Rise Up

Nakajima Ryo, who burst onto the scene with the original and refreshing This World of Ours (2007), which was immensely popular on the film festival circuit, is a promising young director that I assumed would be bold with his film-making. Being a fan of his freshman feature, I naturally was quick to pick up his sophomore effort. Rise Up disappoints in every way possible. While This World of Ours was fresh, original, and powerful, Rise Up is a complete departure, resulting in a film that is overly clich� and suffers from the pitfalls of mainstream conformity. I predicted the entire movie within the first 10 minutes and the film turned into a comedy for me as every prediction came true.Wataru (Hayashi Kento) is standing at the top of a huge hill, enjoying the beautiful scenery before jumping off and paragliding down as his friend, Hiroya (Taiga), films him. Before touching down, a girl, Rui (Yamashita Rio), walks in Wataru’s path, causing him to crash land in an unexpected way. Hiroya is angry and continuously yells at Rui, but Wataru quickly realizes that she is blind and accepts the situation.The three meet again soon after, initiating a “job” of sorts in which the two boys lead Rui around town as if they are her “seeing-eye dogs.” They soon find that she is difficult to handle, though Wataru seems to develop a liking to her. It is soon discovered that the two boys work for Rui’s brother (Aoki Munetaka) at an amusement park as mascot animals, initiating a few comedic scenes. Life continues and friendship develops until certain memories come to light and expose a tragic incident that occurred in the past.