Ikigami: The Ultimate Limit

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Movie: Ikigami: The Ultimate Limit
Romaji: Ikigami
Japanese: イキガミ
Director: Tomoyuki Takimoto
Writer: Motoro Mase (manga), Akimitsu Sasaki, Hiroyuki Yatsu
Producer: Akimitsu Sasaki, Osamu Kubota, Jun Kurosawa, Kazuya Hamana, Daisuke Ohkka, Makihiro Higuchi
Cinematographer: Takahide Shibanushi
Release Date: September 27, 2008
Runtime: 133 min.
Genre: Drama
Movie Studio: TBS
Distributor: Toho
Language: Japanese
Country: Japan

Plot

A place, somewhere, that bears a strong resemblance in history and environment to Japan. Its return to prosperity after defeat in war is due to a certain law, a pillar of the state. This is the Special Law for the Maintenance of National Prosperity. 24 hours before this capsule is to bring about death, an official of the Ministry of Health and Welfare brings a letter announcing impending death, an ikigami. Those who receive this ikigami letter have 24 hours of absolute freedom to do anything and everything they want. Kengo Fujimoto has made his way through university and taken a job with the Ministry. His work now is delivering these ikigami letters.

Dear Citizen: Thank you for your loyalty. You've no doubt noticed that the world is a troubled place. People are apathetic, lazy, unmotivated. You've probably asked yourself

WHY ISN"T ANYTHING BEING DONE TO STOP THIS SYSTEMATIC DECLINE?

Rest assured that measures are being taken. Beginning immediately, we will randomly select a different citizen each who will be killed within 24 hours of notification. We believe this will help remind all people how precious life is and how important it is to be a productive, active member of society.

Thank you for your continued attention and your cooperation and participation...

Cast



Shota Matsuda	Akira Emoto	Takashi Sasano	Hitori Gekidan	Yuta Kanai
Kengo Fujimoto	Hidekazu Morio	Chief Ishii	Shimada	Tsubasa Tanabe



Takashi Tsukamoto	Jun Fubuki	Sansei Shiomi	Kazuma Sano	Riko Narumi
Hidekazu Morio	Kazuko Takizawa	Nobuhiko Takizawa	Naoki Takizawa	Sakura Izuka



Takayuki Yamada	Haruka Igawa
Satoshi Izuka	Dr.Kondo

Additional Cast Members:

Trailers

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Comments

Comment #3
a Says:
Jun 03 2010 6:57 am

Good cast !
And Takayuki Yamada is very good !!
So saaad !
Comment #2
Kenji Says:
Aug 22 2009 1:54 am

This movie was depressing, BUT GOOD :)
Comment #1
Ki Says:
Jul 03 2009 11:26 pm

Geez talk about your uneven movie! “Ikigami,” based on a manga by Motoro Mase, is set sometime in the future with an oppressive big brother like government randomly killing off citizens in the name of bettering the nation. So far so good right? The film produced by television studio “TBS.” and like a lot of their movie productions, aims for the masses with the lowest common denominator. In a way, “Ikigami” takes parts from “Battle Royale,” “Sweet Rain” and “Death Note” and shakes it all together to make a film that easily draws you in, but just as easily makes you step back from the wretched stench of excessive cheese. The film does star popular young actor Shota Matsuda (from the TBS “Boys Over Flowers” drama series) and he’s flanked by well known co-stars like Takayuki Yamada (”Train Man”), Riko Narumi (”How to Become Myself”), and Takashi Tsukamoto (”Midnight Sun”).

In “Ikigami” new government employee Kengo Fujimoto (Shota Matsuda) begins his job as a civil servant. After passage of the “National Prosperity Law” the Japanese government has randomly injected one out of every 1,000 children with a lethal injection. Once the children reach the ages of 18 to 24 a capsule will then erupt inside of them killing them instantly. This is all done to make citizens value their life and work more productively. Now, Kengo Fujimoto sets out to deliver his first ikigami – a letter that informs the recipient that they have 24 hours left to live …

Well, the first 5-10 minutes of the movie seems promising. The film starts out with a brooding dark feel and a premise that piques your interest instantly. Once the movie introduces the first of its three main segments (the movie’s narrative style is similar to “Sweet Rain” where Takeshi Kaneshiro acts as the constant within three separate stories). the movie quickly goes into cheeseball territory and then some. During the first segment, concerning a street musician on the cusp of stardom who receives the ikigami, the movie quickly shows its television lineage by cranking up the melodrama to excessive degrees. The second segment, involving a mayoral candidate and her manic depressive son, gets even worse. Kazuma Sano who plays the disenchanted teen is just awful and the story doesn’t help with unbelievable lapses in logic. The worst moment occuring after the first gunshot is fired, where security guards are rushing towards the teen but suddenly vanish. Fortunately, the movie saved the best for last and the final segment, involving Riko Narumi & Takayuki Yamada, was the most affecting. Coincidently, this segment lacked the excessive cheesiness of the first two segments.

I have a feeling teens into anime and Japanese dramas will enjoy “Ikigami” a bit more than I did. The film did have appealing performances by Shota Matsuda, Takayuki Yamada, and Riko Narumi, but I just couldn’t get past the excessive cheese found in segments #1 & #2. I’m fairly certain I’ll have nightmares tonight of Takashi Tsukamoto crying uncontrollably while he strums his guitar and sings along with the TV.