School in the Crosshairs

『ねらわれた学園』 
Nerawareta Gakuen

Released months before lead Hiroko Yakushimaru’s breakthrough hit Sailor Suit and Machine Gun, Obayashi’s first groundbreaking idol picture is a dazzling mix of special effects and blue-screen artifice—a stylistic flair perfected in Obayashi’s debut House, now utilized for the onset of an alien invasion. Ordinary schoolgirl Yuka’s (Yakushimaru) new term comes to an odd start when she inexplicably stops an accident by using latent psychic powers. Troubled by her newfound abilities, Yuka also senses a strange force start to take hold of the school, with students turning into mind-controlled fascists, patrolling school halls, stifling dissent and mandating the re-education of freethinkers. A psychotronic fantasy forged into a young girl’s destiny to defend the planet, School in the Crosshairs is a cosmic overload of extraterrestrial tyrants, preternatural powers and Obayashi’s uniquely adroit filmmaking abilities, underlaid with an existential cry for free will.

Dir. Nobuhiko Obayashi, 1981, 90 min., DCP, color, in Japanese with English subtitles. With Hiroko Yakushimaru, Ryoichi Takayanagi, Toru Minegishi, Makoto Tezuka.

Part of Obayashi ’80s: The Onomichi Trilogy & Kadokawa Years
February 7—14, 2025

Image: © 1981 Kadokawa Corp.

Japan Society programs are supported by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.

Film programs are generously supported by ORIX Corporation USA, public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, Anime NYC and Yen Press. Endowment support is provided by the Lila Wallace-Reader’s Digest Endowment Fund and The John and Miyoko Davey Endowment Fund. Additional season support is provided by The Globus Family, George P. Hirose, David Toberisky, Joseph Rajaratnam and Dharshini Iolanthe Sivakumaran, and Film Circle members.

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