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DramaRomance

The Sea Is Watching

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O-Shin is a young brothel worker who, one night, helps a young samurai escape from his pursuers. Against the warnings of her fellow workers, particularly Kikuno and the brothel's owner, O-Shin falls in love with the samurai.

Release Date : 2002-07-27

Language :Japanese

Adult : false

Status : Released

Production Company :

Production Country : Japan

Alternative Titles :

Cast

Misa Shimizu

Character Name : Kikuno

Original Name : 清水美沙

Gender : Female

Nagiko Tōno

Character Name : O-Shin

Original Name : 遠野なぎこ

Gender : Female

Hidetaka Yoshioka

Character Name : Fusanosuke

Original Name : 吉岡秀隆

Gender : Male

Eiji Okuda

Character Name : Ginji

Original Name : 奥田瑛二

Gender : Male

Miho Tsumiki

Character Name : Okichi

Original Name : つみきみほ

Gender : Female

Masatoshi Nagase

Character Name : Ryosuke

Original Name : 永瀬正敏

Gender : Male

Michiko Kawai

Character Name : Osono

Original Name : 河合美智子

Gender : Female

Yumiko Nogawa

Character Name : Omine

Original Name : 野川由美子

Gender : Female

Tenshi Kamogawa

Character Name : Umekichi

Original Name : Tenshi Kamogawa

Gender : Male

Yukiya Kitamura

Character Name : Gonta

Original Name : 北村有起哉

Gender : Male

Takayuki Katô

Character Name :

Original Name : 加藤隆之

Gender : Male

Kumiko Tsuchiya

Character Name : Prostitute

Original Name : 土屋久美子

Gender : Female

Rikiya Ôtaka

Character Name : Boy

Original Name : 大高力也

Gender : Male

Renji Ishibashi

Character Name : Zenbei

Original Name : 石橋蓮司

Gender : Male

Reviews

S

sitenoise

@sitenoise

2021-06-23

The Sea is Watching starts off as an attractive film; rich colors, effective photography, nice framing, fetching prostitutes. Then it goes melodrama, followed by silly, culminating in corny which brought a smile to my face before the surreal kicked in. It never stops looking good, though. There's nothing new or groundbreaking story-wise. It's a charming, sometimes funny, bittersweet tale of the inhabitants of a samurai-era brothel whose entire district ends up under water. Plot-wise it focuses on the love lives of two of the working girls: Kikuno (Misa Shimizu) plays an elder to the younger girls and enjoys being the object of pursuit, never giving in to the suitors who want to take care of her and take her for their very own; and Oshin (Nagiko Tono) who seems to fall in love with every one of her clients. One of them, a sweet samurai type, visits her often and convinces her that her "fallen soul" and "soiled body" can become pure again—just like a person's hair, nails, and teeth fall out and grow back. "A body can become pure again ... it would be too horrible for words if it weren't true". Oshin is the main protagonist of the film and is meant to give it an emotional center as her heart breaks and yearns, but it never quite happens. Although Shimizu and Tono give good performances, overall the acting is not one of the film's high points. I recommend the film to those wanting a taste of historical Japanese culture and who enjoy quiet films about love, loss, and friendship. Yes, the ladies are prostitutes but they have feelings too.