Hello dear readers!

I had a great week with work going quickly and meeting lovely people. I also managed to cram in a few films as well. I watched Parade and My Little Sweet Pea to get my reviews of those films written. I watched a few other films including Cold Weather (again) and Italian horror Something Creeping in the Dark.

I published a review of Rurouni Kenshin: Kyoto Inferno. I have a review for Patema Inverted and then Parade in the works and I hope to follow that with The Light Shines Only There ready to rock in my one post of the week format for reviews. I also published the results of this year’s Japan Academy Awards.

What is released in Japan this weekend?

Idol Tears DOCUMENTARY of SKE48

Japanese Title: アイドルの涙 DOCUMENTARY of SKE48

Romaji: Aidoru no Namida DOCUMENTARY of SKE48

Release Date: February 27th, 2015

Running Time: 116 mins.

Director: Shin Ishihara

Writer: N/A

Starring: The girls of SKE48 like Mieko Sato, Mai Takeuchi, Jurina Matsui, Yuka Nakanishi and more like Rena Matsui (oh my),

AKB48’s sister group SKE48 (who are based in Nagoya) get their own documentary where we see them training, dancing, auditioning for roles and graduating and performing in concerts and music videos.

Website

The Curtain Rises

Japanese Title: 幕が上がる

Romaji: Maku ga Agaru

Release Date: February 28th, 2015

Running Time: 119 mins.

Director: Katsuyuki Motohiro

Writer: Kohei Kiyasu (Screenplay), Oriza Hirata (Original Novel),

Starring: Kanako Momota, Shiori Tamai, Haru Kuroki, Ayaka Sasaki, Reni Takagi, Momoka Ariyasu,

High school girl Saori (Momota) lives out in a small city in the country. She adores plays and is in the theatrical club and so when she meets her new teacher, Yoshioka (Kuroki), a graduate from a college in Tokyo who also loves plays, the two click. Saori, together with the play club, decide to compete in a theatrical competition for the local area but Yoshioka tells them to aim high and go for the national competition!

Website

Have a Song on Your Lips

Japanese Title: くちびるに歌を

Romaji: Kuchibiru ni Uta o

Release Date: February 28th, 2015

Running Time: 132 mins.

Director: Takahiro Miki

Writer: Yuichi Toyone, Yukiko Mochiji (Screenplay), Otsuichi (Original Novel),

Starring: Yui Aragaki, Yuri Tsunematsu, Shota Shimoda, Wakana Aoi, Mayu Watanabe, Kyoka Shibata, Hibiki Muroi, Hayato Sano, Kenta Kiritani, Fumino Kimura, Tae Kimura,

Yuri Kashiwaga (Aragaki) returns from Tokyo to her small town in the Goto Islands. She was once a piano prodigy but now works at a middle school as a temporary teacher in charge of the school chorus. To inspire the choristers, she gives them a task: write a letter to yourself 15 years later. The members of the choir write about their hopes and fears…

Website

The Furthest End Awaits

Japanese: さいはてにて−かけがえのない場所−

Romaji: Saihate nite – Kakegae no Nai Basho

Release Date: February 28th, 2015

Running Time: 118 mins.

Director: Chiang Hsiu-Chiung

Writer: Nako Kakinoki (Screenplay),

Starring: Hiromi Nagasaku, Nozomi Sasaki, Hiyori Sakurada, Masatoshi Nagase, Sakurada Hiyori, Kaisei Hotamori, Asami Usuda, Issei Ogata, Jun Murakami, Masatoshi Nagase, Miyoko Asada

Did you see that Rondon Eigasai ロンドン映画祭in the laurels at the start of the trailer? That’s where I saw this film, at the London Film Festival. The Furthest End Awaits is a film that is quiet yet burns with emotions and is well put together by its Taiwanese director Chiang Hsiu Chiung. It is a drama about grief and nostalgia.

Misaki Yoshida (Nagasaku) runs a coffee shop in Tokyo. When she finds out that her father has disappeared with debts to his name she heads back to her hometown in the Noto Peninsula, on the Sea of Japan to take responsibility. She finds that he has left an old family boathouse and a lot of debts. In order to clear the debts Misaki decides to turn the boathouse into a café and it attracts many locals such as Eriko Yamazaki (Sasaki), a single mother and hostess who has two children. The two women forge a friendship with each other.

Website

Listener

Japanese: リスナー

Romaji: Risuna-

Release Date: February 28th, 2015

Running Time: 111 mins.

Directors: Mari Kawakita, Takahiro Horie, Yosuke Yamashita, Yoo Won-san, Yasunari Konno

Writers: Hiroyuki Hosoi, Mari Kawakita, Koichi Kubodera, Kotaro Kimura, (Screenplay),

Starring: Kenji Kawahara, Yuki Sakurai, Ai Kitaura, Kenichiro Tanabe, Ken Miyagawa, Momoko, Motoki Fukami, Tomomi Sugai, Risa Kikuchi,

This is an omnibus movie made up of five episodes each of which was planned and executed by students at Tokyo University of the Arts and the connecting tissue between each of the episodes is the broadcast of a certain radio station.

Website

Oedo no Candy

Japanese: お江戸のキャンディー

Romaji: Oedo no Kyandi-

Release Date: February 28th, 2015

Running Time: 79 mins.

Director: Leona Hirota

Writer: N/A

Starring: Kaori Momoi, Naoto Takenaka, Mitsuru Fukikoshi, Takashi Murakami, Akihiro Mayama, Atsushi Hashimoto, Shohei Namba, Hiromu Takahashi, Jun Watanabe,

An all-male take on the classic ballet Swan Lake transposed to an Edo-period wonderland where courtesans and officials in the Shogun’s government, and the shogun himself fall in love and vie for the affection of the ones they desire. The radiant White Swan/ Swan Courtesan and the lovely Oden/Odette role is taken on by Akihiro Mayama. Mitsuru Fukikoshi is in this one and he’s a good actor!

Website

Furiko

Japanese: 振り子

Romaji: Furiko

Release Date: February 28th, 2015

Running Time: 99 mins.

Director: Norihiro Takenaga

Writer: Norihiro Takenaga (Screenplay), Tekken (Short Film),

Starring: Itsuji Itao, Naoko Ken, Manami Konishi, Jurina Matsui, Shido Nakamura, Tetsuya Takeda,

Based on a short film by Japanese comedian Tekken (Takefumi Kurashina) which can be seen here and should be watched, this is the story of a couple from the time they met as student and fell in love through the trials and tribulations of adulthood and a marriage marked with the birth of a beautiful daughter, some bad behaviour on his part and his attempt at redemption when his wife falls ill…

Website

Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin

Japanese Title: 機動戦士ガンダム THE ORIGIN

Romaji: Kido Senshi Gundam: The Origin

Release Date: February 28th, 2015

Running Time: 62 mins.

Chief Director: Yoshikazu Yasuhiko, Director: Takashi Imanishi

Writer: Katsuyuk Sumisawa

Starring: Mayumi Tanaka (Casval Rem Deikun – young), Megumi Han )artesia Som Deikun), Shuuichi Ikeda (Char Aznable), Ayumi Tsunmatsu (Astraia Tor Deikun) Eizou Tsuda (Zeon Zum Deikun), Miyuki Sawashiro (Crowley Hamon),

This one is for Gundam fans! It looks like tat this is the first in a four part series that will tell the story of Casval Rem Deikun and Artesia Som Deikun (Char and Sayla, before Char became known as the Red Comet) before the One-Year War in UC.0068. It will play for two weeks in 10 Japanese cinemas. More info can be found on Anime News Network.

Website

Samulife

Japanese: サムライフ

Romaji: Samuraifu

Release Date: February 28th, 2015

Running Time: 118 mins.

Director: Takeshi Moriya

Writer: Takuro Oikawa (Screenplay), Hidetaka Nagaoka (Original Novel)

Starring: Takahiro Miuram Mayu Matsuoka, Masaki Kaji, Reiya Masaki, Megumi Sato, Ryosuke Yamamoto, Jun Aonami, Mochika Yamada,

Let’s end on a happier note… this film is based on a non-fiction novel about a teacher named Nagaoka (Miura) who starts a school with the education environment he thinks will be ideal. It’s a struggle to get the project off the ground and he needs money so he takes on extra jobs and businesses like running a bar and a publishing company and it’s all done with the support of his family and some students and the inspiration of his former teacher/mentor.

Website

Miss Hokusai

Japanese Title: 百日紅～Miss HOKUSAI～

Romaji: Sarusuberi ～Miss HOKUSAI～

Release Date: February 20th, 2015

Running Time: N/A

Director: Keiichi Hara

Writer: Miho Maruo (Screenplay), Hinako Sugiura (Original Creator),

Starring: Anne Watanabe (O-Ei), Yutaka Matsushige (Tetsuzo/Katsushika Hokusai), Shion Shimizu (O-Nao), Kumiko Aso (Sayogoromo), Kengo Kora (Utagawa Kuninao), Gaku Hamada (Zenjiro/Keisai Eisen), Jun Miho (Koto), Michitaka Tsutsui (Katsugoro/Totoya Hokkei), Danshun Tatekawa (Manjido),

Website

Last week the UK-based distributor Anime limited announced that they had snagged the rights to Production I.G’s forthcoming film Miss Hokusai. The film is based on Hinako Sugiura’s manga Sarusuberi about the daughter of the legendary Japanese artist Hokusai, a woman who is talented in her own right and assists her father in his work but goes uncredited.

Here’s the story of the film from Anime News Network:

Production I.G describes the story of Miss Hokusai:

The time: 1814.

The place: Edo, now known as Tokyo. One of the highest populated cities in the world, teeming with peasants, samurai, townsmen, merchants, nobles, artists, courtesans, and perhaps even supernatural things.

A much accomplished artist of his time and now in his mid-fifties, Tetsuzo can boast clients from all over Japan, and tirelessly works in the garbage-loaded chaos of his house-atelier. He spends his days creating astounding pieces of art, from a giant-size Bodhidharma portrayed on a 180 square meter-wide sheet of paper, to a pair of sparrows painted on a tiny rice grain. Short-tempered, utterly sarcastic, with no passion for sake or money, he would charge a fortune for any job he is not really interested in.

Third of Tetsuzo’s four daughters and born out of his second marriage, outspoken 23-year-old O-Ei has inherited her father’s talent and stubbornness, and very often she would paint instead of him, though uncredited. Her art is so powerful that sometimes leads to trouble. “We’re father and daughter; with two brushes and four chopsticks, I guess we can always manage, in a way or another.”

Decades later, Europe was going to discover the immense talent of Tetsuzo. He was to become best known by one of his many names: Katsushika Hokusai. He would mesmerize Renoir and van Gogh, Monet and Klimt.

However, very few today are even aware of the woman who assisted him all his life, and greatly contributed to his art while remaining uncredited. This is the untold story of O-Ei, Master Hokusai’s daughter: a lively portrayal of a free-spirited woman overshadowed by her larger-than-life father, unfolding through the changing seasons.

This is an story and the images from the film are pretty awesome. I’m pretty excited about this one because the director has earned my respect for some of his work and the animation comes from one of my favourite anime studios, Production I.G (Ghost in the Shell, Patlabor) and some really talented people on staff.

The original creator of the story Hanako Sugiura is an interesting person. She

Hinako Sugiura — From the website Prominent People of Minato City

was the daughter of a kimono merchant and made her manga debut in 1980 in the experimental magazine Garo, the place where artists Yoshihiro Tatsumi, Oji Suzuki, and Usamaru Furuya both came to fame (I will have a series of manga reviews of works taken from Garo magazine coming soon). The website Prominent People of Minato City states that Sugiura defined her work with intricately researched historical stories about Japan’s Edo period with a focus on customs and manners and her unique storytelling won the Japan Cartoonists’ Association Award in 1984 and the Bunshun Manga Award in 1988. She retired from being a manga artist in 1995 and became a regular participant on NHK’s television program Comedy: Oedo de gozaru (Comedy; This is Edo) and was popular as the expert guide who gave interesting easy-to-understand commentaries about Edo culture. Unfortunately she passed away in 2005 at the young age of 46.

The film is directed by Keiichi Hara who has worked extensively on popular television shows, such as Doraemon and Crayon Shin-chan but really came to international prominence with the Japan Academy Prize-winner Summer Days with Coo (2007), a film about a kappa and the suburban family he lives with (which I haven’t seen), and Annecy double winner (Jury’s Special Distinction and the Audience Award), the dark but ultimately life-affirming story about suicide and the afterlife Colorful (2010) which made me cry when I saw it at last year’s Kotatsu Japanese Animation Film Festival. I mean, I did not expect much from that film but was blown away. He reportedly admires classic Japanese filmmakers such as Keisuke Kinoshita and made a film about the director in 2013 which starred Ryo Kase.

This work will be brought to the screen by a very talented staff. The screenplay is written by Miho Maruo and she wrote the screenplays for Kyousogiga and Colorful two examples of well-written and humane anime even if they have heavy supernatural elements. The chief animation director/character designer is Yoshimi Itazu who has done sterling work on Dennou Coil and The Wind Rises, as well as taking over as director on Yume-Miru Kikai, the last film Satoshi Kon was working on before he died. Hiroshi Ohno, art director on Le Chevalier D’Eon and art director on A Letter to Momo, Kiki’s Delivery Service, and The Wolf Children is in charge of background art. The assistant director is Masako Sato, a veteran of many Ghibli films such as Howl’s Moving Castle and Spirited Away.

Friday last week saw the Production I.G announce the cast for Miss Hokusai with an interesting list of names that includes Anne Watanabe (Ninja Kids!!!), Kengo Kora (The Drudgery Train, The Story of Yonosuke, The Woodsman & the Rain), Yutaka Matsushige (The Guard from Underground), Kumiko Aso (Pulse, License to Live), and Gaku Hamada (See You Tomorrow, Everyone, Sake-Bomb, The Foreign Duck, the Native Duck and God in a Coin Locker).

Miss Hokusai is released in Japan on May 09^th and in what turned out to be a lovely surprise the UK will get a theatrical release in October/November and a home video release on DVD and Blu-Ray soon after that thanks to Anime Limited. Andew Patridge, President of Anime Limited said:

“I’m thrilled to be able to bring this beautiful film to the UK. It’s a wonderful story with an interesting historical setting that is both enjoyable and fascinating. I’m really looking forward to giving this film a great release.

I am pretty excited about this one. This looks like the anime version of the wonderful film Mr Turner and it will be something I can talk about in work at the gallery. Films set in the Edo period are fascinating to me and it looks beautiful. There have been too few anime films that aren’t related to a franchise and aimed at kids/teens and it looks like this will be high quality.

The Thieves

Release Date: July 25th, 2012

Running Time: 135 mins.

Director: Choi Dong-Hun

Writer: Choi Dong-Hun, Lee Gi-Cheol (Screenplay)

Starring: Kim Yun-Seok, Kim Hye-Soo, Lee Jung-Jae. Gianna Jun, Kim Hae-Sook, Kim Soo-Hyun, Simon Yam, Oh Dal-Su. Angelica Lee, Kwok Cheung Tsang

A gifted con-artist is able to take in their mark with a solid sounding story and enough dazzle to distract. A con-artist can get away with anything especially if the audience doesn’t think too hard about the spectacle. The same could also be said about films and so it proves to be true with the Korean mega box-office hit The Thieves (2012), from writer and director Choi Dong-hoon. He crafts a frothy and fun thriller but don’t look too closely or you might be able to see through the con and the story might not add up.

Popie (Lee Jung-jae) is the leader of a gang of professional thieves which consists of con-woman Chewingum (Kim Hae-sook), cat burgular (Gianna Jun), and Zampano (Ki Soo-Hyun). They are hired by an old acquaintance named Macao Park (Kim Yun-seok) to steal a valuable diamond from a Hong Kong gangster named Wei Yong. Popie calls on the services of old flame Pepsee (Kim Hye-soo), who has just been released from prison after taking the fall for a botched robbery Macao Park disappeared.

Macao Park has also hired a set of thieves from Hong Kong. Chen (Simon Yam) leads hoodlum Andrew (Oh Dal-su), a safe-cracker named Julie (Angelica Lee) and Johnny (Kwok Cheung Tsang). The gangs feel tension between each other but the difficulty in stealing the diamond from a secure hotel suite unites them.

The front of the movie is a glossy film that takes place in some glamorous and exotic locations like the high rises of Seoul, the water-front areas of Hong Kong and the shiny casinos and warm sun soaked streets of Macau. The cinematography is stunning at times and it really sells the idea that the film is an international adventure.

In step a bunch of characters, most sporting sunglasses and all of whom are attired in sexy or glamorous outfits designed to show off their figures or best sides and everybody poses a lot.

Ten in all and the script does a good job of introducing them and giving most something to do for at least half of the film. These are a collection of cat burglars, safe crackers, and stick-up kids and each has some back-story and developing relationships as they engage in planning and executing a complex plan to rob a casino that is fun to watch them set-up and discuss at length as they try and outfox each other and engage in games of one-upmanship.

The casino heist is a spectacle and a breathless one that results in some surprising moments that sets in motion another phase where, like a con-artist revealing their final trick, the film elaborates on secrets hinted at and neatly wraps up the story in an extended action sequence that takes place both inside and outside a building from top to bottom. In thrilling scenes that cross-cut between multiple characters we watch as people dive into and out of windows, apartments and stairwells as they fend for themselves in jaw-dropping moments full of excellent stunts, wire-work/rope-climbing, and gunplay. The final revelations and face-offs are enjoyable to watch as all the plot threads come together as unexpected twists and turns occur.

As good as the plot is in positioning characters and creating narrative sleight of hand for surprises the whole experience is hollow. As fun as the façade is, there are details that draw attention to inconsistencies that break the image the film is going for but a lot of these are personal.

Like the Hollywood movie Ocean’s Eleven, much of the enjoyment of The Thieves comes from seeing an ensemble of South Korean and Hong Kong stars matching wits with each other. For an audience well-versed in Korean film and television, it must be fun. I have not watched enough films starring many of the actors save two. As a result of my lack of familiarity I was reliant upon the script to provide characters for me to engage with. Considering the wide scope provided by a story full of backstabbing criminals there was room for being flamboyant with the creation of characters but the film failed to establish anybody too memorable or exciting which is just as well because some of them are forgotten about by the film’s very own script after the central casino heist.

I have watched Kim Yun-seok in other films and he stood out most memorably playing a corrupt foul-mouthed cop put through moral hell in the 2008 film The Chaser. Here, he plays things low-key as the poker faced Macao Park, a good decision because it is a role that requires him to be a character we cannot read. His relationship with Kim Hye-soo is meant to be complicated, potentially steamy, but there was hotter action in his action scenes. I know of Gianna Jun from My Sassy Girl and The Berlin File but found her tiresome as the arrogant and sleazy Yenicall. Despite her clearly relishing the role, I did not relish her presence which was neither as sexy or funny as it should have been. In a world where professionalism is everything, I found her adolescent behaviour distracting and her sex appeal failed to register with me so seeing her drape herself on men or strut around in nothing but a towel lacked the spark the scenes intended. This is very much a personal thing (Ha Ji-won will always be my favourite Korean actress!) so others will probably fall in love with her. Lee Jung-jae is the best out of the lot as the leader Popie. With his polished good looks, he makes a great leading man and manages to convey the complexity of his character when the time comes to show how much of a nefarious schemer he is.

