Nonureva Really Surprised!

Solidrariol Am I Missing Something?

Aneesa Wardle The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

Billy Ollie Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

faiij This short film is about the story of Lucious, a roman architect, who leapt through time to modern Japan which makes him gain experiences and knowledge of building hot spring so he can apply these knowledge to Roman hot spring. First off, I like the plot of this film. it is very creative and different from other time-traveling films that I have ever watched. This movie is totally an entertainment since you do not have to think about the action of characters or why it happened too much but just enjoy the film. The plot is not complicated. The main actor of this film looks so alike with Roman people even he is Japanese. However, this movie is originated from comic book. So, there are some parts that might be frustrating to watch. For example, the movie itself is more like a gag cartoon that are divided into episodes. So, each apart of the film is not continue with other parts. Also, I don't really feel like it is necessary to have a female character who is the second main actor of this film in this movie in this film and forcibly put romantic plot between Lucious and that female character.

decopon_kobe The main character Lucius is A bath Licensed designer in Roma. He is serious and considers Roman bath culture so his works aren't received. One day, he travels through time to the modern Japan for strange reason. In modern Japan, He sees a comic artist Mami and he is surprised at polishing Japanese bath culture. He goes back Roma and designs novel bath using Japanese idea. And he becomes famous licensed designer.One of noticeable points is that casts have strong featured faces. The reason is to reproduce Roman. The tempo of story line and change scenes is good. Story runs at a blazing speed, which helps to complete this movie as comedy movie and to make the movie more funny.We can watch this film with a light heart. If you want to spend useless and funny time, I recommend this movie. I laughed a lot and enjoy it.

Kicino It is probably the best movie of Hiroshi Abe I have seen – a great opportunity for him to explore different expressions – a public bath designer Lucius in ancient Rome who accidentally travels back and forth to modern day Japan. Consider the vast range of expressions he could explore and he did very well. And he has such a beautiful body! I felt such a privilege to witness it in the Summer International Film Festival.It is quite a rare comedy for the generally serious Japanese to praise a cultural aspect they feel so proud of in a comical way. The plot initially appears to be a little silly but it works very well. Both the Japanese and ancient Romans live close to hot springs formed closed to volcanoes so it seems natural that both people have developed an intense interest in bathing. Hence it is also natural that there are points they can borrow from each other.The plot has a very interesting concept. It is kind of like a live Flintstone cartoon. It also inspires you to look at your mundane daily life from a very different perspective. Do not take anything for granted!The music is also great as familiar Italian operas appeared from time to time to match the scenes. The tenor is excellent and it matches the mood of the movie very well. I wish the story would spend a little more on the relationship between the ancient Roman and the modern Japanese woman, aspiring manga (comics) artist Mami (Aya Ueto). But it seems it has been like this for centuries that men do not listen and women talk too much. This movie shows that men appear to be poor listeners but they actually hear you. They just do not respond right away so you do not know if they really get it. So ladies, just spell it out if you think it is important. They do hear it (maybe that's why women talks so much that it appears to be nagging;)). And man, please respond sooner. You have no idea how comforting your responses can be. As for the shortcomings, I felt it a bit unnatural when it went a bit too far to value the Japanese team spirit. While it sort of reminded us of the rebuilding of Japan after the earthquake and this might serve as a boost of the national spirit, it sounded a bit forced and did not really go well with the development of the plot. Another area that can be improved is the vulgar Chinese subtitles: not only was it in Cantonese which would make non-Cantonese Chinese hard to understand, but it is also very indecent which is totally unnecessary. The original Japanese does not sound so vulgar and indecent, nor does the English subtitles. This can be easily fixed before the film is publicly released. I do hope the public version will not be spoiled. After watching this movie, you would be so drawn to soak in an onsen (hot spring) or a public bath, or at least a hot tub. I certainly did.

Matt Cooper Roman architect Lucius discovers a mysterious tunnel in the bathhouse which transports him to a modern day Japanese onsen. Amazed at the technological achievements of this new world he decides to incorporate them into his designs when he returns home. When he is commissioned by the emperor Hadrian to build imperial bathhouses he becomes caught up in Rome's political intrigue. Meanwhile, struggling manga artist Mami attempts to make sense of the unexpected appearances of this unusual foreigner.With it's bizarre fish-out-of-water plot and plenty of jokes on this theme the film is both fresh and familiar. The first act, with Lucius discovering some of modern Japan's innovations in bathing is particularly amusing. The two leads are strong and have good comic chemistry together. The story becomes a little exposition heavy at times, but doesn't feel over long. The sets of Rome are commendable, however certain scenes, the battle scenes especially, lack the sufficient budget to make them believable. The film is knowingly absurd, and this could have been played up more, but the Roman scenes are often played jarringly straight.The film is funny and charming The romance between the leads is not allowed to compromise the humour, as the jokes stay strong throughout, yet at the same time it is touching to see their relationship develop. Recommended viewing, if only for the scenes between Lucius and the old Japanese men in the onsen.