FINALLY!!! ^________^
I was finally able to watch the Jap movie MOONCHILD, with the ultimate bishie cast of HAIDO, GACKTO and LEE HOM. //claps in glee// Yukichan (Haido no Tsuma) has been telling me about it since last year even though she still hasn't seen it yet, and Syivee - who has seen it - also emailed me about how cool the movie was. So I was also excited to watch it. And oh, what joy! when I learned last month that WOWOW will air the movie on February 1! ^___^ And so last sunday, I watched.
And I cried. //sheepish// LOLz
It's actually weird to cry over something that I couldn't completely understand. The movie didn't have any english subs at all and my japanese vocabulary is too limited. Ehek. ^^; But good thing that they would converse in mandarin in many of their scenes, and so I could pick up much of the storyline. And from what I understood of it, it was a VERY tragic story.
STORY
It was a time of violence, in the distant future, in a place called Mallepa. Three kids had just robbed loads of money from this big boss guy, and one of them, Sho (young Gackto) had run off to a this run-down place where he finds a pale and sick-looking Kei (Haido) crouched in the ruins. Kei tells the little boy to go away, but Sho couldn't keep his eyes off Kei and noticed that his hand was smoldering under the sun. Sho puts him in a wagon and wheels him to their hide-out.
In their lair, Sho's brother and their friend Toshi were gawking over the money they have stolen, when suddenly the big boss guy finds them and he shoots Sho's brother on the leg. He tells Sho to run after Toshi and just when Sho was running off, he heard a loud cry and went back to see that his wounded brother has struggled out of the place and was telling Sho not to go back in because there was a "bakemono" (monster). But Sho, thinking about Kei, hurries back and saw something unexpected - Kei was FEEDING on the now-lifeless big boss guy. Kei was a vampire. He looks up to ask if Sho felt that it was "kowai" (scary). The little boy shook his head.
Next scene - 15 years later. Sho has become a grown-up Gackto who acts a little dumb and immature (so cute!! ^__^). He has now acquired some extraordinary fighting skills and has teamed up with a never-aging Kei and their pizza-delivering friend Toshi to do some serious crimes. Once, when they were trying to steal this gambling place, they crossed paths with LeeHom (I forgot what his character's name was), who was also out in that place for revenge. Anyhoo, to make long story short, they became very good friends with LeeHom and his younger sister (who has repressed memories and refuses to speak). Everyone was happy, and Gackto was falling for the girl (I think Haido likes her too.) The group goes to the beach at one "romantic-ku" night and to take a group pic, a memento of their friendship.
Then one day, when the group planned to meet up for a celebration, Toshi was kidnapped and dragged by two punks (whom they probably crossed paths with before, I don't know de-su) and they killed him in front of Gackto, LeeHom and his sister - who were all unarmed. Enter a very frail Haido, who hasn't had a blood meal for some time and was very weak. He runs after the punks (or was it the punks running after him?) and he kills them both and feeds on them. LeeHom and his sister watches in shock and disgust, and Gackto tells him to stop because Toshi is dead. Haido continues to feed. (Poor guy, he must've been really hungry. LOlz)
Years have passed. The gang has broken up. Haido was captured by the police for his massive killings (er, feedings? ^^;;) and was being investigated since his genes are "mutated". LeeHom has followed another chinese ganglord. And Gackto is now some big-time ganglord himself and has married LeeHom's sister. Gackto and LeeHom are now enemies since LeeHom's new boss is not pleased with the successful progress of the Japanese gangsters in the area (Mallepa is like futuristic Taiwan, I think, so it was basically populated with chinese people). I also think LeeHom is angry at Gackto because he married his sister, because he once said jokingly(?) that if Gackto falls for his sister, he will kill him. Anyhoo, LeeHom's gang kills all of Gackto's subordinates and even Gackto's brother. In a scene in the morgue, where LeeHom hands the corpse of Gackto's brother to him and the two just heated up, LeeHom's sister finally opened her mouth to speak. She cries in frustration and asks what has happened to their group and why can't they get along anymore. "Can't we be happy like the way we used to be?"
