Happy weekend people!!!

This post is super-late because I have been writing reviews for two J-horror films as part of my splatter season of horror and gore and all sorts of other stuff. I also wrote a bunch of manga reviews. WHAT A FINALE TO JOJO’S BIZARRE ADVENTURE!!! Not enough respect is given to that show which has been a gripping affair and I had tears in my eyes at certain points!

Anyway, I posted about my Splatter Season and a review for White Panic (2005).

What’s released this weekend?

Hold Your Breath Like a Lover   

Japanese:　 息を殺して

Romaji: Iki wo Koroshite

Release Date: June 20^th, 2015

Running Time: 85 mins.

Director: Kohei Igarashi

Writer: Kohei Igarashi (Screenplay),

Starring:  Goichi Mine, Yusuke inaba, Ran Taniguchi, Koji Harada, Tomomitsu Adachi, Ran Arai, Rina Tanaka, Yuki Inagaki

Kohei Igarashi studied at the Tokyo University of the Arts which is where Kiyoshi Kurosawa teaches. His film has shades of Pulse (2001) to it what with the apocalypse angle which makes it intriguing but it also looks gorgeous! It was at this year’s Nippon Connection and I’m pretty devetated that I may not get to see it!

It is sometime in the near-future in a seemingly abandoned factory. A handful of workers spend their time playing video games, battling out love conflicts and aimlessly walking through gloomy offices and corridors while haunted by the ghosts of the dead in what seems to be the preamble to the apocalypse.

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The Ninja War of Torakage   

Japanese: 虎影

Romaji: Torakage

Release Date: June 20^th, 2015

Running Time: 94 mins.

Director: Yoshihiro Nishimura

Writer: Yoshihiro Nishimura, Jun Tsugita (Screenplay),

Starring:  Takumi Saito, Yuria Haga, Eihi Shiina, Kanji Tsuda, Maki Mizui, Mao Mita,

I’ve reviewed a couple of Yoshihiro Nishimura films here – Tokyo Gore Police and Vampire Girl vs Frankenstein Girl and I’ll review a few more for my splatter season. This one stars Takumi Saito who I trashed for his performance in Vampire Girl vs. Frankenstein Girl (2009) but came to like in For Love’s Sake (2012). Co-star Eihi Shiina isn’t in many films but when she is, she’s memorable as anyone who saw Audition (1999) can attest.

Set in the Sengoku Period, Torakage (Takumi Saito) is retired ninja who left his old ninja ways to raise a family with his wife in a quiet village. All of that changes, one day, when the leader of the ninja clan he belonged to captures him and hold his family hostage in order to get hidden treasure. Torakage picks up his sword to defend his family, throwing oneself into a fight for the treasure.

Website

Ju-on: The Final   

Japanese Title:  呪怨ザ・ファイナル

Romaji: Juon Za Faibaru

Release Date: June 20^th, 2015

Running Time: 91 mins.

Director: Masayuki Ochiai

Writer: Masayuki Ochiai, Takashige Ichise (Screenplay)

Starring: Airi Taira, Ren Kiriyama, Kai Kobayashi, Yoshihiko Hakamada, Miyabi Matsuura,

I’m reviewing a Ju-On film for my splatter season! I’ll let you guess which one. This is the latest, and reputedly the last in the franchise and it looks like a continuation of the last Ju-On, Ju-On: Beginning of the End.

Mai’s younger sister Yui is missing after taking a job at an elementary school where she was the teacher of Toshio Saeki, a student who never appeared in class. Mai finds out about Toshio and decides to visit the Saeki house for clues on her sister’s disappearance…

Website

The Pearls of the Stone Man   

Japanese:　 愛を積むひと

Romaji: Ai wo Tsumu Hito

Release Date: June 20^th, 2015

Running Time: 125 mins.

Director: Yuzo Asahara

Writer: Yuzo Asahara, Takuro Fukuda (Screenplay), Edward Mooney, Jr. (Original Novel)

Starring:  Koichi Sato, Kanako Higuchi, Keiko Kitagawa, Shuhei Nomura, Hana Sugisaki, Hiroyuki Morisaki, Akira Emoto, Yo Yoshida,

Koichi Sato, lead actor in Starfish Hotel (2006) and Infection (2004) takes the lead role in a domestic drama.

Atsushi (Koichi Sato) and Ryoko (Kanako Higuchi) are a married coupled. They decide they want to live around nature and move to Biei in Hokkaido, Japan. Atsushi isn’t sure what to do with his free time, so Ryoko asks him build a stone wall around their house. Atsushi experiences tragedy, but later gets closer to his estranged daughter, Satoko (Keiko Kitagawa). Atsushi continues building the stone wall.

Website

Takoyaki no Uta   

Japanese:　 ローリング

Romaji: Takoyaki no Uta

Release Date: June 19^th, 2015

Running Time: 76 mins.

Director: Takushi Chikakane

Writer: Takushi Chikakane (Screenplay),

Starring:  Miho Tomizu, Ryoko Tanaka, Saki Furuwa, Sunny Francis

Takoyaki is my favourite Japanese food! I could eat it all day!

Miho and Karin Sawada are a mother and daughter who live in Kansai. Karin loves baseball and her works in a takoyaki shop. It’s summer and the air conditioning fails. The daughter is driven to destraction but the mother says wait until we ae more money. Opportunity will soon come calling!

Website

Yakuza Apocalypse: The Great War of the Underworld   

Japanese: 極道大戦争

Romaji: Goku dou dai sensou

Release Date: June 20^th, 2015

Running Time: 125 mins.

Director: Takashi Miike

Writer: Yoshitaka Yamaguchi (Screenplay),

Starring: Hayato Ichihara, Riko Narumi, Lily Franky, Reiko Takashima, Kiyohio Shibukawa, Sho Aoyagi, Mio Yuki, Pierre Taki, Denden, Yayan Ruhian, Yuki Sakurai,

Yakuza Apocalypse: The Great War of the Underworld was at this year’s Cannes International Film Festival and it was part of the Director’s Fortnight where it was given mixed reviews. This seems like one for the fans!

Akira (Ichihara) is inspired the by fearsome reputation of the so-called “invincible” yakuza boss Genyo Kamiura (Franky) to become a yakuza himself. What he finds is not what he expected. His fellow gangsters don’t play by old-school rules of loyalty and honour. Even worse, they treat him like a fool and his sensitive skin means he cannot tattoos. Things change when Akira gets caught up in an assassination attempt on Genyo…

Website

Ghost in the Shell: New Movie   

Japanese Title: 攻殻機動隊 新劇場版

Romaji: Kōkaku Kidōtai Shin Gekijō-ban

Release Date: June 20^th, 2015 (Japan)

Running Time: N/A

Chief Director: Kazuchika Kise, Director: Kazuya Nomura

Writer: Tow Ubukata (Screenplay),

Starring: Maaya Sakamoto (Motoko Kusanagi), Kenichirou Matsuda (Batou), Ikkyuu Juku (Daisuke Aramaki), Tarusuke Shingaki (Togusa),

Ghost in the Shell (GitS) is one of my favourite franchises and so new entries is good news, as far as I’m concerned. The trailer I have here features a potted history of the GitS franchise with new footage at the end. Fans should be at ease because it looks like the franchise is in safe hands with Production I.G bringing this to life under the direction of Kazuchika Kise, the guy behind the Arise reboot plut a Production I.G vet with work on all of the Ghost in the Shell movies and other titles like City Hunter, Goku II: Midnight Eye (that Manga UK dub is glorious!), Giovanni’s Island and Patlabor. The director is another interesting chap. Kazuya Nomura has directed episodes of incredible anime like Tokyo Magnitude 8.0, Dennou Coil and was involved in Ghost Hound and Mind Game. The script comes from Tow Ubukata who has written good cyberpunk titles like Mardock Scramble.

The story takes place in 2029 and involves Motoko Kusanagi, Batou, Togusa and the rest of Section 9 investigating the assassination of the prime minister and it looks like someone from Kusanagi’s past may be involved.

Guitar Madagascar   

Japanese:　 ギターマダガスカル

Romaji: Gita- Madagasukaru

Release Date: June 20^th, 2015

Running Time: 106 mins.

Director: Takeshi Kamei

Writer: Takeshi Kamei

Starring:  Thominot Andrianjafy,

Straight from the film’s IMDB page:

Guitar Madagascar is a movie about the people of Madagascar, the fourth largest island in the world. It’s a movie about their views on life and death, and also about how everything is connected by a rich culture of music. In Madagascar, death is seen as one phase of eternal life. Via funerals and other rituals a dead person continues to have a presence among the living. For today’s people of Madagascar, music remains an essential way to interact with the spirits of their ancestors. Guitar Madagascar follows the travels of 5 musicians as they reconnect with their roots. These trips paint a picture of the lives of a people who live modestly off the land, and where a joyful music springs up at the smallest opportunity.

Website

Okinawa Urizun no Ame   

Japanese:　 沖縄　うりずんの雨

Romaji: Okinawa Urizun no Ame

Release Date: June 20^th, 2015

Running Time: 148 mins.

Director: Jean Yunkaman

Writer: N/A

Starring:  Eiko Asato, Eriko Ikeda, Masao Ishikawa, Yoko Tamaki,

An American director examines the spirit of the people of Okinawa from the fighting with US forces in World War II to now with US military bases on the island.

Website

KIRI: Shokugyo Koroshiya Gaiden   

Japanese:　 KIRI 「職業・殺し屋。」外伝

Romaji: KIRI `shokugyou koroshi-ya.’ Gaiden

Release Date: June 20^th, 2015

Running Time: 77 mins.

Director: Koichi Sakamoto

Writer: Hideaki Nishikawa (Original Manga), Hidehiro Ito, Itaru Er (Screenplay),  

Starring:  Yumiko Shaku, Yuki Kubota, Ayane, Atsushi Arai, Suzu Toshioka, Yuka Ohnishi, Ayame Misaki, Arisa Komiya,

This is based on a manga serialised in Young Animal and it’s about a woman with the job of an assassin who aims to take out people who love killing others.

Website

Random music video:

BACANNO! is awesome. I want to make something like this.

As the Gods Will      

Japanese: 神さまの言うとおり

Romaji: Kami-sama no Iutoori

Release Date: November 15^th, 2014 (Japan)

Running Time: 117 mins.

Director: Takashi Miike

Writer: Hiroyuki Yatsu (Screenplay), Muneyuki Kaneshiro, Akeji Fujimura (Original Manga)

Starring: Sota Fukushi, Hirona Yamazaki, Ryunosuke Kamiki, Mio Yuki, Shota Sometani, Nao Omori, Lily Franky

Website

As the Gods Will is the big-budget adaptation of a horror-survival manga series written by Muneyuki Kaneshiro and illustrated by Akeji Fujimura. I picked up on it at the end of last year because it looked great and was directed by Takashi Miike who has gone back to his V-cinema horror/action roots as of late. The DVD/blu-ray was released at the end of May and I’m happy to report that this film doesn’t disappoint fans of Miike. The film is a star-studded affair with talented actors like Ryunosuke Kamiki, Shota Sometani, Lily Franky being led by Sota Fukushi in a tale about a bored schoolboy who wants a bit of excitement in his life and gets more than he bargained for.

As the Gods Will starts with feathers falling over a set of characters (symbolism I’m sure we all know) and those characters, Shun Takahata (Fukushi), his childhood friend and secret crush Ichika Akimoto (Yamazaki) and fellow students named Takeru Amaya (Kamiki) and Satake (Sometani) each look directly into the camera and say something to God, something that sparks off a series of a deadly game…

“Kami-sama, my life is very boring.”

“Omae…for what purpose do we live for?”

Then we get taken directly into the first of a series of death games. We don’t know it at first, our introduction is a shock. The camera pans up the headless body of a school girl lying on a classroom floor. A series of shots reveal that the place is a mess. Students stand stunned amidst heaps of bodies, books lie open on the ground, desks overturned, crimson marbles scattered about everywhere. Then we hear a deep-throated jovial voice cackle and say, “Daaaaaaarumaaaaaa-san ga…. koronda!”

A large devilish Daruma is playing a deadly game of ‘Daruma-san ga Koronda” (here’s a video explanation) and worse still is the fact that there is a timer on his back counting down – explosives? It sits on the teacher’s desk, a rictus grin and huge bloodshot eyes widening with glee everytime it catches someone moving because it can then make that person’s head explode in a spray of blood and marbles. One person, Satake has his wits about him. “Don’t move. If you move you’ll die!” He starts trying to figure things out, thinking through out loud for the benefit of his classmates and offering a degree of exposition for the audience, while our main character in the story, Shun, is at the centre of the class doing his best not to move as the Daruma tortures the kids in the room with the threat of a very messy death.

This is but the first set-piece of the movie and director Takashi Miike has a ball playing up the violence with super-colourful, slow-motion shots of heads exploding into gouts of blood and marbles that he tracks with manic editing and a fluid camera so we see them as they hit light fixtures, splash windows and people, and scatter everywhere. The bright and pleasant classroom is rapidly turning into a scene of a massacre as Takahata and his classmates are spilling all over the place trying not to get caught moving by the Daruma while trying to figure out a way to stop it. Suffice it to say that not everyone makes it out of the class alive.

Shun Takahata does and he is exhorted to live by his torturer the Daruma. Standing amidst the heaps of bodies, looking at the chaos, he pleads, “God, give me back my boring life.”

Shun is not alone as Ichika bursts into his class. It turns out that she and Shun are not the only survivors but their joy is muted as they are about to enter another spectacularly gory set-piece involving a giant cat in the school gym…

I cannot reveal anything more than this because a lot of the fun is seeing how the film evolves and it is quite unexpected and exciting as a result. What I can say is that what takes place is a series of death games that are based on traditional Japanese children’s games. We later find out that high school kids are being forced to play these events worldwide (so a British version of “daruma-san ga koronda” is “grandmother’s footsteps”) but for Japanese kids they have to run a gauntlet of hellish events dictated by a devilish Shiratori game from hell.

This sutructure (mostly lifted in order from the manga) gives the script firm direction for events which get ever more bizarre and spectacular, cerebral and grisly as people are thrown into familiar children’s games made terrifying because they have a deadly edge with death guaranteed for the losers. Chief amongst the dangers is the fact that the creatures running the games are memorable villains who delight in eating, smashing, crushing, and tearing apart their prey and all with a sense of joviality so the film

There’s a Tom and Jerry quality to the exaggerated violence and the way the villains play the most gruesome things for laughs. While the actual deaths are delivered with stomach-churning brutality that would normally be hard to watch, the tone of these scenes is softened by the way the monsters deliver the violence with a smile and a funny voice which sounds like a demented announcer on a Japanese gameshow.

“Don’t be like that, we’re here to have fun!”

There is an amiable air to the monsters. Their happiness and politeness precedes a pounding by oversized paws and powerful tails, headbutts, and claws. Humour is definitely key in getting past the absurdly horrible ways that people die and the ways that life can and the skill of the survivors, their ability to outwit their opponents and use lateral thinking when faced with the horrifying all the more remarkable.

Furthering the distance between horror and comedy is the bright colour schemes that coat the cheery arenas of death in later parts of the game. When the survivors complete a task and enter the next level we see the world transform from, say, an icy tundra into an pirate fortress in the Carribbean of sorts. This fun-filled black humour and gaudy approach to this sort of subject matter makes this death game feel less like the miserable and minimalist films with a similar set-up like the 1997 Canadian film Cube and something more like the cheery anarchic video game Warioware.

Admittedly, things do slow down after the first two set-pieces as more plot and narrative is unfurled through drive-by exposition from news reports to show how the world reacts to this deadly game (because parents are probably missing these teens), we also see characters set up for a possible sequel such as a mysterious man (Lily Franky) walking about Tokyo to a hikikomori tracking events (Nao Omori) online. After the shock and awe of the first two events, the pace does indeed become more contemplative as Shun is fleshed out and world building takes place and the events monsters become much more devious, the games more elaborate instead of explosive. That written, things still look gorgeous and the events are still maniacally action-packed and painful and it looks gorgeously cinematic.

This is a film made for the big screen and it is clear to see a lot of money, care and attention have gone into the details to make each environment. Each environment comes to colourful life and is a joy to look at because of all the detail. The cinematography, art direction, and set-design and editing make the atmosphere feel closer to an anime, the constant visual inventiveness such as intense cutting between characters trying to work together to thwart a monster as narration explains complicated co-ordinated moves, the bad-tish moments when a plan goes spectacularly wrong and the camera quickly cuts or zooms to a character left gawping in horror just before they are embedded in a wall. This is cartoony at times and proves to be brilliant fit for this story. Despite having read the manga there were times when I almost spat out a drink out or laughed ferociously at the appearance of some monsters.

Also coming off cartoonish are the characters. They aren’t given the deepest exploration by the script (there just isn’t time to do that when a giant kokkeshi is lasering you in the head) but anybody who has read the manga (or any death game manga, for that matter) will recognise the evolution of the characters from apathetic and disaffected high school students to more assertive and go-getting leads because they realise the price of life and what they could lose. The film does this simply with a few scenes Shun living his ordinary life spiced up by skipping school, shoplifting and playing video brutal games like Resident Evil 6.

His life is one common to many aimless teenagers living in the relative safety of the developed world, a fact pointed out when he flicks through television channels and watches a new report of a terrorist attack in some God-forsaken part of the World. Darkness and self-loathing, love and admiration, all of these roiling emotions are delivered in a flashback and confessions or sometimes (just sometimes) by holding hands. That is as far as the subtlety goes in terms of character development. It is fun watching the students band together or fight each other, as is common with death game films.

The real meat in terms of the characters comes from the actors. As our lead character Shun Takahata, Sota Fukushi is solid and nothing more. Fukushi has never looked better than when he is scared and clueless during the games or indifferent about life but he is a bit bland in most other regards and I’ll echo another reviewer and say when placed with other actors, no matter how small the role, he is acted off the screen. Lily Franky gets a few seconds scattered throughout the film but his final line and his delivery blows up the scene he speaks in. Shota Sometani as Satake has a somewhat comedic ending to his role but I was left thinking he could have carried the film.

Mio Yuki and Hirona Yamazaki as potential love interests find something of an unreceptive target despite their best, energetic and emotive efforts. I don’t want to call Fukushi’s acting wooden (he’s far from a petrified forest) but he plays Shun Takahata like a plank sometimes, especially when confronted with the opposite sex.

The really charismatic actor, the one all eyes will be drawn to is Ryunosuke Kamiki as the bully Amaya. Kamiki’s angelic looks and sweet smile hide a heart of horror, black gulfs of hatred for people and a lack of empathy so chilling he becomes the most dangerous person in the game, never mind the giant monsters. Other characters may learn to work together but he is out for himself and it is always hilarious (always) seeing or hearing how he survives! One of the biggest laughs in a film rife with black humour is when Mio Yuki’s character Shoko Takase updates Shun on Amaya’s whereabouts after a nasty game,

“He beat up the kokkeshi got the key and ran off.”

Out of context it sounds weird, in the film it made me laugh hard. Amaya is a beast. Every scene with him is funny and troubling as it points out just how much of a psychopath he is.

