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HOW MUCH FOR THE VEGETABLE IN THE MIDDLE? Two Japanese misfits hit the (weird) road
Credits
Limited Release: Sep 09, 2005; With: Kyoko Fukada
B-
Scott Brown
Scott Brown is a senior writer for EW and a frequent contributor to National Public Radio -- he has the tote bag to prove it
Turns out, Japan has its very own New Jersey. Beyond the bounds of swank Tokyo live the ''Yanki,'' suburbanites known for their tracksuits, dyed hair, and tricked-out mopeds. In Kamikaze Girls loner Momoko (actress–pop star Kyôko Fukada) rejects this world for the equally Western-inflected ''Lolita'' subculture, which prizes rococo frills over punk posturing. But when Yanki biker girl Ichigo (pop star-actress Anna Tsuchiya) gets under Momoko's lace bonnet, the two embark on a hyperstylized, supercute female-bonding odyssey, set to a J-pop soundtrack. For the Western viewer, the cultural divide acts as a saccharine filter, and Kamikaze, a cult hit in Japan, becomes a mesmerizing lesson in otherness.
Posted Sep 07, 2005
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