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ATARASHII GAKKO! 'Tokyo Calling' by Pennacky

Rob Ulitski - 12th Jan 2024

Welcome to the wonderfully wacky world of sailor-suit (or is school uniform?) wearing Japanese girl group ATARASHII GAKKO! and their tribute to old school Japanese TV - not to mention the The Beastie Boys' classic video for Intergalactic.

First came their own version of Intergalactic. Then they took it to the next level with Tokyo Calling, and the fabulous video directed by Pennacky. From the performance to the choreography, to the numerous setpieces, it's exceptional work from a visionary creative team.

It's a love letter to tokusatsu - the heavy use of special effects in film and television programmes - the video is a satirical commentary on Japanese society, with jaw-dropping miniature work and a retrofuturistic aesthetic.

Sure, we have seen something like this before - in the Intergalactic video and elsewhere. But having the four girls of ATARASHII GAKKO! towering over Tokyo, Godzilla-size, is the most enjoyable thing we've seen so far in 2024. That includes Jeremy in his underpants.        

Rob Ulitski - 12th Jan 2024

Tags

  • Comedy
  • New Director
  • Pick of the Day
  • Pop
  • J-Pop
  • Performance
  • Tokusatsu
  • Miniature
  • Vignette
  • aesthetic
  • Retrofuturistic

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Credits

Production/Creative

Director
Pennacky
Director’s Agent
Jimmy Kitaji
Producer
Taro Mikami, Miki Sakurai
Line Producer
Nanaka Sakurai
Production Manager
Troy Ippei Fukuda, Aoi Tanaka
Production Assistant
Hitomi Iwanaga
Production Support
Shosuke Mori, Yusuke Morohashi
Production
CEKAI

Camera

Director of Photography
Kohei Shimazu
1st AC
Shunsuke Yamauchi
2nd AC
Narumi Nitta
Film Loader
Yuta Tokeshi

Lighting/Grip

Gaffer
Haruka Harazawa
Lighting 1st
Daichi Tokuhiro
Lighting 2nd
Toshio Ikeo, So Sato, Yuto Fukata, Masayuki Kawata, Lin Chen, Hiroto Wang
Lighting Equipments
Arc System

Art

Production designer
Yuusuke Ishii
Production Design Assistant
Haruka Shiotsuka
Production Design Assistant
Yuna Okutomi
Production Design Assistant
Mitsuki Enei
Set Decorator
Fumiya Iwaki
Set Decorator
Junzo Nishi

Wardrobe

Stylist
Hideyuki Kanemitsu

Editorial

Editor
Tomonori Horie

Grading

Colourist
Haruka Ariga

Other credits

Transportation

JCM

Rob Ulitski - 12th Jan 2024

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