let's BACKTRACK

Yesterday, I was bored and started looking at all the movies there were on Crunchyroll, and came upon a movie called Sakuran. It’s based off of a manga by Moyoco Anno and traces the life of a young girl, sold off to be a prostitute (or otherwise called an Oiran), and her struggles within the quarters.

The movie starts off with young Kiyoha, sold in the red-light district of Yoshiwara by her brother (I think?). While she’s walking to the house (let’s just call it that, okay?) she and the lady leading her pass by a grove of cherry blossom trees (sakura). She stops to look at them and is told by the lady to stop looking at the trees. In reply, Kiyoha tells the lady to shut up and look at the trees. This young girl is rebellious, and no matter how many times or how harshly she is punished, she never changes her ways. She picks fights, she talks back, never regretting what she had done nor does she run away from punishment. Right after being admitted, she also tries to run away and is caught by Seiji under a Sakura tree. There, Seiji promised Kiyoha that when the tree bloomed, he would take her out of the place. However, the tree had never once bloomed. She is quickly placed as Tomeki’s (the current/past Oiran) apprentice. Tomeki at first dislikes Kiyoha, and was the one to give her the name. Kiyoha yelled loudly she hated the name. It sounded like a plant. Tomeki only looked back at her. As time goes on, you notice Tomeki doesn’t dislike Kiyoha, she actually likes her. It is because of her fire and will to escape from the house. During the first few days, Kiyoha knocks over the Oiran’s goldfish bowl upon seeing Tomeki having sex with a customer. After Tomeki notices one of the fish has died, she scolds Kiyoha, telling her that a goldfish is only beautiful and will only be able to live in its bowl. As you will see, the goldfish is a metaphor to the Oiran and the prostitutes of the house. They can only survive if they stay there, because if they try to live, they will only become ugly and die.

…Just as an added notice, I don’t remember scenes much, I’m just typing what I remember, and I don’t remember names and faces. Oh, and the flower boy that pops up and gives Kiyoha a flower later on is Oguri Shun. I just found that interesting and wanted to share. Oh, and there’s a shower scene in the beginning somewhere that one should close their eyes on.

The movie then jumps to a scene where Tomeki is being sent off. The only way to escape the house is to get married off to a wealthy suitor. If you don’t, then you will have to stay in the house forever. As she is being sent off, she gives Kiyoha her hair pin, telling her to wear it after her first time. In a way, it is like Tomeki’s way of telling Kiyoha she will surely be the Oiran.

When Kiyoha is finally 17, she is put on display. Many people are interested in her, but during her first viewing, she ends up getting into a fight with another. Not many within the house like her. She’s too beautiful, a threat if you will. But slowly, she begins to rise to the top, taking her first customer. This customer is an old man, a regular of the Oiran that replaced Tomeki. Their first time meeting, she calls him a “big kid” since he was harassing her, and because of this, he leaves. He comes back the next night and Kiyoha finally has her first. Soon after (because I don’t remember what happens next) she meets a man named Soujiro, in which she falls in love with. Such love, unfortunately, is forbidden. For a prostitute to fall in love in her work, it is something beyond punishment. They begin to see each other everytime that they get. The Oiran sees this as a chance to crush her, so during the time she was supposed to see the customer, she called Kiyoha over to him so she would get in trouble. She had a spy of hers yell loudly that she was “powdering her nose” (code meaning she was with a lover) beyond the waiting customer’s door. The drunken customer stomped out, wandering through the other rooms in which other prostitutes and customers were engaging in sexual activity. Once the two were found, Soujiro, her first love, left. She went after him the next day in peasant’s clothing, but turned back after seeing him, and the two never saw each other again. Seiji, knowing of this, comforted her, but she tried again to hide her emotions.

After this, Kiyoha grows evermore in fame, taking on all sorts of customers. She still has her old ways, making other customers wait, taunting the ones she found interesting. She quickly became the Oiran, after the old one was well, getting old. Upon her procession, she caught the eye of a wealthy samurai. The two conversed, lashing at each other, and the Samurai offering her money. He then left, only to return to apologize for his behaviour. Soon after, he asked for her hand in marriage, but she replied she would leave when the sakura tree bloomed. So he brought her one and made an official announcement they were to be married at a banquet. At the banquet, Seiji went to talk with Kiyoha (now called something else, but I don’t remember), and told her he knew she was pregnant. She would have to abort it if she were to be married. She refused, and told her husband to be. He did not mind and said he would take her anyway. He would not take her in as a concubine, but as a wife. After he was done talking, she curled over in pain, suffering a miscarage.

Seiji at the same time is to marry the neice of the owner of the prostitute shop on the same day of Kiyoha’s leave. Upon hearing the news, Kiyoha is sad, but says nothing. She only continues to look at her fish.

In her last day of being an Oiran, the old man who was her first came again to see her and asked her why she was leaving this place. The sakura tree had not yet bloomed. Kiyoha replied that she had given up hope. There was no way a tree that had never bloomed, would now bloom for her. The old man told her not to give up hope, and died. Kiyoha went to see the Sakura tree and ran into Seiji on the way. They both look at the tree, and Kiyoha sighs and says it was impossible for the tree to bloom. However, Seiji moves to the left, and shows her two opened flowers. She laughs, and the two return to the grove where she had passed by as a child. In the last scene, the two are running through a field, happily. Kiyoha was finally able to find her true happiness.

Kiyoha is played by the singer Anna Tsuchiya and surprisingly, she does a wonderful job with the character. I myself have never read the manga, but her performance really makes me want to read the manga, although there’s only one volume thus far. If you’re a fan of Anna Tsuchiya, watch it. If you’re not a fan of Anna Tsuchiya, watch it. The movie really makes you think about what is more important. Is having material possessions important, or is finding your true happiness important? It’s about believing in yourself and choosing what will truly make you happy. If you have not watched this movie yet, I urge you to watch it. It’s a bit long, but absolutely worth it. As an added warning, there is mild nudity and quite a few sex scenes, so don’t watch it around your parents or if you have something against that. Another reason to watch it, it’s such an artistic film. The goldfish, the kimonos, the colours. They’re all just beautiful to look at, even if you’re not interested in the story, just the pictures themselves are worth watching. I’m sorry if I may have missed anything or may have written something that wasn’t even in the movie. I finished the movie just now, but it took me about an hour to write this one entry. Until next time!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sakuran
http://www.sakuran-themovie.com/