The Sunday Without God (Kamisama no Inai Nichiyoubi)       

Director: Yuuji Kumazawa, Series Composition: Tomoko Konparu,Character Designer: Shinichi Miyamae

Voice Actors: Aki Toyosaki (Ai), Daisuke Namikawa (Humpnie Humbert), Akeno Watanabe (Anna), Eiji Maruyama (Yuto) Eri Kitamura (Dee Enjy Stratmis) Rina Satou (Hana)

Studio: Madhouse

 It started 15 years ago when God forsook the world.

 “Heaven and hell are too crowded. It won’t be long before this world is too.”

Those were the last words heard from him and people stopped dying. The dead now walk the earth regardless of injuries even as their flesh rots. In order to save those people God sent one final miracle, Gravekeepers. Only burials by Gravekeeper grants permadeath.

 Cut to a European landscape that could be from Kino’s Journey. Green fields stretch into a mountain range, forests spring up intermittently and an aqueduct towers over a village which is where our protagonist lives. The place is beautiful but violence is about to tear everything apart as a mysterious stranger walks into the village and men grab rifles and prepare for a gun battle.

 Cut to a girl wiping her brow after digging graves. Her name is Ai and she is the lead character.

She inherited the position from her mother Lady Alfa who died when was seven. On the day of the funeral, Ai discovered that as the last of her mother’s bloodline she must take over the role of village Gravekeeper.

 Ai is finished digging graves and heads back to town where she encounters the mysterious man from earlier. The two talk and Ai discovers that he is Humpnie Humbert a.k.a the Man-eating Toy. Humpny Humbert is the name of her father and she starts to follow him but when she gets to the town square she sees the scene of a massacre.

 “You did this,” she gasps.

 “I didn’t kill them,” he replies. “People killing one another is now a thing of the past. All I did was get them to stop moving. Killing them is the job of the Gravekeeper.”

The two fight. After beating up Ai he reveals that she is not a Gravekeeper. Ai finds her world shattered by his words. Is the man telling the truth? The truth for Ai is shrouded in darkness… or in the case of this anime, it’s buried in a grave. 

There’s another version of this first impression based on the first episode alone and it’s pretty disparaging. I hung on for three episodes and thank God I did because things improve immeasurably.

The first episode was pretty much a mess thanks to its awkward narrative structure which hopped around different time periods and relied upon poor dialogue that bluntly mixed moe cuteness with harsh reality. I can see why opening on a massacre might make for a gripping beginning but it meant repetition of scenes and limited world building opportunities to info-dumps and the shock and drama was neutered by the poor quality of the script.

The second and third episodes improved immeasurably. With some of the rules of the world established it started to explore them at a measured pace.

Ai exists in a modern world (complete with vehicles) where God has granted everlasting life but there’s a sting in the tale and it’s the fact that life isn’t eternal it’s just that no one experiences death in the normal sense of the term. People can have their hearts blown out of their chests and still walk the beautiful yet decaying world.

Those with grievous injuries remain although how much of their humanity persists seems to vary and it gradually declines as time goes by. This means that these people are zombies. Only a Gravekeeper can deal with these walkers and so Ai has some gruesome encounters in store. It’s not just the horror movie aspect either, because there is great drama to be found in how people deal with this new state of death. There are also people who would try and hide their injuries or the injuries of loved ones who must hide from Gravekeepers. Some people might deliberately kill themselves just to go through this process of being a zombie. Inflicting violence on people becomes far more complex if you can torture them over and over. Again, there’s great potential for this show in exploring existential questions about life and death and Ai is the perfect character to follow when dealing with these many issues.

Ai is a young girl who is naïve and good-natured. She has been kept safe in a village but with the devastation of her safe haven she is forced into a world with many people adversely affected by God’s abandonment. She is strong-willed but inexperienced and, like the audience, she will encounter all sorts of situations where she must decide if the people involved are right or wrong without prejudging it.

Seeing an innocent travel through a beautiful yet ugly world and go through such horrible things and toughening up through her encounters with people has been the basis for anime like Kino’s Journey. I can’t see Ai turning into Kino. While she may grow, Ai’s characterisation and design seem fairly certain to remain cute and clumsy. She is earnest in her mission to save the world and will probably become tougher but remain just as cute.

Indeed, one of the more surprising and gratifying aspects of the anime so far has been the fact that in exploring its ideas it isn’t afraid to bring up grisly situations and bump off characters. The third episode ended on a completely unexpected note which caught me off-guard and totally blew my mind because it defied my expectations and saw the anime improve in my estimation.

If the fourth episode can pull the same quality out its hat that the third one did and further explore the ideas properly then it will be worth watching and a highlight from the summer season.

