Showtime 7

 Japanese Film Festival 2025

Cinema 1, The Red Carpet

Edsa Shangri la Mall

So after that really confusing, ambiguous existential tale about either evil exist or does not exist, in terms of  mankind encroaching upon nature's ecosystem, I wanted a lighter much lighter, easy to understand Japanese film.

Showtime 7 served its purpose in being a straight forward drama without frills except for yet another open ended conclusion. Is it now the norm for Japanese movies (or European movies too) to end without issues being resolved in plain black and white? I really don't know.

Basically it is a drama/mystery film about a former radio celebrity who was relegated to another radio show because he got involved in some controversy. He spends his days at his show giving out trivia and connecting with his loyal followers. Until one day, a caller issues a bomb threat at one of his programs. At first, it was not taken seriously until an actual bombing takes place at some power plant.

Next thing we know and see is the former radio celebrity is back in his elements. That is being investigative, knows all the right questions to ask the so called 'bomber' who has labor and employment issues. Celebrity radio show is now at the thick of it, even getting a bigger studio and a wider audience who are all fascinated with the clues that the 'bomber' gives as well as a race against time as his threats get more specific and deadly.

Actually I got a bit bored mid way and lost all interest as to the true motive of the so called bomber because it exuded an amateurish case of whodunit and the 'threat' was not too plausible, either. The only redeeming value is the good performance of the cast and as I stated earlier, the intriguing open ended conclusion.  So yeah, I won't recommend this movie. Good thing, admission was free!