And that’s it. I’m pleased to report that As the Gods Will is a good-looking and entertaining film which will shock, surprise and entertain. It has fantastic production values and a great set of actors and it can easily be had on DVD/Blu-Ray if you have a multiregion player. There are two arcs to the story, the first, which this movie is partially based on, ran in Bessatsu Shounen Magazine and was published from 2011 to 2012. The current arc is in Weekly Shounen Magazine. So there is room enough for a sequel to be made, the question is whether one will get a green-light from the studio. The last time I checked DVD rankings, As the Gods Will wasn’t doing too badly so hopefully the Gods will allow a sequel to be made.

4/5

Disclaimer: I am an old-school Miike fan. I grew up on films he made (and Shinya Tsukamoto, Hideo Nakata, Kenji Mizoguchi, Hiroshi Teshigahara, Yasujiro Ozu… the list goes on) so I am fond of his works and have seen a lot in a cinema – I remember seeing some of the audience leave just before the final, glorious sequence of Gozu, how I felt sorry for them. I am a little bit indulgent and don’t mind a bit of gore on screen but for this film I felt strangely relieved that actual teenagers weren’t recruited for the really harrowing parts. Anyway, See my reviews for his other films!

13 Assassins

Audition

For Love’s Sake

Ninja Kids!!!

One Missed Call

Happy weekend, people!

I am so behind writing up the new season of anime and that is because I would rather review live-action movies, manga and that is what I have been doing. I am in the middle of my season of horror, splatter, and gore with two films reviewed so far. Only one review for this week and that is As the Gods Will (2014). I’ll post two reviews next week and then one the week after. I’ve got plenty of horror films to get through and after I finish writing this weekend blurb I’ll get going with another one for another death game film.

I have also been busy helping out writing information for a film festival and I may get the chance to watch screeners for the latest titles. So, pretty busy! Shout out to Olly, the girl in the gallery with the climbing equipment!

What’s released in Japan this weekend?

Film of the week:

You Are a Good Kid   

Japanese: きみはいい子

Romaji: Kimi wa iiko

Release Date: June 27^th, 2015

Running Time: 121 mins.

Director: Mipo O

Writer: Ryo Takada (Screenplay), Hatsue Nakawaki (Original Novel)

Starring:  Kengo Kora, Machiko Ono, Chizuru Ikewaki, Michie Kita, Mei Kurokawa, Kazuya Takahashi,

The Light Shines Only There is one of my favourite films of 2014 and its director and writer are responsible for this one!

Mipo O and Ryo Takada are working together again, adapting the book Kimi wa ii ko (You’re a Good Kid). The book is by Hatsue Nakawaki which won the 2012 Tsubota Jōji Literature Award. The book is a collection of five stories set in the same town, with stories transpiring on the same rainy afternoon. The film adapts two stories into one:   Santa no konai ie (The House where Santa Doesn’t Come) and Beppin-san (Pretty Girl). All of the stories in the collection are about child abuse and the trailer makes me think this one will be a tough watch.

The film stars Kengo Kora (The Story of Yonosuke, The Drudgery Train) and Machiko Ono (Like Father, Like Son) and there are two fine actors returning from The Light Shines Only There: Chizuru Ikewaki and Kazuya Takahashi.

Film critic Don Brown has already tweeted that this is a great film, better than The Light Shines Only There! I hope to see this at a festival at some point.

Tasuku Okano (Kengo Kora) is a novice elementary school teacher and a decent and diligent young man. He faces wild class and finds it tough but perseveres. As he gets to know his young pupils he notices that one of his students, Ayane, might be abused and decides to help her. The source of Ayane’s abuse is her own mother, Masami (Ono) who was raised by an abusive mother herself. Masami can’t help lashing out at Ayane and she tries to justify her abusive manners by thinking the other mothers treat their kids the same way.

Website

Runner-up:

Love & Peace   

Japanese: ラブ＆ピース

Romaji: Rabu&Pisu

Release Date: June 27^th, 2015

Running Time: 117 mins.

Director: Sion Sono

Writer: Sion Sono (Screenplay),

Starring:  Hiroki Hasegawa, Kumiko Aso, Tohiyuki Nishida, Kiyohiko Shibukawa, Eita Okuno, Makita Sports, Erina Mano, Megumi Kagurazaka, Miyuki Matsuda

Sion Sono has three films out this year. The big ones are Shinjuku Swan and Tag which are adaptations of a manga and novel respectively and they look less interesting than this one which is based on an original idea from the man (hence the title card at the beginning of the film).

He has drafted in some great indie actors and lesser known talents like Kiyohiko Shibukawa (And the Mud Ship Sales Away, Obon Brothers), Erina Mano (Patlabor movies), and, as ever, his wife Megumi Kagurazaka (The Land of Hope). Taking the lead is Hiroki Hasegawa, the mad cinephile in the yakuza movie comedy Why Don’t You Play in Hell? and Kumiko Aso, the waif running around in Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s horror film Pulse.

Out of Sono’s three films, this one looks like genius and I expect this one will travel the festival circuit rather than the adaptations.

Ryoichi (Hasegawa) once dreamed of becoming a punk rocker but he became a timid salaryman at a musical instrument parts company. Life is calm but he has feelings for an office lady (Aso) he can’t express and he feels he wants more which is when fate strikes!.

One day, he meets a turtle on the rooftop of a department store. He is so taken with it that he adopts it and names the turtle Pikadon, A series of events occur and Ryoichi’s dreams start to come true but weird thigs are in store for Pikadon!

Website

Runner-up:

Ten no chasuke / Chasuke’s Journey   

Japanese: 天の茶輔

Romaji: Ten no Chasuke

Release Date: June 27^th, 2015

Running Time: 105 mins.

Director: Sabu

Writer: Sabu (Screenplay/Original Novel),

Starring: Kenichi Matsuyama, Ito Ohno, Ren Osugi, Yusuke Iseya, Hiromasa Taguchi, Susumu Terajima, Hiroki Konno, Tina Tamashiro, Orakio,

This is the latest film from Sabu and is based on a novel he wrote. It screened at this year’s Berlin International Film Festival and others and I myself have the opportunity to watch it soon. The film mixes film genres and history in a madcap story that takes in romance, gangsters, slapstick comedy and a deity that celebrates the value of life. It stars Kenichi Matsuyama (Detroit Metal City, Norwegian Wood), Susumu Terajima (actor in a lot of Beat Takeshi film), and the man, the legend, Ren Osugi (Exte).

Things are hectic in heaven. Dozens of scribes sit before a long scroll writing the biographies of people down on Earth. What is invented by the scribes in heaven is lived out below and their employer, God, is increasingly vehement in demanding avant-garde ideas. Take, for example, the beautiful Yuri (Ono), a girl who dies in a car crash. Some of the heavenly scribes find this very dull and send former gangster Chasuke (Matsuyama), who has become a heavenly tea-boy, back down to earth with instructions to save Yuri no matter what.

Chasuke ends up in Okinawa and gets to know the earth-dwellers, interferes in their fates, becomes celebrated as ‘Mr Angel’ and is hounded by brutal enemies. His falling in love with Yuri is of course a foregone conclusionbBut no one could anticipate what happens next. Not even God himself.

Website

Strayer’s Chronicle  

Japanese: ストレイヤーズ・クロニクル

Romaji: Sutoreiyazu Kuronikuru

Release Date: June 27^th, 2015

Running Time: 126 mins.

Director: Takahisa Zeze

Writer: Kohei Kiyasu (Screenplay), Takayoshi Honda (Original Novel)

Starring:  Masaki Okada, Shota Sometani, Riko Narumi, Mayu Matsuoka, Tsuyoshi Ihara, Renji Ishibashi, Sara Takatsuki, Yuina Kuroshima,

This looks like a live-action adaptation of the anime, Zankyou no Terror what with its government exploitation of children story but the book this is based upon came out first. I hope it’s better than the anime which drifted into a sea of mediocrity based on non-sensical plot points and anti-Americanism. It stars Masaki Okada, Shota Sometani (Himizu), and Riko Narumi (Shindo, Crime or Punishment?!?)

In the early 1990s, experiments were carried out secretly in Japan involving genetic manipulation on babies granting that person the power of an animal or insect. Another experiment involved forcing stress upon expecting parents and when the baby was born, provoke the baby into mutations and develop their special abilities. The results were successful in some cases and the test subjects were raised in a government facility and trained to be agents for the government. Two agents are Subaru (Okada), who possesses incredible strength and vision, and Saya (Narumi) who possesses super hearing abilities. They work for Koichiro Watase (Ihara) who is the ambitious senior Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs. He orders them to track down the runaway daughter of a powerful politician who has a secret file but there is a dangerous group also looking for her and they are named “Ageha” and they are led by deadly man named Manabu (Sometani).

Website

Odoru Tabibito Nougaku-shi Tsumura Reijirou no Shouzou   

Japanese: 躍る旅人　能楽師・津村禮次郎の肖像

Romaji: Odoru Tabibito Nougaku-shi Tsumura Reijirou no Shouzou

Release Date: June 27^th, 2015

Running Time: 110 mins.

Director: Ryu Miyake

Writer: N/A

Starring:  Reijirou Tsumura, Kaiji Moriyama, Shuji Onodera, Hana Sakai,

Noh Theatre is one of Japan’s unique contributions to the theatre world and this documentary tracks five years of Reijirou Tsumura on stage as he brings to life danes, plays and collaborations.

Website

Gekijouban Sada Masashi Daitanjoue! The Birthday Party in Masashi Super Arena Selection   

Japanese: 劇場版　さだまさし大誕生会!! The Birthday Party in Masashi SUPER ARENA Selection

Romaji: Gekijouban Sada Masashi Daitanjoue! The Birthday Party in Masashi Super Arena Selection

Release Date: June 27^th, 2015

Running Time: N/A

Director: N/A

Writer: N/A

Starring:  Sada Masashi, Shinji Tanimura, Ayaka Hirahara, Masayuki Suzuki, Momoiro Clover Z,

A concert was held in Saitama Super Arena on April 10^th, 2012 and it saw people come together to commemorate the 60^th birthday of Masashi Sada with idols such as Momoiro Clover Z mixing with musicians like Hiromi Iwasaki and Shinji Tanimura. Tickets sold out superfast and so for those who missed the event this is the next best thing.

Website

Attack on Titan Part 2: Wings of Liberty   

Japanese Title: 劇場版「進撃の巨人」後編　自由の翼

Romaji: Gekijouban Shingeki no Kyojin Zenpen Kouhen Jiyuu no Tsubasa

Release Date: June 27^th, 2015

Running Time: 121 mins.

Director: Tetsuro Araki

Writer: Hajime Isayama (Original Creator)

Starring: Yuuki Kaji (Eren Jaeger), Yui Ishikawa (Mikasa Ackerman), Marina Inoue (Amin Arlelt), Kisho Taniyama (Jean Kirstein), Yu Shimamura (Annie Leonhardt), Yu Kobayashi (Sasha Browse),

Attack on Titan’s TV anime has been repackaged for the cinema with two films. This is the second film and it covers episodes 14 – 25 telling the story of Eren Jaeger and his friends as they battle Titans who want to devour humanity… I’ve written about the anime with a first impression and a final thoughts post and made lots of Gifs. It’s preparing the ground for the live-action film which, judging by reactions to the latest trailer, looks like it won’t be so hot.

Website

Nan no Tame ni / For What   

Japanese: 何のために

Romaji: Nan no Tame ni

Release Date: June 27^th, 2015

Running Time: 83 mins.

Director: Naoki Suzuki, Annoura Toyoto

Writer: N/A

Starring:  Fumiaki Nakamura, Akihiko Higashino, Mariko Koekawa, Yu Himuro, Kazuhiko Nishizono,

This looks a little like those self-help documentaries/talks that float around the internet. The guy at the centre of this documentary is Fumiaki Nakamura who lectures and writes books asking the question, “for what” in order to inspire people into action and achieve their dreams and goals, find happiness and make connections with others.

Website

New Cinema Kabuki Sannin Kichiza   

Japanese: NEWシネマ歌舞伎　三人吉三

Romaji: New Shinema Kabuki Sannin Kichiza

Release Date: June 27^th, 2015

Running Time: 135 mins.

Director: Kazuyoshi Kushida

Writer: Kawatake Shinshichi II (Original Play), Umemori Kokuga (Original Novel),

Starring:  Matsuya Onoe, Nakamura Kankuro, Nakamura Shichinosuke II, Bando Shingo,

I struggle to cover Kabuki whenever it’s screened in cinemas and so I always point people in the direction of useful links and these are the most useful ones yet: Kabuki Live and Kabuki 21. These websites are where I got all the information from.

This is the Theatre Cocoon kabuki performance of “The Three Kichiza’s” from June 2014. It is based on a novel called Keiseikai Futasujimichi and it was turned into a kabuki play by Kawatake Shinshichi II in 1860. The play has been updated by contemporary artist Kazuyoshi Kushida.

The three Kichisa are thieves who are blood brothers and loyal to each other. They are Oshô Kichisa, a priest; Ojô Kichisa, a young pickpocket who disguises himself as a woman because of his feminine appearance; and Obô Kichisa, a rônin. The story has a moral: the evil which the same sum of money can cause if wrongfully acquired.

Website

Michi Te Iku   

Japanese: みちていく

Romaji: Michi Te Iku

Release Date: June 27^th, 2015

Running Time: 89 mins.

Director: Risa Takeuchi

Writer: Risa Takeuchi (Screenplay),

Starring:  Momoko Tobita, Yuri Yamada, Serena Nishihara, Takahiro Ono, Miwako Izumi,

This is a graduation project from a student at the Tokyo University of the Artsand it’s all about a high school girl who drifts around summer dallying with athletcs.

Website

And that’s your lot of badly translated Japanese film trailers.

Random music video:

My sister and I are playing Shenmue on the Dreamcast so that explains that.

Hellevator: The Bottled Fools   

Japanese:　 グシャノビンツメ

Romaji: Gusha no Bintsume

Release Date: June 13^th, 2005

Running Time: 96 mins.

Director: Hiroki Yamaguchi

Writer: Hiroki Yamaguchi (Screenplay),

Starring: Luchino Fujisaki, Yoshiichi Kawadam Ryosuke Koshiba, Kae Minami, Yuuka Nakabo,

Hellevator: The Bottled Fools is such a funny title because it makes

one think of a killer elevator but if you want one of those you will have to watch the silly, schlocky Dutch film called De Lift (1983). As fearsome and as fearsomely silly as the title sounds, the elevator isn’t so much of a threat rather it’s the people who are trapped inside it (the bottled fools) who make things hellish for themselves. As Jean-Paul Satre once said, ‘hell is other people.”

The film starts impressively with some world-building. The opening shot after the credits takes place in a long shadowy corridor full of grimey people dressed in odd clothes who are loitering around like homeless people under a bridge waiting for food to be handed out. Cutting through this crowd and walking towards the screen in a distinctive and familiar sailor suit is Luchino, a girl on her way to school.

She is our main character. She likes to smoke, a felony in her country, and a cigarette she discards has disastrous consequences later on…

As we follow her morning journey we get shots that establish the world around her. I assume it is morning since concrete and metal surround everyone. We never see the sun or the outside world. The film takes place in what seems to be a subterranean society which stretches deep underground with hundreds of floors only accessible by lift operated by an automaton-like attendant and each floor serves a specific purpose: level 128 is communities of company housing and single dormitories and level 123 is communities for the general hospital and the cemetery.

What is on level 1? Presumably the surface but any talk about that is frowned upon.

Luchino and the lift attendant are joined by a variety of people: a scientist, a moody young man wearing oversized shades and headphones, a mother and a baby. With Luchino in the elevator we get to the interior location and with the people that gives the film its title but what traps them?

The elevator reaches level 99, communities for convicts and prisons, and on step two guards and two convicts, a serial rapist and a serial bomber on their way to an execution. The passengers are intimidated by them but they will soon reach their destination when…  an explosion happens. A cigarette tossed near a fuel can rocks the lift, shutting it down.

Things go downhill for the passengers bottled up in the lift…

Despite being a low-budget film, Hellevator has a very distinctive personality and visual look. The sets and locations and everything in them save the actors are artificial, gloomy, drab, and claustrophobic, fitting for an underground world.

Budget limitations have forced the director to be artistic and root aroun the trash heap and find enclosed spaces easy to shoot in. What this gives to the viewer is a society where function has replaced form and there is little beauty on show. It is an Orwellian dystopia, one where everyone is monitored by an ever-present state security apparatus and that feeling is reinforced by the art direction and props in the film which are done in a retro-futuristic style common in film adaptations of George Orwell’s book 1984. Televisions are tubular and have knobs and dials, electronic typewriters clack in the background of interrogation scenes, there are rotary phones and so forth. Then there are the grotesque elements like eyeball security cameras, at once absurdly funny and cheap-looking but very worrying. The cheapness of the sets and props is actually a boon for the setting since it gives this world a lived-in feeling, as if all these elements are scavenged and re-used.

The visuals exude the sickness of that society, the leeching out of humanity, and we wonder at the mystery of how it got to that point. We wonder all the more because there is a layer of satire about our own lives in the world we see on screen.

Everything and everybody we see on screen is something or someone we would come into contact with but hyper-stylised and made symbolic of that world’s dysfunctions (and our own). We witness a small synchronised army of salarymen march onto the elevator, black-suited automatons armed with briefcases and bulky rotary telephones that act like mobilephones. A grandmother takes her granddaughter to hospital, the girl has a child’s toy but it is not a fluffy bunny, it is a brain in a jar on wheels with eyes bouncing around on springs. The police have been replaced by an Owellian security force called the Surveillance Bureau who are jack-booted gun wielding thug. There are schoolgirls in their distinctive outfits showing that even in this seemingly troubled world the sailor suit will survive.

Despite the scant resources at hand for the director, intelligent design of the props and the locations and the colour design give the viewer a lot to think about.

The small budget, expended on these details, finds itself saved by the fact the action takes place in the elevator which is really a stifling setting. It also takes place in the heads of the characters, particularly Luchino. This is where the film comes a bit unstuck.

At first, everyone seems normalish (except the criminals) and very Japanese in the way they seek consensus in how to get the elevator working again but as the situation in the elevator deteriorates and the criminals pose a growing to their fellow passengers, the veneer of civilisation slips away. The housewife, the respectable scientist, the young man, and the guards and convicts are soon arguing with each other and over the top violence rears its head. The elevator is soon awash with blood as we witness the inner madness and fears in each character inculcated into them by society. The problem is that the characters are thinly written. Characters who are meant to be enigmatic are dull or too obtuse to read anything into for large parts of the film. Most do not go beyond archetypes and only reveal two sides to themselves, their role in society and their fear of dying or being arrested and it is hard to care about people screaming at each other when we are not invested in them. A frenzy of emotion is built up but it is somewhat schematic and hollow, the gear shifts of the plot heard painfully in every interaction and piece of dialogue.

There is little to cling to in terms of humanity.

Or maybe that is the point. Their society and surroundings have stripped their souls down to a rotten wounded core and the resulting carnage is only to be expected when people are cooped up in horrendous settings like this.

Flashbacks to Luchino’s past life paper over this lack of empathy to some degree by providing a little depth and a plot twist involving psychic powers that throws everything into question. What transpires for Luchino and the audience from here on out is a deluge of disorientating nightmarish imagery of abuse at the hands of her thuggish father and her time in a mental asylum of sorts. It mixes in with her present reality as characters in the lift weave in and out of her past. It is a fearsome sensory experience which matches the world-building earlier in the film.

