By skyforbes 
A review of the coming-of-age thriller, in theaters now
In artist Neo Sora’s new film Happyend, which is set in an indeterminate but very-near-future, there’s an earthquake headed for Tokyo. Supposedly. According to the government, anyway. There’s a leader in power who insists that Japan is due for some once-in-a-century devastation, and he uses that excuse to claim extraordinary powers for himself, instituting an emergency declaration that lets him control the population like never before.
While people take to the streets to protest this encroachment on their rights, lifelong best friends Kou (Yukito Hidaka) and Yuta (Hayato Kurihara) are just looking forward to their high school graduation. Late one night after an adventure through the EDM clubs and rooftops of Tokyo, they pull a prank on their principal (Shirô Sano), using a forklift to tilt his annoyingly-flashy sports car on its end.
Like the prime minister, the principal wildly overreacts, fearing that terrorists have targeted his school. Within days, he signs a contract with a company called “Panopty” — a cute reference to The Panopticon, a prison concept where the prisoners self-police their own behavior, believing themselves to be…