30年前のトマトと映画【パトレイバー】｜A tomato from 30 years ago　and　The "Patlabor" movie

-There is an English translation at the bottom of the text-

マイルール

noteに初めて映画のことを書いた文章【サブスタンス】はたまごと鶏とシャイニング🍳でも軽く触れたのだが…
映画を観る時、noteの文章を書く時のわたしのマイルール》は…

映画のはなしの前に《わたし》のはなし

ブリトーとチキンラーメン

ブリトーが美味しくて、数年に1度お店に行く程度だった。しかしながら最近はほぼ毎日メキシカンを食べている。なんなら短いスパンで同じ店に通うのが恥ずかしくて、2号店を構えるお店に交互に通うほどだ。笑
そしてお店の味では飽き足らず、トマト・セロリ・玉ねぎ・ピーマンなどが入ったサルサソースという名の〈ほぼサラダ〉のソースをボールいっぱいに作り…。1週間ほどで食べきっては、また作るというルーティーンを1か月近く続けている。

自分でもドン引きである。が、止まらないのだ。関西でも関東でも、どこか出かけることがあればその場所の「地名+メキシカン」で調べて初めてのお店も一人で開拓するほどである。

なんでここまでメキシカンに憑りつかれたのか…。最初は全く覚えていない。気が付いたらこの状態だったのである。そもそも、好きな食べ物は毎日でも食べても飽きないほうだが…。今までを振り返ると2週間もしたら飽き始めていたのが、おさまる気配がない。どうしたもんかと思いつつも、お店開拓も楽しいし…。味も飽きる気配が全くないので、行きつくところまで行ってみたいと思いながら今日もメキシカンを食べようと思っている笑

野菜たっぷりのメキシカンはどれだけ食べても罪悪感はないが…。
小さいころから食に関しては厳しく育ち、ファストフードなんてもってのほかで…。初めて食べたマクドナルドのポテトのおいしさに度肝を抜かれたのは小学生近くなってからだったと思う。そんな我が家になぜか段ボールケースで常備されていたのが、〈らーめんですかい〉だった。スナック菓子と共に売られているブタメンと同じ程度の大きさのカップ麺でJALから出ている。

食には厳しい家だったはずなのに…。一体何でこれだけジャンキーなものが、家にストックされていたのかは定かではない。ただ予想するに、わたしが生まれる前に海外出張の多かった母。「機内で食べた味が忘れられなかったのではないか」と想像する。わたしがもらえたのは、ほんの数口だったがあまりの美味しさにびっくりした。中高生になって丸々1個食べた時には「大人になった」と感動さえした。笑

さらに羊たちの沈黙で少し書いた日本最西端の島、与那国島を訪れた時に食べたものの中で印象が強いのは、（対比がすごいが…）チキンラーメンとカジキマグロの頭だ。民宿に耐えかねて移った先で、小学校4年生の春休み人生で初めてチキンラーメンを食べた。ほかにも自分たちで釣った魚を、てんぷらにしてもらったり、獲れたカニを大きな鍋で湯がいて食べたり…。とっても贅沢な時間だったのにも関わらず、わたしの印象に残ったのは〈チキンラーメンのおいしさ〉だった。

中学校3年生の時に映画館で初めて【崖の上のポニョ】を観た。まだ3.11の震災の前で津波の描写と被ることはなかったはずなのに波に乗って現れるポニョの姿に狂気を感じた。隣でその狂気を目の当たりにし爆笑していた母に「なんでこの怖さに笑えるのだろうと」白い目を向けたのを鮮明に覚えている。

【崖の上のポニョ】を観てからかもしれないが…わたしは台風が来ると楽しくなる。もしかしたらチキンラーメンを食べられるっ。と無意識に思うからかもしれない。【崖の上のポニョ】出てくる主人公の男の子《宗介》の母《リサ》は山口智子さんが声優をされていて、とってもかっこいい。彼女が悪天候の日に宗介とポニョにインスタントラーメンを作ってくれるのだ。あのシーンを観るためだけに、【崖の上のポニョ】を観ているといってもいいくらいだろう。

わたしは雷が大嫌いなのだが、台風の時は外の風が強くてどれだけ窓がバンバン音がなっていても…。雷がピカピカゴロゴロしていても…。チキンラーメンが食べられたら不謹慎極まりないが変な、お祭りみたいな高揚感も相まって楽しい瞬間となる。生卵落としてお湯をかけた瞬間に白身がふわふわ固まるのを見るのも、すき。

3.11

3・11の東日本大震災のとき、皆さんは何をして過ごしていただろうか。わたしは、いまは関西に住んでいるが当時は関東に住んでいた。ちょうど高校を卒業し、もうすぐ大学の入学式を控えた春休み。車の免許を取るために教習所に通っていた。

公道の教習を終え…。教習所の敷地の中で車を停めるのに車庫入れは、まだできないため教官に助手席からハンドルを握られようとしていたところだった。人生であんな光景は観たこともなかった。かたいアスファルトが目の前で波打っているのだ。車はトランポリンの様に跳ね…。横転するのではないかと本気で思ったが波打つアスファルトを見ながら、ただただハンドルを強く握るしかできなかった。