3.5/5

This week I reviewed the awesome Pacific Rim and gave my first impression of Sunday Without God. After seeing the trailer for Hana and Alice on Alua’s site I went on a spending spree and bought Love Letter, April Story, and Hana and Alice. I was bewitched by the trailer which I have had on repeat for quite a while! I already own All About Lily Chou-Chou so getting these three titles means that a Shunji Iwai season is in the pipeline!

Have you seen the trailer for 47 Ronin? Tired Paul sent it to me earlier this week and I think it looks pretty damn cool with its mix of fantasy and historical Japan. Nothing profound but possibly a lot of fun.

Also, sad news emerged earlier this week when Ryutaro Nakamura passed away last month at the age of 58. Nakamura was the director of two boundary pushing and highly intelligent anime: Kino’s Journey and Serial Experiments Lain. These are two truly brilliant anime that are dark, life-affirming and philosophical. Confusing but always fun. They had a heavy emotional and creative impact on me and I recommend them to everyone. RIP Ryutaro Nakamura.

Not much is released this weekend. There’s a lot of non-Japanese films actually like Two Days in New York and a documentary about Serge Gainsbourg and Jane Birkin, There’s also Emperor, which played at last year’s Toronto International Film Festival (trailer in that post). Here are the Japanese films:

Fast Baba                                      

Japanese Title: 高速ばぁば

Romaji: Kousoku Baaba

Release Date: July 27^th, 2013

Running Time: 71 mins.

Director: Eisuke Naito

Writer: Eisuke Naito (Screenplay)

Starring: Miki Honoka, Shiori Kitayama, Yu Goto, Atsuko Ono

Eisuke Naito was at last year’s Yubari International Fantastic Film Festival with the grisly sounding title Let’s Make the Teacher Have a Miscarriage Club.  It stars Miki Honoka (Maria Watches Over Us), the model Shiori Kitayama and Yu Goto, member of the idol group idling! As someone who finds old women (and people in general) creepy as hell, I know this film will have me on edge! RUN, PRETTY IDOL GIRLS!!!

J-horror! Which looks funny, actually. The story follows an idol group who are shooting a TV report in the ruins of a nursing home. They witness an old woman moving at incredible speeds. What they don’t realise is that they have been cursed and this old lady is going to be chasing them!!!

Gekijouban Toriko Bishokunun no Special Menu 

Japanese Title: 劇場版　トリコ　美食神の　超　食宝（スペシャル　メニュー）

Romaji: Gekijouban Toriko Bishokushin no Chou Shoku Takara (Supesharumenyuu)

Release Date: July 27^th, 2013

Running Time: 80 mins.

Director: Akifumi ZAKO

Writer: Isao Murayama (Screenplay)

Starring: Ryotaro Okiayu (Toriko), Nana Mizuki (Tina), Kenji Matsuda (Zebra), Miki Maya (Ayame), Romi Park (Komatsu)

The Toriko anime movie has been released!!!! TIME FOR THE OPENING THEME!!!! The anime is directed by Akufumi ZAKO, series director for Toriko, and written by Isao Murayama, writer on Toriko and Kaidan Restaurant.

Toriko is a “”bishokuya” (gourmet food provider) who hunts down strange animals and plants that are used in fine cuisine (that’s actually pretty evil, now I think about it). Toriko has to head to a fabled island to get the ingredients for a special menu. Acacia the Bishokushin (Gourmet God) is getting in on the action as Toriko finds himself facing a new enemy, the former bishokukai brass Girimu.

Record Testimony Minako, the Last Yoshiwara Geisha  

Japanese Title: 最後　の　吉原　芸者　四代目　みな子　姉さん　吉原　最後　の　証言　記録

Romaji: Saigo no Yoshiwara Geisha Yondaime Minako Neesan Yoshiwara Saigo no Shougen Kiroku

Release Date: July 27^th, 2013

Running Time: 59 mins.

Director: Makoto Yasuhara

Writer: N/A

Starring: N/A

Aahh, Yoshiwara, the infamous pleasure district where men were entertained by geisha. The setting of many a movie! Minako was the last Yoshiwara Geisha and she died in 2010 at the age of 90. She was born in Hokkaido in 1919 and moved to Tokyo at the age of 9 and was apprenticed as a geisha at the age of 11. She worked until the anti-prostitution laws of 1958 shut down Yoshiwara. Through this documentary we get an insight into her life and the times she saw.

Little Wing Children of March

Japanese Title: リトル　ウィング　3 月の子供たち

Romaji: Ritoru Uingu 3 Gatsu no Kodomotachi

Release Date: July 20^th, 2013

Running Time: 100 mins.

Director: Kenji Kurata

Writer: Kenji Kurata Seigo Inoue, Sasaki Akihito (Screenplay)

Starring: Nahana, Yuki Takashi, Ryunosuke Kawai, Shun Sugata, Susumu Terajima

The Great East Japan Earthquake still looms large over the Japanese film world and this is the latest title which uses it as subject matter. It stars Nahana who was impressive in Toilet and Women. She is joined by Shun Sugata (Heat After Dark, Eyes of the Spider, Marebito). Looks fun.

