Tomie started off as a character original made by Junji Ito himself, the master of horror. Juni Ito has had many adaptations of his source material. There was Long Dream, Gyo: Tokyo Fish Attack, Junji Ito collection and many more. The most well known just so happened to be The Junji Ito collection, Uzumaki and, of course, the Tomie Franchise. Yes you heard that correct. His manga series 'Tomie' was adapted into a whole franchise, starting in 1998 and supposedly ending in 2011 with the reboot Tomie: Unlimited. You must also be thinking as the very first Tomie movie it would be the best, right? Well it unfortunately isn't. In fact, it's a rather boring one. I'm order to digest why, let's go over many key parts of the film.
Plot-The plot of this movie focuses on a variety of things. They focus on the 'death' of a student named Tomie and then learn that her classmates and teacher have either killed themselves or gone insane. The detective then tracks down a student named Tsukiko who is suffering from amnesia. Her neighbor also seems to have some sort of baby who grows into a teenager in the next few weeks. After a few more murders, abuse from Tomie and drama with Tsukiko, Tomie and Tsukiko's boyfriend, Yuichi, Tomie is supposedly killed by Yuichi, being stabbed and decapitated by Yuichi. Yuichi and Tomie go to bury her in the woods only for her to come to life and scare the two off. Yuichi'a fate is left unknown as Tsukiko into the woods and finds a boat dock. Tomie finds Tsukiko and kisses her. They both laugh and Tsukiko burns her after pulling out a flare. Tsukiko then learns to live a Norma live until one day she notices a mole on a picture she developed. She goes to check herself in the mirror and finds out their is a mole on her face as Tomie appears beside her, smiling.
The Plot should be a masterpiece just like Junji Ito's work but it sadly isn't. The plot is filled with two huge degrades. The first and most important is the ending of the film. The ending is just a slap in the face for anyone who wanted a scary ending. It could have been much better if the movie just left off where Tsukiko burned Tomie but I suppose that wouldn't cut it. Overall, the ending just feels pointless and really doesn't make sense.
The next problem with the plot is the inclusion of the suicide scenes. It really drags the story and just feel rather unnecessary. There really isn't much to say about them.
Acting-There isn't too special about the acting other than Miho Kanno's performance. Her performance by far is one of the better things of the movie. She just really resembles Tomie personality wise, being manipulative and 'sweet' when needed. Even if I am applauding her performance, there are some problems with it. Sometimes when she acts rude as her acting role , Tomie, she can be cartoonishly evil. She also isn't really scary as Tomie which is another downgrade. Overall, the acting is fine.
Pace-The pace is not that good. At times scenes will be interesting, keeping the viewer intrigued. Then their will be times when the story plummets into boredom for about the next 10 or so minutes, focusing on a very boring scene. Sometimes it even feels like not much is even happening in the movie. The officers investigate suicides, Tomie hangs with Tsukiko's boyfriend, Tsukiko walks around, Another suicide happens, it just feels like a whole cycle that feels completely pointless.
Characters-Most of the characters are boring, bland and worthless other than Tsukiko (Mami Nakamura) and Tomie (Miho Kano) who carry the movie half the time. No one else has memorable performances other than those two. Hell, even their relationship as a whole is WAY more interesting than any other character combined.
Score-The score is actually really nice. Sure it isn't gonna be anyones favorite but at least it isn't something that seems out of place for a Tomie movie. Also, the ending them for the movie is just pleasing. I won't be shocked if anyone considers the end theme a favorite.
Overall- Story 5/10 Acting 5/10 Pace 3/10 Characters 4/10 Score 6/10
The movie is a 5/10, being very boring yet somewhat memorable due to the performances Miho Kano and Mami Nakamura, the score and it's horrendous ending.
Plot-The plot of this movie focuses on a variety of things. They focus on the 'death' of a student named Tomie and then learn that her classmates and teacher have either killed themselves or gone insane. The detective then tracks down a student named Tsukiko who is suffering from amnesia. Her neighbor also seems to have some sort of baby who grows into a teenager in the next few weeks. After a few more murders, abuse from Tomie and drama with Tsukiko, Tomie and Tsukiko's boyfriend, Yuichi, Tomie is supposedly killed by Yuichi, being stabbed and decapitated by Yuichi. Yuichi and Tomie go to bury her in the woods only for her to come to life and scare the two off. Yuichi'a fate is left unknown as Tsukiko into the woods and finds a boat dock. Tomie finds Tsukiko and kisses her. They both laugh and Tsukiko burns her after pulling out a flare. Tsukiko then learns to live a Norma live until one day she notices a mole on a picture she developed. She goes to check herself in the mirror and finds out their is a mole on her face as Tomie appears beside her, smiling.
The Plot should be a masterpiece just like Junji Ito's work but it sadly isn't. The plot is filled with two huge degrades. The first and most important is the ending of the film. The ending is just a slap in the face for anyone who wanted a scary ending. It could have been much better if the movie just left off where Tsukiko burned Tomie but I suppose that wouldn't cut it. Overall, the ending just feels pointless and really doesn't make sense.
The next problem with the plot is the inclusion of the suicide scenes. It really drags the story and just feel rather unnecessary. There really isn't much to say about them.
Acting-There isn't too special about the acting other than Miho Kanno's performance. Her performance by far is one of the better things of the movie. She just really resembles Tomie personality wise, being manipulative and 'sweet' when needed. Even if I am applauding her performance, there are some problems with it. Sometimes when she acts rude as her acting role , Tomie, she can be cartoonishly evil. She also isn't really scary as Tomie which is another downgrade. Overall, the acting is fine.
Pace-The pace is not that good. At times scenes will be interesting, keeping the viewer intrigued. Then their will be times when the story plummets into boredom for about the next 10 or so minutes, focusing on a very boring scene. Sometimes it even feels like not much is even happening in the movie. The officers investigate suicides, Tomie hangs with Tsukiko's boyfriend, Tsukiko walks around, Another suicide happens, it just feels like a whole cycle that feels completely pointless.
Characters-Most of the characters are boring, bland and worthless other than Tsukiko (Mami Nakamura) and Tomie (Miho Kano) who carry the movie half the time. No one else has memorable performances other than those two. Hell, even their relationship as a whole is WAY more interesting than any other character combined.
Score-The score is actually really nice. Sure it isn't gonna be anyones favorite but at least it isn't something that seems out of place for a Tomie movie. Also, the ending them for the movie is just pleasing. I won't be shocked if anyone considers the end theme a favorite.
Overall- Story 5/10 Acting 5/10 Pace 3/10 Characters 4/10 Score 6/10
The movie is a 5/10, being very boring yet somewhat memorable due to the performances Miho Kano and Mami Nakamura, the score and it's horrendous ending.