A Hole in my Panty (4 Stars)

This is the eighth film in my high school marathon. I know I said there would only be seven films, but I own dozens of high school films, and I think I ought to include a few more. Maybe I'll stop at ten. We'll see.

"A Hole in my Panty" is a Japanese coming-of-age drama made in 2011. I'll start off by saying that the film's title has absolutely nothing to do with the film. I can't even blame the translators, because it's a literal translation of the Japanese title. The title is just a ploy to make the film sound sleazy and get Japanese perverts will buy it. It wasn't necessary. The film stars Ai Shinozaki, and I'll buy any film in which she appears.

The film takes place in Okinawa. It's the last day of school before the summer holidays. Three schoolboys are determined to lose their virginity in the holidays. That sounds like a standard plot for coming-of-age films, but this film goes on a different, typically Japanese path. Two of the boys lose their virginity, one doesn't, but who do you think is happy when he returns to school?

Takuro and Ryota are so desperate to find a girl that they even ring the numbers written on toilet walls. After a series of mishaps, they reach their desires. For Hiroshi it's sifferent. He meets a girl called Narumi by the beach, and he rescues her when he sees her running away from a man. Later in the film we find out it's her father, but to Hiroshi he looks like an abusive boyfriend. Narumi's parents have separated, and her mother has moved to Okinawa to be with another man. Narumi will be in the high school with the boys after the holidays, but this is their first meeting.

There's no gradual build up. A romance immediately flares between Hiroshi and Narumi. To be honest, it's mainly physical attraction on Hiroshi's side, but can you blame him?

While sitting on the beach, Narumi tells Hiroshi that she likes virgins. That excites him a lot, until she explains what she means. She doesn't mean that she's looking for sex with an inexperienced man. What she means is that she likes virgins because they're virgins. If she sleeps with Hiroshi he won't be a virgin any more, and she won't like him.

Does that make sense? It doesn't make sense to Hiroshi, but he loves Narumi enough to try to understand. For her, virginity is something spiritual. It's not a matter of remaining chaste until marriage, she wants to remain a virgin all her life, and she's looking for a partner to share the path with her.

That doesn't mean that she acts innocently. She wears revealing clothing, not just on the beach, and she likes to tease Hiroshi. She's happy when he has a bulge in his swimming trunks. She sees sexual arousal as part of the virginity game. If Hiroshi can keep himself under control when he's aroused, he's worthy of her.

Hiroshi has to choose. Does he want a lifetime of virginity with the girl he loves? Or should he enjoy the thrills of the sexually willing women that his friends have found? I'm not saying there's a right or wrong choice. Hiroshi is 16, which is the age when male hormones are totally out of control. At that age I was still a virgin, and I was desperate to lose my virginity. I don't know whether I would have remained with Narumi or not. All I know is that if I'd left Narumi I would have regretted it in later years.

Ai Shinozaki is the most beautiful actress I know. I'm sad that this film is now out of print. I wouldn't say that it's a masterpiece, but it's worth watching for her beauty alone. Here are a few screenshots from the film.

She's incredible, isn't she?

Just one more question before I finish. What's this strange rubble on the beach?