shinzo (真造圭伍) published by Shogakukan Inc.
- Directed
- Keisuke Toyoshima (豊島圭介)
- Japan release
- July 9, 2016
- Duration
- 103 min.
- Genre
- Drama, Comedy
- Technical Specs
- Color / 1:1.85 / Digital / 5.1ch