Helter Skelter (2012)

Country: Japan
Format: movie
Genre: ***, plastic surgery, drama
Cast: Sawajiri Erika, Terajima Shinobu, Omori Nao, Ayano Gou, Mizuhara Kiko, Arai Hirofumi, Suzuki Anne, Terajima Susumu, Momoi Kaori, Aikawa Sho, Harada Mieko, Kubozuka Yusuke,
Synopsis: Lilico has gone under full-body plastic surgery and has become the most famous model in Japan, but all that falseness has also brought misery. Nothing lasts forever and so the surgery has begun to give backlashes and the new rival in beauty industry promises to ruin her little happiness she has left.
Rating: 5/5
I have not read the manga itself, but as much as I have heard, then it is a bit shallower than manga, but I really enjoyed the movie. It contains sex, drugs, violence, bad language and it is the closest thing to porno that I have ever seen and yet it was able to captivate me because of the amount of different feelings that you will get from this movie is huge. Each second was really interesting for me. But I admit that I would not let any person under age 16 watch it.. never..

No matter how hated or scandalous Sawajiri Erika is she is a brilliant actress. Everyone still thinks that she is beautiful and great actress. I think she is one actress who might do whatever she wants and it all will be forgiven, because her acts in the past have made it possible to act in movies like this. Would you imagine Kitagawa Keiko or Aragaki Yui in a role like that? Of course not, because many have said and I think so too, that Sawajiri Erika was acting as herself in many scenes.

Lilico has done full-body plastic surgery. As there is almost everything fake about her and that has

brought her enormous fame, but it has also made her soul empty. Everybody loves her but at the same time no one really loves her. "What do they love - I even have not met them or talked to them". Even now I am not sure if she was the victim or the culprit. She is selfish, does not care of other people's feelings and wants to be the best, nr. 1 forever, but at the same time she is nothing, just trying to please everyone, the sadness and emptiness are killing her!

That's why I felt sorry for her while hating her. Beauty and fame do not bring happiness especially when everything is fake - it is just a curtain before the theater stage. Fake creates fake and that's the way it is. Lilico gave people the fake they wanted and she got the fake response to it too, but you can see how she was actually looking for something real like true love and life without lies, but these things were already impossible for her. Her falseness was explained really simply "Beautiful on the outside, but eaten by the bugs inside".

The scariest part of the movie was when I found myself a little similar to Lilico. I have seriously nothing similar to her, but in some way I understood her and what she was going through. It is so strange that even though the movie shows how fake Lilico was, it also shows how fake our society is - especially woman's beauty - fake eye-lashes, contacts, nails, make-up, push-ups, hair-extensions and simple beauty injections/surgeries - they are all really everyday-ish things.

People have become so obsessed with outer beauty, that it stops being beautiful and it is really ironic when these kind of people are criticizing how others are fake. I am not against beauty products or surgeries, but I think that each thing has it's limits and sometimes people are the prettiest when they are natural. Lilico says "Beauty makes you strong", but I do not think so - being beautiful gives you more confidence, but it does not bring you more strength.

The only people Lilico really needs to have by her side are assistant Hada Michiko  and her make-up artist Kin-chan. With out them she would not have survived. But Hada-san was really weird character. She was hopelessly in love with Lilico, but sometimes she loved to stab her back. Then again she was not a lesbian, because she had younger boyfriend Shin. Shin is acted by Ayano Go and I really did not recognize him in the movie. Hada-san is used by Lilico as personal slave, who is treated like trash and then spilled over with "presents". I think that with Hada and Shin, Lilico's worst personality traits came out and it was soooooooooo sick! I almost vomited several times because of her actions.

