A film by Sion Sono and one of the half dozen of movies that he released in 2015. It's a family-friendly movie that plays with elements of a whole lot of genres.
The story follows the introverted Ryoishi who is bullied at work but dreams of being a rock star. One day he is convinced to buy a turtle, which he calls Pikadon. Ryoishi builds a strong bond with his new pet. Soon though, his coworkers find out about the existence of the animal and make fun of him. In reaction to that, he flushes it down the toilet in shame, resulting in the turle Pikadon going on a journey through the sewers of Tokyo, where he finds new friends in the form of Living Toys and a bummer who takes care of them. In the meantime, Ryoishi is devastated over what he did and writes a song about how much he misses Pikadon - garnering him the attention of people who can bring him to fame, which is the beginning of an unexpected career.
This movie provides examples of the following tropes:
- Author Appeal: Even in this film, the oppression of the individual in Japanese society is a central theme.
- Be Careful What You Wish For: One of the main themes of the movie.
- Black Comedy: Some of it in the first half. Most of the humor in the movie tends to be more light-hearted though.
- Break Up Break Out: Ryoichi leaves Revolution Q to become a successful solo musician.
- Drama Queen: Ryoichi, as the story goes on.
- Character Development: Ryoichi goes through a strong one, being an outsider in the first half of the movie and a successful, arrogant Rock Star in the second half.
- Cloudcuckoolander: Ryoichi is an extreme example, constantly dreaming of becoming a Rock Star.
- Foreshadowing: The old bum's promises to help the thrown-out toys and rejected pets find better homes that won't reject them make a lot more sense when it turns out he's Santa Claus.
- Genre Shift: Several of them. It evolves from a tragicomedy to a rock star story while managing fantasy components along the way, making the whole movie a full-on Christmas movie before adding Kaiju elements to the mix. That's crazy even by Sono's standards.
- Heroic BSoD:
- Ryoichi after he flushes Pikadon down the toilet. And later when he realizes he's lost himself.
- Maria enters one after she sees her old owner with a newer model of doll, who passes her by without even noticing.
- I Am the Band: Ryoichi gradually pushes the other members of Revolution Q into the background, until they're nothing but a backing band for his solo career.
- Jerkass Has a Point: Although Revolution Q is pissed off as Ryoichi's I Am the Band attitude starts pushing them out of the limelight, he and his manager are right in that the band planned to exploit him for the sake of success they would never have had without his song.
- Kaiju: Ryoichi names Pikadon after the Japanese word for atomic bomb, thinking of the turtle as a Kaiju. It actually evolves into one over the course of the movie. A kaiju, that is.
- Knight in Sour Armor: Sulkie is the most bitter of the toys over his mistreatment by humans, and frequently speaks negatively about humans and the toys' prospects of being accepted by them once more.
- Lighter and Softer: Who would have thought Sono would make a family friendly movie?
- Living Toys: There are a lot of them in the sewers, they (along with many pets) have been thrown away by their owners. The bum picks them up and takes care of them until they may find a new home at Christmas.
- Mood Whiplash: There are several scenes that switch between funny, sad, lovely, and all at the same time.
- The Rock Star: Ryoichi, later on.
- The Reveal: The bum is Santa Claus.
- Raise Him Right This Time: It's more like "Hopefully they'll be treated right this time.", as the old bum/Santa reverts the rejected toys and animals to brand new/infant forms and prepares to give them to children at Christmas.
- Rock Opera: The movie is kind of an example of this due to the involvement of some songs by Revolution Q and Ryuishi’s solo project, including the song after which the movie is named.
- Shout-Out: In one scene, a guitar playing Ryoichi is dressed like hide form X Japan.
- Sour Outside, Sad Inside: Sulkie's sarcastic and pessimistic exterior is born of his compassion for the other toys and anger over their situation.
- Spiritual Antithesis: The movie to a lot of Sono’s other works which tend to be disturbing and gory.
- Title Drop: Two of them:
- The song by Revolution Q.
- The nicknames of Pikadon and Ryoichi in his solo project.
- Took a Level in Jerkass: Ryoichi, as his star rises.
