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Bounce Ko Gals

Play trailer Poster for Bounce Ko Gals Released Oct 3, 2003 1h 50m Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
53% Tomatometer 15 Reviews 74% Popcornmeter 100+ Ratings
Three Japanese teenagers (Hitomi Sato, Yasue Sato, Yukiko Okamoto) prostitute themselves to finance their affluent lifestyles.

Critics Reviews

View All (15) Critics Reviews
Frank Scheck Hollywood Reporter Manages the difficult feat of being simultaneously sordid and tedious at the same time. Oct 23, 2003 Full Review Dave Kehr New York Times Bounce Ko Gals feels fabricated, studio-bound and claustrophobic, which doesn't add to the ripped-from-the-headlines authenticity this genre has always depended on. Rated: 2/5 Oct 2, 2003 Full Review Michael Atkinson Village Voice The movie frames a critique of socially permissible pedophilia as indelible as Harada's eavesdropping mise-en-scne. Sep 30, 2003 Full Review Rex Roberts Film Journal International Foreign film buffs who enjoyed Lost in Translation may find it worthwhile to revisit Japan with a native guide. Feb 22, 2007 Full Review Emanuel Levy EmanuelLevy.Com Rated: 2/5 Nov 4, 2005 Full Review Apollo Guide Rated: 85/100 May 13, 2005 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View All (10) audience reviews
Audience Member This film has so tremendous amount of sense of "now" (especially for a man like me who has grown up in Tokyo) that it is hard to believe that this film was made more than 10 years ago. There are some points in director's personal politics and feelings against Japan that I cannot fully agree with, but still the script is really well-written, and images, performance, and other factors are all powerful. Harada is, I think, really one of the important directors of contemporary (90s and 00s) Japanese cinema. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 01/28/23 Full Review Audience Member Not a sexual movie but it deals with selling sex. This movie has a lot of heart and I enjoyed it alot. It basically follows the activity of the 3 youngfemale characters for one night. The script is smart and the acting is spot on by the entire casr. It will hold your interest, with plenty of drama and suspense. See it! Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 01/27/23 Full Review Audience Member This movie is all about the outlawed practice of 'enjo kosai' in Japan (schoolgirl prostitution) which has been going on for years. Schoolgirls that peddle their bodies to older men for money or expensive designer clothes. Bounce KO Gals follows 3 girls for one day as they try and make as much money as possible for one of them who wants to escape to New York for a better life. This movie takes a different approach from a similar movie called Love & Pop which also dealt with this controversial subject but in a much more seedier way. I found it fascinating whilst also showing the dark underbelly of Japanese society. The 3 leading girls did a really good job. Overall I found this movie quite a moving experience. Recommended Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 01/20/23 Full Review Audience Member This movie was a great big surprise. A film about the world of compensated dating in Japan, made in Japan, could easily be exploitatively cheap or cheaply titillating, but Bounce Ko Gals is neither, and much to some people's chagrin, considering its subject matter, it turns out to be a sweet, sort of melodramatic film about friendship. There is no sex or nudity in the film but it is pretty insightful and blunt about such things. It's not a kids film by any means and as much as many adults might like to think its subject matter inappropriate for teens, it's pretty spot on in its portrayal of youth culture, particularly that of contemporary Tokyo. Bounce Ko Gals is a hip, fun, frank, and furious look at the, some would say uniquely Japanese, phenomenon of teenage girls who have discovered their sexual power and find very little reason not to use it even though the endgame of designer handbags and other assorted accessories might seem superficial--not to mention mind-boggling to those of a more mature bent. The straightforward approach to this subject matter is assisted by the director's documentary style of filming and it's got a great soundtrack. Highly recommended. <a href='http://sitenoise-atthemovies.blogspot.com/2009/12/bounce-ko-gals-baunsu-ko-gaurusu-1997.html' target='_blank'>sitenoise at the movies: Bounce Ko Gals</a> Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/10/23 Full Review Audience Member It is girl business, but don't see it as childish. It can be so heavy that after watching it you can't really relieve if you are not ready to accept the truth. In the years before the film was made compensated business is a hot social issue in Japan. Adult labeled those compensated girls as greed and bad. They viewed them as material girl. Adult sighed that the social culture had gone bad and the social value of the new generation was so low. Through the film you can feel that they are surrounded by danger and they have no shelter. Every man wants to have relation with them. Every step they take there are men hunting for them. They have to face it all by themselves. They behave stronger and more smarter than those adults. Adults, especially men, no matter what their roles are in the society, are evil. In this short period of time they experience friendship and change of life attitude. Through this 24 hours portrayed in the film: you can find some of the hidden truth inside Japan. Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 01/30/23 Full Review Audience Member This movie is all about the outlawed practice of 'enjo kosai' in Japan (schoolgirl prostitution) which has been going on for years. Schoolgirls that peddle their bodies to older men for money or expensive designer clothes. Bounce KO Gals follows 3 girls for one day as they try and make as much money as possible for one of them who wants to escape to New York for a better life. This movie takes a different approach from a similar movie called Love & Pop which also dealt with this controversial subject but in a much more seedier way. I found it fascinating whilst also showing the dark underbelly of Japanese society. The 3 leading girls did a really good job. Overall I found this movie quite a moving experience. Recommended Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/19/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Bounce Ko Gals

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Cast & Crew

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Movie Info

Synopsis Three Japanese teenagers (Hitomi Sato, Yasue Sato, Yukiko Okamoto) prostitute themselves to finance their affluent lifestyles.
Director
Masato Harada
Producer
Masakatsu Suzuki
Screenwriter
Masato Harada
Distributor
Media Blasters
Production Co
Shochiku Films
Genre
Drama
Original Language
Japanese
Release Date (Theaters)
Oct 3, 2003, Wide
Release Date (DVD)
Mar 1, 2011
Runtime
1h 50m