Director(s): Isao Yukisada
Writer(s): Kazuki Kaneshiro
Cast: Kou Shibasaki, Shinobu Otake, Tsutomu Yamazaki, Yosuke Kubozuka
Japan’s official submission for the ‘Best Foreign Language Film’ category of the 74th Academy Awards in 2002.
Based on the award winning novel by Kazuki Kaneshiro.
Sugihara (Yosuke Kubozuka) feels more like a misfit than most high school students, being the son of a Japanese mother (Shinobu Otake) and a North Korean father (Tsutomu Yamazaki). Changing schools does not help much, as he is simply taunted by a different group of kids. Fortunately, his father has given him boxing lessons to keep the bullies at bay. When Sugihara falls for the popular Sakurai (Kou Shibasaki) and she seems interested in him, he sees the possibility of being accepted.
