At this point I don't know what to expect from Katsuhito Ishii. Every single film he does feels like a huge left turn, for better or worse. While he's undoubtedly a master at creating movies with a sense of aesthetics and cool characters I've always felt he was a weak storyteller, always focusing on the wrong things, plot devices get introduced out of nowhere, characters seem to be paper thin etc etc. On this movie those weaknesses of his are apparent but this is perhaps the best movie he's done "story wise", and I'm not joking.
"Hello! Junichi" follows the titular Junichi and his group of friends (everyone gets introduced) through a series of events that unfold around Junichi who seeks out to become braver and less of a wuss. Him and his friends world gets turned upside down when a beautiful and slightly delinquent substitute teacher takes and teaches their class for a month, hijinks ensue.
While most of it has a bubbly childlike quality I feel that he could've done more with the overall presentation of the movie as it looks kinda cheap in many parts. Even if this is his most consistent movie to date I feel that a lot of the stuff that he's not good at surfaces still, characters are introduced but don't get any real emotional resolutions, his characters still feel paper thin. However I have to agree that the ending of the movie leaves you smiling even if you're kind of half-annoyed by the kids of this movie.
What I'm more curious about is how he decided to do a movie like this? Something so far from what he's done, something so "mundane"? A simple children's movie. This is what I thought of almost during the whole runtime. It is truly a curiosity. Should you watch this? Maybe? I only got to see this because I bought a box set containing movies outside "The Taste of Tea". If you're a fan of his then go nuts I guess, but outside from that I don't know what this movie could give the average moviegoer, it's a very simple kids movie. But even if I sound a bit too critical from it I would lie if I didn't say that this movie didn't have charm, which it does in its own way, and the ending is sweet.
