Tokyo Pop (トーキョー ポップ, Tōkyō Poppu)[2] is a 1988 musical romantic comedy film directed by Fran Rubel Kuzui, who co-wrote the screenplay with Lynn Grossman.
The film follows a young American singer (Carrie Hamilton) who travels to Tokyo and meets a local rock musician (Yutaka Tadokoro), with whom she develops a romantic and musical connection.
Disillusioned with the local music scene and having heard of American musicians achieving success in Japan, Wendy steals Mike's rent money and impulsively flies to Tokyo to visit her friend.
One night, after missing the last train to Itabashi and failing to get a taxi, Wendy meets a charismatic young man named Hiro Yamaguchi, the leader of a struggling rock band.
Wendy, tired of her status as a gaijin, tells Hiro that she wants to quit the band and return home, and encourages him to perform his original material at the music festival.
[12] Andy Crump of Paste gave the film an 8.1 out of 10, commenting that "The combination of free-spiritedness, musical fellowship, bemused culture comedy, and kindred hearts is seamless, paced with the sense that Kuzui has somewhere to be and a clear path to get there; Tokyo Pop moves briskly, a quality enhanced by the liveliness baked into Hamilton and Tadokoro's chemistry.
"[13] Walter Goodman of The New York Times stated, "You don't have to be a fan of rock music to get a kick out of Tokyo Pop, a wedding of American and Japanese youth cultures as seen through a fun-house mirror.