Petit ami parfait

This capricious virtual relationship leads them to spend an entire weekend in Atami, the old seaside resort city approximately one hundred kilometres from Tokyo. While it is possible to experience this honeymoon from a distance, some users prefer to live the adventure to the limit by visiting the places that are faithfully reproduced on their console screens. In league with the game's creators, the residents in this old-fashioned tourist resort do everything in their power to provide a warm welcome for these hybrid couples. Having decided to make the trip, our three players come across two adolescents who have come to spend their first weekend as lovers in the same hotel. But Kentaro has also allowed himself to fall for Rinko's charms. Though initially jealous, Kyoko ends up taking an interest in this virtual rival who seems to have contaminated the hearts of all the men in the country.

Decidedly documentary in its first part, the film then invites its characters to become the players in a romantic comedy adapted from the game. The players then take on the identity of their virtual characters and live as if they were 17 years old. Although they take an ironic approach to their practice, by publicly exhibiting their pixel lover, our characters adopt a provocative attitude to conventions and standards.
The Kyoko character is played by four young idols and ex-idols, emblematic figures of the new forms of relationships that the film studies, contemporary vestal virgins who are adored and supported by a handful of often much older fans in return for daily micro-concerts and a handshake.

We are touched by these male and female characters who attempt to overcome their solitude. In spite of our necessarily different viewpoints – certainly more fascinated and exotic for Alain, more critical and empathetic for Kaori – we share a very strong impression of melancholy with regard to contemporary Japan, which is what leads us to these perfect little boyfriends.