Yamato and his mother Misaki have had to move to Tokyo from Fukushima due to the nuclear disaster. Yamato wants to protect his mother and desires to get stronger so he wants to learn karate but Misaki is set against it despite having learned karate in the past. Kiryu, a karate master tries to teach Yamato but this brings them into conflict with Misaki.

Danganronpa The Animation (Danganronpa Kibo no Gakuen to Zetsubo no Kokosei The Animation)         

Director: Seiji Kishi, Series Composition:Makoto Uezu, Character Designer: Kazuaki Morita

Voice Actors: Chiwa Saito (Aoi), Yoko Hikasa (Kyoko), Megumi Ogata (Makoto), Takahiro Sakurai (Reon), Akira Ishida (Byakuya)

Studio: Lerche

Hope’s Peak Academy brings together the top students in fields like sports, fashion and art, being an overzealous hall monitor and an elite yankee.

The main protagonist is Makoto Naegi, a normal guy who was admitted to the school through a lottery. Standing at the gates he looks on in confidence. “My high school life starts now. The very first step I take is supposed to be full of hope…”

Sounds great but as soon as he steps through the door he is plunged into darkness. When he wakes up he is in a classroom with a camera monitoring him and steel plates on the walls with no exit in sight.

“What’s with this room?” he wonders. Makoto is in the school but less as a student and more as a prisoner and he’s not alone as a group of fifteen other students are with him, each with a peculiar trait and ability that makes them elite.

As the students try and figure out just what is going on and why they are imprisoned in the school a twisted looking black-and-white bear appears. Amidst all of his incessant cackling and laughter he introduces itself, “I’m Monobear, the principal of this school…” He soon explains the rules:

The only way out is to kill another student without getting caught. After a murder, the remaining students must hold a trial and figure out the guilty party. If the students fail they die and the murderer walks to freedom!

This is getting a bit overwhelming for Makoto but he is not alone because he knows one of the girls. She is named Sayaka and she attended the same middle school as him. What’s her special ability? She is an idol singer. She decides to work alongside Makoto. With the fridge refilled daily and the students allowed their own rooms, they could theoretically live in the school forever unless they follow the rules.

As Monobear says, “It is not the strong or the smart who survive, but the ones who can bring about change.”

The only questions left are who will be the one to bring the change and how?

The Japanese film industry is awash with lots of titles where students are pitted against each other in life or death situations so what makes this stand out?

This locked-room murder mystery is a bit like Battle Royale crossed with Saw. It is based on a story-heavy interactive novel PSP game similar to Phoenix Wright. I figure it is possible to do a straight adaptation of this with  ease – the plot, narrative, locations and characters are already there and only a need few tweaks to totally work.

The first episode was great. The anime rushes through its set-ups at a breakneck speed and gets straight into the situation Makoto finds himself in. Characters aren’t subtly introduced, more like they are launched at us with no warning. They aren’t complex either, just archetypes who are visually memorable –  cut-aways with on-screen text tell us their vital info but what we’re really dealing with is a bunch of stereotypes for whom we can expect little more than comedy. These stereotypes cover all bases in the anime and manga world. On top of the hall monitor, young thug and idol singer are a fat doujinshi artist, an elite hall monitor, a yankee, a goth-loli, a female wrestler, a fashion model, and more.

They are all lost in the situation together and corralled by a cute but twisted psycho animal.

Monobear’s penchant or appearing out of nowhere cackling and his high energy craziness almost sold me straight away! But then it soon dawned on me that with only 13 episodes to fit in a fairly text heavy game, this isn’t going to be the most sophisticated show around. Oh no. This is going to be another Devil Survivor Disaster which totally misses the point of the game. Everything is going to be rushed to advance the plot and things like narrative are going to be skimped on.

In my preview I suggested that the director Seiji Kishi is, “… only as good as the material he’s working with.” With Devil Survivor it seemed like he was overburdened with the task of having to convert a complicated and deep SJRPG into a battle anime and he in that anime he did the same thing, placing plot above characters.

I’m going to be honest here and say I’m not going to continue watching this anime because I was so impressed by the opening two episodes I purchased the game from Japan so I can get the most of my PSP. Judging from Let’s Plays on YouTube, the anime raids the game for everything from characters to music so I don’t want the show to ruin the experience. If you have no intention of playing the games, I suppose you can watch this for a good chuckle.

3/5 (Based on the first two episodes)

I did the exact same thing with a previous Seiji Kishi anime, Persona 4: The Animation. I’ve got the Vita version of the game and the recently released UK DVD’s on standby… I think I’ll watch Eccentric Family instead.