Another character-breaking problem was dialogue. There is a lot of dialogue for the actors to deliver and they converse in Korean, Cantonese, English, and Japanese. For the most part it sounds fine but there were times when I found the terrible Japanese of Simon Yam and Kim Hae-suk to be very distracting (these are supposedly veteran con-artists passing themselves off as Japanese tourists in a high-stakes card game). Other than that the actors deliver dialogue in their native-tongues with gusto but most of the dialogue they speak never quite reaches a level of wit or intelligence that one expects from this type of film or the smooth operators we imagine some of them to be. It is energetically delivered, just not memorable with few smart put-downs and even less technical jargon that thieves can usually be heard spouting in other heist thrillers.

All of the complaints reveal what took away from the enjoyment I had in watching the twisted back-stories unravel as people betrayed each other and the few murky pasts were revealed. Had the dialogue and characterisation been better, I might have cared more. As the film is, it’s got almost enough dazzle to distract from the imperfections but not make it memorable.

3/5

Hello, dear reader!

I hope you are well!

I’ve had a decent week if you can count struggling through some awful writer’s block and trying to get a mammoth anime preview done whilst anxiously waiting for a romantic call decent. I’ve survived. Just about. Key in helping me survive was film. I watched the Italian horror films Tenebre (1982), The Beyond (1981), and Cemetery Man (1994) and I watched the British films Lair of the White Worm (UK, 1988), School for Scoundrels or How to Win Without Actually Cheating (UK, 1960), and the BBC documentaries Love Hotel (UK/JP, 2014), and Love is Everything: 100 Years of Love and Courtship (UK, 2014). Well. I’m going through my own courtship process with a lovely lady archaeologist at the moment and seeing how that last documentary showed love throughout the ages in Britain… well, it makes me slightly less fretful when waiting for my next meeting with my good lady. Gosh, I feel like a teenager again.

Trying to distract myself from these feelings I wrote about the release of Miss Hokusai and a review of The Thieves (2012).

What’s released in Japan this weekend?

Knights of Sidonia

Japanese: シドニアの騎士

Romaji: Sidonia no Kishi

Release Date: March 06th, 2015

Running Time: 133 mins.

Director: Kobun Shizuno

Writer: Sadayuki Murai (Screenplay), Tsutomu Nihei (Original Manga),

Starring: Ryoto Ohsaka (Nagate Tanikaze), Maki Toyosaki (Izana Shinatose), Aya Suzaki (Shizuka Hoshijiro), Eri Kitamura (En Honoka, Ho Honoka, Ren Honoka), Sayaka Ohara (Captain Kobayashi),

The movie adapts the first season of Knights of Sidonia but on top of compiling the 12 episodes there are new sequences and sound effects are redone. I enjoyed the television series as my first impression and series review make clear and I’m looking forward to the second season of Knights of Sidonia will premiere on Japanese television in April. Here’s a clip from the film:

Earth has been destroyed by Gauna forcing humanity to flee into space and look for a new home using gigantic spaceships. One of these ships is called Sidonia but it has lost contact with the other spaceships in the fleet and the inhabitants of Sidonia believe they are the last survivors of humanity. Things seem desperate as Gauna still chase them. To help fend off the threat of the Gauna’s, humanity has developed mecha named Morito (Guardian) Nagate Tanikaze is training to be a pilot. We follow his journey.

Website

Solomon’s Perjury (Part 1)

Solomon's Perjury Film Poster — Solomon’s Perjury Film Poster

Japanese: ソロモンの偽書　前編

Romaji: Solomon no Gisho Zenpen

Release Date: March 7th, 2015

Running Time: 121 mins.

Director: Izuru Narushima

Writer: Katsuhiko Manabe (Screenplay), Miyuki Miyabe (Original Novel),

Starring: Ryoko Fujino, Mizuki Itagakim Anna Ishii, Hiroya Shimizu, Miu Tomita, Koki Maeda, Reika Nishihata, Ayumu Mochizuki, Yui Natsukawa, Hiromu Nagasaku, Jiei Wakabayashi, Haru Kuroki, Tamae Ando, Miwako Ichikawa, Machiko Ono, Yutaka Matsushige, Houka Kinoshita,

Miyuki Miyabe is a famous best-selling author and directed by big-budget director Izuru Narushima (Admiral Yamamoto). Now, big-budget may be a turn-off but Narushima-kantoku has directed the brilliant heard-rending drama, Rebirth (2011). Here he works with a whole cast of new actors including Hiroya Shimizu, the tragic character in love with the devilish Kanako Fujishima in The World of Kanako (2014)! There are also other actors, some veterans, like Haru Kuroki (The Great Passage), Yutaka Matsushige (The Guard from Underground) and Machiko Ono (Like Father Like Son).

When a 14-year-old boy falls from the top of his school building, the authorities declare it as a suicide but an anonymous note given to the police claims that the sender witnessed the boy’s death and that he was killed by three troubled students at the school. The police try to hide the note but a reporter sees it while the students find themselves in an unstable situation with rumours swirling around and another one dying. To put an end to this the students hold a trial to uncover the truth…

Website

Kept

Japanese: ら

Romaji: Ra

Release Date: March 7th, 2015

Running Time: 70 mins.

Director: Maki Mizui

Writer: Maki Mizui (Screenplay),

Starring: Kayano, Ken Koba, Momoha, Iona, Fuzuki, Aki, Moe Sakura, Mizuki Kusumi, Hiroko Yashiki,

I watched a film where director Maki Mizui took the lead role of a girl undergoing horrendous abuse. The film was named Endless Blue (2009) and it was harrowing at times with Mizui bravely baring all. I had forgotten about her until I wrote this preview and it turns out that she has appeared in or had a hand in creating many films I have reviewed. She was an actress in Vampire Girl vs. Frankenstein Girl and Berserk: The Golden Age Arc – The Egg of the King, Tokyo Gore Police (writer and makeup person as well for this one) and Noriko’s Dinner Table. She makes her directorial debut here.

When a young girl abducted by a serial sex criminal and released unharmed decides not to inform the police and the attacks on women continue she finds herself facing difficult moral consequences over what she has done.

Website

A Cup of Life (English Title) / Mystery Café (Literal Title)

Japanese: 迷宮カフェ

Romaji: Meikyuu Kafe

Release Date: March 7th, 2015

Running Time: 111 mins.

Director: Kou Honekawa

Writer: Kou Honekawa (Screenplay),

Starring: Megumi Seki, Yui Ichikawa, Kaoru Fujiwara, Nobuaki Kakuda, Masahiko Tsugawa, Yukijiro Hotaru, Chika Arakawa, Kyoka Shibata,

Mari (Seki) is the mysterious owner of a café in an out of the way place. Rumour has it that people have disappeared at the café and Mari has an interest in people who want to commit suicide…

Website

Little Voices from Fukushima

Japanese: 小さき声のカノン　選択する人々

Romaji: Chisaki Koe no Kanon Sentaku Suru Hitobito

Release Date: March 7th, 2015

Running Time: 119 mins.

Director: Hitomi Kamanaka

Writer: N/A

Starring: N/A

It has been a while since we have had a Fukushima Daiichi documentary but today we get three. This one has themes about living with radiation and looks at life for people in Fukushima and Chernobyl with a particular focus on mothers and children who live in contaminated areas.

Website

Watashi no Owaranai Tabi

Japanese: わたしの、終わらない旅

Romaji: Watashi no Owaranai Tabi

Release Date: March 7th, 2015

Running Time: 78 mins.

Director: Masako Sakata

Writer: N/A

Starring: N/A

A few days before March 11^th that day back in 2011 when an earthquake and tsunami hit the Tohoku region and caused a nuclear meltdown at Fukushima Daiichi, there’s this documentary about the anti-nuclear movement that the director’s mother was a part of. It looks at former sites of nuclear power plants and testing sites from the former Soviet Union and the Marshall Islands and the people who lived around them.

Website

Tears of Poseidon

Japanese: ポセイドンの涙

Romaji: Poseidon no Namida

Release Date: March 7th, 2015

Running Time: 71 mins.

Director: Takao Oshima, Jun Kashima,

Writer: N/A

Starring: N/A

A few days before March 11^th that day back in 2011 when an earthquake and tsunami hit the Tohoku region and this documentary chooses to focus on the Maritime Self-Defence Force and the personnel who worked on the disaster elief and the people they helped. This one looks pretty powerful because it reunites survivors of the disaster with the people who saved them.

Website

Tadashikuikiru

Japanese: 正しく生きる

Romaji: Tadashikuikru

Release Date: March 7th, 2015

Running Time: 108 mins.

Director: Yoshiho Fukuoka

Writer: Yoshiho Fukuoka, Banmei Takahashi, Kitashirakawa school (Screenplay),

Starring: Ittoku Kishibe, Akira Emoto, Kanako Mizumoto, Masaru Miyazaki, Takuji Suzuki, Shohei Uno, Tatsushi Omori, Mizuki Sugimoto

Students at Kyoto University of Art and Design have worked hard making a movie about people who survive a big disaster and seek to live a “correct” way which looks to involve avoiding radiation. There is a famous director who has worked on the script, Banmei Takahashi (The Way – Man of the White Porcelain), and there are some great actors like Shohei Uno (Murder Workshop), Akira Emoto (Villain, Starfish Hotel), Ittoku Kishibe (Adrift in Tokyo, Survive Style 5+) and the actor/director Tatsushi Omori (The Ravine of Goodbye).

Website Website

Sekai no Owari no Izu Koneko

Japanese: 世界の終わりのいずこねこ

Romaji: Sekai no Owari no Izu Koneko

Release Date: March 7th, 2015

Running Time: 88 mins.

Director: Michihiro Takeuchi

Writer: Kenta Sakurai (Original Story), Michihiro Takeuchi, Daisuke Nishijima (Screenplay),

Starring: Akari, Jun Aonami, Shinji Imaoka, Momoka Midorikawa, Daisuke Nishijima, Rumi Shishido,

I love the poster for this film. There’s so much noise in the image and kawaii things but it fits in with the story which is set in 2035 and is all about a mysterious epidemic that has left Tokyo a bit of a wasteland and people in despair. A girl named Itsuko (Akari) takes to broadcasting songs over the internet to lift peoples spirits but some alien girls from Jupiter appear… If Inio Asano’s manga Dead Dead Dead Demon’s Dededededestruction were ever filmed, it would look like this! Jun Aonami, that new actress who featured in Wonderful World End (2015) and the pink film director Shinji Imaoka, are in this one!

Website

Doraemon: Nobita no Space Heroes

Japanese: ドラえもん のび太の宇宙英雄記（スペースヒーローズ）

Romaji: Doraemon Nobita no Uchuu Eiyuuki Supe-su Hi-ro-zu)

Release Date: March 07th, 2015

Running Time: 100 mins.

Director: Yoshihiro Osugi

Writer: Higashi Shimizu (Screenplay), Fujiko F. Fujio (Original Creators),

Starring: Wasabi Mizuta (Doraemon), Megumi Oohara (Nobita), Aaron (Marina Inoue), Yumi Kakazu (Shizuka), Tomokazu Seki (Suneo), Mamiko Noto (Director Burger),

This is the 46^th Doraemon film. The number of Doraemon films boggles my mind. I know little about the franchise so enough waffle from me, here’s the trailer and story:

Doraemon and Director Burger want to set up a dramatic world where Nobita and his friends can truly become Space Heroes and all seems to be going according to plan until the gang realise that Director Burger’s fictional scenario is happening for real and everyone is in danger from Space Pirates. Doraemon, Nobita and friends team up with an alien named Aaron to save his home planet Pockle from space pirates.

Website

Gekijouban PriPara Mi~nna Atsumare! Prism Tours

Japanese: 劇場版プリパラ み～んなあつまれ！プリズム☆ツアーズ

Romaji: PuriPara mi ~ nna Atsumare! Purizumu ☆ Tsuazu

Release Date: March 07th, 2015

Running Time: N/A

Director: Masakazu Hishida, Supervising Director: Makoto Moriwaki

Writer: N/A

Starring: Emiri Kato (Naru Ayase), Himika Akaneya (Laala Manaka), Yu Serizawa (Mirei Minami), Kana Asumi (Aira Harune), Miyu Kubota (Sophy Hojo), Yui Makino (Aroma), Yui Watanabe (Mikan),

Laala and her friends Mirei and Sophy are part of the increasingly popular “SoLaMi♡SMILE” PriPara idol unit and are performing in the PriPara amusement park. There are alternate stories written and animated for this movie release and the story of the film will change depending on the day that it is screened.

Website

Random music video of the week: MUSHROOM EMPIRE

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),

Patema Inverted is a story of boy-meets-girl only the writer/director Yasuhiro Yoshiura makes the phrase “falling head over heels in love” literal by twisting gravity around for the central couple so that they must cling together lest they lose not only each other but their lives… If protagonists getting their gravity mixed up is not a new and novel concept, it is one that is explored with much life and energy here in a deceptively light film where superb animation and imagination creates a world where ever shifting perspectives on life give a slight story much substance.

The girl in the pairing is the titular Patema, a brave princess of an underground village where the inhabitants, descendants of a group of scientists caught up in an experiment gone wrong, live in the tunnels and confined spaces of a scientific facility built long ago.

Patema’s village, the costumes and props are designed to perfection. As Patema explores we see it is a place where the sun has been replaced with the harsh glare of halogen bulbs and the wind comes not from a blue sky but huge black cavernous gulfs that extend nto the earth. The villagers, young and old, wear protective clothing, spare uniforms from an earlier time, so they look like spacemen. They scavenge for food in old storage facilities that are located amidst the wreckage of the decaying structure, where there are pits, twisted rusting metal and wires hanging down like tendrils of vines. This is the inverse of the natural world. Despite their surroundings, these underground people still enjoy life. They group together in chaotic carousing crowds of fun and are constantly smiling, especially kids and Patema who skips in and out of tunnels with a grin on her face. She loves to explore and discover new places. Her fascination with exploration leads her to a danger zone, which her guardians have forbidden her from visiting because of rumours of humanoid bat creatures. Of course she defies their instructions and visits the danger zone. Her curiosity is cut short when one of the fabled humanoid bats attacks her. In an effort to escape she battles the creature but falls into what seems to be a bottomless pit…

The film cuts to a schoolboy named Age who lays in a huge field near a fence which cordons off a hole in the ground. It is late at night and he is gazing at the stars. He has a melancholy air about him, something more than typical teenage frustration, it is a deep-seated unhappiness about the world he lives in but all of that is put on hold when he sees Patema falling up from what he thought to be a perilous drop into the earth. She clutches onto vegetation and the fence Age was by to prevent herself falling into the sky. He, of course, is surprised, but soon grabs onto this upside-down girl before she can fall away into the sky.

Patema, with her inverted gravity, is terrified being out from underground with the vast sky above… I mean, beneath her. Wouldn’t you be? Next time you’re outside look up into the sky.
Imagine you didn’t have gravity holding you down and you could plunge up into that abyss. Scary, right? The perspective switches between Patema and Age as the story proceeds so everything is a bit upside down throughout the film. It is exhilarating seeing the world from a new perspective but also scary. The film plays on their different gravities brilliantly as it allows the two to develop a tight relationship through their terror. With her different gravity she needs Age to keep her anchored to the ground and, as the film continues Age needs Patema to hold him down or pull him up in perilous situations and so the two cling to each other.

Age is overjoyed at meeting Patema but soon realises that she is in trouble. In his world, those with a different gravity are hunted by the authorities.

The details of Patema’s surroundings were perfectly captured with a lightness of touch but Age’s society is arguably where the most detail comes into the film and the real darkness begins.

Age’s world is run by a religious and repressive regime. It is an orderly Orwellian society where security forces clad in black uniforms police people through constant monitoring via security cameras. The citizens of this land shuffle to their designated locations and jobs with little sign of freedom. Even more insidious is the theocracy that has grown up after the scientific disaster that affected Patema’s people. The state moulds the minds of its people from a young age to fear the sky and despise those from Patema’s tribe who are cast as sinners who are said to be sucked into the sky as punishment for past crimes. The leadership spouts the sort of religious and racial hatred that stops people from thinking and makes them fear what they do not know. It’s cleverly done and the menace of the bad guys is felt even more because the head of state is a convincing zealot, his religious-inspired sophistry comes out as a powerful mix of megalomaniac motivation and fanaticism which oozes threat and it is he and his cronies which Patema and Age must escape.

If protagonists getting their gravity mixed up is not a new and novel concept, it is one that is explored with much life and energy here in this film. It was so much fun to watch the ingenious ways which the characters tackled their situations. When the two hug they can float and, by using their differing gravitational pull and weight, they move around different locations, flying across fields and making huge leaps over chasms, scale buildings and explore. The different gravities of the character’s work for more than just bringing Patema and Age into tight clinches which is great for blossoming romance, because the two kids use it to escape the authorities in thrilling chases which had me grinning and bouncing in my seat as they flew through the air and bounced off objects, the quickness and agility of the kids and their smart thinking joyfully captured by a camera which zooms after them. Through their explorations they reveal bits and pieces of their world and how their two societies have become split up and all the while it is breath taking and fun!

Throughout the film director Yasuhiro Yoshiura plays around with his protagonist’s gravity which always poses a danger to them. We often get POV shots as the film plays up a fear of huge heights and the way they can see things upside down. Even when we don’t see things from their perspective, Yoshiura makes us aware of their spatial and gravitational realities as he vigorously thrusts the camera into wide open spaces, bottomless pits, and places us firmly in the shoes of the characters by twisting the camera and our perspective around so much that we lose touch with what is really up and down. I have not seen many films which made me as aware of how animation can depict space in such a fun manner.

There are plenty of heart-in-mouth moments, not least because we come to care about the different characters. It was a joy to watch and visually ambitious. Despite a deceptively light touch it has strong world building and some weighty themes about intolerance. I saw it nearly a year ago at a cinema and was stunned by the way the film played with perspective. I now own it on DVD/Blu-ray and re-watched and was pleasantly surprised to find that it still holds all of its emotional charm and the visual spectacle, including the disorientating changes in perspective that worked so well on the big screen. It is so enjoyable it has become an anime I recommend to others which is why I’m reviewing it so I can recommend it to you.

4.5/5

Miss Hokusai

Japanese Title: 百日紅～Miss HOKUSAI～

Romaji: Sarusuberi ～Miss HOKUSAI～

Release Date: May 09th, 2015

Running Time: N/A

Director: Keiichi Hara

Writer: Miho Maruo (Screenplay), Hinako Sugiura (Original Creator),

Website

Last week I wrote a post about Miss Hokusai, an anime film that has caught my attention and I believe is worth checking out because of the talent involved and the early art work. Well now a trailer has been released and thanks to anime blogger beatslars, I have been alerted to the trailer which was reported on Anime News Network so here it is!

I know that Japanese people love their puns but the writers for the trailer commentary have outdone themselves with ukiyo-entertainment which had me smiling!

Anyway, this based on Hinako Sugiura’s manga Sarusuberi and is about the daughter of the legendary Japanese artist Hokusai, a woman who is talented in her own right and assists her father in his work but goes uncredited.

The trailer shows off the seiyuu and animation in action and it has a mature feeling to it. Forgive me for making a glib comparison but it has a sort of atmosphere from Whisper of the Heart where there is a level of seriousness taken with characters and their emotions but flights of fancy break in (mostly thanks to the art).

