Mira was transfixed. She’d never had a music lesson. Her family couldn’t afford one. But that simple scale sounded like possibility .
Initially produced under the umbrella of Nikkatsu’s famous Roman Porno (romantic pornography) line, the film was ultimately rejected by the studio for being "too weird". Kurosawa subsequently partnered with the independent collective to finish and release it on November 3, 1985 . Today, it stands as a brilliant, nonsensical, Godardian exploration of 1980s youth culture, academic absurdity, and early cinematic experimentation. The Absurdist Plot and Campus Setting
While global audiences recognize as a master of slow-burn existential horror and modern J-horror ( Pulse , Cure ), his origins lie in the gritty, creative, and often restrictive world of Japanese pink eiga (softcore) and low-budget genre films. One of the most fascinating artifacts from this early period is the 1985 comedy-thriller-erotic hybrid: "The Excitement of the Do-Re-Mi-Fa Girl" (Japanese title: Dôremi-fa musume no chi wa sawagu , often referred to as The Blood of the Do-Re-Mi-Fa Girl Roars or Pumpkin Soup ).
At its core, the film is a simple story turned wonderfully upside-down. The plot follows Akiko, a naïve young country girl who travels to a bustling college in Tokyo with one mission: to find Yoshioka, her high school band heartthrob who promised her eternal love. Expecting a romantic reunion, she instead finds a campus in total chaos.
At its core, the film utilizes a familiar coming-of-age premise only to aggressively deconstruct it. The story tracks , a naive, eccentric country girl who travels to a Tokyo university campus in search of her high school sweetheart, Minoru Yoshioka (Kensô Katô) . Akiko believes they are destined to marry, but upon arrival, she discovers that Yoshioka has transformed from a passionate high school band leader into an elusive, shallow campus nobody who frequently skips his own classes. The Excitement of the Do Re Mi Fa Girl -1985 - ...
| Character | Actor | Role in the Chaos | | :--- | :--- | :--- | | | Yoriko Douguchi | The pure-hearted country girl looking for love in a sea of perversion | | Yoshioka | Unknown | The elusive rock-and-roll heartthrob she seeks, who has become a "campus nobody" | | Professor Hirayama | Jûzô Itami | The bizarre psychology professor with a comical, obsessive theory about shame and human sexuality | | Various Students | Usagi Asô, et al. | A sexually vibrant gaggle of misfits, including a "constantly horny coed," who live a life of experimental hedonism |
Before he became world-renowned for haunting psychological horror films like Cure (1997) and Pulse (2001), Kiyoshi Kurosawa was a young, rebellious director in his early 30s, cutting his teeth in the world of roman porno , a uniquely Japanese genre of softcore erotic films produced by the major studio Nikkatsu.
: Originally conceived as a Pinku Eiga (softcore porn) for Nikkatsu, the film was rejected by the studio for being "too weird" and flouting genre expectations.
Suggested angle for a longer article or liner notes Mira was transfixed
It reminds us that sometimes, the most profound art is the simplest. It reminds us that there is a thrill in the basics—the Do, the Re, the Mi, and the Fa. It was a time when a girl, a song, and a smile were enough to change the world, if only for the three minutes of a pop song.
The Excitement of the Do-Re-Mi-Fa Girl (1985)—also released under the title Bumpkin Soup —is an absurdist, satirical comedy that marks a fascinating early turn in director career. Long before he became a master of J-horror with classics like Cure , Kurosawa delivered this "Godardian" anthropological study on disaffected Japanese youth. Plot & Atmosphere
Originally conceived as a "roman porno" for the Nikkatsu studio, the film's working title was Joshidaisei Hazukashi Zeminaaru (A Coed Taking a Seminar on Shyness). However, Kurosawa, influenced by the French New Wave, ended up making something far too weird and not nearly lascivious enough. Nikkatsu refused to release it.
The film features striking, unconventional use of lighting, color, and framing, transforming mundane, cheap locations into something uniquely artistic. But that simple scale sounded like possibility
If you are interested in diving into this unique piece of Japanese film history, the film is often available on platforms like YouTube, providing a chance to see a master at the very beginning of his journey.
The story follows (played by Yoriko Doguchi), a country girl who arrives at a Tokyo university to find her high school crush, Yoshioka (Kenso Kato). Instead of a romantic reunion, she finds herself lost in a bizarre campus environment that feels like a "permanent festival". During her search, she encounters:
The year was 1985, and the air in Tokyo tasted like ozone and new plastic. Inside the cramped, book-stacked office of the University’s Musicology Department, Miki sat amidst a graveyard of metronomes.
Detail the directed by Kiyoshi Kurosawa.
She grabbed Yoshi’s hand and dashed into the hallway. The university had transformed. The stern portraits of former deans were vibrating in their frames. Students in the courtyard weren't walking; they were moving in synchronized, jagged bursts of jazz-ercise choreography.
: Characters often address the audience, frequently shot via re-photographed video monitors to create a grainy, detached aesthetic.