CHA-CHA Teases Marika Ito’s Wily World Of Wonderment And Woe In The First Trailer

Screening this Friday as part of the Japan Cuts line-up is Cha-Cha from director Mai Sakai. The film marks the latest contribution to the (not)Heroine Project, which focuses on up-and-coming directors like Sakai who now hails audiences with her fifth feature.

Cha-Cha is an illustrator working at a design office. Her free-spirited behavior sometimes draws the ire of those around her, but she lives by the motto, “I don’t let me worry about what others think any more, just live the way I want”.

One day, Cha-Cha meets Raku on the rooftop and she becomes interested in him. Although they are opposites in terms of their tastes, she gradually becomes attracted to Raku, thinking that “we two get along perfect”.

What will happen to the unpredictable romance of a stray cat-like girl? A fashionable, tasteful and bizarre story.

I will say the film is definitely unpredictable at times even for its slow pacing, but what pulls you in is how each character gets woven into the mix. The real kicker is when Sakai cranks things up to eleven near the bottom of the flick and shit goes pretty sideways. It’s different, spontaneous, and takes some pretty bewildering turns. There is some blood…I’ll say that much.

Indeed, I screened it, and assuredly our own Cesar Alejandro Jr. did too, and his review will go up in the late hours following the film’s North American premiere for Japan Cuts attendees in New York City. As for all else, expect the film to open in Japan in October.

Cha-Cha stars actress and former Nogizaka46 idol Marika Ito, Taishi Nakagawa, Sawako Fujima, Akihisa Shiono, and Stefanie Arianne. Check out the first trailer below which debuted last week, and click here for more on the film’s Japan Cuts screening.

Hat tip to Cesar for catching the trailer too!