Movie: Cafe Isobe (2008)

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Plot:
Sakiko is a typical teenager in many ways. She hates her divorced father, who chases after every skirt he sees. She does not know, if she will ever be loved by the other sex. When her dad suddenly inherits a lot of money and becomes really lazy, she hates him even more. He finally decides to start his own cafe, where Sakiko, of course has to help. From this moment, strange customers and good-looking waitresses form the center of tension between father and daughter.

Credit: Asian Media Wiki

Cast:
Miyasako Hiroyuki, Naka Riisa, Aso Kumiko, Hamada Mari, Wada Toshihiro, Saito Yosuke, Kondo Haruna, Mickey Curtis

Comments:
I assumed that this movie was going to be a comedy, but it wasn't so much which is probably why this isn't going to be a keeper. Don't get me wrong, it's a good movie, but probably not something I'd watch again.

 (Latte art that inspired the opening of Cafe Isobe... kind of haha)

The description of the movie was a bit misleading. Sakiko (Naka) doesn't necessarily hate her father, she just doesn't like how he lives his life, but she does care for him. Also, the strange customers that come in aren't so much the center of tension between Sakiko and her father, in fact, the strange customers weren't really THAT strange as what the trailer suggested. Though most of the customers were guys and pretty much a bunch of pervs, but that's another side of the story.

 

(Family picture to commemorate the Grand Opening)

 (Cafe uniform)

There were a lot of awkward silences and awkward moments where I'm thinking "ok... this is weird, why'd they add this in." I can't really explain it without spoiling the story, so I won't get into it in more detail.

I do like the small details in the movie that have no reflection to the movie whatsoever. Like in the end, there was a scene where Moko offered Sakiko a piece of her giant Dorayaki. It's so random, it doesn't affect the story, yet it was added in there and it was hilarious to me.

I'm not much of a Naka Riisa fan, so I was a bit hesitant to watch the movie, but lately I've started to lighten up on her. I think the only thing I didn't like about her was the whole Zeebra Queen thing. I thought it was pretty lame and I remember when she performed on some music show, i cant remember which one, for sure not Music Station, when they were going for an interview with her on stage, she walked off before they could talk to her. Im sure she didnt do it on purpose, but it was a "WTF" moment.

Anyways....