DVD Review: Weather Woman DVD Collection
Woo-hoo! I just received a package from Asia Pulp Cinema, and it contained not just one panty-filled Japanese erotic comedy babe-fest flick, but TWO panty-filled Japanese erotic comedy babe-fest flicks! I'm talking about Weather Woman DVD Collection, which contains the two full length DVDs, Weather Woman (staring Kei Mizutani) and Weather Woman Returns (staring Misa Aika). Both of which were hilarious and extremely enjoyable, but they were also seemingly unrelated, except that they're both based on the Weather Woman manga series created by Tetsu Adachi. Apparently there is also an anime called Weather Report Girl which is based off of the same manga, so now I'm very interested in checking that out and seeing how it compares.
The first film is Weather Woman, and as it begins we find high school student Yamagishi on the roof of some building, professing his love to his fellow classmate, Keiko Nakadai. Keiko is dressed in the typical Japanese schoolgirl uniform, a blue blouse with a blue pleated skirt, and we find her standing on a slightly higher portion of the building... I mean, 'cause how else would we get to see her white panties? Then again, this isn't just any old casual, inconspicuous panty shot. Heavens no! This whole time Keiko has had her hand down her pants, masturbating, while Yamagishi is doing his whole profession of love thing. Keiko's definitely not shy! She is tough and determined, however, and detests Yamagishi's meek and nervous demeanor. She tells him to jump off the building to prove his love, but Yamagishi is unable summon the courage to go through with it. And so she shows him how it's done, leaping through the air, and out of Yamagishi's life, as she disappears from view.
Years later, Keiko reappears. We find her in a stall of the JTV television station women's restroom, masturbating with no restraint, and only moments before she is to go on the air, live, to do the weather report. (As she will say later on in a board meeting, it's part of her morning routine.) Although she is just filling in for the day while the regular weather woman, Michiko, is out, Keiko is determined to make the job her own... permanently. And so, at the end of her report, Keiko cheerfully lifts her dress, flashing her pretty white panties to all the fixated viewers. The station's lecherous old CEO, Chairman Shimamori, is impressed with her stunt, and so, despite the objections of the station's management, Keiko's plan works like a charm! The ratings skyrocket, and Keiko not only becomes the new weather woman, but the star of the once failing TV station. Of course, this completely devastates Michiko. It gets even worse when Keiko has her assigned her to the new reality show, "Hello, Mr Pervert", where she finds herself giving an enema to a middle aged man on live TV. Man, you don't want to cross that Keiko!
Then Chairman Shimamori's daughter, Kaori Shimamori, catches wind of this "exhibitionist nympho", and she isn't too happy about it either. She returns from Paris where, coincidentally enough, she had been studying so that she could someday return to Japan and help revolutionize the weather report segment of the news. So Kaori enlists the distraught Michiko to help in her plan of putting an end to Keiko's reign. Of course, the first part of the plan has Michiko becoming Keiko's maid/slave, where she's told to dig up dirt on Keiko whenever she can. What Michiko fails to notice is the assortment of hidden cameras that Kaori had scattered throughout the suite. Needless to say, Kaori captures all that she needs to get Keiko ejected from the station... well, when she plays it back live on the air during Keiko's weather report, that is. But don't worry, Keiko won't stay down forever! She'll find a new determination, enlist the help of good old Yamagishi, and train hard in skin-tight outfits so that she can return to take on Kaori in a mystical martial arts fantasy style duel to see who is the ultimate Weather Woman!
Weather Woman Returns is the next film, and it's just as good as the first, but has a different tone to it. While the first one was completely off-the-wall silliness with characters from bizarro-world, this one has a plot and characters that are much more realistic, providing it's comedy by throwing them into strange and silly situations. In this film, Keiko Nakadai is a cheerful, young high school student who enjoys relaxing at the local hot spring. When her father suddently dies, she finds herself anything but relaxed, inheriting his debt and his failing local television station, the Higashiya Network. Megumi Hayashibara, who runs TV Trendy, a rival station, is willing to erase Keiko's debt in exchange for her TV station, but Keiko isn't ready to give up quite yet. One idea Keiko came up with was to reinvigorate the weather report by holding a weather woman contest. It's a smashing success, but just before the newly selected sexy beautiful weather woman is to go on the air, she gets sick and is taken to the hospital... thanks once again to Megumi.
Keiko has no choice but to go on herself, and at the end of the report she does something that no one expected... well, no one who hasn't seen the first Weather Woman... she lifts her skirt and flashes her pretty white panties to all the lucky viewers out in TV land. Because the previous Weather Woman continuity doesn't exist in here, this becomes a first in the history of weather broadcasting. The show's a huge success, and saves the station... kind of like the movie UHF, except where Keiko Nakadai uses her panties to gain ratings, George Newman uses Stanley Spadowski to boost viewership. Anyway, this serious ticks of Megumi, and she orders her most loyal employee, Toshio Sakaguchi, to kidnap Keiko. Toshio heads off, but instead of kidnapping Keiko, he sets up a showdown to see who is truly the best weather woman.
The reason for this is made clear in a flashback, where we see a young idealistic Megumi trying unsuccessfully to make it as a pop idol, and learning about the harsh realities of city life. It's at this point in her life that she comes across Toshio, a struggling musician, who steps in and helps her out of a dangerous situation. The two form a bond, and it all becomes clear that Megumi sees Keiko as a younger version of herself, but one who succeeded where she failed. Toshio loves Megumi, and wants her to realize that she can succeed not by undermining Keiko, but by surpassing her. And so Megumi agrees to the showdown, which consists of the contests, a weather quiz for intelligence, arm wrestling for strength, and a mock weather forecast for beauty and overall effectiveness. Who will ultimately win out? It may not be who you think... and I'm sure you'll never guess why!
Weather Woman DVD Collection was released on March 1, 2005 by Central Park Media under their Asia Pulp Cinema label. The first Weather Woman title is also available as a standalone DVD (for $9.95) and as part of the Kei Mizutani DVD Collection (for $59.95). Both titles contain the Japanese language track with optional subtitles, while only the first film has an English dubbed track. The first film stars Kei Mizutani as Keiko Nakadai. The second film stars Misa Aika as Keiko Nakadai. In Japan, Weather Woman is known as Otenki Oneesan, which literally translates to "Weather Woman"... how about that!
