A soldier, swaddled in body armor, guards the border of his country. This is not an area of tension; nothing warlike happens here; all that comes from across the border over in the enemy land are radio waves carrying the speeches of its leader, Marehito played by Hideyo Amamoto (Yojimbo, Kamen Rider). The soldier's only duty is to monitor these speeches, and he is sick to the teeth of the dictator's raving. In his quarters is a female android, a 'comfort woman' issued him by the government. He lives quietly with his green-eyed ILYA Type 6, and is responsible for his desert border area. That is the whole of this soldier's life. One day a military official pays a call on his quarters. There has been a shuffle of personnel in the high echelons, and a slight change in policy has been made. The ILYA Type 6 is to be upgraded.
Practical Effects
The ILYA costume—cheap, strange, unforgettable green eyes.
Sound
Amamoto's voice performance: booming, absurd, inescapable.
Direction
Sato stretches 30 minutes into endless, suffocating routine.
Director
Tomoya Sato
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Hideyo Amamoto was 70 when he recorded Marehito's speeches; his voice had already defined Japanese villainy for decades.
Made during Japan's 'lost decade,' the film reimagines wartime 'comfort women' as literal machines—state property you can upgrade but never free.
