At this point almost everyone's heard about Nobuhiko Ôbayashis transcendent movie "House", I haven't seen it but only seen the trailer of it. One could almost believe that this director only did horror arthouse movies with fantastic special effects, but he also did commercial movies with a broad appeal, taking the fantastic to normal settings like high schools and such. School in The Crosshairs makes a strong case for that ambition, combining the normal and the strange in such a wonderful way that still keeps the audience guessing.

School in The Crosshairs is about a high schooo girl by the name Yuka that suddenly discovers she has psychic powers, a discovery that leads to a series of events that unfold around her discovering those psychic powers, meanwhile she has to tackle normal school life and the underlying happenings that are plaguing her school and the burgeoning romance with fellow classmate Seki.

First of all I'd like to say that I really loved this movie, you can see a lot of passion has been put into making this movie look as beautiful as possible, using every single technique and practical effect to make the setting even more appealing, especially the gorgeously drawn backgrounds adorning some of the scenes. The use of practical effects is so creative in this movie that it gives it its own cinematic identity and language, which is fun and imaginative.

Secondly I'd like to praise the story, while not very creative I think it has its own original spin on the tropes and the things that were popular during that time both western and eastern!

Also the actors do a great job, especially the teenage actors, they're great.

The music is also great, just by hearing the Yumi Matsutoya (also called Yumi Arai) theme song in the beginning it just gives the movie a classy feel, and a nostalgic one as well.

Nobuhiko Ôbayashis direction is also great, even if the movie is very by the numbers when it comes to story he gives it his own sense of quirkiness which is just a joy to see.

If there's anything negative that I'd have to say about this film then it is probably about the story, the movie has a quick pace, almost a bit too quick because some of the happenings or character motivations in the movie just seem a little bit too haphazardly put, also the character of Yuka is literally someone with no personality other than they are best at everything which is boring. But these are minor things.

Hope you enjoy!

Another utterly wacky production from the director who brought us the classic HAUSU. This one's an inventive little combination of science fiction and high school story, following the misadventures of a young student who randomly develops psychic powers one day. She soon learns that it's the result of a visiting Venusian (!) who soon takes over the school with his underlings. The whole thing is an open allegory of fascism, complete with lockdowns and uniformed guard patrols, but it's the director's style that makes it so cool. The wacky direction and low fi effects work an absolute treat, and I admit to finding the whole thing a blast.