Linda Linda Linda

Plot

With three days to go before the 2004 Shiba High Holly Festival closes out their senior year, a band of schoolgirls has their guitarist sidelined due to a hand injury, followed by the singer that quit after an argument with the keyboardist Kei about replacing the guitarist. The remaining members: keyboardist Kei, drummer Kyoko, and bassist Nozomi decide to still perform in the rock concert of the festival and cover Blue Hearts songs, including "Linda Linda", with Kei switching to guitar, but they need a new singer. They ask the first girl who walks by, Son, a Korean exchange student who is not fluent in Japanese. The first day ends with all the girls working their hardest to learn their parts. Son practices at a karaoke parlor, and Kyoko talks to her crush, Kazuya.

The next day, the girls begin practicing early at school. When they regroup after school, Kyoko arrives late and they miss their time slot. However, Kei is able to call her ex-boyfriend Maezano and arrange some practice time in his studio. They leave late at night to return to school and continue practicing through the rest of the night.

By the next morning, Paranmaum is well-rehearsed. As school begins, the girls help at their respective class booths during the festival. Kei practices her guitar parts and talks to her rocker friend Takako. Son is supposed to help with the Japan–Korea culture exchange but daydreams about the band. Kyoko sells crepes and Nozomi falls asleep on her bass guitar in a classroom.

Kei and Kyoko wake up Nozomi and fetch Son. Son rebuffs an awkward confession of love from a schoolmate, Makihara. Over dinner at Nozomi's house, the girls reminisce about memories and persuade Kyoko to talk to her crush Kazuya before the performance the next day. They end the night back at school, practicing until early morning.

On the day of the performance, Paranmaum returns to the studio to practice but, exhausted, they fall asleep. Kei dreams about being celebrated and performing for the Ramones and Pierre Taki at the Nippon Budokan. At school, the performance stage volunteers search for the band but cannot find them; to pass the time, their friends Moe (the original guitarist of the band) and Takako improvise by performing "The Water is Wide", "Subarashii Hibi (Wonderful Days)" by Unicorn, and "Furaibo (Wanderer)" by Happy End. Kei is woken by Kyoko's cell phone when Kazuya calls to ask where she is. The band rushes back to school in a taxi through the pouring rain. Kyoko meets Kazuya while the band sets up minutes before their performance. When Kyoko finally comes in, Son announces that they are "Paranmaum" and the band performs two of the three songs they had planned: "Linda Linda" and "Owaranai Uta" to an excited crowd.

Cast

• Bae Doona - Son, the vocalist of Paranmaum, a Korean exchange student.

• Aki Maeda - Kyoko Yamada, the drummer of Paranmaum band.

• Yuu Kashii - Kei Tachibana, the guitarist of Paranmaum band (formerly a keyboardist).

• Shiori Sekine - Nozomi Shirakawa, the bassist of Paranmaum band.

• Katsuya Kobayashi - Kazuya Oe, Kyoko's crush.

• Takayo Mimura - Rinko Marumoto, former vocalist of the girls' band.

• Shione Yukawa - Moe Imamura, former guitarist of the girls' band.

• Yuko Yamazaki - Takako Nakajima, Kei's rocker friend.

• Keisuke Koide - Abe, the leader of the school's music club.

• Masaki Miura - Tomoki Maezono, Kei's ex-boyfriend.

• Masahiro Komoto - Teacher Koyama, in charge of the music club.

• Kenichi Matsuyama - Makihara, a schoolboy that has a crush on Son.

• Lily - Kei's mother.

Reception

Linda Linda Linda was David Ehrlich's choice for IndieWire's 2018 list of the best Japanese films of the 21st century. He wrote that it was less profound than films such as Spirited Away (2001), Millennium Actress (2001), and Nobody Knows (2004), but praised it as "euphorically fun [...] so rich, so charismatic, and so damn catchy, you'll be itching to show it to all your friends."

Soundtrack

The soundtrack was released on July 20, 2005. The original instrumental tracks were composed by James Iha of the Smashing Pumpkins. The vocal tracks include Paranmaum (the band from the movie) singing covers of the Blue Hearts songs "Linda Linda", "Boku no Migite (My Right Hand)" and "Owaranai Uta (Never Ending Song)". Kashii and Maeda learned to play their instruments specially for this movie. There are also two songs by Base Ball Bear (the band Shiori Sekine belongs to in reality); they are "Sayonara Nostalgia" and "April Mirage". These two songs can be heard playing in the "crêpe shop" scenes featuring Kyoko and Oe Kazuya. Shione Yukawa (who plays Moe Imamura in the movie) and Yuko Yamazaki (from the band me-ism) also perform a few songs on stage at the festival itself.

References

References

1. "Linda Linda Linda".
2. "Linda Linda Linda (2005) - Nobuhiro Yamashita {{!}} Synopsis, Movie Info, Moods, Themes and Related".
3. (2010). "Screen World 2007: The Films of 2006 with over 1,000 Photographs". [[Hal Leonard Corporation]].
4. "DVD listing from VIZ Media".
5. (5 June 2025). "GKids acquires 4K restoration of Japanese cult classic ‘Linda Linda Linda’". Screen.
6. Clifford, Laura. "Linda Linda Linda". reelingreviews.com.
7. Ehrlich, David. (2018-03-26). "The Best Japanese Films of the 21st Century — IndieWire Critics Survey".