Ryuichi Hiroki has become a victim of his own success, though his studio employers probably don't see it that way. This one-time maker of so-called pink films (i.e., soft pornography), who became internationally celebrated for intimate indie dramas like "Vibrator" from 2003 and "Yawarakai Seikatsu (It's Only Talk)" from 2005, has morphed into the local industry's go-to guy for weepy romantic dramas — a genre that has been a big money-maker here for decades.
Hiroki brought his own style and sensibility to such films as "Yomei Ikkagetsu no Hanayome (April Bride)" and "Raiou (The Lightning Tree)." But although he drew career-peak performances from his female stars in these films, he couldn't do much about the formula tropes or commercial imperatives of his stories. He never directed a truly bad film, but compared to his earlier, bolder indie work, he wasn't making what those who celebrated that work — myself included — really wanted to watch.
When his latest, "Sayonara Kabukicho (Kabukicho Love Hotel)," was announced, I hoped it would mark a return to Hiroki's indie form. That hope has been abundantly realized.