Yes, I couldn't resist it. I had to catch 二宮和也 (Ninomiya Kazunari)'s latest movie, 大奥 (ooku).
Initially I was a bit hesitant because of the steep prices. (1800yen for a person, 1000yen on special discount days- eg. 14th of every month/ Wed for ladies, and 1000yen/person for couples)
I was glad I went in the end.
This is the first time I watched a Japanese period drama and viewing 二宮 from the big screen. I love his dramas. He's my favourite Japanese artiste :P
A sneak preview of 大奥:
It is based on the manga by Fumi Yoshinaga. It is a historical fiction set during the Edo period. A mysterious disease strikes Japan’s male population, reducing their numbers to just 1/4 of the female population. Most male-dominated jobs are now being carried out by females, and the shogun is also a female too. The story starts from the shogun's inner chambers (大奥= ooku), with 3000 young men, and when Nino's character, Mizuno, enters ooku.
Mmmm... this is also my first movie experience in Japan. Watching a Japanese period movie... with conversations mostly in keigo... is challenging. I understood the sequence, but I can't catch all the conversations, and is quite baffled still, like, I still wondered about the reasons behind certain actions and happenings. I hope to catch the translated movie again, so that I can understand the story fully.
Neverthless, it was a great experience! I manage to catch Gantz's trailer and Harry Potter's trailer before the actual start of the movie, too!
Harry Potter is also available in 3D in Japan's cinemas. :) Good thing about 3D movies here, they cost about just 300-400yen more than normal ones, so the pinch is not that great compared to Singapore's.
Oh ya, in case you are wondering, English movies are not dubbed. They will be in English audio and Japanese subtitles. And of course, there are no subtitles for Japanese movies.
I hope to catch Harry Potter and Gantz next!
Oh ya, to complete the entire movie experience, I bought a popcorn set, which includes a medium popcorn and a medium drink, for 600yen. A popcorn set stand is also given. You can attach it to your cinema seat, and it works just like the mini table on lecture chairs.
You can choose between caramel or salted popcorn. Mixed flavours is only for large sizes, which is a pity, I love mixed flavoured popcorn. The popcorn was too much for me. Maybe because, I made a terrible mistake of saying yes to adding butter to my salted popcorn. It made me queasy.
So, maybe I will skip the popcorn set for my next 2 movies.