その瞬間、何の情報も目にしていないのに何千人もの人が亡くなるのだろうと直感的に感じ…。どうしようもない気持ちと悲しさで気分が悪くなった。実際の死者数は2025年3月1日時点で1万5900人と発表されているようだ。実際には、わたしが関東で感じた揺れでは考えられないほどの被害だったのだ。

車を降りて地面に足がついた瞬間…。わたしはまっすぐ歩くことが出来なかった。それは揺れのせいで酔ってしまったのか、あまりの出来事のショックだったのか…まだ大きな揺れが続いていたのかは今もわからない。教習所の2階の受付や待合のあるフロアまでたどり着くことが出来ず…。1階の長椅子で30分くらい1人でいたと思う。その後2階の受付に、やっとの思いでたどり着くとテレビがついていて誰一人として話すことなく臨時ニュースを観ていた。

そしてハンドルを握りながらわたしが予想したことが間違えではなく、それよりもはるかに大事になっている映像をみてさらにショックを受けた。そこからどうやって自宅にたどり着いたのか…。ほとんど覚えていない。1つだけ覚えているのは、あの時教習車の中で「絶対に自分の住んでいる町の道路もひび割れ、車など動かない」と想像したのに…。教習所の送迎車の窓から見えるのは、いつもとほとんど変わらない住んでいる町の景色だった。

それから数日、余震とテレビの緊急地震速報で眠れない夜が続いた。わたしと同い年の人は全国で卒業式や、入学式が無くなった人も多かった。しかしわたしの入った大学は、こんな時だからと入学式をしてくれたのだった。被害に遭った学生や家族がいないか全部、確認をしたうえでの実施だったそうだ。その入学式から数日たった、学科全体の授業の初日。100人弱の同じ学科の学生が大教室に集まった。

そこで教員からボランティアをする旨が伝えられた。「具体的な方法はこれから立候補してもらう5人の学生に考えてもらうが、最終的には集めた義援金を東北に送る」というプロジェクトだった。5名のチームを組んで学科全員をまとめ上げるのだ。わたしはどんな大変な事かも想像なんてつかない箱入娘だったが、あのニュース映像の向こう側の人たちに何か少しでもできるのならとためらわずに手を挙げた。

そして1年後、学科を代表し5人で仙台へと向かったのである。

ネタバレなしの感想

近未来の日本では二足歩行ロボットのレイバーが労働力となっている。そんなレイバーによる犯罪も増え、対応するために警視庁には優秀な人材を集めたレイバー部隊。通称パトレイバーを設けた。

30年以上前の思えないほどのアニメ映画。陰謀・犯罪捜査と様々な角度から楽しむことが出来る大人のアニメ。（140字）

ネタバレありの感想

トマト

忙しくない限り、料理は楽しいので好きな家事だ。自宅で野菜をまな板で切っているとき、ふといろんな記憶が呼び覚まされる。夏はトマトと山芋を角切りにしてモズクをかけたサラダ。最近はもっぱら、サルサソースだ。トマトを見るたびにもう何十年も思い出す映像があった。

わたしが生まれて初めて、物心ついた時にみたアニメは【となりのトトロ】だったと思う。何度となく観たし、その後もジブリ作品が公開されるたびに観た。3歳くらいのわたしがソファーの背にまたがり…。なかなか飛ばない自分に、お姉さんになった気分で「GO　GO～キキっ！！」と言う〈一人【魔女の宅急便】ごっこ〉は昨日のことのように思い出すことが出来る。

そんなほぼジブリしかアニメを観たことがない幼いころ、母がレンタルショップで借りてきたのが【パトレイバー】だった。「警察のアニメだよ」と聞いて観たのを覚えている。しかしながら大人になって覚えていたのはトマトのシーンだけだった。会社の人やそれこそ母と【パトレイバー】のはなしになって…。「観たことあるはずなんだけど、どうにも〈トマトの映像〉しか覚えてない…。」というと決まって、どの人も「？？？？？？？？」と言う感じなのだ。

もしかしたらわたしは違うアニメを【パトレイバー】と勘違いしているのかもしれないと思っていた。しかしちょうど1年前。同様に【パトレイバー】の話になった時。同じく〈トマト〉の話をしたところ、たった1人だけ「あぁ。」と言った人がいたのだった。あのトマトのシーンは【パトレイバー】だったのだと、わたしは本当にうれしかった。

そこから1年「観る映画はないかな～」と上映スケジュールを観ているとなんと【パトレイバー】の文字がっ。大好きなメキシカン料理屋さんの近くで上映されているではないか。しかも、食べてから行っても余裕で間にあう上映時間。トマトベースのサルサソースをかけブリトーを食べる瞬間「〈トマト〉のシーンまた観ることが出来たらいいな」と思いながら、ほおばった。

上映開始後、ある程度ストーリーが進んでも全くと言っていいほど、あのシーンに繋がる様子がない。わたしは「あぁ。こんな話の展開で〈トマト〉なんか出てくるわけない」と落胆していると…。唐突にあのシーンが出てきたのである。

この〈トマト〉のシーンで満面の笑みを浮かべたのは、あの劇場でぜったにわたしだけだったはずだ。しかもそのあともまあまあ、出てくるではないか《トマト》。しかも、なかなかの〈キーアイテム〉になっていた。30年ぶりにトマトを観た感動のシーンだった。

