(Jmovie Review) 12 Suicidal Teens

Original title: Jyuni Nin no Shinitai Kodomotachi 

(十二人の死にたい子どもたち)

Director: Yukihiko Tsutsumi

Writer: Tow Ubukata (novel), Yutaka Kuramochi

Producer: Nobuyuki Iinuma, Miho Kobayashi

Cinematographer: Shigetomo Madarame

Release date: January 25, 2019

Run time: 118 minutes

Genre: Mystery/ suspense

Distributor: Warner Bros, Japan

Casts:

Mahiro Takasugi as Satoshi

Yuto Fuchino as Kenichi

Kotone Furukawa as Mitsue

Kana Hashimoto as Ryoko

Mackenyu Arata as Shinjiro

Yuina Kuroshima as Meiko

Hana Sugisaki as Anri

Riku Hagiwara as Takahiro

Takumi kitamura as Nobue

Ryota Bando as Seigi

Ai Yoshikawa as Mai

Aisa Takeuchi as Yuki

Committing suicide seems to be something common in Japan. I read s novel long time ago, a thriller novel entitled The Scheduled SuicideDay. In the novel, the main character decided to end her life after what happened with her family: her beloved mother passed away and her father remarried her secretary. Not long after that, her father passed away, too. She assumed that there must be a murderer involved in their death. Instead of revealing the truth, she decided to go someplace known as a ‘good’ place to die.

While watching the movie a few days ago, I couldn’t help remembering the novel: a teenager wanted to die and went to a place to end her life. Similar to the main character in the book, 12 teens in this movie got a direction to an abandoned hospital to end their lives.

Meeting to have a 'compromise' to commit suicide

Satoshi is the man behind the plan. He posted an announcement about committing suicide together (does it mean that doing that together would be more fun or something? 😔😔😔). All the 12, or maybe the 11 teens came to an abandoned hospital on certain day, date and time. After they got to the hospital, they had to take the smallest number showing their arrival. After that, they gathered in a room full of beds (hospital-like-beds) and a big table in the middle. Before they did the ritual (of committing suicide), Satoshi asked the guests to introduce themselves. Hmmm… maybe later after they died, they could greet each other by name in their-after-life. Lol. Satoshi had a rule that if they had some disagreements, they must compromise until all of them agreed on the same thing.

One disagreement followed by another disagreement, plus there was a dead body occupying one of the beds. If she committed suicide, she must have done it alone. But, there should be only 12 invited teens. All invited teens were present at that time. Satoshi confirmed it by showing the list he made. Was she murdered and sent to the abandoned hospital? They couldn’t help accusing each other who the murderer was. While solving the mystery, they revealed their true calling of why they wanted to commit suicide.

According to Wikipedia, Japan has the major national social issue about suicide. In 2015, Japan ranked the third after Republic of Korea and Hungary. The first reason why the Japanese people have a tendency to commit suicide is the unemployment, social pressure and depression. Since the 12 of them were teen, I don’t think they have problems with unemployment. The second and the third reason might be possible for them to do so. Bullying, domestic violence and self-guilty might be the main reason for most of them to commit suicide. I watched several Japanese movies/ drama about bullying, and read some books, too. Some victims couldn’t cope with their current situation and they could only choose to end their suffer.

From what I watched in the movie, I think some characters felt a bit doubtful to end their lives. Some others couldn’t wait any longer. Some have reserved characters, while some others have the opposite. I don’t know what came to their mind for coming to the site after they ‘registered’ themselves to die. What do they expect from dying together in such a place? What do they expect on how they would end their lives? Euthanasia? Excessive pills consumption? Or any other?

At first, I wonder why the writer of the synopsis wanted to film such story. Aside from the amazing casts, is there any ‘message’ he wanted to deliver from the movie? I’m sure that there would be a lot of viewers who want to watch the movie since the casts are popular actors. If the topic is about committing suicide, would there be any more people who want to do the same thing?

The first ten minute-watching, I thought I would find something thrilling. When those twelve teens gathered, I guess there would be something like competition who would kill who, like the one in The Hunger Games or Battle Royale. Instead, I found that those motivated-to-die-teens had a mystery to solve about the dead body in the room. Some of them seemed excelled in some fields. They could investigate the problems with their own way. It would be such a pity if such talent went to waste.

Last but not least, the beginning of the movie is a bit boring with too many chats among them. Or maybe I was not in a good mood watching the movie since I expected too much. But, I’m glad that there is a message at the end of the movie. Don’t forget to watch the movie with your open mind. If you have a problem, find someone to listen to you.

Live your life to the fullest, minna-san. You have a long unexpected journey in your life. Enjoy the ride.

Note:
Spoilers alert 😁
1. What if there was no dead body in the room?
2. What if Shinjiro were not a part of these teens?
3. What if Satoshi didn't gather them in that place?

Another unimportant note 😁😁
Mahiro Takasugi as Satoshi met Aisa Takeuchi as Yuki. I don't feel the vibe of Takane and Hana. But to see them both in this movie reminds me of the two of them.

Mackenyu Arata doesn't really look good in his role in this movie. I love his role in Todome no Kiss. He nailed his role there. I want to see him in more antagonist roles. 😆

Hana Sugisaki, as usual, performed well. She is sharp as always. I love her in her long hair.

Takumi Kitamura as Nobuo has a calm personality. Why would he want to end his life?

Kana Hashimoto, pretty as always, why do I always remember her in comedy movies? Say, Saiki Kusuo and Gintama? LOL.

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