No Matter How I Look at it, It’s Yous Guys’ Fault I’m Not Popular (Watashi ga Motenai no wa Dou Kangaete mo Omaera ga Warui!)      

Director: Shin Oonuma, Series Composition: Takao Yoshioka, Character Designer: Hideki Furukawa

Voice Actors: Izumi Kitta (Tomoko Kuroki), Kana Hanazawa (Yuu Naruse), Yuichi Nakamura (Tomoki Kuroki)

Studio: Silver Link

Tomoko Kuroki has never been a popular girl and is quite lonely since she spends most of her time playing otome games (maiden games) where the female characters are the centre of attention and get a hot guy at the end. Although she’s brilliant at Otome games, those skills don’t translate into the real world with real guys. 

But she tries! With her entry into high school she dreams of becoming as popular as the protagonist of one of her games and developing a romantic connection with a boy. 

She aims to achieve her goal by becoming sociable by any means necessary but breaking out of her shell is proving harder to do than she thought. Merely talking to others leaves her in a state of panic and every time she is ignored or rebuffed she falls further into depression. Can she break the cycle of loneliness and negative thoughts and blossom?

Three episodes in and it’s looking very unlikely but I hope to God she can because this is making me upset.

I had no idea what to expect when I first watched the opening episode and lazily thought this would be a comedy with a misanthropic protagonist, sort of like My Youth Rom-Com. It is a comedy but this is so dark I’m sort of left staggered at moments. It’s funny, too. Hilarious at times. Mostly dark and very tragic.

Tomoko Kuroki is maladjusted to say the least. An outcast with literally one friend who plays videogames all day. She sounds like a hikikomori but she’s not. She’s not bullied. She’s not abused. She’s a normal, decent looking girl with a caring mother and father and a brother who listens to her (not that he wants to) but she suffers from huge social anxieties surrounding her popularity and has an unhealthy neurotic personality and is given to moments of paranoia that keeps blowing things out of proportion.

Okay, she’s a bit of a nerd who likes to dream that she’s Kusanagi from Ghost in the Shell and she likes listening to her Yandere Boys Verbal Abuse CD and playing on her Nintendo DS and watching anime but there’s nothing wrong with that.

She’s at the adolescent stage where everything revolves around her social life in school but it’s taken to an unhealthy level and I think she might be on the verge of mental illness. Or maybe it’s a sly comment on how the cult of high school that the media (especially anime!) and society promulgate might create people with such problems.

This is nothing like My Youth Rom-Com. Hiki in My Youth Rom-Com understood and embraced being an outsider. The anime set his point of view and loner mind-set up, compared it to others and respected it. He could function in society and would never consider himself a loser. The emphasis here is showing Tomoko’s inability to actualise anything like a normal persona and being able to function in society. Her anxieties are reasonable ones we all have (are we popular, are the opposite sex looking at us?), unfortunately her mental state is such that not being popular is something so crushing for her that her every thought and action is coloured by it. The more she feels rejected, the worse she feels and the more twisted her perception becomes.

The anime excels displaying this. Every aspect from the opening theme through to the end one. The animation is always ready to flip into some ironic take on superflat kawaii Japan or some abstract and cubist horror to show the world from Tomoko’s perspective and it’s hilarious, tragic and f*cking horrible. Izumi Kitta’s vocal performance with her croaky voice that threatens to break at moments of great stress or joy which are spurred by everyday meaningless exchanges and situations is another aspect which is effective. Not since Mayuri in Steins;Gate has a voice actress gripped my heart so much that I wanted to step in and save her.

Tomoko is so wrapped up in her feelings she often imagines she has some sort of negative aura around her that pushes others away.

Even when she does try to reach out to others it goes wrong or comes off as crazy. She changes her appearance but looks awful, she tries doing new things like eating more at breakfast and vomits her guts out, and she begs her more popular brother to practice conversations and threatens to commit suicide if he refuses.

She desperately wants to be normal and have some attention but everybody has a life of their own and when she finds that out, when she’s ignored, she spits out nothing but venom making her feel worse and others awkward. Actually, she’s not a nice character either…

She frequently mentally inserts her own perverted and angry dialogue on other happier peoples’ conversations and she is quick to think up insults for others who don’t see her.

As the title cleverly shows, she is so wrapped up in her feelings she is ready to blame others which adds a lot of grit to the show. We know there are no easy answers to solving her lack of popularity. There is no club to help her or magical wand to grant her powers. Nobody is going to step in. Her problems are self-made and she will have to dig deep to overcome them which means she will have to become a stronger person.

