Cramming for a Japanese exam and speech has meant fewer posts but since those posts that I do send out into the wild are mammoth hulking festival previews… well, at least they get the time to shine. Yep, I’ve previewed The Terracotta Far East Film Festival 2014 and there’s going to be another post about it next week to make the most of the info I got from the organisers. I have tried to include lots of information about different events in the festival and I’m updating it whenever anything happens. I’ve booked my tickets and now it’s all about the wait and in the meantime I have my Japanese exams to keep me very, very occupied.

Kabukicho High School                                                

Japanese Title: 歌舞伎町はいすくーる

Romaji: Kabukicho Hai Suku-ru

Running Time: 92 mins

Release Date: May 03^rd, 2014 (Japan)

Director: Shinichi Karube

Writer: Machiko Nasu (Screenplay), Masahide Motohashi (Original Manga)

Starring: Shun Shioya, Ainosuke Kataoka, Taro awano, Asami Kumakiri, Yasuki Tsuji, Shinichi Chiba, Hanako Tokachi

Ken Haine (Shioya) is the president of a successful company. He is so successful that he is known as the “King of Kabukicho”. Alas, his years of success have dulled him to the delights of life but he hits upon the idea of going back to school. And so our older dude heads to a vocational full of unusual people…

Website

Jakarta, Where Punk Lives – MARJINAL  

Japanese Title: マージナル＝ジャカルタ・パンク2014年春版

Romaji: Mājinaru = Jakaruta panku 2014-nen haru-ban

Running Time: 63 mins

Release Date: May 03^rd, 2014 (Japan)

Director: Ayumi Nakanishi

Writer: N/A

Starring: N/A

There’s a punk scene in Jakarta and this documentary captures the band Marjinal, a group at the centre of a movement that has grown from students dissatisfied with politics and poverty. Ayumi Nakanishi, the director, was originally a photographer but when she moved to Jakarta, she saw the communities that gave birth to the punk movement and the hostile government reaction and was inspired to film everything.

Website

The Summer of Whales   

Japanese Title: クジラのいた夏

Romaji: Kujira no Ita Natsu

Running Time: 89 mins

Release Date: May 03^rd, 2014 (Japan)

Director: Yasuhiro Yoshida

Writer: Yasuhiro Yoshida, Kota Oura (Screenplay)

Starring: Shuhei Nomura, Shota Matsushima, Kyosuke Hamao, Takuya Matsuoka, Aimi Satsukawa, Yumika Kiya, Akiho Ohtsubo, Kensho Ono

Chuuya (Nomura) has let his life slip by without having any ambitions until, one day, he decides he wants to head to Tokyo. His best friends – J, Gizmo, and Machida – throw a going away party but Chuuya is hesitant to leave. Then, an older girl named Yumiko, an entertainer in Tokyo, appears.

Website

My Little Nightmare: The Movie   

Japanese Title: 悪夢ちゃん The 夢ovie

Romaji: Akumu-chan The Movie

Running Time: 119 mins

Release Date: May 03^rd, 2014 (Japan)

Director: Noriyoshi Sakuma

Writer: Sumio Omori (Screenplay), Riku Onda (Original Novel)

Starring: Keiko Kitagawa, Manatsu Kimura, Yuka, Gackt, Ryuta Sato, Fumiyo Kohinata, Karen Otomo, Manami Honjou

Ayami Mutoi (Kitagawa) is an elementary school teacher with a special student named Yuiko Koto a.k.a. “Akumu-chan”, a girl with the power of having precognitive dreams that foretell the misfortunes of others. When a transfer student named Kanji Shibui enters Ayami’s class, the other students find that they see a “dream prince” who looks like him in their dreams. Yuiko does as well and that’s because she’s falling in love with the prince…

Website

The Spirit of Science  

Japanese Title: おとなのかがく

Romaji: Otona no Kagaku

Running Time: 50 mins

Release Date: May 03^rd, 2014 (Japan)

Director: Yuko Tadachi

Writer: N/A

Starring: Masamitsu Nagaoka, Toshiyuki Nishimura, Theo Jansen

My translation is off but I think this is a documentary from a science magazine looking at different dev kits from different countries.

Website

Kuchita teoshi-sha    

Japanese Title: 朽ちた手押し車

Romaji: Kuchita teoshi-sha

Running Time: 50 mins

Release Date: May 03^rd, 2014 (Japan)

Director: Hiroshi Shima

Writer: Hiroshi Shima Susan Lee (Original Screenplay)

Starring: Rentaro Mikuni

Rentaro Mikuni was a famous actor who appeared in a number of great films like The Burmese Harp (1956), Harakiri (1962), Kwaidan (1965). This particular film is one that has spent 30 years in production and is about a family of fishermen facing problems. Rentaro plays a man with dementia, his wife is terminally ill and their son is pushed to breaking point. It’s all about the dignity of the elderly.

Website

Senritsu Kaiki Fairu Kowa Sugi! Shijou Saikyou no Gekijouban    

Japanese Title: 戦慄怪奇ファイル　コワすぎ！　史上最恐の劇場版

Romaji: Senritsu Kaiki Fairu Kowa Sugi! Shijou Saikyou no Gekijouban

Running Time: 80 mins

Release Date: May 03^rd, 2014 (Japan)

Director: Koji Shiraishi

Writer: Koji Shiraishi (Original Screenplay)

Starring: Shigeo Osako, Koji Shiraishi,

Koji Shiraishi is back! His latest project is an interesting looking serial killer film which unfolds in a single take (that’s the interesting thing – a J-horror Russian Ark!). He favours the whole POV style where a cameraman captures supernatural weirdness. This isn’t it. This release is more of his usual stuff drawing upon his usual content like urban legends and found-footage, bad CGI and idols. It works in some films like Noroi and not in others.

Website

While looking for his films I discovered this website which lists the titles at the Japan Booth at Hong Kong Filmart. I had been tracking the titles via Variety but this site provides a good overview. There are quite a few titles I have written about and it looks like I may need to re-write the English titles…

The full line-up for this year’s Terracotta Far East Film Festival has been revealed ahead of its run at The Prince Charles Cinema and The Institute of Contemporary Art in London between May 23^rd and June 01^st and I have already written two massive previews for this blog and Anime UK News where I reveal the films and events. This particular post focusses on the Japanese titles selected and, in my opinion, the best titles in the festival.

This will be the sixth Terracotta Far East Film Festival and it is the best place to see the latest in Asian cinema in the UK. This will be the second festival I will (hopefully) attend. I had the pleasure of being invited to the press conference while down in London for part of the Yoshitaro Nomura season. I’m glad I went to the media event because I met some cool fellow bloggers and saw the selection of Japanese films. These had me smiling and they are some of the latest and best looking titles I have written about in my weekly trailer posts. The titles that are top of my list are The Snow White Murder Case and Judge! which will get its international premiere. Furthermore, the director of Judge!, Akira Nagai, is going to be present and he will conduct a Q&A!  Here’s a list of the films. To find out more, click on the link to get taken to the festival page.

Lesson of Evil (2012) (London Premiere)  

Japanese Title: 悪　の　教典

Romaji: Aku no Kyoten

Running Time: 129 mins.

Director: Takashi Miike

Writer:  Takashi Miike (Screenplay), Yusuke Kishi (Original Novel)

Starring: Hideaki Ito, Fumi Nikaidou, Shota Sometani, Kento Hayashi, Hirona Yamazaki, Kodai Asaka, Mitsuru Fukikoshi, Takayuki Yamada

Lesson of Evil is based on a novel written by Yusuke Kishi who has twice won the Japan Horror Associated Award. The outrageous action in the trailer is orchestrated by film maestro Takashi Miike (Audition, For Love’s Sake, Thirteen Assassins, and One Missed Call). It stars great actors like Hideaki Ito (The Princess Blade), Takayuki Yamada (MILOCRORZE, Thirteen Assassins), Mitsuru Fukikoshi (Cold Fish), Shota Sometani (Himizu) and Fumi Nikaidou (Why Don’t You Play in Hell?). The film is screened as part of the Terror Cotta All-Nighter.

Seiji (Ito) is a cool and charismatic and highly popular teacher among students at Shinko Academy, a private high school, and well respected by the faculty and the PTA. However, one of the students Reika (Nikaido) feels something menacing lurking beneath his shining reputation. Reika is uneasy about the man and together with Tsurii (Fukikoshi), an unpopular teacher at the school who despises the more popular Seiji, they start investigating his past and discover something scary.

Fumi Nikaido and Shota Sometani are names that would convince me to visit the film but it’s the idea of Fukikoshi’s character, the bitterly jealous teacher, which has me expecting some great character acting and even black comedy. and Lesson of Evil was given a theatrical release in Japan back in November 2012 and since then the film was screened at different film festivals like Rotterdam where it has garnered great reviews. It will be released by Third Window Films on September 29^th of this year (DVD already pre-ordered).

Killers (2013) (London Premiere)  

Japanese: キラーズ

Romaji: KILLERS KIRA-ZU

Running Time: 137 mins.

Release Date: February 01^st, 2014

Director: Kimo Stamboel, Timo Tjahjanto

Writer:  Kimo Stamboel, Timo Tjahjanto (Screenplay),

Starring: Kazuki Kitamura, Oka Antara, Rin Takanashi, Luna Maya, Mei Kurokawa, Denden, Ray Sahetapy

Okay, not strictly Japanese but a co-production between Indonesia and Japan executive produced by Gareth Evans, director of The Raid. This was released on a quiet weekend in February of this year and a review on Twitch makes it sound more like a fascinating rumination on violence, full of brutality and horror, rather than a gore fest. It will get a UK release thanks to Lionsgate UK.

Nomura (Kitamura) is a serial killer who records a murder of a woman and places it on the internet. Bayu (Antara) is a journalist in Jakarta who stumbles upon the video and becomes attracted to what he sees as the beauty in the cruel visuals. When he kills a robber in self-defence he records the robber’s dying moments and uploads his own video. Nomura sees the video and a connection is made! A competition is initiated.

Be My Baby (2014) (UK Premiere)   

Japanese Title: 恋の渦

Romaji: Koi no Uzu

Release Date: March 30^th 2013 (Japan)

Running Time: 138 mins

Director: Hitoshi Ōne

Writer: Daisuke Miura (Original work/Screenplay),

Starring: Kenta Niikura, Naoko Wakai, Chihiro Shibata, Yumi Goto, Takumi Matsuzawa, Mariko Sugio, Hiroaki Kamadaki, Daisuke Sawamura

This film comes from Cinema Impact, an example of the indie film production model where ‘workshops’ of actors working with veteran staff to create indie films. Be My Baby is a low-budget film that was shot in four days for under $10,000 in a couple of locations. It is directed by Hitoshi One, director of the big-budget Moteki which stared Kumiko Aso, Mirai Moriyama and Riisa Naka. It is based on a theatre play written by Daisuke Miura which was first staged in 2006 and screened in cinemas in March of last year. Daisuke Miura’s stage play has been on tour around the world and writer Miura declares it an insight into a generation that has everything but is still unsatisfied in spiritual terms. The review over at Variety is positively glowing which makes me curious about its potential!

Four couples, three beds, one masionette living room and a luxury apartment. The action takes place over the course of a night where a kindergarten teacher, students and office works make meaningless small talk about superficial things until their self-consciousness vanishes and they get closer. Closer to what? A sex party. This is one where emotions are absent – names are not known, they only know each other by number man/woman 1-4 – and they shed their emotions and passions hoping to break up without getting hurt.

Snow White Murder Case (2014) (International Premiere)  

Japanese Title: 白ゆき姫殺人事件

Romaji: Shiro Yuki Hime Satsujin Jiken

Running Time: 126 mins.

Release Date: March 29^th, 2014 (Japan)

Director: Yoshihiro Nakamura

Writer: Tamio Hayashi (Screenplay), Kanae Minato (Original Novel)

Starring: Mao Inoue, Gou Ayano, Misako Renbutsu, Nanao, Shihori Kanjiya, Nobuaki Kaneko, Erena Ono, Mitsuki Tanimura, Shota Sometani, Katsuhisa Namase, Dankan,

Quite possibly, the best looking film released in March, or at least the most eye-catching due to the glitzy trailer and cool posters, and the film I am gunning for! Its story is a contemporary suspense thrillerabout the dark power of social media and trends which looks ripe for analysis from pseudo-intellectual bloggers such as yours truly… It is based on a work by the novelist Kanae Minato who is the writer of the award-winning Confessions and it is directed by Yoshihiro Nakamura. I have reviewed two of his films and I remain agnostic about his directorial skills because I loved The Foreign Duck while I hated See You Tomorrow, Everyone, which I saw at last year’s Terracotta film festival. He teams up with his usual writer Tamio Hayashi (Shield of Straw) for a murder tale full of hot young actors like Gou Ayano (The Story of Yonosuke), Mao Inoue (Rebirth), and Shihori Kanjiya. And Dankan, who is neither hot or young but is totally amusing and game for a laugh as seen in his performances in Getting Any? and Eyes of the Spider.

The Show White Murder Case sees victim Noriko Miki (Nanao), the best looking girl at a cosmetics company, murdered and her dowdy co-worker Miki (Inoue) coming under suspicion due to a Twitter tip off received by newbie director Akahoshi (Ayano). The media frenzy begins as television shows play interviews with Miki’s friends, family and anybody even vaguely associated with her. Soon rumours of her being a wicked woman emerge. Are they true?

Hopefully, I’ll be at the screening and I can find out!

Judge! (2014) (International Premiere)   

Japanese Title: ジャッジ！

Romaji: Jajji!

Running Time: 105 mins.

Release Date: January 11^th, 2014

Director: Akira Nagai

Writer: Yoshimitsu Sawamoto (Screenplay)

Starring: Satoshi Tsumabuki, Keiko Kitagawa, Lily Franky, Kyoka Suzuki, YosiYosi Arakawa, Yoji Tanaka, Denden, Ryo Kase, Etsushi Toyokawa, Iyo Matsumoto,

The final film of the festival is the hit comedy, Judge!, which gets its international premiere here.  This was originally released in January and the culture clash and physical gags marked it out as an entertaining title. This is based on an original idea cooked up by a writer and director who are both veterans of the Japanese ad world which should make the post-screening Q&A with director Akira Nagai fascinating to sit in on. There’s a large cast of excellent actors like Satoshi Tsumabuki (For Love’s Sake), Denden (Cold Fish), Etsushi Toyokawa (Angel Dust, Loft), Kyoka Suzuki (Welcome Back, Mr McDonald), Lily Franky (Like Father, Like Son) and YosiYosi Arakawa (Fine, Totally Fine).

Kiichiro Ota (Tsumabuki) has just scored a job at an advertising agency and already he is sent to the world’s biggest TV advertising festival in Santa Monica by his almost-namesake boss with orders to secure victory for their company’s ad by any means necessary. Like scheming, bribery and so forth. Alas, Kiichiro’s English skills are nought and so he drags along his brilliant colleague Hikari Ota (Kitagawa). They get to pretend to be husband and wife due to their similar family names but they couldn’t be more different since she is serious and he is a bit of a geek (his Urusei Yatsura T-shirt is a giveaway) who loves to party. Kiichiro’s party soon ends when he finds out that unless his company’s commercial wins a prize he’ll be fired. Can he do it?

This is another film that I am aiming to see along with The Snow White Murder Case and The Face Reader, a Korean film.

My long week at work is about to end and I’m about to start a short four day holiday where I prep for my Japanese exam. I’ve already had my speaking test where I introduced this blog to my class and traumatised people with trailers for Suicide Club, Cure: The Power of Suggestion and others. Next week is my final exam and I have spent most of this week studying. The only anime/film related thing I have done is to watch Ping Pong The Animation and Crystal Blaze and post more about this year’s Terracotta Far East Film Festival (new info on the guests). Enough from me, here are the trailers for the films released for this week in Tokyo! I’m going to shuffle off and go back to studying.

Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro   

Japanese Title:ルパン三世　カリオストロの城

Romaji: Rupan Sansei Kariosutoro no Shiro

Running Time: 96 mins

Release Date: May 09^th, 2014 (Japan)

Director: Hayao Miyazaki

Writer: Yasuo Otsuka (Screenplay), Haruya Yamazaki, Hayao Miyazaki (Script), Monkey Punch (Original Manga)

Starring: Yasuo Yamada (Arsene Lupin III), Makio Inoue (Goemon Ishikawa), Kiyoshi Kobayashi (Jigen Daisuke), Goro Naya (Inspector Zenigata), Eiko Masuyama (Fujiko Mine), Sumi Shimamoto (Lady Clarisse de Cagliostro)

Film of the weekend, everybody else go home! This is the remaster of the CLASSIC, Castle of Cagliostro. It’s getting screened in cinemas across Japan and there will be reissues of the original 1979 poster and pamphlet for the film. We all know the story (or should know), Lupin and best-pal/partner in crime Jigen, search for a counterfeiter who has rendered their latest casino heist a waste of time. They discover that the counterfeiter is in the secluded country of Cagliostro and that a wicket count is holding a beautiful and innocent princess in a tower… I love this anime and I’d recommend it as one of a number of entry titles for those not familiar with Japanese animation. It’s definitely one of Miyazaki’s best.

Website

Live   

Japanese Title:ライヴ

Romaji: Raivu

Running Time: 105 mins

Release Date: May 10^th, 2014 (Japan)

Director: Noboru Iguchi

Writer: Noboru Iguchi (Screenplay), Yusuke Yamada (Original Novel)

Starring: Yuki Yamada, Ito Ono, Yui Morinaga, Mari Iriki, Kokone Sasaki, Yuka Eda, Shinji Kasahara, Mitsuki Koga

Noboru Iguchi adapts a Yusuke Yamada story! It’s about a mysterious death race that is suddenly broadcast live on television where racers are eliminated in gruesome ways one by one. It’s a hit with the viewing public. What people don’t realise is that the runners taking part in the race have no option but to compete to ensure that their loved ones don’t come to any harm at the hands of a mysterious group! There are participants like Naoto Tamura (Yamada), a freeter who is racing to save his mother!

Website

My Pretend Girlfriend   

Japanese Title:百瀬、こっちを向いて

Romaji: Momose, Kocchi wo Muite

Running Time: 109 mins

Release Date: May 10^th, 2014 (Japan)

Director: Saiji Yakumo

Writer: Kyoko Inukai (Screenplay), Eiichi Nakata (Original Novel)

Starring: Akari Hayami, Taro Takeuchi, Osamu Mukai, Asuka Kudo, Anna Ishibashi

The international title, My Pretend Girlfriend, makes this sound like some lame school comedy based on an equally lame anime but the trailer paints it out to be a heartfelt and emotional story… Perhaps a little flimsy but certainly not a comedy. The Japanese title is Look Over Here, Momose which is nicer and speaks of the yearning for love that the characters have. In the story, Noboru (Takeuchi) is an anonymous high school student  who looks up to his sempai Miyazaki (Kudo) who is much more popular and has two girlfriends: the adventurous Momose (Hayami) and Tetsuko (Ishibashi), a girl from a wealthy family. Tetsuko catches Miyazaki with Momose so to put her off the trail of his infidelity he asks Noboru and Momose to pretend they are dating. They both agree because they both like Miyazaki but Noboru might really love Momose…

Website

Wood Job!   

Japanese Title:（ウッジョブ）　神去なあなあ日常

Romaji: (Ujjobu) kamisari nānā nichijō

Running Time: 116 mins

Release Date: May 10^th, 2014 (Japan)

Director: Shinobu Yaguchi

Writer: Shinobu Yaguchi(Screenplay), Shion Miura (Original Novel)

Starring: Shota Sometani, Masami Nagasawa, Hideaki Ito, Yuka, Naomi Nishida, Makita Sports, Ken Mitsuishi, Akira Emoto

Yuki Hirano (Sometani) is a high school grad who has failed his university entrance exams. He expects to spend the near future working a part time job but sees a brochure for a year-long forestry training scheme and soon he’s in a remote mountain village called Kamusari which has none of the amenities of Tokyo but immense beauty and warm-hearted locals and a beautiful young woman named Naoki (Nagasawa) He just has to survive his rough and ready instructors like Yoki (Ito).

This is adapted from a novel by Shion Miura (Mahoro Eki Mae Bangaichi, The Great Passage) and it’s full of great actors like Shota Sometani (Himizu), Ken Mitsuishi (Rent-a-Cat, Noriko’s Dinner Table) and more!

Website

A2-B-C   

Japanese Title: A2-B-C

Romaji: A2-B-C

Running Time: 71 mins

Release Date: May 10^th, 2014 (Japan)

Director: Ian Thomas Ash

Writer: N/A

Starring: N/A

This is a 3/11 documentary from American documentary filmmaker Ian Thomas Ash who has lived in Japan for more than a decade. He made this film which focusses on several families affected by the disaster. They live in Date city, 37 miles away from the Fukushima power plant, and the city was never evacuated so they know have to deal with living with radiation. It was at last year’s Raindance Film festival and I met the director of the film but I was so tired I merely stood around feeling awkward and said nothing.

Website

Eiga Panpaka Pantsu Bananan Okoku no Hiho  

Japanese Title:えいがパンパカパンツ　バナナン王国の秘宝

Romaji: Eiga Panpaka Pantsu Bananan Okoku no Hiho

Running Time: N/A

Release Date: May 10^th, 2014 (Japan)

Director: Benpi Neko

Writer: Benpi Neko, Kazumi Ishizuka (Screenplay)

Starring: Yoshino Nanjo, Kaoru Mizuhara,Takahiro Ogata, Satoshi Mukai,

Animals wearing pants. The main character is a pig who wears pants. The story follows a family of pigs (who wear pants) who go on holiday and get stuck in the Bananan kingdom, a jungle realm full of creepy creatures instead of Hawaii.

Website

Dystonia   

Japanese Title:ジストニア

Romaji: Jisutonia

Running Time: 100 mins

Release Date: May 10^th, 2014 (Japan)

Director: Tomoo Kawabata

Writer: N/A

Starring: N/A

According to Wikipedia, dystonia is a serious neurological disorder where the muscles contract into twisting and repetitive movements or abnormal postures. This documentary records the activities of patients and physicians to show the way people cope and the support they get from doctors and family.

Website

Ressha Daikoushin The ☆Movie Shinkansen to Wakuwaku Densha dai shugo   

Japanese Title:れっしゃだいこうしん　ザ☆ムービー　しんかんせんとわくわくでんしゃ大集合

Romaji: Ressha Daikoushin Sa ☆Mubi shinkansen to Wakuwaku den sha dai shugo

Running Time: N/A

Release Date: May 10^th, 2014 (Japan)

Director: Hiromu Tani

Writer: N/A

Starring: Yukitoshi Nagafuchi,Reiko Tokunaga, Ai Nonaka

This is the sixth instalment of a film series aimed at children and rail-loving adults complete with introductions to trains in various regions and with quizzes and animated sequences.

