Fantasia '18 Film Review - Amiko

Amiko (Aira Sunohara) is obsessed with a boy Aomi (Hiroro Oshita). He happened to wander into a classroom giving his approval to a Radiohead song she liked. After that, she was smitten. Hiding in the classroom watching Aomi from afar in soccer practice. Amiko has one friend Kanako (Mike Mineo) she spends time with her knitting and hanging out in a forum that she feels free to be her herself.

One day Aomi goes missing from school. Amiko eventually gleans that he has left Nagano and gone to Tokyo to move in with a former student. She follows him to the city stalking his girlfriend at first before turning up at their apartment. Amiko drifts through a fantasy land in the city. She engages with the mentally challenged. She gets two lovers to join her in a dancing sequence. She sees the seedier side of town as her target headed into an establishment where men go to pay and talk to pretty girls.

Director Yoko Yamanaka was 20 years old when she made this film. It has a playful air with a strong element of childlike pouting when things don't go Amiko's well. Working on a micro-budget she is able to portray the raw emotions of being a teenage girl in central Japan. Another key aspect of the film is that there are no significant adult roles in the piece. Another sign that this film is focused in the imagination of a teenage girl.

Amiko is a jolting journey into teenage torment Japanese style. Our lead charter crushes on a boy after one conversation. Turns stalker confronting him in a new city after months of no contact. Working with a minuscule budget Director Yamanaka brings her vision to the screen that is daring, a bit jumbled but we are all better off that she made the attempt.

**1/2 Out of 4.

Amiko | Yoko Yamanaka | Japan | 2018 | 66 Minutes.

Tags: High School, Adolescence, Angst, Radiohead, Soccer, Nagano, Bus Trip, Tokyo, Pure.