Each episode does hold out hope and reveals to Tomoko that she’s not alone but she’s unable to see it. The second episode in particular is effective when she finds out that her old friend, the nerdy meganekko (glasses-wearing) Yuu from middle school wants to be around her and be her friend. Fantastic until Yuu shows up and Tomoko sees that she’s good-looking and fashionable. Fortunately she’s still the same nerd who loves anime and games she always was and Tomoko has someone she can talk to. Then something will come to crush that like the revelation that Yuu has a boyfriend and is more normal than expected. For an audience we see hope. If Yuu can change, so can Tomoko. Tomoko is so blind she is just crushed by Yuu’s changes.

Watching this feels stifling and uncomfortable as we see the gap between Tomoko’s perception and reality and the bathos involved.

It is funny and sad at the same time but the anime is not mean-spirited about it. There is humour in seeing her crazy desperation and her strange erotic video-game influenced perspective on the world but since we can see her thought process and understand her we don’t laugh at her, we will her to become better.

At the end of each episode I wanted to tell her to relax, that she’s fine. Whether or not a person that obsessed would listen to me or anyone is another matter. This has come out of nowhere to be one of the funnier and emotionally engaging anime out there. 

4.5/5

OP and ED :

Why Don’t You Play in Hell?           

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

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

Release Date: September 28^th, 2013 (Japan)

Running Time: N/A

Director: Sion Sono

Writer: Sion Sono (Screenplay),

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

After watching Himizu and The Land of Hope I was getting worried that Sono was becoming serious. Great films as they are, I’m more of a Suicide Club and Strange Circus chap. You know, original messy projects which we all know him for. Tired Paul to the rescue. He recently sent me this new trailer for Sion Sono’s Why Don’t You Play in Hell? and it looks so f*cking awesome! There’s also a new poster which is also awesome!

Muto (Kunimura) and Ikegami (Tsutsumi) are rival gangsters who despise each other but there’s a catch for Ikegami… he loves Muto’s actress daughter Mitsuko (Nikaido). Part of the reason she’s an actress is because it is the dream of his loyal wife Shizue (Tomochika) who was sent to prison after taking the fall for him.

Muto is out to make that dream happen. Enter Koji (Hoshino), a timid passer-by who is mistaken for being a film director. When dealing with gangsters you don’t mess about so Koji gets a cinephile friend named Hirata (Hasegawa) who casts Mitsuko in a fictional gang war but it soon goes wrong when it turns real.

STARTO!!!!

The opening gunfight, blood-covered women chasing people with knives, a director who is clearly a hyper-cinephile and a bit psychotic, sword fights, people plunging through walls and windows aaaaaannnd a waterslide flowing with blood in a house! I said it with the teaser ad I’ll say it again… OH GOD, A REBELLIOUS CRAZY SONO FILM! LIFE IS WORTH LIVING.

This is actually starting to remind me of Key of Life with its mix of losers in a mistaken identity scenario involving gangsters only there’s fountains of blood everywhere. I really loved Key of Life film with its sharp observational humour and loveable characters and I can tell from the trailer that Hirata is going to be heaps of fun. I mean, Bruce Lee’s Game of Death references and blood-slides? He certainly is imaginative! I am expecting great comedy and lots of bloodshed! The cast contains Jun Kunimura (Vital, Outrage), Shinichi Tsutsumi (One Missed Call), Fumi Nikaido (Himizu), Tomochika (Quirky Guys and Gals) and Gen Hoshino (Blindly in Love) who wrote and performed the song that can be heard around the one minute mark. Ive watched this trailer about a dozen times and now I’m singing along with the actors at the end. I want to see this now!

According to Nippon Cinema, “Why Don’t You Play in Hell?” will get its world premiere at the 70th Venice Film Festival (August 28th-September 7th) and its North American premiere at the 38th Toronto International Film Festival.

The film will get a theatrical release in Japan on September 28^th, 2013.

Source: Nippon Cinema via Tired Paul (Thanks Paul!)

Anime has been dominating this blog for a while but that’s set to change since I started watching more films and actually reviewing them instead of moving on to the next title. That written, I started the week with a first impression for Danganronpa which I dropped because I’m going to get the game, I followed that up with Watamote which has surprised me with its dark content and brutal humour and then I posted a trailer for Sion Sono’s next film Why Don’t You Play in Hell which is so awesome I’ve watched it at least twenty times!!!

What Japanese released today? Some pretty decent looking films.

STARTO!!!

NMB48 Entertainer! 　THE MOVIE Comedy Youth Girls! 

Japanese Title: NMB48 げいにん！ THE MOVIE お笑い　青春　ガールズ！

Romaji: NMB48 geinin! THE MOVIE Owarai Seishun Ga-ruzu!

Release Date: August 01^st, 2013

Running Time: 90 mins.