アニメ

幼いころから、ロボットアニメを観た記憶はなく…。初めてロボットアニメを認識したのは当時、近所の幼馴染の男の子がトランスフォームさせていたおもちゃっだった。名前は知らなかったけど【トランスフォーマー　ビーストウォーズ】と言う名前だったらしい。社会人になって職場の人から見る順番を教えてもらって観るようになった【トランスフォーマー】。【バンブルビー】でようやく劇場公開に追いついた。【トランスフォーマー　ビースト覚醒】を映画館で観た時に、幼いころ見たことのあったおもちゃの動物の形をしたロボットが出てきて…。【パトレイバー】のトマトばりに目をまんまるにして「うおっ。知ってるっ。」となったのは劇場でわたしだけだったのも自信がある。笑

【トランスフォーマー】より少し前だったとおもう。これも職場の人に観る順番を教えてもらって観たのが【エゥ゙ァンゲリオン】だった。

そのくらいロボットアニメに触れずに育ったわたしが、今回【パトレイバー】を観てなぜトマトのシーンしか記憶に残っていないか心底納得した。〈魔女の宅急便ごっこ〉をしていた、わたしにレイバーの闘いのシーンの記憶が残るわけもなく…。さらには【島耕作】ばりの組織の中の縦社会を描き、国家大規模事業の「バビロンプロジェクト」の背景の描き方。まさかのとある大企業の御曹司が敵対する構造となる組織で大活躍してしまう…。など《大人のアニメ》以外の何物でもなかった。

宮崎駿とヒッチコック

この夏、帰省した際に母と【ローズマリーの赤ちゃん】を観た。幼いころから「怖い怖い」と母から聞いていた作品だった。わたしは子どもを産んだことがないし…。もしかしたら、わたしが怖いと思う種類とは少し違ったのかもしれないが…。いざ観てみると全然怖くなくて拍子抜けした。

そんな母からもう一つの怖いときいている映画がヒッチコックの【鳥】だ。これは怖いといろんなレビューで観たことがあったので、まだ観ていない。しかし【ローズマリーの赤ちゃん】同様、怖いのハードルが上がりすぎて「全然怖くない」のオチを期待しているのだが…。さすがにそんな風に思って観始めた自分を後悔で呪いそうな結果になりそうなので、観ることが出来るのはいつかわからない…。

そんな観たこともないヒッチコックの【鳥】を速攻で思い出したのが、【君たちはどう生きるか】と【パトレイバー】だった。スタジオジブリの【君たちはどう生きるか】賛否両論あるのは知っている。しかし、わたしは大好きな作品だ。劇場公開されてすぐ、映画館で観て号泣した。親子・血筋の物語として観た時エンドロールに、監督と血縁の名前を見た時さらに涙が止まらなかった。

そんな感動しまくった【君たちはどう生きるか】のシーンでは、沢山の今までのジブリ作品に捧げられたオマージュが印象的だったが…。その中でもいくつかホラー要素はあった。しかし〈鳥の群衆〉が出てくるシーンはポップな色使いとは対照的に恐怖だった。

【パトレイバー】で出てくる鳥のシーンはカラフルとは程遠い。「ここにはだれもいないよぉ…」とおびえた声で言う〈恐怖の声〉と相まって、この〈鳥の群衆〉のシーンは…。ホラー的要素があるなんて、全く身構えていないわたしの不意を突いたシーンだった。

震災と重機

大学生の時ボランティア活動で集めた義援金と共に3.11からちょうど1年経ったとき、他の学生と5人で仙台へ向かった。正直なところ、行くのは心重かったが…。実際は大学生なので新幹線や準備段階では、ちょっとした遠足気分だったのは否めない。しかしながら新幹線を降り、大学の提携先である役場の人が迎えに来てくれた車に乗り込み少し経った時だった。

言葉にならない景色が広がっていた。1年経って片付いたのだろう景色だったが、本当に何もないのだ。道路の痕だけが残りあとは、さら地。さら地と言っても建物があったはずの場所にはところどころ、基礎のコンクリートと鉄骨が残る。そんな景色が春先と言えども雪がちらつく中、どこまでも続いているのだった。

その半年前、関東の実家のマンションの敷地内で夏祭りがあった。夏祭りといっても駐車場の車をどけて、空いたところでバーベキューをして、お開き近くには花火をする。そんな小さな《バーベキューパーティー》と言うほうが近いイベントだった。そのイベントの中心的人物の1人。いつもわたしを「おうっ。小悪魔元気か。」と、からかうおじさんがいた。

そんな彼が、バーベキューのそばで座ってビールを飲んでいたので隣に座った。「最近見なかったけど元気でした？」と聞くと「おう。東北に行っていてな。」と答えが返ってきた。そのおじさんが、なんの仕事をしているのかわたしは全く知らなかったので「何しにいってたの？」と聞いたのだった。するといつもわたしをからかう、いたずらっ子のような目から光が消え「がれきの撤去…。」とだけ呟いた。そしてすぐに違う話題の会話に入っていったのだった。

【パトレイバー】は震災後の日本を描いている。がれきの撤去にレイバーを稼働させているのだ。近所のおじさんはレイバーといかないまでも重機を運転していたはずだ。彼のような人が何人関わったのだろう。【パトレイバー】の中でレイバーが街中で稼働するたびに、ビール片手に遠い目をした彼を思い出した。

