Leaving

The 'high gals' are Shibuya schoolgirls who finance their abortions, drug intake and desire for brand name fashions by hanging out - or having sex with - middle aged businessmen. Into town comes comparative innocent Lisa, about to fly off to New York the next day. After an appearance in a very softcore video goes wrong, she becomes embroiled with two high gals, not to mention a yakuza angry at the way the girls are deflecting business from his own professionals. Despite winning performances and a lively (if self-conscious) visual style, there's an air of hip posturing about this predictable, sporadically amusing urban fable. And even the bright surface can't prevent the narrative from congealing into sentimentality.