This poster was made for the Japanese roman porno flick Kanjirundesu, known in English as I Am Aroused and I Can Feel It, and it stars the lovely Jun Izumi, making her film debut. She plays a beautiful young virgin who’s fearful of sex. Her friend Panko is already sexually active, but Jun—who’s learning how to be a seamstress or tailor at a local vocational school, a fact that causes us to assume she’s at least eighteen—is strictly hands off. We can sympathize. We were hands off at eighteen too, though most assuredly not by choice.
When Jun catches her brother Chin masturbating to her, she decides to facilitate the relief of his tensions by asking the always eager Panko to have sex with him. From there the movie evolves into a sort of softcore coming-of-age comedy, with the usual crossed signals and sexual failures. The whole thing has a juvenile feel to it, and no wonder—it’s based on Daihachi Izumi’s youth sleaze novel Jun-chan. If you’re looking for the film’s western analog, think Fast Times at Ridgemont High or Sex Drive. We mean in terms of mood, not plot. Kanjirundesu has more nudity, lesbian undertones, and far more premature ejaculation.
Does Jun finally find someone to be the first entry on her ledger? Well, it wouldn’t be a softcore movie if she didn’t. A little face-sitting—someone else’s face, not hers—gets her started down the road to pleasure. That may sound weird, but actually the best thing about this movie is that it’s from Nikkatsu Studios but doesn’t get too crazy. There’s some peeing, though. Whaddaya gonna do? If you’ve read our other write-ups of Nikkatsu’s output you know how far beyond the pale those folks could venture, so a little urine is acceptable. Kanjirundesu is dumb but worth a watch. It premiered in Japan today in 1976.
