Sugar and Spice (2006 film)

Sugar and Spice (シュガー＆スパイス 風味絶佳) is a 2006 Japanese movie directed by Isamu Nakae and starring Yūya Yagira and Erika Sawajiri.

Plot
Recently graduated from high school, 17-year-old Shiro (Yūya Yagira) decides to put off college and work at a gas station instead. Shy and introspective, Shiro understands he is at a turning point of his life, but is unsure of what lies ahead. Though his parents disapprove of his decision, he has the support of his flower child grandmother (Natsuki Mari) who declares that a gas station is a romantic place for life's drifters. Surely enough, soon a new co-worker, college student Noriko (Erika Sawajiri), drifts into Shiro's life. He falls headfirst into a bittersweet first love that ushers him into the world of adulthood.

Cast

 * Yūya Yagira - Shiro Yamashita
 * Erika Sawajiri - Noriko Watanabe
 * Mari Natsuki - Grandma
 * Chen Bolin - Mike
 * Yo Oizumi - Gas Station Guy
 * Ryō Kimura as Makkī
 * Gaku Hamada as Naoki
 * Mayuko Iwasa as Yoko
 * Yū Aoi (cameo)

Production
Released theatrically on 16 September 2006 under the sub-title What little girls are made of.

Sugar and Spice was also released as a DVD in March 2007 with English subtitles.

Reception
Critic Kevin Ma calls the film a "bittersweet romance that's more bitter than sweet" but surprisingly involving for a two-hour film, concluding that it is "an appealing film with photogenic stars, but a story that's hard to relate to.