Review by Michele E. Hawkins.

Satomi Oka (Jun Saito), head of his junior high-school choir, is under pressure to ensure the choir succeed at its final competition before the older students leave for senior high school.  In particular, fellow chorister Wada (Kiyoto Ushiro) is full of rage over his perception that Satomi isn’t doing his best, leading another chorister, Momo Morimoto (Kyôko Yoshine), into the fray to keep the peace.  But Satomi has problems of a personal nature to contend with; problems that are affecting his performance at choir.

And, as though this weren’t enough, Satomi is approached by a gang member of the yakuza, Kyouji Narita (Gô Ayano), who needs help with his singing in order to avoid failure at the annual karaoke competition that his boss inflicts on the gang.  Satomi, focused on school, the choir, and serious singing, wants nothing to do with Narita, but it isn’t always easy to say no to a member of the yakuza.

As the worlds of school, choir, and teenagehood clash with the frightening world of the yakuza, Satomi must somehow find his way through the maze he finds himself in.  But, to his surprise, he gradually comes to see Narita in a different light, with profound consequences.

Jun Saito as Satomi Oka has a minimal script, so his acting brilliance shines through the subtlety and understatement of his body language and facial gestures.  In these he is as good as many a seasoned actor.  Gô Ayano, as the very likeable, if dangerous, Kyouji Narita, gives a terrific performance as a character diametrically opposite to Satomi.

Let’s Go Karaoke! takes the viewer into the world of Satomi, standing on the threshold between boyhood and manhood, and the unexpected breakdown of barriers that follows when Narita enters his life.

Screening at Palace cinemas.