26-year-old Naoko has just got herself a good job in a good Tokyo company, and settling in as a newcomer doesn't seem that hard: the atmosphere is laid-back and her colleagues are friendly. But beneath the idyllic veneer of calm normality, the fires of war burn brightly. Is it just the same old battles for power being fought between the top brass? The usual turf-wars of white-collar workers? Oh no – this is a brand new, all-female kind of war whose foot soldiers are the innocent-seeming, implacable and pugnacious Office Ladies!
Based on a manga – how could it not be? – Seki Kazuaki's “Office Royale” is the Japanese comedy of the year, which will (almost literally) be bursting into the line-up of the Far East Film Festival 23 (International Premier). A hilarious, uproarious manifesto for contemporary girl power that, without ever taking itself seriously, leaves no room (or escape) for the boys or for the possible prejudices of its viewers. What will Naoko do when she realises that the Office Ladies are organised into actual gangs of thugs who fight for their territory with fists and feet? And what will happen when the Office Ladies from the whole of Japan take to the battlefield?
With a title that playfully hints at “Battle Royale” and stunning ultra-pop visuals that turn real life into a comic book, “Office Royale“ delivers on every single promise: laughter, fun, punch-ups and a team of irresistible actresses headed by beautiful diva Mei Nagano (actress and model, five years younger than her sister Naoko) as a young Beatrix Kiddo who has no Bill to kill but can proudly shout to the world “I am an Office Lady!”. Will it become the battle cry of FEFF 23?