Director: Hidemi Uchida

Writer: N/A

Starring: Aya Yamamoto, Yui Yokoyama, Mayu Ogasawara, Nana Yamada, Miyuki Watanabe

We all know about AKB 48 but did you know about NMB48? These girls are based in Namba in Osaka. They are famous enough to have had a sitcom and this is the movie adaptation which sees the girls practicing hard to make it as comedians in a national competition that aims to find funny school girls.

The After-Dinner Mysteries                                 

Japanese Title: 謎解き　は　ディナーのあとで

Romaji: Nazotoki wa Dinner no Ato De

Release Date: August 03^rd, 2013

Running Time: 121 mins.

Director: Masato Hijikata

Writer: Touya Higashikawa (Original Novel), Tsutomu Kuroiwa (Screenplay)

Starring: Sho Sakurai, Keiko Kitagawa, Kippei Shiina, Takeshi Kaga, Rie Miyazawa, Masatoshi Nakamura, Jun Kaname,

This is the movie version of the popular After-Dinner Mysteries TV series which stars Sho Sakurai and Keiko Kitagawa as a sharp-tongued butler/heiress-detective duo who solve crimes and it seems to be the big release for the weekend. In this story, Reiko (Kitagawa) and Kageyama (Sakurai) are on board a cruise ship heading towards Singapore when a murder is committed. They have 5 days to catch the murderer. The only problem is that there are 300 people  aboard the ship and even more havoc is waiting to happen! This looks like fun.

Electrobeast Squadron Dinosaurger                      

Japanese Title: 劇場版　獣電戦隊キョウリュウジャー　ガブリンチョ・オブ・ミュージック

Romaji: Gekijōban Zyuden Sentai kyouryuger Gaburincho Obu Myūjikku

Release Date: August 03^rd, 2013

Running Time: N/A

Director: Koichi Sakamoto

Writer: Sanjo Riku (Screenplay)

Starring: Ryo Reyusei, Syuusuke Saito, Yamato Kinjo, Akihisa Shiono Ayuri Konno, Atsushi Maruyama, Robert Baldwin, Mamoru Miyano

Apparently this is the 37^th entry in the Power Rangers Super Sentai series or something (alliteration!!!) and it replaced Tokumei Sentai Go-Busters to form part of the Super Hero Time block with Kamen Rider on TV Asahi.  It is directed by Koichi Sakamoto (Travellers Dimension Police).

Long ago when dinosaurs still roamed the Earth, an army of aliens lead by Deboss invaded and started to exterminate dinosaurs. Fortunately soe were transformed in ZyuDenRyu and sealed Deboss and his army in ice.

In the modern era, Deboss and his forces are starting to thaw ut and wish to recommence their invasion. Wise God Torin is ready for this eventuality and has gathered together a group o people capable of stopping Deboss. They are kown as “the People of the Strong Dragons” or “Kyoryugers” for short. Witness dinosaurs and humans unite to defeat Deboss!

Diamond                                         

Japanese Title: ダイヤモンド

Romaji: Diyamondo

Release Date: August 03^rd, 2013

Running Time: N/A

Director: Toshiyuki Honma

Writer: Hideyuki Kuze (Screenplay)

Starring: Yoshihiko Takahashi, Ken Suzuki, Hiromi Matsunaga, Aiko Takeshi, Keita Machida, Rika Adachi, Daisuke Motoki

Baseball and murder are united in this tale full of real life baseball stars. In this film they play gangsters from the Kitano Organisation who are honourable “old school players”. They were once part of a popular amateur team lead by Nishida (Takahashi). As time passed their popularity waned and they were under threat of losing their baseball field. When the man leading the campaign to save the field is murdered they quickly realise it was rivals from the Fujinami Organisation from Kansai. Time for these gangsters to get back into the game!

Entrusted Their Lives to Aogiri                   

Japanese Title: アオギリ　に　たくして

Romaji: Aogiri ni Takushite

Release Date: August 03^rd, 2013

Running Time: 121 mins.

Director: Masato Hijikata

Writer: N/A

Starring: Hideko Hara, Hiroyuki Watanabe, Shingo Kazami, Tomoko Saito, Rei Sugai

The atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima flattened the city. It burned and obliterated nearly everything in the area. In 1950, Hiroshima built a park dedicated to spreading the message of world peace. In this park are Aogiri trees which survived the atom bomb and under this tree survivors of the bomb retell the event to people. Chigusa Katagiri (Sugai) is a magazine writer who takes an interest in Stesuko Tanaka (Hara) , a woman wh wants to spread the seeds of the trees that survived.

Akaboshi                                      

Japanese Title: あかぼし

Romaji: Akaboshi

Release Date: August 03^rd, 2013

Running Time: 140 mins.