Website

Renai manga wa yayakoshi atsumare! Koisuru mosozoku   

Japanese Title:恋愛漫画はややこしい　集まれ！恋する妄想族れっしゃだいこうしん　ザ☆ムービー　しんかんせんとわくわくでんしゃ大集合

Romaji: Renai manga wa yayakoshī atsumare! Koisuru mōsozoku

Running Time: 81 mins

Release Date: May 10^th, 2014 (Japan)

Director: Rihito Arao

Writer: N/A

Starring: Shinpei Saito, Kanako Kataoka, Uta Kohaku, Kanako Yamada,

From what I can make out, lead actor Shinpei Saito is the president of an IT company in Fukushima and he had the dream of appearing in a movie and so he made this film about a guy who failed to get into university and gets into adventures like romancing a girl and becoming addicted to girls manga… It’s directed by Rihito Arao whose last film was Bonsai Girl (2011).

Website

Iwaki Noto Fukushima Voice   

Japanese Title:いわきノート FUKUSHIMA VOICE

Romaji: Iwaki Noto Fukushima Voice

Running Time: 86 mins

Release Date: May 10^th, 2014 (Japan)

Director: Shun Arima, Mito Shino, Sasaki Kikaede

Writer: N/A

Starring: N/A

It has been quite a while since we have had a 3/11 film in a trailer post but here we have two in one. This is from multiple directors, all college students, who covered Iwaki City which lies in Fukushima Prefecture where Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant continues to be a major problem. They go across the city and meet people with different professions and places in society to discuss the future of the area.

Website

We’re a Bounty Hunter Team   

Japanese Title:俺たち賞金稼ぎ団

Romaji: Oretachi Shokin Kasegidan

Running Time: 99 mins

Release Date: May 10^th, 2014 (Japan)

Director: Koichi Sakamoto

Writer: Yoshifumi Sakai

Starring: Atsushi Maruyama, Ryo Ryusei, Syuusuke Saito, Yamato Kinjo, Akihisa Shiono, Ayuri Konno, Yumi Sugimoto, Yuki Yamada, Rei Saito

Super Sentai veteran Koichi Sakamoto has had a number of films he directed released in recent months (Red vs Pink, Girl’s Blood) and this is his latest title which involves a disparate group of people tracking down an arsonist and joining forces.

Website

Yoshinaka densetsu Yoshinaka ana  

Japanese Title:ヨシナカ伝説　義仲穴

Romaji: Yoshinaka densetsu Yoshinaka ana

Running Time: 67 mins

Release Date: May 10^th, 2014 (Japan)

Director: Kitatane Akibaru

Writer: N/A

Starring: Yoji Matsuda, Emiri Nakayama, Ichiro Ogura, Yoko Watanabe, Steve Eto,

When a contagious disease spreads in a small mountain village, only a young woman seems impervious to it. The Kamakura shogunate send a monk and physician to check the place out where they uncover a conspiracy.

Website

Recently Butterfly…   

Japanese Title:最近、蝶々は…

Romaji: Saikin, Chōchō wa…

Running Time: 96 mins

Release Date: May 10^th, 2014 (Japan)

Director: Naoyuki Tomomatsu

Writer: Naoyuki Tomomatsu (Screenplay), Shungiku Uchida (Manga Series: Saikin, Chocho wa)

Starring: Maki Aoyama, Ryo Asagiri,Risa Goto, Yuya Tokumoto, Horiken, Iona, Aya Kisaki, Ayumi Kuroki,

I first saw Shungiku Uchida when she starred in Takashi Miike’s Visitor Q. Then, I forgot about her because I didn’t see her appear in anything else again… Until now. She has written and stars in this film where the erotic and suspense combine to make an erotic suspense story (what else?). Uchida is a talented person who has overcome a lot and made a formidable career. Her latest story looks absolutely bizarre. A magazine reporter tracks down a seriously foxy woman with butterfly bruises who preys on men and sucks the juices out of them. It’s partly supernatural and it seems like the woman is being controlled by a supernatural being who murders anybody who gets in her way. Uchida is one of the stars in this and she is the taxi driver.

Website

How does Wit Studio follow up a massive smash-hit like the TV anime Attack on Titan and its amusing OVAs? They make an office comedy. “Office comedy? What’s with all the demons?” you might ask.   Hoozuki no Reitetsu is an office comedy set in the Japanese afterlife. The office just happens to be a functioning government that runs Japanese Hell. “The Eight Greater Hells” and “The Eight Cold Hells” have 272 subdivisions that are all dedicated to reforming the souls of wicked people through various punishments meted out by Great King Enma, the guy who passes judgement on the souls of the dead. When I say punishments, I mean things like being getting ground up into paste over and over for sneezing in peoples’ food and acting like an ass in restaurants to being mauled by animals for the crime of being cruel to animals in life. There’s a hell for philanders which amusingly brings up gender equality over the discussion about whether sexy female demons should dole out pain because some guys might like that. With so many bad humans and lots of involved office politics, Enma needs someone reliable to maintain order: enter the demon administrator named Hoozuki, a sort of middle-manager dealing with the endless chaos. Hoozuki is chief aide to the Great King Emna and has to keep the whole show running which usually means getting involved in the local politics of the various subdivisions which are like little fiefdoms each of which is run by some mythological creature or legend from Japanese history. Not only that but he works as a foreign minister as he deals with relations with Heaven/Shangri-La and European Hell and the tourism as people from  Hell visit Heaven/Shangri-La to indulge in the hot springs and food while people from Heaven/Shangri-La visit Hell to go on almighty drinking sessions and see some smoking women.

This is a simplification of a rather amusing and thoroughly Japanese anime based on Natsumi Eguchi’s popular seinen manga. The show eschews building a grand plot and each episode is split into two stories that go into detail about the different places in hell and the different characters that populate the place, from religious figures like Great King Enma and the Ten divine kings to mythical legends like the Inch High Samurai and Momotaro and his animal companions. What Natsumi Eguchi does with these characters is to place them in the framework of a large government running the afterlife with analogous posts and office politics. Roles are an amusing mix of the mundane and exotic: section chiefs, torture device creators, janitors, chemists and actual torturers – Momotaro’s co-horts become the newest recruits in Animal Cruelty Hell and take to it with alarming ease.

The audience gets to visit each of these places in the company of Hoozuki who ensures that the wicked are being disciplined, usually through being boiled in vats of grease, being turned into a living tree for adultery or just plain being bashed around by Hoozuki who quite likes getting his hands dirty and lugs a cruel looking mace around to enforce the rules.

That there are references to real and mythical figures who each have jobs, such as the eight-headed demon snake Yamata no Orochi who is the drunken janitor in Screaming Hell (a place for those who committed sins when drunk), to the very real Hokusai (who turns out to be a bit of a decorator who left murals around the place) should give some indication to the extent of its originality and the quality of its comedy as it aims to be high-brow and cultured and subversive. It utilises and references the deep and rich supernatural elements of Japan (Obon and the “Night Parade of a Hundred Demons”) and turns them into a series of administrative problems and field trips. It’s ambitious and intelligent and something rarely seen, it is also very well-written, which is occasionally seen on other shows like Space Dandy.

The show’s comedic content is very dry and low-key at times and it can come off as non-existent especially when an episode feels like a literary and cultural test and (and it does feel like it at times because only the most hard-core of Japanophiles will get EVERY single reference. There were many Japanese cultural references that I just did not get and I relied a lot on the translator’s notes to make sense of situations but for the most part I was still enjoying it. Even when I wasn’t laughing, I knew that the show would take a turn because the humour is generally a mix of high and low brow, smut and sight gags and many puns and references to classical figures, sex and violence and all done with intelligence and all good natured. It is very earthy at times and always irreverent. There are many office gags that people who have worked in organisations big and small will recognise like the mess-hall banter and the unrequited feelings that one has for colleagues, the way people carry out orders no matter how ridiculous (and the ensuing whispered comments questioning their bosses leadership) and the way the public have to be handled. There are also many fourth-wall breaking gags about Hoozuki going on holiday and meeting fans of Japanimation in Australia and endless references to other anime (Ghibli being a favourite). The animation and direction are solid but it’s the artwork that defines a lot of things because seeing everything in anime form is amusing and there are so many surreal and weird images to be seen from the various layers of hell and the characters to things like Hoozuki having a collection of Goldfish flowers – literally, a fish at the end of a stalk – which, when one sees the final episode, turns into one of the cruellest and slyest gags in the whole show. Seeing the classical Japanese art and the Buddhist scrolls rendered into a modern medium is not unique (see Kyousogiga) but the characters are adorable and cute. Minamoto Yoshitsune from “Heike Monogatari” is not like his fearsome real life character but a bishounen who wishes to transfer to another job. An insanely cute and just plain insane rabbit turns out to be from the grisly tale of “Kachi-kachi Yama” which is a crazy and cruel story and another reminder that myths and fairy-tales are full of nutters. Seeing these transposed into an anime makes them even weirder and funnier. The women are also WOMEN, well-written characters and sexy and interesting, alluring but never objectified or reduced to fan-service dolls maybe because a woman wrote this. The gags around the women aren’t using them as the punchline but the emotions of lust and sin that all humans feel, which fits in nicely with the themes and locale of the show.

Talking about characters… My favourite characters are the low-ranking but enthusiastic minions Karauri and Nasubi and the adventures they get into as they try and climb the corporate ladder and chase after food/oppai in a good-natured way. Hoozuki is also very badass. He is the type of boss you respect because he gets things done. He is so competent that if you worked for him you would feel confident that he can help solve any and all of your problems. Hoozuki is also a mystery which makes hanging around with him fun since he has so many different aspects, all of them slightly weird. Hanging with him is fun. “Hoozuki no Reitetsu” was an oddity in the Winter 2013/14 season because it was adult and dared to be intelligent and low-key. The makers count on the audience being intelligent enough to keep paying attention. There’s very little in the way of plot and the humour is very dry but the makers know that a committed audience will follow. The anime does require some knowledge of Japanese history and mythology but it also relies on a greater part of the maturity, experience and intelligence gained by the audience from being in those situations to make the most of it and there is a lot to enjoy.

5/5

Here’s a cool production video to give you a taste:

Japanese exams are over!

Okay, the reaction wasn’t as extreme as that but that’s it for the next few months I’ll be able to watch films regularly again and finish off a video game or two. This morning I watched the Wong Kar-Wai film Days of Being Wild and I’m going to get started with season 2 of The Walking Dead before my sister gets to the third episode. Next Monday I’ll be heading to the cinema to watch Blue Ruin and The Wind Rises. I will start carving through a number of reviews that have been on the back-burner for a long time. As for next week there will be announcements before I get back to reviewing things. This week I reviewed Hoozuki no Reitetsu, a large and sprawling thing…

Here are the trailers for the Japanese films released in Tokyo this week:

Ushijima the Loan Shark Part 2                                                

Japanese Title: 闇金ウシジマくん Part2

Romaji: Yamikin Ushijima-kun Part2

Running Time: 133 mins

Release Date: May 16^th, 2014 (Japan)

Director: Masatoshi Yamaguchi

Writer: Masatoshi Yamaguchi, Masahiro Fukuma (Screenplay), Shohei Manabe (Original Manga)

Starring: Takayuki Yamada, Gou Ayano, Hiromi Sakimoto, Kyosuke Yabe, Masaki Suda, Masataka Kubota, Yuya Yagira, Haruka Kinami

This is the second movie version of the Ushijima the Loan Shark franchise which counts manga and dramas in its line-up. In this, Takayuk Yamada (13 Assassins) plays a loan shark who deals with desperate and deadly people who need money sharpish.

Website

FOOL COOL ROCK! ONE OK ROCK DOCUMENTARY FILM   

Japanese Title: FOOL COOL ROCK! ONE OK ROCK DOCUMENTARY FILM

Running Time: 103 mins

Release Date: May 16^th, 2014 (Japan)

Director: Hiroyuki Nakano

Writer: N/A

Starring: Taka, Toru, Ryota Tomoya

A documentary that follows the rock group ONE OK ROCK as they go on a world tour that covers many locations in Europe and Asia (12 concerts in 11 countries). Anime fans will probably here one or two intro themes. The director was behind an interminably dull film called Tajomaru….

Website

Flower and Snake Zero  

Japanese Title: 花と蛇 Zero

Romaji: Hana to Hebi Zero

Running Time: 113 mins

Release Date: May 17^th, 2014 (Japan)

Director: Hajime Hashimoto

Writer: Takehiko Minato (Screenplay), Onriku Dan (Original Novel)

Starring: Maiko Amano, Noriko Hamada, Runa Sakuragi, Kanji Tsuda, Hideo Sakaki,

Trailer is NSFW SHOW TIME!

S&M pink films hits the big screen. Okay, not strictly a pink film but certainly full of beautiful ladies displaying flesh. The story is about a female detective battling a gang who run an illegal website that streams videos of captured women undergoing all sorts of nasty things like bondage and rape. It looks absolutely loony and sleazy.

Website

The Undying Dream We Have  

Japanese Title: 醒めながら見る夢

Romaji: Samenagara Miru Yume

Running Time: 106 mins

Release Date: May 17^th, 2014 (Japan)

Director: Jinsei Tsuji

Writer: Jinsei Tsuji (Screenplay),

Starring: Yoshikuni Dochin, Rin Takanashi, Anna Ishibashi, Ryouta Murai, Mitsuru Matsuoka, Hitomi Takahashi

This is a film about a love triangle in the historic city of Kyoto. Popular theatre director Yuuji Kaieda (Dochin) secretly marries and lives with the main actress of his theatre company. Her name is Aki (Takanashi) and she has a younger sister named Haruna (Ishibashi) who also had a relationship with Yuuji. Secrets are soon found out…

Website

Recently, My Sister is Unusual   

Japanese Title: 最近、妹のようすがちょっとおかしいんだが。

Romaji: Saikin, Imouto no Yousu ga Chotto Okashiin da ga

Running Time: 107 mins

Release Date: May 17^th, 2014 (Japan)

Director: Yuki Aoyama

Writer: Takehiko Minato (Screenplay), Mari Matsuzawa (Original Manga)

Starring: Tenka Hashimoto, Yukichi Kobayashi, Mayu, Mika Yano Reiko Hayama

Worst trailer of the week, most uncomfortable trailer of the year and it’s all based on a crappy manga/anime aimed at poor siscons.

In this story Mitsuki (Tenka Hashimoto) and Yuya (Yukichi Kobayashi) become stepsister and stepbrother because of their parents’ marriage. At first Mitsuki hates her new family and Yuya is nervous when around his new stepsister. Then one day, Mitsuki becomes possessed by the spirit of Hiyori (Mayu). Hiyori was a girl who liked Yuya. Actually, she still likes him and she believes Yuya can help her get to heaven by falling in love with her… Through Mitsuki. Hiyori places a leather chastity belt upon on Mitsuki… Seeing two actors portray high school kids legally related and trying to get it on makes me feel icky… Japan… Just stop with this fetish. Please. Just stop.

Website

No no Nanana no Ka   

Japanese Title: 野のなななのか

Romaji: No no Nanana no Ka

Running Time: 106 mins

Release Date: May 17^th, 2014 (Japan)

Director: Nobuhiko Obayashi

Writer: Nobuhiko Obayashi, Tadashi Naitoh (Screenplay), Koji Hasegawa (Original Novel)

Starring: Yumi Adachi, Kazunari Aizawa, Akane, Toshiaki Chiku, Christine, Satoshi Hara, Tokie Hidari, Natsuki Harada, Minam Inomata

Or should that be Nononanananoka? Whatever the title, this is the latest film from Nobuhiko Obayashi who has earned everlasting fame for his wonderful film House, a fun horror film made in collaboration with his daughter. This new film is based on a novel by Koji Hasegawa and concerns the gathering of family and friends who are drawn together by the death of an old man. As the film delves into memories of the old man spans many decades from the Pacific War and the Soviet invasion of the Sakhalin islands all the way through to 3.11.

Website

The Black Square   

Japanese Title:  黒い　四角

Romaji: Kuroi Shikaku

Running Time: 144 mins

Release Date: May 17^th, 2014 (Japan)

Director: Hiroshi Okuhara

Writer: Hiroshi Okuhara (Screenplay),

Starring: Hideo Nakaizumi, Dan Hong, Chen Xixu, Miki Suzuki

This was at last year’s Raindance Film Festival and so I can copy and paste the information! TIME SAVED! On a serious note, Alua gave this film a review and it looks like a meditative sci-fi drama that the film touches on the shared past of Japan and China but doesn’t quite satisfy.

Xhao-ping is an artist in Beijing who lives with his girlfriend named Hana and his younger sister named Lihua. When he sees a black square float across the city he follows it to a barren field where it lands. As he inspects it a naked man suffering amnesia emerges. Xhao-ping takes him home convinced he has met this man before, a feeling shared by his girlfriend and sister.

Website

Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn Episode 7  

Japanese Title:  機動戦士ガンダムUC <ユニコーン>

Romaji: Kidō Senshi Gandamu UC <Yunico-n>

Running Time: N/A

Release Date: May 17^th, 2014 (Japan)

Director: Kazuhiro Furuhashi

Writer: Harutoshi Fukui (Story),

Starring: Ayumi Fujimura (Audrey Burne), Kouki Uchiyama (Banagher Links), Shuuichi Ikeda (Full Frontal), Yuko Kaida (Marida Cruz),

I haven’t watched a Gundam anime since Gundam Wing back when it was on Cartoon Network. I have no idea what is going on with this series but apparently this is the final episode of the Gundam UC series. Here’s the plot synopsis from Anime News Network and the opening 7 minutes:

The year is U.C. 0096. Three years have passed since the end of the Second Neo Zeon War. It is said that the Vist Foundation manipulates the Earth Federation and Anaheim Electronics from behind the scenes. Hoping to create a new world, the Foundation attempts to hand over a certain secret to the Neo Zeon remnants known as the Sleeves. This will mean the opening of Laplace’s Box, which holds a great secret tied to the origins of the Universal Century. The exchange between the Vist Foundation and the Sleeves is to take place at the manufacturing colony Industrial 7. This is the home of the student Banagher Links, who rescues a girl he sees falling through the colony’s zero gravity area. The girl gives her name as Audrey Burne and says she wants to prevent a war, spurring Banagher to step into the conflict surrounding Laplace’s Box—almost as if he is drawn in by his own bloodline.

Website

Tsutaeru   

Japanese Title:  伝える

Romaji: Tsutaeru

Running Time: 69 mins

Release Date: May 17^th, 2014 (Japan)

Director: Yunumata

Writer: Yunumata (Screenplay),

Starring: N/A

This is a collection of doujinshi anime created by Tomo Numata that has attracted the attention of the distributor thanks to its well-scripted comedy. No trailer.

Website

The Adventures of Bellring Girls Heart across the 6D  

Japanese Title:  BELLRING少女ハートの6次元ギャラクシー

Romaji: BELLRING shōjo hāto no 6-jigen gyarakushī

Running Time: 69 mins

Release Date: May 17^th, 2014 (Japan)

Director: Atsushi Tsugita

Writer: Atsushi Tsugita (Screenplay),

Starring: Tira, Mizuho Asakura, Juri Nakano, Yuka Mizuki, Moe Usami, Ayano Yanagisawa, Kai are the BELLRING GIRLS! Also starring: Antonio Honda, Leon Kurosaki, Superstar Butch

Bellring Girls Heart are an actual J-Pop idol group and this looks like a whole lotta fun. I have to admit that I love it when idol groups do crazy films full of chaos and violence. It shows that the guys and girls have a sense of humour (and are willing to exploit their image and horror fans like me so… I guess… I feel like I’m being noticed? In this film, one of the idol girls shoots an audience member because, why not? Superstar Butch is arrested (because with a name like that he deserves to be locked up) and the girls hop in a sixth dimensional alien space craft. Awesome. Lets go. This is what makes Japanese idols the best.

Website

Third Window Films switch up from the trend of releasing Japanese films as seen in most of their output last year and in two of the last two month’s finest world cinema titles like “The Story of Yonosuke” and the ultra-brilliant “Shady” and returns to its early days by releasing more Korean films like this award-winning title, “Bleak Night”. Here are the details:

Bleak Night

The debut film of Yoon Sung-hyun

Korea / 2010 / 116 Mins / In Korean with English subtitles / Colour
Featuring the debuts of Park Jung-min & Seo Jun-young
Alongside: Lee Je-hoon (Ghost Sweepers, The Front Line)
Jo Sung-ha (Pluto, The Yellow Sea)

Out on DVD May 26th, 2014

DVD Special Features
Anamorphic Widescreen transfer with 5.1 Surround Sound
BOYS – Director Yoon Sung-hyun’s 30 min short film,

Bleak Night is the story of a grieving father (Jo Sung-ha) over the death of his son Ji-tae (Lee Je-hoon) and trying to make sense of it all. After going through Ji-tae’s things and stumbling on a few pictures of him and his friends, Ji-tae’s father attempts to track them down to inquire just what could possibly lead to his son committing suicide. His journey leads him to Hye-jun (Park Jung-min) and Dong-yoon (Seo Jun-young) who were once Ji-tae’s best friends, but Hye-jun transferred schools a few weeks before Ji-tae’s death and Dong-yoon dropped out of school and skipped out on the funeral. As one troubled man chews over everyone continuously giving him answers to everything other than the questions he finds himself repeatedly asking, the delicate and yet intricate boundaries of companionship are pushed to their limits.

A student feature from the Korean Academy of Film Arts (KAFA), which has been training some of the Korea’s best talent since the ‘80s, including Bong Joon-ho, Im Sang-soo, & Kim Tae-gyun.
KAFA produces four feature-length projects per year.

Winner: FIPRESCI Award

Hong Kong International Film Festival

Winner: New Currents Award

Busan International Film Festival

Winner: Best Screenplay

Asia Pacific Screen Awards

Nominated: Tiger Award

Rotterdam International Film Festival

The Kotatsu Japanese Animation Festival is a small event that takes place over the course of a day at Chapter Arts, a small but trendy (read, hipsterish) art house cinema and theatre space tucked away in a borough of Cardiff, South Wales.The festival may be small but thanks to the passion of its founder it is bright and rapidly expanding with an increasingly ambitious line-up of feature-length and short anime films across a number of genres and for a number of ages. A sign of the changes comes in the change of date, instead of the wintry atmosphere of November, this year’s festival takes place in the heat of Spring and in two locations with the sea-side town Aberystwyth joining the action.

