Teiichi: Battle of Supreme High

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Language: Japanese / Subtitles: English, Traditional Chinese 繁體中文字幕 / Synopsis: So begins Teiichi's fight for the ultimate seat of power against 800 brilliant rivals at Kaitei High School, the most elite private school in Japan! Kaitei's alumni have powerful connections in the political and financial world, and its top student -- the student council president -- is all but promised a future cabinet position. At the beginning of the new school year in April, ambitious freshman Teiichi Akaba joins the ranks of Kaitei elites as the top student from his graduating class. His dream is to "become the prime minister and create his own kingdom." But in order to realize this dream, he absolutely must become student council president. "An effective strategy in my freshman year will give me an edge in the student council elections two years from now. The battle has already begun!" Teiichi gets a head start on his rivals and takes his first step towards his ambitious goal. But unimaginable conspiracies and challenges await him! Friendships and betrayals abound in the ultimate Battle Royale to outrank each other! The make-or-break "student council election" begins now!! 生長於政治世家的赤場帝一，從小就以當上日本總理為目標，為了建立自己的王國，他必須在孕育出多位政治領袖，人稱「超精英學校」的海帝高校展露頭角，只有當過海帝高校學生會長的人，未來才有機會角逐總理的寶座。「我一定打敗所有競爭對手，站在頂點！為此我會不擇手段！」比誰都早開始計劃的帝一，將要面對意想不到的陷阱和試煉！鬥個你死我活的學生會長選舉戰爭即將華麗展開！ Review: Satirical Overkill. - TEIICHI: BATTLE OF SUPREME HIGH / TEIICHI'S COUNTRY [Lit.] (TEIICHI NO KUNI) Rating = *** (barely) Director: Akira Nagai Producers: Hiroki Wakamatsu et al. Theater (CineMatsuri 2018) 2017 Film = barely three (3) stars; subtitles = three (3) stars; music = three (3) stars; cinematography/lighting = barely three (3) stars. Director Akira Nagai delivers a lively live-action absurdity based on a comic (manga) about the proper nurturing of would-be world dictators (or at least major bureaucrats and minor cabinet ministers). The setting is an elite, autocratic, all-male high school (that used to be a war-time military academy and in many ways still is) where the first rung on the world-domination ladder is to be "elected" (voting seems limited to self-appointed clicks) freshman class president and ultimately president of the school's student council. Nagai's intent, of course, is to employ a microcosm (of several hundred top-of-the-food-chain students) to mirror what is known (or surmised) to occur in the real-world of politicians and bureaucrats at prefectural and federal levels. This includes sabotage, bribery, backstabbing, all flavors of corruption/collusion, threats, and punch-ups plus parental interference in the form of school donations and blackballing. The Director also includes a fair amount of socioeconomic lecturing and a little bit of romance in the midst of this teen-comedy mayhem. The film is way too long with much repetition (and mugging). Furthermore, the Director overdoses on players in minor speaking parts that makes it challenging for audience members who are trying to keep things straight (instead of just going with the flow!). Lead actors (and one actress) are a bit too old to be high school students. The protagonist's mother played by Sei Matobu is exceptional even in a much-too-tiny role. Cinematography (1: 2.35, DCP, color) and lighting suffer from show boating where many scenes begin with over exposures (being photographically clever may only give the viewer a glaring headache!) and elevated forward panning (usually over student assemblies). Music is okay. Subtitles are good enough except for the lyrics of the closing-credits song that are not translated. A sophomoric comedy that has its moments. WILLIAM FLANIGAN, PhD.