Bright Future

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Bright Future

Directed by	Kiyoshi Kurosawa
Produced by	Takashi Asai
Written by	Kiyoshi Kurosawa
Starring	Joe Odagiri Tadanobu Asano Tatsuya Fuji Takashi Sasano Marumi Shiraishi
Music by	Pacific 231
Cinematography	Takahide Shibanushi
Editing by	Kiyoshi Kurosawa
Distributed by	UPLINK Company Palm Pictures
Release date(s)	Jan 18, 2003
Running time	115 min (Original Version) 92 min (International Version)
Country	Japan
Language	Japanese
Official website
Allmovie profile
IMDb profile

Bright Future (アカルイミライ, Akarui Mirai^?) is a 2003 Japanese film written and directed by Japanese director Kiyoshi Kurosawa, starring Tadanobu Asano and Joe Odagiri.

[edit] Plot

Yuji Nimura (Odagiri) and Mamoru Arita (Asano) are two factory workers who are constantly irritated by their boss, Fujiwara (Takashi Sasano). One day Mamoru entrusts his poisonous jellyfish, which he has been acclimating to fresh water, to Nimura. The mentally unbalanced Nimura goes to Fujiwara's house one night with the intent of murdering him, only to find that Mamoru has already done so. Mamoru is convicted of the murder but commits suicide on death row, leaving Nimura a private message to "go ahead."

Mamoru's divorcé father, Shinichiro, takes Nimura in. Nimura helps with Shinichiro's electronics salvage business, but is still a loose cannon. He ultimately realizes he must learn to cope with his place in the world, with his responsibilities and his losses, and with the difference between the bright future he dreamed of and the stark reality he finds himself in.

Mamoru's jellyfish escapes its tank and reproduces in the drains of the city (possibly by binary fission, since there is only one). Nimura takes a job at his sister's office and encounters a gang of youths in Che Guevara T-shirts. He helps the group gain after-hours access to the office, but all except Nimura are caught by the police. Nimura and Shinichiro encounter a huge swarm of jellyfish making their way out to sea, one of which (presumably Mamoru's) stings Shinichiro and renders him unconscious. The gang of youths, now released from police custody, wonder what became of Nimura and walk aimlessly down the street.