I attended last year’s festival where I made the mistake of not pre-booking a ticket and missed the chance to see Makoto Shinkai’s Children Who Chase Lost Voices which was sold out. Instead I had to spend three hours at the cafe bar nursing a couple of coffees before I watched the rather good Berserk Golden Age Arc I: The Egg of the King. I have been following this festival with great interest because the line-up of films programmed picks some of the best of the titles released in Japan and touring the UK.

The festival is less than a fortnight away and the details have been released. Here are the dates and the films on offer.

Cardiff: Chapter Arts, Saturday 7th June 2014

Aberystwyth: Aberystwyth Arts Centre, Saturday 21st June 2014

Programme of Events 2014 in Cardiff

Throughout the course of the day, Chapter Arts plays host to more than just films! There will be a raffle which will allow people the chance to win anime and manga. There will also be many local traders selling Japanese and Japanese-inspired wares like The Comic Man who will provide a selection of manga, anime, and magazines. Doujinshi artist Kodawari-Chaya will be on location to sell fan illustration books and manga-inspired artist Turnip Starfish will sell original artworks and drawing materials. Other than anime and manga there will be Super Tomato are a specialist videogame seller with many imports and Yakiniku which sells Korean & Japanese food.

Here’s the list of films and times, the titles are links to the page where you can purchase tickets:

11:00 am       Patema Inverted    

Japanese Title: サカサマ　の　パテマ

Romaji: Sakasama no Patema

Running Time: 99 mins

Release Date: November 09^th, 2013

Director: Yasuhiro Yoshiura

Writer: Yasuhiro Yoshiura (Screenplay/Original Creator)

Starring: Yukiyo Fujii (Patema), Nobuhiko Okamoto (Age), Shintarou Oohata (Porta), Shinya Fukumatsu (G), Masayuki Katou (Lagos),

Yasuhiro Yoshiura is the director/creator of the wonderful Time of Eve, a futuristic drama about androids in a café and the humans that visit them. It was a whimsical show full of great details and gorgeous animation and do you know what was best of all? The characters were relatable and funny. I watched it multiple times and I adore it. This is his latest film and it looks a treat. It has earned great press from critics so far. Here’s the trailer:

The story takes place in an underground world where the members of a village exist in tunnels and confined spaces and must wear protective clothing. Despite this, these underground people still enjoy life, especially Patema, the princess of her underground village, who loves to explore. Her fascination with exploration leads her to a forbidden area where she meets a boy named Age who operates under different gravitational circumstances. The two may come from very different societies but will face strange situations together! 

From 11 am – 4 pm Manga Workshop

Teacher: Lexémon from Turnip Starfish

Age: 11 – 16

£29.50 per person

Bookings via email to laura@turnipstarfish.co.uk

Are you as mad about Manga and Anime as we are?! This Manga drawing workshop teaches you how to draw and create characters in the popular Japanese style. You will be taught construction techniques to strengthen your artwork and how to pose your Manga characters. You are also encouraged to bring your own sketchbooks to show Manga Expert Lexémon! She will give you tips and tricks to improve your art.

13:15 Double Bill

By Your Side (Short Film)

Director: Tsuneo Goda

Running Time: 5 mins 46s

This short film was the collaboration between Tsuneo Goda, the creator of Domo and the singer Sade for a project called Zapuni which unites Japanese artists with world-renowned musicians to create and dedicate videos to charities that help children affected by the 2011 Great Tohoku Earthquake and Fukushima Nuclear Disaster in Japan with the power of music and visuals.

Colorful   

Japanese Title:  カラフル

Romaji: Karafuru

Release Date: August 21^st, 2010

Running Time: 126 mins.

Director: Keiichi Hara

Writer: Miho Maruo (Screenplay), Eto Mori (Original Creator)

Starring: Kazato Tomizawa (Makoto Kobayashi), Akina Minami (Hiroaki Kuwabara), Kumiko Aso (Makoto’s Mother), Katsumi Takahashi (Makoto’s Father), Aoi Miyazaki (Shoko Sano) Michael (Purapura)

Colorful was at this year’s Japan Foundation Touring Film Programme. It is an award-winning movie adapted from a novel written by Eto Mori. It won the award for Excellent Animation of the Year at the 34th Japan Academy Prize and received the Audience Award and Special Distinction prize at the Annecy International Animated Film Festival in 2011.

  Synopsis from Anime News Network:

Upon reaching the train station to death, a dejected soul is informed that he is ‘lucky’ and will have another chance at life and is placed in the body of a 14-year-old boy named Makoto Kobayashi, who has just committed suicide. Watched over by a neutral spirit named Purapura, the soul must figure out what his greatest sin and mistake in his former life was before his time limit in Makoto’s body runs out. He also has a number of other lesser duties he must complete, such as understanding what led Makoto to commit suicide in the first place and learning how to enjoy his second chance at life.

16:00-17:49 Patema Inverted (second showing)

18:00 Raffle Prize Draw

18:30 Mai Mai Miracle   

Japanese Title: マイマイ新子と千年の魔法

Romaji: Mai Mai Shinko to Sen Nen no Mahou

Release Date: August 15^th, 2009 (Japan)

Running Time: 93 mins.

Director: Sunao Katabuchi

Writer: Nobuko Takagi (Autobiography), Sunao Katabuchi (Screenplay)

Starring: Mayuko Fukuda (Shinko Aoki), Nako Mizusawa (Kiiko Shimazu), Ei Morisako (Nagiko Kiyohara), Tamaki Matsumoto (Mitsuko Aoki), Keiichi Noda  (Koutarou Aoki), Manami Honjou (Nagako Aoki), Eiji Takemoto (Tousuke Aoki)

Mai Mai Miracle was the third film I saw at the 2013 Japan Foundation Touring Film Programme and it was the first anime to have been screened at the festival. It had a massively successful Kickstarter campaign for an English language release and it also ended up being one of two anime movies that I regarded as being the best I saw last year (if that counts for anything).

Shinko, is a third grade elementary school student with a magically active imagination. She spends a lot of her time listening to her grandfather’s history lessons, imagining what her town was like 1,000 years earlier. One day, a sad and sombre girl called Kiiko transfers to Shinko’s school from Tokyo. A strong friendship soon grows between the two girls as Shinko helps Kiiko come out of her shell and deal with her loss – all thanks to their adventures, both imagined and real.

20:30 Evangelion 3.0   

Japanese Title: エヴァンゲリヲン新　新劇場版:Q Quickening

Romaji: Evangelion Shin Gekijoban: Kyu

Release Date:  17^th November 2012 (Japan)

Running Time: N/A

Director: Hideaki Anno, Masayuki, Kazuya Tsurumaki, Mahiro Maeda

Writer:  Hideaki Anno

Starring: Megumi Hayashibara, Megumi Ogata, Akira Ishida, Yuko Miyamura, Kotono Mitsuishi, Takehito Koyasu, Fumihiko Tachiki, Yuriko Yamaguchi, Motomu Kiyokawa, Hiro Yuuki, Miki Nagasawa, Maaya Sakamoto

The rebuild of Neon Genesis Evangelion continues in its updating of the seminal 90’s TV anime which re-wrote the rules for the mecha genre as it was a post-modern take that combined mecha tropes with crazed religion, science and damaged characters. All of this was cooked up by the twisted imagination of Hideaki Anno who was reportedly in a state of near depression while making the show. With Evangelion he did what Lars von Trier did with Melancholia and gave us a devastating visual view of depression and other psychological maladies. Watching the teen pilots navigate the hell that is adolescence and deal with the psycho-sexual nightmarish monsters and emotionally complex adults was gripping, disturbing but ultimately uplifting (although very apocalyptic).

Hideaki Anno claimed he was not happy with the way the series developed and is now releasing a number of films which tried to retell the ending of the show but on a bigger scale and as originally envisioned. This is the third in the four-part series to have been released.

Programme of Events 2014 in Aberystwyth

The line-up for Aberystwyth is almost the same as Cardiff but Colorful will not be screened. Despite this, there are many great titles to watch!

12:00 Patema Inverted

14:30 Double Bill By Your Side (Short Film)

                Mai Mai Miracle

17:45 Evangelion 3.0

Tickets are available now. For more information you can contact the festival through e-mail, Twitter, the Website, YouTube  and Facebook.

Cannes is underway and I’ve been sucked into the hype by constantly checking the film reviews and videos over at The Guardian and the info on Bonjour Tristesse. The Japanese entries are splitting the critics; The Tale of Princess Kaguya is wowing everyone while Naomi Kawase’s Still the Water is receiving mixed reviews (Peter Bradshaw reviews it in this video an does a better job of explaining it on film… digitally, I should say, than in text). Alas, I’m not at Cannes but I can watch films and so on Monday I did a double-bill of Blue Ruin followed by The Wind Rises and both films blew me awaaaaaaaay. Expect long reviews next week.

This week I posted about Third Window Films and its release of the Korean drama Bleak Night. Bringing things back to festival hype, I posted about the Kotatsu Japanese Animation Film Festival which takes place next month. I also updated the Japanese Films at Cannes post with a trailer and a clip for Still the Water.

What’s released in Tokyo this weekend???

Haunted School: The Curse of the Word Spirit

Japanese Title:  学校の怪談　呪いの言霊

Romaji: Gakko no Kaidan Noroi no Kotodama

Running Time: 105 mins

Release Date: May 23^rd, 2014 (Japan)

Director: Masayuki Ochiai

Writer: Toru Tsunemitsu (Original Novel), Masayuki Ochiai (Screenplay),

Starring: Ayano Konishi, Miyu Yamabe, Hitomi Arai, Yuri Nakae, Mei Shoji, Shono Hayama, Kai Inowaki, Tatsuya Kuroki, Kohei Takeda, Anna Ishibashi

The first and only Ochiai film I have reviewed was Infection which I thought was a fun and gooey J-horror.  He now enters the teen horror realm with an adaptation of a novel.

Ayano (Konishi) and her friends discover that a school was the location of a fatal gas attack. After finding out about this, the girls start experiencing strange things like hearing breathing in empty classrooms and seeing shadows… Another girl, Hitomi (Arai) enters the school to shoot a horror video and capture sight of a fox’s window which leads to the spirit world…

Website

Bolt from the Blue   

Japanese Title:  青天の霹靂

Romaji: Seiten no Hekireki

Running Time: 96 mins

Release Date: May 24^th, 2014 (Japan)

Director: Hitori Gekidan

Writer: Hitori Gekidan (Original Novel/Screenplay), Atsuko hashibe (Screenplay)

Starring: Yo Oizumi, Kou Shibasaki, Hitori Gekidan, Seiya Kimura

This is the second novel adaptation of the weekend and it’s directed and adapted for the screen by the actor Hitori Gekidan. It stars Yo Oizumu (The Detective at the Bar) and Kou Shibasaki (Battle Royale, One Missed Call, 47 Ronin).

A magician named Haruo (Oizumi) wants to be the best in his field but he’s off to a poor start and nobody is going to listen to his problems especially since he has no parents. Then he travels back in time by around 40 years and discovers the secret of his birth…

Website

Eagle and Hawk   

Japanese Title:  鷲と鷹

Romaji: Washi to Taka

Running Time: 102 mins

Release Date: May 24^th, 2014 (Japan)

Director: Mikio Osawa

Writer: Hitori Gekidan (Original Novel/Screenplay), Atsuko hashibe (Screenplay)

Starring: Mikio Osawa, Kazumi Morohoshi, Ritsuko Tanaka, Shun Sugata, Daisuke Motoki, Shinji Takehara, Izam

Lead actors Mikio Osawa and Kazumi Morohoshi were part of the idol group Hikaru Genji. They have now made the transfer to the silver screen in this gangster film. Despite being idols, these guys aren’t totally newbie actors and they have strong support from the likes of Shun Sugata (Heat After Dark, Eyes of the Spider) and Hitoshi Ozawa (Dead or Alive, Boiling Point, Score).

Seiji Washio (Osawa) and Kazuya Takamura (Morohoshi) were once friends but split when Kazuya became a police detective and Seiji a yakuza gangster. Things change when Kazuya needs Seiji to spy on his gang which is in the middle of a war with rival forces.

Website

Oh! Father   

Japanese Title:  オー!ファーザー

Romaji: O ! Faza

Running Time: 102 mins

Release Date: May 24^th, 2014 (Japan)

Director: Michihito Fujii

Writer: Kotaro Isaka (Original Novel), Michihito Fujii (Screenplay)

Starring: Masaki Okada, Shiori Kutsuna, Shiro Sano, Masahiko Kawahara, Daisuke Miyagawa, Jun Murakami, Akira Emoto

Warner Bros Japan are back adapting another novel which makes this the fourth adaptation of this weekend.

Yukio (Okada) is a high school student who lives with his mother and four different fathers. Four? Well his mother falls in love a lot and these four guys live with her. Guys like Satoru (Sano), a professor who oversees Yukio’s education, Taka (Kawahara), a gambler with excellent intuition, Mamoru (Murakami), an ex-club host who gives advice on women to Yukio, and Isao (Miyagawa), a P.E. teacher who likes mixed martial arts. With these four backing him, Yukio should be unstoppable but he gets involved in a strange crime and he needs them to save him! Also joining in is Taeko (Kitsuna), a girl from Yukio’s class who tells others that she’s his girlfriend…

Website

Sake-Bomb                                                                            

Running Time: 82 mins

Release Date: May 24^th, 2014 (Japan)

Director: Junya Sakino

Writer: Jeff Mizushima (Screenplay),

Starring: Gaku Hamada. Eugene Kim, Marlane Barnes, Josh Brodis, Samatha Quan, Hiroyuki Watanabe

I saw Sake-Bomb and interviewed its director at last year’s Raindance Film Festival. While the film is well made it didn’t rock my world but at least I can copy and paste the info here!

Naoto (Hamada) is a shy guy who just happens to have inherited a brewery. When his boss gives him a week off work, he heads to Los Angeles where he hooks up with his cousin Sebastian (Kim), a guy who hates Asian stereotypes and American attitudes to Asians. Naoto wants to look for his lost love and so Sebastian leads him on a road-trip. Hilarity ensues as they go on a journey both physical and metaphorical…

Website

Our Family   

Japanese Title:  ぼくたちの家族

Romaji: Bokutachi no Kazoku

Running Time: 117 mins

Release Date: May 24^th, 2014 (Japan)

Director: Yuya Ishii

Writer: Kazumasa Hayami (Original Novel), Yuya Ishii (Screenplay)

Starring: Satoshi Tsumabuki, Mieko Harada, Sosuke Ikematsu, Kyozo Nagatsuka, Mei Kurokawa, Yusuke Santamaria, Shingo Tsurumi, Mikako Ichikawa

Yuya Ishii is back following his success with The Great Passage which swept more than a few trophies at the Japanese academy awards. His latest project has toured the festival circuit already and it has gotten good reviews. It’s based on a semi-autobiographical book and deals with everything from disease to a stagnant economy and is very serious.

Reiko (Harada) hasn’t been feeling good lately. She is getting forgetful and it looks like she may have Alzheimer’s… It’s worse. Cancer. Her family, split apart due to disputes unite around her. Husband Katsuaki (Nagatsuka), first son Kousuke (Tsumabuki), and second Son Shunpei (Ikematsu) rally around her when she finally starts t speak her mind and tells of her desire for everyone to get together again.

Website

Kikaida Reboot   

Japanese Title:  キカイダー REBOOT

Romaji: Kikaida Reboot

Running Time: N/A

Release Date: May 24^th, 2014 (Japan)

Director: Kento Shimoyama

Writer: Shotaro Ishinomori (Original Manga), Kento Shimoyama (Screenplay)

Starring: Jingi Irie, Aimi Satsukawa, Kazushige Nagashima, Shingo Tsurumi, Renji Ishibashi, Hirotaro Honda,

Yet another adaptation only this one is from a manga from Shotaro Ishinomori.

In near future Japan, robotics expert Nobuhiko Komyoji leads the “ARK Project” and creates Robot Kikaider (Irie). After Nobuhiko dies in mysterious circumstances, Kikaider launches a mission to take down ARK!

Website

The Right Way to Forget   

Japanese Title:  正しく忘れる

Romaji: Tadashiku Wasureru

Running Time: 90 mins

Release Date: May 24^th, 2014 (Japan)

Director: Masayuki Inoue

Writer: Masayuki Inoue (Screenplay)

Starring: Marie Ono, Shota Sometani, Masayoshi Shinoda, Hiroyuki Suzuki,   Taichi Nagasawa,

This is the 2010 drama about a woman named Haruko Yamamura (Ono) who lost her father to suicide and cannot forget him. She joins a group for people coping with suicide and meets a young man named Yukio (Sometani) and the two get caught up in each other’s lives…

Website

Kawashita-san wa nando mo yattekuru   

Japanese Title:  川下さんは何度もやってくる

Romaji: Kawashita-san wa nando mo yattekuru

Running Time: 82 mins

Release Date: May 24^th, 2014 (Japan)

Director: Shinji Imaoka

Writer: Shinji Imaoka (Screenplay)

Starring: Hiroshi Sato, Takuya Sakurai, Fumio Moriya, Shingo Mizusawa

This film comes from prolific director Shinji Imaoka who was last on my radar for his screenplay adaptation of The Drudgery Train. This time he is back doing pink films and in this film a man named Kawashita who died after committing suicide comes back to life and gets his friend Imanishi to help him get a woman…

Website

Death Blog the Movie   

Japanese Title:  デスブログ　劇場版

Romaji: Desu burogu Gekijouban

Running Time: 82 mins

Release Date: May 24^th, 2014 (Japan)

Director: Masaaki Jindo

Writer: Masaaki Jindo,Kazuhiro Imagawa, (Screenplay)

Starring: Mika Akizuki, Rino Aoki, Yuki Endo, Kanon Miyahara, Kana Nakada, Yumiko Takahashi, Toya Morita

Idol Kana Nakata of Nogizaka 46 takes the lead in a J-horror with high school girls getting picked off by mysterious forces when they wind up on a blog called unhappiness. Writing blog content can be deadly! Death Note… I mean Death Blog.

Blue Ruin   

Running Time: 90 mins.

Release Date: May 02^nd, 2014 (UK Release)

Director: Jeremy Saulnier

Writer: Jeremy Saulnier (Screenplay),

Starring: Macon Blair, Devin Ratray, Amy Hargreaves, Kevin Kolack, David W. Thompson, Sidne Anderson,

Blue Ruin has the sort of indie film genesis of legend. Two old friends, director Jeremy Saulnier and star Macon Blair, had long worked together but success had eluded them. This was their last shot at making a mark as filmmakers but they ran out of money when filming and so the director and his wife put their life-savings into the project and turned to Kickstarter. It turned out to be a good idea because Blue Ruin went on to gain good press at Cannes where it won the Fipresci Prize and a wide release (at least here in the UK). Blue Ruin is a pulpy slice of revenge narrative with an indie sensibility that twists a familiar story into something disturbing and shocking.

The film starts in a house, a man with a wild beard is in the bath but the sound of a car stopping and a family entering prompts him to hop out of the bath and through an open window because this isn’t his house. The man is Dwight, a homeless drifter, who lives out of a beat up car picking up bottles to earn a few dollars, fishing through theme park dumpsters for food and reading at night by torch. He is isolated and alone and it is clear he has suffered some trauma. When a police cruiser rolls up it seems that he’s going to get arrested.

“I’d like you to come to the station with me. Dwight, sweetheart, I’ll explain.”

Worse is in store for Dwight as he learns that a man in prison for committing an awful act against Dwight’s family is about to be released. Dwight is stunned by the news. After a night of soul-searching, Dwight has set his sights on getting revenge. He shaves his beard, fixes his car, tries to acquire weapons, gathers his money and courage and hits the road, heading towards his target. Things soon spiral out of control…

Revenge is a good way to create tragedy and the revenge-narrative is a staple of storytelling from Greek mythology, exploitation films like I Spit on Your Grave to opera like Rigoletto. What makes Blue Ruin noteworthy is the lead character and the way it uses him to explore the poisonous results of revenge and how the violence embraced by action movies has awful and tragic consequences.

I’d forgive you if you were crazy but you’re not. You’re weak.

From the first scene to the last, Macon Blair as Dwight is an essay in fear and reluctance and fatalism. Dwight has the look of one of life’s underachievers. Short, slightly overweight, sad puppy dog eyes, he is quiet and has an air of melancholy. He is not your typical square-jawed hero or tough heroine he looks more like the guy who works in IT. He is a normal dude but he wants revenge for a grave trauma.

Alas, Dwight is rather hapless and occasionally helpless. He is no scrapper and he can barely aim a gun. He lacks the nerve and the heartlessness to kill and hesitates at crucial moments, his body takes punishment and when he tries to patch himself up he just makes things worse. Although he is intelligent and conniving, he is also a coward. When facing violence fear is usually etched in face, eyes wide with fright hands clutching his gaping mouth. Seeing his fright invokes a feeling of sympathy but Dwight’s path of vengeance soon makes the overwhelming emotion that emerges in the film one of fear.

Fear is an emotion that the film stokes when it explores the issue of revenge and its fallout. Within the first quarter of the film Dwight has fulfilled what whole films are dedicated to but his violent desire and short-sighted actions cause the situation to escalate beyond anything he could imagine especially with his sister Sam and her children introduced as we see that retribution can go both ways.

Sam, played equal parts smart and sympathetic and hard by Amy Hargreaves, is a single-mother working a decent job to support two cute and young daughters. She is in the process of rebuilding her life after the crime but Dwight’s actions derail this. Revenge might be justifiable in movie terms and Sam may also desire revenge, something fuelled by the loathing she feels for the criminal and his family, but when she realises the danger that Dwight’s actions may bring to her doorstep, the anger she has is turned on Dwight and she realises that the price of vengeance might be too high. At this point the film grows even more terrifying as we wonder how far the violence will extend as two families go to war.

No speeches. No talking. You point the gun. You shoot him.

The film’s indie foundation can be sensed in the lean running time and business-like approach to things. Despite some black comedy from Devin Ratray as Dwight’s high school friend, things are deadly serious. There are no ostentatious action scenes, the action is not pumped up. It feels like it is taking place in reality. Characters may shoot at each other but hitting things is hard. Dramatic speeches about revenge in diners are kept to a minimum or interrupted by everyday reality like random people asking for ketchup.

