So this has probably been anwered before.
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Archived from the IMDb Discussion Forums — All About Lily Chou-Chou
erenada4622 — 18 years ago(November 07, 2007 08:55 AM)
So this has probably been anwered before.
Last night I was watched the movie for the 2nd time since July. I totally forgot who philia was. My boyfriend then turned to me and said Yuichi is philia. I told him no.
I was convinced Hoshino was philia because the whole part where he was typing about how he almost died on his summer vacation.
I only remember Hoshino almost dyingtwice.
Maybe I read it wrong, but I am still utterly confused. -
erenada4622 — 18 years ago(November 10, 2007 05:15 PM)
Yeah I know that, but when philia and bluecat were communicating during the movie, philia mentions almost dying during his summer vaction.
I only remember Hoshino almost dyingtwice.
Why would Yuichi say that?? Or did he almost die too? -
tripitacha — 18 years ago(November 17, 2007 06:02 AM)
The way I see it, the film is crafted in such a way that Yuichi and Hoshino could be either philia or blue cat. It makes perfect sense if you imagine Hoshino as philia OR blue cat. Remember, he was just as reclusive and lonely as Yuichi before he moved schools, so he colud be the one that maintained the lilyphilia site long before yuichi discovered her. There are loads more points to make here, but what confused me most is why Hoshino gives Yuichi the apple and tells him to give it to anyone that recognises him. It's as though Hoshino is thwarting the real life meeting between philia and blue cat by releasing this apple into the crowd as a red herring by giving it to Yuichi, oblivous to the fact that Yuichi could be one of the two usernames, thus eradicating any logical key for the viewer to knowing which is which.
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Gravesofthetrust — 18 years ago(December 06, 2007 09:06 PM)
I believe that Hoshino was Blue-cat. Yuichi did seemed a bit shocked that Hoshino was there with the exact thing that blue-cat said he'd have.
"The hardest thing in this world to keep is your faith in humanity" -
tripitacha — 18 years ago(December 09, 2007 05:36 AM)
But then why did he give him the apple and tell him to give it to anyone that notices it? it's as though he was trying to pass on the apple around the crowd, thwarting anyone from discovering who blue-cat was ooooh, I don't know.
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wax_noodles — 18 years ago(December 18, 2007 03:04 AM)
Isn't the fact that none of the kids have a clear sense of identity in the real world one of the main points? I don't understand why everyone is trying to draw clear lines on something that is hazy for a reason.
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tripitacha — 18 years ago(December 20, 2007 06:24 PM)
Good point, it's not about defining who is who in terms of real world vs. digital world. You could approach it as a representation of the kids' hazy incomprehension for the conflicted situations they find themselves in. It doesn't matter if Yuichi or Hoshino are either of the usernames becuz the usernames speak of a very broad detachment from real life which is relevant to a vast majority of the characters.
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ratherbnjapan — 18 years ago(March 18, 2008 05:35 PM)
i just need to watch it, so im gonna have to watch it again, but i think help with the answer to this could come in two things.
1, make sure that hoshino was the one that was almost hit by the fish that's what i thought, but i'm gonna have to watch again, cuz i'm starting to wonder if it wasn't him. but then why did the tour guide tell him he lost two lives?
2, i need to figure out the timeline of when each started liking lily. i know bluecat liked lily when he was in junior high even tho in elementary school he received the cd (which makes it more likely that he is hoshino because its from that story that he changed schools but kuno is the girl who gave him the cd). i'm sure there are also hints in the poster for "erotic." as well as the discussion of various albums between bluecat and philia.
sometimes i wonder if bluecat is definitely hoshino but philia is someone else (maybe even weird line guy). but at the same time, i'm almost positive that the official website even points to yuichi as philia.
i also noticed a comment that said that it might not matter who is who. i considered that too. it might be true, but for now, i'd like to think about it more because it really seems like there are lots of subtle clues that are to lead you to specific conclusions.
(ps, i don't have much evidence for it, but i'm wondering if kuma/bear is Tsuda because she has the gigantic bear stuffed animal.) -
conedust — 17 years ago(October 21, 2008 12:13 PM)
As I saw it, the film more-or-less
tricks
us into thinking that Yuichi is philia. It does this by stacking the circumstantial evidence and by making these two characters the centers of their respective story-threads. Later, the film complicates this by having philia suggest that he/she "almost died" on summer vacation just like Hoshino.
As a result, we assume that Yuichi and Hoshino MUST BE philia and blue_cat, but neither real-world character ever settles clearly into one or the other internet username. In fact, for most of the film's running time, there's no explicit evidence to support the ideas that either character even
knows
about the website! Our assumptions about the connection between the two story threads (brick-and-mortar vs. internet) are just that: assumptions. Unsupported and tenative at best.
It's only in Hoshino's "gift" of the apple at the film's climax that we finally get a real-world clue connecting the web dialogue to the film's actor-characters. But all this really proves is that Hoshino knows
something
about the website. Does Yuichi? We don't know. Is Hoshino announcing that he actually IS philia (or blue_cat), or just that he's aware of their conversation? Again,
we don't know.
