Update on Masato Tsujioka's DIVIDE, w/ Mariko Kuranuki, Ayano Yoshikawa, Shin'ichirô Ôsawa, Bob Su
The official subsite for Masato Tsujioka's Divide is now online. Tsujioka Production (Tsujioka Purodakushon) is scheduled to release the movie at the Shibuya Ciné la Sept in Tokyo on May 13th.
As was previously reported here on ScreenAnarchy, the screenplay for Divide was written by Tsujioka. The movie's principal cast is as follows: Mariko Kuranuki, Ayano Yoshikawa, Shin'ichirô Ôsawa, Bob Suzuki (Bobu Suzuki), manga-ka Ochazukenori (Ochadukenori), Akiko Mishiro, Shôko Ikeda, Hôka Kinoshita, and Hisayoshi Hirayama. The rest of its cast includes Airi Tanaka, Ayane Hinase, Mami Higuchi, Aya Kanai, Aya Hashimoto, Noriko Kijima, Airi Maekawa, Nana Kasai, and Kaori Takagi.
Below is a synopsis for Divide from the English-language page on the official subsite for the movie.
Saki is a high school senior. She does well in both academics and sports. She has a boyfriend, Syo, who works for a publishing company. Their relationship is going well even though Syo has a mental illness. Actually, Saki is most concerned about her younger sister. They were separated when they were kids due to their parents' divorce. Syo helps in finding the younger sister to make Saki feel happier. On the other hand, Saki harbors bitter feelings for her mother because she left her sister. However, after their mother died, she noticed how much she actually loved her, which caused Saki to feel great sorrow.
Without parents, the depressed Saki is provoked by Yuki, a sophomore student from a children's home. Yuki belongs to a group of street gangs led by Ryu, who is trying to take control of Tokyo's gangs. As a member, Yuki recruits her classmates into prostitution. Saki starts to work at a night cabaret after school, and moves in with her homeroom teacher. Lacking interaction with friends, and bullied at the cabaret, Saki's heart sinks. It is at this low point that Yuki tries to recruit Saki into the group of street gangs. At first, Saki refuses, but deep in her mind she is attracted to Yuki who, despite also losing both parents and growing up in a children's home, appears strong. Little by little, Saki opens her heart to Yuki. Ryu accelerates his campaign to control the remaining groups of defiant gangs, so he begins to demand even more strength from Yuki. However, Yuki's classmates revolt against her, while Saki suffers a bitter betrayal from her homeroom teacher. Syo discovers a horrifying truth as he searches for Saki's sister and the origin of his illness.