わたしは仙台の新幹線の駅から、義援金をわたすために会場へ向かう車の中で広大な被災地を車で走り抜けながら彼のことを思い出した。わたしがみたショッキングという一言で言い表すのもむなしい光景。がれきの撤去前をしながら彼はどんな思いで、自分の現場を見たのだろうか。

おまけ

わたしのショーン・ペンを返して…

noteで感想を多く目にするので、観た方も多いのではないでしょうか。【ワン・バトル・アフター・アナザー】いやー面白かった。【サブスタンス】の監督が撮った【リベンジ】と同じくらいハラハラしたし…。長時間の上映時間はあっという間の時間だった。

だけど…【ストレンジ・ダーリン】くらいわたしは映画館を出た後やられてしまった。

だって…。【アイ・アム・サム】や【ドライブ・イン・マン・ハッタン】で大好きなわたしの。笑　ショーン・ペンがどこにもいないのだ…。本当に泣きそうになったが、マドンナの元旦那さん情報を映画を観ている間思い出しては…。「もしかしたら彼は私生活でこんな感じかも」とか思ったりした。（完全に偏見です笑）

デミ・ムーアファンはこんな気持ちで【サブスタンス】を観てたのか…。とか、いろいろ考えてしまった。しかしながら、つい前の週に観た【ザ・ザ・コルダのフェキニア計画】の人が「センセイっ！」と呼ばれてめちゃめちゃカッコよく登場したり…。ディカプリオとのシーンでは笑いもしたし…。ショーン・ペンの俳優としての7変化ぶりは痛いほど痛感できたので、結果的にいい映画だった。まだ観ていない人は是非観てみてほしい。

2回目で印象ががらりと変わる映画

京都に転勤で来た頃、映画館で【ボヘミアン・ラプソディー】を観た。初見は、ドゥンドゥンパッとか知っている曲も多かったので「ミュージカル映画のような映画」と言う感想だった。しかしながら、母とこの映画をもう一度見ることになり…。あらかたQueenの業績を当時の熱を知っている母本人から、聞いた後で観るこの映画はまるで違って見えた。

まだ2回目は観ることが出来ていないのだけれど…。つい最近、同じような感想を持った映画に出会った。それが【TVの中に入りたい】だ。

わたしのマイルールでいけば、ポスターを見ただけで〈絶対に大好きな映画〉のはずだった。しかしながら初回観て、途中までは良かったのになぜか後半突如として失速したのだ。何なら「noteで文章書くぞっ」と本当に意気込んでいた。
どうしたものかと思い、YouTubeを観ているとなんと〈ライムスター宇多丸さんのラジオ〉ムービーウォッチメンで【TVの中に入りたい】を取り上げているではないか。すがるような思いで速攻、再生ボタンを押した。

するとみるみる、わたしが失速したと感じた後半部分に躍動感が出て…。「もう一度観たいっ！」という衝動にかられた。やはり知識があるなしは映画観賞に大きく影響するのだと痛感した。

さらにわたしの映画コンシェルジュさんが、おすすめしてくださったのが【ター】だった。観る映画に困っていたので、さっそくサブスク上でレンタルして観た。なぜかわからないが、最近ではめったに本を読まないわたしだが村上春樹さんの『１Q84』を思い出した。

わたしに音楽のありとあらゆる知識を詰め込んで観たら、もっともっと面白い作品だっただろう。しかしながら音楽の知識が乏しいわたしでも映画【マルティネス】のような展開・どんな環境でも自分は輝けるか等とても面白く観ることが出来た作品だった。

いつも、映画のご紹介本当にありがとうございます。

読書

書店業界・出版業界に身を置いているのだが、お恥ずかしいことにこの職についてからめっきり本を読まなくなった。しかしどうしても読みたい本が出てきたのだが、どうにも分厚くハードルが高い…。どうしたもんかと悩んでいたところ、初めてオーディオブックに挑戦した。

それが【国宝】だ。

この国宝の文章を書いた直後には「読みたい」と、思いつつ…。「上下巻あり、かなり長そう…。読み切れるのだろうか…。」と躊躇していた。すると歌舞伎役者さんの〈尾上菊之助さん〉が読んでいるオーディオブックがあるというではないかっ。即座に聞いてみたところ、面白くておもしろくて…。止まらないのである。上巻だけで20時間越えの為、このまま聴き続けたら日常生活に支障が…。とルールを決め片道40分の運転中に聴くことにした。

もう車に乗るのが毎日、楽しみでしょうがないのである。と言っても片道40分の間に2～3回泣いてしまうこともしばしば…。それくらい面白いので…。「本を読むのはちょっと…。でも映画も観て小説も気になる。」という方は是非オーディオブックをおすすめしたい。（特に特定の商品・サービスのプロモーションをしているわけではありません笑）

そんな菊之助さんが襲名されるというニュースを知った直後…。〈シネマ歌舞伎〉にて坂東玉三郎さん演じる【鷺娘】を観ることが出来た。

もうご年齢も重ねられ…全編通して踊ることはないと玉三郎さんが宣言されているという鷺娘。音が止まった瞬間のラストで泣いてしまった…。
シネマ歌舞伎をやり始めた当初、誰が映画館に歌舞伎を観に行くのだろう…と、思っていた自分を引っ叩きたいほどだった。しかも映画館は、ほぼ満員。恐るべし【国宝】効果である。

