The word Banpaku means world fair/expo in Japanese while Kodomo is the word for child. Norikazu Oba combines the two to present a story about a fair organized by children for children.
“Kodomobanpaku” is screening at Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival
Izumi Morishita, a first year junior high school student in a rural area, who is also quite bored with her life, is the one that comes up with the idea, following the example of her elder brother, who organizes “actual” fairs. In order to do so, she enlists the help of her best friend, Yuri, while her first pick for performances in the festival is the newcomer in school, Yuzu, who has posted a video of her singing on YouTube, impressing all her new classmates. However, her mother and manager, does not allow the girl to participate in events that do not promote her career, essentially forcing her to turn down Izumi, in a way that is not particularly polite. Despite the issue, Izumi and Yuri proceed with their audition, occasionally finding talented children to participate, occasionally stumbling upon creepy grown ups, while eventually Yuzu also starts to warm up to the prospect, despite her mother's will. The problems, however, keep piling up.
Norikazu Oda directs a 50-minute movie that is mostly addressed to children, even if the creepiness of some of the people that try to audition online is a bit excessive. Even this aspect, however, seems to have an educational value regarding the dangers that lurk on the internet. In the same fashion, the value of effort and keep going even when the odds are against you emerges as the main message here, along with the value of having a mentor (Izumi's rather helpful big brother in this case) and also one directed towards parents, of the value of sometimes leaving their teenage children just follow their dreams in their own way.
This last aspect, as mirrored in Yuzu's relationship with her mother, is the main source of drama here along with her relationship with the rest of the girls, while the auditions are the main source of humor. The effort to organize the festival functions as the base and the whole thing comes around nicely with Yuzu's songs, with teenage model Yun Kosugi being quite good in the role. Asumi Momoha as Izumi is equally delightful with the chemistry of the two and the transformation of their relationship being one of the best parts of the narrative.
Kaisei Iwao's rather bright and polished cinematography suits the overall aesthetics nicely, heightening the overall delightfulness that permeates the production.
“Kodomobanpaku” is somewhat amateurish in its presentation and naive in its context, purposefully looking as a movie made by teenagers for teenagers, which actually emerges as a trait in a movie that is quite easy to watch, particularly by children.