Director: Ryuhei Yoshino

Writer: Ryuhei Yoshino (Screenplay)

Starring: Romi Park, Vlada, Kazuyuki Kujirai, Kaori Fujii, Kanako Obayashi, Kaoru Miyano, Tomoya Kosaka

Akaboshi played at last year’s Tokyo International Film Festival in the Japanese Eyes section. It’s the story of a mother who devotes herself to a cult and becomes mentally imbalanced after the disappearance of her husband, and her son who stays by her side.

Kamen Rider Wizard in Magic Land           

Japanese Title: 劇場版　仮面　ライダー　ウィザード　イン　マジックランド

Romaji: Gekijouban Kamen Raidau- Uiza-do n Majkku Rando

Release Date: August 03^rd, 2013

Running Time: N/A

Director: Masato Nakazawa

Writer: Shotaro Ishinomori (Original Creator), Junko (Screenplay)

Starring: Yuko Takayama, Tadashi Nagase,

Kamen Rider Wizard must enter the country of witches when a tornado of rainbow colours hits the earth. The land of witches is a place where magic supersedes technology and so the masked one must tread carefully. He meets a boy named Shiina who has lost his mother to the tornado and the two join forces to get to Great Maya, leader of the witches.

Work Shop                                                                

Japanese Title: ワークショップ

Romaji: Wa-ku Shoppu

Release Date: August 03^rd, 2013

Running Time: 75 mins.

Director: Seiji Chiba

Writer: Seiji Chiba(Screenplay)

Starring: Yuta Furukawa, Kimito Totani, Yukihiro Takiguchi, Airi Nakajima, Haruka Ohara, Yuichiro Hirose, Daisuke Noguchi, Tomokazu Kida

Seiji Chiba, director of such cinematic masterpieces like Alien vs. Ninja and Evil Ninja has gone slightly up-market with a suspense stage musical involving a group of actors held at gunpoint by a man who makes them ad lib scenes or risk facing death. The numbers drop as the man with the gun turns out to be a cruel moderator. Which actors will survive??? I want to know because this looks fun!

Stand Up and Grab the Sand                                   

Japanese Title: 砂　を　つかんで　立ち　上がれ

Romaji: Suna wo Tsukande Tachi Agare

Release Date: August 03^rd, 2013

Running Time: 52 mins.

Director: Hirokazu Fujisawa

Writer: Hirokazu Fujisawa, Hayato Sakuta (Screenplay)

Starring: Tetsuya Yoda, Takashi Nishina, Mika Akizuki

A short film about film making where Tada, an aspiring actor, goes to extreme lengths to secure a role in a film directed by Saku Shima who finds he has nothing but bad actors on his hands.

Talk to the Dead                                             

Japanese Title: トーク　トゥ　ザ　デッド

Romaji: To-ku Tou Za Deddo

Release Date: August 03^rd, 2013

Running Time: 84 mins.

Director: Norio Tsuruta

Writer: Norio Tsuruta, Midori Sato, Takashige Ichinose (Screenplay)

Starring: Ayaka Komatsu, Kazuki Kato, Yuki Sakurai, Kyusaku Shimada, Tomoko Mariya, Chihiro Otsuka

J-HORROR!! Norio Tsuruta, director of the rather decent Ring 0: Birthday, Kakashi and Dream Cruise is on hand with a slice of yurei action. In this supernatural story, a young woman named Lily (Komatsu) is desperate to earn money for her sick brother but he dies. When she’s told of an app that can contact the dead she tries it out but is he the ghost on the other end of the line?

Fuse: A Gun Girl’s Detective Story       

Japanese Title: 伏 鉄砲娘の捕物帳

Romaji: Fuse Teppō Musume no Torimonochō

Release Date:  October  20^th, 2012 (Japan)

Running Time: 110 mins.

Director: Masayuki Miyaji

Writer: Ichiro Okouchi (Script), Kazuki Sakuraba (Original Writer),

Starring: Minako Kotobuki (Hamaji), Katsuyuki Konishi (Dousetsu), Mamoru Miyano (Shino), Hirofumi Nojima (Iesada Tokugawa), Hiroshi Kamiya (Makuwari), Kanako Miyamoto (Meido), Maaya Sakamoto (Funamushi)

I have been interested in this title for a while. How interested? I was reporting about the trailers constantly last year. I was excited at the prospect of this historical fantasy anime movie which reminded me of the Korean film Duelist. I have finally watched it and the comparison is pretty apt since this is a lovely slice of historical fantasy that is easy to watch and provided me with genuine pleasure.

Hamaji Ooyama (Kotobuki) is a young independent hunter.

Up until recently she was living with her grandfather Bokuhei Ooyama in a mountain until he was eaten by a bear. She is highly skilled at hunting with her rifle, but she now lives alone maintaining her lifestyle and knows little about the world outside.

Then she receives a letter from her brother Dousetsu (Konishi) who lives in in Edo, the capital of Japan, who has heard of Bokuhei’s death. He asks her to join him in the city so they can be together again. With little keeping her on the mountain and desperate to see her brother, Hamaji heads off to Edo with her rifle.

