Detective Aida signs up for a testrun of a new database, basically
because it comes equipped with an attractive female operator in her early
twenties, Poo (Miyoko Yoshimoto), for the first month. To prove the
effectiveness of the system to Aida, Poo offers to feed it with the data
of a random case, that of a missing silver dragon fish, and as
uninteresting as this case sounds, it seems to lead to top secret files
within the system. Poo becomes so intrigued by this that she offers to
help Aida even beyond just operating the system, and the two soon learn
that the silver dragon fish is in question is probably actually a red
dragon fish, unlike the silver variety a rare and extremely valuable
species, and this in turn makes big-time smuggler Tobiyama a logical
suspect. Trying to track down Tobiyama (and the fish) out in the
streets, Poo stumbles across Natsuro (Tadanobu Asano), a young man she
immediately feels drawn to, especially when she finds his appartment
filled with watertanks full of tropical fish (several of which he fries
and eats just like that), including a dragon fish, the dragon fish in
question. Poo of course doesn't know that Natsuro is actually Tobiyama's
top hitman, but he does her no harm even when it begins to dawn on him
what she's after because he has fallen in love with her. Then though, the
police have picked up Tobiyama's trail, and he and Natsuro have to break
camp - but Natsuro will not leave Poo without giving her what she was
after: the dragon fish. Fish found, case solved, and everything should
be to Aida's satisfaction ... only it isn't, because his employer is
arrested before he can pay up, and the fish turns out to be of the
ordinary silver dragon fish variety after all instead the red one, and is
thus worth nothing. With nothing gained after a long day's work, Poo
suggests to at least fry and eat the fish, which they do, only to then
learn from the TV that the very silver dragon fish they are eating had
implanted the ovaries of a red dragon fish, and the roe alone would have
been worth a vast fortune ... A cute little film, and cute in a
good way: It's based on a weird premise that's presented in such an
unexcited way though that the viewer has no problems accepting it, then
light-footedly moves into a story of crime and murder, but is much more
interested in other aspects of the story like interpersonal relationships
and the like, and ultimately it ends on a punchline that isn't shoved down
your throat but presented in a very passing manner, and once the film is
over, it leaves behind a warm feeling. As I said, cute - but cute in a
good way.
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