In the end, I think that the most horrible character in the movie was Mama. Saying that Lilico is her creation and the real girl Lilico used to be is nothing. Using someone only for money.. and then ruining the original agreements for what Lilico was able to cope with all that hard work..
I think it is one of a kind movie and it is exactly "helter skelter" aka "total chaos". Even when the time has passed, I am fascinated by everything in this movie and I seriously want to know how it is shown in Japan, but at the moment my bowl of chips got empty, so only thing to say is "WATCH IT and tell me what you thought of it" :)

SPOILER-review: The end was so scary! The moment when she killed herself was so horrible and sad at the same time. For a moment everyone stopped and watched, but then they continued to take pictures - reminds me how people are now making photos and uploading them to internet before calling help. When person makes a suicide in front of you, YOU CALL AMBULANCE! -.- And then the movie went on and I found out that "HOLY SH*T! THAT WAS ALL A PLAN!!!" O.o but I really was screaming in the end "F*** THAT B***H WON'T DIE!!" (I was so scared that I was even unable to replace the words as I usually do..)

Sugar and Spice: Fumi Zekka (2006)

Also Known as: Sugar and Spice ~ what little girls are made of~
                            Sugar and Spice ~ Fumi zekka~ (Sublime in flavour)
Country: Japan
Genre: Romance
Format: movie
Cast: Yagira Yuya, Sawajiri Erika, Natsuki Mari, Oizumi Yu, Chen Bo-Lin, Hamada Gaku,   Mitsuishi Ken, Kimura Ryo,
Synopsis: Shiro (Yagira Yuya) is a young man just finished high school, who lives in Fussa and starts working at the gas station. His best friends are fighting over the same girl, one of them tries to commit suicide. In addition, he sees a break-up between a man and college girl Noriko (Sawajiri Erika), who starts working at the gas station too. Shiro finds himself in a point, where he is stuck with life and love.
Rating: 2/5

I must say under cover that I wanted to put much higher rating to it than just 2 stars, but I admit that those ratings are not actually based on only mine opinion.
When I saw it for the first time, I did not like it at all - it seemed boring and pointless (as many might have read from former review) I did not understood a thing back then, but this time - I absolutely loved it! Maybe it is because I have gone trough more stuff and grown up more, because now I find it one of the best love stories ever!
It gives you the perfect view of a real kind of relationship. But at first you must live trough some weird scenes.... as the guys are ... being guys? Yeah, this porn-stuff is weird.
(Actually I am making a review of Ichitaro's concert for school at the moment.... working on two reviews is hard O.O....... continueing with that review after 7 hours xD)
Well.. The two hours have many long scenes, but actually they are not so annoying - when you consentrate on the story. I cannot recall any annoying thing beside it O.o Weird...
All characters are nice and real. Naoki (a friend who tries to attemp a suicide at first) is sweet how  much he loves Yoko, but at the same time he is a sex-maniac. The other friend just should have been more honest with everybody.

Grandma was amazing! Being 70 and act like you are only 27! xD I like people who stay young forever. Her lost love story was so sad. Heart can recover from many heartbreaks, but there is only one deep cut to a heart and it will give you a wound, which can never be healed. She has many smart ideas and living-ways, so it is a good thing to actually listen and learn from her. In addition, the make-up artists have done amazing work with her! Natsuki Mari was at that time 55 years old.

Shiro was like a .... perfect man? (at least for me) but it is true that "man must know when to be soft and when though"  - "Softies get dumped". You can see how much impact her grandma had on him. I did not see a thing he did wrong. In one scene when he leaves Noriko alone and Noriko gets sad, I totally understood Shiro. The situation is so hard, when you are not a boyfriend and girlfriend, so you do not know what rigths do you have (like.. you cannot get very jealous if you are not together; Is it okey for you to ask about some stuff or not, etc). Been there, thought about that -.- still ended up with no results. Yagira Yuya actually has nice look =P

Sawajiri Erika looked cute! Noriko knew she looked pretty and that made her more selfconfident. I liked that she explained the thing about girls "No means yes! - It most of the time "NO MEANS NOOOO!" , "But only for one person they can mean the same thing" (Guys, just learn how to read the mood - I cannot really tell you the situations when they are the same, but like.. when girl really likes you, but her self discipline does not let her to say that she wants to stay. Was it too hard? still... just learn to read it well - cannot say anything helpful xD) I hate her ex-boyfriend, he is a bastard, but I do not say anything bad about Noriko yet (read spoiler review for that).

