'Perfect Days' – finding serenity in the urban world on Hulu
Perfect Days (Japan, 2023) is as serene and gentle a film as you may ever see, yet it casts a spell in its quiet portrait of a man who has chosen to live a simple existence in the midst of Tokyo.
Living in a small, sparsely-furnished apartment, Hirayama (Koji Yakusho) has settled into an easy rhythm of life that begins with a morning can of coffee from the machine outside his home. He listens to…
Hirayama cleans public toilets in Tokyo, lives his life in simplicity and daily tranquility. Some encounters also lead him to reflect on himself.
I can relate to the notion that you don't need much to enjoy life, especially not a lot of material things. Every job is important and can be done with dedication. Consciously observing nature and your surroundings can be rewarding. And Wenders makes his point well.
As a movie it's still a bit of a challenge. The performance of Koji Yakusho makes it easier to continue watching.
That Hirayama listens to nothing but rock and soul classics feels a bit much like channeling Wenders' personal interest.
Side note, things are on average probably different in Tokyo compared with other global metropolises. But even before cleaning this must be the cleanest public toilets ever. Though architecturally they're worth a guided tour.
🆕�� 「 越後瞽女(えちご ごぜ) 」 new single by Sayuri Ishikawa is now available worldwide! 🌐
Listen now and discover new sounds from Japan on our weekly updated playlist 🎧 https://spoti.fi/3lgjH73
Okay I still have to fix some anatomy and clean up stuff (I wanna do a full outline and color for them), BUT HERE IS A WIP OF LUPIN IV CHARACTERS.
Left to Right
Renee Lupin (her brother and her are hawaiian/french/japanese) (older twin, uses a magnum most of the time, other times uses brass knuckles) (while both her and her brother were thieves, he was more of an artist about it and she was way more seedier when she went solo. pissed off too many people eventually and had both Interpol and many criminal organizations on her ass. the better shot between the two, she doesn't piss off as many people as she used to now lol)
Lupin IV (weapon of choice is a Walther PPK) (younger twin, won the Lupin name in the end(Renee wanted to claim his name) during a few years of him and his sister being rivals from the ages of 17-24. he saved her life from when she flew too close to the sun and they both became partners after that) (both love the thrill of being a thief, he prides himself in doing things his own way)
Haru Archer (Jamaican/Japanese) (ex-mercenary for hire that was trying to rise up the ranks in the mafia that hired him. his deceased dad was friends with Daisuke Jigen, both used to be some of the top snipers in the business and that carried over to Haru, who is a great sniper and good at hand to hand combat to fend off people that try to flank him. He originally just took this job because he knew he had a skill for shooting and wanted to support his family, but his huge extended family cut off ties with him when they found out he was killing people for a living. Misses his estranged siblings a lot. Joined the Lupin gang after he failed to kill Renee, who his boss had old beef with and tried to kill him for his failure. Renee kept him from getting killed and the two sparked a respect and rivalry for their skills with guns. Joined because of her, becomes Lupin IV's best bro later.)
Ryoichi Ishikawa (Japanese and literally the baby of the kids and the shortest. he's actually not in a life of crime or anything like that in in anyway, he's the youngest brother of Goemon Ishikawa XIV, and is majoring in Japanese History and Mythos, along with minors in world history. He wants to be a professor, and although he doesn't understand the route his brother went, he respects it since it's how their dad was and keeps in touch with his older brother. Sometimes gets dragged into Lupin IV bs and groans about it. Not much of a fighter but knows how to use a gun enough to not get killed.)
Goemon Ishikawa XIV (Japanese as well, older brother of Ryoichi. didn't inherit the zantetsuken, actually earned it in a duel with his father. took many years to achieve, though, his dad whooped his ass a lot LOL. while walking a similar fashioned path as his father, he also tries to understand all the strange choices his whole family has made. half of them were bodyguards for hire, which made sense, but some of them (especially his dad) would take part in stealing from others. he has a bit of a black and white mindset for a while until he meets lupin twins on his path of self discovery, he is set to kill them. he never really respected or understood the legacy or man of lupin iii even tho he only vaguely remembers meeting him twice as a child, so he has about as much less respect for his kids as well. after failing a month of killing him, the people who hired him put a hit on goemon as a lesson for being a 'piss poor hire'. he had been pretty well keeping up with lupin twins, they just happened to get lucky every time in not dying. after a big fight breaks out and he takes down a lot of guys, he still gets his ass kicked to the teeth and lupin iv and renee save him. while he's healing him and lupin iv have a big enlightening talk that i have saved somewhere but i dont wanna write this longer than it is atm lol. it basically ends in him finding a newfound respect for them and ends up joining them a lot, tho he still goes off to do his own thing too)
Sayuri Mine (is this her real name? who knows lol, both her and her sister are cheeky like that) (Japanese, youngest Mine sister and a world infamous jewel thief. She does espionage from time to time with her sister, she's very much like her mother in many ways but also a bit different. For example, she doesn't backstab nearly as much as Fujiko since she's a tad more sentimental though she keeps things interesting and still likes to come out on top of everyone. Easier that way to protect yourself. She had met the Lupin twins briefly here and there as kids but totally forgot about that since she didn't pay it much mind, and ran into them again when Renee and Lupin IV had just started teaming up as adults. She ended up getting way with a famous painting over them since her appearance seemed to throw them off, much to Renee's annoyance. Ever since then she found their partnership intriguing and would get roped into things, Lupin IV enjoying how much of a wild card she could be.)
Kiyomi Mine (japanese, older sister of Sayuri and more of a spy than a thief. She prides herself in her work and wishes to be the best of the best in the espionage business. Same age as the Lupin twins, her and Renee have an interesting rapport even though Yomi always calls her out whenever Renee is bitching at Sayuri. she cannot stand lupin iv most of the time, thinks he has a head up his ass and is going to get her sister hurt. sometimes teams up with the lupin gang (mostly initiated by her little sister dragging her into it), always is dressed in a fashionable suit and is pretty versatile in many weapons.)
Kiyoko Zenigata (Japanese. Might have an older sister, still working on that idea, but she has taken the route of going to interpol in a similar fashion to her father, but she isn't an Interpol agent because of the Lupin twins. She became one after showing explementary work in Japan and was invited to join Interpol. A good chunk of her superiors do respect her and she does have people when she takes over a new Lupin taskforce that respect her, but it wasn't easy. She was originally given the new Lupin case as a joke that she wasn't very happy about, she wanted nothing to do with the name Lupin (even tho Lupin saved her as a child, and she had a soft respect for him); she thought it was ridiculous because she was a Zenigata that she got stuck with two brats living it up off their dumb father's name. Eventually after catching them the first time, she realizes it's not like that and has a new resolve to catch them for good. She sees a challenge to take that is worthy of her attention and goes for it. Kiyoko is very headstrong and has a huge resolve just like her father, although she actually has more of a life outside of her than he does. But she takes the case very seriously and puts her everything into it.
She's a divorced single mom to a teenage boy as well. The oldest of the whole group.)
THE IDOLM@STER CINDERELLA GIRLS UNIT LIVE TOUR ConnecTrip!
Further information regarding the CINDERELLA GIRLS UNIT TOUR live has been revealed! The tour will span a mini live once a month from JANUARY 2024 until JUNE 2024. Each stop will feature three units performing.
The voice actresses participating in this stop are as follows: