Make way for the synchronized swimmers in the crowd-pleasing zero-to-hero youth film Water Boys! Directed by Yaguchi Shinobu ( Swing Girls), this hilarious & heartwarming 2001 sports comedy about a bunch of high school boys who take up synchronized swimming received eight nominations at the Japan Academy Awards & won a Best Newcomer trophy for heartthrob Tsumabuki Satoshi ( Nada Sou Sou). Water Boys not only launched Tsumabuki Satoshi to fame, it also provided a start for many other newcomer actors, most notably Hiroshi Tamaki ( Nodame Cantabile, Midnight Eagle). The great success & popularity of Water Boys also inspired a spin-off television drama that eventually ran for three seasons & launched even more careers.
Swimming team member Suzuki (Tsumabuki Satoshi) has a problem: hes the only person on the team. Team membership skyrockets when the school gets a hot new coach, but it turns out she actually teaches synchronized swimming! Persuaded by her beauty, the guys clumsily give the unmanly sport a try, but she soon bails out for maternity leave. Refusing to give up, Suzuki & his remaining four teammates
- Sato (Tamaki Hiroshi), Ohta (Miura Akifumi), Kanazawa (Kondo Koen, Ping Pong), & Saotome (Kaneko Takatoshi, Azumi)
- enlist a wacky dolphin trainer (Takenaka Naoto, Nodame Cantabile) to be their new teacher!