Story revolving around Japanese teen pop group AKB48 about their song that supposedly drives people who've sang it to suicide. Producer of AKB48 Yasushi Akimoto is the writer for this movie as well.
I'm fluent in Japanese, so I watched this movie in Japanese dialog. Even so, I couldn't understand what the heck the story was all about for the first 2/3 of the movie. Many scenes cuts in and out but there isn't a thread that holds the story together.
Maybe I shouldn't be surprised as the originator of this movie is Yasushi Akimoto. This guy can be blamed for single handedly lowering the quality of overall Japanese entertainment business by mass marketing untalented teenage girls as "idols" (AKB48 being a prime example) since the mid '80s just for his fame and money. He genuinely believes that any negative comments about his work is due to stupidity of the person who doesn't understand the greatness of his talent (in his own actual words). Just watch this movie. Can you see any talent in any of the girls who are cast in this movie ?
Because there's no central focal character (none of the girls would be able to carry a leading role), the movie itself tends to wander around girls going here and there, with not much happening. Towards the end, some light is shed on why the girls are dying and a resolution to the problem is suggested, so there's some story that starts emerge, but the rest of the movie is just a mess. If you see other movies Akimoto has written, he has a schizophrenic style to writing which doesn't help with a story that already lacks focal point like this one.
Quality takes time and effort, and just like the difference between a cuisine of a three star restaurant and an instant noodle, this movie is a proof that trying to make instant success just doesn't work.
Watch this movie for the "Huh ?" factor, and if you've wondered about it's low quality, you know why.