I like how Miss Hokusai herself, O-Ei, is a somewhat gruff and no-nonsense character, a feeling delivered through Anne Watanabe’s vocal performance. She talks to people with some rather curt language! Her physical design is distinctive. She doesn’t have the refined air of the other female characters glimpsed in the trailer and likes to smoke and kill flies at the same time but, more importantly, what is going on inside of her is the focus. She is talented enough to produce fashion designs (a traditional way for women to show their artistic talent when male dominated centres of art would/might reject them. Look at the story of Rose Bertin to see something along those lines) and help her father with his art.

She also seems to have a good heart and it seems like she gets her own conventional romance.

But I’m more interested in her rough edges. She share’s her father’s eyebrows and I’m guessing a little of his demeanour and is no doubt frustrated by her lack of recognition and living with her crotchety old man which we can see and hear in a brief clip of Yutaka Matsushige’s growly performance.

It is this grittiness that the girl has that allowed her to become an artist in her own right in real life!

The setting is familiar to anyone who has watched period pieces like Fuse: A Gun Gi’s Detective Story (the original story written by Kazuki Sakuraba) and anime rich in Japanese culture like Hoozuki no Reitetsu (the original manga is written and illustrated by Natsumi Eguchi). The feeling will be reinforced by the pictures of Oni and Yurei that pop up in the trailer and, like those two anime, this new film seems to have supernatural elements:

More promisingly for the people interested in art history the animation looks to incorporate Hokusai’s works:

There’s even some of his shunga on display, though with the naughty bits cut out:

I’m even more excited by this project thanks to this trailer (not the shunga, honest). Like I said in my original preview, this is a fascinating story of a person we know too little about. In an age where past female artists in the Western world are being rediscovered and written about, it’s great to see a Japanese one.

Here’s the story of the film from Anime News Network and the early preview I posted last week:

Production I.G describes the story of Miss Hokusai:

The time: 1814.

This is an important story and the images from the film are pretty awesome. I’m excited about this one because the director has earned my respect for some of his work and the animation comes from one of my favourite anime studios, Production I.G (Ghost in the Shell, Patlabor) and some really talented people on staff.

The original creator of the story Hanako Sugiura is an interesting person. She

I’ll say it again, I am pretty excited about this one. This looks like the anime version of the wonderful film Mr Turner and it will be something I can talk about in work at the gallery. Films set in the Edo period are fascinating to me and it looks beautiful. There have been too few anime films that aren’t related to a franchise and aimed at kids/teens and it looks like this will be high quality.

Hello dear readers! I hope you are having a good weekend!

I had a decent week. The start was a bit wobbly after watching Chappie (US/SA, 2015), a film I didn’t particularly enjoy much – I should have known better because I didn’t think much of the director’s previous film, Elysium (2013). Once I was back in work on Wednesday, the week was better and I did manage to watch a couple of really good films – Mahler (UK, 1974) and Lucky Jim (UK, 1957). That’s three more for my movies watched this year list!

There are a lot of films of the list – thirty-seven so far, the majority of them western. I’m also enjoying finishing Ghost Hound, the latest episodes of Tokyo Ghoul Season 2, Parasyte, The Walking Dead and I Survived a Zombie Apocalypse.

What did I post this week? I posted a review of Patema Inverted (2013) and the trailer for Miss Hokusai (2015).

What’s released in Japan this weekend?

Kaze ni Tatsu Lion (Lion Standing Against the Wind)

Japanese: 風に立つライオン

Romaji: Kaze ni Tatsu Raion

Release Date: March 14th, 2015

Running Time: 139 mins.

Director: Takashi Miike

Writer: Hiroshi Saito (Screenplay), Masashi Sada (Original Novel),

Starring: Takao Osawa, Satomi Ishihara, Yoko Maki, Ryohei Suzuki, Masato Hagiwara, Renji Ishibashi, Ayako Fujitani, Hajime Yamazaki,

Takashi Miike fans in the west will know him for his horror and gangster films like Audition and Dead or Alive and even musicals like The Happiness of the Katakuri’s and For Love’s Sake. This is a bit of a departure, a serious drama about a doctor in Kenya and it’s based on the real story of Doctor Koichiro Shibata. His story was turned into a song and novel. Must be epic stuff to get that treatment!

Doctor Koichiro Shimada (Osawa) takes up the opportunity to work in a research facility in Kenya. His experiences in the country, seeing patients hurt by battles and child soldiers, persuades him that he should use his skills to work in the country and help the children he treats.

Website

Strobe Edge

Japanese: ストロボエイッジ

Romaji: Sutorobo Eijji

Release Date: March 14th, 2015

Running Time: 116 mins.

Director: Ryuichi Hiroki

Writer: Sayaka Kawamura (Screenplay), Io Sakisaka (Original Manga),

Starring: Sota Fukushi, Kasumi Arimura, Yuki Yamada, Arisa Sato, Jingi Irie, Yuina Kuroshima,

Strobe Edge is the third film released by Ryuichi Hiroki this year following Sayonara Kabukicho and Otoko no Isshou. It is based on a manga by Io Sakisaka which, to my surprise, hasn’t been turned into an anime. And no, I haven’t read this.

Ninako Kinoshita (Arimura) is a high school student in a quandary. She knows that her classmate, a nice boy by the name of Takumi Ando (Yamada), has feelings or her but despite feeling something for him she feels more with Ren Ichinose (Fukushi), a bit of a hit with the ladies at their school. She’s too honest to commit to Takumi when she has feelings for Ren. What will happen?

Website

Eiga Precure All Stars: Haru no Carnival

Japanese: 映画プリキュアオールスターズ 春のカーニバル♪

Romaji: Eiga Purikyua Ao-ru Suta-zu Natsu no Ka-nibaru

Release Date: March 14th, 2015

Running Time: N/A

Director: Junji Shimizu

Writer: Mio Inoue (Screenplay)

Starring: Yu Shimamura (Haruka Haruno/Cure Flora), Rina Kitagawa (Yuko Omori/Cure Honey), Haruka Tomatsu (Iona Hikawa/Cure Fortune), Hibiku Yamamura (Kirara Amanogawa/Cure Twinkle), Megumi Han (Hime Shirayuki/Cure Princess), Ai Maeda (Karen Minatsuki/Cure Aqua), Ai Nagano (Komachi Akimoto/Cure Mint),

Here’s another franchise I know little about mostly because I’m not a Japanese girl and partly because, despite all of my reporting on PreCure films, I haven’t paid attention to this franchise which looks like it is massive.

Synopsis and more info on Anime News Network:

A spring carnival held in the country of dance and song, Harmonia, is beginning. Haruka Haruno and her friends also join the festival to learn dance and song from their senior Precure warriors. However, the fairies go missing, and the carnival is thrown into confusion. Even worse, the announcers Odoren and Utaen seem extremely suspicious, and the guardian dragon of Harmonia has started a rampage, angry at the chaos at the carnival. In order to protect the peace of Harmonia, the 40 Precure warriors work together to create a miracle through dance and song filled with hope.

Website

Shimajiro to Okina ki

Japanese: しまじろうとおおきなき

Romaji: Shimajirou to Ookinaki

Release Date: March 14th, 2015

Running Time: 60 mins.

Director: Isamu Hirabayashi

Writer: Takashi Yamada (Screenplay)

Starring: Omi Minami (Shimajirou Shimano), Miki Takahashi, Takumi Yamazaki, Saori Sugimoto,

This is the third Shimajiro film released. These are aimed at young children. Shimajiro, his sister and their friends visit a giant tree and the people who live in it.

Website

Maku ga Agaru, Sono Mae ni. Kanojotachi no Hitonatsu no Chosen

Japanese: 幕が上がる、その前に。彼女たちのひと夏の挑戦

Romaji: Maku ga agaru, Sono mae ni. Kanojotachi no Hito Natsu no Chousen

Release Date: March 11th, 2015

Running Time: 95 mins.

Director: Atsunori Sasaki

Writer: N/A

Starring: Momoiro Clover Z: Kanako Momota, Shiori Tamai, Ayaka Sasaki, Momoka Ariyasu, Reni Takagi,

I’m no fan of idol music although I do listen to the odd AKB8/Dempa Gumi song, but Momoiro Clover Z look like fun because they take part in the types of films I like (White Eyes) and they look like they have a dark sense of humour on top of the bubblegum pop. In this documentary they take part in a work overseen by the playwright and director Oriza Hirata to get them ready for their film acting debut. We see them prep for a performance through workshops and get over their anxieties to take part in a film released two weeks ago, The Curtain Rises.

Website

Front and Back

Japanese: 表と裏

Romaji: Hyo to Ura

Release Date: March 14th, 2015

Running Time: 119 mins.

Director: Kenichi Fujiwara

Writer: Mayuko Yoshiyuki (Screenplay)

Starring: Kaname Endo, Shunsuke Daito, Chihiro Otsuk, Saori Takizawa, Mikio Osawa, manabu Hamada

This looks intriguing. It’s about a young and idealistic lawmaker named Kyoichi and a yakuza named Shoji who were childhood friends at the same orphanage. Both want to change a corrupt world but while Kyoichi does so through politics and charisma, Shoji uses violence and the two reunite…

Website

Kyoukai no Kanata – I’ll Be Here – Kako-hen

Kyoukai no Kanata I'll Be There Film Poster — Kyoukai no Kanata I’ll Be There Film Poster

Japanese Title: 劇場版 境界の彼方 I’LL BE HERE過去篇

Romaji: Kyoukai no Kanata – I’ll Be Here – Kako-hen

Release Date: March 14^th, 2015 (Japan)

Running Time: N/A

Director: Taichi Ishidate

Writer: Jukki Hanada (Screenplay), Nagomu Torii (Original Light Novel),

Starring: Risa Taneda (Mirai Kuriyama), Kenn (Akihito Kanbara), Minori Chihara (Mitsuki Nase), Tatsuhisa Suzki (Hiroomi Nase), Yuri Yamaoka (Ai Shindo),

Right, there are two Kyoukai no Kanata movies getting a release. The first is Kyoukai no Kanata – I’ll Be Here Kako-hen and it will recount the events of the television series. The second film, which is released on April 25^th, has the title Gekijouban Kyoukai no Kanata -I’ll Be Here- Mirai-hen and that one will be the film which takes the story forward. A whole year forward. It is set one year after the television series.

Audiences will need this catch-up film because the television anime aired back in 2013. I watched it and enjoyed it for the most part (especially the ED theme). It is a beautiful anime (standard for Kyoto Animation) but the story was a bit of a mess in the TV anime (although I did shed more than a few tears at the end) so what about the film released today? The director of the movie is Taichi Ishidate, director of the TV anime so he’ll get the feel right. He was also director on episodes of Hyouka which is brilliant, just thought I’d mention it. The screenplay comes from writer Jukki Hanada (Steins;Gate, Nichijou). He is solid. His work on Steins;Gate was stellar but there are a few titles I’m not fond of… Anyway, enough rambling.

The story of the movie is a retelling of the TV anime which is about two students with supernatural powers. The first we encounter is Akihito Kanbara (KENN) who is half demon (yomu) and invulnerable to wounds. When he sees Mirai Kuriyama (Risa Taneda) on the school roof and about to attempt what looks like suicide he intervenes. The two get to know each other and Akihito discovers that Mirai is from a cursed line of warriors who are able to manipulate blood. Despite her distaste for him (fuyukai desu), the two grow closer and as this happens, dark forces move in to try and take advantage of Akihito.

Website

Gekijouban Urutora Man Ginga S Kessen! Urutora 10 Yuushi!!

Japanese: 劇場版　ウルトラマンギンガS 決戦！ウルトラ10勇士!!

Romaji: Gekijouban Urutora Man Ginga S Kessen! Urutora 10 Yuushi!!

Release Date: March 14th, 2015

Running Time: 63 mins.

Director: Kouichi Sakamoto

Writer: Yuuji Kobayashi, Takao Nakano (Screenplay)

Starring: Takuya Negishi, Kiyotaka Uji, Arisa Komiya, Taiyou Sugiura, Yukari Taki, Takahiro Katou,

This is another franchise I have no clue about. Another Ultraman film where different heroes must unite to defeat some space bad guy.

Website

New Directions in Japanese Cinema (NDJC) 2014

New Directions in Japanese Cinema Film Poster 2015

When I first wrote about New Directions in Japanese Cinema, a workshop that nurtures the newest talent in Japanese cinema, I had no idea that these little independent films might actually make their way to the UK but they did last year so it’s worth paying attention to them. Here is the current crop of stories. Here’s the website and some info on the films.

End Rollers

Japanese: エンドローラズ

Romaji: Endo Ro-razu

Release Date: March 14th, 2015

Running Time: 28 mins.

Director: Yoshino Kohei

Writer: Yoshino Kohei (Screenplay),

Starring: Takahiro Miura, Denden, Keiko Katsukara, Masahiro Hisano, Ariei Umefune,

Denden and Miura both work for a morticians making videos that celebrate the life of the deceased.

Good-bye

Japanese: Good-bye

Romaji: Good-bye

Release Date: March 14th, 2015

Running Time: 29 mins.

Director: Toshihiro Hanyu

Writer: Toshihiro Hanyu (Screenplay),

Starring: Tamae Ando, Suzuno Takenaka, Yasushi Masaoka, Mutsuo Yoshioka,

This one is about a young mother (Ando) and her daughters who are struggling with employment and debt and finding a place to live…

Chikinzu Dainamaito

Japanese: チキンズダイナマイト

Romaji: Chikinzu Dainamaito

Release Date: March 14th, 2015

Running Time: 30 mins.

Director: Toshimitsu Iizuka

Writer: Toshimitsu Iizuka (Screenplay),

Starring: Amane Okayama, Yuri Tsunematsu, Masahiro Usui, Rena Takeda,

Is the title Chicken Dynamite? A quick search for the director showed that he had a film at the Pia Film Festival with an interesting looking movie about bullying in high school and the feelings which develop between victims and the changes in themselves that allow them to become stronger people. This short is all about a junior high school boy who is bullied and finds relief with a fellow student who offers support and begins to change.

Hon no Ugami

Japanese: 本のうがみ

Romaji: Hon no Ugami

Release Date: March 14th, 2015

Running Time: 29 mins.

Director: Isao Kusakari

Writer: Isao Kusakari (Screenplay),

Starring: Kazuhiko Kanayama, Norikatsu Kodama, Shiori Ono, Hiroshi Izawa, reiko Matsuo,

This one is set in a library where the staff see a woman give birth to a baby but despite the joy, these co-workers have some darkness in their lives.

Rice Cake Rhapsody

Japanese: もちつきラプソディ

Romaji: Mochitsuki Rapundi

Release Date: March 14th, 2015

Running Time: 29 mins.

Director: Satoshi Kase

Writer: Satoshi Kase (Screenplay),

Starring: Mari Hoshino, Seika Kuze, Hiroo Otaka, Hana Toyoshima, Yui Masayuki,

This one is all about a divorcee who travels with her daughter to her hometown.

I want to have this one as my video of the week!

My Little Sweet Pea

Japanese Title: 麦子さんと

Romaji: Mugiko-san to

Release Date: December 21^st, 2013

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

Japan has always been good for films about women. It is thematic territory so rich in stories that there are genres such as the haha-mono (mother story). These are films that follow a specific formula where a mother figure endures a hard life and sacrifices herself for her (often ungrateful) family. Her suffering comes into focus in a teary-eyed ending where everybody cries and repents their actions, expressing the desire to change. Specific examples Keisuke Kinoshita’s tragic and bitter Nihon no Higeki (1953) and Yasuhiro Ozu’s The Only Son (1936), two films guaranteed to make an audience shed many tears of sadness. For a lighter one, try The Wolf Children (2012) which is about the struggles of a single mother with two unique kids (you will still shed tears but happy ones). My Little Sweet Pea falls into this genre but is different because it focusses on the children’s realisation of their mother’s sacrifice rather than the parent’s travails.

When the film starts we see Mugiko (Maki Horikita) who has journeyed from Tokyo to a small town encircled by mountains. It’s an alien place for her made all the more strange because the locals seem awestruck by her appearance. It starts at the train station. The attendant in the ticket office swears he recognises her even though she tells him she has never been there before.

Manabu (Yoichi Nukumizu), a taxi driver, is the next to stare at her. He’s a garrulous sort and likes to take a glance at her every so often when he’s driving and talking which results in some near death experiences for some of the residents of the town. Why are they so obsessed with her and why is she there anyway? The film jumps back in time to let us in on the reason for her journey and why everyone wants to know Mugiko…

Mugiko is in town to deliver the ashes of her late mother Ayako (Kimiko Yo), a parent she cannot remember because Ayako seemingly abandoned Mugiko and her older brother Norio (Ryuhei Matsuda) with their father when they were much younger. Since the father’s death the two siblings have lived in an apartment in Tokyo and get along easily, Mugiko half-heartedly pursuing the dream of being a voice actress and the nominally more mature Norio working as an emcee at a pachinko parlour (he’s a bit of a bounder when it comes to money but decent nonetheless). Mugiko gets the chance to meet their mother when a dishevelled looking woman turns up on her doorstep unannounced asking to move in.

The kids are pretty perturbed that she has the gall to do such a thing but let her in nonetheless. It isn’t long before Norio moves out to be with his girlfriend, leaving Mugiko alone with Ayako.

The two live together awkwardly, trying to get to know each other through cooking, television, and work but it is difficult considering the years that have passed. Ayako suffers through a lot of hostile behaviour fuelled by Mugiko’s irritation with this stranger’s habits (a huge alarm clock that wakes her up at unreasonable hours in the morning) and a lot of resentment over her mother’s absence. Mugiko soon holds nothing back, from harsh comments to physical force, and she finds she may regret it because her mother dies, her life taken away by a disease she hid from her children.

Despite putting on a brave face Norio is upset and asks the seemingly indifferent Mugiko to take their mother’s ashes to her home town. This simple task becomes profoundly complex and as Mugiko finds out more about a mother she really knows little about and she discovers more about herself, the anger she carries and what she wants to do with her life.

My Little Sweet Pea is an emotional film but one that keeps itself restrained despite the opportunities for melodrama, much like its main character. I appreciate it all the more for the restraint because the emotions the characters have come across sharply and far more truthfully and the lessons learned by the characters are easier to glean.

Despite a narrative that is dotted with flashbacks to Ayako’s teenage years, the film is a rather simple exploration of who she was as a person and what she meant to others before she became a mother. It is a thread that is easy to pick up and follow. By the end of the film we have found out a lot about her. More importantly, so has Mugiko who can empathise and understand her mother and express the sadness and remorse over her passing, feelings she stifled at the beginning of the film and found hard to translate through her natural resentment.

We get to know Ayako in the same way her daughter does, by meeting the many people in her hometown. The obsession that the people have with Mugiko is that she is the spitting image of her mother and she reminds them of Ayako and this allows them to open up to Mugiko about their memories, the most prominent being how she used to be so cool and reminded people of the singer Seiko Matsuda, the Matsuda song Akai Sweet Pea popping up on the soundtrack a lot.

Through the many second-hand accounts of stories told by Ayako’s former classmates, the fond remembrances of admirers and the admissions of love, Mugiko gets to find out who Ayako was as a person and discovers that she had her own dreams and desires not too dissimilar from her own vague goal of being a seiyuu (voice actress), that Ayako was popular, a good singer and she wanted to make it as a pop-star in Tokyo before life got in the way and she sacrificed her dreams for her family. Over the course of the film, Ayako goes from being an unknown person and a source of anger, into being someone Mugiko can identify with and even respect. That uncanny resemblance between mother and daughter that people see works on another level since Maki Horikita plays both Mugiko and the young Ayako in soft-focus sepia tinted flashback scenes, making it easier for the audience to identify the similarities.

