Fly Me to the Saitama

Fly Me to the Saitama (翔んで埼玉) is a 2019 Japanese comedy film directed by Hideki Takeuchi, based on the 1980s manga series of the same name written and illustrated by Mineo Maya.

It was released to critical acclaim and received 12 nominations at the 43rd Japan Academy Film Prize, taking home the Director of the Year, Screenplay of the Year, and Best Film Editing. It also won the Best Film at Blue Ribbon Awards. With a gross of $32.8 million it was the 13th highest-grossing film of 2019 in Japan.

Background of the film production
Hiroki Wakamatsu (Fuji Television), the producer of this film, first worked with the director Hideki Takeuchi, his colleague of Fuji TV at the time, and also with screenwriter Yuichi Tokunaga during the production of Train Man (TV series) (2005). . The team produced this film 14 years after.

Wakamatsu and Takeuchi had worked together on popular Japanese TV dramas such as "Nodame Cantabile" (2006), but their opportunities to work together had decreased gradually. The two occasionally got together for drinks and talk about "Let's do something stupid again." "How about making a movie together?"

Then, Wakamatsu was transferred to film production department of Fuji TV, and the opportunity came up of collaborating with Takeuchi. Wakamatsu initially proposed a different comic as the original work for the film. But Takeuchi brought the Mineo MAYA's cult manga "Fly me to the Saitama (comic) "(1982-1983), which was piled up in a bookstore.

Takeuchi asked to Wakamatsu as "Hey, this comic is interesting, so please read it. Maybe we can make a film from this manga as an original work." This is how the film version of this work came to be produced.


 * Director Takeuchi openly states that he is a fan of Mineo MAYA's work in the official brochure of this film.

Wakamatsu read the manga version of "Fly me to the Saitama". As mentioned above, it was a manga that was very critical of Saitama Prefecture. And due to the author Mineo Maya's circumstances, it was left unfinished by only three chapters. If it had been made into a TV drama, it would have been a very short story within only about 15 minutes, so Wakamatsu was very confused by Takeuchi's proposal.

Since the original story was unfinished, a new ending was needed to make it into a movie. So Wakamatsu went out drinking with Takeuchi several times, and after hearing Takeuchi's idea of "Finally making it exciting with Saitama Prefecture vs. Chiba Prefecture!", Wakamatsu agreed, saying "I think it may work out as a movie..." then, started to move towards making it into a movie project.


 * Director Takeuchi is originally from Chiba Prefecture, South Kanto region. Saitama Prefecture is also located in the South Kanto region.

Though, from the perspective of compliance, there were strong voices of opposition to the production of this film within Fuji TV about discrimination for a specific area, Saitama Prefecture. So, the planning of this film ran into difficulties. In the end, the production was green-lit after the boss of Takeuchi and Wakamatsu decided that the combination of two would make an interesting film.

When Wakamatsu worked with Takeuchi on "Train Man," he witnessed Takeuchi's "explosive directing ability" and "unique worldview." When he started working with Takeuchi on this film, he had the same vibe as "Train Man," and was confident that it would be a comedy piece.

Because of this film's crazy content, both Wakamatsu and Takeuchi were extremely worried that riots might break out among the people of Saitama Prefecture until the film was released. . Thus, they created a list of anticipated questions and answers for dealing with complaints from Saitama Prefecture's people, and distributed the list to the relevant departments at Fuji TV and Toei Company.

However, after the film was released, it turned out that these concerns were completely unfounded. There were hardly any complaints, and instead, the film received a lot of praise from various people in Saitama Prefecture, with saying things like, "They did a great job!"

Plot
In present-day Saitama, Aimi SUGAWARA's parents are driving her to her engagement ceremony. Aimi's parents are upset that Aimi plans to move to Tokyo after the marriage because residents of Tokyo have long looked down on residents of Saitama. To avoid arguing, they pass the time by listening to the Saitama's local radio channel FM NACK5, which is playing a supposedly historical drama about Saitama's fight for liberation from Tokyo's oppression and discrimination.

