Otakus in Love

I need to get back to my earlier habit of posting about obscure but wonderful contemporary Asian films. In said tradition, I recommend the odd little 2004 romantic comedy Koi No Mon, also known as Otakus in Love. For those not familiar with the term "otaku", the word is a Japanese name for people who are obsessively geeky about something, generally a pastime or hobby. More often than not, the term is used to describe anime and manga nerds, and that's what this film focuses on. Directed by Suzuki Matsuo, Koi No Mon tells the tale of the down-and-out manga artist Mon Aoki (Ryuhei Matsuda) who is an outsider even by otaku standards. Rather than drawing manga (Japanese comics), he creates them out of rocks. They are like sculptures rather than drawings. Mon is desperately poor, and while searching for a job he meets the beautiful Koino (Wakana Sakai). Koino has achieved some popularity as a freelance manga artist, but she also obsesses about cosplay, or the hobby of creating costumes like manga and anime characters and playing dress-up. Much wackiness and hilarity ensues as Mon and Koino awkwardly pursue a relationship. Mon is often too strange for Koino (she screams aloud when she first sees the rock manga) and Koino is too cutesy for Mon (he pukes when he sees her photobook of her favorite singer).

It's a silly but delightful movie. Filled with colorful characters and some odd cameos (even subversive director Takashi Miike shows up), Koi No Mon is certainly unlike any Hollywood romantic comedy you will ever see. When I purchased my region free DVD player, this was the first Japanese DVD that I ordered. I chose this based solely on some still photos and a review on Midnight Eye. Thankfully I was not disappointed by the movie. Suzuki Matsuo's candy-colored world sweetly depicts the otaku subculture with the right mix of comedy, silliness, weirdness and love.