These flashbacks bear great feelings of nostalgia, they are the liveliest and happiest and most innocent part of the film, and are a stark contrast to the more emotionally buttoned up and greyer sections set in Mugiko’s time where the few young people seen on screen keep their emotions in check and cynicism is everywhere.

It isn’t just Ayako’s life that provides Mugiko with this realisation that her mother was a complex character who tried to do her best in life because she meets other mothers (played by veteran actresses Eri Fuse and Yumi Asou) in the town, both dealing with ungreatful or absent children. Seeing their struggles puts things into perspective for Mugiko while also allowing the film to touch lightly on wider issues surrounding the interaction between generations.

The cast is large and everybody plays a small but vital role. You may think that all of these different stories would diffuse the sadness at the heart of the narrative, the loss of a parent, but it creates a rich tapestry of life that brings both melancholy and joy. Seeing the community come together to greet Mugiko and tell her stories really gives the film a sense of liveliness as all sorts of fun and interesting characters with different perspectives make an impact.

The initially stalkerish taxi driver, Manabu Inomoto, is a character who develops from creepy comedy relief to a genuinely nice and charming chap as we see who never really got over his crush over Ayako and treats Mugiko with respect and a little harmless adoration. As much as Mugiko gets catharsis talking to others, they get relief and pleasure talking to her about their feelings.

The greatest performance comes from Maki Horikita who anchors the film by using the appropriate levels of restraint, her emotional journey shows massive complex changes in the character throughout the movie. There are few fireworks in her performance, more underlying resentment and anger visibly haunting her actions over having to deal with her mother and feelings of abandonment then a gradual understanding that gives way to a suitably emotional and tear-filled ending. Most importantly, like in the best haha-mono, Mugiko learn to repent her actions, respect her mother, and make a fresh start taking inspiration from Ayako’s sacrifice, to pursue her own dreams with gusto. Of course the film ends with tears but these are richly deserved ones elicited with skilful acting and a simple story.

4/5

This was one of two films I saw at this year’s Japan Touring Film Programme (the other being Bolt from the Blue) and the audience I sat amidst was sniffing and sobbing at the end. I had adopted my oft-used intellectual pose at the emotional heights, cupping my chin with my hand and surreptitiously wiping away tears with my thumb. It’s the type of film that will make you want to call your mother and be nice to her.

I first saw Maki Horikita in 2012 in the low-budget J-horror films Shibuya Kaidan and Shibuya Kaidan 2 where she impressed me with some good acting that gave those horror flicks some heart.

I had a binge session with movies watching lots over the course of the week. I got to watching plenty of Italian horror/giallo films and some random Asian ones that have been on my to-watch list since last year. The list includes Demons (ITA/GER, 1985), Deep Red (ITA,1971), Zombie Flesh Eaters 2 (ITA, 1988), Black Coal, Thin Ice (CHN, 2014), Broken (KOR, 2014), Inferno (ITA/USA1980) and a whole bunch of Hong Kong films.

I’ll have to start watching Japanese films again… I have lots building up. Plus there’s that season of Studio Ghibli films over March and April screening on Film4.

The only thing I posted this week was a review of the Japanese film My Little Sweet Pea (2013).

What’s released in Japan this weekend?

Ashita ni Nareba

Japanese: あしたになれば。

Romaji: Ashita ni Nareba

Release Date: March 21st, 2015

Running Time: 98 mins.

Director: Mitsuhiro Mihara

Writer: Maki Komori, Mitsuhiro Mihara (Screenplay), Io Sakisaka (Original Manga),

Starring: Yuta Koseki, Yuina Kuroshima, Shono Hayama, Koki Ogawa, Misa Shimizu, Takumi Yamagata, Eriko Tomiyama, Hidekazu Akai,

High schooler Daisuke Matsui (Koseki) is a baseball star who decides to dabble in a cookery contest with his friends and some girls from a different school. One of these girls is called Miki and soon feelings between the two develop…

Website

Assassination Classroom

Japanese: 暗殺教室

Romaji: Ansatsu Kyoushitsu

Release Date: March 21st, 2015

Running Time: 98 mins.

Director: Eiichiro Hasumi

Writer: Tatsuya Kanazawa (Screenplay), Yusei Matsui (Original Manga),

Starring: Ryosuke Yamada, Kippei Shiina, Masaki Suda, Miku Uehara, Masanobu Takashima, Wakana Aoi, Seishiro Kato,

I have not read the original manga or watched the anime adaptation but I hear nothing but good things about it. The trailer looks suitably

The moon has been destroyed! Or at least 70% of it. It’s the work of an alien octopus named Koro with bizarre powers and super strength and he promises that the Earth is next. However, before we get to that, he has some demands and that is he becomes the homeroom teacher at a junior high school and is given the chance to teach a class of misfits! The situation seems pretty bizarre and it gets weirder for the kids because his students must destroy him to save the Earth. However, Koro proves to be a great teacher and very popular…

Website

Superhero Taisen GP: Kamen Rider 3-go

Japanese: スーパーヒーロー大戦GP 仮面ライダー3号

Romaji: Su-pa Hi-ro- Taisen GP: Kamen Raida- 3 Go

Release Date: March 21st, 2015

Running Time: 95 mins.

Director: Takayuki Shibsaki

Writer: Shoji Yonemura (Screenplay), Shotaro Ishinomori (Original Manga),

Starring: Kento Handa, Ryoma Takeuchi, Yu Inaba, Yuichi Nakamura, Tetsuo Kurata, Hironari Amano, Rei Yoshii,

I could try translating this but I won’t because it would be a terrible thing to read and fans deserve better which is why I’ll point them to scifijapan.com who usually cover the Kamen Rider films and more on the cult edge of cinema. That’s where I copied the synopsis and trailer from.

February 10, 1973. The evil organization Shocker is defeated by Masked Riders 1 and 2, and peace was… supposed to come to the world. But the mysterious warrior Kamen Rider No. 3 — the strongest Rider that Shocker ever created — suddenly appears and kills Riders 1 and 2. In that moment, history is changed.

In 2015, the whole world is under Shocker’s domination. Shinnosuke Tomari (Ryoma Takeuchi) is a member of Shocker, tasked with hunting down the last remaining Kamen Riders, who are either destroyed or brainwashed to serve the organization. But he hesitates when he witnesses Shocker using children as human shields during a fierce battle. The hostages are rescued by Kotaro Minami, Masked Rider Black (Tetsuo Kurata), whose words, “Protect the dreams of children, shine the light of hope. That is Kamen Rider!” pierce Shinnosuke’s heart. “Something is wrong…”

Shinnosuke brings his concerns to Kamen Rider No. 3, Kyoichiro Kuroi (Mitsuhiro Oikawa), and the two partner to find the surviving Riders, defeat Shocker and restore justice. But Shinnosuke is unaware that No. 3 is the warrior of darkness who defeated Masked Riders 1 and 2, and he has now set a brutal trap for Shinnosuke and his allies.

What fate awaits the Kamen Riders? Will the heart of justice be forever stilled ? Can the correct past be restored? The outcome will be decided by the first-ever “Kamen Rider Grand Prix” between the Shocker Riders and the Justice Riders. The racing battle to determine the strongest and fastest Rider begins!!

Website

The 3.11 Tsunami Mirai e no Kioku

Tsunami 3.11 Mirai e no Kioku Film Poster

Japanese: 大津波 3.11 未来への記憶

Romaji: Tsunami 3.11 Mirai e no Kioku

Release Date: March 21st, 2015

Running Time: 80 mins.

Director: Atsunori Kawamura

Writer: Atsunori Kawamura (Screenplay),

Starring: N/A

Just after the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami struck, a special 3D camera was taken into the disaster area to record things in 3D. In the intervening years a lot of work has taken place to create a narrative about the aftereffects of the disaster, the people displaced by the disaster and their efforts to get back on their feet.

Website

Spitz Yokohama Sunset 2013 Movie

Spitz Yokohama Sunset Tour 2013 Film Poster

Japanese: スピッツ　横浜サンセット2013 劇場版

Romaji: Supittsu Yokohama San Setto 2013 Gekijouban

Release Date: March 21st, 2015

Running Time: 130 mins.

Director: N/A

Writer: N/A

Starring: Masamune Kusano (lead vocals and rhythm guitar), Tetsuya Miwa (lead guitar), Akihiro Tamura (bass guitar), and Tatsuo Sakiyama (drums)

Spitz is a rock band new to me but according to Wikipedia they have been going for quite a while. They get a documentary for a performance on September 14^th, 2013 at the Yokohama Red Brick Warehouse Square for a recently released album.

Website

Eating Crabs

Japanese: カニを喰べる。

Romaji: Kani wo Taberu

Release Date: March 21st, 2015

Running Time: 84 mins.

Director: Yasutaka Mori

Writer: Yasutaka Mori (Screenplay),

Starring: Shingo Mizusawa, Tomoru Akazawa, Toshiyuki Someya, Ayu Higashi, Hiromi Nakazato, Chiaki Taniguchi

I have not read the original manga or watched the anime adaptation but I hear nothing but good things about it. The trailer looks suitably

Two guys who were friends in junior high school and on the same baseball team hook up and take off in a van doing odd jobs as they travel around. They meet a woman named Tomoko and take her along with them….

Website

Gaia Symphony No 8

Japanese: 地球交響曲　ガイアシンフォニー　第八番

Romaji: Kani wo Taberu

Release Date: March 21st, 2015

Running Time: 115 mins.

Director: Jin Tatsumura

Writer: Jin Tatsumura (Screenplay),

Starring: N/A

Jin Tatsumura has been making lots of Gaia Symphony films according to IMDB and a Youtube video, TEDxTokyo gives a good overview of them. This is the eighth in the series and more wise people connected to the Earth and the environment give their opinions and show how they cope with nature. This one has elements about the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami as well as ancient tries in Nara Prefecture and threats to oyster agriculture. So we see Noh masks at a temple and violins made from the trees that were swamped by tsunami water and some strange tree art.

Website

Shuchu Nikki

Japanese: 酒中日記

Romaji: Shuchu Nikki

Release Date: March 21st, 2015

Running Time: 99 mins.

Director: Makoto Naito

Writer: Ken Naito (Screenplay), Tsubouchi Yuzo (Original Story),

Starring: Yzuo Tsubouchi, Kiyoshi Shigematsu, Masaya Nakahara,

Do you drink alcohol? How do you drink it? Why? In this documentary the director gathers together a bunch of essayists and literary types in different bars in Shinjuku’s Golden Gai district to analyse social interactions in watering holes.

Website

Super Local Hero

Japanese: スーパーローカルヒーロー

Romaji: Su-pa- Ro-karu Hi-ro-

Release Date: March 21st, 2015

Running Time: 91 mins.

Director: Toshinori Tanaka

Writer: Toshinori Tanaka (Writer),

Starring: Katsuhiko Nobue, EGO-WRAPPIN’, Kazumi Nikaido, Morerythm, Osaka Monaurail,

This is a 3.11 documentary and the film’s website has an English language version which is where I got the synopsis:

Nobue is owner of CD shop ‘Reikoudou’ in Onomichi. Delivering newspapers before dawn, and once the sun’s up moving about to do good for the people and society. He’s even too busy to open his shop, so friends offer to mind the shop for him.

His love for all forms of life, nature and music inspires many people. An episode realized by indie label musicians proved all this.

In January of 2009, Nobue had to have one of his toes amputated following and accident that occurred in a waste treatment facility. Nobue who until then, looked straight ahead (or perhaps he had no other choice) became totally discouraged and considered shutting down the shop. But then many musicians got together to cheer him up and organized a concert in Aoyma, Tokyo. All the profits were donated to Nobue.

It was a way for the musicians to show their gratitude to Nobue, who until then had organized so many concerts for them, even paying out of his own pocket when there wasn’t enough profit, as well as setting entrance fees so that families could afford to come with their children.

Nobue’s life changed again after March 11 2011. He started helping those who moved to Onomichi from areas nearer to Fukushima, organized study sessions, visited newspapers, assisted newcomers to settle down, and planned holidays for children during the school vacation.

When asked how he was going to manage financially, he replies, “I will raise funds.” And to the further question of if there isn’t enough funds, he answers promptly “I will pay from my pocket, or borrow from someone”. He also argues “I’ll think about money later. If we worry too much about money, we won’t be able to save any children”. Through the interviews of musicians and friends in Onomichi, we gradually get to capture the image of this super local hero!

Website

The next three trailers show snippets of three films for a special screening of the titles on the same night.

Super Rotation

Japanese: スーパーローテーション

Romaji: Su-pa- Ro-Te-shon

Release Date: March 21st, 2015

Running Time: 77 mins.

Director: Hisashi Saito

Writer: Hitomi Kase (Screenplay),

Starring: Kyoko Shimomura, Toshi Fujiwara, Masaomi Koizumi, Keigo Nakamura Hiro Ando,

Hisashi Saito, writer of Tokyo Fist (1995) and director of films like There’s Nothing to be Afraid Of (2013) has this film screened today as part of three from the same company. This one came out in 2011 and is about the love life of a young woman who drifts around with her friends. It’s the third film on the trailer.

Website

Damn Life

Japanese: ダムライフ

Romaji: Damu Raifu

Release Date: March 21st, 2015

Running Time: 84 mins.

Director: Hitoshi Kitagawa

Writer: Hitoshi Kitagawa (Screenplay),

Starring: Keita Kasatsugu, Yoshiko Sugawara, Takahiro Ono, Tetsuro Takei, Shintarou Yonemoto,

This film also came out in 2011 but is irected by Hitoshi Kitagawa, and it won the grand prize at the PIA Film Festival that year. Here’s an interview where he discusses taking it around festivals. “Damn Life” deals with a drowning of the main character’s sibling and the main character’s reaction to it which is to shed all human emotions. He begins working on the construction of a dam and witnesses bullying and friendship. How will he change? It’s the first trailer.

Website

Tsumasaki

Japanese: つまさき

Romaji: Tsumasaki

Release Date: March 21st, 2015

Running Time: 102 mins.

Director: Hitomi Kase

Writer: Hitomi Kase (Screenplay),

Starring: Sakura Kono, Tomoko Ogawa, Minami Matsui, Makiko Kuno,

Hitomi Kase, writer of There’s Nothing to be Afraid Of (2013) makes her directorial debut with this show about a thirteen girl who is hospitalised with anorexia.

Website

Death Forest Kyoufu no Mori 2

Death Forest 2 Fear the Forest Film Poster

Japanese: デスフォレスト 恐怖の森2

Romaji: Desu Foresuto Kyoufu no Mori 2

Running Time: 70 mins.

Release Date: March 21st, 2015

Director: Kazumi Masataka

Writer: Tsutomu Ogawa (Screenplay), Kazz (Original Game Creator)

Starring: Yuka Kuramochi, Chiharu Tomita, Madoka Shimogaki,

I never thought that the first Death Forest (released last December) would get a sequel but the Japanese film industry will adapt anything (because original ideas are too dangerous to bet on). The reason for my cynicism? These Death Forest films are based on a free downloadable game where people get chased by a big white headed thing. Japanese let’s players have tackled this in a number of videos. The new film looks worse than the first.

The sequel stars Yuka Kuramochi, a popular idol and her character goes to a high school located close to a scary forest and while she does drama club with her friends strange things happen like those big white headed monsters chasing people around corridors. That’s certainly strange!

Website

Grey Crow

Japanese: 灰色の烏

Romaji: Haiiro no Karasu

Running Time: 70 mins.

Release Date: March 21st, 2015

Director: Nao Shimizu

Writer: Nao Shimizu, Yuki Kimura (Screenplay), Eri Nishida (Illustrated Book)

Starring: Eri Nishida, Sayo Ampo, Luna Ichikawa, Kaho Kobayashi, Misaki Saito, Takashi Nishina, Tatsuya Nakayama, Shungiku Uchida, Uran,

Eri Nishida is a singer-songwriter who has adapted her own picture book which is about a girl who has suffered such serious trauma that she redirects it into hatred aimed at her mother. It takes place at a camp for girls on a mountain where a tengu was supposed to have lived and the cast play junior high school students

Website

This was a rushed trailer post (like, really last minute) with terrible translations and it was all written to music that would make me type faster… my music video of the week:

Parade

Japanese Title: パレード

Romaji: Pare-do

Release Date: February 20^th, 2010

Running Time: 118 mins.

Director: Isao Yukisada

Writer: Isao Yukisada (Screenplay), Shuichi Yoshida (Original Novel)

Starring: Tatsuya Fujiwara, Karina, Shihori Kanjiya, Kento Hayashi, Keisuke Koide, Maho Nonami, Terunosuke Takezai, Renji Ishibashi, Natsumi Seto, Midoriko Kimura,

The great existentialist thinker Jean-Paul Satre once said something along the lines of, “you can never truly know another person,” with the view that everybody is hiding behind a false mask. Nobody is genuine, everybody is playing a character, projecting a persona to hide their Jungian shadow, their real self, and so it is here with a group of young flatmates sharing a 2LDK apartment in Tokyo.

They are a diverse bunch of young people. There’s a health-obsessed man named Naoki (Fujiwara) who speaks English and works for a film distribution company, Ryosuke (Koide), a somewhat sweet slacker student pining after his best friend’s girl, Kotomi (Kanjiya), an aspiring actress awestruck and in love with a TV star, and Mirai (Karina), a haughty heavy-drinking bellicose beautiful blonde-haired illustrator who loves hanging around gay bars.

They live together and may even have feelings for each other but find their lives invaded by a mysterious golden-haired stranger named Satoru (Hayashi) who takes up residence on their sofa just when a number of brutal murders have been committed in a nearby park…

The film takes place in the recognisable milieu of urban Japan with backstreets, hotels, markets and bars being the locations that the characters hang around in. A lot of the action takes place in the interior of the apartment that the characters gather together and loll about in.

The narrative is split up into chapters dedicated to characters but everything takes place in chronological order and so we feel the experiences.

At first the atmosphere of the film has the feel of something like a slacker comedy as we see the balmy summer days of a bunch of oddballs sharing the flat. The slow rhythm of the film’s scenes gives it a sense of ennui and aimlessness they have. They vaguely push their way through their lives and half-heartedly get involved in some aspects of the world around them. Ryosuke and Kotomi lounge around their apartment speculating about whether the people next door are running call girls, head to pachinko parlours and pursue paramours who may not be as interested as them. The more straight-laced housemates Naoki and Mirai seem like they have their lives far more in control with regular work routines but the two head to gay bars to relax, Mirai drinking to excess. It is only the murders’ on the news which disturbs this amiable bunch but they watch the unfolding urban horror with a level of indifference as they continue to puzzle over little things in their lives and engage in strange wanderings.

A sense of mystery arrives with Satoru and these murders. Both the characters’ and audience seem to anticipate some connection between the crimes and this blonde-haired interloper but while the film flirts with this aspect it presents it with the same meandering rhythm as the earlier parts and frustrates expectations. A lot happens but any sense of travelling towards a conventional ending where everything is neatly wrapped up and explained is never present. Characters spout ideas, speculate and spy, reveal little snippets of their true selves and discover aspects of others but the film dances around the idea of certainty without settling on it.

Defying expectation becomes the key thrust of the film as people act and react in ways that will leave the viewer puzzled as the film gets increasingly darker.

The comedy is jolted into urban horror as we witness characters spy on each other, conduct puzzling daylight break-ins, view horrific video footage on somebody’s secret VHS, expose bruised bodies and emotions and engage in plenty of moody night time confessions. It fosters an uneasy atmosphere.

