The school’s handball club is about to close down. Can social media bring it back to life? Masao Kiyota is a high school student living in Japan’s southern Kumamoto Prefecture. Lacking passion for anything in life, he spends his days like so many youth on his smartphone along with his childhood friend, Okamoto. One day, they upload a photo taken three years previously when they were both part of their school’s handball team. To their surprise, the post goes a little viral. Encouraged, they add the hashtag: “#Handball Full Power” and are swarmed with “likes” from around the country. Amidst the sudden social media attention, Masao and Okamoto set to resuscitating a nearly defunct men’s handball team.
Acting
Seishirou Katou's deadpan desperation is perfection
Direction
Matsui captures phone-addicted youth without judgment
Cinematography
Kumamoto's sleepy beauty vs. neon notification glow
Director
Daigo Matsui
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Handball is massive in Europe but niche in Japan—making this a deeply specific underdog choice that mirrors the characters' obscurity.
Director Daigo Matsui is obsessed with screens-as-characters; his 2019 film 'Just Only Love' also explores digital intimacy, making this his accidental social media trilogy.
JP
