Cyborg She - Movie Review

On the suggestion of a new friend, I took a chance and watched “Cyborg She” a 2008 Japanese film by South Korean director & writer Kwak Jae-yong (My Sassy Girl, Windstruck, The Classic) and starring Haruka Ayase and Keisuke Koide. Expecting a convoluted story and a romantic film with a tinge of Sci-Fi thrown in I expected to sit down and be bored to tears. I really wasn’t.

Jirou (Keisuke Koide) is very, very single. On his 20th Birthday he shops and buys himself a present and goes to a restaurant to have himself some spaghetti (apparently it is, according to his Grandmother, something you eat for a long and peaceful life (if it is true I am in for a very long and peaceful life.

Jirou meets an awkward and beautiful girl at dinner who claims it is her Birthday too. At one point, however, she rushes him out of the restaurant (without paying of course) which results in a chase through the streets of Tokyo…..  then she vanishes.

Fast forward one year later and he is back in the restaurant to celebrate his birthday and guess who should appear?  You got it. She explains that she is from the future and was sent here to protect him. Using a 3D projection she shows him bits and pieces of the future. She becomes a hero and not only saves him but the lives of many others. Naturally, he falls for her and hopes that she will return his affection. Unlike some robot with a heart of gold stories, this is not to be and he becomes frustrated and when he can not tolerate the one-sided relationship he tells her to go.

When she is gone he regrets it but it is obvious she is still around saving him and others from disaster and death. However, when an earthquake hits the area it proves too much for her and she is destroyed. He devotes the remainder of his days trying to rebuild her.

There are some cute moments during the film. The acting is good with hats off to Haruka Ayase as a very attractive robot. The special effects are well done and moments like the revolving head and the robot dance are clever. Cyborg She did well with Japanese audiences and spent five weeks in the top 10 at the Box Office and sold over 110,000 copies when it was out on DVD.

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