Cherry Girl | |
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Directed by | Shuta Takahata |
Written by | Osamu Suzuki |
Produced by | Max Matsuura Chiba Ryuhei Araki Takashi Hayashi Shinji Nagata Yoshihisa Andrew Caporale |
Starring | Kumi Koda MEGUMI Yuko Ito |
Music by | Kumi Koda |
Distributed by | Rhythm Zone Avex Entertainment |
Release date |
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Country | Japan |
Language | Japanese |
Cherry Girl is a Japanese action drama film featuring Japanese singer-songwriter Kumi Koda and actresses MEGUMI and Yuko Ito. It was directed by Shuta Takahata (The Hotel Venus) and is written by Osamu Suzuki (Love Com, Hito Ni Yasashiku and smaSTATION). The film was scored by Koda Kumi's studio album Black Cherry and was featured on the second DVD of the album. [1]
Kumi Koda, the main focus of the film, released a music video centered around the film's theme on her Cherry Girl/Unmei single. [2]
Cherry Girl centers around three female bartenders, who use the bar to run a private detective agency. Kumi (Koda Kumi), Meg (MEGUMI) and Yu (Yuko Ito) play agents who work as private investigators for an unseen man named Goro (Goro Inagaki). He contacts the three women via Vodafone cell phone to give them job orders.
The film opens with a bar scene of the women serving their customers, alongside a conversation Kumi, Yu and Meg are having, talking about past love interests. Kumi tells them that during one of her relationships, she had found a hair in the man's bed, which did not belong to her, and broke up with the man a week later. The scene is played back-to-back with the bar scene and an action scene of the trio. Meg alerts the other two of a suspicious character entering the bar, who they find had a pocket knife.
Later, as the women are getting massages, Goro gives the trio a job order by a woman named Mari, played by Mari Hoshino, who believes her fiancé, M. Hotta (Jai West), is having affairs with multiple people, and wants the women to get him to stop the affairs before they are married. She says how she is mainly suspicious of Hotta's secretary, Rie Fumiko (Ishida Hiroyasu).
Kumi watches Hotta and Rie exit an office building, relaying the information to Meg and Yu. She sends a picture via cellphone as Hotta sits in the back seat and Rie takes a seat in the front. She takes on several disguises as she follows the duo, failing to come up with evidence of him cheating. Failing to gain any information over the course of a week, the trio discusses the case, now believing Hotta to be "perfect." Still wanting to please their customer, the trio decide to crash a party Hotta will be attending, which hosts many celebrities.
Kumi and Yu stake out the event and see Hotta enter with Rie. Kumi begins a conversation with Hotta, during which Yu bumps into him and drops her hand bag. As she and Hotta exchange apologies, she takes the opportunity to swipe his cell phone and his wallet. Afterwards, Kumi meets Takeda (Shinji Takeda). Once the trio return to the bar, Kumi tells Meg and Yu that it was "love at first sight" and he gave her a token to remember him. The other women are skeptical, but Kumi defends her feelings. Goro then calls, asking if there has been any success with Mari's investigation, to which they admit they have not found anything. Before he hangs up, Kumi asks him what he thinks about true love, where he tells her that a meeting is controlled by destiny. It is then revealed that Kumi had met Goro when she had a private investigator (Lou Oshiba) investigate a past love interest. When the P.I rejected her, not believing her boyfriend to be having an affair, Goro overheard and offered her information and a job opportunity.
Afterwards, Kumi sees Mari and Takeda out in public together and Meg is curious as to why Takeda, Hotta's vice president, would take Mari to Hotta's office. After the trio discover Mari and Takeda are trying take over the company, they talk to Hotta, who asks them to find the truth to save his company. When they break into Hotta's office, they find Takeda and Mari. Mari tries to escape, but Yu stops her and mocks the fact that Mari thought her manipulation would work. The trio fight Takeda and, after he falls, Mari places herself over him to protect him. She explains that, as Hotta's company grew, Takeda was pushed off to the side, so she tried to frame Hotta as having multiple lovers so he would have to give up the company due to bad publicity. Kumi tells her that, by manipulating both Hotta and Takeda, she is hurting Takeda and it would be best to tell the truth.
