Originally posted May 3, 2024. “Maybe we’re all guilty. If we didn’t exist… if she had no fans… Miki might have been able to retire without hesitation.” A group of men sit in a room to determine, through conversation, the truth behind a death they weren’t present for. As details come out, tempers flare. It almost sounds like 12 Angry Men (1957), with the small difference that the closed cast, rather than jurors, are members of a fan forum for a local swimsuit model. Sprinkle in some slapstick, and you have Kisaragi (2007), a Japanese film directed by Yūichi Satō. Iemoto (“Master/Guru”) is the moderator of a fan forum for small-time gravure idol Miki Kisaragi. On the one-year anniversary of Miki’s untimely death, Iemoto invites four of the forum regulars to a fan party, with each introducing himself under his online handle. Although the film starts off with light-hearted comedy (including some frustrating gay jokes—I don’t miss the 2000s), the proceedings frog...