Perfume -- Human Factory ~ Denzou Ningen（電造人間）

 

I don't watch Japanese dramas anymore but there was a period a few decades when I did, and one actor that I've recognized all these years has been Hiroshi Abe（阿部寛）. He's always struck me as somewhat of a James Stewart type with his tall figure and alternately affable and cynical pose. His latest movie came out only a few days ago...a thriller called "Showtime 7"（ショウタイムセブン）which is a remake of the 2013 movie "The Terror Live" from South Korea.

Looking at the cast list for "Showtime 7", I see that technopop trio Perfume is popping up as themselves, and so not surprisingly, they've also supplied the theme song which was released on February 7th, the same day as the movie. "Human Factory ~ Denzou Ningen" (Electric Human) is a digital download single written and composed by Yasutaka Nakata（中田ヤスタカ）which sounds not just 80s but also somewhat Ryuichi Sakamoto（坂本龍一）technopop, so of course, the YMO feelings are there. I even appreciate the iconography that went into the title on the single cover...very icy and 80s with that former adjective perhaps describing most of the characters in the movie.