Jinroh Game ~ Lovers ~ 人狼ゲーム ラヴァーズ

Hmmm…Lovers…That is sure an interesting subtitle for the movie!

Yeah, chances are it has nothing at all to do with what I am thinking but hey, when has that ever stopped this brain of mine from having delusions!

So, here we have yet another entry in what is turning out to be a favourite movie series of mine. Sure they aren’t really out-of-the-closet kind of gay but the gems hidden in them are for everyone who is looking to find! And I don’t think I need to say if I fall into the looking bunch or not…I mean, my blog name…hello!

The first movie that got me into the series was of course Nanami and Seika’s entry. After that I kept keeping an eye out for them and my patience was not wasted it seems because not only did I find this but there is also another, whose post is to follow!

Jinroh Game is of course yet another Life game from Japan where only 1 gets to live and the reward is a million yen. Sometimes, and I have only seen it happen twice, more than one person can win but I don’t think they get the reward. They just get to live and play the next game!

This one in particular (Lovers), was actually more than just about subtext for me. For once I did not know what was going to happen. I kept coming up with scenarios that just kept being debunked! It even started with me being sceptical about Ranko and Hinata’s relationship.

Ah yes, Ranko is of course played by Furuhata Seika, whom we know of here as our Mahjong Club Captain from Saki JDrama/Movie. Meanwhile Hinata is played by Gravure Idol-become Actress Mizoguchi Megumi.

I had doubts about these two, especially when it came to Hinata. I thought she was lying and only using the situation as a tactic to prey on Ranko and use her to win the game. But that wasn’t the case. She was actually sick with cancer. She was so bad that she only had a few unknown days to live. She had given up all hope of being cured but when presented with this chance win a million yen, she couldn’t resist hanging onto that chance to live!

Given her impossible story you can’t blame me for thinking that she was lying. And so with that mindset, every moment these two had (and there were quite a few of those) I only saw them at face value because I was waiting that inevitable betrayal to happen on either side but I was wrong. I was so wrong!

I say on either side because Ranko also had her own story and hers was about her family going into bankruptcy. But for Ranko’s story I am still left unsure because of two things. One she threw away the watch her beloved father gave to her. Next, towards the end, she offered up her sister as participant in the next game (you can also offer up someone else for your freedom). So, if she really loved her family so much and she got into this game to help them, why then do these things? They are contradictory!

But leaving that on the side, These two’s emotions that they developed here were real. Even if by some reason one thinks that Hinata was lying she still sacrificed herself so that Ranko could win! She have up her life for Ranko! They were this close to being discovered and the only way to throw smell off of them was for Hinata to die at Ranko’s hands.

That scene was just so painful to watch. You could see just how hurting Ranko was when she told those lies in order to give up Hinata as the next victim. And Hinata, god, a human has never looked so magnificent. There she was, smiling and content despite death waiting for her seconds away. And even in the face of everyone she did not mind going to Ranko and comforting her. Caressing her cheek, imploring her to win this fuckin game and live!

And Ranko did just that! She killed everyone, even the other girl that survived along with her. She pushed her off that roof without giving a single fuck! Then she was off to collect her million bucks.

So yes, we have a BAD END here but it is expected of this series. Were they both to live they would have just had to play the next game and even then Hinata was already living on borrowed time. Their future was doomed from the beginning so I have no qualms with that.

But really, does it matter that much how much time they spend together? The short time they had as they played this game was enough. They met, they loved. That is all there is to it no matter how long you live! They had even made plans to go out on a date when the game was over but really, we knew that would never happen. Their characters (in the game) were that chances of them being the remaining two were zero.

No, I am just happy that they met. They loved and Hinata was strong enough to show that in front of everyone, unlike the next movie coming up. Hinata finally made purpose of her death instead of just dying of cancer just like that and Ranko found someone that was willing to give up their life for her. And I have it on good ground that this was both their first time falling in love so there is that too!

Tragic but magnificent non the less!

Watch it if you haven’t yet…

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GEDDIT

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Same OP as a certain other Jinroh movie ^^