3 min. read
Cha-Cha (Ito Marika) is an illustrator who lives freely and without minding the gossip around her workplace. While on her office building’s smoking deck, she meets the aloof Raku (Nakagawa Taishi), a chef who works at the restaurant on the building’s ground level.
Interested in his mysterious and quiet nature, Cha-Cha pursues a relationship with Raku, eventually settling into cohabitation. As the quirky Cha-Cha begins to fall more in love with Raku, she discovers a surprising side to him that will challenge her relationship to him in ways she never expected.
Director Sakai Mai helms this fourth entry in the (not) HEROINE film series, a film project dedicated to female-centric stories with up-and-coming actors and directors. With only a handful of features under her belt, and some fairly popular writing credits of television, Sakai is poised to “break out” with this impressive not-quite romantic comedy anchored by a terrific performance by Ito Marika. Sakai’s film starts out like so many other quirky romance features but creates something memorable and one of a kind.
Ito Marika, one of the brightest newer talents in Japan right now, delivers a stellar performance as the titular Cha-Cha; she’s energetic, fashionable, and unique. Truthfully, there’s a lot of Cha-Cha in Ito herself; the daughter of artists and fashion designers, she’s known for her unique art popups, fashion line, and her experience in the most popular Japanese idol group in Japan, Nogizaka46.
For those familiar with her personality, the first act feels very close to her persona in reality. She’s dynamic and animated with some very well developed gravitas as the film enters the final act. The film keeps a sense of humor even through some of the darker elements in the film but she handles this all with aplomb.
Nakagawa Taishi plays the male lead, loner Raku, who is a talented chef but aimless in life. His quiet demeanor is pragmatic but never nihilistic; he does have interests but it takes a character like Cha-Cha to bring it to the surface. The film is peppered with small side stories featuring the ecosystems around both Cha-Cha and Raku; from the inter office gossips at Cha-Cha’s studio to the surrounding businesses around their shared building, these little diversions bring a lot of levity and goofiness to an already unconventional film. Sakai also peppers some regulars from her previous works; keep an eye out for a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it cameo by Matsui Rena, also a former member of Nogizaka46 alongside Ito.
Utilizing multiple perspectives, time jumps, and a super tight script, Sakai tethers the films to a slightly whimsical tone that retains its form even throughout the multiple plot twists and hefty cast. While I do think the ending will be fairly divisive, I felt it was a totally earned finale that leaves characters where they need to be.
The airy score keeps the film moving and the ending theme, sung by Ito herself, is a nice palette cleanser for our return to the real world. In the end, Cha-Cha is one of the best films I’ve seen all year; it’s sweet, funny, tender, and with that nice little juicy bit of danger for spice. Wholly entertaining, Sakai and Ito are film powerhouses in the making.
Cha-Cha was reviewed for the 17th edition of Japan Cuts which runs from July 10 through 21.