Is Luchino going mad? Is she psychic? Or has the pressure of the situation broken her mind? Nothing is explained and it is frustrating at first but I found that, unlike a lot of straight-to-DVD releases, this one is worth re-watching to see what is true and false. The entire elevator sequence post the psychic revelation makes a lot more sense and answers many questions.

Being trapped in a confined space is enough to drive anybody mad but these characters have extra reason because of how broken their society is. They are effectively trapped together whether they are on an elevator or not and the threat of the state hangs over them. Plus there’s also the mystery of what’s above the first floor…

Whatever slight failings there are in terms of characterisation is made up for in every other department. The setting is a major strength and there are many visual flourishes seen in the editing which means that even though a lot of the action is confined to an elevator it is still fun to watch. I would be interested in seeing more of this director’s work and last year he released Wonogawa. I will watch Hellevator again. On top of being an atmospheric sci-fi film it becomes a tricksy psychological ride which can be interesting to wade through.

3/5

6000: The Deep Sea of Madness 6000 ロクセン

Author: Nokuto Koike

Launched in 2010, 4 volumes and completed

Somewhere in the Philipines Sea, 6000 metres under water where neither the eyes of God or man can see lies a scientific facility once owned by a Japanese company. A tragic “accident” occurred in this underwater lab and it was abandoned for three years until a Chinese company buys the Japanese business and re-activates the facility.

The only way to access this facility is by an elevator of sorts that is
connected to a floating platform with the master controls on the surface. This is how everybody gets down.

Taking the ride is Kengo Kadokura, our lead character. He is a liason between his Chinese bosses and the Japanese workers but even before he takes the plunge under water he has misgivings about the endeavour not least because the two sides he is working with distrust each other.

At first, things seem to go well as Japanese engineers are hard at work getting systems restored, people placed in their quarters, and storerooms restocked. Kengo finds allies with engineer Miwa Kusakabe and computer programmer Nozomi Xia who aid him in getting things done but strange things trouble different people. Systems break down and lights go out in entire sections. Weird things are glimpsed outside the facility. Terrifying hallucinations and disturbing voices are reported in the station and the psychologist Sakura Amakasu is increasingly dealing out meds to keep people sane.  Kengo himself is victim to some of these problems, more specifically visions of some of the previous workers on the facility, victims of the “accident,” appear as spectres hovering in corridors and speaking to him.

Things get a lot worse when a survivor is found in an abandoned storeroom. This man reveals what the accident really was and tells tales of the horrors that took place in the facility and company intransigence in dealing with it. As news spreads that the company hasn’t been too honest about what happened, people start dying in freak accidents as contact with the surface is cut. To get out Kengo, together with Miwa Kusakabe must discover the secret of the accident… 

This being a horror manga, the secret is a bloody one and of course, being trapped underwater means that there’s nowhere to run when the chaos and carnage start. Nokuto Koike’s 6000: The Deep Sea of Madness takes its time to get to that point and builds a highly atmospheric world in the underwater facility.

From the start there is grumbling beteween people which acts as a drumbeat throughout the story. Kengo, as liason, we see being buffeted by the current of animosity running between the Japanese crew and their Chinese bosses over the dangers involved. The spice of nationalism is interesting, China’s reputation for authoritarianism and poor safety standards adding to the sense of threat faced by characters being pushed to their limits. With the rush to get systems working Chinese overseers act with arrogance, riding roughshod over individuals and keeping secrets. There is the sense that Kengo’s the bosses on the surface world view the workers under the sea as expendable and health and safety laws are going to be flaunted. Paranoia builds throughout the story before a drop of blood is spilt.

The paranoia is, at first, a workbased one and it is easy to relate to. It’s all about the difference between the blue and white collar workers and the lack of communication and trust between them and the acidents that occur. That paranoia then runs rampant and feeds into the growing sense of unease once we get down to the facility and there’s danger and no escape.

Once in the facility Koike’s meticulous art captures the high-tech and functional nature of the place with heavy machinery and workstations dotted in cramped corridors and tight crew quarters creating an atmosphere of claustrophobia and isolation.

The lack of sunlight, the constant energy blackouts, and the poor lighting ensure we get lots of black in the frames to show the shadows and darkness. Anybody who has been in total, absolute darkness will know just how disorientating and frightening this can be and you really do feel the sense of being unmoored and vulnerable when the lights go out and people are stuck in the middle of a non-descript empty corridor.

It’s a murky soup that characters peer into, something that allows the hallucinations to swim in and out of view.

Corridors stretch off into darkness and the facility seems like a labyrinthine pit.

It becomes extremely disturbing to turn the pages and view the frames as spectres from the past incident do turn up and haunt the characters. Nothing and nowhere feels safe. If being stuck 6000 metres under the sea sounds bad then this manga illustrates it excellently!

The feeling of being trapped and isolated with some unknown threat grows with the frequency of breakdowns and the ghosts that play on everyone’s mind. We see how the delusions make already tense relations between people fracture through arguments and fights, their paranoia and fear making them commit irrational and disastrous acts which happen frequently over the course of the four volumes of the manga.

The facility begins to warp as corridors alter forms, rooms become the locations of horrific flashbacks to the previous incident, and stairways become elongated beyond reason. Worse still, monsters start appearing.

The story loses steam when we find out the exact details of what happened three years’ ago, why this creepy facility is the site of hauntings. When it is a story of tensions growing because of the psychological strain of being undersea and paranoia over the surroundings and circumstances, when the dangers and the delusions are teased and shown, it is effective because without reason or context we are unmoored from reality and presented a series of nightmare visions and accidents that are  unexplainable but then we get the reason for everything and it turns out to be supernatural and becomes a schlocky spectacle of bloodshed and grue.

That’s not necesarrily a bad thing but the careful tension and build-up is replaced by a story which becomes rushed and a little non-sensical. Characters start disappearing (and to me it feels as if it’s not because they turn into monsters or get killed but they get forgotten about), arbitrary rules are made and broken within a few pages, and characterisation is thrown out, most notably in Kengo’s female colleagues who start out tough and professional and sag into emotional wrecks.

Which is not to say that the manga gets bad, just that I felt it was disappointing that the atmosphere and the characterisation was short-changed in favour of a chase and escape from under the sea which is hurried through.

We still care because the art holds up and the atmosphere already built is potent. Kengo and Sakura’s race up a stairway, fleeing hoards a flesh-eating monsters, is heart-pounding stuff!

We also like the characters. Kengo as a hero is easy to relate to. One gets the sense that he is a normal guy who lacks a degree of confidence and is somewhat resentful of the difficult situation he is in but determined to get on with things and for the reader a good way into discovering the horrendous story at the heart of the facility. That he seems slightly inept at social interaction also helps make him human and feel vulnerable.

He forms respectful, though tense and interesting relationships with his co-workers, expecially Nozomi Xia, Sakura Amakasu, the engineer Miwa Kusakabe who emerges as something of a hero after she manages to hold everyone on the Japanese side of the facility together for most of the story.

I enjoyed reading this story because of the atmosphere and the psychological horror. The initial physical horror hits hard but as the manga accelerates towards its end and becomes a volume-long fight with a somewhat silly supernatural foe it loses what makes it great in terms of characterisation. The atmosphere saves it, though, and I recommend it just for the setting and paranoia of the initial volumes.

Happy weekend!

I’m totally late with this because I have been swamped with lots of writing and doing overtime at work. Not that I’m complaining, I took it all on. I’ll keep this trailer post brief. No films watched but I have started the new season of anime and I have a dozen or so films to write about. I posted two reviews for my splatter season this week: 6000: The Deep Sea of Madness and Hellevator: The Bottled Fools. I also finished my Summer 2015 Anime Preview but it has yet to go live on Anime UK News.

What’s released in Japan this weekend?

Blue Demon ver.2.0   

Japanese: 青鬼 ver.2.0

Romaji: Ao Oni ver.2.0

Release Date: July 04^th, 2015

Running Time: 70 mins.

Director: Hideaki Maegawa

Writer: Ami Inagawa (Screenplay), noprops (Original Game)

Starring:  Yuna Taira, Shota Matsushima, Taishi Nakagawa, Ikumi Hisamatsu, Reo Kanshuji, Soran Tamoto,

The Ao Oni game has spawned two films and this one looks marginally better than the first.

Shun (Tamoto) has been missing from school for quite a while so his friends Hiroshi (Nakagawa) and Anna (Taira) set off to find him. On their way they encounter a mysterious butterfly and get drawn into a big house known as “Jail House” which is where strange creatures live…

Website

Seven Days: Friday – Sunday   

Japanese: セブンデイズ FRIDAY→SUNDAY

Romaji: Sebundeizu FRIDAY→SUNDAY

Release Date: July 04^th, 2015

Running Time: 82 mins.

Director: Kenji Yokoi

Writer: Natsuko Takahashi (Screenplay), Benio Tachibana, Rihito Takrai (Original Manga),

Starring:  Tomoki Hirose, James Takeshi Yamada, Hinako Tanaka, Yuki Hiyori, Yukihiro Takiguchi,

This is the second part of the Seven Days movie adaptation of the popular manga by Benio Tachibana and Rihito Takrai.

Toji Seryo is a popular first year high school student. It’s well known that Toji Seryo will date anyone that confesses their affection for him on a Monday, but he will break up with that person by Sunday.

Yuzuru Shino is a third year student at the same high school. He looks pretty, but all of his former girlfriends end up dumping him. Yuzuru Shino becomes curious about Toji Seryo. On a whim, half serious & half joking, Yuzuru Shino asks Toji Seryo to date.

Website

Sinbad: A Flying Princess and a Secret Island  

Japanese: シンドバッド　空とぶ姫と秘密の島

Romaji: Shindobaddo: Sora Tobu Hime to Himitsu no Shima

Release Date: July 04^th, 2015

Running Time: N/A

Director: Shinpei Miyashita,

Writer: Hiroyuki Kawasaki (Series Composition), Kaeko Hayafune (Script)

Starring: Tomo Muranaka (Sinbad), Momoko Tanabe (Sana), Hiroko Yakushimaru (Latifa), Nao Nagasawa (Ali), Takeshi Kaga (Captain Razak),

This film comes from Nippon Animation, a production house celebrating their 40th anniversary. The studio has a long history producing a lot of anime based on literary classics like Anne of Green Gables, and The Dog of Flanders through their World Masterpiece Theatre strand. The staff working on this movie has some Ghibli collaborators and veterans. Character designer and animation director Yoshiharu Sato has worked on My Neighbour Totoro and Only Yesterday. The writer Hiroyuki Kawasaki worked on Ronja the Robber’s Daughter. This is the first in a three-part project. The second is released in December while the 03rd is released in March

Sinbad dreams of adventure and travelling the world but he and his pet monkey Mimi haven’t gotten very far from their home town. All of that changes when they encounter Sana, a girl riding a flying wooden horse….

Website

Haikyu!! the Movie: Ending and Beginning   

Japanese: 劇場版ハイキュー！！終わりと始まり

Romaji: Gekijouban Haikyu!!: Ending and Beginning

Release Date: July 03^rd, 2015

Running Time: 89 mins.

Director: Susumu Mitsunaka

Writer: Taku Kishimoto (Series Composition), Haruichi Furudate (Original Creator),

Starring: Ayumu Murase (Shouyou Hinata), Kaito Ishikawa (Tobio Kageyama), Hiroshi Kamiya (Ittetsu Takeda), Kaori Nazuka (Kiyoko Shimizu), Kazunari Tanaka (Keishin Ukai), Kouki Uchiyama (Kei Tsukishima), Miyu Irino (Koushi Sugawara), Nobuhiko Okamoto (Yuu Nishinoya),

This is the first of a two-part movie adaptation/compilation of Haikyuu!!, an anime all about volleyball. It is Production I,G’s adaptation of Haruichi Furudate’s manga of the same name.   The second film, Gekijouban Haikyu!! Shousha to Haisha (Haikyu!! the Movie: Winners and Losers), will get a theatrical release on September 18.

Here’s the synopsis from Anime News Network:

The story follows Shōyō Hinata (voiced by Ayumu Murase), who began playing volleyball after seeing the “Small Giant” who played the sport when he was in elementary school. He suffers a crushing defeat in his first and last tournament in middle school at the hands of his rival Tobio Kageyama (Kaito Ishikawa). So, Hinata joins Karasuno High School’s volleyball team, vowing revenge against Kageyama.

However, Kageyama is also on Karasuno’s team. The former rivals form a legendary combo with Hinata’s mobility and Kageyama’s precision ball-handling. Together, they take on the local tournaments and vow to meet Kurasuno’s fated rival school in the nationals.

Website

Code Geass: Akito the Exiled 4 – From the Memories of Hatred  

Japanese: コードギアス　亡国のアキト　第4章「憎しみの記憶から

Romaji: Code Geass: Boukoku no Akito 4 – Nikushimi no Kioku Kara

Release Date: July 04^th, 2015 (Japan)

Running Time: 60 mins.

Director: Kazuki Akane

Writer: Yoshinari Asakawa (Screenplay), Ichiro Okouchi (Original Creator),

Starring: Miyu Irino (Akito Hyuuga), Maaya Sakamoto (Leila Malkal), Ai Kayano (Anna Clement), Takahiro Sakurai (Suzaku Kururugi),

The year is 2017 around the time Lelouch took on the alter-ego “Zero” and built up his “Black Knights” rebellion army to free Japan from The Holy Britannian Empire but the Akito series is a spin-off which takes place in Europe.

The Holy Britannian Empire has invaded the continent and is about to defeat the E.U and a young pilot named Akito Hyuuga leads a special team fighting to prevent what seems inevitable. Then Layla Malkal, a former Britannian Aristocrat comes to the E.U.’s aid, commanding the “Wyvern” Knightmare corps comprised of Japanese teenagers and t looks like they might be able to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat but the risks involved in every battle are immense.

Website

Let’s Go! Anpanman: Mija and the Magic Lamp   

Japanese: それいけ！アンパンマン　ミージャと魔法のランプ

Romaji: Soreike! Anpanman: Mija to Mahou no Rampu

Release Date: July 04^th, 2015 (Japan)

Running Time: 46 mins.

Director: Hiroyuki Yano

Writer: Tomoko Konparo (Screenplay), Takashi Yanase (Original Creator),

Starring: Keiko Toda (Anpanman), Yuko Oshima (Mija),

Synopsis from ANN

Creampanda and Kokin find a mysterious lamp, but suddenly the magic-user Mija emerges from the lamp. The three use magic to enter inside the lamp, but because a magic bracelet is broken, they cannot return to the real world. Together they must find a magic spring in a far off place to fix the bracelet.

There is a 21 minute anime short that will screen during the film is titled “Rhythm de Utao! Anpanman Natsu Matsuri” (Let’s Sing With Rhythm! Anpanman Summer Festival). The staff are producing the short as a work that fans at the cinema can sing along to.

Website

Brahman   

Japanese: ブラフマン

Romaji: Burafuman

Release Date: July 04^th, 2015

Running Time: 118 mins.

Director: Michihiko Yanai

Writer: N/A

Starring:  BRAHMAN: Kohki, Makoto, Ronzi, Toshi-Low

The rock band Brahman are celebrating 20 years together and this documentary shows their tours overseas and the band in downtime and interviews.

Website

Senkyo Fesu!   

Japanese: 選挙フェス！

Romaji: Senkyo Fesu!

Release Date: July 04^th, 2015

Running Time: 114 mins.

Director: Taiki Sugioka

Writer: N/A

Starring:  Yohei Miyake

Musician Yohei Miyake ran for political office despite having zero experience in the world of politics. He was initially dismissed as a light-weight but through his musical skills he created the “election festival” which was a musical tour of 26 locations in 17 days and it saw him garner a lot of votes. This documentary covers the festivals.

Website

“Kioku” to Ikiru   

Japanese: “記憶”と生きる

Romaji: “Kioku” to Ikiru

Release Date: July 04^th, 2015

Running Time: 215 mins.

Director: Toshikuni Doi

Writer: N/A

Starring:  N/A

Toshikuni Doi has created many documentaries about Asia and Japan’s interactions with its near-neighbours but this one is dynamite in the sense that it deals with a very, very sensitive topic – Korean comfort women. Through interviews and tracking a group of survivors he aims to show what they suffered and the post-war lives they had.

Website

Flightless Bird and Merry-go-round  

Japanese: 飛べないコトリとメリーゴーランド

Romaji: Tobenai Kotori to Meri- go- Rando

Release Date: July 04^th, 2015

Running Time: 73 mins.

Director: Yusuke Ichikawa

Writer: Yusuke Ichikawa, Waka Uchida (Screenplay)

Starring:  Ryo Narita, Kazuya Kojima, Maya Okano, Yume Shimano, Sanshiro Inomata, Momo Matsunaga,

Fast and loose translation (as in I translated and wrote it in a rush): This one’s all about a college student in an internship who meets someone and falls in love but suffers other feelings such as jealousy. We see the expression of these emotions in the real world and a dream one.

Website

Gunjou Iro no, Toori Michi  

Japanese: 飛べないコトリとメリーゴーランド

Romaji: Gunjou Iro no, Toori Michi

Release Date: July 04^th, 2015

Running Time: 105 mins.

Director: Kiyoshi Sasabe

Writer: Kiyoshi Sasabe, Yoshimitsu Hashimoto (Screenplay)

Starring:  Ren Kiriyama, Kiki Sugino, Takeshi Masu, Yoshiko Miyazaki, Shinichiro Matsura, Keita Ninomiya, Jun Inoue, Mitsunori ISaki, Seia Yasuda,

This one stars Kiki Sugino, among others, and she’s an interesting emerging talent from the Japanese movie scene. It’s got special previews ahead of its general release next week.

A man named Mayama (Kiriyama) left his hometown and moved to Tokyo to become a musician. When he receives news of his father’s illness he visits his hometown for the first time in 10 years and is seized by a mixture of emotions. He sees the beautiful scenery and the kind people who support him such as his ever cheerful mother and his sister and a former school friend who became a music teacher.

Website

Random music video – back to writing other things:

I am a Hero アイアムアヒーロー 

Author: Kengo Hanazawa

Launched in 2009, 16 volumes and currently ongoing.

I am jaded when it comes to zombies.

Zombies are everywhere in the West. They dash along cinema screens in horror movies like World War Z and they shamble across small screens in video games like Resident Evil and television series The Walking Dead, anime like Highschool of the Dead, and even reality TV shows like the BBC’s I Survived a Zombie Apocalypse.

I watch them but I am beginning to get weary of it all.

Gone are my teenage years when I first experienced the existential and visceral terror of the horror and bleak social commentary that Night of the Living Dead and Dawn of the Dead carried. Today it’s all a shooting gallery or dramas about snarky teenage zomboys and zomgirls and romance for the iPad generation.

It has been a long time since I was thrilled by zombie apocalypse
scenario. There is one exception. I have been reading Kengo Hanazawa’s manga I am a Hero since 2013 and each volume has proven to be a thrilling and scary read.

The hero of the story is Hideo Suzuki and he isn’t much of a hero.