The radio drama unfolds as Momomi DANNOURA, the son of the Tokyo governor, finds his social status at Hakuhodo high school threatened by the arrival of Rei ASAMI, a handsome male student who has been living in America. Unusually for a sophisticated Tokyo elite, Rei helps the "Z Class" students from Saitama in Hakuhodo high school, who live in poor conditions in a hut located off the main campus grounds.

Momomi falls in love with Rei, but Rei is revealed to be a secret agent of "Saitama liberation front" sent to help achieve liberation from Tokyo by infiltrating the Tokyo elite. Rei's true identity is discovered by Momomi's family butler AKUTSU, and Rei flees to return to Saitama and join the liberation movement. Momomi joins him after discovering a plot by Tokyo elites to destroy the Saitama resistance.

In fact, Akutsu was a member of the Chiba Liberation Front, and while pandering to Tokyo, he was also hostile to Saitama Liberation Front.

The Saitama Liberation Front and the Chiba Liberation Front face each other across the Edogawa River near Nagareyama Bridge, at the provincial border of Saitama and Chiba. However, Momomi had come to a settlement beforehand when he discovered a lot of gold bars on Mount Akagi in Gunma that had been illegally accumulated by past governors of Tokyo. The two fronts then joined forces and attacked Tokyo for liberation. Rei and Momomi reveal Momomi's father's plot, removing him from power and achieving liberation for Saitama.

Finally, Momomi and Rei begin Duke Saitama's "Japan Saitamaization Plan," a plan to secretly spread Saitama's "unremarkable culture" throughout Japan.

Legend Part

 * Fumi Nikaido as Momomi DANNOURA
 * Gackt as Rei ASAMI
 * Masaki Kyomoto as Duke Saitama, Rei's father and the leader of "Saitama liberation front"
 * Akaji Maro as Sojuro SAIONJI, Rei's uncle
 * Tsubasa Masuwaka (Hometown:Saitama Prefecture) as Okayo, Rei's maid-servant
 * Akira Nakao as Kenzo Dannoura, Momomi's father and the governor of Tokyo
 * Kumiko Takeda as Momomi's mother
 * Yusuke Iseya as Sho AKUTSU, butler of Dannoura family and the leader of "Chiba liberation front"
 * Naoto Takenaka (Hometown:Kanagawa Prefecture) as the governor of Kanagawa Prefecture
 * Ryō Katō as a student of "Z class" in the Hakuhodo high school
 * Patrick Harlan as a narrator at the beginning

Present Part

 * Haruka Shimazaki (Hometown:Saitama Prefecture) as Aimi SUGAWARA
 * Brother Tom (Hometown:Saitama Prefecture) as Aimi's father
 * Kumiko Aso (Hometown:Chiba Prefecture) as Aimi's mother
 * Ryo Narita (Hometown:Saitama Prefecture) as Aimi's fiance

Box office
In the opening weekend it topped the Japanese box office with $2.33 million. The film had grossed $32.8 million in Japan by May 2019. By the end of 2019, the film had grossed ¥3.76 billion, making it the eighth highest-grossing domestic film of 2019 in Japan and the 13th highest-grossing film of 2019 overall in Japan.

On 11 September 2019 it was released on DVD and Blu-ray, charting for 43 cumulative weeks and peaking at 2nd place on Oricon's chart.

Critical reception
It was released to critical acclaim as received most (12) nominations at the 43rd Japan Academy Film Prize, and won for Director of the Year, Screenplay of the Year, and Best Film Editing, as well won for the Best Film at Blue Ribbon Awards.

In a 4⁄5 review in The Japan Times, Mark Schilling praised the film for taking a Japan-specific story and making it appealing to international viewers, and singled out lead actress Nikaido's ability to move between serious and humorous moments in her performance of Momori Dannoura.

Sequel
A sequel was announced on August 10, 2021. It will feature the main staff and cast returning to reprise their roles. The film, titled Tonde Saitama ~Biwako Yori Ai o Komete~ (or Fly Me to the Saitama II), premiered in Japanese theatres on November 23, 2023. In the opening weekend it also topped the Japanese box office with $2.77 million, having a better commercial start than the previous film. The film is set to have its North American premiere at the 28th Fantasia International Film Festival on July 23, 2024.