Complete [J-Movie] Tenkôsei

Title: 転校生

Title (romaji): Tenkôsei

Title (english): Transfer Student / I Are You, You Am Me / Switching

Broadcast period: April 17, 1982

Synopsis

Storyline about two high school students switch bodies and surplus of physical humor.

9th-graders Kazuo (boy) and Kazumi (girl) take a tumble at a temple in a small seacoast town in Japan. Through supernatural intervention, their minds and bodies are switched, and the result is a touching and hilarious coming-of-age comedy as they attempt to survive the pressures of junior high school life.
The movie itself is one of Obayashi's most critically acclaimed and award-winning films, but stylistically, it's one of his most straightforward. The acting performances are great, especially Satomi Kobayashi's performance as a boy in a girl's body.

Kobayashi Satomi is absolutely hilarious as she pretends to be the opposite sex. She perfectly changes her voice, posture, speech, and body movements to match that of a teenage boy, but she does it in such an honest way that, at some points, I believe she is an actual boy. The male lead, Omi Toshinori, is equally as successful in his portrayal of a school girl trapped in a boy's body. His insecurity, the way he held his bag, covering his chest while wearing a swimsuit, his high-pitched voice--all the little things came together to create a performance that could not be more perfect.

Cast

Satomi Kobayashi

Toshinori Omi

Makoto Satô