SAKKA, the online streaming service dedicated to showcasing Japanese films, is set to host a Shun Nakagawa double-bill in September in the form of Sayonara, Girls, a coming-of-age drama following students saying goodbye to adolescence during the last days of a high school, and also his award-winning short film Kalanchoe, which has an LGBTQ-themed coming-of-age story.
Sayonara, Girls. will be available in North America, Europe, and Oceania from September 12.
Kalanchoe will be available worldwide, excluding Japan. People will be able to stream it for free from September 20th to the 30th. After that, Kalanchoe will be available on SAKKA for a fee.
Take a gander at the background to the films!
Sayonara, Girls., which recently played at Japan Cuts, is the debut feature of Shun Nakagawa. He adapted a series of short stories by Ryo Asai that are told from the perspective of seven girls into a two-hour narrative that delicately and smoothly contains the bittersweet mix of emotions experienced over the years that the film’s four young heroines and various classmates feel with the approach of their graduation from high school, an event which signals their departure from adolescence and entry into the world of adults.
少女は卒業しない 「Shoujo wa Sotsugyou Shinai」
Release Date: February 23rd, 2023
Duration: 120 mins.
Director: Shun Nakagawa
Writer: Shun Nakagawa (Screenplay), Ryo Asai (Original Stories)
Starring: Yuumi Kawai, Rina Ono, Rina Komiyama, Tomo Nakai, Kisetsu Fujiwara, Airu Kubozuka,
Website Twitter: @shoujo_sotsugyo IMDB
Synopsis: It is the last days of Shimada High School in Yamanashi Prefecture as it is due to be knocked down and for the last of the students, their graduation ceremony takes place on the final day. In the two days leading to the event, they spend their time reminiscing over what has passed and look ahead to the future. In the immediate, Kyoko (Rina Komiyama), the music club leader, is managing the drama occurring between bands set to play the graduation concert which her childhood friend Morisaki aims to perform at; loner Shiori (Tomo Nakai) seeks to overcome her debilitating shyness with the guidance of the school librarian who she has a faint crush on; Yuki Goto (Rina Ono) has her sights set on Tokyo to continue her studies but first has to navigate the emotions of the boyfriend she will leave behind; Manami (Yuumi Kawai) has been tapped to deliver the school’s farewell speech while she still wrestles with a past trauma that she wishes she could speak about to her boyfriend.
The background to this film is impressive. As mentioned already, this is based on work by Ryo Asai, a Naoki Prize winning writer who made his name over a decade ago with The Kirishima Thing, Nanimono, both of which were turned into films.
The cast is stacked with an amazing array of young rising talent, which makes this film this generation’s The Kirishima Thing. Audiences will see fairly new leading ladies Tomo Nakai (Baby Assassins 2 and 3), and Rina Komiyama (Yakuza and the Family) join the more experienced Rina Ono, who was fantastic in On the Edge of Their Seats (2020), Pop! (2021), and A Girl in My Room (2022). They act alongside Kisetsu Fujiwara (Sasaki In My Mind, Grown-ups), and Airu Kubozuka (Where Love Goes).
Leading this ensemble is Yuumi Kawai who has captured the world’s attention with roles in A Balance (2020), It’s a Summer Film (2021), and In Her Room (2022) and is taking 2024 by storm with Cannes Directors’ Fortnight title Desert of Namibia and A Girl Named Ann.
Kalanchoe is the film Nakagawa made before Sayonara, Girls. and it is a coming-of-age drama that shows his deft touch at picking out strands of emotions linking different characters and exploring the community of the classroom. This short film won the Grand Prix competition at the 2017 Rainbow Reel Tokyo, an international lesbian and hay film festival.
It features a younger Haruna Hori (Sumiko 22) and Sho Kasamatsu, star of Ring Wandering, which is available to stream on SAKKA.
カランコエの花 「Karankoe no Hana」
Running Time: 39 mins.
Release Date: July 17th, 2017
Director: Shun Nakagawa
Writer: Shun Nakagawa (Screenplay),
Starring: Mio Imada, Sho Kasamatsu, Chihiro Nagase, Arisa, Makoto Sudo, Haruna Hori,
Synopsis: The drama centres on how pupils react when their English teacher calls in sick and a substitute gives an impromptu speech about LGBTQ people to their class alone. Sharp students wonder why and pupils begin to rumour about there being a gay or lesbian classmate present…
Sayonara, Girls. will start streaming on September 12th and will be available in North America, Europe, and Oceania.
Shun Nakagawa’s award-winning short film Kalanchoe will be available to stream for free from September 20th to the 30th. After that, it will be available to stream on SAKKA for a fee worldwide, excluding Japan.