Hospitality Department (2013)

This movie felt like a promotional movie, which wouldn't be a bad thing if they were subtle about it. A lot of times it felt like watching a documentary, the dialogs aren't impressive and pretty preachy. This movie is pretty slow thats for sure but somehow it didn't feel draggy. It's probably for the side characters, mainly Kiyoto-san's family that managed to spice things up, otherwise the rest is dull.

I like Funakoshi Eiichiro here. He's the only character that felt natural and is playing a cool character ahead of its time. The rest was pretty standard. This movie motivates more to look up Kora Kengo movies :P For that reason I don't feel that I wasted my time watching this movie.

The music.. I didn't notice it AT ALL!

I don't really recommend for any value that I found in the movie, but if you are a fan of any of those actors, it's worth the watch ;)

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In the Japanese prefecture Koichi opens a new devision called "Hospitality devision". They are responsible to make the prefecture more admirable to visitors and should think about how to get more tourists to come to this prefecture. To make that happen, Kakemizu starts to get one famous star, who was born there, to represent the prefecture and talk good about it on TV - and who would've known that this famous guy would actually be the key to the success of the hospitality division! He somehow leads Kakemizu to a famous travel agent and with the new part time employee Myoujin they work hard for a better Koichi.

Actually, I sometimes felt like I was watching some advertisement. But it wasn't one that's boring. They really brought out the best of both, the story and Koichi. Of course I wanted to watch it because of Nishikido Ryo. His character was cute, but nothing special. Even the other characters weren't that great. But that also wasn't really the point of the story. It is a part of the story, and that's what makes me like this movie so much. It's kind of an advertisement, mixed with some real life stories. It could be some documentary on TV, just that this one is really based on a book. I won't say that this movie doesn't have flaws. It sometimes indeed is boring and in all honesty, even though the story is heartwarming, it's not all that exciting. It's one of those flowing, calm Japanese stories, that you are able to enjoy after a tough day at work.

Meaning, if you are okay with watching Horikita Maki. Her character this time was exceptionally pure. I wasn't against that, since it fit the story, but seeing her act like that again and again makes it hard to watch her after some time...

Anyway, for the acting of Ryo and the good mix of Koichi and story, I'll give this 4*. I really enjoyed watching a part of Japan that I haven't experienced myself yet - but I'll definitely go there.

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