The film then shows the trio at their bar, discussing the revelations made about Mari betraying Hotta, and Goro congratulates them on a job well done. After they say goodbye, the trio talk about the job and Goro. As they talk, a scene is shown where Rie Fumiko runs into Goro, with him only recognizing her after she has walked away. It is learned that Hotta knew the girls were following him and of the tracking devices they were using to target him due to his secretary relaying the information to him each time. As it had turned out, everyone, sans the trio and Goro, was in the scheme. Hotta calls Takeda and tells him how everything worked out, while Mari smiles in the background. They had set Kumi, Yu and Meg up and, while they were in Hotta's office fighting Takeda, an explosive was placed in their vehicle, which exploded as they approached. [3]
The film was scored by Koda Kumi's sixth studio album, Black Cherry. The film was released on the second DVD to the album. Kumi worked alongside arrangers and producers Daisuke "D.I" Imai, h-wonder, Octopussy (who most notably worked with Soulhead), alongside others. [4]
Some of the a-sides used in the album were "Juicy", "Cherry Girl" and "Won't Be Long".
The film made its debut on Kumi Koda's album Black Cherry around the holiday season on December 20, 2006. It never received a television or theatrical release. The total sales reached over one million. [5]
Cherry Girl received generally positive reviews upon its release from fans. Some fans critiqued the film for being too similar to Charlie's Angels and the hokey acting, while others said it was an "enjoyable flick, though there are no subtitles." [6]
Kumiko Kōda, known professionally as Koda Kumi, is a Japanese singer from Kyoto, known for her urban and R&B songs.
"No Regret" is an R&B song by singer-songwriter Koda Kumi. The song debuted on the Oricon charts at No. 4, remaining on the charts for twelve weeks. The single made it the eighth release for her 12 Singles Collection, and, unlike the majority of the singles, was not limited to 50,000 copies. This was one of three that were not limited, the other being the first single in the collection, you, and the final single, Someday/Boys♥Girls.
"Koi no Tsubomi" (恋のつぼみ / Bud of Love) is Koda Kumi's 31st solo under the Rhythm Zone label. It was the first single to bring in the new era after Best ~second session~. The single was released in CD and CD+DVD and charted at No. 2 on Oricon, selling over 140,000 copies in its first week and staying on the charts for twenty-one weeks. It became the highest selling song debut for a female artist, until Ayumi Hamasaki surpassed it with her single Blue Bird, which came out a month later on June 21.
4 Hot Wave is the 32nd single by Japanese singer Koda Kumi, released through Rhythm Zone on July 26, 2006. The singles contains the quadruple A-side tracks "Ningyo-Hime", "I'll Be There", "Juicy", and "With Your Smile". All four songs were included on Kumi's fifth studio album Black Cherry, released in December 2006.
Black Cherry is Koda Kumi's fifth studio album and first original album since secret (2005). It charted at No. 1 on Oricon, continuing the artist's streak and staying at No. 1 for one month. It remained on the charts for sixty weeks. It was released in CD, CD+DVD and CD+2DVD, with the latter being a limited edition that carried her movie debut Cherry Girl. The entire film's score was from the album.
Cherry Girl / Unmei(運命 / Fate) is Koda Kumi's 34th single under the Rhythm Zone label. This was her last single released before the release of her 2006 album, Black Cherry. The single charted No. 2 on the Oricon charts.
Kingdom is the sixth studio album by Japanese singer-songwriter Kumi Koda. It was released on January 30, 2008, a week after her single anytime. The album debuted at No. 1 on the Oricon Weekly Charts with sales of 421,302. It remained on the charts for thirty-three weeks. The album was released in four editions: CD, CD+DVD, CD+2DVD and CD+2DVD+Poster, with limited editions of all versions carrying the bonus track Black Cherry.
Trick is the seventh studio album released by J-pop singer-songwriter Kumi Koda. The album continued her No. 1 streak and stayed on the Oricon charts for twenty-nine weeks. It was released on January 28, 2009, and came in CD and CD+2DVD with the latter being a limited edition and the second DVD containing her Live DVD "Koda Kumi Special Live "Dirty Ballroom" ~One Night Show~". The limited editions of both versions carried the bonus track "Venus," originally released by Shocking Blue in 1969.
