Always: San Chome no Yuhi (Sunset on Third Street) Tribute

[YoshidaYui]

Last edited Thu Sep 15, 2022, 03:52 PM - Edit history (2)

one of my favorite movies, made me laugh and cry...

Leaving her provincial home, teenage Mutsuko arrives in Tokyo by train to take a job in a major automotive company but finds that she is employed by a small auto repair shop owned by Norifumi Suzuki. Suzuki's hair-trigger temper is held somewhat in check by the motherly instincts of his wife, Tomoe, and his young son Ippei immediately bonds with Mutsuko as if she were his older sister. The Suzuki shop lies almost in the shadow of the Tokyo Tower as it rises steadily above the skyline during construction in 1958. Others in the neighborhood also are striving to better themselves as Japan continues to emerge from the shadow of war. Hiromi has just abandoned her shady life as a dancer to start a sake bar. Abandoned by his single mother, young Junnosuke is first handed off to Hiromi but she passes him off to Ryunosuke Chagawa, a struggling writer who runs a candy shop and only manages to sell adventure stories for boys as his serious novels continue to be rejected. Junnosuke is an avid reader of Chagawa's stories and begins to idolize him upon learning about his authorship. Junnosuke also writes stories, and makes friends with Ippei and others when they discover his tales that show Japan in the hi-tech future of the 21st century.

Directed by: Takashi Yamazaki
Cast: Maki Horikita, Hidetaka Yoshioka, Shin'ichi Tsutsumi, Koyuki


Always Sunset On Third Street 2
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Bad-tempered, but soft-hearted garage owner Suzuki (Tsutsumi Shinichi) isn't any closer to becoming the next Toyota, though country girl Rokko (Horikita Maki) is shaping up to be a great mechanic, and attracting some romantic attention, too. Suzuki's family of four plays host to seven-year-old relative Mika (Koike Ayame), but the spoiled city girl is less than impressed with their humble living conditions. Across the lane, struggling writer Chagawa Ryunosuke (Yoshioka Hidetaka) wants to prove himself to adopted son Junnosuke (Suga Kenta) and romantic interest Hiromi (Koyuki). Desperately holding on to his makeshift family and fading dreams, Chagawa is aiming for nothing less than the Akutagawa Prize with his great Japanese novel - and all his neighbors seem to be in it somehow. The frustrating process and financial worries, however, are more likely to push him to the end of the road than great literary fame. Sweeping 3.5 billion yen at the box office and 13 trophies at the Japan Academy Awards, Yamazaki Takashi's nostalgic blockbuster Always - Sunset on Third Street was the runaway winner of 1995. The cast and crew return to even greater acclaim and box office in 2007 with Always - Sunset on Third Street 2. Based on Saigan Ryohei's popular manga, Always 2 picks up the story shortly after the events of the first film, returning to the bustling lives of the residents of Third Street as they carve out their own small worlds in 1959 Japan. The film has the same winning formula of heartwarming drama and stunning CGI, recreating the sights, sounds, and sentiments of 1950s Japan with crowd-pleasing precision. The second time around, the characters feel like old friends thanks to great performances from the returning cast of Tsutsumi Shinichi, Yakushimaru Hiroko, Horikita Maki (Hanazakari no Kimitachi e), Koyuki (The Last Samurai), child actor Suga Kenta, and of course Yoshioka Hidetaka, who won his second Best Actor trophy at the 2008 Japan Academy Awards with the same role.

Directed by: Takashi Yamazaki
Cast: Maki Horikita, Kazuki Koshimizu, Koyuki, Tomokazu Miura, Masako Motai, Kenta Suga, Shin'ichi Tsutsumi, Hiroko Yakushimaru, Hidetaka Yoshioka