Moon Child (2003 film)

Moon Child
Directed by	Takahisa Zeze
Produced by	Takashi Hirano
Written by	Gackt Camui Isuchi Kisyu Takahisa Zeze
Starring	Gackt Camui Hyde Takarai Leehom Wang Taro Yamamoto Susumu Terajima Zeny Kwok Anne Suzuki James Houston Thomas Kanata Hongō
Music by	Gackt Jerry Jeff Walker
Cinematography	Takahide Shibanushi
Distributed by	Shochiku (Japan) TLA Releasing (United States)
Release date(s)	April 19, 2003
Running time	120 min.
Language	Japanese Mandarin Cantonese English

Moon Child is a movie starring Gackt Camui, Hyde Takarai, and Leehom Wang.

Plot

In the year 2014, Japan suffers a major economic collapse and people are forced to emigrate to mainland China. Three orphaned boys live in a fictional Chinese city called Mallepa, a 'melting pot' of different Asian groups. They are named Sho (Gackt), Shinji (Susumu Terajima) who is Sho's brother, and Toshi (Tarô Yamamoto). All three survive through pickpocketing. During a theft gone wrong, Sho meets Kei (Hyde), a young looking man who is actually a vampire.

Several years later, Sho is in his twenties, leading a gang together with Kei and Toshi. During one of the robberies against another gang, they cross paths with a Taiwanese named Son (Leehom). Son is going after the gang because their leader raped his sister, Yi-Che (Zeny Kwok). Sho, Kei, Son and Toshi all become friends, and Sho quickly and awkwardly falls in love with Yi-Che. Toshi is murdered by the local mafia for helping Sho and Kei by using poisoned pizza to sedate their targets. Soon, through this experience, Son and Yi-Che learn that Kei is a vampire.

Nine years later, Sho is head of his district in Mallepa and is married to Yi-Che. Son has joined Mr. Chan, the leader of the mafia of Mallepa and is now Sho's enemy.

Yi-Che develops a fatal cancerous brain tumor. Soon after the diagnosis, Sho's men are killed on the streets in broad daylight while Sho is away. Sho's brother, Shinji, is also killed when he points at gun at Mr. Chan while in a drug induced haze. Sho calls Kei, who he had discovered was being held by police and had visited once before, begging him to return. After speaking to Kei he is told that Kei had been sentenced to death, something Kei had actually requested. Kei, however, escapes his execution and returns. Sho asks Kei to turn Yi-Che into a vampire so she will be around for the sake of Hana (their young daughter). Kei refuses angrily, but agrees to face Mr. Chan with Sho. He promises Sho that if anything happens to him, he will take care of Hana.

When they go to face Mr. Chan, Mr. Chan is shot by two of his own while Sho faces off with Son. Their battle comes down to a 'count to three and shoot' match when they are both down to only one bullet. Sho's gun misfires and he is shot in the chest by Son. Kei arrives on the scene and Son faces his own death by pointing his empty gun at Kei, who is enraged at the sight of his injured friend and fires at Son. Kei goes to Sho, who appears to die dramatically in Kei's arms.

In 2045, Hana is grown up and heading off to college. She says goodbye to Kei, who raised her in Sho's absence and it is implied that she is aware of Kei being a vampire. Before she leaves she mentions the feeling of someone watching her, and after her departure Sho appears as a vampire, thanking Kei for taking care of her all these years because he couldn't face what he had become. Together the two men drive to the beach and await the rising sun together to face death. The movie concludes with the entire gang back together at the beach in the daylight (something not possible for Kei in the past), presumably reunited in the afterlife or as reincarnations of themselves in another life.

Theme song

The theme song for the movie is "Orenji no Taiyou" (Japanese for "The Orange Sun"), a duet written and performed by Gackt and Hyde. (Lyrics are continuously recited throughout the movie.)

External links

• Moon Child at the Internet Movie Database
• Moon Child at AllRovi

Reviews

• Midnight Eye
• Nippon Cinema
• Snowblood Apple