Sakuran
| Sakuran | |
 Cover of the first Japanese manga volume | |
| Genre | Period Drama, Seinen |
|---|---|
| Manga | |
| Written by | Moyoco Anno |
| Published by |  Kodansha |
| Sakuran | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Mika Ninagawa |
| Written by | Yuki Tanada |
| Produced by | Tamotsu Shiina |
| Starring | Anna Tsuchiya Hiroki Narimiya Yoshino Kimura Miho Kanno Masatoshi Nagase Masanobu Ando |
| Cinematography | Takuro Ishizaka |
| Edited by | Hiroaki Morishita |
| Music by | Shiina Ringo |
| Distributed by | Asmik Ace Entertainment |
Release dates | February 24, 2007 |
Running time | 111 min |
| Language | Japanese |
Sakuran is a manga series created by Moyoco Anno. The manga is about a young girl, Kiyoha (though she undergoes through different names while growing up the hierarchy) who becomes a tayu or oiran courtesan.
A live-action film adaptation was released in Japan on February 24, 2007. The film stars Anna Tsuchiya and marks the directorial debut of photographer Mika Ninagawa. Ringo Shiina is the music director; a new arrangement of her band Tokyo Jihen's song "Yume no Ato" was featured in the trailer.
Plot
A young kamuro (maid in a brothel) is sold into the red-light district Yoshiwara, and is put under the care of the current oiran, who names her Tomeki. The girl is very rebellious and does not cry when punished, is bad-mouthed and bad-mannered, and talks back and even hits the other kamuros. It is because of this that the more experienced people in the household begin to think that she will be one day a great oiran, since to be an oiran one needs not only beauty and talent, but she should also have the tenacity to maintain the position.
After that, we follow Tomeki as she becomes O-Rin, a hikkomi - or prostitute - in training, and later Kiyoha, the most beautiful girl at the household, yet not the oiran, which creates great tension and jealousy between both of them.
But rivalry is not the main problem to overcome for young Kiyoha, but rather the appearance of young Soujiro and the impossibility of love in the love-quarters.