これを機に、歌舞伎シネマを観たいと思った三連休だった。

引用

初めてわたしの文章がnoteで引用された。びっくりした…。しかもとっても恥ずかしいことに、わたしが書いた文章を褒めてくださっていた…。

大学生の時に映画を観まくって、何を観たか忘れてしまうのでTwitter（いまでいうX）に140字で前半あらすじ後半レヴューを書いていたのだった。書いた文章数はみるみるうちに増えていき、年間で200本以上観ていた自分に本当に驚いた。笑
そんな「Twitterのアカウントを消してしまって、もったいないことをした」と数年前に職場で話したことがあった。

そのことを覚えていた職場の先輩に「映画のこと書いてみたら？」と言われnoteに書き始めたのが5か月まえだ。こんなにも続くと思っていなかった。たくさんの人に読んでいただいたり、コメントをいただくのが本当に励みだった。

この【パトレイバー】の文章を書いているとき、書き上げるまで励みになりました。本当に、ありがとうございました。

おしまい

My Rules

In my first note about movies, "Substance," I briefly touched upon my personal rules for watching movies and writing about them, also mentioned in "Egg, Chicken, and The Shining" 🍳.

- Choosing a Movie -

• I try to avoid inputting any prior information and decide whether to watch a movie based solely on the image of the poster or thumbnail. This makes the viewing experience more surprising and interesting.

- When Writing -

• When writing spoiler-free impressions, I keep it within 140 characters.

• Even when writing spoiler-filled impressions, I don't write a detailed synopsis.

• Before talking about the movie, I always write about "my story" as a self-introduction, as it will later relate to the movie.

Before the Movie: My Story

Burritos and Chicken Ramen

Burritos were so delicious that I used to go to the restaurant only a few times a year. However, recently I've been eating Mexican food almost every day. I'm even embarrassed to go to the same store too often, so I alternate between two stores that have second locations. lol

And not satisfied with the taste of the restaurants, I make a bowl full of salsa sauce, which is basically a salad, with tomatoes, celery, onions, and peppers... I continue this routine of eating it all in about a week and then making it again for almost a month.

I'm appalled at myself. But I can't stop. Whether I go to Kansai or Kanto, if I go somewhere, I search for "place name + Mexican" and explore new stores alone.

I don't remember why I'm so obsessed with Mexican food. I was in this state before I knew it. Originally, I'm the type of person who doesn't get tired of eating my favorite food every day, but... I used to get tired of it after about two weeks, but there's no sign of it stopping. I don't know what to do, but I enjoy exploring new stores... and I'm not getting tired of the taste at all, so I'm going to try to go as far as I can while thinking about eating Mexican food today lol.

I don't feel guilty no matter how much Mexican food with lots of vegetables I eat...

I was raised strictly about food since I was a child, and fast food was out of the question... I think it was when I was almost in elementary school that I was blown away by the deliciousness of McDonald's fries. For some reason, my family always had a cardboard box of "Ramen Desukai" in stock. It's a cup noodle about the size of Butamen, sold with snacks, and it's from JAL.

I just learned that "Chanpon Desukai" exists while searching for images...

My family was supposed to be strict about food... I don't know why such junk food was stocked at home. However, I guess that my mother, who used to go on many overseas business trips before I was born, "couldn't forget the taste she had on the plane." I only got a few bites, but I was surprised by how delicious it was. When I ate a whole one in junior high and high school, I was even moved that I had become an adult. lol

Also, in "The Silence of the Lambs," I wrote a little about Yonaguni Island, the westernmost island in Japan. Among the things I ate there, the most impressive was... Chicken Ramen and swordfish head. I ate Chicken Ramen for the first time in my life during spring break in the fourth grade of elementary school, after moving from a guesthouse that I couldn't stand. I also had fish that we caught ourselves made into tempura, and crabs that we caught boiled in a big pot... It was a very luxurious time, but what remained in my memory was the shock of how delicious Chicken Ramen was.

I watched "Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea" for the first time in a movie theater when I was in the third grade of junior high school. It was before the 3.11 earthquake, so it shouldn't have overlapped with the depiction of the tsunami, but I felt madness in Ponyo's appearance on the waves. I vividly remember giving my mother a white eye for laughing at the madness she was witnessing next to me, wondering "Why can she laugh at this fear?"

It may have been after watching "Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea" that I started to enjoy typhoons. Maybe it's because I unconsciously think, "Maybe I can eat Chicken Ramen!" Lisa, the mother of the main character Sosuke in "Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea," is voiced by Tomoko Yamaguchi, and she's so cool. She makes instant ramen for Sosuke and Ponyo on a bad weather day. I might as well be watching "Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea" just to see that scene.

I love this refreshing feeling... Tomoko Yamaguchi...

I hate thunder, but during typhoons, even if the wind outside is strong and the windows are banging... even if the thunder is flashing and rumbling... if I can eat Chicken Ramen, it's a fun moment with a strange festival-like excitement, even though it's extremely inappropriate. I also like watching the egg white fluff up and harden the moment I drop a raw egg and pour hot water on it.

