Waterboys (film)

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Waterboys
Directed by	Shinobu Yaguchi
Produced by	Yoshino Sasaki, Daisuke Sekiguchi, Akifumi Takuma
Written by	Shinobu Yaguchi
Starring	Satoshi Tsumabuki, Hiroshi Tamaki, Akifumi Miura, Koen Kondo, Takatoshi Kaneko
Release date(s)	2001
Running time	90 min.
Language	Japanese
IMDb profile

Waterboys (ウォーターボーイズ; Wootaa booizu) is a 2001 comedy film written and directed by the Japanese film director Shinobu Yaguchi, about five boys who start a synchronized swimming team at their high school.

The film was a popular success in Japan, and was nominated for eight prizes at the Japanese Academy Awards, winning awards for 'Best Newcomer' and 'Best Music Score'. A spin-off television series entered its third season in 2005.

The cast includes Satoshi Tsumabuki (Suzuki, the leader of the team), Hiroshi Tamaki (Sato), Akifumi Miura (Ohta), Koen Kondo (Kanazawa), Takatoshi Kaneko (Saotome) and Naoto Takenaka (the dolphin trainer).

[edit] Plot

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

A beautiful new swimming teacher starts work at a rural high school. Dozens of boys decide to join the swimming team, but when they realise that she teaches synchronised swimming all but five of them drop out. The teacher soon leaves work on maternity leave, and for some time the team is on hiatus. However, when Suzuki watches a dolphin show he decides to ask the dolphin trainer to be their coach.

The dolphin trainer exploits them as free labour and has no intention of training them, but the boys nevertheless learn from him. Later, while training in the sea, a camera crew films them, thinking that they are drowning, and the boys appear on TV. Seeing this, the boys who had quit rejoin, and are taught synchronised swimming by the five boys.

Before the festival, the pool area is destroyed, but the girls school lets them use their bigger pool. The synchro swim is successful and attended by many who wanted to see them.