Street Kingdom: Play Your Own Sound (2026)
In 1978 Tokyo, there was a youth movement that would go on to have a major influence on the rock scene. Or so they say, but for me, a serious middle schooler living in Kobe at the time, it was a world far removed from my own, and I have neither knowledge of nor emotional attachment to it.
So, even when told it depicts that era, I felt no interest at all, but I decided to go see it because I sensed a "scent" similar to the film "Could You Kill Me?", which is set in the world of film rather than music. I thought, maybe it's a work that depicts a youth that is reckless, desperate, and overflowing with heat?
And when I actually watched it, it was exactly the "reckless, desperate, and heat-overflowing youth film" I had imagined! Directed by Tomorowo Taguchi, written by Kankuro Kudo, and with music by Yoshihide Otomo, "Street Kingdom: Play Your Own Sound" is a masterpiece that transcends generations and genres, where the energy of youth explodes.
Yuichi, a photographer moved by the Sex Pistols he happened to hear on the radio, encounters the rock fanzine "Rockin' Doll" and heads to a certain live music club.
There, he is shocked by the live performance of the band "TOKAGE," led by the vocalist Momo, and presses the shutter in a trance. It was an otherworldly space overflowing with raw energy, unbound by music, bands, or the audience.
Hired as a photographer to shoot their live shows, Yuichi deepens his interactions with Momo and the others. Before long, their music drives young people into a frenzy in the blink of an eye, becoming a movement called "Tokyo Rockers" that rewrites the history of Japanese rock in just one year...
You don't need knowledge of 1978, Tokyo, or rock history. It is a heart-pounding work that depicts both the brilliance of expressing individual beliefs and passions to the fullest without being bound by the constraints or rules of that era, and the melancholy caused by friction in human relationships and between art and business.
It is also clever that the story is spun by making the protagonist a photographer, viewing the movement from a slightly objective perspective.
All of the actors also gave magnificent, passionate performances, completely transforming into their roles!