While writing this, I wanted to eat it, so I went out to buy it after 9 pm and ate it. There's a typhoon coming, but it's not affecting Kansai. I just remembered the air of Yonaguni Island.

3.11

What were you doing during the Great East Japan Earthquake on March 11th? I live in Kansai now, but I lived in Kanto at the time. I had just graduated from high school and was on spring break, waiting for the university entrance ceremony. I was going to driving school to get my driver's license.

After finishing the driving lesson on the public road... I was about to park the car in the driving school grounds, but I couldn't park it yet, so the instructor was about to grab the steering wheel from the passenger seat. I had never seen such a sight in my life. The hard asphalt was waving in front of my eyes. The car was bouncing like a trampoline... I really thought it was going to roll over, but I could only hold the steering wheel tightly while watching the waving asphalt.

At that moment, without seeing any information, I intuitively felt that thousands of people would die... and I felt sick with helplessness and sadness. The actual number of deaths is said to be 15,900 as of March 1, 2025. In reality, the damage was so great that I couldn't imagine it from the shaking I felt in Kanto.

The moment I got out of the car and put my feet on the ground... I couldn't walk straight. I still don't know if it was because I was drunk from the shaking, shocked by the event, or if the big shaking was still continuing. I couldn't reach the reception or waiting area on the second floor of the driving school... I think I was alone on a bench on the first floor for about 30 minutes. When I finally managed to reach the reception on the second floor, the TV was on and everyone was watching the breaking news without saying a word.

And I was even more shocked to see the video that what I had predicted while holding the steering wheel was not wrong, but much more serious. I hardly remember how I got home from there... The only thing I remember is that at that time, I imagined that the roads in my town would be cracked and the cars wouldn't move, but... what I could see from the car window of the driving school送迎車 was the scenery of my town that was almost the same as usual.

When I heard that Kankuro Kudo was going to do the morning drama "Amachan" set in Kitasanriku a few years later, I was torn between wanting to watch it and being afraid to watch it. In reality, I watched it every morning without fail.

For several days after that, I continued to have sleepless nights due to aftershocks and TV emergency earthquake alerts. Many people of my age across the country had their graduation and entrance ceremonies canceled. However, the university I entered held an entrance ceremony because it was a time like this. It was carried out after confirming that there were no students or families who had been affected. A few days after the entrance ceremony, on the first day of the entire department's class, nearly 100 students from the same department gathered in a large classroom.

There, the teachers told us that we would be volunteering. The specific method would be decided by the five students who would volunteer from now on, but the final project was to send the collected donations to Tohoku. We would form a team of five and unite the entire department. I was a sheltered girl who couldn't even imagine how difficult it would be, but I didn't hesitate to raise my hand, thinking that I could do something, even a little, for the people on the other side of those news videos.

And a year later, I went to Sendai with four other people, representing the department.

Spoiler-Free Impression

In a near-future Japan, bipedal robots called Labors are thelabor force. Crimes involving these Labors are also increasing, and the Metropolitan Police Department has established a Labor unit with talented personnel to deal with them. This unit is commonly known as Patlabor.

This anime film, made over 30 years ago, is incredibly impressive. It's an adult anime that can be enjoyed from various angles, including conspiracy and criminal investigation. (140　Japanese characters)

Spoiler-Filled Impression

Tomatoes

Cooking is a fun chore for me as long as I'm not too busy. When I'm cutting vegetables on a cutting board at home, various memories are suddenly awakened. In the summer, I make a salad with diced tomatoes and yams topped with mozuku seaweed. Recently, I've been making salsa sauce. Every time I see tomatoes, I remember a certain image that I've had for decades.

I think the first anime I saw when I was old enough to remember was "My Neighbor Totoro." I watched it countless times, and I watched Ghibli films every time they were released after that. I can remember like it was yesterday when I was about 3 years old, straddling the back of the sofa... and saying "GO GO~ Kiki!!" feeling like an older sister, doing a one-person "Kiki's Delivery Service" act.

When I was a child who had only seen Ghibli anime, my mother rented "Patlabor" at a rental shop. I remember watching it after hearing that it was a "police anime." However, all I remembered as an adult was the tomato scene. When I talked about Patlabor with people at work or even my mother... and said, "I should have seen it, but I only remember the tomato scene... Patlabor," everyone always looked at me like "????????".

I thought that maybe I was confusing a different anime with "Patlabor." However, just a year ago, when I was talking about "Patlabor" in the same way, there was only one person who said "Ah." when I mentioned the tomato scene. I was really happy to know that the tomato scene was from "Patlabor."

I watched "Abe" because I knew Will from "Stranger Things" was in it. It was interesting, but it made me hungry.

From there, a year later, I was looking at the movie schedule, wondering "Is there any movie I want to watch?" and I saw the word "Patlabor"! It was being shown near my favorite Mexican restaurant. Moreover, the showtime was late enough that I could eat and still make it with plenty of time. At the moment I was eating a burrito with tomato-based salsa sauce, I was thinking, "I hope I can see the tomato scene again."

After the screening started, even after the story progressed to a certain point, there was no sign of that scene at all. I was disappointed, thinking, "Ah. There's no way tomatoes are going to come out in this kind of story development." Then, suddenly, that scene came out.

