MisterZZZ

Filmed entirely on location in Japan during the 2002 World Cup by director Pablo Aldrete, Nippon e Yokoso is a 75-minute feature about a Mexican soccer fan named Daniel (Nacho Sanchez) who confronts a young Japanese woman named Naoko (Honaga Yoko) after she steals his wallet on the subway. Daniel surprises Naoko by inviting her to go out for a meal, but she has other things on her mind: a yakuza boss assigned her to steal the wallet of an Asian man and she completely bungled it by targeting a Mexican guy…who is now asking her for a date. Is he out of his mind? Realizing that the yakuza is closing in on her, she agrees to go with Daniel to buy herself some time. It's a simple plot with minimal dialogue, but set against the backdrop of the World Cup—an exciting time to be in Japan—the film works well as a love story and travelogue/road movie, that is, if you like slow-paced films. The two talented young actors have excellent chemistry and Honaga, a butoh dancer, is a real discovery. She could be a real star someday. Perhaps Mexican directors just have a knack for guiding young Japanese actresses.

This short was awful. I don't think there's anything offensive about it, the whole premise was stupid. First of all, hip hop is very popular in Japan and there are plenty of good Japanese rappers. There's nothing unusual about Japanese dressing in hip hop fashion or trying to emulate African Americans. Go online and listen to MP3s of Kick The Can Crew and Rip Slyme. The directors of this film are two unfunny white guys who thought it would be hilarious to have a Japanese family say Whas up ni**er every 5 seconds. The acting was horrible. People who like the FOX show Banzai probably thought this was funny. It might have been good if they set it in a country where hip hop is unknown, like Saudi Arabia.

PS: Congratulations on The Onion Movie going straight to DVD. Kuntz and Maguire will never work in Hollywood again. They're probably down at the bus station begging for change right now. Karma, ain't it grand!

The O.S.S. 117 series of films are based on popular spy novels by author Jean De Bruce about an international spy named Hubert Bonisseur de la Bath, the French version of James Bond. Hubert Bonisseur was portrayed by a number of actors (including John Gavin, who was later named Ambassador to Mexico by Ronald Reagan!) which is one of the reasons the series never caught on outside of Europe. Austrian actor took over the role Frederick Stafford took over the role pf O.S.S 117 for the third and fourth films, the latter which was set in Japan and retitled "Terror in Tokyo". In this film, Bonnisseur has to stop a group of industrialists from launching missiles laced with atomic bombs unless the United States government gives into to their ransom demands. Gorgeous actress Marina Vlady plays a woman in the US embassy suspected of leaking secrets to the enemy, and Yoshimura Jitsuko is a Japanese secret agent posing as a nightclub hostess. Bonisseur romances both women and while attempting to save the world from destruction. Not as exciting as the superior 007 films of the era but entertaining in its own way. Look for a great fight scene in which Agent O.S.S. 117 goes up against a humongous sumo wrestler.