The film’s pace has a raw and immediate energy that sucks the audience into the spiralling chaos. The story becomes scary because it feels realistic. On-screen fights are quick but very brutal and very messy affairs where Dwight’s inexperience with violence makes situations take alarming turns and ratchets up the tension generated by the film. Violence is not fetishized or made a joke of, it is gory and harrowing and it feels like anybody and everybody can be caught up in it.

Through fearing for Dwight’s safety and seeing the appalling results of the action on screen these moments help the film sell the senseless nature of violence that other films delight in displaying. There are quiet and contemplative moments where Dwight considers his actions and the results, moments like when he is in his niece’s room looking at toys or leafing through family photo albums. Seeing the innocence that has been shattered makes one feel a sense despair over the death and killing. There is one big irony in the backstory that is slowly revealed and this with everything we have seen reinforces the idea that violence is too quickly turned to and made easier to conduct thanks to the widespread presence of guns and it is hard not to sense some sort of criticism of America’s gun culture.

Director Jeremy Saulnier also played the role of writer and cinematographer and his skill in showing the damage to people is impressive. The direction makes this more palpable by favouring close-ups on faces over the few scattered long shots. We see the anger and fear on characters faces and it makes the whole thing unbearable at points. I was shaking and willing him to stop. As unbearable as the film can be, it is also beautiful as we see the countryside of Virginia which makes the violence all the more awful.

I have rambled enough. I saw this as the first of a double-bill with The Wind Rises. I found the film a heart jolting affair and I felt so much tension following Dwight as I experienced some of the terror he went through. Furthermore, the film got me to think about violence and the way it is consumed. I was glad when it was over and consider the film one of the most compelling this year.

4.5/5

Real                                                                                 

Japanese Title: リアル　完全なる首長　竜の日

Romaji: Riaru Kanzen’naru Shuchou Ryuu no Hi

Release Date: June 01^st, 2013 (Japan)

Running Time: 127 mins.

Director: Kiyoshi Kurosawa

Writer: Kiyoshi Kurosawa (Screenplay), Rokuro Inui (Original Novel)

Starring: Takeru Sato, Haruka Ayase, Jo Odagiri, Miki Nakatani, Shota Sometani, Keisuke Horibe, Kyoko Koizumi, Yuki Kan

Real was one of two films directed by Kiyoshi Kurosawa that were released last year. It is Kurosawa’s biggest budgeted film in a long time. Based on an award-winning mystery novel and featuring two beautiful leads anchored by a supporting cast of familiar and excellent actors the biggest mystery is why the film turned out so dull.

Koichi (Sato), a physical fitness trainer, and Atsumi (Ayase), a manga artist, are beautiful people.

They met as children when Koichi’s father transferred to a small tropical island for work reasons and soon became friends and, as they matured, they became lovers. Despite this closeness when Atsumi apparently attempts suicide by leaping into a river. Koichi is at a loss as to what the reason that drove her to do such a thing could be. Now she is in a coma and Koichi needs to find out the reason. Koichi has access to a medical procedure that will allow him to enter Atsumi’s subconscious through her central nervous system.

Cue mind-hopping!

 Woosh

When Koichi touches down in Atsumi’s subconscious he finds her frantically she asks him to find a picture of a plesiosaur she drew as a child. It is the key to a suppressed memory connected to a childhood trauma. Finding this picture will allow Koichi to truly get close to knowing his true love and why suicide has come between them.

Fans of Kiyoshi Kurosawa will know him as an auteur who writes and directs most of his own films and has created a range of titles across a range of genres from.  More famous for psychological horror films like Cure (1997)and Pulse (2000) he has slowly moved away from the territory of yurei and serial killers into drama but despite the move he still retains an interest in the dark corners of the mind. Real is his first sci-fi title and the premise of delving into the mind of a suicide case sounds like typical Kurosawa. Alas, this film, his first film since Tokyo Sonata  (2009), turns out to be a damp squib thanks to its script.

Can we find that drawing together?

The cinema of Kiyoshi Kurosawa is marked by two strong themes; the pain of loss and the sicknesses caused by repression. He loves to explore how they warp an individual and has created a unique oeuvre where the characters endure the buffeting pressures of the contemporary world and their stresses are filtered into the mise-en-scene which generates a visual landscape littered with characters suffering some psychosis or being chased by demons. Those things are here to a certain extent but the problem is that the script does not explore them effectively.

The actual sci-fi conceit is neat and something seen in Inception (2010) but little is made of it rendering the film light sci-fi. This is not problematic, what is a problem is that the drama and characters lack an emotional grip and the mystery is limp.

Real has a dreamlike pace which is seemingly perfect for a story about examining someone’s memories but the pace, the lack of incident in the script and the lack of impact in the twists and turns makes the experience more soporific than dreamlike at points. Not a whole lot interesting happens as Takeru Sato glides through scenes and interacts with characters with some dull dialogue that explains the plot. When beginning the procedure to enter Atsumi’s mind he is told,

“To wake her up from this deep coma your emotional strength is essential.”

Ah, but I felt no emotional strength in the bland dialogue or the acting and the slow pace prevents the build-up of urgency.

Worse is to come when it is revealed what the inciting incident for the supposed suicide actually is. It came three quarters of the way into the film and I was stunned that something like that could have such long-reaching guilt and traumatic consequences and for that particular character. People who have watched the film may find that last sentence callous but in dramatic terms the incident isn’t really compelling or logical.

At this point I must admit that I have not read the book. What I do know is that Kurosawa regularly writes his own scripts and has dealt with far more disturbing subject-matter than what is on offer here. Apparently Kurosawa did copious amounts of rewrites of the original script so maybe something was lost in the process.

It’s a shame that the story is flawed because the atmosphere that Kurosawa is renowned for works well here and is beautiful at points.

The film has a strong air of artificiality which creates a mystery. It fits in with the technology exhibited in the film and the ability of being able to dive into a person’s subconscious, the stage is set to explore the façade and reality. Can we trust Atsumi’s memories? Can we trust the film?

The horror elements are familiar but well-executed especially when reality and dream begins to collide for Koichi through a series of hallucinations reminiscent of the ghosts seen in Seance. Sound-effects are played up for nerve-grinding moments but the film remains a drama for the most part and a well-mounted drama with a beautiful look that avoids being totally bland. Nope. That job is left for the script.

Bland is a word that is applicable to the lead actors. It would be unfair to criticise Takeru Sato and Haruka Ayase for their performances when the script asks for so little from them but when they are paired up with more experienced actors it is evident that they are being acted off the screen by people filling in little bit-parts like Shota Sometani and Jo Odagiri.

It’s a shame that Kurosawa’s big-budget return results in something that is rather bland. An audience unfamiliar with his films would never be able to tell how dark, disturbing, intelligent and surprising his films can be. One cannot write this film off completely because it is solidly made but I doubt I would ever watch more than once a year. There are more Kurosawa films deserving of a viewing like Séance, Cure, Retribution and Tokyo Sonata. Start with those and you can see why he is great.

3/5

The programme of films for this year’s Edinburgh Film Festival was announced on Wednesday and there’s a decent selection of Japanese films. No real surprises since most of these have been at various film festivals (most at Rotterdam) around the world and I have written about ALL of them at some point so I know which I’d want to watch if I had the choice.

For people interested in seeing some of the latest Japanese films who can’t make the Terracotta Far East Film Festival, they would do well to attend Edinburgh which shares Be My Baby an example of the latest trend in Japanese indie filmmaking. Anatomy of a Paperclip got an excellent write-up from Tony Rayns when it was at last year’s Vancouver International Film Festival. One title that has me super-intrigued is Miss Zombie by Sabu, a film director whose works I first became acquainted with when in high school and reacquainted myself with when I asked a friend to help me procure some of the 90’s titles. This is another title which got critics talking, an original take on the zombie genre.

Here are the Japanese films:

Be My Baby     

Japanese Title: 恋の渦

Romaji: Koi no Uzu

Screened: 22 June at 20:10, 28 June at 15:00

Running Time: 138 mins

Director: Hitoshi One

Cast: Kenta Niikura, Naoko Wakai, Chihiro Shibata, Yuumi Goto, Aya Kunitake, Hiroki Ueda, Daisuke Sawamura, Kenta Enya,

This Japanese film is a product of the ‘workshop’ indie films that are released nearly every weekend in Tokyo. Be My Baby is a low-budget film shot I four days for under $10,000 in a couple of locations. It is based on a play by award-winning dramatist Daisuke Miura (which was screened at cinemas) and it’s directed by Hitoshi One, director of the big-budget Love Strikes!. It’s a very adult film about the aftermath of a party attended by a group of drop-out twenty-somethings who are all flawed and caught up in damaging relationships. It got its UK premiere at the Terracotta Far East Film Festival and Third Window Films are backing this.

Au revoir l’ete   

Japanese: ほとり　の　朔子

Romaji: Hotori no Sakuko

Screened: 24 June at 18:15, 26 June at 18:00

Running Time: 125 mins.

Director: Koji Fukada

Writer: Koji Fukada (Screenplay)

Starring: Fumi Nikaido, Mayu Tsuruta, Kanji Furutachi, Taiga, Ena Koshino, Makiko Watanabe, Kiki Sugino

Fumi Nikaido takes the lead as a girl named Noriko who is preparing to take her university entrance exam and on the advice of her aunt Kie (Tsuruta) stays over at a relative’s house where she meets her aunt’s childhood friend Usagikichi (Furutachi), his daughter Tatsuko (Sugino) and his nephew Takashi (Taiga) who is from Fukushima. A great cast of actors and an intriguing trailer have me interested in this one.

Anatomy of a Paperclip                 

Japanese Title:  山守クリップ工場の辺り

Romaji: Yamamori Kurippu Koujou no Atari

Screened: 22 June at 16:15. 28 June at 13:15

Running Time: 99 mins.

Director: Akira Ikeda

Writer: Akira Ikeda (Screenplay),

Starring: Sakae Tomomatsu, Kazutoshi Kato, Yukari Hara, Toshiyuki Takahashi, Akiko An, Hirofumi Shiba, Wani Kansai, Shu Ono.

This is a droll, deadpan-comedy fantasy story about a man named Kogure who has a McJob on the production line of a small workshop which makes paperclips by hand. His boss is a bully, and Kogure is also bullied by two thugs, one tall, one short, who keep ambushing him on the street and routinely steal his clothes. The butterfly shows up in his room one night, and when he releases it back into the wild it returns as a woman speaking an unknown language and consuming unknown food and drink. Soon the woman’s father settles in Kogure’s apartment as well. Through the relationship with the girl he finds his life improving and liberation is not far away.

Miss Zombie   

Japanese Title:  Miss Zombie

Romaji: Miss Zombie

Screened: 22 June at 20:10, 28 June at 20:30

Running Time: 85 mins.

Director: SABU

Writer: SABU (Screenplay),

Starring: Ayaka Komatsu, Makoto Togashi, Riku Ohnishi, Taro Suruga, Tateto Serizawa, Takaya Yamauchi, Toru Tezuka

SABU, a man who made quirky gangster films in the 90’s, is back and with an original take on the zombie movie thanks to the script. The film’s trailer has crisp visuals thanks to the use of black and white and the interesting camera movements.  Gravure idol Ayaka Komatsu plays a zombie named Sara (resists urge to Google her name) and she has a cast including Makoto Togashi (Cure), Tateto Serizawa (Isn’t Anyone Alive?) and Toru Tezuka (Noriko’s Dinner Table,The Land of Hope).

Sara (Komatsu) rocks up at a in a town in a cage wth numerous scars on her body and glazed eyes. She’s a zombie. Also in the cage is a gun and a note that reads “Do not give it meat”. The people around her are disgusted and treat her cruelly but a doctor takes her in. His son bonds with the zombie but the doctor has other plans… 

There’s also a Chinese film which has Japanese (and French) backers called ‘Til Madness Do Us Part which documents the inhabitants of a mental asylum which the Chinese state uses to get rid of people who might not have psychological problems. It seems like some choose to live there as well.

There are so many films released this weekend I have split this post into two.  Here are a mixture of some of the big hitters for this weekend with some documentaries.  Sunday’s post will contain another mix.

Monsterz  

Japanese Title:モンスターズ

Romaji: Monsuta-zu

Running Time: 112 mins

Release Date: May 30^th, 2014 (Japan)

Director: Hideo Nakata

Writer: Yusuke Watanabe (Screenplay), Kim Min-seok (Original Script)

Starring: Tatsuya Fujiwara, Takayuki Yamada, Satomi Ishihara, Tomorowo Taguchi, Yutaka Matsushige, Tae Kimura,

Hideo Nakata of Ringu fame is back with an adaptation of a 2010 Korean film called Haunters which starred Gang Dong-Won (Duelist). Anyway, the story is about the battle between two men with special abilities. The film stars Tatsuya Fujiwara (Parade) and Takayuki Yamada (13 Assassins) who looks even more handsome with his neat haircut. Also in the film is Tomorowo Taguchi who is a legend thanks to his performance in Tetsuo: The Iron Man.

A Man (Fujiwara) possesses the ability to manipulate others with his eyes. With his ability he killed his abusive step-father but was abandoned by his mother. He now lives the life of a loner. His life changes again when he encounters a man he cannot manipulate. That man is Shuichi Tanaka (Yamada) who lives with his friends and works a dead-end job. He may not have money but his voice has special abilities…

Website

Rose Color’s Buko  

Japanese Title:薔薇色のブー子

Romaji: Bara Iro no Buko

Running Time: 93 mins

Release Date: May 30^th, 2014 (Japan)

Director: Yuichi Fukuda

Writer: Yuichi Fukuda (Screenplay),

Starring: Rino Sashihara, Yusuke Santamaria, Tsuyoshi Muro, Fuku Suzuki, Tomorowo Taguchi, Kotaro Shiga

HKT48’s Rino Sashihara stars as a female college student named Sachiko. Her nickname is Buko because she is a pessimist but she holds out hope that she will meet a man like in one of the many romance manga she reads to spice up her boring life. One day, on Twitter, she meets a guy with the ID Sparrow. He likes manga and looks like Johnny Depp. SCORE! Rino sets up a date with the guy but getting there will be fraught with many difficult events…

Website

The Assorted Horizon   

Japanese Title:劇場版 The Assorted Horizons

Romaji: Gekijouban The Assorted Horizons

Running Time: 126 mins

Release Date: May 30^th, 2014 (Japan)

Director: Hideaki Yoshikawa

Writer: N/A

Starring: Sound Horizon

GET READY VIDEO GAME AND ANIME FANS! Sound Horizon, the world’s best fantasy band, led by composer Revo are getting a movie. We’re talking about the guys behind the hit themes for Attack on Titan and the score for the 3DS game Bravely Default! This film is released to commemorate the 10^th anniversary of their debut. No trailer.

Website

Nemurihime: Dream On Dreamer  

Japanese Title:眠り姫 Dream On Dreamer

Romaji: Nemurihime: Dream On Dreamer

Running Time: 111 mins

Release Date: May 31^st, 2014 (Japan)

Director: Kooichi Ueno

Writer: Kooichi Ueno (Screenplay),

Starring: Reina Fujie, Miyu Takeuchi, Junichi Gamou, Erina Nakayama, Shota Miyamoto, Mika Katsumura, Ryoma Ishikawa

Idol horror again. Dream Princess. This trailer looks stylish with cute idols and menacing sets and then the dudes with exposed brains and old people vomiting blood show up. Darn old people taking up valuable minutes in the film where I could be watching beautiful young women (grumble, grumble).

Ayame (Fujie of NMB48) play a bunch of high school girls attacked by a mysterious disease which causes her to feel sleepy regardless of the time and endure a reoccurring daydream where her sister Hiiragi (Takeuchi) dies. Ayame must fight against the dream and the disease!

Website

June Light’s 3 Sisters   

Japanese Title:六月燈の三姉妹

Romaji: Rokugatsudou no Sanshimai

Running Time: 104 mins

Release Date: May 31^st, 2014 (Japan)

Director: Kiyoshi Sasabe

Writer: Ryuji Mizutani (Screenplay),

Starring: Kazue Fukiishi, Eri Tokunaga, Yo Yoshida, Kanji Tsuda, Yoshie Ichige, Jun Inoue

Toraya is a family run sweet shop that faces disaster thanks to the appearance of a large shopping centre. The unusual family that run it are the divorced parents, a divorced eldest daughter, a middle daughter in the process of getting divorced and a younger daughter who is a bit of a black sheep because she has just broken off her engagement. The daughters and the husband of the middle daughter decide to try and save the shop.

Apparently, “Rokugatsudou” in the Japanese title refers to a lantern festival held throughout Kagoshima Prefecture annually. Also, apparently, there’s a guy out there crazy enough to divorce Kazue Fukiishi (star of Noriko’s Dinner Table). Now unless she was beating me up every day like the lady in Kotoko does to her beau, I’d stick it out.

Website

SAYAMA Mienai Tejo o Hazusu Made  

Japanese Title: SAYAMA みえない手錠をはずすまで

Romaji: SAYAMA Mienai Tejo o Hazusu Made

Running Time: 105 mins

Release Date: May 31^st, 2014 (Japan)

Director: Ki Hijio

Writer: N/A

Starring: N/A

The Sayama Incident and the fallout from the botched police investigation is the subject of this film. After the brutal murder of a girl, Kazuo Ishikawa was framed for the crime by police who was targeted because he was a member of iscriminated against burakumin social minority. He spent a number of years in prison and was released in 1994. He is seeking a retrial. We see Kazuo and his wife Sachiko who supported him and showed support and love even in the direst circumstances.

Website

Gekijouban Yuto-Kun Ga Iku   

Japanese Title:劇場版　ゆうとくんがいく

Romaji: Gekijouban Yuto-Kun Ga Iku

Running Time: 52 mins

Release Date: May 31^st, 2014 (Japan)

Director: Ryo Higuchi, Aya Otawa

Writer: Eiichi Mizoi (Screenplay),

Starring: Junko Takeuchi (Yuto), Kenichi Ogata (Nonno), M A O (Lulu)

Yuto Nagatomo plays for Inter Milan and gets a short anime kinda based on him. When he encounters tough rivals he has to train hard and hangs out with a girl and a mysterious old man who was once a football legend. 

Website

Uwakoi   

Japanese Title:うわこい

Romaji: Uwakoi

Running Time: 111 mins

Release Date: May 31^st, 2014 (Japan)

Director: Norihisa Yoshimura

Writer: Hitoshi Ishikawa, Chihiro Nakamura, Norihisa Yoshimura (Screenplay), Masahiro Itosugi (Original Manga)

Starring: Yurina Yanagi, Tomoyuki Ishida, Nami Motoyama, Nao Eguchi

An adaptation of an ecchi manga.

When Yukiteru (Ishida) burns his house down he has to move into the house of his friend Yuno (Yanagi). As they have grown up they have become known as a couple but a transfer student in Yuno’s class, Rena (Motoyama), becomes interested in Yukiteru and the two become intimate…

Yukiteru, dude. That new girl doesn’t hold a candle to Yuno in terms of looks.

Website

Sad Tea                                 

Japanese: サッドティー

Romaji: Saddo Tei

Running Time: 120 mins.

Release Date: May 31^st, 2014

Director: Rikiya Imaizumi

Writer: Rikiya Imaizumi

Starring: Shunya Abe, Fumiko Aoyagi, Takuya Fuji, Kayo Hoshino, Aya Kunitake, Chihiro Nagao, Seiji Okabe, Ryutaro Ninomya, Yumi Sato

This was released last year and is part of the ENBU seminar workshop and screened at the Tokyo International Film Festival. A love story about a group of people including an idol, a shop clerk and a salaryman who hangs out at a coffee shop. Will they meet the loves of their lives?

Website

The Next Generation Patlabor Chapter 2  

Japanese: THE NEXT GENERATION パトレイバー　第2章

Romaji: THE NEXT GENERATION‐Patlaborー Dai 2 Sho

Running Time: N/A

Release Date: May 31^st, 2014 (Japan)

Director: Mamoru Oshii

Writer: Mamoru Oshii, (Screenplay), Masami Yuki(Original Novel)

Starring: Erina Mano, Toshio Kakei, Seiji Fukushi, Rina Ohta, Shigeru Chiba, Yoshinori Horimoto, Yoshikatsu Fujiki, Kouhei Shiotsuka, Shigekazu Tajiri

This is the first in a seven-part series of films that act as a continuation of the Patlabor series with a brand new set of characters. Kenji Kawai is returning to the franchise to compose the music. Apparently, there’s going to be a lot of slapstick humour amidst the robot action.

Labors are robots used in various industries like construction. With their introduction to Japan, a new type of crime became prevalent: Labor Crime. To combat this, the Tokyo Metropolitan Police created a unit of Patrol Labors to help. The story is set in Tokyo in 2013, and we follow “third generation” of Patlabor. The Tokyo Metropolitan Police has disbanded Section 2 Division 1 of police robots, and Section 2 Division 2 barely has survived the budget cuts forced upon the police due to the long recession. What problems will the unit face now?

Website

There are so many films released this weekend that I have had to split the trailer post into two (which I was doing a few months ago). I have had everything scheduled because I am down in London for the Terracotta Far East Film Festival where I’ll be watching three or four Japanese films, all of them released in Japanese cinemas this year – talk about fresh out of the oven. 

As far as this/last week’s blogging goes, I ended up posting reviews for Blue Ruin and Real, the Japanese line-up for the Edinburgh Film Festival and I posted trailers yesterday. So there. That’s your lot. You can breathe a sigh of relief over the fact that you don’t have to read any more badly spelled posts from me… Until Wednesday. 

All-Round Appraiser Q: The Eyes of Mona Lisa    

Japanese Title:万能鑑定士Q モナ・リザの瞳

Romaji: Bannou Kanteishi Q Monariza no Hitomi

Running Time: 119 mins

Release Date: May 31^st, 2014 (Japan)

Director: Shinsuke Sato

Writer: Manabu Uda (Screenplay), Keisuke Matsuoka (Original Novel)

Starring: Haruka Ayase, Tori Matsuzaka, Eriko Hatsune, Hiroaki Murakami, Pierre Deladonchamps, Jun Hashimoto

Based on a popular mystery novel by Keisuke Matsuoka, the story follows Riko Rinda (Ayase) who is an appraiser with sound judgement and an excellent memory. She’s in Paris because she has been hired by The Louvre to help facilitate a Mona Lisa exhibition in Japan. Yuto Ogasawara (Matsuzaka) is a magazine writer who follows her as she tries to solve a mystery. It looks very much like the BBC’s modern adaptation of Sherlock Holmes what with the on-screen text and character who possesses super observational skills.

