ironymaiden | staying in the bowl

Sakuran is based on the manga of the same name, and seems to be aimed squarely at that audience. (trivia: the author is married to the director of Neon Genesis Evangelion.)

our heroine is bought as a child and grows up to become an oiran (a precursor to geisha, which developed later and ultimately put oiran out of the market). the shape of the story is familiar to anyone who has read Memoirs of a Geisha. it has all the character depth one would expect of a comic book film, but the visuals are captivating and i was fond of the minor characters. Anna Tsuchiya as Kiyoha is absolutely stunning, and eerily resembles the manga drawing (it's probably the round eyes).

it's bright, it's soapy, the soundtrack is completely anachronistic, and i saw the end from miles away. it's rather sweet for a story about prostitution. you can roll your eyes at the repeating fish in a bowl meme and the nipple montage (yes, nipple montage), or you can lie back and enjoy it. i had a blast watching it.

this one is full of naked asian ladies, which may or may not add to the experience.

four floating cherry blossoms out of five.