He is a geeky and obsessive out-of-shape guy in his thirties and he is struggling with his everyday life. His day job is as a manga assistant to a more successful and domineering manga-ka. Hideo tries to get his own manga published but is constantly rejected. He does have a girlfriend named Tekko but she reminds Hideo of his lack of success as she thoughtlessly raves about her ex-boyfriend, a more successful artist getting published and making money.

Hideo burns with jealousy and envy of rivals but holds it all in as he floats along in the wake of others. Cracks from the pressure of his life are showing but he resists falling apart by keeping up simple routines and repeatedly telling himself that he is a hero like it is a mantra but it seems he is at the end of his tether and finds it increasingly hard to cope as hope is sucked out of him.

There is tangible evidence. Hideo has strange hallucinations involving monstrous creatures invading his reality. In sequences that seem to come straight from supernatural manga like Fuan no Tane, we see ghoulish things besieging his small apartment or cornering him in parks, and so he obsessively follows daily routines to keep them at bay.

He talks to himself and loses track reality from time to time and hours can float by. His one way of blowing off steam is his rifle, taking it apart and cleaning it, methodically maintaining it, and going to the shooting range and firing a few rounds.

This is our hero. A manga geek with mental issues and a gun.

The first volume threw me because I was expecting zombies but got a detailed character-study of this strange fellow who barely qualified as leading man material even in his own life. It delved into the realm of psychological horror as we see the world from the perspective of a man with severe stress, abysmal self-confidence, and other problems.

It was painful to read and I could relate to it at times. Not the scary visions but the examples and feeling of pressure from urban living, the anxiety of socialising with others and the sense of being a side-character in one’s own life. Ignore the visions and this is a portrait of modern life for many, I suspect.

For most of the first volume no zombies appear. It’s just Hideo and his problems. There are zombies out there slowly making their way from the periphery of Hideo’s narrative, slowly but surely, ready to rock his world. Its details such as a stranger biting someone at random. Weird news reports about a mysterious flu. Most shocking and ominously, a person getting knocked over by a truck on Hideo’s street and walking away with their body-parts at weird angles.

Hideo doesn’t notice this. He carries on hacking away at life and manga.

The artist Kengo Hanazawa has made a great effort to capture everyday life and locations in every frame so we get familiar with these people and places. You can get a good idea of what Japanese urban living is like from the depiction of Hideo’s day-to-day routine – leaving his apartment, travelling by subway, eating out. This accretion of details works well so when old ladies living on Hideo’s street start disappearing, idols aren’t on television anymore, car accidents happen, and there’s talk of a flu virus outbreak on the nightly news they are very, very noticeable and we are aware of the build-up to the inevitable zombie apocalypse even if Hideo is blind. The tension is incredible.

Hanazawa piles on the pressure. Accidents, death, and sickness travel quickly. People close to Hideo become affected. At first co-workers become infected and try to ignore pain, call in sick to work. Friends look like they are suffering from dengue fever after encountering strange violent people, and characters talk about disappearances and then Hideo himself is attacked by people he knows and after all the build-up it is genuinely scary.

These are the fast-moving ‘infected’ type of zombies seen in 28 Days Later. Agile and dexterous, they chase, climb, claw and chomp on people.

At this point we are familiar with Hideo and we know what sort of man he is, all his problems, his lack of drive and confidence, and it feels like nothing is guaranteed. He is slow to comprehend just what is going on because his awareness of the world is so limited. He is not much of a scrapper and is so out of shape that fights with people physically weaker than himself become ordeals of epic proportions. He makes simple mistakes and walks into danger often because the zombie apocalypse slowly encroaches on everything and he is totally unaware of it.

Then he finally gets his brain into gear and realises he has to get out of the city and what ensues is a thrilling and scary escape mainly using public transport so we see how the city is falling apart. Reading Kengo Hanazawa’s detailed art is like watching a zombie apocalypse unfolding in slow motion.

Look closely at the city streets that Hideo flees through and see civilians confused by the violence. Hanazawa captures fast paced movement with body positions, people at weird angles and limbs splayed out as they are in mid-flight from a pursuing biters or taken down by a horde of zombies, looks of terror etched on faces. People are pressed against windows of their own home as they try to escape loved ones turned dead-heads. Dumb-founded bystanders try to aid others as planes fall out of the sky, cars careen wildly and zombies creep, crawl, leap and loll around, bounce off cars and into crowds of individuals.

The zombies themselves are recognisable, drawn from everyday life. Housewives, salarymen, construction workers, babies (in later volumes of the manga), all who look as if they were going about their routine before turning.

All angles are covered!

The breakdown of society is happening in slow motion, indeed, and there’s so much detail to drink in.

It’s a very Japanese apocalypse because people try not to draw to much attention to themselves or cause a fuss even if a zombie is around, looting doesn’t happen for the longest time, people head for shrines which are rumoured to offer protection and try to maintain their social roles even when everything is going to hell. And then there is Hideo with his rifle.

He may be armed but, unlike a Westerner, he isn’t going to go in all guns blazing. He is afraid of breaking the law and so resists using his rifle for long stretches of the narrative. When he does use the weapon he displays a sense of professionalism and very Japanese diligence and gains confidence from following well-honed routines. As Hideo travels from the city and out into the countryside he faces the possibility of starvation and comes across stores that, although left unguarded, have not been plundered. When he takes something he leaves money on the counter and a note explaining what he did and why and with an apology to boot.

As a hero, he grows with every day although he is still plagued by
indecision and cowardice and he still blacks out from time to time (in the middle of forests crawling with zombies) and has visions that remain scary so you are never quite sure what is real. He survives more through luck than anything else but this makes the narrative so exciting to read! Every moment is one fraught with danger which is not something that I feel with a lot of Western zombie material.

As much as I have talked about Hideo, Kengo Hanazawa cleverly allows the narrative to broaden out a lot to take in other characters in other parts of the country, a cross-section of society. Hideo encounters them eventually. There are survivors holed up in houses who have honed their zombie survival skills, a group on the roofs of shopping centres are led by NEETs and hikikomori’s enjoying newfound freedoms in the breakdown of society and displaying the worst traits of human nature. We even get a glimpse of other countries like France and Taiwan. All sorts of individuals are depicted, each with flaws and skills, moments of cowardice and bravery and all with backgrounds and personalities. They appear an add spice to the story: a photographer who has abandoned his family to get shots of the end of the world, a schoolgirl who has become separated from her class on a trip, and a hard drinking, hard talking nurse who gives Hideo a sense of purpose.

My one caveat with this story is that there is a ridiculous hot springs sequence in the middle of a zombie attack. There is nudity and CPR, so a “kiss” of sorts between Hideo and a younger character. After a realistic zombie narrative, after Hideo’s musings about how artistically bankrupt modern manga is, after the build-up of a relationship between Hideo and two females in his life and an appropriate adult relationship, this felt cheap and tacky designed to appeal to lolicons and it left a distinctly bad taste in my mouth. It’s only a couple of chapters but it broke my mood but the zombies were soon back in play to scoot the narrative along.

Where it goes in future chapters is anyone’s guess and that’s what is fun. As for the main narrative there are disturbing zombie transformations glimpsed in Paris, and seen by Hideo. There’s talk of a spin-off set in Osaka and there’s a live-action movie due this year. This is one zombie franchise I am happy to return to and would recommend.

Images come from these pages/blogs: Link Link Link

This review is part of my Summer of Splatter Films season:

Fukuchan of Fukufuku Flats is one of my favourite films of all time and it made my top ten list of films I saw in 2014. It has a story that is really, really funny, poignant and quirky and the characters are all loveable.

I am a fan of the director Yosuke Fujita and I met him at last year’s Raindance International Film Festival before a screening of the film and talked to him where I explained that I loved his first film Fine, Totally Fine and I found I relate to his characters, all of whom are 20/30-somethings drifting along in life (kinda like me). We talked comedy and his background and then I saw Fukuchan and loved it (especially the characters and enka song used in the end credits – video at the bottom). It has an awesome performance by Miyuki Oshima who has excellent comic support from Yoshiyoshi Arakawa.

The reason I held off on reviewing the film was because I got caught up with many other things after the festival and decided to write a review when the DVD was going to be released. That release is next week Monday which is when I will post a review!

Here are the details of the DVD release:

Directed by Yosuke Fujita (Fine, Totally Fine)

Japan / 2014 / 111 Mins / In Japanese with English subtitles / Colour

Starring: Miyuki Oshima (from ‘Morisanchu’ one of Japan’s top comedy troupes)

Asami Mizukawa (Bilocation, Nodame Cantabile)

Yoshiyoshi Arakawa (Fine Totally Fine, Memories of Matsuko, Survive Style 5+, Key of Life, Judge!)

On DVD July 13th

DVD Special Features:

Roundtable discussion with actress Miyuki Oshima, director Yosuke Fujita & producer Adam Torel

Interview with director Yosuke Fujita

Theatrical Trailer

32-year-old Tatsuo Fukuda, nickname “Fuku-chan” (Miyuki Oshima), is a painter who lives in a run-down apartment complex called Fukufuku Flats. He spends his days working up a sweat painting buildings, his nights mediating disputes between the other denizens of Fukufuku Flats, and his days off flying handmade kites down by the riverside.
One day, an unfamiliar woman turns up at Fukufuku Flats. It is Chiho, his first love from his junior high school days who he has not seen for around 20 years, and she has come to apologize for something that happened in their past. As Fuku-chan allows himself to get caught up in Chiho’s quest to become a photographer, he begins to fall in love all over again with this woman who was responsible for the traumatizing incident that led to his fear of women…

Directed and written by Yosuke Fujita
Producers : Adam Torel, Naoko Arai, Keiko Fujimura
Co-producers: Sabrina Baracetti, Thomas Bertacche, Stephan Holl, James Liu
Director of Photography: Yoshihiro Ikeuchi
Sound: Akira Fukada
Set Decoration: Masahide Yoshino
Editor: Zensuke Hori

Fantasia Film Festival – Winner: Best Actress
Japanese Film Professional Assocation – Winner: Best Actress
Fukuoka Film Festival – Winner: Audience Award
Japanese Film Festival Ireland – Winner: Audience Award

Here’s that Enka song I mentioned:

Happy weekend, dear reader!

I hope you are well!

This week I posted a review of the zombie manga I Am a Hero and an announcement about the wonderful comedy Fuku-chan of Fukufuku Flats.

I have been very busy at work and on the entertainment front. I watched lots of films like Lalala at Rock Bottom (2014), Taksu (2014), Permanent Nobara (2010) and Sheep in the Night (2010). My sister completed Shenmue and we started Shenmue 2 and I’m in the middle of Final Fantasy Tactics The War of the Lions.

What’s released in Japan this weekend?

The Boy and the Beast  

Japanese Title: バケモノの子

Romaji: Bakemono no Ko

Release Date: July 11^th, 2015 (Japan)

Running Time: 119 mins.

Director: Mamoru Hosoda

Writer: Mamoru Hosoda (Screenplay),

Starring: Koji Yakusho (Kumatetsu), Shota Sometani (Kyuuta – Teen), Aoi Miyazaki (Kyuuta – Young), Haru Kuroki (Ichirohiko – Young), Yo Oizumi (Tatara), Lily Franky (Monk Momoaki), Mamoru Miyano (Ichirohiko – Old),

The Boy and the Beast is the latest film from Mamoru Hosoda (director of The Wolf Children and The Girl Who Leapt Through Time). It stars Aoi Miyazaki (Eureka), Shota Sometani (Himizu), and Koji Yakusho (13 Assassins, Licence to Live, Cure, Retribution, Séance), one of my top three Japanese actors. I wrote a more detailed preview for the film a few months back.

A lonely boy in Tokyo’s Shibuya ward finds that there is another world, the bakemono realm (“Juutengai”). Typically, the human world and Juutengai do not meet but the boy gets lost in the bakemono world and becomes the disciple of a lonely bakemono named Kumatetsu (Yakusho) who takes the boy under his wing and renames him Kyuuta (Miyazaki/Sometani

Website

Hand in the Glove   

Japanese: アリエル王子と監視人

Romaji: Ariel Oji to Kanshinin

Release Date: July 11^th, 2015

Running Time: 70 mins.

Director: Yusuke Inaba

Writer: Yusuke Inaba, Futoshi Nakano (Screenplay)

Starring:  Eri Ishida, Chanon Rikulsurakan, Emiko Izawa, Selina Wiesmann, Eisuke Sasai, Shugo Oshinari,

This Thai-Japan co-production was filmed in Kumamoto and involves a prince from a fictional country visiting the histsoric place and escaping his boyguards to have some fun. The film stars the Thai actor and musician Chanon Rikulsurakan.

Website

How to Forget Sadness: Documentary of Nogizaka46  

Japanese: 悲しみの忘れ方 DOCUMENTARY of 乃木坂46

Romaji: Kanashimi no Wasurekata DOCUMENTARY of Nogizaka 46

Release Date: July 10^th, 2015

Running Time: 120 mins.

Director: Yusuke Inaba

Writer: Yusuke Inaba, Futoshi Nakano (Screenplay)

Starring:  Rina Ikoma and the other girls fro Nogizaka46

Nogizaka46 are a popular idol group although they aren’t as popular as AKB48. This documentary seems focussed on exploring some of the various scandals which have occurred to members of the group such as one having an affair with a married man and preferential treatment of some members over others. Find out more about the controversies here.

Website

Ari no mama de itai   

Japanese: アリのままでいたい

Romaji: Ari no mama de itai

Release Date: July 11^th, 2015

Running Time: 80 mins.

Director: Kiyoshi Kamoshita

Writer: N/A

Starring:  DAIGO, Keiji Fujiwara, Akiko Yajima (Voice actors)

Interested in Japanese insects? See them as they have rarely been seen before in this documentary which utilised a special type of camera called “ant’s eye camera” which captured all sorts of creepy crawlies on video. Screenings are in 3D.

Website

Tag    

Japanese: リアル鬼ごっこ

Romaji: Riaru Onigokko

Release Date: July 11^th, 2015

Running Time: 85 mins.

Director: Sion Sono

Writer: Sion Sono (Screenplay), Yusuke Yamada (Original Novel)

Starring:  Reina Triendl, Mariko Shinoda, Erina Mano, Yuka Sakurai, Maryjun Takahashi, Rin Honoa Cyborg Kaori, Mao Mita, Izumi, Mika Akizuki,

This is the third film out from Sion Sono, one of my favourite directors (I have dedicated two seasons to the man’s work) and it looks, to me, like the worst. More specifically I found the imagery of schoolgirls dying and their corpses littering streets/rivers rather horrendous even though it is played for laughs. Violence can be fun to watch in films but it has a puerile and misogynistic bent in this trailer. Or maybe I’m becoming jaded with Japanese filmmaker’s always putting schoolgirls in their films.

Anyway, rant over. It’s based on a novel by Yusuke Yamada where people get involved in a “real hide-and-seek game” involving people with the family name Sato and a killer ghost. For this film, schoolgirls replace people with the Sato family name. It’s the latest in a long series of films and they are easily available to watch and I found the one I viewed rather dispiriting.

Female highs school students, including Mitsuko (Triendl), Keiko (Shinoda) and Izumi (Mano), become involved in a fatal game of “tag” and are the targets of ghosts with various appearances including a groom with a pig’s face and female teacher with a machine gun.

Website

Snake of Violence   

Japanese: 大阪外道 OSAKA VIOLENCE

Romaji: Osaka Gedo

Release Date: July 11^th, 2015

Running Time: 82 mins.

Director: Takahiro Ishihara

Writer: Takahiro Ishihara (Screenplay),

Starring:  Maya Fukuzawa, Tak Sakaguchi, Tomoko Tabata, Takashi Nishina,

This one was originally released in 2013.

Synopsis from IMDB page:

In Osaka, three troubled young kids, Kanako, Atsushi and Kenji, are hanging out together all the time. One day Kenji who lives in an orphanage is sold to a yakuza and their friendship has to come to an end. 25 years later, Kanako is married to Atsushi who is an incompetent yakuza. They have 3 daughters. Kenji is a competent unbeatable yakuza. Atsushi, who sucks at everything, for the first time gets a dangerous mission to kill a thug who has attacked the office of his yakuza group. Kenji, who has advanced to the first lieutenant position, by mistake kills a dumb-ass son of the head of Tokyo Yakuza, which triggers a battle between Osaka and Tokyo Yakuzas. Then, Kenji meets Atsushi in 25 years.

Twitch review

Website

Senritsu kaiki fairu cho kowa sugi! FILE – 02 ankoku kitan! Hebi on’na no kai Japanese: 戦慄怪奇ファイル　超コワすぎ！ FILE-02 暗黒奇譚！蛇女の怪   

Romaji: Senritsu kaiki fairu cho kowa sugi! FILE – 02 ankoku kitan! Hebi on’na no kai

Release Date: July 11^th, 2015

Running Time: 92 mins.

Director: Koji Shiraish

Writer: Koji Shiraishi (Screenplay)

Starring:  Shigeo Osako, Koji Shiraishi, Shingo Mizusawa,

Low-budget horror-film helmer Koji Shiraishi brings us another scary file bringing Japanese folktales and monsters into the modern day via his crew of ghost hunters, This one is all about a snake woman.

Website

Gunjou Iro no, Toori Michi  

Japanese: 飛べないコトリとメリーゴーランド

Romaji: Gunjou Iro no, Toori Michi

Release Date: July 11^th, 2015

Running Time: 105 mins.

Director: Kiyoshi Sasabe

Writer: Kiyoshi Sasabe, Yoshimitsu Hashimoto (Screenplay)

Starring:  Ren Kiriyama, Kiki Sugino, Takeshi Masu, Yoshiko Miyazaki, Shinichiro Matssura, Keita Ninomiya, Jun Inoue, Mitsunori ISaki, Seia Yasuda,

A man named Mayama (Kiriyama) left his hometown and moved to Tokyo to become a musician. When he receives news of his father’s illness he visits his hometown for the first time in 10 years and is seized by a mixture of emotions. He sees the beautiful scenery and the kind people who support him such as his ever cheerful mother and his sister and a former school friend who became a music teacher.

Website

Random music video:

Fuku-chan of Fukufuku Flats      

Japanese Title: 

Romaji: Fukufuku-sou no Fuku-chan

Release Date: November 08^th, 2014

UK Release Date: July 13^th, 2015

Film Distributor: Third Window Films

Running Time: 111 mins.

Director: Yosuke Fujita

Writer: Yosuke Fujita (Screenplay)

Starring: Miyuki Oshima, Asami Mizukawa, YosiYosi Arakawa, Kami Miraiwa, Yuuki Tokunaga, Mei Kurokawa, Maho Yamada, Takeshi Yamamoto, Kanji Furutachi,

Director Yosuke Fujita has taken nearly a decade to follow up his debut film, the marvellous low-key comedy Fine, Totally Fine (2008), with another feature film. In the time between the two he has been making short films (including the Cheer Girls entry in Quirky Guys & Gals) and a TV movie. Fujita also spent this time crafting the screenplay for Fuku-chan which, like his first film, is equally filled with eccentric and loveable characters’. Fujita’s inspiration for the film was the comedian Miyuki Oshima, a regular face on Japanese television, and he challenges her to take on the role of a guy with a fear of women who audiences will surely come to love.

Tatsuo Fukuda (Oshima) is a nice guy and has the nickname ‘Fuku-Chan’.