Website

A Minute More   

Japanese Title:一分間だけ

Romaji: Ippun Kan dake

Running Time: 112 mins

Release Date: May 31^st, 2014 (Japan)

Director: Chen Wei-Ling

Writer: N/A (Screenplay), Maha Harada (Original Novel)

Starring: Ning Chang, Peter Ho, Reina Ikehata

This is a Japanese-Taiwanese co-production about a couple who get a golden retriever and drift apart as they forget the important things in life… Next…

Website

Robot Girls Z   

Japanese Title:一分間だけ

Romaji: Ippun Kan dake

Running Time: 83 mins

Release Date: May 31^st, 2014 (Japan)

Director: Hiroshi Ikehata

Writer: Kazuho Hyodo (Screenplay),

Starring: Shinnosuke Tachibana (Akira Soma), Takahiro Mizushima (Mitsuki Kamatani), Takashi Kondou (Takuma Hachimine), Masakazu Morita (Yukiya Minabe), Daisuke Namikawa (Akito Kimata), Go Inoue (Tetsu Suzuki)

The Robot Girls Z anime gets its movie premiere today and the girls in the story are Z-chan (Mazinger Z), Gre-Chan (Great Mazinger), and Grenda-san (UFO Robo Grendizer) and they are defending Photon Power Town from the mechanical beast girls Dou-Blas-chan and Garada-chan who are led by Baron Ashura, a megalomaniac.

I haven’t watched the anime but my favourite robot girl from the poster is the one with the 3DS. Everybody else is panicking and she’s totally like, “Guys, don’t interrupt, I’m playing Fire Emblem.”

Website

Prepare to have your mind blown by the freaking awesomeness of the next title!

Samurai Pirates    

Japanese Title:瀬戸内海賊物語

Romaji: Setouchi Kaizoku Monogatari

Running Time: 116 mins

Release Date: May 31^st, 2014 (Japan)

Director: Kenichi Ohmori

Writer: Kenichi Ohmori, Kaori Fujii, Hiroyasu Yuhara (Screenplay),

Starring: Kyoka Shibata, Masaki Izawa, Wakana Aoi, Kyoichi Omae, Takashi Naito, Kotaro Koizummi, Toshi Takeuchi

Holy smoke! Pirates who are also samurai. I think the only way this film could be more awesome is if it were Samurai VERSUS Pirates. The world would just end if that ever happened. In all seriousness, this is a kids film.

Kaede Murakami (Shibata) and her family live on an island in the Seto Inland Sea. They are the descendents of Takeyoshi Murakami who is also known as Murakami Suigun, general of the samurai pirates who battled Hideyoshi Toyotomi. When the closure of a ferry route to the island threatens her family’s livelihood, Kaede hears a tale of the samurai pirates stashing a secret treasure somewhere and heads out with three classmates to find it.

Website

Inabe      

Japanese Title:いなべ

Romaji: Inabe

Running Time: 38 mins

Release Date: May 31^st, 2014 (Japan)

Director: Koji Fukada

Writer: Koji Fukada (Screenplay),

Starring: Hiroaki Matsuda,Ami Kurata, Yui Ito, Minami Inoue,

This short film takes place in Inabe City, Mie Prefecture and on a pig farm. Tomohiro is working when his suster Naoko returns after 17 years away with a baby strapped to her. The two are uneasy with each other at first but begin to open up about the time they spent with each other and a mystery that looms large…

Website

Samurai Zombie Fragile   

Japanese Title:サムライゾンビ・フラジャイル

Romaji: Samurai Zonbi Furajairu

Running Time: 24 mins

Release Date: May 31^st, 2014 (Japan)

Director: Kentaro Yamagishi

Writer: Kentaro Yamagishi (Screenplay),

Starring: Kenji Suzumura, Daigo Ogawa, Souji Masaki, Anon Shiina

Samurai zombies and gangster zombies and an 80 year old private detective intrude in the life of a woman who just wants to get her shopping done when a science experiment goes wrong…

Website

Beauty Within

Japanese Title:美しいひと

Romaji: Utsukushii Hito

Running Time: 116 mins

Release Date: May 31^st, 2014 (Japan)

Director: Azuma Shizu

Writer: N/A

Starring: N/A

69 years have passed since the atom bomb was dropped on Nagasaki and the consequences are still being felt. Beautiful People unites victims of the bomb and they range from Japanese women to Dutch and Koreans who were in prison camps in the city.

Website

Oyako Present to the Future   

Running Time: 90 mins

Release Date: May 31^st, 2014 (Japan)

Director: Inomatatoshi

Writer: N/A

Starring: Bruce Osborn,

Oyako. The Japanese word translates as parents and children. The documentary follows an American photographer named Bruce Osborn who photographs parents and children. There is now an Oyako day in Japan and the film was made to celebrate the 10^th anniversary. We get lots of interviews with parents and children.

Website

Mother of the Bride   

Japanese Title:桂由美　マザーオブザブライド

Romaji: Katsura yumi mazā Obu za buraido

Running Time: 60 mins

Release Date: May 31^st, 2014 (Japan)

Director: Norihisa Yoshimura

Writer: Ichiro Ando (Screenplay),

Starring: Yumi Katsura

Fashion and weddings. Some may see romance, some see big business. Yumi Katsura is a titan in the Japanese bridal industry (is that even a phrase?) due to her fashion label which she established in the 1960s. She narrates this documentary.

Website

I submitted my Anime UK News Summer 2014 Preview last night and it’s awaiting a second pass in the validation queue from an editor. I wrote about 45 new shows airing on Japanese television and provided background and info and trailers on them. It might not look pretty but it gives info on what you might want to watch.

For the first time in a few seasons, I felt pretty light-hearted about writing up most of these shows and that’s mostly because of the diversity of shows.

Previous seasons would see a deluge of titles where the females are depicted in rather questionable ways – subjects of a siscon’s desire, moe, loli, meganeko – to satisfy various fetishes that are found in the male target audience.

This season featured fewer shows where girls act silly in pointless clubs, no incest, fewer moe girls than ever before and less light novel adaptations (a source of some of the most overrated and awful shows in recent years) and less reasons for people to cry foul about how anime is being ruined by fan-service and sexual objectification (because a lot of these non-Japanese bloggers are industry experts, right?).

The upcoming summer 2014 season features more shows aimed at fujoshi. There are more shounen-ai titles, there is a broader range of themes in the shows and some aimed at adults, and there are more women in the lead creative roles like writer and director. Perhaps that last point as made the biggest difference this season what with the increase in shows aimed at women. Two of my favourite shows from last year were written and/or directed by women (My Youth Rom-Com, Kyousogiga) so I’m happy. The trend continues most probably because companies sense that the fujoshi market are willing to blow money on junk. I expect the next few years to see the anime world overwhelmed by ikemen shows and shounen-ai and for male bloggers to cry foul (because a lot of these non-Japanese bloggers are industry experts, right?).

I don’t claim to be an expert (nope, I do that with films :P), I just write about this stuff I have watched since the late 80’s and I know what I like. This selection is what I like the look of.

Space Dandy Season 2  

Staff

Chief Director: Shinichiro Watanabe,Directors: Shingo Natsume, Eunyoung Choi, Hiroshi Shimizu,Scripts: Dai Sato, Keiko Nobumoto, Kimiko Ueno, Character Designer: Yoshiyuki Ito,

Voice Actors and Characters

Junichi Suwabe as Dandy, Uki Satake as QT, Hiroyuki Yoshino as Meow, Maasaki Yajima as Narrator,

Studio: Bones

Synopsis

Dandy is an alien-hunter who earns rewards by tracking down new species of aliens that have never been seen before. With the aid of a robot named QT and an alien cat from the Betelgeuse star named Meow, he journeys across the universe discovering weird and wonderful things and getting into all sorts of crazy adventures. When not hunting for aliens, the gang go to “Boobies,” a restaurant full of voluptuous waitresses.

Shinichiro Watanabe has two anime running this year which is something to be pleased about. Space Dandy was billed as a comedy and the first 13 episode of the 26 episode run proved to be comedy gold as it mixed high-concept sci-fi with low-brow comedy thanks to a bunch of loveable characters.

Despite a weak start, as the series progressed the direction and writing rapidly improved as the creative team assembled and orchestrated by Watanabe were allowed to have fun with the fact that each story could be a standalone story where characters could go on the strangest adventure, die and then come back in the next episode seemingly unaffected. One person’s fun might not appeal to others and it seems that for some people over the internet, the Dandy magic wasn’t quite working thanks to the lack of character development, an overarching narrative and what some on Tumblr and Twitter saw as the sexual objectification of women. Those complaints were overblown, in my opinion, and I expect the second half of the season to explain why the stories were unconnected to each other. Even if it doesn’t I don’t care since loved the set-up of the series.

I believe that  it could be the anime of the year but Watanabe has another, grander looking anime waiting in the wings.    

Website

Psycho-Pass   

Staff

Chief Director: Katsuyuki Motohiro, Director: Naoyoshi Shiotani, Series Composition: Gen Urobuchi, 

Voice Actors and Characters

Tomokazu Seki as Shinya Kougami, Kana Hanzawa as Akane Tsunemori, Kenji Nojima as Nobuchika Ginoza, Akira Ishida as Shuusei Kagari, Shizuka Itou as Yayoi Kuizuka, Noriko Hidaka as Dominator, 

Studio: Production I.G. 

Synopsis

In the future, the police have guns named Dominators. What makes them special is that they can detect a suspect’s “crime factor” by measuring their state of mind and personality. This technique is termed “Psycho-Pass” and if the suspect’s crime factor is above a certain limit, the gun will fire. One of the enforcement officers is Shinya Kougami and he finds himself drawn into a deadly conspiracy.  

I’m all for a second round of this. This is an edited version of the original 2012 series which is prepping for the next series which is due to air in the autumn. Essentially the show has been re-cut into 11 one-hour episodes with some new footage created and edits made. Alongside this new version of the first season there will be a manga, novel and movie.

Psycho-Pass was one of the break-out anime of the last few years where it, alongside Madoka Magica, Attack on Titan and Sword Art Online, managed to appeal to go beyond the core anime audience and appeal to an international one. This is thanks to the storyline which is adult, intelligent hard sci-fi coupled coming from Gen Urobuchi, a new voice in anime with a range of titles under his belt that includes Madoka Magica and the next anime.

Website

Aldnoah.Zero  

Staff

Director: Ei Aoki, Original Creator: Gen Urobuchi, Screenplay: Katsuhiko Takayama, Character Designer: Takako Shimura

Voice Actors and Characters

Kensho Ono as Slaine Troyard, Sora Amamiya as Asseylum Vers Allusia, Natsuki Hanae as Inaho Kaiduka, Yuka Otsubo asAi,

Studio

A-1 Pictures/Troyca

Synopsis

In 1972, a hypergate was discovered on the surface of the moon but then, humankind came into contact with beings from Mars, and a war between humanity and the aliens began…

This is an original idea from Gen Urobuchi and a sign of his growing influence in the industry. As mentioned previously, he is extremely genre-savvy and does those post-modern twists on familiar concepts. This is his second macha anime after the so-so Gargantia (which he didn’t write the majority of) and I like the look of the alternate history concept. I’m enjoying Knights of Sidonia so more dark mecha anime suits me.

Website

Terror of Resonance (Zankyou no Terror)   

Staff

Director: Shinichiro Watanabe, Character Designer: Kazuto Nakazawa, Music: Yoko Kanno,

Voice Actors: N/A

Studio

Mappa

Synopsis

On a quiet summer day Tokyo was rocked by a massive terrorist bombing which struck out of nowhere. The culprits were two high school boys. They became known as “Sphinx” and started to play a deadly game with a nation that was once complacent but now lives in terror of them… One girl, mercilessly bullied by classmates, finds herself becoming close to them.

I like to apply auteur theory to everything. Films, anime, baking cakes. Shinichiro Watanabe makes auteur theory easy since his works have cool concepts and characters and are high quality. Other directors usually fall off at some point (Seiji Kishi, I’m looking at you) but Watanabe hasn’t. Indeed, I think I like his newest works more than Cowboy Bebop and Samurai Champloo. This one looks truly special.

Watanabe skips a fantasy/sci-fi adventure setting and makes a foray into contemporary Japan with a tale of terrorism in a thriller that seems set to examine some dark psychological corners of real people. Okay, I’m probably overhyping this a bit but the trailer, with its shocking images, awesome musical mix and excellent character designs make s this the summer 2014 anime that has me most intrigued. Joining Watanabe is the magnificent Yoko Kanno who will be composing the music. Kazuto Nakazawa is acting as character designer and he has worked on old school shows I like such as El Hazard, New Dominion Tank Police, and Roujin Z.

Website

Tokyo Ghoul   

Staff

Director: Shuhei Morita, Original Creator: Sui Ishida, Series Composition: Chuuji Mikasano, Character Designer: Kazuhiro Miwa,

Voice Actorsand Characters

Natsuki Hanae as Ken Kaneki, Kana Hanazawa as Rize Kamishiro, Sora Amamiya as Touka Kirishima, Mamoru Miyano as Shuu Tsukiyama, Takahiro Sakurai as Uta, Sumire Morohoshi as Hinami Fueguchi,

Studio

Studio Pierrot

Synopsis

Reports have it that “Ghouls” roam the streets of Tokyo and are devouring humans. Nobody has seen these things and lived until a college student named Kaneki encounters a girl named Rize who is obsessed with them. From that very moment his life takes a ghoulish turn…

In my Anime UK News preview I talked this up as H.P. Lovecraft’s Pickman’s Model set in contemporary Japan because of all of the ghouls and the human devouring and what not. There’s at least one ghoulish show in every season and this is it. I have not read Sui Ishida’s fantasy manga but I’m game for anything with horror in it. The director is Suhei Morita, famous for engaging in cool projects like the omnibus movie Short Peace and Freedom.

Website

Barakamon   

Staff

Director: Masaki Tachibana, Original Creator: Satsuki Yoshino, Scripts: Pierre Sugiura, Art Director: Hiroshi Kato, Character Designer: Majiro, Calligraphy: Ungai Hara, Music: Kenji Kawai,

Voice Actors

Daisuke Ono as Seishuu Handa, Suzuko Hara as Naru Kotoishi, Fumihiko Tachiki as Vice Principal, Junichi Suwabe as Takasei Kawafuji, Rumi Ookubo as Tamako Arai,

Studio: Kinema Citrus

Synopsis

Seishuu Handa is a 23-year-old handsome calligrapher who has been forced to move to the remote Gotou Islands off the western coast of Kyushu after punching a famous colleague. He now has to deal with rustic people who drive tractors on roads, barge into his house and they all have strange local customs. Worse is to come as Seishuu’s house becomes the place the local kids use his home as a playground.

The final anime I’m going to pick is a slice-of-life about a sophisticated handsome urban male who practices calligraphy and he’s stuck in rural Japan. The selling-point for many is that the guy is an ikemen (handsome dude) and he gets into funny situations. I have seen it compared to Yotsuba& and I love that manga series. It is based on Satsuki Yoshino’s manga and it is being adapted by director Masaki Tachibana who handled Tokyo Magnitude 8.0, a series which I thought was pretty gripping. Another thing that sells this to me is that Kenji Kawai is composing the music and I loe his work at Production I.G with Patlabor and Ghost in the Shell.

Website

The 13^th Asian Film Festival of Dallas will be launched in just over a month’s time and I have been contacted with some of the line-up. Looking at last year’s festival one can see a rich mix of titles from East Asia with anime making a huge impact. I like the look of the Japanese selection which included Berserk: Golden Age Arc I, Rurouni Kenshin, and Key of Life. The films I have been told about point to a diverse bunch which means that there should be something for everyone.

This year’s festival takes place from July 10^th to July 17^th at the Angelika Theatre which will be the place that Asian film fans can watch 40 feature films and shorts. There is a mixture of titles from Japan and Korea, some of which have been featured on this blog. Here are the films that were revealed so far:

Geki x Cine’s Seven Souls in Skull Castle                 

Japanese Title: ゲキ　X　シネ髑髏城城　の　七　にん

Romaji: Geki x Shine Dokuro Shiro no Shichi nin

Release Date: January 12^th 2013 (Japan)

Running Time: 179 mins.

Director: Kazuki Nakajima, Hidenori Inoue

Writer: Kazuki Nakajima, Hidenori Inoue

Starring: Shun Oguri, Mirai Moriyama, Taichi Saotome, Eiko Koike, Ryo Katsuji, Riisa Naka

If you want to do a historical epic, why not try doing it by maing a stageplay? This is the big-screen showing of the Gekidan Shinkansen theatre troupe’s production and it stars big names like Shun Oguri, Eiko Koike and Mirai Moriyama.

It is the Sengoku Period and Oda Nobunaga is old news as Toyotomi Hideyoshi tries to unify Japan. Hideyoshi (Moriyama) finds his path to glory taking a sticky turn when he runs into a group of samurai holed up in a fortress known as Skull Castle which stands near a village known as Salvation which has overthrown its feudal lord. Cue epic siege and a cast of characters including a wandering samurai (Oguri), a prostitute (Eiko) and a girl (Naka) who knows the secrets of the seven samurai. 

Bushido (Japanese title: Squirming)                                                

Japanese Title: 蠢動　しゅんどう

Romaji: Shundō

Release Date: October 19th, 2013

Running Time: 102 mins.

Director: Yasuo Mikami

Writer: Yasuo Mikami (Screenplay),

Starring: Yuki Meguro, Tamao Sato, Takehiro Hira, Go Wakabayashi, Tomohito Wakizaki

This is a serious samurai film written directed and self-financed by former industrialist Yasuo Mikami and a remake of a 16mm film of the same title which he produced when he was 24 years old. Set after a time of famine when the Shogunate was cracking down on potential unrest by sending warriors to different clans to check on their loyalty.

Black Butler        

Japanese: 黒執事

Romaji: Kuroshitsuji

Running Time: 119 mins.

Release Date: January 18^th, 2014

Director: Kentaro Otani, Keiichi Sato

Writer: Tsutomu Kuroiwa (Screenplay), Yana Toboso (Original Manga)

Starring: Hiro Mizushima, Ayame Gouriki, Mizuki Yamamoto, Takuro Ohno, Yuka, Ken Yasuda

Just in time for the new series of Black Butler, this is a great chance to see the live-action movie adaptation of Yana Toboso’s hugely popular manga. It deviates considerably since the original was set in 19th Century England and this one is set in the present day but the characters are still the same.

The year is 2020 and the place is an Asian city where western and Asian cultures mix. In this society exist the ancient English aristocratic Phantomhive family and it’s a very traditional one (especially for 2020!) where only males can run the family business. Alas, the only person available for the job is a woman named Shiori (Gouriki) who dresses as a boy and takes the name Kyoharu and takes on the job of solving cases for the Queen who now rules the Western nations who wants to unify the world. Cases like a “Serial mummified murder spree” and the disappearances of women. Shiori finds evidence that links the two together but requires the help of her demonic butler Sebastien (Mizushima) who is awesome in every aspect from cooking to good looks but comes with the downside of devouring Shiori’s soul! 

The Fatal Encounter   

Running Time: 135 mins

Release Date: April 30^th, 2014 (Korea)

Director: Lee Jae-Kyu

Writer: Choi Sung-Hyun (Original Screenplay)

Starring: Hyun-Bin, Jung Jae-Young, Cho Jung-Seok, Han Ji-Min, Cho Jae-Hyun, Park Sung-Woong, Kim Sung-Ryoung, Jung Eun-Chae

The first entry from Korea is a historical epic which looks just as lavish and as familiar as all the rest.

King Jeongjo (Hyun-Bin) has been targeted for assassination several times despite the fact he has been in power for only one year. His hold on power is fragile at best and the only person he trusts is his eunuch named Sang-Chaek (Jung Jae-Young) and a military officer named Hong Kook-Young (Park Sung-Woong).

Who wants him dead? Queen Jungsoon (Han Ji-Min)!

Enter another assassin in the form of Eul-Soo (Cho Jung-Seok) who is forced to do this mission otherwise his love Wol-Hye (Jung Eun-Chae) will be killed.

Satellite Girl and Milk Cow       

Running Time: N/A

Release Date: February 20^th, 2014 (Korea)

Director: Jang Hyeong-yoon

Writer: Jang Hyeong-yoon (Original Screenplay)

Starring: Jung Yu-mi, Yoo Ah-in

The Satellite Girl and Milk Cow is the debut animation by Jang Hyeong-Yoon and stars the voices of Jung Yu-mi and Yoo Ah-in.

Il-ho is a satellite who gazes down on Earth and is curious about people and love. When she falls to Earth she transforms into the Satellite Girl. Meanwhile, a shy songwriter named Kyung-chun is turned into a cow when he suffers heartbreak after his girlfriend leaves him. Worse is to come when an evil machine known as Incinerator chases him. Fortunately, Merlin the Wizard shows up to enlist Kyung-chun and Il-Ho in his campaign to save the world from a black monster.

Sweet Alibis    

Running Time: 112 mins.

Release Date: February 20^th, 2014 (Taiwan)

Director: Yi-chi Lien

Writer: Shang-min Yu, Jia-jhen Chen, Yi-chi Lien (Original Screenplay)

Starring: Alec Su, Ariel Lin, Chung-tien Wu, Tsu-Jun Lang, Ruby Lin,

Fresh from Taiwan is a police comedy where a cowardly and thus inefficient veteran detective named Chi-yi (Su) and his overzealous rookie partner Yi-ping (Lin), who just happens to be the daughter of the head of the National Police Agency, are teamed up to fight crime. Alas, Chi-yi’s poor record and the possibility of anything bad happening to Yi-ping, means their chief gives the pointless cases such as one involving a puppy dying after eating chocolate… Investigating this leads to a series of mysterious deaths…

This time last week I was at the Terracotta Far East Film Festival where I was going to experience the awesomeness that is The Snow White Murder Case and other titles.I’ve got those reviews in the pipe-line and they are due next week. The Japanese selection was awesome and I am glad that I went, watched the films and hung out with fellow bloggers. Today I am going to another film festival which is screening nothing but anime like Patema Inverted, one of my most titles from 2013 I wanted to see but missed. Alas, the weather isn’t as good but I’ll be indoors for most of the day.

This week was spent gobbling chocolates and biscuits I got from the Japan  Centre and posting about some my Summer 2014 anime picks. I also put together a number of articles for Anime UK News about the Summer 2014 anime and they have gone down well on the forums. I also posted about a film festival happening in Dallas where one can watch some cool looking East Asian films!

What’s released in Tokyo this week?