I'm sure I was the only one in that theater with a big smile on my face during this scene. Moreover, it came out quite a bit after that. It had become a key item. It was a moving scene to see the tomatoes for the first time in 30 years.

Robot Anime

I don't remember watching robot anime since I was a child... The first time I recognized robot anime was when a boy who was my childhood friend was transforming a toy. I didn't know the name, but it seems it was called "Transformers: Beast Wars." After becoming a working adult, I learned the order to watch it from people at work and started watching "Transformers." I finally caught up with the theatrical release with "Bumblebee." When I saw "Transformers: Rise of the Beasts" in the movie theater, a robot in the shape of an animal that I had seen as a child came out... and I widened my eyes like I did with the tomatoes in "Patlabor" and said, "Whoa. I know that!" I'm confident that I was the only one in the theater who felt that way. lol

I think it was a little before "Transformers." I also learned the order to watch it from people at work and watched "Evangelion."

Watching the movie series and the TV anime series all at once and then watching the theatrical version was the best...

That's how little I had been exposed to robot anime. This time, after watching "Patlabor," I was truly convinced why I only remembered the tomato scene. I, who was interested in "Kiki's Delivery Service," wouldn't remember the Labor battle scenes... Furthermore, the way the vertical society within the organization was depicted, like in "Kosaku Shima," and the background of the national-scale project "Babylon Project" was drawn. The fact that the son of a certain large company, who was the enemy, was so successful in the organization... It was nothing but an adult anime.

Right: Mr. Goto looked so much like my former boss that I laughed. He looks similar, but it's a mystery whether he was such a schemer... lol

Destroying a national facility under the cover of a typhoon... It was such an exciting scene that I wondered if I had come to see a Hollywood movie instead of a robot movie, and I was excited enough to eat Chicken Ramen ♪

Hayao Miyazaki and Alfred Hitchcock

This summer, when I went home, I watched "Rosemary's Baby" with my mother. I had heard from my mother since I was a child that it was "scary, scary." I haven't given birth to a child, and maybe it was a little different from the kind of scary that I think is scary... but when I actually watched it, it wasn't scary at all, and I was disappointed.

The actresses who came out were so cute that I couldn't take my eyes off them...

My mother told me that another scary movie was Hitchcock's "The Birds." I had seen in various reviews that this was scary, so I haven't watched it yet. However, like "Rosemary's Baby," I'm expecting the ending to be "Not scary at all" because the hurdle for scary is too high... but I don't know when I'll be able to watch it because I'm sure I'll end up cursing myself for starting to watch it with that kind of thought...

I immediately remembered Hitchcock's "The Birds," which I had never even seen, when I watched "How Do You Live?" and "Patlabor." I know that Studio Ghibli's "How Do You Live?" has mixed reviews. I love it. I watched it in the movie theater as soon as it was released and cried. When I saw the director's name and the names of his relatives in the last scene, when I saw it as a story of parents and children and bloodlines, I couldn't stop crying.

In the scene of "How Do You Live?" which I was so moved by, the homages to many of the previous Ghibli works were impressive... but there were also some horror elements among them. However, the scene with the flock of birds was terrifying, in contrast to the pop colors.

The bird scene in "Patlabor" is far from colorful. The "There's no one here..." (scary voice) and the scene with the flock of birds... It was a scene that caught me off guard, who wasn't at all prepared for the horror elements.

Earthquake and Heavy Machinery

When I was a university student, I went to Sendai with four other students a year after 3.11, along with the donations we had collected through volunteer activities. To be honest, I was reluctant to go... but in reality, because I was a university student, I was in a bit of an excursion mood on the bullet train and during the preparation stages. However, after getting off the bullet train and getting into the car that the city hall person, who was affiliated with the university, had come to pick us up, it was a little while later.

A landscape that cannot be put into words was spreading out. It was a landscape that had been cleaned up after a year, but there was really nothing there. Only the traces of the roads remained, and the rest was vacant land. Even though it was vacant land, in the places where buildings should have been, there were remnants of the concrete foundations and steel frames. Such a landscape continued endlessly.

Half a year before that, there was a summer festival in the grounds of an apartment building in Kanto. Even though it was called a summer festival, it was more like a small barbecue party where the cars in the parking lot were moved out, a barbecue was held in the empty space, and fireworks were set off near the end. One of the central figures in that event was a man who always teased me, saying, "Hey, little devil, how are you?"

He was sitting next to the barbecue grill, drinking beer, so I sat next to him. When I asked him, "I haven't seen you lately, have you been well?" he replied, "Yeah. I've been to Tohoku." I didn't know what kind of work he did, so I asked, "What did you go there for?" Then, the light disappeared from his mischievous eyes, which always teased me, and he just muttered, "Removing rubble..." And then he immediately went into a conversation about a different topic.

I remembered him while running through the vast earthquake-stricken area in the car from Sendai's bullet train station to the venue to hand over the donations. What kind of thoughts did he have when he saw his workplace before the shocking scene that I saw, which is futile to describe in a single word?

"Patlabor" depicts Japan after the earthquake. Labors are being used to remove rubble. The man next door, if not a Labor, must have been driving heavy machinery. How many people like him were involved? Every time the Labor was operating in the city in "Patlabor," I remembered him with a distant look in his eyes, holding a beer.

