Waterboys (film)

2001 Japanese film

Waterboys

Directed by| Shinobu Yaguchi
Written by| Shinobu Yaguchi
Produced by|

* Yoshino Sasaki
* Daisuke Sekiguchi
* Akifumi Takuma

Starring|

* Satoshi Tsumabuki
* Hiroshi Tamaki
* Akifumi Miura
* Koen Kondo
* Takatoshi Kaneko
* Kei Tani

Distributed by| Toho

Release date

* 2001 (2001)

Running time

| 90 minutes
Country| Japan
Language| Japanese

Waterboys (ウォーターボーイズ, Wōtā Bōizu) is a 2001 Japanese comedy film written and directed by Shinobu Yaguchi, about five boys who start a synchronized swimming team at their high school. The film stars Satoshi Tsumabuki (Suzuki, the leader of the team), Hiroshi Tamaki (Sato), Akifumi Miura (Ohta), Koen Kondo (Kanazawa), Takatoshi Kaneko (Saotome) and Naoto Takenaka (the dolphin trainer).

The film was a success in Japan, and was nominated for eight prizes at the Japan Academy Prize, winning awards for 'Best Newcomer' and 'Best Music Score'. A spin-off television series entered its third season in 2005.

## Plot

[edit]

Suzuki is a high-school student who aspires to become a great swimmer; however, he is the only person in the school's swimming team. Soon, a beautiful new swimming teacher starts work at the high school. Dozens of boys decide to join the swimming team, but when they realize that she teaches synchronized swimming (which is generally a women's sport), all but Suzuki and four other boys drop out. The teacher soon takes maternity leave, and for some time the team is on hiatus. However, when Suzuki watches a dolphin show he decides to ask the dolphin trainer to be their coach.

The dolphin trainer exploits them as free labour and has no intention of training them, and in an attempt to ditch them, leaves all his cash with them to have to practice "rhythm" using Dance Dance Revolution. When he runs out of gas, he returns to get some money and discovers that they are totally synchronized and doing well with the game. He takes them back and they continue to train. Later, while training in the sea, a tourist with a video camera films them, thinking that they are drowning, and the boys appear on TV. Seeing this, the boys who had quit rejoin, and are taught synchronized swimming by the five boys.

Before the festival, the pool is drained when the water is used to fight a fire that is caused by a fair attraction, but the neighboring girls' school allows them to use their pool. The performance turns out to be a great success.

## Cast

[edit]

* Satoshi Tsumabuki \- Suzuki
* Hiroshi Tamaki \- Sato
* Akifumi Miura \- Ohta
* Koen Kondo \- Kanazawa
* Takatoshi Kaneko \- Saotome
* Aya Hirayama \- Shizuko Kiuchi
* Kaori Manabe \- Mrs. Sakuma
* Takashi Kawamura - Ikeuchi
* Hiroshi Matsunaga - Mochizuki
* Yuya Nishikawa - Sakamoto
* Katsuyuki Yamazaki - Yama-chan
* Taiyo Sugiura \- Taiyo
* Koutaro Tanaka \- Koutarou
* Makoto Ishihara - Makoto

## Spin-offs

[edit]

### TV series

[edit]

* Water Boys
* Water Boys 2
* Water Boys 2005 Natsu

## External links

[edit]

* Waterboys official website
* Waterboys at IMDb
* "ウォーターボーイズ (Wōtā bōizu)" (in Japanese). Japanese Movie Database. Retrieved 2007-07-21.

* v
* t
* e

Films directed by Shinobu Yaguchi

* My Secret Cache (1997)
* Adrenaline Drive (1999)
* One Piece! (1999)
* Waterboys (2001)
* Parco Fiction (2002)
* Swing Girls (2004)
* Happy Flight (2008)
* Robo-G (2012)
* Wood Job! (2014)
* Survival Family (2017)
* Dance with Me (2019)

