(1985)—originally titled Do-re-mi-fa musume no chi wa sawagu and also known as Bumpkin Soup —is a seminal piece of early Japanese independent cinema directed by a young Kiyoshi Kurosawa . Released on November 3, 1985 , this anarchic musical comedy serves as a foundational stepping stone for a filmmaker who would later gain international fame for J-horror masterpieces like Cure (1997) and Pulse (2001). Initially conceptualized within the framework of Japan's commercial Pinku eiga (pink film) industry, the movie famously outgrew its erotic constraints to become a surreal, subversively funny, and highly stylized critique of academic life and youth culture. The Genesis: From Studio Constraints to Avant-Garde Freedom
The title refers to the musical solfege syllables: Do, Re, Mi, Fa... stopping before So (Sol) and La. This is crucial. Our protagonist, rumored to be a young actress named (a pseudonym used in lost media circles), does not complete the scale. She represents the process of becoming, not the final product. The Excitement of the Do Re Mi Fa Girl -1985 - ...
The Excitement of the Do-Re-Mi-Fa Girl (1985)—also released under the title Bumpkin Soup —is an absurdist, satirical comedy that marks a fascinating early turn in director career. Long before he became a master of J-horror with classics like Cure , Kurosawa delivered this "Godardian" anthropological study on disaffected Japanese youth. Plot & Atmosphere The Genesis: From Studio Constraints to Avant-Garde Freedom
The film follows (Yoriko Dôguchi), a naive country girl who travels to Tokyo University to find her high school crush, Minoru (Kenso Kato). Instead of a traditional campus, she finds herself in a bizarre "circus" of behavior: Our protagonist, rumored to be a young actress
: The students Akiko meets are aimless, engaged in constant flirting, mock revolutions, and impromptu musical numbers.