Each character has an emotional breakdown that exposes their anxiety and apprehension over life. We realise that they have no self-esteem and are dancing on the edge of a breakdown. Most worryingly, they are alone. Nobody is able to connect with each other. As the film travels to its conclusion we notice that at each dramatic point characters are around each other but despite their continuous contact and constant chatter in their small apartment none of these solipsistic people really communicate. If they do confess to the dark emotions festering in their lives but after that the characters go back to being their old selves and their problems eventually get forgotten about and talked over. Everyone goes back to playing the role they started with.

One character comments, “For people bored like us, life is less like straight lines and more like the edges of rings where we relive the same moments,” and it is on screen for the audience to see here. Why repeat the same moments? To avoid asking themselves awkward questions about the truth and face the most profound despair over trying and failing to connect with other people. Can we ever truly understand each other? We don’t need to when we play roles and hide behind masks.

Just as troubling is the sense that their apartment is like a sandpit. The environment traps these characters together. As the movie moves on, the location becomes stifling as we realise that the characters are unable to escape their inertia and gradually get sucked back into each other’s orbit, maintaining their sanity by playing their roles with their roommates shoring up perceptions by falling into line and not acknowledging the horrible truths that are revealed. It hints at how society and people can build facades and ignore what lurks underneath.

Humanity is good at ducking the truth of a situation by over-thinking or not thinking about it at all which is what these characters do. For some, reality is too ambiguous and hard to navigate and it is easier to escape into routines and easy answers that deaden one to the world. Parade shakes up these nerve deadening routines and ends on a point of ambiguity and that’s what makes it special.

4/5

I saw this one at last year’s Japan Foundation Touring FIlm Programme. It was the last film I saw at the festival and on the day (it finished after 10:30). I saw it with fellow movie blogger, Alua, and we were both agreed that it was the most memorable film because it was so thought-provoking.

Novelist Shuichi Yoshida is a name connected to many major films released over the past five years. His books are the source of films about the darker side of urban living in Japan, often delving into lives blighted by crime and profound loneliness. He has written some emotionally brutal tales that dissect modern day maladies of the soul, dark obsessions and perversions prompted by base human desires, lack of empathy, media manipulation and an uncaring patriarchal society that discards the “weak”. The films are often dark, sometimes devastating, and usually bleak. I have reviewed many of them.

The Ravine of Goodbye (2013) was a scorching tale of rape and its disastrous effects on the victim and perpetrator. Villain (2010) was a tale about two painfully lonely people who discover love only for a murder of a girl to threaten their happiness. On the more positive side is the bittersweet The Story of Yonosuke (2013), a film where characters tell their stories about a genuinely nice guy named Yonosuke and the positive effect he had on them. Parade (2010) is ostensibly less hopeless but that feeling is very misleading. The director bought the rights to the film but waited ten years for the right cast to come along to bring it to life. This decision is a good call because a likeable bunch of actors who provide complex and likeable and ultimately flawed and uncertain characters.

Good day to you, dear readers!

“I must say, Doctor Hill, I am very disappointed with you. You steal the secret of life and death and here you are trysting with a bubble-headed co-ed. You’re not even a second-rate scientist.” Herbert West.

I hope you are all spry and happy. I have spent the week working, going out and watching a lot of films, adding five more to a list of films watched this year (fifty-four in total so far). The films I have watched have mostly been Western ones and there are few I would have wished to have seen in a cinema. In terms of anime I have started watching Shiro Bako and finished Parasyte: The Maxim which was excellent – Migi was awesome! and the ending for Tokyo Ghoul Root A was an incredible moment of art. I’m also going to be sad when Death Parade finishes. I was in a bit of a slump recently in terms of writing which meant my anime previews and news stories suffered but I think I’m out of it thanks in part to just taking the time to relax and watch films and anime. Anyway…

Only one post this week, a review of the film Parade (2010)

The film’s released this weekend look good!

Death and Tanya

Japanese: 死神ターニャ

Romaji: Shinigami Tanya

Release Date: March 28th, 2015

Running Time: 80 mins.

Director: Taishi Shiode

Writer: Taishi Shiode (Screenplay), Starring: Tateto Serizawa, Yurie Kobori, Agatha Okada, Naohiro Takeda, Takashi Matsumoto, Kenta Kawashima, Rina Sakuragi, Yuki Hoshino,

I have been feeling a bit cynical about Japanese films and anime of late (that’s what happens when your hobby of writing about films takes over your life) but I’m starting to come out of it and this project is helping because it looks like fun. There’s nobody too famous attached but lead actor Tateto Serizawa is a familiar face with bit parts in The Great Passage (2013) and Isn’t Anyone Alive? (2011). Simple CGI, crazy acting makeup and costumes.

A grim reaper wants to become a human to eat a hamburger. To do this the reaper needs to shed tears within a certain amount of time determined by the possessed human body and so the grim reaper transforms into a man and meets a woman who causes all sorts of disasters.

Website

Forget Me Not

Japanese: 忘れないと誓ったぼくがいた

Romaji: Wasurenai to Chikatta Boku ga Ita

Release Date: March 28th, 2015

Running Time: 94 mins.

Director: Kei Horie

Writer: Satoko Okazaki, Kei Horie (Screenplay), Mizuho Hirayama (Original Novel),

Starring: Nijiro Murakami, Akari Hayami, Reina Ikehata, Yoshikazu Nishikawa, Hikaru Osawa, Mickey Curtis, Satoshi Nikaido

Director Kei Horie has been mentioned on this blog numerous times with his appearance in The Suicide Manual (2003) – a film people frequently look up (at least I hope it’s the film and not the actual book) and his two horror movies, Shibuya Kaidan 1 and Shibuya Kaidan 2. Since his low-budget beginnings he has moved into dramas like this… The film stars Nijiro Murakami who was last seen in the film, Still the Water (2014) and Akari Hayami from My Pretend Girlfriend (2014). Music by Creephyp, the guys behind the soundtrack for How Selfish I Am! (2013)

High school student Takashi Hayama (Murakami) meets and falls in love with Azusa Oribe (Hayami) and the two begin dating. Then Azusa tells Takashi, “people who meet me, forget about me several hours later.”

Takashi doesn’t believe her at first but then he realises he has forgotten about Azusa. To combat this problem he begins making notes for the two.

Website

Gamushara (Daredevil)

Japanese: がむしゃら

Romaji: Gamushara

Release Date: March 28th, 2015

Running Time: 102 mins.

Director: Hidekazu Takahara

Writer: N/A

Starring: Yuka Yasukawa, Nanae Takahashi, Miho Wakizawa, Natsuki Taiyo, Yoshiko,

Real life actor and joshi wrestler Yuka Yasukawa gets a film that gives an insight into her background and what made her take up wrestling and acting. We get a look at her experiences in the ring and experiences from her past including being bullied, rape and an attempted suicide.

Noriko no Baai

Japanese: 乃梨子の場合

Romaji: Noriko no Baai

Release Date: March 28th, 2015

Running Time: 71 mins.

Director: Rei Sakamoto

Writer: Fumitaka Onoe (Screenplay),

Starring: Maki Nishiyama, Mutsuo Yoshioka, Misa Wada, Kiyomi Ito, Yota Kawase,

This one looks miserable. A housewife in a mediocre marriage with a daughter to look after acts out. At first it is shoplifting but things get worse when her husband reveals that he has been out of a job for a while and they have nearly used up their savings. Noriko starts dating a delivery guy but her daughter is in the way…

Website

Tamako chan and Kokkubo

Japanese: たまこちゃんとコックボー

Romaji: Tamako chan and Kokkubo

Release Date: March 28th, 2015

Running Time: N/A

Director: Sho Kataoka

Writer: Sho Kataoka (Screenplay),

Starring: Aika Hirota, Keisuke Aku, Kotone Shiina, Keiko Horiuchi, Kanji Tsuda,

And this one looks happy. Aika Hirota, member of idol group Shiritsu Ebisu Chugaku (they are the random music video at the bottom) and she is new to the acting game but stars alongside Kanji Tsuda who is usually a supporting actor and he has been in numerous films like Fuan no Tane (2013), Tokyo Sonata (2008). There’s also Keiko Horiuchi, one of the actors in The Uchoten Hotel (2006) which I will be watching soon!

Hiyoko Hoshino (Hirota) dreams of becoming a princess of the cookie world and that dream may come true when she finds herself sucked into a donut hole and arrives in an animated world. There she meets a girl named Tamako-chan and a creature named Kokkubo. Hiyoko Hoshino visits the animation world every day, but while she does this Tamako-chan dwells in Hiyoko Hoshino’s body. Then, Tamako-chan enters this world and they begin to live in turns.

Website

Red Cow

Japanese: Red Cow

Romaji: Red Cow

Release Date: March 28th, 2015

Running Time: 72 mins.

Director: Yukichi Ohtsuka

Writer: Yukichi Ohtsuka (Screenplay),

Starring: Masaru Matsuda, Erina Nakayama, Keisaku Kimura, Hiroaki Miyakawa, Haruka Kurosawa, Reina Kobayashi,

This is an action comedy and it looks like a lot of fun compared to the usual trailers I view. It’s about the daughter of a millionaire who is sick of her parents and her marriage and takes off when she and her other half are in Japan on holiday. Her father hires goons to get her back. Violence, goofy tough guys and sexy girls and a sense of seriousness that is waiting to be exploded. Awesome. Not sure about the bit with the little girl. Maybe if they aged her up a bit…

Website

Joy of Man’s Desiring

Japanese: 人の　望みの　喜びよ

Romaji: Hitono Nozomino Yorokobiyo

Running Time: 85 mins.

Director: Masakazu Sugita

Writer: Masakazu Sugita (Screenplay),

Starring: Ayane Ohmori, Riku Ohishi, Naoko Yoshimoto, Koichiro Nishi

The Joy of Man’s Desiring, which was at last year’s Berlin International Film Festival, “Hitono Nozomino Yorokobiyo” (“Joy of Man’s Desiring”) was awarded a Special Mention — i.e., second prize — by the children’s jury in the Generation Kplus competition at the 64th Berlin International Film Festival. has been on many top ten lists coming from various critics and it looks strong (even if it got three stars in the Japan Times).

The story revolves around two siblings, a young boy named Sotha and his older sister Haruna, who lost their parents after a major earthquake. Despite finding a safe home with their aunt and uncle the two children find it hard to fit in with their new lives not least because Sotha doesn’t know that their parents are dead and Haruna wants to tell him.

Website

Passage of Jomon and Pakur

Japanese: 縄文号とパクール号の航海

Romaji: Jomon-go to Pakuru-go no Kokai

Running Time: 122 mins.

Director: Hiroyuki Mizumoto

Writer: Masakazu Sugita (Story),

Starring: Sekino Yoshiharu, Junichiro Watanabe, Jiro Maeda, Yohei Sato,

Here’s the info on the film’s IMDB page.

Long ago…People from the south crossed the seas to colonize Japan. This is a story of men who emulate their ancestors. Harvesting materials from nature and making their own tools. Explorer Yoshiharu Sekino stuck to that precept during this adventure.They collected iron sands to form a blade to build a boat.They sailed 4,700 km using both wind and muscle power.

Website

Garo: Garo Gold Storm Sho

Japanese: 牙狼 GARO GOLD STORM 翔

Romaji: Garo: Garo Gold Storm Sho

Running Time: 122 mins.

Director: Keita Amemiya

Writer: Keita Amemiya (Original Work),

Starring: Kou Kuriyama, Miki Nanri, Sakina Kuwae, Toshiya Isaka, Akira Emoto, Momoko Kuroki, Hironobu Kageyama, Masahiro Inoue,

I love the poster even if it isn’t all that unique or clover – dingy looking backstreet with bright colours and neon signs, ramen stalls and a sexy lady and cool looking guy, both of whom probably kick ass. I’d watch it. I got some of the info on the film’s Garo Wiki page to help with the writing of this entry.

Garo is huge but I had no idea it existed until I first wrote about it back in February 2013. Garo: Gold Storm – Sho is the follow-up to the latest TV series Garo: Yami o Terasu Mono. This is one of a number of projects airing in 2015 to commemorate the franchise’s 10th anniversary. Wataru Kuriyama and Miki Nanri from previous series reprise their roles.

Synopsis from Toku Nation:

Garo is an action franchise with a dark story that revolves around “Makai Knights,” humans who fight against demonic beings called Horrors and the humans they corrupt. The plot of Gold Storm will involve Ryuga (the current wearer of GARO) and Makai Priest Rian attempting to cleanse the Golden Armor when they are confronted by living weapons- the Madou- who have another way to free the world from monsters. In the process Ryuga will unlock a new stage of power referred to as Garo Sho.

Website

Kimi ga Inakucha Dame Nanda/ It’s Definitely No Good You’re Not Here

Japanese: 君がいなくちゃだめなんだ

Romaji: Kimi ga Inakucha Dame Nanda

Running Time: 122 mins.

Director: Tatsuya Murakami

Writer: Kenji Kurata (Story),

Starring: Yukiko Asamori, Kana Hanazawa, Yuki Umoto, Naoko Watanabe, Shigemitsu Ogi, Mku Shimura,

Here’s the info on the film’s IMDB page.

The story follows a picture book author named An (played by anime voice actress Kana Hanazawa), who falls into a slump after winning a rookie of the year award. She whiles away her days goofing around with her editor Tomoe until, one day, while she’s out looking for her cat Pero and she sees a mysterious message board: “In exchange for bringing back Pero, take the sun from the world. Sound good? An?” She then starts finding more mysterious message boards around her town, all in the writing style of her father (Shigemitsu Ogi), a novel author who disappeared when she was young. What could it all mean?

Website

Bokutachi wa Jozu ni Yukkuri Dekinai

Japanese: ぼくたちは上手にゆっくりできない。

Romaji: Bokutachi wa Jozu ni Yukkuri Dekinai

Running Time: 105 mins.

Director: Ohtaro Maijo, Otsuichi, Ami Sakurai

Writer: Ohtaro Maijo, Otsuichi, Ami Sakurai (Story),

Starring: Tetsuhisa Aishita Kojin Gama, Gift, Rina Kado, Yukino Kishii, Ayaka Komatsu, Mika Kumagai, Tsutomu Sakai, Kentaro Sakai,

Here’s the info on the film’s IMDB page.

Coffee is the common theme linking these three short films such as a tale of a young woman and man in hospital who have a passion for coffee and possibly surgery and they like to lark around at night.

Website

Random music video:

Third Window Films are all set to release the Korean film Han Gong-Ju on April 13^th and I am excited because the reviews I have seen are positively glowing! I must admit that I have been in a bit of a slump when it comes to Korean films but I am anticipating this one being great and have watched a few recent releases so expect a review or two!

Here’s the info on the DVD/Blu-Ray release of Han Gong-Ju:

HAN GONG-JU

The debut film of Lee Sujin

South Korea / 2014 / 112 Mins / In Korean with English subtitles / Colour

Featuring an award-winning breakthrough performance by Chun Woo-hee

On DVD & BLU-RAY April 13th

DVD/BLU-RAY Special Features:
Enemy’s Apple: Lee Sujin’s award-winning 20 minute short film

Synopsis

One of the most talked about Korean films of 2014, the acclaimed indie teen drama Han Gong-ju is based on a devastating real-life case that shocked Korea in 2004. The first feature from writer-director Lee Su Jin, Han Gong-ju broke Korea’s opening day box office records for independent films and has picked up numerous accolades on the festival circuit including the Tiger Award at the 43rd International Film Festival Rotterdam, the Grand Prix at the Marrakech Int. Film Festival and many more.

In a breakout role that garnered her Best Actress at the Blue Dragon Film Awards, Chun Woo Hee plays the eponymous heroine, a glum high school girl who has been forced to transfer to a school in another city. With her own family nowhere to be found, Gong-ju is placed into the care of a teacher’s mother while matters are being sorted out. She quietly starts up school again, only hoping to keep to herself and not stand out. When Gong-ju’s new classmates discover her singing talent, they try their best to recruit her into the choir. Just as Gong-ju begins to smile again and open up to new friends, the past catches up and the harrowing reason for her transfer gradually comes to light.

Marrakech Int. Film Festival – WINNER – Grand Prix
Rotterdam Int. Film Festival – WINNER – Tiger Award
Fribourg Int. Film Festival: WINNER – Grand Prix
Busan Int. Film Festival: WINNER 2 Awards – Movie Collage Award & Citizen Reviewers Award
Deauville Film Festival: WINNER 3 Awards – Jury Prize, Critics Prize & Audience Award
Blue Dragon Awards: WINNER – Best Actress, Best New Director
Fantasia Film Festival: Audience Award 2nd Place
Korean Film Reporters Association: Best Film and Best Actress

Martin Scorsese praises the film, saying “”Han Gong-ju” is outstanding in Mise-en scene, image, sound, editing and performance. I have a lot to learn from this movie and I can’t wait to see Lee Su-jin’s next film”.

Happy Easter! I hope you are all good.

It’s the Easter season so I hope everyone is going to have a great time and get into the spirit of the season and make some positive changes to their life.

I’m writing this late on a Friday evening because I have been rather silly and left it to the last moment. On Good Friday last year I watched Rentaneko (2012) and relaxed since the trailer post was done early!

I took a short break from work had a bit of a lazy week in terms of actual work done on this blog (only one post an that’s about the release of Han-gong Ju, a drama by Third Window Films). I started the week finishing off a preview for the new anime airing on Japanese television over the next twelve weeks (here’s part one and part two). After that I spent time re-arranging books and putting into order a year’s worth of notes made during Japanese lessons. That’s where I got a bit lazy because part of the process was putting my Teach Yourself Japanese and Japanese for Busy People onto my phone so I can listen to the exercises when I commute to and when I am in work. I then put some Japanese elctro-pop (Aira Mitsuki), anime (Master Keaton, Disgaea) and the Final Fantasy XII soundtracks onto my phone and in my computer’s music library so that took time because I started listening to the albums…

I got my chance to watch a few Ghibli films which were on Film4 (Whisper of the Heart, The Cat Returns, and Kiki’s Delivery Service – three of my top five Ghibli films!) and I watched some live-action films, Looper (2012), Dream House (2011), The Light Shines Only There (2013), The Amazing Mr Blunden (1972) and I watched the final episodes of many anime like Death Parade, Yurikuma Arashi, and Tokyo Ghoul. I also watched the final episode of live-action shows I Survived a Zombie Apocalypse and The Walking Dead (I feel sad to see all these great television shows go but there’s the new season of anime to look forward to (linking back up with the first paragraph)!

There’s a reason I keep coming back to the anime because over the last week the first episodes of various new series have been screened at cinemas in Tokyo before they launch on television… The power of otaku…

The latest season of Uta no Prince-sama Maji Love Revolutions was previewed at screenings at TOHO Cinemas Nichigeki in Tokyo over March 27^th-29^th. Attendees had the chance to meet cast members.

I watched some of the first episodes back when I did First Impressions of anime…

Episode one of Show by Rock!! was previewed at Sanrio Puroland on March 28, 2015, and at Shinjuku Piccadilly on March 29.

Episodes 1, 2, and 3 of Fate/stay night: Unlimited Blade Works was previewed at a screening at Shinjuku Wald 9 in Tokyo on March 28.

Episode 1 of Hibike! Euphonium was previewed at a screening at MOVIX Kyoto on March 28.

Episode 1 of Mikagura Gakuen Kumikyoku was previewed at a screening at Yurakucho Asahi Hall in Tokyo on March 29.

