Common Sense Media Review
By Barbara Shulgasser-Parker
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Japanese pop star talks about her life in dull docu.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 10+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Watch
Videos and Photos
LiSA: Another Great Day
Parent and Kid Reviews
What's the Story?
LiSA, the Japanese pop singer known for the theme song of Demon Slayer, a Japanese manga comic and TV series, makes vague references to upsetting media coverage of her "personal life." The hardship that coverage caused her is a subject raised early in LiSA: ANOTHER GREAT DAY. It was especially troubling, she says, because the news came out the day before gave a concert, so she was "going through a lot." The nature of the personal business is never described, leaving viewers in the dark. And when she observes that, "Bad things come at me, one after another," it's left to the imagination to conjure what those bad things are. In contrast, the performances and rehearsals captured here are mostly upbeat, with celebratory choreography and costumes on display, as well as the usual rock concert extravaganza of lighting and visual effects in snippets from performances. To underscore her refusal to succumb to self-pity, she repeats a mantra she learned from her sunny mother: "Good things will happen if you believe that today is another great day."
Is It Any Good?
Absolutely no changes would be required for LiSA: Another Great Day to pass as a parody of a pop star documentary. LiSA, originally named Risa Oribe, dispenses the stock banalities we expect from the least imaginative and most stereotypical popular artists and she utters them as if they were gems of wisdom. "Being young is wonderful," she says, "but being an adult is fun." Deep. "If you're 100 percent satisfied, we can't create anything anymore." She also finds herself wondering "how much of my pain to pour into a song" and she promises to "give it her all" in concerts because, "I want to do music as a job." Her lyrics include "I've been hurt, my soul won't go away." And she's grateful to her fans and to anime for transforming her from a wannabe actress, plucking her from her role as vocalist for Girl Dead Monster, and launching her into musical stardom in her country and beyond.
The most interesting sequences show her working with her voice coach, offering a sense that she works hard to achieve the high, nasal, little-girl voice that projects so powerfully from the stage. As for the source of her turmoil, referenced but never named, a three-second online search reveals that her husband allegedly cheated on her and then allegedly attempted suicide. If the information is so readily available, why suppress it? If the film achieves anything, it's to persuade us that she's a perfectly nice woman, certainly entitled to her privacy. But if that's what she's after, why agree to make a film about herself?
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about how LiSA says her upbringing affected her attitudes in life.
Do you think LiSA is a role model for young women? What qualities make her one?
LiSA wanted to be a successful actress from a young age but fate took her in a different direction. How much of her success do you think came from hard work and how much from luck?
Movie Details
- On DVD or streaming : October 18, 2022
- Director : Taketoshi Sado
- Studio : Netflix
- Genre : Documentary
- Run time : 97 minutes
- MPAA rating :
- Last updated : October 24, 2022
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