Mostly the movie concentrates on "What really is love?"  "Having special feelings for someone?", "Wanting to see someone more than once a day?" These are good questions.. by those questions I have been in love only once and even that was only onesided...  Remember, "If love is over, then it is over - you cannot force her/him to love you again".  The thing that love comes and goes is exactly the same kind of nature law as that seasons changes and after today comes tomorrow.
It is based on the same named novel and Oasis is really great band =P

SPOILER review: Noriko situation - many might think she was a bitch for leaving Shiro, but I must say my friend's words "Every girl has someone who they are helpless toward". If that special guy hugs or begs to go back to him, girl cannot to anything. Those guys give easily promises, but never keep them and the worst thing is that girls know it! And girls know that they will never get happy with those guys, but there is something unbelievably strong that keeps girls with them. (If you have seen "Porgy and Bess" opera, then the other guy is the same for Bess) Like it has nothing to do with real love and it is difficult to explain, but I think that every girl, who has had someone like that in their lives, knows what I mean. I think the best thing is to stay as far as you can and avoid any contact with them, but believe me - it is so hard. But what you can say bad about Noriko is that YOU just cannot let your ex into your new boyfriend's house!!!! and then almost get caugth! -.-
Shiro and Noriko looked much cuter together than with that ex -.-
If you want to know the "Daimond Fuji" place without watching the movie, then it is Lake Yamanaka at dust!
 And little girls are made of sugar and spice =P

1 litre of tears (2005)

Country: Japan

Genre: family, romance, human, life
Format: drama 11 episodes + special
Cast: Sawajiri Erika, Nishikido Ryo, Yakushimaru Hiroko, Jinnai Takanori, Narumi Riko, Fujiki Naohito,  (Matsuyama Kenichi)
Synopsis: The story is about Ikeuchi Aya, 15-year-old girl, who is diagnosed with a spinocerebellar degeneration disease (aka SCA type 2). The disease, which will paralyse person´s talking, walking and eating, but do not harm the mind at all, changes lives of her and people beside her.  
Rating: 5/5
The drama is true life story. Kitou Aya (1962-1988) suffered from that disease, before her death, her writings were published and drama is based on these.

 It is a MUST-SEE drama! Even if you hate sad dramas, you should watch it. It reminds us, that life is full of unexpected things and there are people who are ill and we must be there for them - not to pity them or stay away.
I definitely cried more than 1 litre of tears. I cried since the first episode till the end of it. Every time I feel like crying, I consider watching it again, but as soon as it starts, I already cry.
Sawajiri Erika made a great work. She did not not over-act. Nishikido Ryo as Hayato was great too, even though Hayato did not exist in a real life - he was the only fictional character.

The scene of Nishikido Ryo crying is considered as one of the best male-character crying scenes - it is in later episode, so look for it (I think it is in 10th episode). But this drama also had a funny fact - Nishikido

Ryo gets wet really often - some fans made funny pics about it too, but I cannot submit them here, since I have not done them and I do not know who made them.

1 litre of tears SP (2007)

Country: Japan

Genre: Human, life, romance
Cast: mostly same as drama +Okamoto Anri
Synopsis aka SPOILER (for those who have not finished watching drama): After Aya´s death, Hayato has become neurologist at the same hospital were Aya was treated, but he has lost his sight and will. He meets 14-year-old Mizuki, who suffers from the same disease as Aya. At the same time Aya´s sister, Ako, is in training to become a nurse.
Rating: 1/5
Drama was much better. If there is someone who most likely do not want to watch the whole drama, then watch SP - it takes all episodes together in a smaller amount, but at the same time it shows who the life went on after the drama ended. Besides, it is damn romantic that Hayato left emptiness, it shows how much he wanted Aya to live, but as I know - every grief must have an end - the ones, who left do not want us to feel sad. To not worry - you will still cry your eyes out.
(I have an idea - next time when I want to cry I will watch SP!)