Source: TBS (Tokyo Broadcasting System) Official Movie Site: real-kubinagaryu.jp (Japan) Special Thanks to Eriko Miura and Yuhka Matoi

SPOILER WARNING: This article contains plot details and images from an upcoming movie.

Back in January, SciFi Japan previewed the upcoming Kiyoshi Kurosawa film REAL (?????????????, Riaru Kanzen Naru Kubinagaryu no Hi). With the movie opening in Japan on June 1st, we are pleased to present the English production notes and new images from the film courtesy of international sales agency, TBS (Tokyo Broadcasting System)... The latest offering from one of Japan’s best-known filmmakers, director of TOKYO SONATA, RETRIBUTION, and BRIGHT FUTURE.? Psychological reality invades the realm of space-time in this elaborate SF fantasy puzzle. Production Notes

Beginning with CURE (???, Kyua, 1997) and continuing through such films as PULSE (??, Kairo, 2001), BRIGHT FUTURE (???????, Akarui Mirai, 2003), DOPPELGANGER (????????, Dopperugenga, 2003), RETRIBUTION (? / ?????, Sakebi, 2006), and TOKYO SONATA (????????, 2008), director Kiyoshi Kurosawa has become a familiar name first at Cannes and subsequently throughout the world. REAL is a story of true love that vibrates in the space between reality and fiction. One of a pair of lovers trying to search out the cause of the other’s attempted suicide finds the boundaries between the real and the unreal breaking down in this multi-dimensional mystery with a surprise turn. A Perfect Day for Plesiosaur, the novel from which this script is taken, won the ‘This Mystery is Excellent!’ prize for 2010, drawing such comments as ‘the quality and content stands out from the rest’ and ‘I look forward to the day when this book causes a sensation in Japan’ from the prestigious panel of jury members. In reimagining it for the medium of film, director Kurosawa has worked to preserve the fascination of the novel and at the same time give the story his own unique twist. It has been four years since TOKYO SONATA, Kurosawa’s last feature, and interest was high both within Japan and abroad before the director ended his embargo on information about this film last July. In the lead roles will be two of Japan’s best-known young actors, Takeru Sato, hot off his performance in the hit RUROUNI KENSHIN (??????, 2012), and Haruka Ayase, whose many credits include the blind swordswoman in ICHI (?, 2008). Also featured are Miki Nakatani (RING, MEMORIES OF MATSUKO) and Joe Odagiri (BRIGHT FUTURE, MY WAY), along with Kurosawa regular Kyoko Koizumi (TOKYO SONATA, PENANCE). "This is the first time I’ve tried a story like this," says director Kurosawa. "The reason being that it is a very strange novel, and I wanted to challenge the principle that you can’t film what happens in a person’s heart." With his recently completed TV series PENANCE being shown at festivals including Venice and Toronto, REAL will be one of 2013’s most eagerly anticipated releases. Story Koichi and Atsumi are lovers who have known each other since they were children. ‘It’s weird...it’s like we’ve always been living together like this.’ ‘And we always will be.’ ‘I hope so.’ ‘Sure. Of course we will.’

One year ago, Atsumi apparently tried to commit suicide, and has been in a coma ever since. Through ‘sensing’, a type of neurological treatment allowing communication with a comatose patient, Koichi tries to find out why she tried to kill herself, and to encourage her to wake up. He is afraid of what he may find by going into her unconscious this way, but is desperate to help bring her around. Encouraged by her doctor -- who says Koichi is vital to this happening -- he undertakes the ‘sensing’. The first sensing takes Koichi into Atsumi’s unconscious mind. There he sees her at her desk, drawing manga comics from morning till night. ‘In primary school,’ she suddenly says, ‘I drew you a picture of a plesiosaur. I want it. It was perfect. Will you find it for me? I have the feeling that seeing it again will give me back my confidence as a manga artist.’ Thus begin their conversations in Atsumi’s unconscious. Koichi explains the situation to Atsumi, telling her that she has been in a coma for a year, and it is through sensing that they are able to communicate. He asks her why she attempted suicide, but she answers only that she wants him to find the plesiosaur picture.

He gets a phone call from the hospital; Atsumi is indicating that she wants a sensing. He hurries there. "I have no memory of myself when I’m not drawing manga," she says. "It’s like I’m not myself any more! I want to get out of here!" They leave the apartment in which they were living, only to find a street full of vacant-eyed ‘philosophical zombies’ and a thick wall of fog awaiting them. This is the world of Atsumi’s subconscious, a virtual reality she is unable to recreate in manga. They join hands and plunge into the fog, emerging on Hikone Island, where they both went to primary school. In a little cove there they see a red flag floating in the waves out to sea, and a familiar boy coming towards them from out of the water. Awakening from the sensing, Koichi decides to pay the real-world island a visit. He suddenly remembers a secret hiding place he and Atsumi had out in the woods. There he finds a sketchbook in which the plesiosaur picture was probably made, but it is too faded now to make out. He tells Atsumi of this discovery. "Forget it," she says. "The dream I was having, it’s over now." Koichi thinks Atsumi might finally be waking up, but she now disappears, along with the fog. He shouts her name, but wakes up in the hospital. The staff there are philosophical zombies. Wondering if the border between outer and inner reality has collapsed, Koichi makes his way back to his apartment. "We meet at last." Atsumi appears before him... Aware at last of what is going on, Koichi begins to remember. There is something else that has been bothering him: the boy...

Director: Kiyoshi Kurosawa Born in 1955 in Hyogo Prefecture, he began making 8mm films while a student at Rikkyo University, placing an entry into the Pia Film Festival in 1980. Such films as THE EXCITEMENT OF THE DO-RE-MI-FA GIRL (Do-Re-Mi-Fa-Musume no Chi wa Sawagu, 1985) and THE GUARD FROM THE UNDERGROUND (Jigoku no Keibiin, 1991) won him an enthusiastic fan base, and his script for CHARISMA (????, Karisuma, 2001) took him to the U.S. in 1992 on a Sundance Institute scholarship. CURE, screened at the Rotterdam International and other festivals, brought him to international attention. Films including PULSE, BRIGHT FUTURE, DOPPELGANGER, LOFT (???, Rofuto, 2005), RETRIBUTION, and TOKYO SONATA have screened as official entries at Cannes, Busan, and Venice. One of Japan’s leading directors, he is also one of the few to have won a significant international reputation. PENANCE (??, Shokuzai, 2012), a television drama, has also had the unique honor of being shown at the Venice and Toronto festivals. Credits Japan Release: June 1, 2013 Running Time: 127 Minutes Starring Koichi Fujita: Takeru Sato Atsumi Kazu: Haruka Ayase Eiko Aihara: Miki Nakatani Sawano: Joe Odagiri Shingo Takagi: Shota Sometani Yonemura: Keisuke Horibe Atsumi`s Father Haruhiko: Yutaka Matsushige Koichi`s Mother Makiko: Kyoko Koizumi Staff Director: Kiyoshi Kurosawa Screenplay: Kiyoshi Kurosawa, Sachiko Tanaka Original Story: A Perfect Day for Plesiosaur by Rokurou Inui (Takarajimasha, Inc.) Producer: Takashi Hirano Cinematographer: Akiko Ashizawa Editior: Takashi Saito Music: Kei Haneoka Theme Song: "REM" by Mr. Children Production: "REAL" Production Committee Production Company: Twins Japan, Inc. Distribution: Toho International Sales: TBS © 2013 "REAL" Production Committee

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For more information on REAL please see the previous coverage here on SciFi Japan:

• Kiyoshi Kurosawa Returns with REAL