Fuku-chan works as a painter/labourer and lives in “FukuFuku Flats”, a run-down apartment complex where time has stopped. He has created a comfortable home full of boyish knick-knacks and his manga sketches. In his spare time he paints kites as a hobby and flies them. Precisely because he is a nice fellow he is popular with people he meets and he collects a lot of characters around him, especially lonely guys who he befriends and sometimes he helps resolve arguments between his friends, co-workers, and neighbours in FukuFuku Flats. Despite his good-nature and popularity he finds it hard to socialise with women and despite his friend Shimacchi (Arakawa) trying to set him up with dates. Fuku-chan refuses all attempts. In fact, it seems that Fuku-chan fears women. This is down to the fact he suffered a cruel prank in junior high school.

One day, one of the perpetrators of the prank visits him.

Chiho (Mizukawa) has quit her job with a foreign investment firm to become a photographer but the man who inspired her, her idol, turned out to be more interested in her looks than her photography. Suffering a crisis of her own, she has tracked down Fuku-chan to apologise but as far as Fuku-chan is concerned she was the girl who broke his heart. Nevertheless, Chiho apologises to him and his smile inspires her to take up photography again and her reappearance signals to Fuku-chan his life may change…

Fuku-chan of FukuFuku Flats is a warm and light-hearted film but it is also very dark. Despite the sunny atmosphere and quirky comedy, delve deep into the characters’ and you will find psychological scars.

Much like his first film Fine, Totally Fine Fujita has populated his film with people on every part of the “quietly crazy” spectrum from some of Fuku-chan’s clearly loopy neighbours to the more relatable eccentrics, loners, and normal types you might meet in everyday life.

None but the most outrageous are made fun of, the film is pretty sympathetic even in its comedy which is told in a dry and quiet way.

The film slowly spins out its story of strange people orbiting Fuku-chan allowing the observant audience to spend time with them and watch quirks and, from some, a degree of tragedy, come out. At the wilder end of the spectrum there is a crazy curry restaurateur (played brilliantly by Kanji Furutachi) who refuses to serve water with his food believing that pain sends people to some sort of nirvana and then there is a lecherous photographer. These are two characters whose sequences will leave an audience breathless with laughter but for the most part the characters bring understated comedy and some pathos. On the darker and more realistic end is a character driven to buying an exotic pet to “shock” his loneliness away who cries at every simple gesture of friendship that Fuku-chan offers while another is a paranoid and delusional man who is a danger to himself and others.

Despite having the biggest heart and smile in the film, Fuku-chan is arguably the most damaged character of all as he carries scars from his awful date with Chiho as a teen. He fears women and he has chosen to live a somewhat sad solitary life.

The signs are there for the audience to pick up on as Shimacchi’s girlfriend reveals that Fuku-chan couldn’t look her in her eye when they first met, Fuku-chan plays ball games with male friends when he should be on a date, and Fuku-chan has childish hobbies. He has a childish and old-fashioned taste in clothes (costumiers to the rescue! Fujita loves making his characters wear woolly jumpers) that accentuate his lack of awareness of style, and detailed set design which allows us to see his apartment is a treasure trove of childish toys, drawings, and stuffed with kites he constantly makes. From this we recognise that Fuku-chan is clearly suffering from arrested development, much like the protags in Fine, Totally Fine. It is understandable why Fuku-chan refuses to grow and meet women since the disastrous date with Chiho ends with a horrendous and humiliating sting in its tale. Told in a flashback with discordant disturbing music we see how bullies made his life a misery and Chiho made him the woman-fearing man-child we have come to care for.

The genius of Fujita’s work is that audiences will be able to identify Fuku-chan’s inner pain and it will strike a chord since it is based on something everybody feels – being uncomfortable about physical appearance. The story soon becomes one about looking past the surface and seeing the real person beneath which is where Chiho’s photography neatly comes in. Thankfully Yosuke Fujita ensures that Fuku-chan of Fukufuku Flats has a warm-hearted approach that allows us to sympathise with the characters as he shows that the bonds of friendship and love can bring out the good in all of us.

From the tragic background we get a series of uplifting and hilarious as Fuku-chan and Chiho embark upon a photographic odyssey of his everyday life and the film champions Fuku-chan’s uniqueness and shows how much of a great guy he is. Subtle and low-key comedy from the myriad of strange situations and characters that happen to Fuku-chan and Chiho form the majority of the comedic moments and it culminates in a magnificent sequence with a giant kite. As wild as the film may get with CGI touches and some situations such as a chase and a giant kite, the tone and atmosphere never break and it remains heart-warming, essential to the tone of the film after some of the darkness the audience will have witnessed. Ultimately the film is full of care for the characters, and full of great acting.

I think that casting Miyuki Oshima was a great move in making the audience care about the titular character. Head shaved, and a little bulking up, she passes herself off as a guy with ease but it is a type of guy not often seen on screen – an easy-going and caring one – and she is a joy to watch. As well as looking boyish she has a soft and gentle quality that to my mind, softens a lot of the harshness of her character’s emotional reactions to being made fun of. A male actor might have been too blunt or indulgent in his character’s misery (see Mirai Moriyama in Moteki). Oshima remains positive, though a little guarded. When she opens up to love again it is enjoyable to experience. I was not the only one to think this because she has won awards for her performance including Best Actress at the 2014 Fantasia Film Festival.

Her co-stars are all uniformly good with Asami Mizukawa moving comfortably from low-budget horror (Bilocation, Higanjima, The Locker) to this rom-com. Mizukawa makes a great partnership with Kami Hiraiwa (Welcome to the Quiet Room, Otaku’s in Love, Happy Flight) who plays a horror author and then there is Kanji Furutachi as the crazy curry idiot but the real delight is seeing Miyuki Oshima interact with YosiYosi Arakawa who was one of the leads in Fine, Totally Fine as well as the very funny in the 2014 comedy Judge!.

I have seen the film three times since its screening Raindance last year and it doesn’t lose its magic. The darkness and Fuku-chan’s hurt is still affecting and the human drama and gentle comedy that lightens things and brings the story through its more poignant moments is still a joy to watch. Fujita crafts characters and friendships/relationships with great respect for his creations and by putting them through trials and getting them to overcome their darkest and most negative feelings without it being too overblown or fake the film is a satisfying story. Fuku-chan of Fukufuku Flats is another cracked comedy that charms the audience with its excellent characterisation and low-key comedy. You will get to know and love these characters, especially Fuku-chan, and you will relate to them. It is an absolute joy to watch and I highly recommend it.

5/5

Ushio to Tora (うしおととら) 

Director: Satoshi Nishimura, Series Composition: Kazuhiro Fujita, Toshiki Inoue Original Creator: Kazuhiro Fujita, Character Designer, Chief Animation Director: Tomoko Mori, Music: Eishi Segawa, Art Director: Tomoyuki Shimizu

Voice Actors:  Tasuku Hatanaka (Ushio Aotsuki), Rikiya Koyama (Tora), Mikako Komatsu (Asako Nakamura) Kiyono Yasuno (Mayuko Inoue), Ai Kayano (Omamori-sama), Keiji Fujiwara (Shigure Aotsuki), Kiyono Yasuno (Mayuko Inoue), Maaya Sakamoto (Sumako Aotsuki), Mamoru Miyano (Giryou),

Studio: MAPPA, Studio VOLN,

Airing Date: July 03^rd, 2015

Website

MyAnimeList Entry

The story begins at a Shinto temple run by a priest named Shigure Aotsuki (Keiji Fujiwara). He lives with his son, a middle-school student named Ushio (Tasuku Hatanaka). The two have your standard issue squabbling father-son relationship typically seen in shounen shows.

Shigure wants to make sure that Ushio learns the 500+ years of family history tied up in the shrine, especially because he’s leaving it in his son’s hands because he is going on a training trip which involves strolling around the Sea of Japan and tasting food delicacies (typical bad anime dad)…

Of course, Ushio thinks all of his father’s talk is all a load of nonsense, especially the story of an ancestor impaling a youkai on an altar stone with some so-called legendary Beast Spear, a weapon that can tear through darkness and allow two souls to meet. Fairy-tales and fantasy, right? Maybe not…

Shigure stumbles upon a hidden cellar which houses said dangerous youkai. Huge, orange, and with a massive mane and a mouth full of sharp teeth it looks like a wild tiger. 

The youkai has been stuck against the altar stone down there for 500 years since only a human can remove the spear so naturally he’s pretty angry with Ushio and his anger attracts many other supernatural creatures to the premises. These creatures threaten two of Ushio’s friends, the tsundere Asako (Mikako Komatsu) and the more bashful Mayuko (Kiyono Yasuno)!

With two friends at risk, Ushio is forced to free the creature in the basement – whom he names “Tora” (Rikiya Koyama) which is Japanese for tiger – in return for his help in defeating the arriving army of spirits.

The two work together but Tora never tires in telling Ushio that he wishes to eat the boy but Ushio keeps him at bay with the Beast Spear. Whenever Ushio uses it the spirit of the ancestor who speared Tora takes over his body so Tora has a tough time trying to devour him. Instead Tora begins to haunt the boy and following him around in his everyday life, invisible to others but not Ushio…

It has been a while since I have written a first impression of an anime and it’s because I haven’t been inspired or had the time when I have been. I guess it says a lot about the quality of Ushio to Tora that I want to write again.

Perhaps I want to write about it because it feels like such a throwback to the anime I grew up with. Or maybe because I thought it was a lot of innocent fun!

The story starts very quickly with a lot of exposition done via a hilarious and brutal conversation between father and son. There’s no waiting to establish the set-up, this is shounen action from the get-go and there’s a lot of energy in the way the script rockets through the story, the voice actors deliver their lines, and the way everything is animated.

Ushio to Tora was written by Kazuhiro Fujita between 1990 and 96 and it was so good it won the Shogakukan manga award for shounen manga in 1992 before being adapted into multiple anime OVAs.  To be honest, I had never heard of it until a friend in Japan recommended the manga to me a month before the new anime began airing.

This update comes from MAPPA, the team behind the rather fun fantasy adventure Shingeki no Bahamut Genesis and the rather badly written but very pretty teen terrorists in Tokyo tale Zankyou no Terror. Like those two shows it looks great, although in the case of Ushio to Tora you have to like the ‘90s anime aesthetic which it nails (helped a lot by the presence of those ‘90s OVAs, undoubtedly).

It feels like a lot of hand-drawn detail has gone into making it a fun watch. Locations are distinctive with places like Ushio’s shrine home having rocks and roof slates placed individually with care and the cobblestones have cracks in them.

I especially like how the character designs ensure everyone looks distinct. Indeed, the characters are relatively normal compared to the flood of long-limbed bishoujo or squidgy moe characters we have been inundated with thanks to genre-bait shows. It feels a lot like Tenchi Muyo at points or maybe half-way to Go Nagai’s works but without the sexualisation. The eyes, height, and musculature firmly defined and not over exaggerated.

And everybody in a shot looks like an individual instead of bland.

Even more fun are the character movements which combine the best in modern fluid animation with some great over expressions that wouldn’t look out of place in something like Dominion Tank Police.

The dramatic framing for scenes has been pretty excellent with some truly interesting shots thrown in to make things interesting and varied, keeping the pace fast.

A lot of this visual style is down to the quality of the creative team, most of whom are vets who have worked on many, many shows in a variety of positions on titles some stretching back to the ‘90s. Titles range from Black Lagoon, Mai Mai Miracle, Great Teacher Onizuka, Trigun and Gungrave.

The major dynamic for this show will be Ushio and Tora and the way they bond. It’s a classic tale of two opposites slowly gaining respect for each other and it’s clear to see the growing affection by the end of episode one no matter how much the two may scrap with each other for control.

So far, the two characters have battled low-level youkai and they all have an insect-like appearance commonly seen in anime but the action is still pretty fast and furious with Ushio and Tora learning new fighting techniques and how to work together at a rapid clip.

This central partnership is surely the beating heart of the show and for all of Ushio’s threats to eat Ushio we know the two will grow closer together, not least because there are bigger and far more dangerous youkai out there…

The story makes good use of the differences between the two characters, especially the 500 year gap. Tora is amazed by modern technology like televisions and tries to figure out the changes to Japan by accompanying Ushio to school and being fascinated by the history lesson.

Ushio puts up with this with as much good grace as he can muster – not much. He’s still a likeable character. Ancestral powers aside, he’s a normal school-boy (not a hint of perversion) who is good at sports and loves art even if he cannot draw and paint. He makes a nice lead character to follow.

Of course, the story-arc is a familiar one where animosity is slowly replaced with respect and friendship as the two find themselves unwilling allies in countless supernatural battles.  Tora’s grudging respect was won by Ushio in episode two when he showed he’s willing to risk his life for others, especially his friends Mayuko and (the potential love interest) Asako.

Tora for his part adds a lot of comic relief with his constant amazement over technology and his swaggering and he also serves as a good way to deliver exposition since he knows more about ancient youkai than Ushio.

Overall, as a guy who discovered anime in the ‘90s I loved the look and I don’t care if it is out of fashion. Story-wise, so far it’s standard shounen fare. Indeed, I appreciate it for being a straight take on a supernatural adventure without the need to be clever or meta in the way so many modern shows are. If it takes on the monster of the week formula, I’d be happy to keep coming back and seeing more action.

OP

ED

Happy weekend everyone!

I hope you are all well. Another week has passed and we’re already half way through the year. In film terms I have watched over 100 titles, the last one being Fuku-chan of Fukufuku Flats (2014) which I reviewed earlier this week. I have started watching the summer 2015 anime and decided I will do first impressions again as well as the summer of splatter so anime reviews will be interspesred with manga/movie reviews. The first one I have written is for Ushio to Tora.

In terms of gaming, I’m doing pretty well at Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions mainly because I like to over level and open up as many jobs as possible. I also upped my pledge for the Shenmue III Kickstarter to buy a physical copy of the game but I won’t be getting to play that until December 2017 (according to the campaign).

What’s released this weekend?

Dictator, Koga   

Japanese: 独裁者,古賀

Romaji: Dokusaisha, Koga

Release Date: July 18^th, 2015

Running Time: 79 mins.

Director: Toshimitsu Iizuka

Writer: Toshimitsu Iizuka (Screenplay)

Starring:  Naoya Shimizu, Honoka Murakami, Tateto Serizawa, Chiaki Usui,

Koga (Shimizu) is the victim of bullies in his class but the vicious attentions of his tormentors turn to Soejima after he speaks up for Koga. The feelings between the two are deep but is it because of love or because they feel sorry for each other? Love (probably) can’t change the world. Then the only way left is to change yourself. Will Koga be able to change himself to prove his feelings for Soejima?

Website

Hero   

Japanese: Hero

Romaji: Hero

Release Date: July 18^th, 2015

Running Time: 120 mins.

Director: Masayuki Suzuki

Writer: Yasushi Fukuda (Screenplay)

Starring:  Takuya Kimura, Keiko Kitagawa, Takako Matsu, Koichi Sato, Tetta Sugimoto, Gaku Hamada, Bokuzo Masana, Yo Yoshida, Yutaka Matsushige,

Here’s a great write-up of the Hero franchise.

Prosecutor Kohei Kuryu (Kimura) of the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office takes charge of the case of a woman who was killed in a car accident near the embassy of a foreign country. She appeared to be fleeing from someone. The woman held key evidence in a case Kohei has been investigating and the circumstances are suspicious. Due to the extraterritoriality involving the case, the investigation has stalled and as Kohei Kuryu and his office attempt to extract the truth behind the walls of the embassy.

Website

Umi no Futa   

Japanese: 海のふた

Romaji: Umi no Futa

Release Date: July 18^th, 2015

Running Time: 84 mins.

Director: Keisuke Toyoshima

Writer: Hisako Kurosawa (Screenplay), Banana Yoshimoto (Original Novel),

Starring:  Akiko Kikuchi, Azusa Mine, Yukichi Koayashi, Keiichi Suzuki,

Seeking a change of pace in life, Mari (Kikuchi) moves from Tokyo back to her small hometown in Shizuoka Prefecture where opens a small store selling ice flakes with syrup. Mari runs the store with Hajime-chan (fMine) who has a large burn scar on her face.

Website

Osaka Snake Road Snake of Violence

Japanese: 大阪蛇道 Snake of Violence

Romaji: Osaka Jadou Snake of Violence

Release Date: July 18^th, 2015

Running Time: 110 mins.

Director: Takahiro Ishihara

Writer: Takahiro Ishihara (Screenplay),

Starring:  Maya Fukuzawa, Tak Sakaguchi, Tomoko Tabata, Takashi Nishina,

Synopsis from IMDB

In Osaka, three troubled young kids, Kanako, Atsushi and Kenji, are hanging out together all the time. One day Kenji who lives in an orphanage is sold to a yakuza and their friendship has to come to an end. 25 years later, Kanako is married to Atsushi who is an incompetent yakuza. They have 3 daughters. Kenji is a competent unbeatable yakuza. Atsushi, who sucks at everything, for the first time gets a dangerous mission to kill a thug who has attacked the office of his yakuza group. Kenji, who has advanced to the first lieutenant position, by mistake kills a dumb-ass son of the head of Tokyo Yakuza, which triggers a battle between Osaka and Tokyo Yakuzas. Then, Kenji meets Atsushi in 25 years.

Website

Runta / Lung Ta   

Japanese: ルンタ

Romaji: Runta

Release Date: July 18^th, 2015

Running Time: 111 mins.

Director: Kaoru Ikeya

Writer: Hisako Kurosawa (Screenplay), Banana Yoshimoto (Original Novel),

Starring:  Kazuhiro Nakahara, Dalai Lama XIV, Naoko Yamazaki

This documentary looks at the clash between non-violent Tibetans against the Chinese government through the stories of a nun an old man and others who risk prison and worse in order to keep the teaching’s of the Dalai Lama’s version of Buddhism going in Tibet.

Website

Lord of Tsurimela   

Japanese: ロード・オブ・ツリメラ

Romaji: Ro-do Obu Tsrimera

Release Date: July 18^th, 2015

Running Time: 72 mins.

Director: Taishi Shiode

Writer: Taishi Shiode. (Screenplay),

Starring:  Muck Akazawa, Agatha Okada, Akira Kuzuki, Ayumi Nigo, Miwako Sensui,

Taishi Shiode, writer/director on Death and Tanya (2013) crafts a story about a girl idol group named Tsurimela who break up after the death of a member and slink back to their everyday lives including dealing with a boyfriend with an Oedipus complex and massive debt. They need some magic to change their present but something bad is lurking out there…

Website

Pokémon the Movie: Hoopa and the Clash of Ages   

Japanese: ポケモン・ザ・ムービーXY 「光輪（リング）の超魔神 フーパ」

Romaji: Pokémon za Mu-bi- XY: Ring no Chōmajin Hoopa

Release Date: July 18^th, 2015

Running Time: N/A

Director: Kunihio Yuyama

Writer: Atsuhiro Tomioka (Screenplay),

Starring:  Ikue Ohtani (Pikachu), Rica Matsumoto (Satoshi), Inuko Inuyama (Nyarth), Mariya Ise (Eureka), Mayuki Makiguchi (Serena), Megumi Hayashibara (Musashi)

Anime News Network have an excellent write-up on the latest Pokemon movie and the accompanying short:

Satoshi, Pikachu, and their friends come to a desert city by the sea. Here they meet the Mythical Pokémon Hoopa, which has the ability to summon things—including people and Pokémon—through its magic rings. After a scary incident, they learn of a story about a brave hero who stopped the rampage of a terrifying Pokémon long ago. Now, the threat that has been bottled up for years is in danger of breaking loose again.