* v
* t
* e

Mainichi Film Award for Excellence Film

1976-1980|

* Seishun no Satsujinsha (1976)
* Tora-san's Sunrise and Sunset (1976)
* Brother and Sister (1976)
* The Life of Chikuzan (1977)
* Mount Hakkoda (1977)
* Ballad of Orin (1977)
* Nemu no Ki no Uta ga Kikoeru (1977)
* Third Base (1978)
* Empire of Passion (1978)
* The Love Suicides at Sonezaki (1978)
* Kaerazaru hibi (1978)
* Shōdō Satsujin Musuko Yo (1979)
* The Man Who Stole the Sun (1979)
* Vengeance Is Mine (1979
* No More Easy Life (1979)
* Zigeunerweisen (1980)
* A Distant Cry from Spring (1980)
* The Battle of Port Arthur (1980)
* Virus (1980)

1981-1990|

* Station (1981)
* Willful Murder (1981)
* Lonely Heart (1981)
* Enrai (1981)
* Suspicion (1982)
* Tōno Monogatari (1982)
* Farewell to the Land (1982)
* The Go Masters (1982)
* The Family Game (1983)
* The Makioka Sisters (1983)
* International Military Tribunal for the Far East (1983)
* The Ballad of Narayama (1983)
* The Funeral (1984)
* MacArthur's Children (1984)
* Mahjong hōrōki (1984)
* Ohan (1984)
* Sorekara (1985)
* Typhoon Club (1985)
* Fire Festival (1985)
* The Burmese Harp (1985)
* Uhohho Tankentai (1986)
* House on Fire (1986)
* Final Take (1986)
* A Promise (1986)
* Itazu Kuma (1987)
* Eiga Joyū (1987)
* Tora-san Goes North (1987)
* The Emperor's Naked Army Marches On (1987)
* The Discarnates (1988)
* Kimurake no Hitobito (1988)
* Tomorrow (1988)
* The Silk Road (1988)
* Shaso (1989)
* Death of a Tea Master (1989)
* Dotsuitarunen (1989)
* Rikyu (1989)
* The Cherry Orchard (1990)
* Dreams (1990)
* The Sting of Death (1990)
* Shiroi Te (1990)

1991–2000|

* Rainbow Kids (1991)
* Rhapsody in August (1991)
* A Scene at the Sea (1991)
* Munō no Hito (1991)
* Seishun Dendeke Dekedeke (1992)
* The River with No Bridge (1992)
* Original Sin (1992)
* Tōki Rakujitsu (1992)
* Moving (1993)
* A Class to Remember (1993)
* Byōin de Shinu to Iukoto (1993)
* We Are Not Alone (1993)
* Ghost Pub (1994)
* 119 (1994)
* Crest of Betrayal (1994)
* Natsu no Niwa Friend (1994)
* Bō no Kanashimi (1994)
* Kura (1995)
* Sharaku (1995)
* Deep River (1995)
* Love Letter (1995)
* Village of Dreams(1996)
* A Class to Remember 2 (1996)
* Kids Return (1996)
* Sleeping Man (1996)
* The Eel (1997)
* Yūkai (1997)
* Welcome Back, Mr. McDonald (1997)
* A Class to Remember 3 (1998)
* Dr. Akagi (1998)
* Give It All (1998)
* Hana-bi (1998)
* Kikujiro (1999)
* Jubaku: Spellbound (1999)
* Keiho (1999)
* M/Other (1999)
* After the Rain (2000)
* Gohatto (2000)
* A lass to Remember 4 (2000)
* Nabbie's Love (2000)

2001–2010|

* Waterboys (2001)
* Go (2001)
* Nihon no Kuroi Natsu: Enzai (2001)
* Battle Royale (2001)
* The Firefly (2001)
* Out (2002)
* Amidadō Dayori (2002)
* KT (2002)
* Hush! (2002)
* Like Asura (2003)
* Zatoichi (2003)
* Spy Sorge (2003)
* Doppelganger (2003)
* Nobody Knows (2004)
* Princess Raccoon (2005)
* Hula Girls (2006)
* A Gentle Breeze in the Village (2007)
* All Around Us (2008)
* Mt. Tsurugidake (2009)
* Haru's Journey (2010)

2011–2020|

* Saudade (2011)
* The Kirishima Thing (2012)
* Pecoross' Mother and Her Days (2013)
* The Light Shines Only There (2014)
* Journey to the Shore (2015)
* In This Corner of the World (2016)
* Wilderness (2017)
* The Chrysanthemum and the Guillotine (2018)
* The Journalist (2019)
* Underdog (2020)

2021–present|

* Under the Open Sky (2021)
* No Place to Go (2022)
* Shadow of Fire (2023)

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