Eternity ~Love & Songs~ is the first cover album by Japanese pop-R&B singer-songwriter Kumi Koda. It contains hip-hop and electronic arrangements of many older Japanese songs released between 1970 and 1990. The album charted at No. 3 on Oricon and remained on the charts for fourteen weeks. The release of the album was also to celebrate Koda Kumi's ten years as an artist.
"Ai o Tomenaide" (愛を止めないで / Don't Stop the Love) is the 51st single by pop/R&B singer/songwriter Koda Kumi. It was released on September 21, 2011 in three separate editions: CD only, CD only [Second Virgin Edition] and CD+DVD. The single peaked at #6 on the Oricon Singles Charts. The "Second Virgin Edition" remained on the charts for fourteen weeks, while the standard edition remained on the charts for eight weeks.
Beach Mix is Koda Kumi's sixth remix album, out August 1, 2012. It is her first album to feature a playbutton - the album contained on an mp3 player in a button. It comes in three editions: CD, CD+DVD and CD+DVD+Playbutton. Beach Mix became her highest charting remix album, coming in at #4 on Oricon and staying on the charts for seven weeks.
Koda Kumi Live Tour 2006–2007 ~Second Session~ is the third concert tour DVD by Japanese singer-songwriter Koda Kumi. It became her third concert DVD to chart at No. 1 on Oricon.
Live Tour 2007 ~Black Cherry~ Special Final in Tokyo Dome, is Koda Kumi's seventh concert video. It reached No. 1 on the Oricon DVD charts and remained on the charts for twenty-four weeks. It sold a total of 105,712 copies in 2008.
10th Anniversary: Fantasia in Tokyo Dome is the 11th live DVD released by Japanese singer Koda Kumi, released on March 18, 2011.
Koda Kumi has released more than 170 music videos since her debut in 2000. In other visual media, she has made four cameos: one in the Square Enix video game Final Fantasy X-2 as the character Lenne, one in the 2004 film Cutie Honey singing "The Theme of Sister Jill," one in the 2006 drama Busu no Hitomi ni Koishiteru, and one in the 2011 re-make of the Korean drama You're Beautiful, Ikemen desu ne. Kumi starred in the film Cherry Girl in 2006, a 52-minute movie filmed for her 2006 album, Black Cherry. She also acted in the 2007 film Saiyūki, the feature film version of the 2006 drama Saiyūki.
Hall Tour 2014: Bon Voyage, is Koda Kumi's 13th concert video and coincides with her album Bon Voyage. It reached No. 3 on the Oricon DVD charts and stayed on the charts for 8 weeks. It was her first tour since Secret First Class Limited Live to not carry the prelude of "Live Tour," this time carrying "Hall Tour."
Koda Kumi Live Tour 2017 ~W Face~ is a live concert DVD by Japanese singer-songwriter Koda Kumi, and coincides with her studio albums W Face ~Inside~ and W Face ~Outside~. The DVD was released a month before tour concluded on January 28, 2018. It peaked at No. 2 on the Oricon live charts and remained on the charts for twelve weeks.
DNA is the fifteenth studio album by the Japanese singer Koda Kumi, released on August 22, 2018, six months after her previous studio album, AND, making it her second album of 2018.
Koda Kumi Live Tour 2019 re(Live) -Black Cherry- is a live concert video released by Japanese singer-songwriter Koda Kumi on March 11, 2020. It was released the same day as her live DVD Koda Kumi Live Tour 2019 re(Live) -Japonesque-, since both concerts were performed alongside each other during her 2019 touring. The DVD charted at No. 10 on the Oricon weekly charts, while the Blu-ray charted at No. 15.
Koda Kumi Live Tour 2019 re(Live) -Japonesque- is a live concert video released by Japanese singer-songwriter Koda Kumi on March 11, 2020. It was released the same day as her live DVD Koda Kumi Live Tour 2019 re(Live) -Black Cherry-, since both concerts were performed alongside each other during her 2019 touring. The DVD charted at No. 11 on the Oricon weekly charts, while the Blu-ray charted at No. 16.