There will also be the short which is a musical performance: Pikachu to Pokémon Ongakutai (Pikachu & the Pokémon Music Band). The short is a performance created by the cries of Pokémon who will play a beautiful harmony.

Website

Gekijouban Meiji Tokyo Renka: Yumihari no Serenade   

Japanese: 劇場版　明治東亰恋伽　弦月（ゆみはり）の小夜曲（セレナーデ）

Romaji: Gekijouban Meiji Tokyo Renka: Yumihari no Serenade

Release Date: July 18^th, 2015

Running Time: N/A

Director: Hiroshi Watanabe

Writer: Yoshiko Nakamura (Screenplay),

Starring:  Nobuhiko Okamoto (Kyouka Izumi), Sumire Morohoshi (Mei Ayazuki), Daisuke Namikawa (Ougai Mori), Jun Fukuyama (Goro Fujita), Kenn  (Shunsou Hishida),

Anime News Network also provided the synopsis for this anime. The trailer comes from the game.

On an evening lit by a crimson full moon, an ordinary high school girl named Mei Ayazuki meets a self-proclaimed magician named Charlie at a festival. Through Charlie’s magic, she time-travels to the Meiji era in Tokyo, where she meets and falls in love with various great historical figures from that time period.

Website

Jorei Tantei / Jyourei Tantei   

Japanese: 浄霊探偵

Romaji: Jorei Tantei

Release Date: July 18^th, 2015

Running Time: 89 mins.

Director: Hiroaki Tsuzuki

Writer: Kana Matsui (Screenplay), Chihiro Kamishima (Original Story),

Starring:  Akane Takayanagi, Haruo Konno, Chihiro Kamishima, Serena Kozuki, Daiki Ohyama, Elle Tanaka,

Akane Takayanagi of idol group SKE48 gets her first starring role as a character in a film about a real psychic named Atsushi (Konno) investigating a popular television programme called “Psychic Hunter” and meeting demons and then exorcising them. Yurika (Takayanagi) was present and Atsushi noticed that she is haunted by a “white shadow” but Yurika doesn’t buy an of this nonsense util she is attacked…

Website

Kazoku no Fukei  

Japanese: 家族の風景

Romaji: Kazoku no Fukei

Release Date: July 18^th, 2015

Running Time: 89 mins.

Director: Keitaro Sakon

Writer: N/A

Starring:  Sosuke Ikematsu, Mari Sato, Shigekazu Nakajima, Hikaru Sonoda,

This is the graduation work of director and Nihon University College of Art student Keitaro Sakon and it went on to tour numerous festivals in 2013. Sosuke Ikematsu plays Takashi, a freelance writer who returns home in the wake of his mother injuring herself. He considers family relationships ad the way time changes things.

Website

Kimi to Miru Fukei  

Japanese: きみとみる風景

Romaji: Kimi to Miru Fukei

Release Date: July 18^th, 2015

Running Time: 63 mins.

Director: Yuko Imanishi

Writer: Yuko Imanishi (Screenplay)

Starring:  Madoka Matsuda, Chie Murakami, Honoka Taniguchi, Azusa Teraguchi, Yudai Amano, Daisuke Masuda, Akio Muto, Mami Ishimizu, Nene Nishimoto,

This one looks like a tourist video but it has a story. A photographer named Azusa Taguchi (Matsuda) is working on a new project with the theme of “nostalgia” running through it so she heads to Takayama in Gifu Prefecture and encounters various people.

Website

Random music video resdiscovered two years after writing about another film:

Prison School (監獄学園 プリズンスクール)   

Director: Tsutomu Mizushima, Series Composition/Scripts: Michiko Yokote, Original Creator: Akira Hiramoto, Character Designer: Junichiro Taniguchi, Music: Kotaro Nakagawa, Art Designer: Maki Morio,

Voice Actors: Hiroshi Kamiya (Kiyoshi), Kana Hanazawa (Hana), Daisuke Namikawa (Joe), Katsuyuki Konishi (Gakuto), Kazuyuki Okitsu (Andre), Kenichi Suzumura (Shingo), Sayaka Ohara (Mari), Shizuka Itou (Meiko), Chinami Hashimoto (Chiyo)

Studio: J.C. Staff

Airing Date: July 10^th, 2015

Website

Synopsis

On the outskirts of Tokyo is Hachimitsu Private Academy. It was once an elite all-girls’ boarding school but it has now been opened its doors to boys for the first time. Alas, only five boys enrol – the relatively normal Kiyoshi Fujino, the very intelligent motor-mouth Gakuto, the giant moon-faced Andre, blonde-haired Shingo, and Joe, a hoodie-wearing guy who coughs up blood and seems to have a mean case of TB (although it’s not).

These are our boys and they are all horny.

You might think being a teenage boy amidst a sea of teenage girls is paradise but Kiyoshi Fujino and friends find it hard to talk to the fairer sex.

They will also find that for every heaven there is a hell and some members of the female student body are very much against admitting boys in and having any contact with them.

These girls have formed an underground student council which forbids any contact with boys. Anyone found transgressing the rules will be punished severely. This explains why nearly every girl at the school refuses to have anything to do with the guys but there is an exception and her name is Chiyo.

Kiyoshi drops his eraser in class and it lands next to her desk. It is emblazoned with the image of a sumo wrestler. Chiyo loves sumo wrestling and the two crazy kids make plans for a date at a sumo match. 

Kiyoshi may have lucked out but the other guys aren’t getting anywhere with the ladies and decide to peep on the female students in their locker-room. Of course, the five boys get caught breaking the rules by the secret council and are sent to the school prison… 

Here they are forced to do hard labour for a month under the watchful and wrathful secret student council which consists of man-haters like President Mari (who has the power to control crows), Vice President Meiko (a girl with abnormally huge breasts) and Hana (a high-kicking karate kid).

The guys will truly discover the horror of the Prison School…

I could not stay away from this one. After writing about the summer 2015 season for an anime website and scouting a few chapters of the manga I had a feeling it would be the most controversial and debated shows airing. At the very least, people easily offended (seemingly most of the internet) would kick up a fuss and so I had to see what the anime was before other people drowned it out in a sea of moralising voices.

In the end I found that it wasn’t offensive. It was fun if you lowered your threshold of decency.

Two episodes in and I am tempted to see this as essentially a show about a bunch of sex-starved guys who get shoved into a stockade on the school playground by a bunch of S&M queens and they discover that, in the absence of any normal relationships with females their own age, they love the violent attention of the girls since this is the closest they get to female “contact,” essentially revealing their masochistic sides.

Not edifying material.

Not that it is supposed to be. The show is trash but it is not stupid. It wears its trashiness well and pumps it up for magnificent comedic effect with over-exaggerated an art style that grabs your attention and never lets it go.

Its chief pleasure is that it lives up to its dumb premise and go well beyond the boundaries of good taste when trying to get laughs. I think I came to admire it for that.

The anime comes from Akira Hiramoto’s Kodansha award-winning manga of the same name. It’s easy to see why the manga is popular since it takes its stupid premise and adds a huge mix of ecchi and colourful characters with obscene toilet humour/black comedy and just runs with it. Akira Hiramoto’s gags are excruciating to watch since characters both male and female are degraded but sometimes those gags, once sprung, reveal themselves to be really, really cleverly constructed even if gross.

The Prison School anime is made by some high class talent wth Tsutomu Mizushima directing and the manga adapted by Michiko Yokote. The two regularly work together on all sorts of shows, a lot of them comedy or slice of life like Genshiken and Shirobako. I trust them to get comedy like this right.

The first two episodes are peppered with a million cheap gags like over exaggerated facial expressions…

and masochistic guys getting beaten up by sadistic girls…

and it has a lot of near the knuckle stuff like the heads/tails punishment.

This is at the bottom end of the spectrum, easy comedy. The show shines when it manages to interweave its perversion into episode-long dilemmas and more standard prison story plots like breaking out (to go on a date) and playing everything off as serious only for things to end with a huge dose of bathos. When things get complicated and the events are dragged out to levels of absurdity the show never loses its cool and holds course for the denoument no matter how sick. A good example is the extended sequence of Hana wanting to see Kiyoshi take a leak as revenge for him accidentally seeing her do the same thing. It ends with the most GIFable moment from this season’s anime so far.

It shows itself to be unafraid of exploring and satirising how both sexes display and satiate their libido in an extreme manner. This stuff might be offensive and low-brow but the show nails the comedic tone by constantly having everything be over the top. It benefits from going all-out at break-neck speed since it allows a million gags to fly at the audience preventing them from thinking too hard about what the hell is going on.

The seiyuu are uniformly perfect. The guys nail the tone of sexual desperation by yelling out their frustration and desires and horror at what is going on.

The female response is also to ham up the roles but Kana Hanazawa steals the show as Hana by sliding between the high-pitched voice and bubbly personality to the deep, angry, grave threat version of the karate girl.

Another element that deserves praise is the music which hits all the right musical cues and fits the tone of the show when it is played seriously and sounds like something you might hear in some World War II prison break movie.

I’ve written far more than I intended to on this show but that’s because I found it fun and I don’t normally like ecchi. I can see the joke getting old but I think this is pitched 12 episodes which sounds just about right. This won’t be for everyone but I’m staying the course.

Images from http://www.logsoku.com/r/2ch.sc/comic/1432702999/

Anime-comic.hatenablog.com

Fantastic set of images found on Ikilote Gallery

A review of Akira Hiramoto’s work: Me and the Devil Blues

Prison School OP suitably dramatic and funny:

Prison School ED

Other Tsutomu Mizushima anime I have written about:

Another – First Impression, Episodes 9 – 11

Blood-C – First Impression

Charlotte（シャーロット） 

Director: Yoshiyuki Asai, Script/Original Creator: Jun Maeda, Character Designer: Masahiro Fujii, Art Director: Kazuki Higashiji, Original Character Designer: Na-Ga, Music: Jun Maeda, Anant-Garde Eyes,

Voice Actors: Kouki Uchiyama (Yuu Otosaka), Momo Asakura (Ayumi Otosaka), Ayane Sakura (Nao Tomori), Maaya Uchida (Misa Nishimori, Yusa Nishimori), Takahiro Mizushima (Joujirou Takajou),
Studio: P.A. Works

Airing Date: July, 2015

Website

As far as I was concerned all the signs going into this anime were not positive. The creator of this is Jun Maeda, a man famous for creating visual novels and his work (writing and music) on anime shows like Air, Angel Beats, and Clannad. The style of these shows is moe and melodrama and that aesthetic and style is a massive turn-off for me. Also a turn-off is the generic concept of the show which is all about teens with super powers. Colour me surprised that three episodes in and Charlotte has turned out to be more amusing and different than I could have guessed…

Synopsis

People with special abilities exist in our world but these special abilities only occur among a small percentage of boys and girls in puberty and when they mature into adults their abilities disappear. It’s not commonly known yet but the number of people with powers is rising.

Our main protagonist is the handsome and seemingly perfect Yuu Otosaka and his ability is to possess people for five seconds and do whatever he wants.

It’s not much of a power but it can still be useful. It’s such a shame that, beneath the gorgeous exterior he is a slimy cheat.

Already a generic idea is given a little nuance since Yuu Otosaka manages to prove himself to be something of a low-level scumbag starting fights, peeking up skirts of pretty girls but he is no idiot and has figured out that he can cheat on tests by looking at other people’s answers. That way he can enter the most prestigious school in the city but rising to the top of society isn’t where he’s going to stop, not when he can get the most beautiful girl in school to fall for him!

Proving himself to be a psychopath with hare-brained ideas Yuu goes further into more dangerous territory as he almost gets said girl knocked over and a man killed by possessing a truck driver and swerving at the prettiest girl in school so he can “save” her and impress her.

What a complete b*stard. I must admit that I watched this part almost stunned and smiled at how preposterous and violent it became. So much fun to watch.

Just before he actually gets someone killed (because miraculously nobody dies in that stunt) he is discovered by Nao Tomori who knows all about his powers and threatens to expose his misdeeds to the school unless he transfers to her school, Hoshinoumi Academy. 

Yuu refuses to take this threat lying down but when he gets beaten up and terrorised by Nao Tomori (who can turn invisible) and her schoolmate Takajou Joujirou (who can “teleport”) he gets the message and transfers schools where he finds out about the others with superpowers and Nao’s mission to save them…

So this show has a generic story and a not so generic hero. His initial b*stardry was funny to watch and while I have no doubt he will “reform” the fact that he maintains his cynicism and some of his bad ways makes him fun to be around. His power is a flawed one (since it lasts only five seconds) but he is not alone in being imperfect. Nao Tomori may be able to become invisible she can only become invisible to one person at a time which means everybody else can see her and security cameras pick her up. Takajou Joujirou can “teleport” which, in this anime, means that he can rocket from one location to the next with no way of controlling his speed or direction so he ends up crashing and limping away a bloodied but unbowed mess.

This leads to some rather funny situations where he tackles people and rams them into rivers or he cuts the lunch line at school and destroys part of the cafeteria.

While the three can use their abilities to beat up opponents they have to be very smart in how they do it since their powers have limits so they work together in what become complicated routines.

Invisibility, mind-control and teleportation sound cool but some powers are useless and pervy and in keeping with the teens with powers theme like a guy who takes psychic photographs of girls in their underwear without the need for a camera.

There’s a line of darkness running through this story as parents abandon their children and even sell them off to scientists to pay debts. Kids are very much on their own including Yuu. He is the older brother to Ayumu and the two look after each other.

Seeing this humanises and makes sympathetic Yuu’s character. The fact that these kids are broke is how they are strong-armed into going to different schools.

Aside from the main protagonists and their broken powers there is the well-handled sense of threat from the world. These teens aren’t acting in isolation or with impunity. There are shady scientists (downright evil, actually) hunting them for their abilities and subjecting them to cruel experiments. This is detailed in Nao Tomori’s backstory where we see her and her older brother Kazuki sold off to a false academy by their own mother and getting put through tests and mind games. While the cute moe style of character designs doesn’t work for me when seeing the more dramatic moments such as these, I thought the writing was pretty good since it used simple narration and snippets of scenes to get across how bad the kids had it.

This danger prevents the show from subsiding into a moe comedy and one can guess from the OP with its crying characters that there will be some tragedy thrown in at a later stage. The whole special school for mutants’ set-up has been done to death and comparisons to things like X-Men are justified but Charlotte’s execution has proven steady and I like that it has an easy-going sense of humour when it doesn’t dive into darkness. The dangers surrounding these kids is going to have to figure more prominently for this series to really make an impact and I might hazard a guess that lead protag Yuu’s sister Ayumi.

She’s cute and, in small doses, a tolerable presence in the cast. Apart from screaming “kyaaah” and other moe cliches, her character also screams plot device since she is a loving sister and Yuu is a doting brother who loves her. The fact that Yuu has powers means that Ayumi will manifest some powers sooner or later and that will make her a target of the evil scientists.

This being a P.A. Works animation means that it looks really gorgeous. Their slice of life shows are stunning to watch at times and it works well here. The music is also top-knotch.

So yeah, I’ll continue watching this even though I dislike anie that leans heavily on the moe aesthetic. I can see myself not caring too much about events and just watching it for the sake of finishing it but I’m still prepared to spend some time on this.

The Charlotte OP is my favourite OP of the season:

The first ED is no slouch:

My bad-tempered review of Sora no Woto should show how much I despise the moe aesthetic.

Happy weekend, people!

I started watching films again after a short break and it’s all for my Summer of Splatter. On top of writing reviews for my own blog I have been writing stuff for Gigan magazine so, if you’re interested, check out what I wrote about the World of Kanako (2014) ahead of its US release (my review is here).

I also started writing up more manga reviews for a possible season that is shaping up for a September/October launch.

On Wednesday Anime News Network reported that Nokuto Noike’s manga 6000: The Deep Sea of Madness would be getting turned into a live-action film by All Nippon Entertainment Works (ANEW), a joint venture between people in the Japanese anime industry and Hollywood. The names attached to include the producer Mike Medavoy (Shutter Island, Black Swan). Apparently ANEW are also trying to remake the trashy J-horror Ghost Train.

This week I posted my first impressions of Prison School and Charlotte.

What’s released in Japan this weekend?

Nowhere Girl / Tokyo Stateless Girl   

Japanese: 東京無国籍少女

Romaji: Tokyo Mukokuseki Shoujo

Release Date: July 25^th, 2015

Running Time: 85 mins.

Director: Mamoru Oshii

Writer: Kentaro Yamagishi (Screenplay)

Starring:  Nana Seino, Lily, Nobuaki Kaneko, Hinako Tanaka, Ayuri Yoshinaga, Hirotaro Honda,

The film stars Nana Seino (Wood Job!, Danger Dolls, Tokyo Tribe) in her first lead role as the stateless girl, Ai. It is directed by Mamoru Oshii, one of the all-time great anime directors thanks to Patlabor, Ghost in the Shell, and The Sky Crawlers. In recent years he has stepped back from animation and moved further into live-action bringing with The Next Generation Patlabor movie series.

The film is about a talented girl in an art school named Ai. She is extremely talented but she is surrounded by adults who want to use her and envious classmates who want to abuse her. As she struggles with her daily life she begins to fall apart.

Website

Wait for Me at Udagawachou   

Japanese: 宇田川町で待っててよ。

Romaji: Udagawachou de Matteteyo

Release Date: July 25^th, 2015

Running Time: 65 mins.

Director: Noriko Yuasa

Writer: Hiroko Kanasugi (Screenplay), Hideyoshico (Original Manga)

Starring:  Mario Kuroba, Ryugi Yokota, Momoka Ayukawa, Daiki Mihara,

A high school boy named Momose (Kuroba) witnesses his classmate Yashiro (Yokota) dressed as a girl while he is out in Shibuya. Yashiro is embarrassed about being rumbled at first but Momose is curious…

Website

Fires on the Plain   

Japanese Title: 野火

Romaji: Nobi

Release Date: July 25^th (2015)

Running Time: 87 mins.

Director: Shinya Tsukamoto

Writer: Shinya Tsukamoto (Screenplay), Shohei Ooka (Original Novel)

Starring: Shinya Tsukamoto, Lily Franky, Tatsuya Nakamura, Yuko Nakamura, Dean Newcombe,

Shinya Tsukamoto is bringing his passion project, Fires on the Plain to cinemas. It is based upon the 1951 Yomiuri Prize-winning novel of the same name which was then adapted into a film in 1959 by Kon Ichikawa. It took Tsukamoto 20 years to bring his adaptation of the film to the screen and it’s a real passion project considering he has struggled to finance it (subject matter you see in this film isn’t that popular in Japan) and was in charge of many aspects of the filming including directing and acting.