.Episode 1 of Yahari Ore no Seishun Love Comedy wa Machigatteiru was previewed at a screening at TOHO Cinemas Nihonbashi on March 28.

The first season of this was one of my favourite anime of 2013.

What’s released in Japanese cinemas this weekend?

April Fools

Japanese: エイプリルフールズ

Romaji: Eipuriru Furuzu

Release Date: April 01^st, 2015

Running Time: 120 mins.

Director: Junichi Ishikawa

Writer: Ryota Kosawa (Screenplay),

Starring: Erika Toda, Tori Matsuzaka, Nanao, Yusuke Santamaria, Sayaka Yamaguchi, Masanobu Takashima, Susumu Terajima, Eiko Koike, Masato Yano,

April Fools has a huge cast and each of the 27 people in the main roles gets a gag like the clumsy kidnapper, student who believes in aliens and the two friends, one gay, one not. It all starts with Ayumi Nitta (Toda), a cleaner at a hospital who suffers anthropophobia (extreme shyness & fear of people) who has a one night stand with surgeon Wataru Makino (Matsuzaka) who is addicted to sex and is soon off with flight attendant named Reiko (Nanao). Alas, Ayumi is pregnant and she’s about to burst his bubble.

Website

Persona 3 The Movie #3 Falling Down

Japanese: Persona 3 The Movie #3 Falling Down

Romaji: Persona 3 The Movie #3 Falling Down

Release Date: April 04^th, 2015

Running Time: N/A

Director: Keitaro Motonaga

Writer: Jun Kumagai (Screenplay),

Starring: Akira Ishida (Makoto Yuki), Megumi Toyoguchi (Yukari Takeba), Miyuki Sawashiro (Elizabeth/Chidori Yoshino), Hikaru Midorikawa (Akihiko Sanada),

Makoto and the other members of S.E.E.S. are nearing the end of their battles with the Shadows and find new meaning in their lives but when a mysterious transfer student named Ryoji Mochizuki appears the gears of fate begin to turn.

Website

Racist Counter

Japanese: レイシスト・カウンター

Romaji: Reishisuto Kaunta-

Release Date: April 04^th, 2015

Running Time: N/A

Director: Rintaro Watanabe

Writer: N/A

Starring: N/A

Racism in Japan is an issue that comes up on so many different sites dedicated to Japanese pop culture but it seems that nobody (including myself) has any real idea of the reality of it. Perhaps this documentary will serve to illuminate such a serious topic. Director Rintaro Watanabe’s exploration centres on counter racist activities started by people offended by right-wing attacks on Koreans and others. By attacks, what I mean is that when they held street protests in Korean-town in Shinjuku they shouted hate speech and started brawls. The guys in this documentary organised counter-marches and decided to fight fire with fire by shouting abuse back. Some of these protestors are known as Reishisuto wo Shibakitai (Corps of Racist Bashers). Here’s an interview with the founder.

There’s also a look at a group from the Korean community, the Shibaki Corps. Just typing Shibaki Corps into Google can give you a glimpse of how heated things get with videos like this (from a right-wing nationalist) floating around. There’s a lot of this stuff floating around, actually, and some of it is made by Westerners…

Website

A Farewell to Jinu

Japanese: ジヌよさらば ~かむろば村へ~

Romaji: Jinuyo Saraba ~ Kamuroba Mura e

Release Date: April 04^th, 2015

Running Time: 121 mins.

Director: Suzuki Matsuo

Writer: Suzuki Matsuo (Screenplay), Mikio Igarashi (Original Manga),

Starring: Ryuhei Matsuda, Fumi Nikaido, Sadao Abe, Takako Matsu, Toshiyuki Nishida, Hairi Katagiri, Seminosuke Murasugi, Suzuki Matsuo Shima Ise, YosiYosi Arakawa, Yuko Nakamura, Suzuki Matsuo,

The first time Matsuo Suzuki directed actor Ryuhei Matsuda was for the hilarious otaku love-story Koi no Mon (2004). That was over ten years ago. They have been on screen together in other films but we’re interested in comedies and this looks very funny.

Takeharu Takami (Matsuda) worked as a bank teller until he became allergic to money. In an effort to avoid using money at all Takeharu moves to a small village in the Tohoku region. This place is peopled by some strange characters.

Website

Kakashi to Racket

Japanese: 案山子とラケット　亜季と珠子の夏休み

Romaji: Kakashi to Raketto Aki to Tamako no Natsu Yasumi

Release Date: April 04^th, 2015

Running Time: 100 mins.

Director: Haruo Inoue

Writer: Yasutoshi Murakawa (Screenplay),

Starring: Yuna Taira, Karen Otomo, Megumi Seki, Hosshan, Maki Kubota, Ryusei Saito, Taro Suruga,

After a certain incident Aki (Taira) moved from Tokyo to stay with her father Masaya (Koichi) on a rural island. She left behind a mother and sister. At her new school she meets Tamako (Otomo) and makes friends with her. Aki was a member of the soft tennis club back in Tokyo and Tamako asks Aki to teach her soft tennis but there is no tennis court on the island. This won’t stop Aki who is now raring to play again.

Website

Tokyo Yamimushi: 2^nd Scenario – Pandora

Japanese: 東京闇虫パンドラ

Romaji: Tokyo Yamimushi Pandora

Release Date: April 04^th, 2015

Running Time: N/A

Director: Sakichi Sato

Writer: Sakichi Sato (Screenplay), Yuuki Honda (Original Manga),

Starring: Ai Shinozaki, Tetsuya Makita, Kyosuke Yabe, Yuuri Kikuchi, Yuichi Asai, Haruka Momokawa, Kosuke Toyohara

Yuuki Honda’s Tokyo Yamimushi manga were the basis of two films released in 2013 and this is the third. The stories revolve around young people working to pay off debt. Gravure idol Ai Shinozaki plays Yui, a runaway girl who stays at the net cafe Onizuka. She earns a living through compensated dating but she has a debt to pay and there are yakuza involved.

Website

Tamayura: Sotsugyou Shashin Part 1 – Kizashi

Japanese: たまゆら　卒業写真　第1部　芽　きざし

Romaji: Tamayura: Sotsugyou Shashin Part 1 – Kizashi

Release Date: April 04^th, 2015

Running Time: N/A

Director: Junichi Sato

Writer: Reiko Yoshida, Yuka Yamada, Sayaka Harada (Screenplay), Junichi Satto (Original Creator),

Starring: Kana Asumi (Kaoru Hanawa), Mayu Iizuka (Suzune Maekawa), Yuko Gibu (Maon Sakurada), Yuka Iguchi (Norie Okazaki),

There are four Tamayura films planned and they all revolve around the daily lives of high school girls Fū, Kaoru, Norie, and Maon and recently graduated Kanae who are all in the photography club. The club gets two new members but despite new friends, their lively daily life remains unchanged. Yet, the four third-year students are slowly thinking about their own future dreams and paths as they face graduation in about a year.

Website

Bar Kamikaze Gomakashi Doraibu

Japanese: BAR神風　誤魔化しドライブ

Romaji: Bar Kamikaze Gomakashi Doraibu

Release Date: April 04^th, 2015

Running Time: 80 mins.

Director: Shojii Kubota

Writer: Shojii Kubota (Screenplay),

Starring: Shinpei Takagi, Kumi Takiuchi, Reiya Masaki, Toshiyui Someya, Shota Takasaki, Ren Yagami, Mizuki Kuwabara, Miho Kanazawa,

Shuhei (Takagi) runs a small bar full of patrons who bicker. No trailer.

Website

Revival

Japanese: 蘇生

Romaji: Sosei

Release Date: April 04^th, 2015

Running Time: 90 mins.

Director: Tetsu Shiatori

Writer: N/A

Starring: Teruo Higa, Ichiro Iiyama, Shunsuke Funase, Izumi Masukawa, Kei Tanaka, Akira Matsushita, Ryuhei Watanabe, Yosuke Saito,

No trailer.

This is a documentary that explores pollution and radioactivity and their effect on the natural world and how microorganisms revive the environment that humanity wrecks. University professors give us information on how these things work. The following synopsis is taken from the English language story page on the website:

Documentary of the journey to Reviving the Mother Earth

Japanese film director Tetsu Shiratori’s fourth documentary film 「蘇生」(SOSEI – Revival) reveals the power of microorganisms who are the oldest living organisms known on earth.

The film takes a scientific journey to prove how beneficial microorganisms, especially Yeast, Lactic Bacteria and Photosynthetic Bacteria could help restore the environment and the whole ecosystem that have long been polluted by the human activities.

Radioactive contamination is not an exception.

Today, more than 120,000 residents are still taking shelter due to Fukushima nuclear accident in East Japan.

Not only that, mega-typhoons, floods, drought, heavy snowfalls… Natural disasters are increasing in numbers and their magnitudes are rising. Something is happening to the biosphere of the earth.

We have the responsibilities to the future of our children.

Will humans ever stop polluting the earth?

What are the necessary actions to take?

The film 「蘇生」 (Revival) casts a vital question that would determine the future path of humanity.

Website

We are REDS! The Movie minna minna minna

Japanese: We are REDS! The Movie みんな　みんな　みんな

Romaji: We are REDS! The Movie minna minna minna

Release Date: April 04^th, 2015

Running Time: 90 mins.

Director: Ito Shujin

Writer: N/A

Starring: N/A

This is the second documentary about the Urawa Red Diamonds, a J-League club. We see how they performed in 2014 and some of the crises they had to navigate and the future they envision for themselves.

Website

Gargantia on the Verdurous Planet -Meguru Koro, Kohen–

Japanese: 翠星のガルガンティア　めぐる航路、遥か　後編

Romaji: Suisei no Gargantia -Meguru Koro, Kohen–

Release Date: April 04th, 2015

Running Time: N/A

Directors: Kazuya Murata

Writer: Gen Urobuchi, Daishiro Tanimura (Screenplay)

Starring: Kaito Ishikawa (Ledo), Hisako Kanemoto (Amy), Ai Kayano (Saaya), Kana Asumi (Melty), Tomokazu Sugita (Chamber), Sayaka Ohara (Ridget),

This is the second of two OVAs getting a release in the cinema (the first was shown in the awesome month of September last year) that continues the story of Gargantia on the Verdurous Planet and features the return of staff and cast from the TV anime. Since I still haven’t finished watching the TV anime (that’s two years since I watched episode five…), I’ll link to Anime News Network

and their news bit which does have the synopsis.

Website

Music videos of the week:

Better late than never! And why twelve? Because it’s hard to decide! This is my list of top twelve films I saw in 2014 so it covers movie releases both new and old. I watched a lot of films in 2014. I was going to the cinema nearly two or three times a month and renting/buying a lot of films so I have built up an impressive list that spans genres and eras ‘60s (Kuroneko, Female Convict Scorpion Jailhouse 41) and ‘80s (Blade Runner, Ghostbusters) and 2014s…

My cinematic year began not with a Japanese film but American Hustle, a nice distraction before I headed down to London for the 2014 edition of the Japan Foundation Touring Film Programme. I came away from that film festival profoundly moved by the humanism and simple beauty of everyday life I saw in Kimi no Tomodachi, the perfect drama with a plucky protagonist in Shindo and the very dark existential drama Parade. I followed that with a trip to the Kotatsu Japanese Animation Film Festival where I cried buckets over Colorful and saw the future of anime in Patema Inverted. Despite loving these films so much it has taken me nearly a year to write/publish reviews of them because I was constantly going to the cinema to see the likes of Blue Ruin, The Wind Rises, Deliver Us From Evil, The Grand Budapest Hotel, and Belle. Kotatsu was followed by the 2014 Terracotta Far East Film Festival in May which is where I met Akira Nagai, director of Judge!, the actors of Be My Baby, and I enjoyed watching The Snow White Murder Case. In September/October/November I was in London for the Raindance Film Festival and BFI London Film Festival where I met and interviewed/talked to even more directors. Out of all the films I watched between the two festivals it was Fuku-chan of Fukufuku Flats and The World of Kanako which impressed me the most.

Overall, 2014 was a good year for my Japanese film viewing but my final list contains a lot of western films. Here are my top films from 2014.

Here are my top films of 2014:

12 Years a Slave

This is based on the autobiography of Solomon Northup, a free black man who was kidnapped by slavers in New York and sold to plantations in the southern states of America from which he tries to escape. Director Steve McQueen paints a complicated picture of plantation life and does not flinch from showing the gruesome details of the slave system. The film becomes harrowing as it enters the territory of horror both physical and psychological and delivers a real sense of what slavery must have been like while also beautiful at times.

The Light Shines Only There

Two outsiders lost in a fog of confused emotions and mistreatment at the hands of others and just sheer bad luck. The sunny seaside setting of the port city of Hakodate may look nice but we see the seedier side of things with prostitution and alcoholism, sexual exploitation and other crimes but we marvel at the resilience of the two characters as they seek some light in their darkness. Chizuru Ikewaki was magnificent and Go Ayano made a strong impact in a film that was tough but perfect in every way. Review coming soon.

Rurouni Kenshin: Kyoto Inferno

Kyoto Inferno is the second part of the Rurouni Kenshin trilogy and it quickly establishes events and re-introduces characters as it sets in motion a tight and dramatically urgent plot that sees the fragile democracy of Meiji era Japan threatened by a bloodthirsty killer named Makoto Shishio. Fantastic action from actors giving tremendous performance, wearing traditional costumes, and battling on gorgeous sets which look to have been transported from Japan’s recent historical past! I cannot wait to see the final part!

Patema Inverted

Yasuhiro Yoshiura has created a boy meets girl story but gives a wonderful twist to the formula because said boy and girl have different gravities and must clutch onto each other to stop themselves from plunging into bottomless pits/the sky. The two must go on the run to avoid authoritarian government trying to capture Patema and they use their strange gravities. Yasuhiro Yoshiura demonstrated that he has a wonderfully light touch when it comes to delivering comedy and moments of humanity amidst convincing and detailed sci-fi milieu with his work on Time of Eve and he does so again.

Belle

Amma Asante’s film about a real life person. Dido Elizabeth Belle is a mixed-race girl at the heart of the British legal system as the ward of the most powerful judge in Britain at a time when the issue of slavery is being discussed and she brings her influence to bear. Assante crafts a love story and intriguing political drama that complicates and updates the traditional costume drama formula by looking at race and gender in a beautiful period drama. Belle is played by Gugu Mbatha-Raw and she is phenomenal.

Kimi no Tomodachi

Ryuichi Hiroki uses naturalisc acting and dialogue to and assured direction to bring to life the stories of normal people. We start with the tale of two girls, Emi and Yuka, both united by having physical infirmities and both developing a deep friendship which is affecting thanks to the performance of the actors. It is soon spun out into the tale of their friends and family and their community and the emotions are still strong Hiroki’s direction layers their emotions on the film and which becomes so intoxicating that the small tragedies and joys are keenly felt.

Fuku-chan of Fukufuku Flats

Yosuke Fujita’s dry and deadpan comedy is a good-natured story about a nice guy who avoids women because of a horrible past event. His friends try to get him together with a lady but the results aren’t what they hoped. Seeing his romantic travails and emotional growth is both hilarious and touching as he slowly comes out of his shell and gets to know a member of the fairer sex. Great enka music underscores some truly strange and delightful moments. Review coming soon.

The World of Kanako

Tetsuya Nakashima’s crime-thriller about a corrupt ex-cop (Koji Yakusho) looking for his angelic daughter (Nana Komatsu) who has gone missing sounds conventional but Fujishima’s directorial style artfully presents everything as an intense visual and aural assault on the senses that is disturbing and shocks as we see the cast of characters who are all dubious if not downright evil tear chunks out of each other.

The Snow White Murder Case

Yoshihiro Nakamura takes a novel by Kanae Minato and crafts a coruscating satire on the Japanese media landscape and social media. A temping TV director named Yuji is fed a story about murder and immediately takes liberties and uses sticky journalism to create a media frenzy surrounding the possible perpetrator, Miki Shirono. Motives for everyone are murky and fine performances from Go Ayano and Mao Inoue keep the audience guessing and play on sympathies. Nakamura’s directing is flawless and inventive, especially the integration of social media in the film.

The Guest

Adam Wingard and Simon Barret’s film about a soldier named David (Dan Stevens) who arrives at the house of a squad mate who was killed in action offering sympathy but hiding ulterior murderous motives. It is anchored by Steven’s performance which is a barrage of charm and good looks, a smooth veneer that hides a psychotic killer who emerges slowly until the explosive ending which erupts in chaos. The film combines black comedy, slasher and action film dynamics and it is all centered on a fantastic performance by the charismatic Dan Stevens.

Nightcrawler

This thriller is about a ghoulish loner named Lou Bloom, an amoral guy who cannibalises others to rise up the career ladder in the American news media. The role of Bloom is taken by Jake Gyllenhaal, a great actor who oozes strangeness and charisma and I was swept up by his performance which was equal parts sleaze and intelligence. Journeying with him through the nighttime streets of LA makes the film unpredictable until it builds to an exciting conclusion.

Shindo

There is a girl who is a genius when it comes to music but she is beset with doubts. There is a guy who loves playing the piano but lacks the drive to succeed. The two meet and a fondness for each other grows into a chaste relationship and caring relationship. Koji Hagiuda’s drama is a totally conventional seishun eiga (coming of age movie) but with its lead characters of Uta Naruse (a sparky Riko Narumi) and Oto Kikuna (a solid Kenichi Matusyama) and perfect direction and convincing use of music to make the protags individual, it is still affecting.

Honourable Mentions: How Selfish I Am!, Rentaneko, Judge!, Edge of Tomorrow, Godzilla, Parade, Blue Ruin, The Wind Rises, Black Butler, The Grand Budapest Hotel, POV A Cursed Film, And the Mud Ship Sails Away, I’ll also throw in Blade Runner and Ghostbusters because seeing them on the big screen was a great experience!

Hello, I hope you are well!

I finally posted my Top Twelve Films of 2015 (four months late) earlier this week. I delayed it because I was trying to write reviews for the films in the list that weren’t covered. There are still two titles without a write-up but I’ll rectify that with at least one review for a film before the month is out. What’s holding me up? Extra hours at work, putting extra hours into studying Japanese, and watching more films for fun rather than reviewing them. I watched some great ones this week such as What’s Eating Gilbert Grape, and Bagdad Café. Finding time to study Japanese is getting increasingly difficult so I’m taking away from blogging time to do it. I’m also near the end of the video game Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together, which has been an awesome experience.

Enough about me what’s released in Japan this weekend?

Shinsengumi of the Dead

Japanese: 新選組オブ・ザ・デッド

Romaji: Shinesengumi Obu Za Deddo

Release Date: April 11^th, 2015

Running Time: 72 mins.

Director: Kazushi Watanabe

Writer: Kazushi Watanabe (Screenplay),

Starring: Yuki Himura, Chihiro Yamamoto, Kazushi Watanabe, Goro Takeishi, Tama Mizuki, Shogen, Daijiro Kawaoka,

As far as I am concerned, Japan seems to have a hard time making decent zombie films/television shows. Versus was overly long and indulgent, the dry comedy of Tokyo Zombie falls flat, Sailor Zombie is just awful… really… bad… High School of the Dead wasn’t much better. I have seen more but I won’t bore you with them. This one looks amusing.