Bonus

Give Me Back My Sean Penn...

Many of you have probably seen it because you see a lot of impressions on note. "One Battle After Another" was really interesting. It was as thrilling as "Revenge," which was directed by the same director as "Substance"... The long screening time passed in the blink of an eye.

But... I was as devastated after leaving the movie theater as I was after watching "Strange Darling."

I was haunted until the next day after watching "Strange Darling." It's a movie that smells like "No Country for Old Men."

Because... my beloved Sean Penn from "I Am Sam" and "Drive-In Man-hattan" was nowhere to be found... I was really about to cry, but I remembered information about Madonna's ex-husband while watching the movie... and thought that maybe he's like this in his private life. (This is completely biased lol)

I started thinking about how Demi Moore fans must have felt when they watched "Substance"... However, the person from "The Corda's Fekinia Project," which I had seen just the week before, appeared very cool, being called "Sensei!"... and I laughed at the scene with DiCaprio... I was painfully aware of Sean Penn's seven transformations, so it was a good movie as a result. If you haven't seen it yet, please watch it.

A Movie That Changes Drastically on the Second Viewing

When I came to Kyoto on a transfer, I watched "Bohemian Rhapsody" in the movie theater. My first impression was that it was like a musical movie because there were many songs I knew, like "Dun Dun Pa." However, I watched this movie again with my mother... and after hearing about Queen's achievements and the passion of the time from my mother herself, this movie looked completely different.

After the second viewing, I listened to it in the car so much that I memorized the order of the songs on the soundtrack.I haven't been able to watch it a second time yet, but I encountered a movie that had a similar impression. That's "I Want to Enter the TV."

According to my rules, it should have been a movie that I would definitely love just by looking at the poster. However, after watching it for the first time, it was good until the middle, but for some reason it lost momentum in the second half. I was even really enthusiastic about writing an article on note.

I was wondering what to do, and when I was watching YouTube, I found that RHYMESTER Utamaru's radio show "Movie Watchmen" was featuring "I Want to Enter the TV." I desperately pressed the play button.

Casey from my favorite overseas drama "Atypical" is in it.

Then, the part that I felt had lost momentum was revitalized, and I was driven to watch it again. I realized that having knowledge or not has a big impact on movie viewing.

Furthermore, my movie concierge, who commented on my previous article "Brian Epstein: The Crossing That Connects the World," recommended "Tár." I was having trouble finding a movie to watch, so I immediately rented it on a subscription service and watched it. I don't know why, but recently I rarely read books, but it reminded me of Haruki Murakami's "1Q84."

If I had watched it with all sorts of knowledge of music, it would have been a much more interesting work. However, even with my lack of knowledge of music, I was able to watch it as a very interesting work, such as the development like in the movie "Martinez" and what kind of environment I can shine in.

Thank you always for introducing movies.

Reading

I'm in the bookstore and publishing industry, but embarrassingly, I haven't been reading books much since I took this job. However, there was a book that I really wanted to read, but it was thick and the hurdle was high... I was wondering what to do, and I tried an audiobook for the first time.

That's "KOKUHOU."

Immediately after writing the article about "National Treasure," I wanted to read it... but it seemed quite long with the upper and lower volumes... and I was hesitant about whether I could finish reading it. Then, I found out that there was an audiobook read by kabuki actor Kikunosuke Onoe. I immediately listened to it, and it was so interesting that I couldn't stop... Because the upper volume alone is over 20 hours long, I decided to listen to it during my 40-minute commute, thinking that if I continued to listen to it as it was, it would interfere with my daily life...

I can't wait to get in the car every day. Even so, I often cry 2-3 times during the 40-minute commute... It's so interesting... If you say, "Reading a book is a bit... but I'm also interested in watching movies and reading novels," I would definitely recommend audiobooks. (I'm not promoting any specific products or services lol)

Immediately after learning about the news that Kikunosuke was going to succeed to the name... I was able to watch "Egret Musume" performed by Tamasaburo Bando at Cinema Kabuki.

Tamasaburo has declared that he will not dance throughout the entire performance because of his age. I cried at the last moment when the sound stopped...

It was a scene that made me want to slap myself for thinking, "Who would go to see it in a movie theater?" when Cinema Kabuki first started. Moreover, the theater was almost full. The "National Treasure" effect is terrifying.I wanted to watch Kabuki Cinema on this occasion during the three-day weekend.

Quotation

My article was quoted on note for the first time. I was surprised... and embarrassingly, they were praising the article I wrote...

When I was a university student, I watched a lot of movies, and I would forget what I watched, so I wrote a 140-character review on Twitter (now X), with the synopsis in the first half and the review in the second half. The number of reviews increased rapidly, and I was really surprised that I had watched more than 200 movies a year. lol

A few years ago, I talked about how I regretted deleting my Twitter account at work.

A senior at work, who remembered that, said, "Why don't you write about movies?" and that's how I started writing 5 months ago. I didn't think it would last this long. It was really encouraging to have so many people read it and leave comments.

When I was writing this article about "Patlabor," it was really encouraging until I finished writing it. Thank you.

-This sentence is being translated by AI.-