The film Fires on the Plain follows a demoralised Japanese army in the Philippines. We see how bad things are for the Japanese troops through the desperate struggle of a conscript named Tamura who is sick with TB and forced into the field by a commander who cannot waste resources on a dying man. Tamura doesn’t want to give up so easily and clings to life but it is a struggle that will lead him down a dark path that hint at some of the atrocities carried out by soldiers…

Website

Brain Fluid Explosion Girl   

Japanese: 脳漿炸裂ガール

Romaji: Nou Shou Sakuretsu Garu

Release Date: July 25^th, 2015

Running Time: 65 mins.

Director: Yuichi Abe

Writer: Hiroko Kanasugi (Screenplay), Hideyoshico (Original Manga)

Starring:  Hinata Kashiwagi, Seika Taketomi, Moka Kamishiraishi, Atsushi Arai Tetsuya Sugaya, Koudai Asaka,

Despite the film having an awesome-sounding title that could come from a manga, the movie is based on a popular vocaloid based song “Nou Shou Sakuretsu Girl” (脳漿炸裂ガール) by Rerulili and then adapted into a novel by Erika Yoshida in 2013.

Hana Ichii managed to get into her dream school but when she is locked in a cage with her classmates it turns into a nightmare because the kids are forced to take part in a survival game using their cellphones.

Website

Obon Brothers  

Japanese: お盆の弟

Romaji: Obon no Otouto

Release Date: July 25^th, 2015

Running Time: 107 mins.

Director: Akira Osaki

Writer: Shin Adachi (Screenplay),

Starring: Kiyohiko Shibukawa, Ken Mitsuishi, Makiko Watanabe, Yoji Tanaka, Koki Okada, Erika Yanagita, Yumi Goto, Aoba Kawai, Miyoko Inagawa,

This film showed up at Nippon Connection 2015 and attracted my attention because it has a great cast with a story and style of filming that will get the most out of them. The trailer reminds of lovely and strange And the Mud Ship Sails Away what with the meandering, talk-heavy action shot in black and white. This film stars some great actors like the cool Kiyohiko Shibukawa (he seems to be in a film a week in 2015), the exceptional Makiko Watanabe (Love Exposure), and the Ken Mitsuishi (Rent-a-Neko, Noriko’s Dinner Table). There is also Aoba Kawai (Meatball Machine, Watashi no Otoko) and Yumi Goto, two names I have gotten used to over the past year after seeing the give great performances in different films.

Takeshi is a struggling film director, with a fractious home life. That’s an understatement, actually, since he has been kicked out of his house by his wife and forced to move in with his ill brother. Can Takeshi turn his life around and save his marriage?

Website

Gekijou jouei Nihon Anime (-Ta-) Mihonichi   

Japanese: 劇場上映　日本アニメ（ーター）見本市

Romaji: Gekijou jouei Nihon anime (-Ta-) mihonichi

Release Date: July 25^th, 2015

Running Time: N/A

Director: Various (see below)

Writer: Various (see below)

Starring: Megumi Hayashibara, Koichi Yamadera,

Anime News Network have an excellent report of this project from which I took the information. Essentially Hideaki Anno, the creator of Evangelion, oversaw a collection of shorts from new and old talent and ideas in the anime industry. There are other industry vets like Ghibli founders Hayao Miyazaki and Toshio Suzuki who are helping to foster new ideas and talents and the results have been collected together and veteran seiyuu have been recruited with the co-stars of Ranma ½ and Cowboy Bebop Kouichi Yamadera and Megumi Hayashibara both voicing characters. Click on the titles and names for more info:

• “Ōtarō Maijōand Kazuya Tsurumaki‘s “The Dragon Dentist“
• Azuma Tani‘s “Hill Climb Girl“
• A music video titled “ME!ME!ME!” featuring the musicianTeddyloid (Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt) and rapper daoko
• Akira Honma‘s “Carnage“
• Yoshikazu Yasuhiko& Ichiro Itano‘s “Collection of Key Animation Films” from Mobile Suit Gundam
• Takeshi Hondaand Mahiro Maeda‘s “20min Walk From Nishi-Ogikubo Station, 2 Bedrooms, Living Room, Dining Room, Kitchen, 2mos Deposit, No Pets Allowed“
• Tadashi Hiramatsuand Khara’s “until you come to me“
• Akemi Hayashi‘s“Tomorrow from there”
• Akira Amemiya‘s “Gridman: Boys Invent Great Hero“
• Takashi Horiuchiand Masahiro Emoto‘s “Yamadeloid“
• Yasuhiro Yoshiura,Studio Rikka, and Trigger‘s “Power Plant No.33“

Website

Eiken Boogie Return Match of Tears   

Japanese: EIKEN BOOGIE 涙のリターンマッチ

Romaji: Eiken Boogie Namida no Rita-nmatchi

Release Date: July 25^th, 2015

Running Time: 70 mins.

Director: Kimihiko Nakamura

Writer: Kimihiko Nakamura (Screenplay),

Starring: Junpei Yasukawa, Keisuke Kaminaga, Yu Yoshioka, Shinji Imaoka, Moe Sakura, Hiroshi Amano,

A boxer struggling to recover from a grievous injury finds inspiration in taking part in the filming of a movie being made by a bunch of college kids.

Website

The Hybrid Nue no ko   

Japanese: THE HYBRID 鵺の仔

Romaji: The Hybrid Nue no ko

Release Date: July 25^th, 2015

Running Time: 83 mins.

Director: Toru Hano, Yoshio Kuratani,

Writer: Toru Hano (Screenplay),

Starring: Honoka Ishibashi, Ken Yamamura, Asua Kurosawa, Naoko Ken, Hako Ohshima, Kuniaki Nakamura, Kazue Aoki, Mai Aida, Mika Muto, Miku Chiba,

Synopsis on the IMDB page:

A young college graduate name Chiaki brings her friend Mai to visit her hometown called Nuegabuchi, a hot spring village. The village has many legends of a mysterious monster called nue. In the middle of the night, Chiaki would hear eerie cries of a monster, bringing up grim memories from her childhood. During her visit, it is revealed that Sawatsukumori, the man who killed Chiaki’s father twelve years ago, was just released on parole and is now missing. In another scene, we see a magazine editor named Kyogoku taking orders from a mysterious woman to capture the nue. Kyogoku eventually arrives at Nuegabuchi and comes head to head with the nue.

Website

Control of Violence   

Japanese: コントロール・オブ・バイオレンス

Romaji: Kontorōru Obu baiorensu

Release Date: July 25^th, 2015

Running Time: 84 mins.

Director: Takahiro Ishihara

Writer: Takahiro Ishihara (Screenplay),

Starring: Arata Yamanaka, Kiyohiko Shibukawa, Hiroko Yashiki, Shogen, Masatoshi Kihara,

Over the last couple of weeks there have been screenings of Takahiro Ishihara’s Osaka-based gangster films. It all leads up to his latest one, Control of Violence.

A guy named Sub-zero (Shibukawa) is in Osaka causing trouble between a set of Yakuza gangs and a former enforcer named Goda (Yamanaka) is dragged back into the fray when one of his friends is killed.

Website

Top Ten films in Japan and some notable entries:

The Boy and the Beast (Release: 2015/07/11)

Inside Out (Release: 2015/07/18)

Hero (Release: 2015/07/18)

Terminator Genesis (Release: 2015/07/10)

Avengers Age of Ultron (Release: 2015/07/04)

Mad Max: Fury Road (Release: 2015/06/20)

Our Little Sister (Release: 2015/06/13)

Ari no mama de itai (Release: 2015/07/11)

Tag (Release: 2015/07/11)

Pokémon the Movie: Hoopa and the Clash of Ages (Release: 2015/07/18)

Kimi wa Ii ko is at 28

Random music video of the week:

Big Tits Zombie   

Japanese: 巨乳ドラゴン 温泉ゾンビVSストリッパー5

Romaji: Kyonyū doragon: Onsen zonbi vs sutorippaa 5

Release Date: May 15^th, 2010

Running Time: 73 mins.

Director: Takao Nakano

Writer: Takao Nakano (Screenplay), Rei Mikamoto (Original Manga),

Starring: Sora Aoi, Risa Kasumi, Mari Sakurai, Tamayo, Saori Ando, io Aikawa, Daisuke Iijima, Tamayo,

With a title like Bit Tits Zombie you can banish any thoughts about this film having serious artistic pretensions. Despite the fact there are plenty of zombies and the lead actresses bare plenty of flesh it fails to become a consistently entertaining ride.

Lena Jodo (Aoi) is a party-girl back from a trip to Mexico who is desperate for money so she calls on an old friend and gets a gig as a stripper. Unfortunately it’s at a joint in a dead-end town and the audience consists of one old man. Bored and not earning money, Lena and the other girls, goth-loli Maria (Sakurai), former convict Ginko (Kasumi), Filipino Dana (Aikawa), and mother-figure Nene (Tamayo) stumble upon a secret door in their dressing room which leads to a building where the owner recently committed suicide. The girls discover that as well as being a businessman he was dabbling in necromancy and Satanism. Maria finds a Book of the Dead and a Well of Spirits and summons an army of zombies who attack the town and the girls are forced to fight them off.

Big Tits Dragon exists in a well-worn genre of gory low-budget horror b-movies. These are splatter films where girls’ with swords battle through bad guys with blood spurting everywhere but Big Tits Dragon doesn’t match the levels of absurdity or inventiveness of superior titles like Tokyo Gore Police (2008) and Vampire Girl vs Frankenstein Girl (2009).

This is a low-budget T&A title that relishes playing up its slim story, its ridiculousness and having/making fun of its terrible CGI and physical effects but the direction lacks the steam and anarchism to really make the humour work. I feel like you have to throw as many gags, fights and as much weirdness as possible at the audience to keep them from thinking too hard about events and I had expected gouts of blood and jokes in this film but it was more like a trickle. The body horror is reduced to a few decapitations and a flame-spouting vagina, and the zombies are given a simple lick of makeup and sent off to play ping pong with an eyeball. Speaking of the zombies, the same six turn up in every scene – samurai, policeman, geisha, top hat wearing guy – and when there is a zombie invasion scene it looks like the crew are press-ganged into shambling on screen.

I know part of the point of the humour in these films is to play up the zero-budget (including not hiding the strings) but this sort of film has been done before and better as I mentioned previously. It’s puzzling that the visual effects feel dull because they are by Tsuyoshi Kazuno who worked on the aforementioned films plus Samurai Princess (2009) and Cold Fish (2010) and this year’s Deadman Wonderland (2015).

There is no spectacle so we are reduced to seeking entertainment in the writing and while living up to its dumb premise by being totally dumb the script isn’t devoid of some intelligence. There are lots of knowing nods to the genre and the atrociousness of what the audience is watching and writer/director Nakano, through the bits of dialogue spouted by goth-loli intellectual Maria, displays his knowledge of horror movies like Night of the Living Dead but it only goes so far to making this film a fun experience.

The girls, given broad characters to play, do their best to bring them to life but within a film like this, characterisation is an unheard concept and, apart from Aoi and Sakurai, they reel of boring dialogue. With little in the way of gore or convincing action the film is mostly dull enlivened by a few scenes but they don’t really hang together because each sequence features too much downtime between them where the girls bicker or laze around. The violence doesn’t satisfy and the nudity is also a bit lacking despite the director zooming into the breasts of the strippers at nearly every possible moment.

The one bright spot is lead actress Sora Aoi who is a sassy and funny presence and displays more life than her co-stars and the legion of zombies. As the hard-drinking Lena she gets most of the gags.

Ultimately I didn’t particularly like this film. The film, while aiming to be a bad movie does just become bad especially with a script that fails to come to life.

The careers of the people involved in this film sounds more interesting than the actual title. The film is adapted from a manga written by Rei Mikamoto who is probably more famous for his series Reiko the Zombie Shop. It’s directed by Takao Nakano, a man with a long career in AV movies of all stripes (pan-sexual, multi-genre, writing/directing and even starring in them) and he has used his connections to collect together a group of AV performers and gravure idols for the main roles, the most famous beng Sora Aoi who put in an excellent performance in Revenge: A Love Story.

In playing up the fact that it’s a bad movie, Big Tits Dragon becomes the thing it mocks. There are better splatter films out there and I recommend Tokyo Gore Police and Vampire Girl vs Frankenstein Girl.

2.5/5

Nakano has made a nice little sideline in raunchy horror titles like this

Stay tuned for the next review which shows how these splatter films should be made. The next set features some of the same technical team but it looks like they grew in confidence.

Deadball       

Japanese: デッドボール

Romaji: Dedoboru

Release Date: July 23^rd, 2011

Running Time: 73 mins.

Director: Yudai Yamaguchi

Writer: Yudai Yamaguchi, Keita Tokaji (Screenplay),

Starring: Tak Sakaguchi, Mari Hoshino, Miho Ninagawa, Miho Narita, Mickie Curtis, Ryosei Tayama,

Baseball is, for some odd reason, one of the most popular sports in Japan. It would take zombies and bloodshed to truly make it interesting for me. Enter the rather short-lived film label, Sushi Typhoon, a gang responsible for the movies a series of splatter films like Cold Fish (2011), Mutant Girls Squad (2010), Hell Driver (2011), and Yakuza Weapon (2011). They bring their over-the-top action and special effects to a boring sport and liven it up with mass killings, androids and more craziness for an audience than is healthy.

It all begins with a game of baseball played between a father and two sons. What starts out as a softly lit idealised fantasy turns bizarre after Jubei Yakyu kills his father with a literally earth-shattering pitch that pretty much shatters the guy’s head. His brother Musashi is horrified at the carnage and their family is split up…

Sometime in the future Tokyo has descended into chaos thanks to the youth. There is one juvenile in particular who is committing crimes all over the place and his name is Jubei Yakyu (Sakaguchi)…

When we next meet him he has turned himself into the police after murdering a rapist. He gets sent to a rather notorious rotten prison for juveniles but is given the chance to earn his freedom by joining the prison baseball team run by the cruel and malicious Nazi-sympathiser head warden Ishihara (Ninagawa).

Her Juvie League team is supposed to reform young criminals and since Jubei’s pitching skills are well-known to prison authorities but she has a secret agenda. She is the granddaughter of a man who aided the Nazis and she has picked up their segregationist and genocidal views as well as their dress code. She has set up her team with what turns out to be a genuine life or death match against Saint Black Dahlia High School, a fearsome bunch of genocidal maniacs and terrorists trained by neo-Nazi’s and they love causing pain…

Jubei is forced onto the field with a bunch of murderous and loony teammates with only the girlish Shinnosuke Suzuki (Hoshino) proving a loyal friend. Jubei has his own secret. He is in Ishihara’s prison because that is where his brother ended up…

Will Jubei survive the game of baseball, find his brother and escape Ishihara?

Deadball is as silly as it sounds and all the better for it. The film gets the audience to partake of the silliness by roaring through every silly gag with such dedication and glee that it’s hard not to get caught up in the events.

Cheap but fun, the film takes place in a few sets delightfully decorated to look like the nastiest of prisons and the most bleak of baseball fields, the cast are put through a series of bad-taste jokes (extreme cavity searches, vomit for food) and sight gags (tearing arms off, fist through a phone) that come thick and fast in a tactic that sees a million gags thrown at the audience and hoping that half of them stick. Caught somewhere between gross-out humour and physical comedy, none of this is new and not every joke is funny but it is delivered with energy so if something doesn’t work there’s usually something coming fast on its heels to distract the viewer.

The best aspect of the film is action star Tak Sakaguchi. Criminally underused because the Japanese movie industry has stopped making films with balls (and not the sort used in baseball), he displays martial arts prowess and a sense of humour throughout the film kicking and punching enemies in a Bruce Lee style complete with yells and fine athleticism.

His whole character is a riff on the archetypal stoic hero. With the name yakyu (Japanese for baseball) and dressed like a cowboy in a poncho, he exudes nothing but charisma and cool with his nonchalant style especially when he is battling neo-Nazis and tearing balls off while spouting silly non sequiturs. Like a total baseball-themed hero he can leap into the bad-guy’s lair, kick down a bunch of gun-toting thugs and literally use people as baseball bats and blow someone’s head off with a baseball without missing a beat regardless of how absurd the sight is.

The cast of character surrounding him are equally fun to watch. The prison camp is run by “Frau” Ishihara, a severe-looking woman, and her goons who wear Nazi uniforms, Jubei’s baseball team made up of stereotypes like yankees and nerds battle Saint Black Dahlia High School, a rival baseball team that are all sexy S&M girls who like gyrating around while stabbing guys up and murdering in inventive ways.

These guys and gals get into the most intense and intensely silly baseball battle some balls turn into heat-seeking missiles or splitting in half to reveal deadly blades. Body parts get lopped off by CGI baseballs which vary between explosives, saws, and tentacles and CGI blood sprays everywhere. It’s tacky but fun.

Like a typical splatter film it pitches itself into the absurd often and while some people may be put off by the silliness and the cheapness of proceedings I liked the anarchy. In fact, the simplicity of the story was also a boon for me because it streamlines proceedings so the plot does not stop with the action and comedy. Not only is one death followed by another, there’s usually some gag inserted – a reaction shot, a one-liner, an absurd flashback or silly narration by the evil announcer at the baseball match, the way that Tak Sakaguchi need only reach off-screen and he’ll have a cigarette given to him so he can look cool while smoking – that keeps things funny (although some may find the gay-bashing jokes uncomfortable) and, miracle of miracles, baseball is made funny because of the craziness.

The film ends with a guy getting blown apart by a baseball and the sequence repeated from a dozen different angles a dozen times providing the final topping of an experience that knows it’s silly and plays everything up with glee. Although not perfect, the film is highly entertaining.

3.5/5

Happy weekend people!

My summer of splatter films/manga reviews is back on track after a few anime first impressions (Charlotte, Prison School, Ushio to Tora). This week I reviewed Deadball (2011)and Big Tits Zombie (2010). Expect more film and manga reviews over the coming months. Hopefully I can keep up with the reviews, There are only the Toronto and Vancouver film festivals to worry about since Venice doesn’t have any Japanese films programmed and so for the first time since I started covering film festivals, I won’t be covering the Venice film festival.

What’s released this weekend?

Attack on Titan   

Japanese: 進撃の巨人 ATTACK ON TITAN

Romaji: Shingeki no Kyojin: Attack on Ttitan

Release Date: August 01^st, 2015

Running Time: 98 mins.

Director: Shinji Higuchi

Writer: Yusuke Watanabe, Tomohiro Machiyama (Screenplay), Hajime Isayama (Original Manga),

Starring: Haruma Miura, Hiroki Hasegawa, Kiko Mizuhara, Kanata Hongo, Rina Takeda, Ayame Misaki, Jun Kunimura, Satomi Ishihara, Pierre Taki, Nanami Sakuraba, Takahiro Miura,

The live-action Attack on Titan is here and I must say that I am excited. I’m a fan of the manga and I’m a fan of the anime (first impression, mid-season thoughts, final thoughts) and I hear that the movie is meant to be really, really good which defies the expectations of some haters. There’s a great starry cast. I’ll let the trailer do the rest of the talking.

100 years ago, an-eating titans appeared out of nowhere and drove human civilization to the brink of collapse. The last remnants of humanity built a city behind a series of giant walls, bigger than the largest titan known to man, to defend themselves and for 100 years they have lived in peace. But then, one day, a titan bigger than any seen before appears and destroys a wall letting a flood of titans descend upon humanity. Eren Jaeger and his sister Mikasa Ackerman join the fight against the titans…

Website

Corpse Party   

Japanese: コープスパーティー

Romaji: Ko-pusu Pa-ti-

Release Date: August 01^st, 2015

Running Time: 93 mins.

