Enjo Kosai (compensated dating) is nothing new, and if you go to Shibuya, even now there are girls who comes and asks you for your "support" (literally translates to Enjo). There's a market for it as seen on this movie, and it has become easy way for high school girls to gain money.Four girls are friends at school. Each has reason to go on Enjo Kosai. Hiromi is new to all this, but she first starts with going to karaoke house with middle aged man with her friends. Gradually, she starts to do it on her own. Her parents of course knows nothing about this. Hiromi has a goal of making enough money to buy an expensive ring she saw. She thinks its not so difficult, and gets dating appointments over phone. But reality of life is about to give her a lesson.This type of activity is very easy in Japan where there are many karaoke booth, and so called love hotels. It's easy to get lost in the crowd and blend in as not to be conspicuous. All the girls take full advantage of the society they live in. But such activities are not without risk, and that seems to be the point if there's any about this movie.Movies about prostitution has been made before and this is another modern take on it. The movie provides inside look of Japanese society, and is an interesting story to watch.

This is one of those films that you need to watch very carefully. The surface is a very disturbing film, but deep enough, this film is a full essay on teenage prostitution in Japan... in the 90's. Now a reality around the globe. That makes this film twice disturbing...The film is shot in a lot of unorthodox techniques that can be confusing for a western audience, but you need to remember Hideaki Anno is the creator of such mind-blowing works as Neon Genesis Evangelion, and in the same same vein, we can contemplate how deep can a teenager go in her despair to be something she is not supposed to be. Requiem for a Dream is the nearest thing you'll ever see to "Love & Pop".Watch it. Just watch it.

This film isn't something mind-blowing, but its special in its own way, cause of peculiar way Hideaki makes his movies.The film follows four Japanese high school girls who engage in enjo kosai, or compensated dating. This is a practice in Japan where older businessmen pay teenage girls more commonly to simply spend time with them, or rarely for prostitution. The movie is also a coming-of-age story. The main character, Hiromi, does not have the direction in life that her friends already have. Hiromi's friends were going to buy Hiromi a ring, but Hiromi refuses to take all the money because she does not want her friends to be jealous. Hiromi goes on dates by herself to get money for the ring. Soon, she gets in over her head. Hiromi falls too far into the world of enjo-kosai as she tries to hold onto a "friends forever" vision of the past.I gave it 9 out of 10 only because of Hideaki's sheer creativity in this film, storytelling, choosing camera, and camera shots (i find it so refreshing), and few other cool stuff...If you like Art & Creativity, you'll sure like Love & Pop.

This film is about pedophilia, perversion and prostitution through the eyes of 15-17 year old high school girls. It was filmed entirely using mini digital cameras mounted in bizarre places (like in a bowl of soup, on a pair of chopsticks and up a girl's skirt).OK, if that didn't scare you off, then please continue reading.It's a heavy, disturbing subject right off the bat. That plus the unconventional camera-work rings of "pretentious art house film". But somehow Hideaki Anno pulls it off. I suspect that it's because this is a sort of *tongue-in-cheek* pretentious art house film. Unlike certain snotty Cannes Film Festival contenders who seem to take themselves too seriously, Anno deliberately goes way over the top, as if to say, "Yes, I am a very strange man who likes to put cameras in microwave ovens." As a result, the mood of this film is a cross between CLOCKWORK ORANGE and AIRPLANE 2. Take it or leave it.You might be wondering why I rated it only 6/10 despite the fact that I seem to be praising it. You see, I've rated it on my special Hideaki-Annometer which grades on a much tougher scale. True, it's a worthwhile film. But relative to some of his other work, this comes across as a bit experimental and fractured.His later work SHIKI-JITSU is the perfection of what we see here. You'll even notice many recurring trademarks such as train tracks, red lighting and "countdown" intertitles. In the two years following LOVE & POP, Hideaki Anno mastered the style he dabbled in here.But oh wait I forgot about the music. (I may have to bump my rating up to a 7.) As with SHIKI-JITSU, he matches the perfect doleful piano pieces with poetic voice-over narration. In particular, I recognized a few Chopin sonatas, Debussy's "Claire de lune" and 1 or 2 other haunting melodies. Despite the vulgarity of the subject matter, these classical/romantic pieces provide a very interesting counterbalance. And I believe that is the whole theme of the film: the precarious balance between perversion and innocence.It's certainly a memorable film. But it requires some patience. Be sure to stick around for the 2nd half when things get REALLY weird.