Bounce KO Gals

I stummbled upon bkg on vcd in honk kong over four years ago and its been sitting in my collection ever since, unwatched.
Yesterday on a whim i decided to give it a go and i can hounestly say i haven`t been that moved by a film in a very long time.
The film follows the blossoming of an intense [if short lived] friendship bettween three girls in tokyo whilst they franticaly spend twenty four hours trying to come up with 500, 000 yen for a journy to new york.
What makes bkg so intresting and at times disturbing is that it is set in the world of the kogals [Young school girls in japan willing to sell themselves to the less than savoury japanese buisness man for the latest in fashion brand names...]
The film is an incredibaly heart felt exploration of the loss of inosence and the destructive force of sexual corruption in a culture not willing to stop and look at its self, at one point brilliantly bought up in the film by one of the kogals,

`when adults don`t know when to say no they act like children, then it is us, the real children who have the real controle.`

I would recomend this film to anyone who loves cinema, espeacialy if you have any intrest in japan.

As a foreigner living in Japan, and for any foreigner, I think this film serves as a great documentary and social commentary on a very dark and perverse underbelly of Japanese culture that rarely gets exposed in the Western world. I did not know what to expect and I was pleasantly surprised by this raw, honest and shocking account of one aspect of modern Japanese culture. This film addresses a very (VERY) disturbing topic but does so with heart and with grace. I have always heard about the topics covered in this film but never imagined it would be portrayed in such a revealing and shocking manner by a Japanese film maker. Funny enough, whilst this film is primarily about the topic of young girls selling their time for money, it contains absolutely NO nudity what so ever. Instead, it very cleverly covers all aspects of this dark, dangerous and twisted black market in Tokyo- showing the perspective of the greedy girls involved, the Japanese Mafia businessman, and the lonely salary men looking for companionship.

The acting I thought was very solid and the portrayal of each of the characters very acute and detailed. A memorable scene and perhaps the pervasive "societal question" of the film, that between the mama-san proprietor of the "used panty shop" and the young girl who goes to make a trade. Is the shop there to cater to the men who have perverted fantasies about school girls or for the girls who are willing to sell their used undergarments to indulge such fantasies? It is all a bit of a downward spiral of morality and in the end the viewer feels as though he understand what drives each of the people in the film who in their own right is just looking for some form of happiness and fulfillment in a very stressful and rigid society devoid often of emotion and compassion. Along the way you also receive an accurate depiction of life in Tokyo Japan much more real and accurate than Sophia Coppola ever did justice!

It is a very clever story that encapsulate much whilst not confusing nor overbearing the viewer. This is very real Tokyo at its heart and soul.

*Please note the movie does contain very graphic subject matter.

I saw an oversees version of this movie and can't wait to get this U.S. release about the trendy young kogals in late 90's Japan and what they do to afford the latest name brand fashion. Let's just say no afterschool jobs at the mall for them, these girls "work" to sport their Gucci. When one girl sees her hopes of studying abroad stolen from her, a newly found kogal friend helps her out by finding "work" for her. She too is then exposed to the seedy world of men taking advantage of girls' materialistic desires in exchange for pleasure. Throughout it all the girls manage to keep their hope and pride intact, but not without a little sadness... and some fun too.