This story is about a comet which is due to hit the earth in a matter of hours and how a song from 1975 called "Fish Story" will save the world in 2012. How? Thats part of the fun in watching the film. The film has some comedic moments in that you have references to superhero(ine) series from Japan, as well as other cultural mores. You see what appears to be a series of unconnected events somehow gel. The song itself is a proto punk song, recorded before the Sex Pistols, and its actually a good song. The acting goes all over the map, as there are flashbacks with disparate characters, but it is pretty much all good. Whatever the ending, you have to stay for it to see how things tie together. The world could come to an end (Japan would be pretty much submerged) if the comet hit, so just watch. It has a kind of new wavish sensibility, especially the scenes with the band who recorded "Fish Story". Not perfect, it drags slightly at times, but its worthwhile. I recommend it.

I have to say, FISH STORY is a very strange film. It's a Japanese apocalyptic tale featuring four separate story lines that are woven together in such a way that'll have you scratching your head and trying to figure out how they all intertwine. It's all very low key, with zero sci-fi elements and an extremely slow pacing that's doubtless to put off plenty of viewers expecting something more, well, energetic.

However, something about this kept me watching. It's the sense of whimsy, perhaps, or the sheer long-winded shaggy-doggedness of the storytelling. The fact that the production values are high, the script is very funny, and the actors nail the characters, too. About halfway through, I relaxed a little when I realised I was enjoying what I was watching, and then I started having fun.

Things get better right up until the big reveal at the ending, which is so stupendously good that I can say, right here and right now, that FISH STORY features one of my favourite endings in a film, full stop. It's that good; a tremendous resolution, like that of THE SIXTH SENSE, that turns the whole film around and makes you realise that, actually, this is a great little film; unique and uniquely entertaining with it.

In the opening scene of the film we learn that a giant comet is hurtling towards the earth; impact is inevitable and most people have fled to the high ground. One man has stayed behind and he is surprised to find that he isn't alone; there are two people in a record shop. He can't understand why they are there; who wants to buy music on the day the Earth is destroyed? The man behind the counter isn't concerned though; he is convinced that the Earth isn't doomed and more than that he is sure that an obscure punk record that nobody bought will somehow he the cause of the planet's salvation. The then see a variety of stories intertwined with the story of how the record came to be made and why there is a one minute silence in the middle of it. The stories involve a shy young man who stops his car and hears a woman being assaulted nearby, a group who foresee the end of the world and a school girl who falls asleep on a ferry, misses her stop and gets caught up in a hijacking only to be saved by a man who had just told her he had been raised to be a 'champion of Justice'.

This film was a lot of fun; it successfully mixed genres so that we had moments of action, a main plot that directly referenced the film 'Armageddon', plenty of laughs and finally a nice link that explained how each of the separate stories was related. I loved how the song, which the band thought was deep and meaningful, was based on a book that was so badly translated it no longer made sense. The actors seemed to do a fine job although relying on subtitles to understand them I can't judge them as well as somebody who speaks Japanese could. The way the story skips about kept things interesting; none of the individual stories went on too long and the way we weren't shown how each ended till the end of the film kept me eager to find out what happened in each case. Overall I'd say this is well worth watching if you want to watch something rather different and don't mind subtitled films.