Because of the stress(?) of speaking, LeeHom's sister fell ill and her sense of orientation became all jumbled up (she calls Gackto as Kei and calls LeeHom as her father). She was doomed to die. LeeHom and Gackto conversed seriously in the rooftop and talked about their lives. LeeHom tells him that it was inevitable that their paths will cross again as enemies, and when that time came, only one man shall stand to live.
Gackto, now left with nothing (well actually, he still has a young daughter), calls Haido in the prison for help. Haido says nothing but the Inspector guy tells Gackto that Haido will be taken away (to I don't know where) the next day. When Haido was being transported in the armored police van, he fights off the cops and rans away under the heat of the sun wrapped in a blanket. He hurries back to meet Gackto.
They infiltrate this broken down place, which was where Gackto found Haido the first time, and kills everyone who stood in their way. When they were confronted by LeeHom, Gackto shoots out the skylights and sunlight streamed in so that Haido couldn't get through. Gackto tells Haido that this is his fight (or at least that's how I understood it). Gackto and LeeHom had a mano y mano (er, man to man, right?) shooting spree in another part of the building. At their last bullets, LeeHom shoots Gackto and he falls bleeding to the ground. Haido has managed to get pass the sunlight area by using some guys' bodies as shield and when he sees what LeeHom had done, he kills him. Then Haido holds the dying Gackto in his arms and cries.
Gackto's daughter has grown up and has followed the footsteps of her mother as a painter. Haido meets with her one night to congratulate her for her success and she smiles happily at him and I think thanked him as well (I didn't understand much of what they said ^^;;). Then as they walked their separate ways, we see that Haido was not alone, but that Gackto (yes, very much alive) was also with him. Gackto was watching his daughter's success from afar (//sniffles// very touching). He has become a vampire as well - perhaps it was the only way that Haido can prevent him from dying. Haido and Gackto talked as they got into their convertible, and I think they were having a serious and sad conversation maybe about their lives or past or what. Then they reached this grassy place overlooking the waters, and they just sat there in their car with the car top down waiting for the sunrise. The two have decided to end their lives, and as sun's rays starts to bask the day anew, the two of them are gone - on to the afterlife.
EPILOGUE. The sun was high up, the day was bright and the waters were blue and calm. Haido, Gackto, LeeHom, his sister and Toshi pose in front of the camera with big smiles. The group has once again reunited, just like before.
WATASHI NO KIMOCHI
My Jap friend told me that this movie didn't click at all in Japan, and from some reviews that I've read, I don't think people liked it that much. Maybe the story was too farfetched, maybe the acting was too lame, maybe the fighting scenes were so out-of-this-world and maybe it really is a cheesy, pointless film. But I like it anyway!
I like it, even though I didn't understand much of their conversation. I like it, not because of the bishies - because face it, I only like Haido and Gackto because Yukichan likes them. LOLz! I like it, despite the crazy plot and the aw goodness, the YAOI scenes! NYAHAHAHAHA I like it, definitely not because of the violence and the dark side of it (Ehek.. ^^;;). I just like it. Does one need to have a reason to like something? ^o^
Well I just think that if the bond between the characters are enough to move me to my tears, then it is something to be liked. ^__^ I guess what struck me there was their friendship. I think that they have allowed lots of complicated aspects to affect their relationship and so they have lost what was important. I think that there are really some things in life that are better kept simple. But it was nice that in the end, they have somehow reunited just like before. I think it is important to pursue and cherish what makes you happy. I think I am not making any sense. I think it's because I made such a long entry and still haven't had my lunch. o___O
Well, I end this vewy long entry with Haido's words from the movie. The first time they took their group pic that night at the beach, Haido was standing beside LeeHom's mute sister. And as they looked at the camera, Haido softly whispers to her, "Gao xing de shi hou, hai shi xiao yi xiao bi jiao hao..."
"When you feel happy, then it would be better if you smile..."
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