Jossy’s   

Japanese Title:女子―ズ

Romaji: Joshi-zu

Running Time: 97 mins

Release Date: June 07^th, 2014 (Japan)

Director: Yuichi Fukuda

Writer: Yuichi Fukuda (Screenplay),

Starring: Mirei Kiritani, Mina Fujii, Mitsuki Takahata, Kasumi Arimura, Mizuki Yamamoto, Ken Yasuda, Jiro Yasuda, Sautoki Minagawa,

Super Sentai shows… I’m no fan. With its mix of the fantastical and reality this might be funny in a way that the second half of Samurai Flamenco wasn’t… Samurai Flamenco, you broke my heart by taking that Super Sentai stuff seriously.

Monsters are attacking Earth and only heroes can save the day. These heroes are women whose surnames refer to colours – for example, Kanoko Midoriyama and Naoko Akagi – and these colours will be the uniforms they wear. Under the leadership of Commander Charles, these dames use their special “Women Tornado” to beat the crap out of monsters. The only problem is that they need to be together to use their special power and with love lives, shopping and personal things going on… Getting their schedules to synch might be a problem…

Website

Disregarded People   

Japanese Title:捨てがたき人々

Romaji: Sutegataki Hitobito

Running Time: 123 mins

Release Date: June 07^th, 2014 (Japan)

Director: Hideo Sakaki

Writer: Inochi Akiyama (Screenplay), George Akiyama (Original Manga)

Starring: Nao Omori, Hitomi Miwa, Jun Miho, Tomorowo Taguchii, Susumu Terajima, Kenichi Takito, Gajiro Satoh, Taro Suwa, Chika Uchida, Kenichi Endo,

This film is based on a manga series of the same name by George Akiyama, a  guy who specialises in exploring morality and tough subjects. You may be familiar with Ashura which was turned into a harrowing anime a couple of years ago. This is the latest adaptation of his work and it has a star-packed cast with Nao Omori (The Ravine of Goodbye), Tomorowo Taguchi (Tetsuo: The Iron Man, Strange Circus) and Susumu Terajima (Sonatine). Coming to a film festival near you? I can see it happening.

Yuusuke Mamiana (Omori) is broke and unemployed and stuck thinking about sex and money. Sick of his life, he heads back to his hometown but finds a cold reception waiting from the people of his past. The only exception is Kyoko Okabe (Miwa), a beautiful girl with a bruised face. Yuusuke wants to discover happiness, wants to forget the misery of his life and wants to prove that he is alive and so he wants to have sex with Kyoko and maybe seek more…

Website

Ninjani Sanjo! Mirai e no Tatakai   

Japanese Title:忍ジャニ参上!未来への戦い

Romaji: Ninjani Sanjo! Mirai e no Tatakai

Running Time: 86 mins

Release Date: June 07^th, 2014 (Japan)

Director: Masanori Inoue

Writer: Hiroya Taka (Screenplay),

Starring: Daiki Shigeoka, Nozomu Kotaki, Sho Hirano, Tomohiro Kamiyama, Koji Mukai, Akitao Kiriyama, Shintaro Morimoto, Taigo Kyomoto,

After the early months of 2014 saw female idols put in work with horror films and teen romance dramas, the male idols step up to the plate. It’s the boys of Johnny’s Jr. group “7 WEST” and they play ninjas in the Edo period who have little to do now that Tokugawa Ieyasu has united Japan. They get the order to disband, but do they want to stop having fun being ninjas? I wouldn’t!

Website

Otaku’s Daughter   

Japanese Title:あの娘、早くババアになればいいのに

Romaji: Ano ko, Hayaku Babaa ni Nareba Iinoni

Running Time: 70 mins

Release Date: June 07^th, 2014 (Japan)

Director: Yurui Koroyasu

Writer: Natsuki Terashima (Screenplay),

Starring: Takashi Omoto, Asaka Nakamura, Yui, Kirita Ryousuke, Ai Ozaki,

Hirata owns a books shop and has a daughter named Anna. She’s not his biological daughter. An old schoolmate left her to him. Despite this, Hirata cherishes Anna and his idea of raising a girl is to raise her like an idol. Is this sort of love proper?

Website

We Are the Reds the Movie    

Japanese Title: N/A

Romaji: N/A

Running Time: 70 mins

Release Date: June 07^th, 2014 (Japan)

Director: Shujin Ito, Yota Kaneko

Writer: N/A

Starring: N/A

Football. The World Cup is here and football will dominate EVERYTHING. It will be on the television and newspapers and conersations and be in everywhere in day to day life. The British media will go doolally over a bunch of guys kicking a ball around and people will freak out when England don’t win.

I actually like playing football but I find watching football boring. When those World Cup matches are on I’ll be at the ultimate counter-programming event – a museum – and I’ll be surrounded by lots of people who don’t care about football – beautiful women (hopefully…) – and when I’m at home I have my film collection. For those who like football, this documentary might be to your taste.

It’s all about the Urawa Red Diamonds, a J-League club, and we see the staff, players, supporters, and everybody drawn to the sport and the team.

Website

Persona 3 the Movie #2 Midsummer Knight’s Dream   

Japanese Title: N/A

Romaji: N/A

Running Time: N/A

Release Date: June 07^th, 2014 (Japan)

Director: Tomohisa Taguchi

Writer: Jun Kumagai (Script)

Starring: Akira Ishida (Makoto Yuuki), Megumi Toyoguchi (Yukari Takeba),  Hikaru Midorikawa (Akihiko Sanada), Kazuya Nakai (Shinjiro Aragaki), Maaya Sakamoto (Aegis), Rie Tanaka (Mitsuru Kirijou), Miyuki Sawashiro (Elizabeth),

The easiest way to find me in my museum is to look for the guy drinking from the Persona 3 cup – Makoto and Yukari are on there. I’m a fan of Persona and I’m excited to see the second film from the Persona 3 adaptations and it follows on from last year’s Birth of Spring title. The poster is so cool, I want one!

There is a hidden time known as the “Dark Hour” that exists between one day and the next when all movement in the town of Iwatodai stops and terrible creatures known as Shadows room. A group of students from Moonlight Hall School are drawn to fight these creatures and explore the mysterious tower of Tartarus with their special weapons called Evokers which they use to summon Persona.

Website

ポルトレ PORTRAIT         

Japanese Title:ポルトレ PORTRAIT

Romaji: Porutore PORTRAIT

Running Time: 70 mins

Release Date: June 07^th, 2014 (Japan)

Director: Shuntaro Uchida

Writer: Shuntaro Uchida (Script)

Starring: Yoshimura Sakahito, Marika Matsumoto, Hideyuki Arai

16mm and digital film and Polaroids are cut together by Shuntaro Uchida as he creates a portrait of himself doing things like wandering the streets of Shibuya and encountering randoms including an attractive woman. Since I am useless in asking women out on dates perhaps I should roll with a digital camera and make a film… Actually, that would probably make me seem creepier than I actually am.

Website

Flower Life Nakagawa Yukio  

Japanese Title:華　いのち　中川幸夫

Romaji: Hana Inochi Nakagawa Yukio

Running Time: 92 mins

Release Date: June 07^th, 2014 (Japan)

Director: Tani Mitsuaki

Writer: N/A

Starring: Yukio Nakagawa, Nobuyoshi Araki, Kotaro Sawaki,

I’m sorry but some of the imagery and music in the film’s trailer… If this was about a pale madman stalking the countryside and collecting the gore and blood of people he has murdered to make sculptures while listening to opera… I wouldn’t be surprised. Perhaps it says more about my strange imagination and it’s interpretation of some performance art because this is about a respected ikebana artist named Yukio Nakagawa who has taken the traditional art of flower arranging and turned it into something far out and unique, where the flowers are crushed and turned into suggestive and sexualised images. His work was so out there that he was thrown out of an ikebana school because he was a rebel. This work celebrates the artist’s life.

Website

Godzilla    

Japanese Title:ゴジラ

Romaji: GOJIRA

Running Time: 97 mins

Release Date: June 07^th, 2014 (Japan)

Director: Ishiro Honda

Writer: Ishiro Honda, Takeo Murata (Script)

Starring: Akira Takarada, Momoko Kochi, Akihiko Hiata, Takashi Shimura,

Ishiro Honda’s 1954 classic, Godzilla, is re-released on its 60^th anniversary as a digitally remastered film in Japanese cinema.

Website

Watch Rakugo on the Cinema Screen: “Master Storytellers of the Showa Period”                                          

Japanese Title: スクリーンで観る高座　シネマ落語「落語研究会　昭和の名人　七　 古今亭志ん朝独演会」

Romaji: Sukurīn de miru kōza shinema rakugo `rakugo kenkyūkai Shōwa no meijin nana kokontei shinchō dokuen-kai’

Release Date: June 07^th, 2014 (Japan)

Running Time: 122 mins.

Director: N/A

Writer: N/A

Starring: Yanagiya Kosan, Kokontei Shinshō, Katsura Bunraku

This is the seventh in a series of films about Rakugo, a form of verbal entertainment where a lone storyteller sits on a stage and depicts a long and complicated comical story with nothing but a paper fan and a small cloth for props and a change in pitch and tone in voice to provide life to different characters. The film shows us the skills of Kokontei Shinshō.

Website

Tokyo Densetsu: Kyofu no Ningen Jigoku  

Japanese Title: 劇場版東京伝説恐怖の人間地獄

Romaji: Gekijouban Tokyo Densetsu: Kyofu no Ningen Jigoku

Release Date: June 07^th, 2014 (Japan)

Running Time: 66 mins.

Director: Seiji Chiba

Writer: Seiji Chiba (Screenplay), Yumeaki Hirayama (Original Manga),

Starring: Rika Adachi, Shiho Fujisawa, Junpei Hashino, Hiroko Hayashi, Kinari Hirano, Marin, Tomoaki Nakagawa, Kentaro Shimazu,

Yumeak Hirayama’s horror manga gets adapted into an omnibus film.

Website

Mrs. Inga wo Shitte Imasu ka?  

Japanese Title:いのちのコール　ミセスインガを知っていますか

Romaji: Inochi no Koru Misesu Inga wo Shitte Imasu ka

Running Time: 86 mins

Release Date: June 07^th, 2014 (Japan)

Director: Yasuyuki Ebihara

Writer: Akio Nanki (Screenplay),

Starring: Misako Yasuda, Kenki Yamaguchi, Shigeru Muroi,

Do You Know Mrs. Inga? A drama about a woman named Tamaki who is about to get married but discovers that she suffers from cervical cancer and has surgery to remove her womb. It has such a negative effect on her life that when she calls into a radio station under the name Inga, it is clear that her friends and family have abandoned her and she talks about suicide. Mayumi, the DJ, talks her out of it.

Website

Snow White Murder Case (2014) (International Premiere)  

Japanese Title: 白ゆき姫殺人事件

Romaji: Shira Yuki Hime Satsujin Jiken

Running Time: 126 mins.

Release Date: March 29^th, 2014 (Japan)

Director: Yoshihiro Nakamura

Writer: Tamio Hayashi (Screenplay), Kanae Minato (Original Novel)

Starring: Mao Inoue, Gou Ayano, Misako Renbutsu, Nanao, Shihori Kanjiya, Nobuaki Kaneko, Erena Ono, Mitsuki Tanimura, Shota Sometani, Katsuhisa Namase, Dankan,

Seen at the Terracotta Far East Film Festival 2014

Yoshihiro Nakamura’s latest film is a twisting murder tale which is less about who-dunnit and more about tearing open the glossy façade of contemporary media and revealing the lurid rumour-fuelled tabloid culture that festers underneath. As a Twitter-addict at a TV company uses social media to investigate a shocking death, he finds himself gaining what could be a massive scoop. With every Tweet he becomes the preacher to a growing congregation of gossips ready to praise him but his audience can turn and in his enthusiasm and efforts to catch a big news story he blithely ignores the damage that spreading rumours can do to promote his career.

Breaking news! Murder in Shigure Valley!

The Snow White Murder Case starts with the results of the crime. It is night time and a beautiful woman lies on a forest floor. As the camera pulls back, blood runs down her neck and we see multiple stab wounds gush forth with more blood.

By morning her burnt corpse has been found in the nature preserve in Shigure Valley. As the news of the dead body is revealed by police, Twitter users link it to the recently disappeared Noriko Miki (Nanao). When her death is confirmed the testimonies about Noriko flood in from co-workers and friends at the cosmetics company famous for Snow White soaps where she worked. We find out that she was the most beautiful girl at the company, well-liked, and respected and helpful, an innocent fairy-tale like beauty. All of that is in the past because she is now the subject of a massive tabloid scandal.

News slowly leaks out mostly because of Akahoshi (Ayano), a temporary news director addicted to Twitter.

We first see him in a television production control room but kept far away from the control deck and left with nothing to do. He is on his smartphone using his Twitter account @Red_Star_07 to Tweet restaurant reviews and odd bits of news to his small audience. He soon gets a tip on the Noriko case when an old university friend of Akahoshi’s sends him information which could lead to a scoop.

His old friend’s name is Risako Kano (Renbutsu). She harboured a crush on him and it turns out that she was a co-worker of Noriko’s. Her inside tip is that a dowdy co-worker named Miki Jono (Inoue) had a grudge against Noriko.

Risako clues Akahoshi into the gossip at the cosmetics company. Products were being stolen and Miki was massively unpopular, a loner who didn’t compare to the perfect Noriko who had recently stolen Miki’s boyfriend. As Akahoshi digs deeper the media frenzy begins as Akahoshi reveals the revelations on television shows and over the internet. Miki’s friends, family and anybody even vaguely associated with her start Tweeting, calling and giving their opinion on if she is a killer and how she did it as Miki coming under internet-fuelled suspicion of Noriko’s murder. As the rumours come out, Miki looks like a prime suspect and a witch hunt ensues…

This is a reconstruction

The Snow White Murder Case is based on a novel by Kanae Minamoto, one of Japan’s foremost thriller writers who has had her novels A Chorus of Angels, Confessions and Penance turned into television and film. This film is adapted by Nakamura’s familiar screenwriter Tamio Hayashi. It seems like the perfect title for Nakamura and Hayashi since it features nebulous plot points and a shifting narrative that comes into focus as the characterisation slowly changes and the ‘truth’ comes into focus.

The Snow White Murder Case is like a modern day morality tale about the poisonous effects of gossip and how the power of social media pumps up a guy’s pride and the hubris he suffers blinds him to the pitfalls of the medium.

Right now, I’m the only person in the world who is closing in on the dark crime.

Akahoshi is a young guy just out of university with only a temp job at a tabloid programme. He is left out of the action of the news reports and the senior director is irritated by his presence. With nothing to do, he is strapped to his smart-phone cultivating his Twitter account and Tweeting with his restaurant reviews. It is the only place he gets taken seriously as anything like a journalist.

Twitter has that power. With a series of Tweets you can appear interesting. With the right set of Tweets you can be famous. The news media are all over social networks but for a generation of young people raised on, and addicted to, social media they can use it to carve niche for themselves in traditional media and Akahoshi is one who senses this opportunity.

The murder case tip-off from his friend is his big chance to impress his bosses and maybe secure a permanent position with the production company. He has the bit between his teeth and one can sense his excitement as he drives to murder scenes and takes his Canon DV camera to interview anybody with any connection to Miki.

He enthusiastically gathers every slice of steaming gossip in an example of reckless sticky journalism to create a tale based on awfully flimsy circumstantial evidence for his hilariously tawdry and lurid reconstructions for his segment on a trashy TV programme.

As we see him get his ‘evidence’ we witness the build up to Noriko’s disappearance and parts from Miki’s childhood from different perspectives. Each person remembers different things, Miki’s isolation and odd behaviour from her childhood to the fateful night and everything plays out differently. Some remember Miki as a loner and miserable while others may remember her as a good friend. Akahoshi, desperate to make his stories stand up, engages in a lot of character assassination and uses the worst rumours to further his truth.

Everybody has a tale to tell because they all want to be linked to the story. Every interviewee is very much aware of the mechanics of the media and loves getting some fame. Worryingly, Akahoshi never once questions whether any of the sources are trustworthy but he’s committed. There’s too much at stake. Everyone across the country, from salarymen to mothers nursing babies, is fascinated by the case and wants to join in the hunt for the murderer and take part in the media trial. It can make or break Akahoshi. With every tweet and TV show his enthusiasm exposes his status-anxiety and an incredible lack of ethics and he sets himself up for a hard fall.

The audience is aware of the hollowness of the stories and there is a lot of black comedy in seeing scenes play out bathetically in sly slices of satire. We see the inner workings of the television industry, the schlocky reconstructions and the silly allegations, the ‘experts’ who read scripted lines, the variety shows with lurid on-screen text and pixelated faces, but what haunts the most is the way the media adapts anything, including a person’s life, to create the narrative that it wants and the growing sense of a media storm brewing where everyone’s voice drowns out the real truth.

None of this would mean anything if the women at the centre of the case were one-dimensional.

Not being unique is what makes her unique

For two-thirds of the film Miki is painted as a mystery figure capable of evil acts (including curses!), but the audience gradually learns she is not the witch that Akahoshi paints her out to be. Every bit of evidence he gathers is flawed in some way, some of the sources are unreliable which makes the murder plot Akahoshi constructs also unreliable and meeting the real Miki leads to the heart strings being tugged.

As we learn more about Miki, the film begins to show something of a warm emotional core which is absent from other adaptations of Kanae’s works because the suspect is less an evil witch and more a quiet girl who has suffered a string of bad luck. It turns out that she is not a loner with a grudge but just very shy.

Mao Inoue playing a plain girl seems laughable but she manages to do it. The conservative clothes and plain ponytail go some way but it’s the physical performance.

She has the look of hesitancy and nervousness that accompanies those not used to taking centre stage. Her smile is hard won and she is reserved but if one breaks through they find a genuinely nice girl, indeed, an innocent who makes the idea that she committed the crime absurd. She is revealed to be a good and loyal friend with the sort of lack of sophistication in some areas that makes her feel natural and even unworldly at points, someone who can forget their troubles with something simple like music, someone still in love with fairytales well past the point most people would have stopped reading them. She is just a generally nice person and one who can easily be taken advantage of.

All of the bad things that people remember about her emerge from honest mistakes misinterpreted by others, men who view her sexually and a threat to their status, women who are competitive with her in the office space. But there are flashes of danger, moments when reality makes her act out in certain ways such as speeding in her car or openly grumbling. She is complicated like most people are.

This sharp sort of change of perspective extends to Noriko who is not as innocent as the testimonies claim. She, with her flawless beauty and clever, manipulative ways is resented by the other office ladies and a poisonous atmosphere of rumour and truth is revealed.

The more Miki’s character is revealed, her entire background and the more we see how insidiously evil gossip can be and how social media perpetuates this. The trial by media is shown up as being a highly destructive force but for all of the talk of social media, Nakamura and Minato know where their loyalty lies and that is with the flesh and blood friends people make, not the anonymous people online. When Miki’s friend is revealed it opens the film to an emotionally moving set of end sequences which reveal how strong and how important friendship can be, something Akahoshi might want to learn about.

Disappear into a fantasy world

Overall, the movie is enjoyable. Nakamura brilliantly brings to life this tale of truth and rumour and imaginatively picks apart social media and its problems by crafting scenes where people are forever on their mobiles, playing games where Twitter comments and constant chatter drown out the truth. He specialises in tales with late twists and sometimes they work, sometimes they don’t. Here, it’s perfectly poised and executed and creates a gripping story with a satisfying and well-earned emotional pay-off. Some may be disappointed by the mystery but getting to the answer is more important and the truth revealed rings true.

The truth is a relative term which makes the navigation of the film’s events feel like breaking through the wall of an echo chamber of rumours to get to an absolute truth. This is a perfect sensation for a story which investigates the modern malady of gossip and the mega-phone effect social media has and how it can destroy lives. Through a story which is equal parts satire and crime thriller and through the actions and fate of Akahoshi and Miki, The Snow White Murder Case is a highly enjoyable deliciously dark, bitter, serious but amusingly light critique of fame, social media, and gossip.

4.5/5

New York, New York, what a wonderful town. I have never wanted to live in New York as much as I did after reading the line-up for Japan Cuts 2014.

The Japan Society will host a series of awesome Japanese films from July 10^th to July 29^th with titles like Sion Sono’s ultra-violent black comedy Why Don’t You Play in Hell? coupled with crime thriller The Devil’s Path and recent (controversial) World War II blockbuster The Eternal Zero. These are just some of the headline titles, there are even more listed, many of which were released in the last few weeks and some of which are crazy and bizarre and speak to the sharp and unique sense of cinema that the curators have – respect has to be paid for the programming of the documentaries on this list. There’s definitely something for everyone! Here’s a trailer:

I am blown away by the titles and the guests that have been announced with many actors coming over for Q&As (FUMI NIKAIDO!!!). For a fan of cinema in general and Japanese cinema in particular, this is a festival rich with great films and events!

Here’s a list of the films and trailers with comments from me. Click on the title for more info such as times and buying tickets. Tickets are already on sale!

Thursday July 10th, Opening Night

6 P.M.

The Mole Song: Undercover Agent Reiji   

Japanese Title: 土竜の唄 潜入捜査官 REIJI

Romaji: Mogura no Uta Sennuu Sosakan REIJI

Running Time: 130 mins.

Director: Takashi Miike

Writer: Kudo Kankuro (Screenplay), Noboru Takahashi (Original Manga)

Starring: Toma Ikuta, Ren Osugi, Shinichi Tsutsumi, Riisa Naka, Takayuki Yamada, Mitsuru Fukikoshi

This is based on a comedy manga by Noboru Takahashi and directed by Takashi Miike (For Love’s Sake). The film has a great cast of characters like Shinichi Tsutsumi (Why Don’t You Play in Hell?), Ren Osugi (Exte) and Mitsuru Fukikoshi (Cold Fish). It seems like a great way to open the film festival since it looks absolutely funny.

Reiji Kikukawa (Ikuta) has a strong sense of justice but graduates at the bottom of his class from the police academy. He is so useless his superiors send him on what should be a suicide mission. First the police chief fires him for disciplinary issues and then sets him up as a mole in the Sukiyaki gang, the largest crime group in the Kanto area. His target is Shuho Todoroki, the boss, and so Reiji goes through hell to get his man!

8:30 P.M.

Why Don’t You Play in Hell?

Japanese Title: 地獄　で　なぜ　悪い Why Don’t You Play in Hell?

Romaji: Jigoku de Naze Warui Why Don’t You Play in Hell?

