The Maker Speaks
Odoru Daisosasen the Movie
Favorite of the Times (the Latter of '90's) ?
Favorite of the Times (the Latter of '90's) ?
Hello, everybody. I'm so happy seeing you here with me now. Today I'm talking about Odoru Daisosasen the Movie. It is a Japanese film released in 1998. In early 1997, the TV drama series Odoru Daisosasen was on air and made a hit. Next year, the film was out. It also made an unbelievable hit with box-office revenue exceeding 10 billion yen. Wow!
What story does the film have? The main character is Aoshima starring Oda Yuji. He is a police detective who works at Wan-gan sho, a fictional local police station of Tokyo. He and his mates (detectives) are often twisted around little fingers of the higher who always think about their political affairs without seeing what's actual at the scenes. In other words, the theme of the series is the rivalry which happens between the scenes and offices.
Why did it make such a great hit? Of course, there must be many reasons. Reality is always complex, and there's no truth of simplicity. Now I would like to try to think about one of the countless reasons. I suppose the film became a big hit because it was a favorite of the times. In other words, the series can be a symbol of the latter half of '90's.
Why do I think so? Before explaining, I have to tell you what the times were in Japan, don't I? Here we go.
The collapse of the bubble triggered a lot of financial crises in early '90's. Don't you remember? It brought decrease of hire and many social positions became unsafe. Then, Japanese young people almost tended to desire to work in the public service. They wanted job security. In the economic growth times ('80's), most people didn't like to belong to the public service. Low salary, no freedom in jobs. But it was fairly turned over. That's the middle of '90's.
Police is one of the public service, as you know. I suppose many Japanese people were interested in what police offices were actually at the time. And the series met their expectation with a lot of realism. Then, it made a hit. I suppose so.
Today watching the film reminds me of the times, before impressing me. Ko-gal, Evangelion, Mini-disc, Air Max and Tamagotchi. It reminds me one after another. So I can say the series worked as a favorite of the times.
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Why did it make such a great hit? Of course, there must be many reasons. Reality is always complex, and there's no truth of simplicity. Now I would like to try to think about one of the countless reasons. I suppose the film became a big hit because it was a favorite of the times. In other words, the series can be a symbol of the latter half of '90's.
Why do I think so? Before explaining, I have to tell you what the times were in Japan, don't I? Here we go.
The collapse of the bubble triggered a lot of financial crises in early '90's. Don't you remember? It brought decrease of hire and many social positions became unsafe. Then, Japanese young people almost tended to desire to work in the public service. They wanted job security. In the economic growth times ('80's), most people didn't like to belong to the public service. Low salary, no freedom in jobs. But it was fairly turned over. That's the middle of '90's.
Police is one of the public service, as you know. I suppose many Japanese people were interested in what police offices were actually at the time. And the series met their expectation with a lot of realism. Then, it made a hit. I suppose so.
Today watching the film reminds me of the times, before impressing me. Ko-gal, Evangelion, Mini-disc, Air Max and Tamagotchi. It reminds me one after another. So I can say the series worked as a favorite of the times.
about Odoru Daisosasen the Movie
・Directed by Motohiro Katsuyuki
・Written by Kimizuka Ryo-ichi
・Produced by Kameyama Chihiro
・Distributed by Toho
・Released on October 31, 1998
・Running Time: 119 minutes
