Rating: **
Alternate Title: School In The Crosshairs (US Title)
Review Date: 10/26/25
Cast: Hiroko Yakushimaru
Shortly before her breakout role in "Sailor Suit And Machine Gun" (1981), Hiroko Yakushimaru starred in this bizarre science fiction film about a high school girl named Yuka with supernatural powers. The first half plays out like a romantic comedy as she innocently helps her boy crush study for school and practice kendo. But then a beautiful and charismatic transfer student shows up and runs for school president. She wins by a landslide and quickly brainwashes the students into forming a fascist student body. It's frightening how quickly the students turn on each other and how quickly the authoritarian roots take hold, which eerily mirrors the current situation in America. Anyone who opposes the student leader is eliminated, and the entire faculty suffers from freak accidents. Only Yuka is able to openly defy them with her powers, and she finally decides to go on the attack. It turns out that the students are being manipulated by a conqueror from Venus who is trying to cleanse the planet, but he's no match for Yuka's pure and selfless heart. He flees in defeat, but promises to return when he learns how to defeat her. Little does he know that she lost her powers after the battle and is just a normal girl now.
"Nerawareta Gakuen" literally translates to "Targeted School," so I suppose the awkward American title "School In The Crosshairs" makes sense. I already had the Japanese DVD, which I'd never gotten around to watching, so when I saw this in the store I suspected it was the same film. The Japanese are masters of weird cinema and this is no exception. It's REALLY out there. For a film about fascism, it has an oddly whimsical tone that makes the entire thing feel like a dream. I was particularly fond of whenever the gym teacher pounded his fist on the principal's desk, the items on it would bounce up and down. The school's club recruitment event may be the highlight of the film and is completely bonkers. The zaniness actually reminded me a lot of "Urusei Yatsura," although UY is probably parodying films like this. The visual effects are laughably bad, but fit in with the tongue-in-cheek presentation. Yuka's parent's are so caring, loving, and understanding that you wonder if they may also be aliens, or at least also have supernatural powers, but that's never addressed.
Of course, the real draw of the film is Hiroko Yakushimaru, and she's simply amazing. She's absolutely adorable and is the ultimate embodiment of high school innocence. Her presence and energy are so captivating that you literally can't take your eyes off of her, and neither can the other students. It's no wonder she's the biggest threat to the fascist takeover, since she's the only person with the charisma, power, charm, courage, and moral strength to resist them. If only we had such people to stand against today's fascists... It's hard to recommend the film unless you're a fan of Hiroko Yakushimaru or simply have a taste for bizarre foreign cinema and 80s nostalgia. I actually enjoyed the semi-remake, "The Messiah From The Future" (1997) more, but it's extremely hard to find.