Running Time: 126 mins

Director: Sion Sono

Writer: Sion Sono (Screenplay),

Starring: Jun Kunimura, Shinichi Tsutsumi, Fumi Nikaido, Tomochika, Hiroki Hasegawa, Kotou Lorena, Gen Hoshino, Tak Sakaguchi

Sion Sono blew my mind with this one. After a short run of issue films like the critically lauded Himizu and The Land of Hope, he made this hilarious and blood-thirsty film which was both entertainment and a love letter to cult films and yakuza classics. I found it absolutely hilarious and one of the best films of last year.

Muto (Kunimura) and Ikegami (Tsutsumi) are rival gangsters who despise each other especially since Muto’s wife Shizue (Tomochika) butchered a boss in Ikegami’s gang. She gets sent to prison which jeopardises her daughter’s acting career. Ten years later and days before Shizue is due to be released, Muto is desperate to make his daughter a big-screen star as a reward for Shizue’s loyalty and kidnaps Koji (Hoshino), a timid passer-by who is mistaken for being a film director.

When dealing with gangsters you don’t mess about so Koji recruits the help of a mad-cinephile Hirata (Hasegawa) who dreams of being a movie director and has a ragtag film crew named The Fuck Bombers. Hirata seizes his chance and loses his mind as he casts Mitsuko in a fictional gang war but it soon goes wrong when it turns real.

Introduction and Q&A with actress Fumi Nikaido (I so want to be in her presence!!!)

Followed by the LET’S PLAY IN HELL Opening Night Party!

Friday July 11th,

6 P.M.

The Snow White Murder Case

Japanese: 白ゆき姫殺人事件

Romaji: Shira Yuki Hime Satsujin Jiken

Running Time: 126 mins.

Director: Yoshihiro Nakamura

Writer:Tamio Hayashi (Screenplay), Kanae Minato (Original Novel)

Starring: Mao Inoue, Gou Ayano, Misako Renbutsu, Nanao, Shihori Kanjiya, Nobuaki Kaneko, Erena Ono, Mitsuki Tanimura, Shota Sometani, Katsuhisa Namase, Dankan,

I reviewed this one on Monday and found it to be a gripping and blackly comic satire on contemporary Japanese media. I highly recommend it for people who want a nice twisting narrative with great performances. The crime isn’t so much the centre-piece, rather, it’s how everybody reacts to it!

The Show White Murder Case sees victim Noriko Miki (Nanao), the best looking girl at a cosmetics company, murdered and her co-worker Miki (Inoue) coming under suspicion. The media frenzy begins as television shows interview Miki’s friends, family and anybody even vaguely associated with her. Soon rumours of her being a wicked woman emerge. Are they true?

8:30 P.M.

Maruyama, The Middle Schooler

Japanese Title: 中学生　円山

Romaji: Chuugakusei Maruyama

Running Time: 199 mins.

Director: Kankuro Kudo

Writer: Kankuro Kudo (Screenplay)

Starring: Hiroaki Takuma, Tsuyoshi Kusanagi, Yang Ik-June, Maki Sakai, Toru Nakamura, Nanami Nabemoto, Yuiko Kariya,You, Fumina Hara,Kenji Endo, Tomorowo Taguchi, Maho Nonami

This is a comedy for which every review I have read has been glowing with praise. It’s directed by Kankuro Kuda, actor in Memories of Matsuko and Instant Swamp.

Katsuya Maruyama (Hiraoka) is 14, an age where a boys thoughts are consumed by carnal desires. Only his are strange. He wants to “to touch his own weeny with his tongue.” Perhaps his strangeness is a result of living a mundane life in a housing complex with his mother Mizuki (sakai)), a woman obsessed with Korean dramas, his fitness obsessed father Katsuyuki (Nakamura) and sharing his room with his sister Akane (Nabemoto). There are other, stranger characters around like Tatsuo Shimoi (Kusanagi), a single father who wheels his infant son in a buggy around everywhere and prying into his neighbours lives and irritating housewives and a Korean electrician named Park Hyeon-Hun (Yang Ik-June) who attracts the attention of Mizuki. When bodies start turning up in the apartment complex Maruyama begins to draw a manga about a superhero named Captain Fruit (based on his father) who comes to the rescue. He shares his crazy tales with Shimoi and the line between fantasy and reality become blurred.

Saturday, July 12^th

12:30 P.M. 

The Great Passage

Japanese Title: 舟を編む

Romaji: Fune wo Amu

Running Time: 133 mins.

Director: Yuya Ishii

Writer: Shion Miura (Original Novel), Kensaku Watanabe (Screenplay),

Starring: Ryuhei Matsuda, Aoi Miyazaki, Joe Odagiri, Haru Kuroki, Misako Watanabe, Kumiko Aso, Shingo Tsurumi, Chizuru Ikewaki, Hiroko Isayama, Kaouru Kobayashi, Go Kato, Kaoru Yachigusa, Ryu Morioka, Shohei Uno, Kazuki Namioka

Yuya Ishii is one of Japan’s new directors who is attracting attention. With titles like Sawako Decides and Mitsuko Delivers, he made an impact on the indie scene but made the leap with this comedy to the majors. I found it  warm and funny character comedy and recommend it. If my opinion doesn’t matter all that much to you (please humour me and pretend it does) then maybe the fact that it scored big at this year’s Japanese Academy Awards might!

Mitsuya Majime (Matsuda) has the talent to comprehend different languages and is the most important member of the editorial team of a dictionary but he struggles to tell Kaguya Hayashi (Miyazaki), a cook and the granddaughter of the owner of Majime’s boarding home, how he feels about her. Meanwhile, he has to lead a team in the creation of a new dictionary!

3:00 P.M.

The Eternal Zero

Japanese Title: 永遠の0

Romaji: Eien no Zero

Running Time: 144 mins.

Director: Takashi Yamazaki

Writer: Tamio Hayashi (Screenplay), Naoki Hyakuta (Original Novel)

Starring: Junichi Okada, Mao Inoue, Haruma Miura, Yuichiro Hirose, Nanaka Yagi, Hirofumi Arai, Min Tanaka, Kazue Fukiishi, Jun Fubuki, Isao Natsuyagi

It’s hard to ignore the controversy behind the author but this is supposed to be an excellent drama. The cast is certainly packed with first-rate talent.

A young man named Kentaro Saeki (Miura) has failed his bar test yet again. Confused about life he begins to research his family with his older sister Keiko (Fukiishi). They focus on their grandfather Kyuzo Miyabe (Okada) who fought in the Pacific War. He was a man scared of death and obsessed with life who volunteered to join a ‘special forces’ squad but as they encounter old colleagues of his they find a dark secret kept hidden for 60 years…

6:00 P.M.

The Devil’s Path

Japanese Title: 凶悪

Romaji: Kyouaku

Running Time: 128 mins.

Director: Kazuya Shiraishi

Writer: Kazuya Shiraishi, Izumi Takahashi (Screenplay),

Starring: Takayuki Yamada, Pierre Taki, Lily Franky, Chizuru Ikewaki, Kazuko Shirakawa, Yu Saito, Nozomi Muraoka

Takayuki Yamada (13 Assassins), Pierre Taki (Linda, Linda, Linda) and Lily Franky (Like Father, Like Son) star in this adaptation of a nonfiction novel which looks to be a neat little thriller.

Sudo (Taki) is a former yakuza and death-row inmate who contacts Fujii (Yamada), a magazine reporter by letter to tell him that a man named Kimura (Franky) a.k.a. “teacher” has killed numerous times for insurance money. Fujii begins his investigation and through his persistence and that of Sudo, the police begin to investigate.

8: 30 P.M.

Miss Zombie

Japanese Title: Miss Zombie

Romaji: Miss Zombie

Running Time: 85 mins.

Director: SABU

Writer: SABU (Screenplay),

Starring: Ayaka Komatsu, Makoto Togashi, Riku Ohnishi, Taro Suruga, Tateto Serizawa, Takaya Yamauchi, Toru Tezuka

SABU is a great filmmaker. One definitely worth checking out if you haven’t heard of him before. He made quirky gangster films in the 90’s, is back and with an original take on the zombie movie thanks to the script. Gravure idol Ayaka Komatsu plays a zombie named Sara who gets inserted into a family that is wary of her and a village that is frightened of her. Is she really that bad or are humans worse? She is cast alongside including Makoto Togashi (Cure) and Tateto Serizawa (Isn’t Anyone Alive?).

Sara (Komatsu) rocks up at a in a town in a cage wth numerous scars on her body and glazed eyes. She’s a zombie. Also in the cage is a gun and a note that reads “Do not give it meat”. The people around her are disgusted and treat her cruelly but a doctor takes her in. His son bonds with the zombie but the doctor has other plans…

10: 30 P.M.

The Pinkie

Running Time: 65 mins.

Director: Lisa Takeba

Writer: Lisa Takeba (Screenplay),

Starring: Ryota Ozawa, Miwako Wagatsuma, Haruka Suenaga, Kanji Tsuda

You people attending this festival are so fortunate… After a run of HYPE films you get this little gem from Lisa Takeba who has put together a great little indie romantic comedy which looks like so much fun.

Since they were both five, Ryosuke has been stalked by Momoko – the ugliest girl in the village. Momoko’s love for Ryosuke is so boundless that she has her face surgically altered to suit his taste – but still he wants nothing to do with her. Ryosuke is more interested in the girlfriend of a gangster boss. But when the boss finds out about their affair, he has Ryosuke’s little finger hacked off. Magically, the finger falls into Momoko’s hands, and she uses it to clone Ryosuke, so she can finally have him (or almost him) for herself – and that’s the first five minutes.

Sunday, July 12^th

12:30 

Wood Job!

Japanese Title:（ウッジョブ）　神去なあなあ日常

Romaji: (Ujjobu) kamisari nānā nichijō

Running Time: 116 mins

Director: Shinobu Yaguchi

Writer: Shinobu Yaguchi(Screenplay), Shion Miura (Original Novel)

Starring: Shota Sometani, Masami Nagasawa, Hideaki Ito, Yuka, Naomi Nishida, Makita Sports, Ken Mitsuishi, Akira Emoto

This is a comedy adapted from a novel by Shion Miura (Mahoro Eki Mae Bangaichi, The Great Passage) and it’s full of great actors like Shota Sometani (Himizu), Ken Mitsuishi (Rent-a-Cat, Noriko’s Dinner Table).

Yuki Hirano (Sometani) is a high school grad who has failed his university entrance exams. He expects to spend the near future working a part time job but sees a brochure for a year-long forestry training scheme and soon he’s in a remote mountain village called Kamusari which has none of the amenities of Tokyo but immense beauty and warm-hearted locals and a beautiful young woman named Naoki (Nagasawa) He just has to survive his rough and ready instructors like Yoki (Ito).

3:00 

Monsterz

Japanese Title:モンスターズ

Romaji: Monsuta-zu

Running Time: 112 mins

Director: Hideo Nakata

Writer: Yusuke Watanabe (Screenplay), Kim Min-seok (Original Script)

Starring: Tatsuya Fujiwara, Takayuki Yamada, Satomi Ishihara, Tomorowo Taguchi, Yutaka Matsushige, Tae Kimura,

Hideo Nakata of Ringu fame is back with an adaptation of a 2010 Korean film called Haunters.  The story is about the battle between two fabulously good-looking men with special abilities that allow them to control others!

A Man (Fujiwara) possesses the ability to manipulate others with his eyes. With his ability he killed his abusive step-father but was abandoned by his mother. He now lives the life of a loner. His life changes again when he encounters a man he cannot manipulate. That man is Shuichi Tanaka (Yamada) who lives with his friends and works a dead-end job. He may not have money but his voice has special abilities…

5:30 

All-Round Appraiser Q: The Eyes of Mona Lisa

Japanese Title:万能鑑定士Q モナ・リザの瞳

Romaji: Bannou Kanteishi Q Monariza no Hitomi

Running Time: 119 mins

Director: Shinsuke Sato

Writer: Manabu Uda (Screenplay), Keisuke Matsuoka (Original Novel)

Starring: Haruka Ayase, Tori Matsuzaka, Eriko Hatsune, Hiroaki Murakami, Pierre Deladonchamps, Jun Hashimoto

Based on a popular mystery novel by Keisuke Matsuoka, the story follows Riko Rinda (Ayase) a sexy and cute librarian with quasi-supernatural powers of deduction who is a brilliant appraiser with an “All-Round Appraiser Q” reputation that earns the attention of The Louvre as a Mona Lisa exhibition is to be held for the first time in Japan. Accompanied by magazine editor sidekick Yuto Ogasawara (Matsuzaka), she goes to Paris and finds her judgment challenged by the shroud of mystery and threats of theft surrounding the masterpiece as well as the Mona Lisa herself. 

8: 00 P.M.

Uzumasa Limelight

Japanese Title: 太秦ライムライト

Romaji: Uzumasa Laimulaito

Running Time: 103 mins

Director: Ken Ochiai

Writer: Hiroyuki Ono (Screenplay),

Starring: Seizo Fukumoto, Chihiro Yamamoto, Hiroki Matsukata, Masashi Goda, Hirotaro Honda, Hisako Manda.

This one is so new it hasn’t been released in Japan yet! Straight from the festival website:

 A moving, nostalgic portrait of the men behind the golden age of chanbara (sword-fighting dramas and films), Uzumasa Limelight goes behind the scenes of the distinctive film genre for which Japan is famous. A professional extra named Kamiyama (real-life kirare-yaku Seizo Fukumoto) has devoted 50 years of his life as a kirare-yaku in sword-fighting movies produced at Kyoto’s Uzumasa Studios. A master of the art, he lives to die–or more exactly “to be cut”–and show a beautiful, spectacular death on screen. Now an elderly man, Kamiyama lives very modestly but has earned immense respect from his peers, some of them movie stars. When the studio where he works decides to discontinue its chanbara productions, Kamiyama finds himself at a loss. Hope arrives in the form of a young girl named Satsuki, who soon becomes Kamiyama’s disciple. Will the art of dying by the sword live on?

 Introduction and Q&A with director Ken Ochiai and actress Chihiro Yamamoto

Tuesday, July 15^th

6:00 P.M.

The Horses of Fukushima

Japanese: 祭の馬

Romaji: Matsuri no Uma

Running Time: 74 mins.

Director: Yoju Matsubayashi

Writer: N/A

Starring: N/A

Japan produces many documentaries but few of the major festivals that I write about actually shows them which makes the inclusion of this and others on the list noteworthy.

Director Yoju Matsubayashi was behind the documentary  Fukushima: Memories of the Lost Landscape which was all about the Great East Japan Earthquake. He returns with a new work based on the story of a rancher named Shinichiro Tanaka who fled his farm after the nuclear disaster and returned to find his horses dead or starving, and refused to obey the government’s orders to kill them. While many racehorses are slaughtered for horsemeat, his horses had been subjected to radiation and were inedible. Yoju Matsubayashi spent the summer of 2011 helping Tanaka take care of his horses and documenting their efforts to rehabilitate the horses.

8:30 P.M.

Unforgiven

Japanese Title: 許されざる者

Romaji: Yurusarezaru Mono

Running Time: 135 mins.

Director: Lee Sang-Il

Writer: Lee Sang-Il (Adapted Screenplay), David Webb Peoples (Original Screenplay)

Starring: Ken Watanabe, Jun Kunimura, Eiko Koike, Yura Yagira, Koichi Sato, Akira Emoto, Shiono Kutsuna, Kenichi Takito, Youkiyoshi Ozawa, Takahiro Mirua, Sjiori Kutsuna

This is the remake of the 1992 Clint Eastwood film of the same name. It swaps out the US and cowboys for Japan in the late 1800’s and samurai and Warner Bros. rolled it out around the world for a limited time. This is another chance to see it. It is directed by Lee Sang-Il (Villain) and it stars Ken Watanabe (Letters from Iwo Jima, Inception, Tampopo), Akira Emoto (A Woman and War, Starfish Hotel), Koichi Sato (Infection), Eiko Koike (Rebirth, Penance, Kamikaze Girls, 2LDK) and Jun Kunimura (Outrage, Vital, Audition).

Jubei Kamata (Watanabe) was once a loyal samurai for the Edo shogunate government. Famous for being a skilled and deadly fighter he killed many and became infamous in Kyoto but disappeared during the battle of Goryoukaku. Ten years later and he is living with his child, looking after his wife’s grave in peace after vowing never to pick up his sword again but being in poverty forces him to do just that as he accepts the assignment of being a bounty hunter when an old comrade named Kingo Baba (Emoto) and young guy Goro (Yagira) turns up with a bounty for a man who mutilated a prostitute. They set off but will encounter a sadistic lawman (Sato) who has a distaste for mercenaries.

Wednesday, July 16th

6:30 P.M. 

The Extreme Sukiyaki

Japanese: ジ、　エクストリーム、　スキヤキ

Romaji: Ji, Ekusutori-mu, Sukiyaki

Running Time: 111 mins.

Director: Shiro Maeda

Writer: Shiro Maeda (Original Novel and Screenplay),

Starring: Arata, Yosuke Kubozuka, Mikako Ichikawa, Kana Kurashima, Kengo Kora, Shuichi Okita, Daisuke Kuroda, Toru Okada

This is the directorial debut of writer Shiro Maeda (The Story of Yonosuke and Isn’t Anyone Alive?) and it stars a plethora of top acting talent including Arata and Yosuke Kubozuka, both of whom starred in the hilarious comedy Ping Pong (watch the film and then the anime! Then read the manga!). Other names include Mikako Ichikawa (Tokyo Oasis), Kana Kurashina (Dreams for Sale), Kengo Kora (The Drudgery Train), and the director Shuichi Okita (The Woodsman & the Rain, The Story of Yonosuke).

Horaguchi (Arata) is a failure. 15 years after leaving university he has achieved nothing and let time pass. Time to give up. He tries to commit suicide but even that fails. For Horaguchi his best days were at uni and so he yearns for those days. Yearns for them so much that he finds an old friend from university Ohkawa (Kubozuke). Things are a little awkward between them because of an incident in their past but they soon warm up to each other and plan a trip to the sea. Ohkawa’s girlfriend Kaeda (Kurashina) and Horaguchi’s ex Kyoko (Ichikawa) join them and bring a sukiyaki pot. They start to get along on their trip but Horaguchi has a secret reason for seeing his friend…

The director will conduct a Q&A via video streaming

Thursday, July 17^th

6:30 P.M. 

0.5mm

Japanese Title: 0.5ミリ

Romaji: 0.5 mm

Running Time: 198 mins

Director: Momoko Ando

Writer: N/A

Starring: Sakura Ando, Junkichi Orimoto, Toshio Sakata, Masahiko Tsugawa, Akira Emoto.

This is a world premiere but even more intriguing than that is the fact that it is directed by Momoko Ando, the sister of super brilliant actress Sakura Ando! Alas, no trailer. Synopsis straight from the site:

Sawa, a home helper for a middle class family with an elderly infirm grandfather, is forced to stretch her morals to keep her job. As a result, she finds herself broke and out on the street. She survives her first night by striking up an ambiguous friendship with a kindly old man, gaining access to a portion of the immense wealth held by Japan’s aging population. She continues with similar encounters, and while these begin as scams or revenge on rampant sexism, they ultimately become vulnerable intergenerational exchanges.

Introduction and Q&A with director Momoko Ando

Followed by a reception with the director

Friday, July 18^th

6:30 P.M. 

Passion

Japanese: 受難

Romaji: Junan

Running Time: 95 mins.

Director: Ryoko Yoshida

Writer: Ryoko Yoshida (Screenplay), Kaoruko Himeno (Novel)

Starring: Mayuko Iwasa, Yasushi Fuchikami, Kumiko Ito, Kanji Furutachi,

Things get weird with this title…

The Passion tells a story of a young woman raised in a convent named Frances-ko (Mayuko Iwasa), after Saint Francesco. Distressed by not knowing about love and sex, she calls out for a sign from above, but instead hears a voice from below. A human-faced growth speaks to her from between her legs, constantly berating her, calling out “Woman, you are worthless!” Mr. Koga, as she names it, continues the verbal abuse, yet Frances-ko somehow adapts, forming an adversarial yet symbiotic relationship. 

8:30 P.M.

Love’s Whirlpool

Japanese Title: 愛の渦

Romaji: Ai no Uzu

Running Time: 123 mins.

Director: Daisuke Miura

Writer: Daisuke Miura (Script/Stage Play/Original Novel)

Starring: Yoko Mitsuya, Hirofumi Arai, Mugi Kadowaki, Sosuke Ikematsu, Kenichi Takito, Ryusuke Komakime, Tokio Emoto, Eriko Nakamura, Seri Akazawa

Daisuke Miura is a filmmaker and dramatist who likes to make films and plays that are full of complicated characters in erotic situations (2013 indie film Be My Baby was based on his stage-play and a review is ready for next week). Alas, the characters can be so complicated that the eroticism takes a back-seat to some nail bitingly unpleasant situations. See him expose the mores of a group of lustful Japanese in this film. This trailer is not safe for work so you have been warned.

In a fancy split-level condo in Tokyo’s Roppongi nightlife district, four women and four men gather from midnight to 5 am. They’ve all paid to be there (men more than women), and they have only one thing in common–they seek anonymous sex. Using no names, they’re known only by their types: freeter (temp or part-time worker), mild-mannered salaryman, duplicitous OL (office lady), self-conscious working class factory worker, perfectionist teacher, veteran pervert, shy NEET (“not in education, employment or training”) and bashful college student. Together, they unravel their identities in a night of increasing debauchery

10:45 P.M. 

Greatful Dead    

Japanese Title: グレイトフル デッド

Romaji: Gureitofuru Deddo

Running Time: 97 mins.

Director: Eiji Uchida

Writer: Eiji Uchida, Etsuo Hiratani (Screenplay),

Starring: Kumi Takiuchi, Takashi Sasano, Kkobbi Kim

Changing gears and going back into the wild we get this little indie. While I have not seen this a fellow blogger whose opinion I value highly has and she enjoyed this one. Greatful Dead is getting a DVD release later in the year courtesy of Third Window Films.

Nami’s childhood was brutal: her mother ran away to Sri Lanka to help poor kids, her sister skipped town with her boyfriend and her father descended into despair and got himself a gothic mistress who played on this. Now that she’s grown up she takes pleasure in spying on people. Watching loners in society and enjoying seeing their pain.

Saturday, July 19^th

12:0 P.M. 