Director: Masafumi Yamada

Writer: Yoshimasa Akamatsu (Screenplay), Team GrisGris (Original Game),

Starring: Rina Ikoma, Ryousuke Ikeoka, Nozomi Maeda, Jun, Yoko Kita, Kazuhiko Kanayama,

The Corpse Party movie is based on the famous series of horror games which has spawned manga and anime adpatations. The live-action movie features AKB48 and Nogizaka46 member Rina Ikoma who takes the role of a third-year high school student named Naomi Nakashima.  Acting alongside her is Ryousuke Ikeoka, a member of the male acting group D-BOYS and Popteen magazine model Nozomi Maeda. The film is directed by Masafumi Yamada. He is a specialist in the horror genre having worked on similar titles like Creepy Hide and Seek (2009), a film about a girl who gets haunted by demons when she plays a game of hide and seek, and X Game 2 (2012) which is about a group of people trapped in a school and stuck in a survival game.

On the last day of a high school festival a group of high school students are locked up at Tenjin Elementary School, a place haunted by students who were victims of a horrific murder that took place years ago.

Website

Stray Dogz   

Japanese: 闇金ドッグス

Romaji: Yamakin Doggusu

Release Date: August 01^st, 2015

Running Time: 88 mins.

Director: Tetsuhiko Tsuchiya

Writer: Masao Ikegaya (Screenplay),

Starring: Yuki Yamada, Sousuke Takaoka, Ami Tomite, Kanji Tsuda, Saaya Irie, Miyoko Inagawa,

Tadaomy Ando (Yamada) was once a yakuza boss but because of the bad actions of his subordinate, he quit the yakuza and went into the illegal loan shark business but times are tough and his victims are giving him a hard time.

Website

Make-believe Family   

Japanese: 家族ごっこ

Romaji: Kazoku Gokko

Release Date: August 01^st, 2015

Running Time: 100 mins.

Director: Eiji Uchida, Hanta Kinoshita

Writer: Eiji Uchida, Hanta Kinoshita, Momoko Fukuda (Screenplay),

Starring: Takumi Saito, Denden, Mayu Tsuruta, Reika Kirishima, Taro Yabe, Azuma Miwako, Eihi Shiina,

Eiji Uchida, director of Greatful Dead (2013) works with actor/director Hanta Kinoshita to bring to the screen starring a mixture of actors who have appeared in all sorts of indies and splatter films, some of which will be reviewed over the next few weeks – Takumi Saito (Vampire Girl vs Frankenstein Girl (2009), For Love’s Sake (2012), Eihi Shiina (Tokyo Gore Police (2008), Audition (1999).

This is an omnibus film about five sets of strangers who gather together to pretend to be the Suzuki and the Tanaka family and so on. Expect comedy.

Website

Bad Moon Rising   

Japanese: バッドムーンライジング

Romaji: Baddo Mu-n Raijingu

Release Date: August 01^st, 2015

Running Time: 107 mins.

Director: Ichiro Kita

Writer: Kenji Kurata (Screenplay),

Starring: Shun Sugata, Natsuna, Jun Miho, Sola Ohtsuka, Reita Serizawa, Hisako Ohkata, Rina Wakatsuki, Figt, Haruna Takeuchi, Chihiro Seko,

Keiji (Sugata) is a middle-aged man who has lost his mother in an industrial accident. Keiji returns to his hometown and on the way he meets a young woman, Towako (Natsuna) who is lost in a mountain road. She is suffering amnesia and looking for her family. The two, having lost relatives, travel onwards in the car…

Website

Summer on the Frontline: A 15 year old boy’s story /Soman kokkyo 15 sai no natsu   

Japanese: ソ満国境 15歳の夏

Romaji: Soman kokkyo 15 sai no natsu

Release Date: August 01^st, 2015

Running Time: 94 mins.

Director: Tetsuya Matsushima

Writer: Tetsuya Matsushima, Naoyuki Tomomatsu (Screenplay), Kazuo Tahara (Original Novel),

Starring: Ryuichiro Shibata, Min Tanaka, Satoshi Nikaido, Isao Natsuyagi, Miho Kanazawa, Ritsuko Tanaka,

Full synopsis from the film’s IMDB page:

Keisuke, 15-year-old junior-high school boy, has been forced to live as refugees with his family in temporary housing apart from a hometown as a result of the Great East Japan Earthquake.In 2012, he belongs to a broadcasting club of his junior-high, to which he has to be admitted for the earthquake. He spends time with some fellows of a club. But all equipment to make their works of it has been washed away by the tsunami. He decides to give up his filmmaking in this summer, which will be the last time of his junior-high days to make a work. But one day a man who lives in a small village in Heilongjiang, China donates the equipment for filmmaking to Keisuke’s school. Also Keisuke, his fellows and his teacher have been invited by him to shoot a film in China. And they are travelling to shoot around the boundless Chinese land. Then they have known the Japanese boys’ story in China in the end of the Second Sino-Japanese war. It is a true story that 120 Japanese junior-high students were …

Website

Tsukuba Naval Air Corps   

Japanese: 筑波海軍航空隊

Romaji: Tsukuba kaigun kokutai

Release Date: August 01^st, 2015

Running Time: 99 mins.

Director: Osamu Wakatsuki

Writer: N/A

Starring: Kazuomi Yanai, Yoshio Hashimoto, Masayuki Nagare, Nobuya Kinase,

Kamikaze is a term in the news quite frequently recently because the Japanese government is pushing for letters and personal effects of Kamikaze pilots enshrined as world heritage and movies/doramas like The Eternal Zero are made. This documentary has testimonies from real kamikaze pilots who were traine at the Tsukuba Naval Air Base. 84 young men were drafted into this deadly force at the Battle of Okinawa and 60 of them died for their country. Get the real story of ther training, how their families reacted and what battle was like.

Website

Hadenya ni ikiru hitobito   

Japanese: 波伝谷に生きる人びと

Romaji: Hadenya ni ikiru hitobito 

Release Date: August 01^st, 2015

Running Time: 134 mins.

Director: Kazuki Azuma

Writer: N/A

Starring: N/A

Hadenya was a vibrant closely-knit village with strong traditions dating back centuries. It was built on fishing and other industries that harnessed nature. Then 3/11 happened and the village was wiped out. This documentary captured the vibrant lives of the people before the disaster and the aftermath of the disaster. The New York Times has a stirring article about the villagers and the way they survived the ordeal and how their traditional communal ways gave them strength.

Website

Top Ten films in Japan and some notable entries:

Hero (Release: 2015/07/25)

The Boy and the Beast (Release: 2015/07/11)

Inside Out (Release: 2015/07/18)

Pokémon the Movie: Hoopa and the Clash of Ages (Release: 2015/07/18)

Terminator Genesis (Release: 2015/07/10)

Avengers Age of Ultron (Release: 2015/07/04)

Love Live! The School Idol Project (Release 2015/06/13)

Let’s Go! Anpanman: Mija and the Magic Lamp (2015/07/04)

Shaun the Sheep the Movie (2015/07/04)

Mad Max: Fury Road (Release: 2015/06/20)

Random music video of the week: Nostalgia… aaaahhhh natsukashi

Meatball Machine   

Japanese: ミートボールマシン

Romaji: Mi-tobo-ru Mashin

Release Date: September 23^rd, 2006

Running Time: 89 mins.

Director: Yudai Yamaguchi, Junichi Yamamoto

Writer: Junya Kato (Screenplay),

Starring: Issei Takahashi, Aoba Kawai, Taro Suwa, Kenichi Kawasaki, Ayano Yamamoto,

This is an earlier entry in the career of splatter specialist Yudai Yamaguchi. Although he has worked in other genres he is most famous for his outrageous and over-the-top blood soaked action films. This entry plays out like a colourised version of Tetsuo: The Iron Man with a twisted love story at its heart.

The film takes place in a small town under invasion from parasitic aliens. These tiny creatures live in silvery metal balls and attach themselves to human hosts which they turn into necroborgs, hulking monstrosities with weapons that sprout from their flesh. After the transformation, the aliens do battle with other necroborgs in a bizarre death game.

As horrific as that sounds the film gets its dramatic impetus by co-opting a romance into its battle narrative. This arc starts in a factory where a loner named Yoji Muraishi (Takahashi) nurses a crush on a co-worker. He eats his lunch alone during break so he can stare wistfully at the beautiful girl who is named Sachiko Masawa (Kawai).

Sachiko has noticed him as well but Yoji is too shy to act on his attraction. One night he gets his chance when Yoji’s boss Tanaka (Kawasaki) tries assaulting Sachiko but Yoji saves her. This act of heroism gets Yoji’s butt kicked by his boss but Sachiko appreciates the help and takes Yoji to his home where the two take the chance to unburden their romantic feelings for each other. This is when an alien Yoji has hidden in his closet decides to pop out and attach itself to Sachiko. What follows is a horrific transformation which sees her sprout mechanical protuberances, pipes, and other things as she transforms into a necroborg.

Yoji is attacked but manages to escape however he feels guilt over not being able to help Sachiko and so resolves to save her from the alien however he will face all sorts of horrors himself to do so…

Of all the splatter films I have seen this is the most serious one if you ignore the aliens and focus on the sad, solitary lives of the two lovers and their inner-pain. It turns out that the aliens home in on people who radiate negative energy and despite the placid smile Sachiko has a lot of that. Yoji is painfully lonely himself and seeing his chance of love going up in gouts of blood and gore adds pathos to a film which mostly consists of aliens fighting each other.

There is little in the way of humour (I’m not sure if the transgender encounter Yoji has is meant to be funny). The deaths are all tragic (apart from Tanaka’s). The ending is downright brutal and disillusioning, robbing the hero of his conventional dignified ending (despite the silliness of the aliens).

The writing, as is typical for a splatter film, is ultimately a simple framework for the action.

The big attraction for many people seeking out this title will be the special effects worked on by Yoshihiro Nishimura and the necroborg designs by Keita Amemiya, two veterans of the gore-tastic splatter genre.

The aliens are a creepy sight even before they have attached themselves to a human host. Bit-part actor Taro Suwa (who regularly shows up in splatter films) is the first victim, a salaryman who gets attacked by some crazed metallic tentacle thing and the next thing we see him as is a necroborg fighting.

They are weird spider-like creatures crawling out of rivers, cutting a slimey squelching path everywhere. There presence is signalled by the ominous sound of metal cables swinging about as they use their tentacles to lash around. Inside the spider contraption is a little screeching alien which is funny-looking rather than scary. The concept and sight of having ones body stolen is the scary thing!

The sterling special effects work is a mixture of cheap CGI and home-made physical props and costumes with enough character to convince the viewer that there are alien creatures running around. Ignore some of the rubbery looking bits and it comes off as effective, especially seeing humans in horrific hulking metal costumes involving copious amounts of wires, cables, metal spikes, and penile drill-bits. These bits and pieces just sprout out of people and pierce them in sequences that are squirm-inducing because the camera gets up close and into the action and we see the gory details.

It looks painful.

The morphing body-parts and emergence of flamethrowers and guns from arms and chests give the film a demented feeling but more impressive is the sense of pain each of the human victims has considering where the metal goes and comes from.

Anybody with sensitivity to seeing eyes harmed in any way will want to avoid Meatball Machine because during the transformation sequence you do see the eyes drilled through. It’s symbolic of how much control the aliens have over their victims (both eyes means they are in complete control) and also very, very icky to watch.

The cinematography by Shinji Kugimiya, from the well-shot to the one poorly realised action sequence, looks good. Intense action scenes in a junkyard involving two necroborgs and a handheld camera dissolve into chaos with constant shaking and zooms do little to relay the fight and get across the frenzied emotions of the characters. It’s just a bit messy. Other than that the film has a great look and the use of a fuzzy alien-POV shot is a nice touch as we see how they view the world through their necroborgs.

With a body horror aesthetic that is directly taken from Tetsuo: The Iron Man (1989) complete with chest cannon comparisons between the two films are hard to avoid and Meatball Machine is the weaker of the two.

I think Tetsuo’s aesthetic delivered a much more horrific experience. Tetsuo, shot in black and white with merciless editing and camera angles, and with a story and characters that revelled in ambiguity was an experience hard to cope with and left an indelible mark in my memory. Meatball Machine, being a far-out splatter film with no regard for taste and with a much more conventional with a coherent and somewhat silly story is easier to watch and thus less of an experience.

Meatball Machine is still a decent horror film. The body horror is pretty effective, the art and creature design making for creepy and stomach churning moments. It’s also interesting seeing an early performance from Aoba Kawai after getting to see a great performance from her in the big drama, Watashi no Otoko (2014). Between her and Issei Takahashi they manage to humanise the story even if they are wearing big rubbery suits. Overall, a decent horror movie.

3/5

Yoshihiro Nishimura, regular special effect makeup artist on Sono films like Suicide Club, Noriko’s Dinner Table, and Strange Circus, and Exte went on to direct splatter classics like Tokyo Gore Police, Vampire Girl vs Frankenstein Girl, Helldriver, Mutant Girls Squad and the recent 2015 feature The Ninja War of Torakage.

Tamami: The Baby’s Curse    

Japanese: 赤んぼ少女

Romaji: Akanbo Shojo

Release Date: August 02^nd, 2008

Running Time: 100 mins.

Director: Yudai Yamaguchi,

Writer: Kazuo Umezu, Hirotoshi Kobayashi (Screenplay),

Starring: Naoko Mizusawa, Goro Noguchi, Takumi Saito, Asami, Atsuko Asano, Etsuko Ikuta, Itsuji Itao, Keisuke Horibe,

Director Yudai Yamaguchi followed up Meatball Machine (2008) with this schlocky horror film based on a manga by horror maestro Kazuo Umezu and it is a fun horror film full of death, destruction and a creepy baby-like creature brought to life by some “imaginative” CG/acting/physical effects. With a loony story, a classic haunted house setting, an OTT villain, and some ropey effects, every minute is perpetual fun to watch.

Ever since losing track of his daughter during a bombing raid during World War II, Keizo Nanjo (Noguchi) has searched long and hard for the girl, and at last, after fifteen years, he has found her at Hakuo orphanage. Her name is Yoko (Mizusawa) and she is a pretty slip of a girl.

She has been summoned to Nanjo mansion and is in the care of Mr Yoshimura (Horibe) until she arrives at the house but their journey from the station is a miserable one. It is a stormy evening when they set off, rain lashes down, lightning arcs across the sky and thunder booms. They hire a taxi and travel up a windy, remote road. Mr Yoshimura is concerned about something but keeps it from a nervous Yoko. Instead, he reassures the girl, “They’ll welcome you after all these years.”

The welcome from everybody but Keizo is a cold one. The head maid (Ikuta) initially refuses to take the girl worried that she will disturb the mistress of the house (Asano) but there’s more to it than that. The house holds a dark, hidden presence that stalks it halls and grounds and Yoko’s arrival angers it. Mr Yoshimura promises to stay in touch with Yoko but as he makes his way back to town, he becomes the first in a long line of victims to fall prey to… TAMAMI…

This film is a lot of fun to watch. The grand set, the doll-like monster, and the use of the camera reminds me of all those mid-budget horror films from ‘80s and ‘90s like Child’s Play and other movies where plastic-looking dolls come to life and stalk characters in morgues or castles.

“There’s something in the mansion!”

The film has a great fairy-tale atmosphere thanks to the classical story of an “orphan” brought into a home, the mansion with secrets squirrelled away in nooks and crannies, the large grounds with a garden maze and a research tower and the occasionally dreamy visuals.

As Yoko explores her new surroudings we get to see the locations and discover that her new home is your archetypal haunted mansion with narrow corridors, grandfather clocks, creepy statues, creaking floorboards, red curtains, rococo furniture, and religious iconography dotted everywhere and a room full of dolls. No mansion would be complete without secret passages’ which allows Tamami to creep around the house and so baby-like gurgling can be heard echoing around There is also a coven of creepy servants who seem to harbour dark secrets and conveniently turn a blind eye to the very visible stalking of Yoko. It’s a classic set-up enabled to be brilliant by the great set-design.

The setting is the 1950s/60s but there is a timeless sense to the film because of the set and the costumes – old-fashioned suits and kimonos. This could be the 1920s or earlier. Only the use of cars an telephones gives an indication of how modern the setting is.

The visuals are complemented by the great sound design. The constant hammering of the thunder, the windows that sound like they are being pawed by the wind (or maybe Tamami) during storms, the ominous footsteps in dark rooms, and the constant child-like noises create a cacophony of fear. It’s all atmospheric and allows the spirit of Tamami to hover over the film even when she is off-screen.

Off-screen is a pretty effective place for Tamami to be because the initial set-up of the film seems to play her off like a supernatural creature and makes the sense of threat feel super scary but she is all human and very much a victim.

Tamami is a rage-powered grotesquerie. An evil hideous super-human dwarf with fangs a melted face, and bangs, who is jealous of her sister’s good looks and we get to see her in all her glory as a CG/physical doll thrown around the set. This is mixed with an actress who performs the more complicated movements such as tearing heads off people and gurning. The film mixes these styles so there’s a thrill of fear as well as amusement (to the point of laughter in some scenes) over the scares and deaths as the fake and the real combine to make a memorable horror villain.

It is played up in every way possible with her hideous laughter providing a cadence of fear taloned claws.

My mocking and hurtful words in describing Tamami are exactly why she is so angry. SPOILERS Her father, Keizo is ashamed of the way she looks and has isolated her on the estate. She has not grown up properly and as a result she has curdled with resentment and anger. She is a malign presence but she loves her mother and there is a sense that she misjudges the effect of her actions. A degree of sympathy builds for this antagonist so when she utters her first (and last) words (“gomenasai”, as merciless as Tamami is, I reckon you will still feel sorry for her. SPOILERS

All the performances from in the human actors in the film are great. Naoko Mizusawa is the protagonist. She was a voice actor on Mai Mai Miracle (2009) and one of the two stars in POV: A Cursed Film (2012). She is perfect as the innocent Yoko, the pure and goodly character up against Tamami. Waif-like and beautiful, she will have the audience rooting for her as she runs and screams a good deal and finds herself perpetually under-threat.

The soundtrack, which is pretty good, consists of piano pieces that flourish into into baroque chamber-pieces at its best, and honking b-movie cliche when the action enters splatter territory. The best pieces are a riff on something Keith Emmerson might have composed for a Dario Argento movie like Inferno. Indeed, the film opens with the gnarled hands of a woman turning the pages of a book. She could be one of Argento’s witches. Turns out it’s the titular Tamami. Also much like Argento are the deaths which are realistic yet highly macabre. In the research tower that Keizo has are medieval European weapons and torture devices as well as the tools to clean them and they all get used. One character falls onto spikes and gets acid spilled on her skull while another one suffers a guillotining. These bits allow director Yamaguchi to indulge is love of gore!

Overall, I like this film a lot because it’s fun. A classic set-up and some brilliant set-design, a simple but well told story, great costumes, committed acting (despite the shades of silliness) and the sense of macabre fun make it easy to watch and the best Yudai Yamaguchi film I have seen thus far!

4/5