Comedian Yuki Himura takes the lead role of a Shinsengumi officer who thinks he has it all made. He can be lazy and chat up girls and swagger around town like a boss while investigating foreign arms merchants. Then he gets bitten by a zombie. Still, zombie virus or not, he decides to continue his job and he has the help of a lady dressing up like a guy to be samurai, Jun Kato (Yamamoto).

Website

Solomon’s Perjury 2

Japanese: ソロモンの偽書　後編

Romaji: Solomon no Gisho Kohen

Release Date: April 11th, 2015

Running Time: 146 mins.

Director: Izuru Narushima

Writer: Katsuhiko Manabe (Screenplay), Miyuki Miyabe (Original Novel),

Starring: Ryoko Fujino, Mizuki Itagaki, Anna Ishii, Hiroya Shimizu, Miu Tomita, Koki Maeda, Reika Nishihata, Ayumu Mochizuki, Yui Natsukawa, Hiromu Nagasaku, Jiei Wakabayashi, Haru Kuroki, Tamae Ando, Miwako Ichikawa, Machiko Ono, Yutaka Matsushige, Houka Kinoshita, Mikio Kato

This is the second part of Solomon’s Perjury and I daren’t look up the synopsis in case I see spoilers! Here’s an overview of the story and first film which sets up the second:

Miyuki Miyabe is a famous best-selling author and directed by big-budget director Izuru Narushima (Admiral Yamamoto). Now, big-budget may be a turn-off but Narushima-kantoku has directed the brilliant heard-rending drama, Rebirth (2011). Here he works with a whole cast of new actors including Hiroya Shimizu, the tragic character in love with the devilish Kanako Fujishima in The World of Kanako (2014)! There are also other actors, some veterans, like Haru Kuroki (The Great Passage), Yutaka Matsushige (The Guard from Underground) and Machiko Ono (Like Father Like Son).

When a 14-year-old boy falls from the top of his school building, the authorities declare it is a suicide but an anonymous note given to the police claims that the sender witnessed the boy’s death and that he was killed by three troubled students at the school. The police try to hide the note but a reporter sees it and investigates. The students find themselves in an unstable situation with rumours swirling around and another classmate dying. To put an end to this situation the students hold a trial to uncover the truth…

Website

Miyako Island Triathlon

Japanese: 宮古島トライアスロン

Romaji: Miyakojima Toraiasuron

Release Date: April 11^th, 2015

Running Time: 90 mins.

General Director: Junichi Suzuki, Director: Yuuki Takano

Writer: Yuuki Takano (Screenplay),

Starring: Naoko Tsunoda, Asami Ishii, Tomoki Ishikawa, Atsuko Ishikawa, Emi Sakai, Akie Abe,

Triathletes are hard core. Running, swimming, cycling. I can only do one of those on a given day. Two? Three? I’d throw my hands up in defeat and watch a film (I’m really good at doing that!). Well now we can marvel at the determination and skill of triathletes by watching this feature-length documentary about the Miyako stretch of the All Japan Triathlon. It was their 30^th annual race recently and we get to see it and some of the competitors. You know who has triathletes beaten? Heptathletes. Now they are super human!

Website

Geki x Cine Ashura-jo no Hitomi 2003

Japanese: ゲキ×シネ「阿修羅城の瞳2003」

Romaji: Geki x Cine Ashura-jo no Hitomi 2003

Release Date: April 11^th, 2015

Running Time: 175 mins.

Director: Hidenori Inoue

Writer: Kazuki Nakashima (Screenplay),

Starring: Somegoro Ichikawa, Yuki Amami, Mari Natsuki, Shoko Takada, Jun Hashioto, Mantaro Koichi, Yoshimasa Kondo,

I like the fact that these stage plays are getting broadcast because they look so awesome. I also like the fact that there’s now an English language site describing all of the productions which is where I got the synopsis from!

Once in Love, one turns into a demon.

Back in the period of Edo, in the capital.

Behind the scenes of what looked like a peaceful time, an everlasting rancor between the human and the demons existed,

A special team of samurai’s were gathered to battle the demons, known as the “Onimikado”. The captain called Izumo Wakuraba (Somegoro Ichikawa) who was both talented with his sword and voodoo tricks lead the team. But 5 years prior after an incident with the demons, Izumo suddenly disappeared without a trace until he was spotted in a small theatre house called Nanboku. His life makes a turn when a mysterious woman called “Tsubaki” turns up at the theatre house where the two meet.

Thousand years of rancour opens a new door with the awakening of the Queen Demon “Ashura”. How will the battle end…

Website

Strobe Light

Japanese: ストロボ　ライト

Romaji: Sutorobo Raito

Release Date: April 11^th, 2015

Running Time: 120 mins.

Director: Ryo Katamoto

Writer: Ryo Katamoto (Screenplay),

Starring: Maiko Miyao, Takamitsu Fukuchi, Kinohiro Kishita, Soichiro Matsumoto,

I’m constantly updating my post about posters for films released in 2015 and this one has made it as one of my favourites this year. It’s for a film which has played across international festivals like the Japan Film Fest in Hamburg but I must admit that a lot of the staff and cast are new to me.

entered on the bizarre murder that occurred in residential area, lost memory criminal and suspense drama that drew while crossing the love of lovers to support him. In term quiet residential area, murder bodies cut off the wrist has been discovered. Investigation in to show the impasse, investigation one Division of Criminal Kobayashi notice to a common point between the incident itself was involved in the past. But in the wake of that is being attacked by someone was seriously injured, his memory going is piecemeal lost. Actually in Kobayashi, there was a past that was killed the parents at an early age. Self-produced work that was involved this work rookie supervision and Ryo Katamoto to be a feature-length debut is, with the cooperation of the people of Itami, Hyogo Prefecture.

Website

Senritsu kaiki fairu kowa sugi! Sai Shuushou

Japanese: 戦慄怪奇ファイルコワすぎ！最終章

Romaji: Senritsu kaiki fairu kowa sugi! Sai Shuushou

Release Date: April 11^th, 2015

Running Time: 89 mins.

Director: Koji Shiraishi

Writer: Koji Shiraishi (Screenplay),

Starring: Shigeo Osako, Shohei Uno, Koji Shiraishi, Chika Kuboyoama

Koji Shiraishi (Noroi: The Curse, The Slit-Mouthed Woman), is a genius at creating low-budget horror. He takes a digital video camera and creates found-footage stories. I’ve seen five and while I wouldn’t describe them as scary. They are fun and inventive and everybody looks like they are having fun which is rather infectious.

This is the final version of what started off as a straight-to-video series. It takes place in Shinjuku where strange things are happening and characters and events from previous films like Murder Workshop and Occult come back to haunt the director. This means that familiar collaborators such as Shohei Uno are back on screen. Seeing him take the lead as the character of the psycho from Murder Workshop looks funny!

Website

Wa-shoku ~Beyond Sushi~

Japanese: 和食ドリーム

Romaji: Washoku Dori-mu

Release Date: April 11^th, 2015

Running Time: 107 mins.

Director: Junichi Suzuki,

Writer: Junichi Suzuki (Screenplay),

Starring: Isao Hatano, Tyson Cole, Tomomi Inadam Atsuko Kohata, Nobu Matsuhisa, Yasuo Kumoda, Katsuya Uechi, Keizo Shimamoto,

Taken from the film’s IMDB page:

Japanese and American collaboration documentary film “WA-SHOKU ~Beyond Sushi~” produced by United Television Broadcasting Systems/ Film Voice and directed by Junichi Suzuki -an award winning director-. Japanese food starting from Sushi is familiar all over the world today. When you enter Japanese restaurants, you can see people, regardless of their ethnicity, enjoying this food culture. There is a passionate story of the men and women who dedicated their lives to spreading Japan’s traditional cultural cuisine making Wa-shoku (“Japanese Food” in Japanese) recognized throughout the world today. Featuring Mr. Noritoshi Kanai a CEO of Mutual Trading Co. Nobu Matsuhisa a chef/owner of Nobu restaurants, Katsuya Uechi a chef/owner of Katsu-ya group, Tyson Cole a chef of Uchi restaurant, Joel Robuchon a French chef, Yoshihiro Murata a chef/owner of Kyoto Kikunoi, and Shige Nakamura a Ramen master and more. This feature documentary film shows the past and the future of Wa-Shoku that these men and women created and how they maintained the essential traditional qualities of Japanese food.

Website

Random music video:

I’m on the verge of cracking Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together. It’s a brilliant game. I’ve put in 70 hours (I wake up at 5:00 AM and put in 30 – 60 minutes or watch a film) and can put in another 70 more but it’s time to draw things to a close so I can get on with my life. Here’s a selection of music from the soundtrack. Now imagine leading an army made up of a Kunoichi wielding two superior ninja swords and tearing through the flank of the enemy, maiming archers and clerics, two knights tanking the frontlines, two archers one-shotting the enemy from a distance, two gryphons and a Vartan terrorising people everywhere, and two priests healing and a fusil causing all sorts of mayhem while this music plays. I’m over-levelled as heck and hyper at the prospect of sweeping the enemy aside during my lunch-break at work (when I should be studying Japanese):

Han Gong-Ju

Release Date: April 17^th, 2015 (KOR)

UK Release Date: April 13^th, 2015

UK Distributor: Third Window Films

Running Time: 112 mins.

Director: Lee Sujin

Writer: Lee Sujin (Screenplay),

Starring: Chun Woo-Hee, Jung In-Sun, Kim So-Young, Lee Young-Ran,

Han Gong-Ju is the name of the main character. She is the beautiful girl with the tear-filled eyes staring out at us rather challengingly from the film poster and DVD case. It is a startling and intriguing look loaded with mystery and fright. Why is she crying? It makes you wonder and want to find out about why she is so upset, naturally, and the film takes advantage of this to tell a story of a girl recovering from a horrific incident and striving to survive in a society that constantly threatens her and lets her down because of her gender and lack of money.

We don’t find out any of this straight away. We don’t find out the incident that is the cause of her upset. The film plays a smart game by not telling us for the longest time. Instead it introduces us to the girl herself, taking time to display the fragile character and using a non-linear story full of flashbacks, visions and allusions to past actions to reveal pieces of the puzzle and make us investigate the girl at the centre of the story. This makes the revelation of the mystery behind her tears even more harrowing, her pain even more raw.

When we first meet the titular Han Gong-Ju (Chun Woo-Hee) we see her being told by an unsympathetic array of teachers that she will be heading to another school in the distant city of Incheon. She meekly tries to defend herself stating, “I didn’t do anything wrong.” The teachers pass her a school bag and she is soon transferred out.

It’s a long train ride to Incheon where she will be staying at the house of her teacher’s mother Ms. Lee (Lee Young-Ran), a no-nonsense shopkeeper who is convinced something suspicious is going on. She asks her son, “Why is she exiled? Is she knocked up?” He is not forthcoming about the circumstances. Instead he sets up Gong-Ju with a new school and a new mobile phone which makes her totally unreachable for those from her old life. He also warns her not to take calls from her father.

Why has she been forced to move? Why the isolation? Her teacher mentions courts and how things will go back to normal if she just keeps her head down, “Things aren’t black and white between people… I know you didn’t do anything wrong,” he announces before deserting her with his mother and going back to his job and his life. And this is what Han Gong-Ju does. She keeps her distance from her fellow pupils reacting with hostility whenever one of them tries to spark up a conversation and threatening anyone who takes a photograph of her. She becomes quiet. Her face becomes passive, a closed book which she does not allow anyone to read and she sinks into obscurity in the classroom, hanging back after class to make sure everyone else has gone and she can be left alone when she leaves. What about her parents? They are effectively absent and despite Gong-Ju’s best attempts at communication with them it leads to hurt especially when she places so much trust in them. She has been effectively abandoned and has nobody to turn to and with every detail we wonder why again and again.

Gong-Ju’s backstory is alluded to but not revealed, the script being as cryptic as the main character, protecting her secret for much of the film as we watch her integrate herself into her new environment.

Gong-Ju battles painful alienation and some unspoken event and perseveres in going to her new school and getting to know her teacher’s mother. Ms. Lee is a fascinating character who mirrors Gong-Ju and offers the young girl an insight into what it’s like to be a woman with a libido thanks to her adulterous affair with a local police chief that is a rather flagrant and scandalous breach of conservative moral society that is in Korea and brings on the ire of local housewives. The old lady’s hard-headed attitude is a cover for loneliness which she lets Gong-Ju into and the girl reciprocates a little finding solace in being with another person who society shames.

There is also Gong-Ju’s schoolmate Eun-Hee (Jung In-Sun) who offers so much warmth and a real teen girl friendship as she takes an interest in the new girl and slowly draws her into their high school choir. Between make-up session and Eun-Hee’s group of friends who admire Gong-Ju;s beautiful singing voice, our title character gradually opens up to new friendships and connections to others and it is great to see especially when we have watched an hour of her feeling isolated. Eun-Hee battles past Gong-Ju’s tough front to offer her a sense of normality that she has been starved of and even ignites some aspirations to be a singer which give Gong-Ju something to hope for.

All of this sounds nice but the film has so many notes of bitterness and bleakness because writer/director Lee Sujin ensures his script has an undercurrent of uncertainty over Gong-Ju. Although the film is shot in a fairly naturalistic way with nods to teen frothy drama during girly make-up sessions and music videos there are also many moments when Gong-Ju says something or the mood is ruined through unkindness from family, new-found friends and strangers. These undermine the tone and bring back the idea that Gong-Ju is terribly alone and something bad has happened. Darkness hovers over everything and yet Gong-Ju perseveres. We root for this girl. She can overcome whatever troubles her, right? What is the mystery?

Lee Sujin is smart enough to ensure that clues as to what sent Gong-Ju to Incheon are ever present so that while her overall behaviour can be mistaken by characters (and the most unobservant audience members) for teenage anxieties the more we watch Gong-Ju the more we doubt ourselves and so we become even more invested in the mystery surrounding the girl he has crafted. The clues are odd at first such as the way she flinches at the sound and sight of a stapler, the scene where she flees an internet café in terror when trying to research something and certain requests and behaviour at a clinic but it quickly make sense and a pattern emerges which clues the audience into why Gong-Ju acts the way she does (especially if one has watched enough Korean films).

And then there are those flashbacks that crowbar their way into scenes. The longer the film goes on the more they appear and the longer they get. At first they show a happy and outgoing girl, a loyal friend and decent person, one far-removed from the girl we first met. The more they go on the more menacing they get and the more they contextualise Gong-Ju’s odd behaviour in the present. The director’s intent with the structure of the film, the way he sucks viewers in and builds up interest and expectations is fully revealed in a harrowing sequences and the resultant fallout which fully colours Gong-Ju’s actions and reveals why she acts the way she does. We care about Gong-Ju at this point and the reasons for her exile and abandonment do truly shock. Worse is to come when we see just how alone she is and just how much of an injustice has been done to her and how people react when the secret is outed. Here, a troubling display of societal reactions heaps on the tragedy and potent social criticism emerges in the film to shame not Gong-Ju but those who abandon her.

I have gone on long enough about the film and to write any more would be to spoil what comes next. The film works because it is one that involves the audience by posing a mystery, carefully observing its characters and revealing a criticism of society and the way it treats people. The script and the way that the film is so artfully directed achieves to a remarkable degree and this shows that Lee Sujin is a talent to watch. A lot of credit goes to lead actress Chun Woo-Hee who gives an excellent performance as Gong-Ju. She plays her character carefully as a controlled girl hiding a complex mess of emotions, reaching out to others for help. Is help forthcoming? Will Gong-Ju tough it out? That’s for the viewer to discover.

4/5

As an itinerant anime and Asian film writer I have been reporting about the theatrical release of various movies for quite a while on this blog and another site in particular. One long-running project has been the Rurouni Kenshin movies which I have been tracking since back in 2011 (on this very blog) and 2012 (like here) and keeping track of the BBFC website I was able to spot that the first would be playing at select theatres in the UK. I was pleased when the first Rurouni Kenshin film appeared in my local cinema back in 2013 and I was soon helping spread the word about Rurouni Kenshin: Kyoto Inferno when it was released last year. This year it’s all coming to a close with Rurouni Kenshin: The Legend Ends. The day of that film’s release has nearly arrived! It’s so close! It’s released tomorrow on April 17^th! I have booked the day off work to savour the experience and possibly re-watch Kyoto Inferno which I now have on DVD!

Here are the UK theatrical release details for the third and final Rurouni Kenshin film…

Rurouni Kenshin The Legend Ends

Japanese: るろうに剣心　伝説の最期編

Romaji: Rurouni Kenshin: Densetsu no Saigo-hen

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

UK Release Date: April 17th, 2015

Running Time: 134 mins.

Director: Keishi Otomo

Writer: Kiyomi Fujii, Keishi Otomo, (Screenplay), Nobuhiro Watsuki (Original Manga)

Starring: Takeru Satoh, Emi Takei, Yu Aoi, Munetaka Aoki, Ryunosuke Kamiki, Yusuke Iseya, Tatsuya Fujiwara, Kaito Oyagi, Tao Tsuchiya, Maryjun Takahashi, Kazufumi Miyazawa, Masaharu Fukuyama,

Japanese website

Here’s the UK trailer:

This is the finale to the Kyoto arc of the original manga and it comes to an explosive end as Kenshin (Sato) must face off against another elite assassin, Makoto Shishio (Fujiwara), a man who wants to overthrow the newly formed Meiji government by destroying everything with his ironclad and returning Japan to chaos. At the end of the last film Kaoru (Takei) and Kenshin went overboard into a stormy sea and we see that Kenshin is saved by his former mentor, Hiko Seijuro (Fukuyama). In order to stop Shishio in time, Kenshin enlists the help of his old master to train for the ultimate battle between hero and villain in an epic blood-drenched showdown!

The film stars Takeru Sato (Real), Emi Takei (Ai to Makoto), Tatsuya Fujiwara (Battle Royale) and Yu Aoi (Hana and Alice) taking the lead roles with Ryunosuke Kamiki (The Kirishima Thing), Yusuke Iseya (Thirteen Assassins), and Masaharu Fukuyama (Like Father Like Son).

The cinemas confirmed as screening the film are part of the Cineworld chain and it looks like most screening are in the evenings. Here’s the list of cinemas:

Cineworld Glasgow Renfrew St.,

Cineworld Sheffield,

Cineworld Stevenage,

Cineworld West India Quay.

Rurouni Kenshin: Kyoto Inferno and Rurouni Kenshin: The Legend Ends will also screen at Dublin’s Lighthouse cinema as part of a rather excellent-looking Japanese Film Festival (Fuku-chan, Forma, Kwaidan and other excellent titles are on offer!!!) on April 17th and April 18th respectively.

I think it’s great that Warner Bros. are releasing Japanese movies they make in the West and I hope people go and see them so we can continue to get more. I know it’s about supporting the ‘right release’ and I can tell you that the Rurouni Kenshin films are an excellent series of action packed historical epics that have excellent visuals, great soundtracks, fantastic fights, memorable villains, and cool heroes. I have taken friends and family to see the first two as well as a few other Warner Bros. Japan productions and they have enjoyed them all.

Here’s a selection of other Warner Bros. Japan films I have reviewed:

Berserk: Golden Age Arc The Egg of the King

Wild 7

Black Butler

Rurouni Kenshin

Rurouni Kenshin: Kyoto Inferno

Ninja Kids!!!

Apart from Tajomaru and Higanjima…

Hello audience!

It has been a busy week for me writing reviews and previews for films yet to be released (some really interesting ones like Obon no Otouto and Soredake/That’s It). I published a review for Han Gong-Ju and updated the information for the theatrical release of Rurouni Kenshin: The Legend Ends which I watched yesterday. I also watched Seventh Code, Deep Red, Watashi no Otoko, and The Young Victoria.