Tale of a Butcher Shop

Japanese Title: ある精肉店のはな

Romaji: Aru Seinikuten no Hanashi

Running Time: 108 mins

Director: Aya Hanabusa

Writer: N/A

Starring: N/A

The Kitades run a butcher shop in Kaizuka City outside Osaka, raising and slaughtering cattle to sell the meat in their store. The seventh generation of their family’s business, they are descendants of the buraku people, a social minority held over from the caste system abolished in the 19th century that is still subject to discrimination. As the Kitades are forced to make the difficult decision to shut down their slaughterhouse, the question posed by the film is whether doing this will also result in the deconstruction of the prejudices imposed on them. Though primarily documenting the process of their work with meticulous detail, Aya Hanabusa also touches on the Kitades’ participation in the buraku liberation movement. Hanabusa’s heartfelt portrait expands from the story of an old-fashioned family business competing with corporate supermarkets, toward a subtle and sophisticated critique of social exclusion and the persistence of ancient prejudices.

2:15 P.M.

My Little Sweet Pea

Japanese Title: 麦子さんと

Romaji: Mugiko-san to

Running Time: 95 mins.

Director: Keisuke Yoshida

Writer: Keisuke Yoshida, Ryo Nishihara (Screenplay),

Starring: Maki Horikita, Ryuhei Matsuda, Kimiko Yo, Sayaka Tashiro, Amane Okayama, Eri Fuse, Yoichi Nukumizu

Experienced actor Ryuhei Matsuda, the pretty-boy in Gohatto and the unconventional hero in Nightmare Detective teams up with rising star Maki Horikita in this drama.

It isn’t easy to find a dream to chase when you’re young, but Mugiko (Horikita) has one: she can’t wait to become an anime voice actress. Saving up for classes while she works part time in a manga store, she lives with her older, gambler brother (Matsuda) after her father’s death. When the mother (Yo) she never knew turns up out of nowhere and moves in, it only causes irritation for the aspiring otaku. But when her mother just as quickly disappears, it leaves Mugiko (or “Sweet Pea”) searching for answers, bringing her back to her mother’s hometown to discover what happened to her mother’s own dream. 

4:30 P.M. 

Man from Reno

Japanese Title: リノから来た男

Romaji: Rino kara Kita Otoko

Running Time: 111 mins

Director: Dave Boyle

Writer: Dave Boyle, Joel Clark, Michael Lerman (Screenplay),

Starring: Ayako Fujitani, Kazuki Kitamura, Pepe Serna, Elisha Skorman, Hiroshi Watanabe.

No trailer but this one sounds interesting enough to post about anyway.

 A Japanese bestselling crime novelist visiting San Francisco finds herself embroiled in a real life mystery after a night with a handsome stranger. The man–Japanese and supposedly from Nevada–disappears the next morning, after which increasingly strange and dangerous events begin to occur. This beautifully photographed Japanese-American co-production overturns the gender stereotypes of the mystery thriller, casting international star Kazuki Kitamura as its homme fatale. Kitamura effortlessly slides between gentle and sinister, while Ayako Fujitani fits perfectly into the role of author-turned-detective. One of this accomplished transnational film’s greatest features is a rare leading turn from Pepe Serna, veteran character actor of over 100 Hollywood films (Scarface, The Black Dahlia). Set in San Francisco, this neo-noir offers not only a compelling portrayal of gender and globalization, but a model for vibrant independent filmmaking across borders.

Introduction and Q&A with director Dave Boyle and actor Kazuki Kitamura

7:30 P.M. 

Neko Samurai

Japanese Title: 猫侍

Romaji: Neko Samurai

Running Time: 100 mins.

Director: Yoshitaka Yamaguchi

Writer: Yuji Nagamori, Yoshitaka Yamaguchi

Starring: Kazuki Kitamura, Misako Renbutsu, Yasufumi Terawaki, Yosuke Asari, Kanji Tsuda, Megumi Yokoyama, Shingo Mizusawa,

Who can kill a cat? Cats rock! It seems this samurai agrees in this fun looking film which is based on a TV show. Cats rule so much that there’s going to be a CAT party afterwards…

Kyutaro (Kitamura) was once a fearsome samurai but has fallen on hard times and tries to keep a low profile. When a man named Sakichi (Mizusawa) sees an example Kyutaro’s swordsmanship he hires the samurai to kill a white cat named Tamanojoh who has bewitched his boss Yozaemon (Ito) and left him immature. Kyutaro takes the job but when he sees how lovely the white cat is he has a change of heart but still gets caught up in a war between a gang of cat lovers and a gang of dog lovers!

Introduction and Q&A with actor Kazuki 

Kitamura, with CUT ABOVE Award Ceremony

Followed by the Japan CATS Party!

Sunday, July 20^th

12:30 P.M.

Pecoross’ Mother and Her Days

Japanese: 新大久保　物語

Romaji: Shin Ookubo Monogatari

Running Time: 113 mins.

Director: Azuma Morisaki

Writer: Akune Tomoaki (Screenplay), Yuichi Okano (Original Manga)

Starring: Ryo Iwamatsu, Mitsuko Baisho, Naoto Takenaka, Kiwako Harada, Kensuke Owada, Toshie Negishi, Ryo Kase

Hats off to the organisers for throwing this one in. It looked so small when it was released that it seemed like a film that would disappear een in Japan but it’s here at the festival.

Laid-back baby boomer Yuichi (Iwamatsu) is a middle-aged manga artist and singer-songwriter when he isn’t at his salaryman day job or watching out for his elderly mother. Suffering from increasing dementia since her husband’s death, Mitsue (Akagi) is a constant source of comic energy or annoyance for Yuichi, and he and his son must soon decide if they should put her in a home for the elderly. Jumping back in time, we see how Mitsue (Harada) tracked the tumult of the latter half of the 20th century, being raised as one of 10 brothers and sisters, surviving the war, and having to push her alcoholic husband (Kase) along in life.

3:00 P.M. 

Hello! Junichi

Japanese Title: ハロー！　純一

Romaji: Hallo! Junichi

Running Time: 91 mins.

Release Date: February 15^th, 2014

Director: Katsuhito Ishii, Kanoko Kawaguchi, Atsushi Yoshioka

Writer: Atsushi Yoshioka, Kanoko Kawaguchi (Screenplay), Noriko Ishii (Original Novel)

Starring: Hikari Mitsushima, Amon Kabe, Ryushin Tei, Chizuru Ikewaki, Tatsuya Gashuin, Yoshiyuki Morishita

Junichi is a timid third grader who can’t muster the courage to return an eraser he borrowed from his secret crush–and turns it into a children’s rock ‘n’ roll comedy. Junichi’s world is turned upside down as apprentice teacher Anna-sensei (Mitsushima) scraps her lesson plan to show the rambunctious students about life as an adult. With Anna’s unorthodox style, Junichi and his friends are able to gain confidence and pursue their goal of putting on a big concert.

 6:00 P.M.

The Tale of Iya

Japanese Title: 祖谷物語 -おくのひと-

Romaji: Iya Monogatari – Oku no Hito

Running Time: 169 mins.

Director: Tetsuchiro Tsuta

Writer: Tetsuchiro Tsuta, Masayuki Ueda (Screenplay),

Starring: Rina Takeda, Shima Ohnishi, Sachi Ishimaru, Hitoshi Murakami, Min Tanaka, Reika Miwa, Takahiro Ono, Naomi Kawase, Christopher Pellegrii, Keiko Taoka, Shigeru Kimura

This one looks special and it is one I sorely miss watching but people attending the festival get the chance to experience what has been described as a film with a magical atmosphere.

It is winter. A man finds a baby girl in the snow by a freezing lake in the mountains of Tokushima and takes her in. He gives her the name Haruna and they live far away from other people. The baby grows into a caring woman (Rina Takeda) who looks after the man.

It is summer. A stranger from Tokyo arrived at “Iya”, where the riches of nature still abound. His name is Kudo, and he wants to start a new life in the country to refresh his tired soul. Unfortunately the reality was not as easy as he thought because there is a confliction between a local construction company and a group of nature conservationists.

One day, Kudo meets the old man and Haruna and finds out that they lead lives completely different from his own. The old man is a farmer who climbs up the mountain to go to the little shrine to offer Omiki (sake) to the mountain god and Haruna goes to high school an hour away from home, and after that, helps Grandpa to plow his field. Feeling his heart gradually healing, Kudo thought that he finally found what he was looking for in their calm life but a destructive winter occurs…

And that’s it! What an incredible festival. I try and write some stuff for every film but for some titles like The Man from Reno, I just copied and pasted from the site because it is so brand new. I even re-wrote some of my old synopses based on this new information. For better written explanations and nfo on how to get the tickets click on the titles and hurry because they are already selling!

E3 week! Yay! More hype about video games like Bayonetta 2 and The Evil Within! Also the World Cup started this week and I’m already sick of hearing about it. Football, please shut up!

Only one movie review this week and that was for The Snow White Murder Case on Monday. It turned out larger than expected and I enjoyed writing it and I’m glad to see that it’s getting comments. Be My Baby has been complete for at least a week and a half but that goes out next week Monday. Judge! the week after that. I also reported on Japan Cuts 2014 which looks awesome!

I’ve also update my summer 2014 anime picks with PVs for Space Dandy and the latest for Terror in Tokyo/Zankyou no Terror.

What’s released in Tokyo this weekend?

Climbing to Spring       

Japanese Title:春を背負って

Romaji: Haru wo Seotte

Running Time: 116 mins

Release Date: June 14^th, 2014 (Japan)

Director: Daisaku Kimura

Writer: Tomoyuki Takimoto (Screenplay), Ryouhei Sasamoto (Novel)

Starring: Kenichi Matsuyama, Yu Aoi, Etsushi Toyokawa, Fumi Dan, Kaoru Kobayashi, Sakura Ando,

Tooru (Matsuyama) grew up on the Tateyama Mountain Range but rebelled against his strict father and moved to the city to take up a job as a financial trader. When he discovers that his father has died, he travels back to the mountains for the funeral and decides to stay. At first he finds the transition from city to wilderness tough but he finds the place good for him. Then, a strange man named Goro (Toyokawa) appears and claims to be a friend of Tooru’s late father…

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Gift   

Japanese Title: Gift

Romaji: Gift

Running Time: 116 mins

Release Date: June 14^th, 2014 (Japan)

Director: Taro Miyaoka

Writer: Yukari Nakamura (Screenplay),

Starring: Kenichi Endo, Ren Matsui,

Zenzo Shinozaki (Endo) is retiring from his role as a company president but there’s nobody waiting for him since his bad temper alienated others. Saori Yaane (Matsui) is a hostess who killer her mother to protect a sibling. Zenzo pays Saori 100 million yen for 100 hours of her time for a journey they take together…

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High Kick Angels  

Japanese Title:ハイキック・エンジェルス

Romaji: Haikikku Enjerusu

Running Time: 90 mins

Release Date: June 14^th, 2014 (Japan)

Director: Kazuhiro Yokoyama

Writer: Fuyuhiko Nishi (Screenplay),

Starring: Kanon Miyahara, Risako Ito, Mayu Kawamoto, Hirona Nagashima, Ryu Nakatani, Chisato Morishita, Nana,

The girls of a high school’s action film club love Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan and head to an abandoned school to shoot their movie “High Kick Angels” but a gang breaks in and seals the place off! The girls have no choice but to break out and break some faces in the process!

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Fig Tree’s Forest    

Japanese Title:無花果の森

Romaji: Ichijiku no Mori

Running Time: 108 mins

Release Date: June 14^th, 2014 (Japan)

Director: Tomoyuki Furumaya

Writer: Makoto Hayashi (Screenplay), Mariko Koike (Novel)

Starring: Yoon Hak, Natsuki Harada, Masaki Miura, Kyoko Enami

Young-Ho (Yoon Hak) travelled from Korea to Japan to study journalism and found work as a paparazzi. His job got him involved in a domestic violence story involving an internationally famous conductor Yoshihiko Shintani (Miura) and his beautiful wife Izumi (Harada). She ran away and set herself up as a housekeeper with a painter named Yaeko Tenbo (Enami) in a rural town. Young-Ho meets Izumi again. Could they be in love and what will happen between them?

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My Man  

Japanese Title:私の男

Romaji: Watashi no Otoko

Running Time: 128 mins

Release Date: June 14^th, 2014 (Japan)

Director: Kazuyoshi Kumakiri

Writer: Takashi Ujita (Screenplay), Kazuki Sakuraba (Novel)

Starring: Tadanobu Asano, Fumi Nikaido, Kengo Kora, Tatsuya Fuji, Taiga, Itsuki Sagara, Aoba Kawai,

This looks like the release of the week what with the awesome cast with Tadanobu Asano (Vital) and Fumi Nikaido (Why Don’t You Play in Hell?) acting alongside each other.

When Hana (Nikaido) lost her family to an earthquake and tsunami at the age of 9 she is taken into care by a relative named Jungo (Asano). Hana declares that she will never leave Jungo but years later she marries a man named Yoshiro Ozaki (Kora). When she returns from her honeymoon, Jungo is missing…

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My Hawaiian Discovery   

Japanese Title:わたしのハワイの歩きかた

Romaji: Watashi no Hawaii no Arukikata

Running Time: 119 mins

Release Date: June 14^th, 2014 (Japan)

Director: Koji Maeda

Writer: Ryo Takada (Screenplay),

Starring: Rin Takanashi, Nana Eikura, Koji Seto Ryo Kase, Yuri Nakamura, Jun Yoshinaga, Shohei Uno, Sosuke Ikematsu, Misa Uehara, Miyuki Sato,

Minori (Eikura) is a magazine editor who is happy with life (what? No drama???). She heads off to Hawaii to help a friend out with her wedding. In Hawaii she meets Akane (Takanashi), a woman hunting for a husband, Tsutomu (Seto), a businessman pursuing a dream, and Tomoya (Kase), the son of a wealthy man. The four explore Hawaii together.

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Maria no Chibusa 

Japanese Title:マリアの乳房

Romaji: Maria no Chibusa

Running Time: 85 mins

Release Date: June 14^th, 2014 (Japan)

Director: Takahisa Zeze

Writer: Takahisa Zeze (Screenplay),

Starring: Shima Onishi, Kokone Sasaki, Daisuke Iijima, Kiyomi Ito, Taijiro Tamura, Yota Kawase, Takuya Matsunaga,

Kokone Sasaki stars as a girl named Masao who has ESP. She can detect when a person will die when she touches their skin. She disappears and takes up work as a prostitute but men who go with her wind up dying. A man name Tachibana (Onishi) tracks her down and revenge may be involved…

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Sweet Poolside   

Japanese Title:スイートプールサイド

Romaji: Sui-to Pu-rusaido

Running Time: 103 mins

Release Date: June 14^th, 2014 (Japan)

Director: Daigo Matsui

Writer: Daigo Matsui (Screenplay), Shuzo Oshimi (Manga)

Starring: Yuiko Kariya, Kenta Suga, Mitsuki Tanimura, Moe Arai, Motoki Ochiai, Shota Totsuka, Takayuki Kinoshita, Go Riju,

Toshihiko Ota is part of the male swim team and has so little hair he is bullied. Ayako Goto is a part of the female swim team ad has lots of hair. Presumably love blossoms…

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Oh! Invisible Man/ Invisible Girl Appearance?     

Japanese Title: Oh!透明人間　インビジブルガール登場!?

Romaji: Oh! Tohmei Ningen Inbijiburu Ga-ru Tojou!?

Running Time: 72 mins

Release Date: June 14^th, 2014 (Japan)

Director: Akiraman Magita

Writer: Akiraman Magita (Screenplay), Yasuhiro Nakanishi (Manga)

Starring: Asuka Kishi, Yoshikazu Kotani, Misato Hirata,

It’s an adaptation of a manga where a guy gets to be invisible after eating salmon roe or something and he spies on girls only it looks like there’s a girl with the same power and blah, blah, hentai, hentai. It looks like there’s some shounen ai as well. Serves the invisible guy right for sneaking into showers other people are using…

As should be clear from the above I’m not interested in this one in the slightest but it’s a popular manga/film series so maybe I’m missing out. Funnily enough, I was reading volume 9 of The Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service and amidst all of the pop-culture references, there’s one for Oh! Invisible Man plus one of those awesome cultural notes from Carl Gustav Horn. In the same chapter, there’s a reference to Mamoru Oshii, one of my favourite directors.

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Tokyo Densetsu: Kyofu no Ningen Jigoku  

Japanese Title: 劇場版東京伝説歪んだ異形都市

Romaji: Gekijouban Tokyo Densetsu: Yuganda Igyou Toshi

Release Date: June 14^th, 2014 (Japan)

Running Time: 69 mins.

Director: Seiji Chiba

Writer: Seiji Chiba (Screenplay), Yumeaki Hirayama (Original Manga),

Starring: Mei Kurokawa, Airi Nakajima, Akira Onogawa,

Yumeaki Hirayama’s horror manga gets another adaptation where random young women get chased by psychotic and vaguely supernatural men. A guy in a wheelchair in a hotel, a guy looking for a stuffed bear and a guy in a forest with a baseball bat.

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Inazuma Eleven Hyperdimensional Dream Match   

Japanese Title: イナズマイレブン　超次元ドリームマッチ

Romaji: Inazuma Eleven Chou Jigen Dori-mu Macchi

Release Date: June 13^th, 2014 (Japan)

Running Time: 50 mins.

Director: Seiji Chiba

Writer: Seiji Chiba (Screenplay), Yumeaki Hirayama (Original Manga),

Starring: Junko Takeuchi (Mamoru Endou), Hirofumi Nojima (Shuuya Gouenji), Hiroyuki Yoshino (Yuuto Kidou),

The Level 5 football game Inazuma Eleven is released in a handful of cinemas in Tokyo.

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Real                                                                                 

Japanese Title: リアル　完全なる首長　竜の日

Romaji: Riaru Kanzen’naru Shuchou Ryuu no Hi

Release Date: June 01^st, 2013 (Japan)

Running Time: 127 mins.

Director: Kiyoshi Kurosawa

Writer: Kiyoshi Kurosawa (Screenplay), Rokuro Inui (Original Novel)

Starring: Takeru Sato, Haruka Ayase, Jo Odagiri, Miki Nakatani, Shota Sometani, Keisuke Horibe, Kyoko Koizumi, Yuki Kan

Real was one of two films directed by Kiyoshi Kurosawa that were released last year. It is Kurosawa’s biggest budgeted film in a long time. Based on an award-winning mystery novel and featuring two beautiful leads anchored by a supporting cast of familiar and excellent actors the biggest mystery is why the film turned out so dull.

Koichi (Sato), a physical fitness trainer, and Atsumi (Ayase), a manga artist, are beautiful people.

They met as children when Koichi’s father transferred to a small tropical island for work reasons and soon became friends and, as they matured, they became lovers. Despite this closeness when Atsumi apparently attempts suicide by leaping into a river. Koichi is at a loss as to what the reason that drove her to do such a thing could be. Now she is in a coma and Koichi needs to find out the reason. Koichi has access to a medical procedure that will allow him to enter Atsumi’s subconscious through her central nervous system.

Cue mind-hopping!

 Woosh

When Koichi touches down in Atsumi’s subconscious he finds her frantically she asks him to find a picture of a plesiosaur she drew as a child. It is the key to a suppressed memory connected to a childhood trauma. Finding this picture will allow Koichi to truly get close to knowing his true love and why suicide has come between them.

Fans of Kiyoshi Kurosawa will know him as an auteur who writes and directs most of his own films and has created a range of titles across a range of genres from.  More famous for psychological horror films like Cure (1997)and Pulse (2000) he has slowly moved away from the territory of yurei and serial killers into drama but despite the move he still retains an interest in the dark corners of the mind. Real is his first sci-fi title and the premise of delving into the mind of a suicide case sounds like typical Kurosawa. Alas, this film, his first film since Tokyo Sonata  (2009), turns out to be a damp squib thanks to its script.

Can we find that drawing together?

The cinema of Kiyoshi Kurosawa is marked by two strong themes; the pain of loss and the sicknesses caused by repression. He loves to explore how they warp an individual and has created a unique oeuvre where the characters endure the buffeting pressures of the contemporary world and their stresses are filtered into the mise-en-scene which generates a visual landscape littered with characters suffering some psychosis or being chased by demons. Those things are here to a certain extent but the problem is that the script does not explore them effectively.

The actual sci-fi conceit is neat and something seen in Inception (2010) but little is made of it rendering the film light sci-fi. This is not problematic, what is a problem is that the drama and characters lack an emotional grip and the mystery is limp.

Real has a dreamlike pace which is seemingly perfect for a story about examining someone’s memories but the pace, the lack of incident in the script and the lack of impact in the twists and turns makes the experience more soporific than dreamlike at points. Not a whole lot interesting happens as Takeru Sato glides through scenes and interacts with characters with some dull dialogue that explains the plot. When beginning the procedure to enter Atsumi’s mind he is told,

“To wake her up from this deep coma your emotional strength is essential.”

Ah, but I felt no emotional strength in the bland dialogue or the acting and the slow pace prevents the build-up of urgency.

Worse is to come when it is revealed what the inciting incident for the supposed suicide actually is. It came three quarters of the way into the film and I was stunned that something like that could have such long-reaching guilt and traumatic consequences and for that particular character. People who have watched the film may find that last sentence callous but in dramatic terms the incident isn’t really compelling or logical.

At this point I must admit that I have not read the book. What I do know is that Kurosawa regularly writes his own scripts and has dealt with far more disturbing subject-matter than what is on offer here. Apparently Kurosawa did copious amounts of rewrites of the original script so maybe something was lost in the process.

It’s a shame that the story is flawed because the atmosphere that Kurosawa is renowned for works well here and is beautiful at points.

The film has a strong air of artificiality which creates a mystery. It fits in with the technology exhibited in the film and the ability of being able to dive into a person’s subconscious, the stage is set to explore the façade and reality. Can we trust Atsumi’s memories? Can we trust the film?

The horror elements are familiar but well-executed especially when reality and dream begins to collide for Koichi through a series of hallucinations reminiscent of the ghosts seen in Seance. Sound-effects are played up for nerve-grinding moments but the film remains a drama for the most part and a well-mounted drama with a beautiful look that avoids being totally bland. Nope. That job is left for the script.

Bland is a word that is applicable to the lead actors. It would be unfair to criticise Takeru Sato and Haruka Ayase for their performances when the script asks for so little from them but when they are paired up with more experienced actors it is evident that they are being acted off the screen by people filling in little bit-parts like Shota Sometani and Jo Odagiri.

It’s a shame that Kurosawa’s big-budget return results in something that is rather bland. An audience unfamiliar with his films would never be able to tell how dark, disturbing, intelligent and surprising his films can be. One cannot write this film off completely because it is solidly made but I doubt I would ever watch more than once a year. There are more Kurosawa films deserving of a viewing like Séance, Cure, Retribution and Tokyo Sonata. Start with those and you can see why he is great.

3/5