We have good reason to think that Yuichi
isn't
blue_cat, since he didn't show up with an apple himself. And this may tend to reinforce our assumption that Yuichi is, in fact philia. But I don't buy it. I think
the girl at the drink stand is probably blue_cat
(maybe philia?), that Hoshino is the other user, and that Yuichi ISN'T one of the website's two "main characters". In fact, I got the distinct impression that Yuichi had no idea what the apple might signify, and that he therefore probably wasn't involved with the website.
Why, then, does Hoshino do what he does? Why does he set up a meeting with his internet friend, only to send Yuichi in his place? Is this a favor of some strange sort, or just another cruel trick? I don't think this question is answered by the film, but I don't mind the ambiguity. -
jkt244 — 15 years ago(December 23, 2010 09:10 AM)
From what I remember, Philia was the one who made the lilyphilia site and blue cat later joined in saying he was a new lily fan and was doubting if people on the site would actually believe him. First of all the timing of that was during a Yuichi scene. Also Yuichi was more of the passive character that it seemed like he would be the one to question whether or not people really believe his passion, and Hoshino (philia) was the one who accepted him in the club. Lastly, it was Hoshino who introduced Yuichi to Lily Chou Chou.
It was because of that, while I was watching the movie I was convinced that philia could have been Hoshino. But as the movie progressed the discrepancy between philia and blue cat started getting diminishing making it seem as though the two were very alike on the inside, though their actions seen in the movie were almost complete opposites. I think in order to understand Hoshino's character better we have to look at both his messages on the board and also we have to look at him as the parallel character, Yuichi. I was at the verge of thinking that Yuichi would turn into the new Hoshino after killing him and releasing the burden that was holding him back. Sort of like the idea of freedom we see in the movie "Kyua" by Kurosawa Kiyoshi.
Edit: I just actually re-watched the movie for the second time and I guess there were lots of things I missed out. I'm still not completely sure about it, but there seemed to be more proof that blue cat was actually Hoshino. Blue cat said he was introduced to Lily from a girl who liked Debussy and Lily. Blue cat did say he would bring the apple and Hoshino did so. But I also think that Phjlia was the one who said he almost died in Okinawa.
Either way I don't want to think about this way too much. I think that it is better that the two can be either or. -
krdskrm — 15 years ago(March 09, 2011 03:27 AM)
blue cat = Hoshino
philia = Yuichi
philia said he had a near-death experience, right? He (philia/Yuichi) was lying. He saw what happened to Hoshino, then he added it in the life story of his internet persona. What happens in real life isn't exactly what we say online. The events in Okinawa are the things that happened in real life (that is why it was filmed using a hand camera). Yuichi/philia was perfectly fine in their Okinawa trip and he wasn't put under any near-death situation, contrary to what he was saying online. -
Coolestmovies — 14 years ago(January 12, 2012 02:07 AM)
Late to this discussion, but I was gearing up to post this exact same explanation until I got to your post! Yuichi DEFINITELY lied about nearly dying twice, which is exactly the kind of thing a sullen teen secretly craving attention online would do. Of course, he had no idea that bluecat was actually his former best friend, now seemingly remorseless tormentor, Hoshino, who had actually undergone those near-death experiences. This makes the PRE-concert sequence all the more heartbreaking because Hoshino is suddenly aware that Yuichi is his trusted Internet confidant, but to save face (his ugly one, sadly), he dismisses the apple as insignificant by giving it to its INTENDED recipient (Yuichi) and telling him to give it to whoever speaks to him. Undoubtedly it had meaning, even held a kind of hope for Hoshinowho was clearly as lonely and misunderstood as Yuichi but the realization of just who 'philia' really was made him stay in bully mode (crushing the tickets, etc.). It would be easy to play up the drama of this, but Iwai handled it perfectly, so that it almost slips by undetected at first. It made me wonder if Hoshino wasn't secretly afraid that the Internet exchanges between the pair might have suggested a certain affection he wasn't prepared for at all.
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dbini — 13 years ago(June 16, 2012 02:00 AM)
i'm not sure who is who - i watched the movie last night and was pretty confused throughout.
but there's a point that hasn't been raised yet: when Yuichi stayed at Hoshino's house for the sleepover, he saw a poster of Erotic on the wall and asked - what's that?
so Hoshino introduced Yuichi to Lily (in flashback) and Yuichi went on to become a huge fan - even carting that massive Erotic display board home on his bike. this would suggest that Hoshino is Philia. there's nothing to prove that Hoshino hadn't met up with Blue Cat in the queue for the concert, and already been given the green apple, that he was passing on to Yuichi. Maybe Blue Cat is the slightly scary-looking girl with the fringe -
hoozah — 13 years ago(December 16, 2012 12:29 PM)
I think you were reading the text wrong. the senders name comes after the text they write like "lalalalala" from user1 then "lalalalalala" from user2 so maybe you're mistaking the text from user1 as being written by user2, make sense?
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eynivram — 13 years ago(March 28, 2013 02:33 AM)
could philia be the girl that sees yoichi when he's buying the coke? She looks at yoichi and then stares at the apple.
I initially thought Yoichi was philia but he doesn't speak very much makes him quite ambiguous.