I watched part of the press conference for the Cannes Film Festival (image to the right). I liked the Josh Brolin short directed by the Coen brothers. It was amusing, the rest of the press conference less so. There were a few Japanese/co-productions films announced and I’ll post about them next week (that post is prepped). Also, that’s how I dress at my job. I now know my fashion style is dishevelled cinephile.

What’s released in Japan this weekend?

Vampire in Love

Japanese: 恋するヴァンパイア

Romaji: Koi Suru Vampaia

Release Date: April 17^th, 2015

Running Time: 102 mins.

Director: Mai Suzuku

Writer: Mai Suzuki (Screenplay),

Starring: Mirei Kiritani, Shota Totsuka, Seiichi Tanabe, Nene Otsuka, Natsume Mito, Choi Jin-Hyuk, Akira Emoto, Ekin Cheng,

Kiira (Kiritani) is a vampire who lives like a normal little girl and only her hood friend Tetsu (Totsuka) knows. Her goal in life is to become the best baker around. Then, when she reaches the age of twelve, her parents die and she is sent to live with distant relatives and loses contact with Tetsu… Until, eight years later, he appears at the bakery she works at and the two start dating but Kiira is worried about her vampiric nature…

Website

ANIME MIRAI 2015

Anime Mirai (Future of animation) is a training programme where studios are selected by The Japan Animation Creators Association (JAniCA) to be recipients of a share of 214.5 million yen given by the Japanese government’s Agency of Cultural affairs in order to find and foster talent in the Japanese animation industry. These young animators who were selected received 38 million yen to create 30 minute projects that showcase some of the best and brightest ideas out there.

The Association of Japanese Animations has given out money to a variety of studios and their young animators as part of a training programme and rounded up the results of their work on their Anime Mirai projects aaaaand… This year doesn’t seem as strong as previous years which have had titles like Death Billiards (which became the anime Death Parade). As is usually the case with this project, there are four titles, each running at around 25 minutes but unlike previous years there are too many cute girls and not enough else. Check out the website for more and check out this Anime News Network page (which I used to write the preview) for more information.

Aki’s Music-Playing

Japanese: アキの奏で

Romaji: Aki no Kanada

Release Date: April 17^th, 2015

Running Time: N/A

Director: Youhei Suzuki

Writer: N/A

Starring: Rina Satou (Aki Miyagawa), Kenji Hamada (Michio Yoshioka),

This tale comes from the studio J.C. Staff (Azumanga Daioh) and is directed by Youhei Suzuki who has directed episodes of La storia della Arcana Famiglia and “Hentai” Prince and the Stony Cat. It’s all about a girl named Aki Miyagawa who travelled to Tokyo to pursue her dream to be a Taiko drummer, but had a hard time balancing her strict training regimen with her part-time job. Now, after 15 years, she’s returning to coach others for a taiko festival.

Website

Happy ComeCome

Japanese: ハッピーカムカム

Romaji: Happi- Kamukamu

Release Date: April 17^th, 2015

Running Time: N/A

Director: Yumiko Suda

Writer: N/A

Starring: Naoko Watanabe, Shotaro Moriya, Ai Ichitaro, Megumi Aratake,

Probably the most experienced director in this year’s Anime Mirai is Yumiko Suda with numerous episodes, and a film, of Chibi Maruko-chan, and Urusei Yatsura and Folktales from Japan. She takes the lead over at the studio SynergySP in this anime about a lonely guy named Hiroshi who orders a maid robot from a company called Happy Come Come, but ends up with the robot mom Yoshiko instead. Yoshiko acts more motherly than Hiroshi’s real mother, and over time she is able to heal his heart.

Website

Kumi to Tulip

Japanese: クミとチューリップ

Romaji: Kumi to Churippu

Release Date: April 17^th, 2015

Running Time: N/A

Chief Director: Makoto Tezuka, Director: Fumihiro Yoshimura

Writer: N/A

Starring: N/A

The house that Osamu Tezuka (Astro-Boy) built, Tezuka Productions, and Tezuka’s son Makoto bring a sci-fi tale to the table. It is all about a little girl named Kumi who lives in a robot-filled world with sparkling metal skyscrapers. Kumi’s playground is a garden by one of those skyscrapers with a man-made water fountain, artificial vegetation, and digital water and butterflies. Kumi meets an old man who visits the park every day to paint the artificial flowers. The old man tells Kumi of when he discovered a “breathing” tulip sprouting amidst the artificial flowers, and the two decide to watch over the tulip together as it grows.

Website

Music Girl

Japanese: 音楽少女

Romaji: Ongaku Shoujo

Release Date: April 17^th, 2015

Running Time: N/A

Director: Kenichi Ishikura

Writer: Kana Yamada (Screenplay),

Starring: Asami Seto (Eri Kumagai), Manami Numakura (Haru Chitose), Saori Hayami (Sakura Nakayama),

Studio DEEN, the guys who produced Fruits Basket and You’re Under Arrest! Are under the command of director Kenichi Ishikura (Sakura Trick) and written by Kana Yamada (who also worked on Sakura Trick).It’s all about a girl named Eri, and she likes to stay indoors. She once liked singing but stopped. All that changes when she meets a mysterious but enthusiastic transfer student named Haru who loves Eri’s singing. The story follows the two during one summer of their high school life as their love sometimes overlaps and sometimes passes by each other

Website

Acchan

Japanese: あっちゃん

Romaji: Acchan

Release Date: April 18^th, 2015

Running Time: 103 mins.

Director: Nario

Writer: N/A

Starring: Atsushi Inoue, Sora Aoi, Kenji Ohtsuki, Masayo Ishizaki, Ayako Inoue, Yoko Yazawa, Kazuya Miyata,

Documentary that follows Atsushi Inoue, a central figure of the punk rock band “Nyurotika” who were big around 1984. Then it all fell apart due to contract issues, feuds between the record label and band members. That was 30 years ago. He is very different now since he works in a candy store but still dabbles in music. Find out what happened to him and the band in the 1980-90’s and hear from fans such as Kenji Ohtsuki and famed playwright Kudo Kankuro.

Website

Naoto Hitorikiri Alone in Fukushima

Japanese: ナオトひとりっきり Alone in Fukushima

Romaji: Naoto Alone in Fukushima

Release Date: April 04^th, 2015

Running Time: N/A

Director: Sakichi Sato

Writer: Mayu Nakamura

Starring: Naoto Matsuura

This is a documentary about a 55-year-old man named Naoto Matsumura (interesting article here) who is surviving in a town in the no man’s land surrounding the Fukushima nuclear reactors caring for abandoned animals. Witness their struggle to survive.

Website

Dragon Ball Z: Resurrection ‘F’

Japanese: ドラゴンボールZ 復活の「F」

Romaji: Dragon Ball Z: Fukkatsu no F

Release Date: April 18^th, 2015

Running Time: 93 mins.

Director: Tadayoshi Yamamuro

Writer: Akira Toriyama (Screenplay/Original Creator),

Starring: Masako Nozawa (Son Goku, Son Gohan), Ryo Horikawa (Vegeta), Hiromi Tsuru (Bulma), Ryusei Nakao (Frieza),

Multiple Dragonball anime aired when I was in high school and I watched a lot of them until I got bored (the same thing happened with Gundam). Akira Toriyama, creator of the massively popular anime, returns to write the movie and his trick for this movie sees him resurrect classic villain Frieza.

Website

Detective Conan: Sunflowers of Inferno

Japanese: 名探偵コナン 業火の向日葵

Romaji: Meitantei Conan: Gouka no Himawari

Release Date: April 18^th, 2015

Running Time: 113 mins.

Director: Kobun Shizuno

Writer: Takeharu Sakurai (Screenplay), Gosho Aoyama (Original Creator),

Starring: Minama Takayama (Conan Edogawa), Kappei Yamaguchi (Kaito Kuroba/Kaito Kid), Hiroshi Isobe (Koji Azuma), Nana Eikura (Natsumi Miyadai), Wakana Yamazaki (Ran Mori), Rikiya Koyama (Kogoro Mori)

All of the paintings… A lot of my Japanese friends know art. They know it to such an extent that I am made to feel foolish because I’m the one who works in a gallery and I don’t know as much as they do. The trailer reminded me of the story of the Japanese businessman who bought Van Gogh’s Sunflowers for tens of millions of dollars just before the economic bubble burst. He was one of many businessmen to sink silly money into art. Here’s a website with more stories and facts and figures about art and crazy prices paid by Japanese businessmen. Anyway, here’s the trailer and synopsis. All I will say is that Conan Edogawa and Kaito Kid (two creations of Gosho Aoyama), are going head to head in a fight over art!.

Conan Edogawa as he tries to track down Kaito Kid, who is supposedly steals a replica of one of Van Gogh’s Sunflowers paintings during an auction. (A real version of the painting depicted was owned by a Japanese collector, until it was destroyed during World War II. A version of the painting depicted in the movie was recently recreated.)

Website

Eiga Crayon Shin-chan: Ora no Hikkoshi Monogatari ~Saboten Daishuugeki

Eiga Crayon Shin-chan Ora no Hikkoshi Monogatari ~Saboten Daishūgeki Film Poster

Japanese: 映画クレヨンしんちゃん オラの引越し物語～サボテン大襲撃～

Romaji: Eiga Crayon Shin-chan: Ora no Hikkoshi Monogatari ~Saboten Daishuugeki

Release Date: April 18^th, 2015

Running Time: 104 mins.

Director: Masakazu Hashimoto

Writer: Kimiko Ueno (Screenplay), Yoshito Usui (Original Creator),

Starring: Akiko Yajima (Shinnosuke Nohara), Keiji Fujiwara (Hiroshi Nohara), Miki Narahashi (Misae Nohara), Satomi Koorogi (Himawari Nohara), Maaya Sakamoto (Carolina), Rino Sashihara (Sumaho-chan),

In the kindergartner “Shin-chan’s” 23rd movie, he and his family say their goodbyes to Kasukabe City and move to Mexico.

Website

Watch Rakugo on the Cinema Screen: “Master Storytellers of the Showa Period 8”

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

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　八」

Romaji: Sukurīn de miru kōza shinema rakugo `rakugo kenkyūkai Shōwa no meijin hachi

Release Date: April 18^th, 2014 (Japan)

Running Time: 106 mins.

Director: N/A

Writer: N/A

Starring: Bunki Katsura, Bunraku Katsura, Matsuo Yamazaki,

This is the eighth 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.

Website

And that’s it for this week’s trailers. Here’s the random music video of the week:

Au Revoir l’ete was released will be getting a UK release courtesy of the film company day for night. Even though the film was screened at last year’s Edinburgh International Film Festival and I was aware that it was picked up for UK distribution but lost track of it after that. Thankfully a kind reader named Rachel Amandus alerted me to a future screening and that got me doing some rummaging around the internet for information to make this post!

Au revoir l’ete

Japanese: ほとり　の　朔子

Romaji: Hotori no Sakuko

Running Time: 125 mins.

Release Date: January 18^th, 2014

Director: Koji Fukada

Writer: Koji Fukada (Screenplay)

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

Website

Fumi Nikaido takes the lead as an eighteen-year-old girl named Sakuko. She’s a ronin student who is preparing to take her university entrance exam after flunking her previous one. She visits her aunt Mikie (Tsuruta) who is house-sitting in a sleepy coastal town house where she meets her aunt’s childhood friend (and ex-lover) Ukichi (Furutachi). He manages the local love motel and lives with his daughter Tatsuko (Sugino) and his nephew Takashi (Taiga) who is from Fukushima and working at the motel. Sakuko gets involved with everyone’s lives and a web of relationships evolves throughout the summer…

Au Revoir L’ete was originally released in January 2014 and since then it has been touring the festival circuit for a while (Rotterdam, Edinburgh), as mentioned earlier, and during its travels it has picked up all sorts of awards and reviews that tell stories of adulation (Japan Times) and frustration (the Hollywood Reporter. The mix of views all seems to stem from whether one likes meandering tales of people navigating complicated relationships. The subtle execution and languid tone strike a balance between Japanese cinema and the French New Wave with Eric Rohmer’s name being name-checked. I’m a fan of Rohmer’s works and one of my earliest posts (and briefest) on this blog was about his passing so I’m totally looking forward to seeing this one.

Au Revoir l’ete stars a whole group of talented Japanese actors with the astonishingly brilliant Fumi Nikaido taking the lead. She has impressed me in everything I have seen her in, from Himizu where she portrayed an immature school girl facing great adversity, to the most recent title I have seen her in Watashi no Otoko where she blew me away as a young woman shaped into a lover by a predatory older guy and ultimately ensnaring him while being broken herself. Her performances hold profound depths of despair and hope without the need to overact and spell everything out for the audience and this makes a great lead for a film of this type.

She has support from excellent actors like Kanji Furutachi (The Woodsman and the Rain, the crazy curry cook in Fuku-chan of Fukufuku Flats), Ena Koshino (The Cowards Who Looked to the Sky and indie gem About the Pink Sky), Taiga (The Kirishima Thing and a small part in Watashi no Otoko) and Makiko Watanabe (Love Exposure). The film’s producer is Kiki Sugino and she also has a role and that is as the daughter of Ukichi. She’s a director in her own right and has produced some interesting-looking films like Chigasaki Story.

Anyway back to the release details, the film will be screened at:

The Horse Hospital on April 24^th

The Proud Archivist on April 28^th

The film will then be available to watch on the website via the distrify platform from April 24^th. That’s how I’m going to watch it. Expect a review.

Source

At last year’s Terracotta Far East Film Festival I saw Be My Baby, a small independent film made by a workshop on a tiny budget and starring a bunch of unknown and rather inexperienced actors. The low-budget film was an acting tour-de-force and an example of smart directing making the most of minimal resources.

Be My Baby is a satirical story about a group of young, rough, and broke guys and girls who follow gyaru culture at a house party from hell and the fallout from that experience which leads to developing relationships, dirty secrets, terribly embarrassing revelations, and the exposure of how emotionally fragile, lonely and desperate these characters are. It’s twisting, talky, and at times tiring keeping track of the bed-hopping and shifting allegiances but there’s a lot of substance and the film is a real expose of one part of Japanese youth culture struggling with part time jobs and no expectations. This is a great example of ‘workshop’ filmmaking which is popular in Japan and, let me state again, the acting is phenomenal. I met some of the cast before the film and seeing the transformation in clothes, physicality, and speech was remarkable. Here’s my review of Be My Baby恋の渦 (2013) which goes into more detail about what I felt watching the film.

Third Window Films are going to release the film at the end of next month. Here are the details:

BE MY BABY

Directed by Hitoshi One (Moteki – Love Strikes)
A special ‘workshop’ film from Japan. Made by an actors’ workshop featuring all newcomers under the supervision of a veteran director, all made in just 4 days for a budget of less than $10,000!

Japan / 2012 / 138 Mins / In Japanese with English subtitles / Colour
Starring newcomers: Chihiro Shibata, Naoko Wakai, Yuumi Goto, Yuki Ueda, Aya Kunitake, Kenta Niikura, Daisuke Sawamura, Kenta Enya

On DVD May 25th

DVD Special Features:
‘Girls Talk’ – Pajama party with female cast of the film
Interview with producer Masashi Yamamoto

Unfolding in the two weeks following a casual party at the home of the overbearing Koji, nine “20-something” Japanese revellers with long, deeply entwined histories navigate the secrets and lies of contemporary relationships. Touching on issues of self-respect, emotional manipulation, casual viciousness, petty interpersonal politicking, dependency, insecurity, infidelity and misogyny, One Hitoshi’s drama is as dark as it is soapy — with unfortunately recognisable characters with recognisable human flaws.

Directed by Hitoshi One
Original Story and Script by Daisuke Miura
Producer : Masashi Yamamoto
Director of Photography: Futa Takagi, Yasuyuki Ozeki, Hitoshi One
Sound mixer: Masayuki Iwakura, Takuro Kouchi
Music: Taisei Iwasaki
Editor: Yasuyuki Ozaki

The Japan Times – Top 10 Films of the year
YesAsia – Top 10 Films of the year
Eiga Geijutsu – Top 10 Films of the year
23^rd Japan Film Professional Awards – Honourable Mention for New Actors
8^th Five Flavours Film Festival – Winner People’s Jury Award

The Curtain Rises, Have a Song on Your Lips, The Furthest End Awaits, Listener, Oedo no Candy, Furiko, Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin, Samulife Japanese Film Trailers

Idol Tears DOCUMENTARY of SKE48

Miss Hokusai Preview Japan and UK Release Info

The Thieves (2012)

Knights of Sidonia, Solomon’s Perjury (Part 1), Kept, A Cup of Life / Mystery Café, Little Voices from Fukushima, Watashi no Owaranai Tabi, Tears of Poseidon, Tadashikuikiru, Sekai no Owari no Izu Koneko, Doraemon: Nobita no Space Heroes Japanese Film Trailers

Patema Inverted サカサマのパテマ (2013)

Miss Hokusai Trailer Released

Kaze ni Tatsu Lion, Strobe Edge, Eiga Precure All Stars: Haru no Carnival, Shimajiro to Okina ki, Maku ga Agaru, Sono Mae ni. Kanojotachi no Hitonatsu no Chosen, Kyoukai no Kanata – I’ll Be Here – Kako-hen, Front and Back and Other Japanese Film Trailers

My Little Sweet Pea 麦子さんと (2013)

Ashita ni Nareba, Assassination Classroom, Eating Crabs, Super Rotation, Damn Life, Tsumasaki, Death Forest Kyoufu no Mori 2, Grey Crow and other Japanese Film Trailers

Parade (パレード) 2010

Death and Tanya, Forget Me Not, Gamushara (Daredevil), Tamako chan and Kokkubo, Red Cow, Joy of Man’s Desiring, Passage of Jomon and Pakur, Garo: Garo Gold Storm Sho and Other Japanese Film Trailers

Third Window Films Release Han Gong-Ju

HAN GONG-JU

The debut film of Lee Sujin

DVD/BLU-RAY Special Features:
Enemy’s Apple: Lee Sujin’s award-winning 20 minute short film

Genkina hito’s Top Twelve Films of 2014

Shinsengumi of the Dead, Solomon’s Perjury 2, Miyako Island Triathlon, Geki x Cine Ashura-jo no Hitomi 2003, Strobe Light, Senritsu kaiki fairu kowa sugi! Sai Shuushou, Wa-shoku ~Beyond Sushi~ Japanese Film Trailers

Han Gong-Ju (2013)

Rurouni Kenshin: The Legend Ends Released Tomorrow in UK Cinemas

Vampire in Love, ANIME MIRAI 2015, Acchan, Naoto Hitorikiri Alone in Fukushima, Dragon Ball Z: Resurrection ‘F’, Detective Conan: Sunflowers of Inferno, Eiga Crayon Shin-chan: Ora no Hikkoshi Monogatari ~Saboten Daishuugeki Japanese Film Trailers

Au revoir l’ete UK Release Information

Third Window Films Release Be My Baby on May 25th

BE MY BABY

Idol Tears DOCUMENTARY of SKE48

HAN GONG-JU

The debut film of Lee Sujin

DVD/BLU-RAY Special Features: Enemy’s Apple: Lee Sujin’s award-winning 20 minute short film

BE MY BABY

DVD/BLU-RAY Special Features:
Enemy’s Apple: Lee Sujin’s award-winning 20 minute short film