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On Thursday, July 1st, 2010, we here at Nfamous had a chance to attend the Japanese pop culture event called Club 2 the MAX at Club Nokia in Los Angeles. Bringing together several aspects of Japanese pop culture, MAX invited fans to attend the event for free and only pay the special events they wished to experience. General admission to the show floor was free and there was a great deal to see. Two of the events I was most anxious to see was the world premiere of the Japanese horror film Kai-Ki: Tales of Terror from Tokyo starring JPOP idol Erina Mano. The film marks Erina's first foray into films. I was also looking forward to Erina's mini concert. I am clearly an Erina Mano fan.
 The movie Kai-Ki was pretty good. It consisted of two 40+ minute features each telling a different story, like the old anthology horror films that were popular once upon a time. The first feature, Tsukimono: The Possessed, tells the tale of a weird infection that grips a local college. Once infected, the person loses all sense of self and goes on a murderous rampage throughout the school. Four friends try to escape the school, but internal conflict and fear make their escape all but impossible. The second feature, Nozomi, tells the tale of a young woman haunted by an age old family secret. Who is this figure haunting her every dream and waking moment and why is she so attracted to water?
The first feature was decent and very reminiscent of The Grudge, Tsukimono is your typical Japanese horror tale. With a kind of hidden message of being honest, the young woman the tale focuses on learns the hard way why it is important to just stay true to one's self. It was nothing special, but it was done well enough that it does leave an impression on the viewer.Nozomi was definitely the better of the two features. The tale of love and loss and how the heart of a good person will affect even the dead, it was very heart warming at moments while terrifying enough to keep you off guard. It is not very often that I admit a movie will make me tear up, especially a horror movie, but the end of Nozomi definitely had me at that edge.
 Overall the film was a pretty good horror film. The second feature more than makes up for the first's shortcomings but both were entertaining overall. Erina Mano delivers her characters in both films beautifully. She comes off as truly believable in both features, but more so in the second. Her previous works on Japanese television have definitely helped her for her performances in Kai-Ki. If you get the chance, I certainly recommend watching Kai-Ki: Tales of Terror from Tokyo. Not the most memorable Japanese horror film, but definitely better than some of the more recent American horror films to come out in recent years. I give the movie a 3.5 out of 5.
Surprising the crowd in attendance during the closing credits of the film, Erina Mano came on stage in this beautiful blue and black dress that shaped her beautiful figure wonderfully to perform the ending theme song Returning Home for the crowd in attendance. It was definitely a wonderful treat to have her perform for us who just saw her debut film. But the best part was that she continued the performance by singing an additional song, Sekai wa Summer Party, that pleased the crowd there.
 After the film and mini concert, and even a quick autograph session, we of the press were given an additional surprise of being invited to the VIP after party up stairs at Club Nokia's private lounge. There, we had a chance to hang out with the creators of the film, including series creator Hirokatsu Kihara and Makoto Shinozaki, Erina Mano, the designers of her US clothes and apparel, and a couple of local celebrities including Shin Koyamata. It was a wonderful treat with some awesome drinks and good food.
Overall, my experience at MAX was certainly memorable. I wish I could have stayed more, but considering that it coincided with the first day of Anime Expo, my attentions had to be divided. But given my experience, I would definitely suggest to all Japanese pop culture fans out there to give MAX consideration in attending if it comes back next year. They definitely did enough to distinguish themselves from AX and provide a unique experience for those attending, including the very popular AniMaid Cafe. Club 2 the MAX definitely provided me and my staff a fun and entertaining time for all fans.
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