What she finds is a city that is bigger and far more bustling than she had ever imagined.

It is also full of intrigue because the streets are stalked by Fuse. They are half-human half-dog, werewolf-like people who devour souls. Eight recently showed up in Edo and they have been killing people. Hamaji has entered town as the sixth has just been hunted down.

Hamaji soon witnesses an attack by a Fuse named Shino (Miyano). This same creature saves her when she gets caught between him and hunters and leads her to her brother Dousetsu who introduces her to his world.  

In their five years apart Dousetsu has been working as a Ronin. He lives in a beat up row-house by a river and scrapes by with friends and Funamushi (Sakamoto), a woman who sells food by boat and is romantically involved with him. As Funamushi says of existence in Edo, “those who don’t work, don’t eat,” but Dousetsu has a plan: hunt Fuse.

The Shogun, Tokugawa Iesada, has offered a massive reward to anybody who can bring in the head of a Fuse (because decapitation is the only thing that kills them). Hamaji joins her brother Dousetsu  in hunting Fuse in the Yoshiwara district of Edo but can she bring herself to kill the one she has made a connection with, the mysterious Shino and are the Fuse really as villainous as the authorities make out?

Fuse A Gun Girl’s Detective Story has seemingly passed by the west mostly unnoticed since its release in Japan last year and it’s a shame because the film is packed full of historic detail which gives it a lot of weight and beautifully animated with charismatic voice acting.

The movie is based on the novel Fuse Gansaku: Satomi Hakkenden which was written by Kazuki Sakuraba, author of the Gosick light novels. She was inspired by a 19^th century epic novel series named Nansō Satomi Hakkenden written by late Edo Period popular author Kyokutei Bakin which followed eight samurai during the Sengoku (Warring States) period who served the Satomi clan. These samurai were mothered by Princess Fuse Satomi and fathered by a dog named Yatsufusa in the original legend (which shows up in the film). What Sakuraba does to create a unique story is to create a sort of counterfeit story and place the action in the late Edo period with the reincarnations of the eight spirits and have them interact with/influence various figures of the age including Bakin himself.

The Edo period is a pretty rich time for filmmakers because of all the changes going on in Japan what with the hoards of master-less samurai, Commodore Perry and the “black ships” incident and the uncertain rule of Tokugawa Iesada who reigned at the start of the Bakumatsu period (late Tokugawa Shogunate). The film utilises this time brilliantly by jamming in a lot of history in every frame and in every line of dialogue.

The visual splendour of the historic recreation is intensely detailed and beautiful at times and almost as good something Ghibli working at its best might do. Perhaps a slightly less vibrant Spirited Away. Take a look at the backgrounds and tell me it’s not impressive.

The film is alive with a gorgeous array of colours like dawn purples, cherry blossom pinks, lime greens and powdery pale blues. There are few frames that do not offer a fantastic view of the artistry gone into making the world and it is always coloured with a visually interesting palette.

The film could just use the visuals and place a hollow fantasy action adventure in it and while the story is simple the script takes time to bring the issues affecting Japan and reveal some truths about the era which adds more life to the proceedings. Jobless Samurai roam around town, the Yoshiwara district is seen in its resplendent glory with courtesans draping nearly every frame, severe poverty lurks behind the gorgeous opulence and women are a commodity that can be thrown away. We get snippets of cultural things like wet plate photographs and woodcut newspapers and wakashu-kabuki where men play women and the notion of counterfeit stories that rework original stories (a sly nod to what the film/Sakuraba’s novel is doing).

With encroaching westernisation, the culture on display and the events surrounding the Fuse seem like the last gasp of old Japan. The clash of old and new is reflected in the characters. On the one hand you have the samurai and the shogun officials who cling on to ceremony and officialdom and clan feuds and on the other you have the main cast of characters like Hamaji and her brother Dousetsu who are more rambunctious grifters out to make a buck with their skills.

The clash between the two sides is good-natured rather like Porco Rosso and the pirates than the serious battles in Princess Mononoke although there is plenty of blood glooping around and bodies do pile up. The fights are generally good-natured and cool to watch but there is an edge of viciousness to some with one particular mutilation which is lingered upon. With the clash of old and new it can be hard to see which path to pick but the film settles with a great message of being true to yourself.

Hamaji is a fantastic lead female. Good-natured and resolute, she does not let her gender stop her from doing things and gets to explore every aspect of it.

She starts off the innocent in Edo but gradually wises up to the way of the world without letting her emotions rule over her or discarding them. Her actions and dress convince many that she is a boy which allows her to explore Edo, including the Yoshiwara district. She remains good-natured and is always eager to learn which makes a great protagonist to follow. She is symbolic of a female Japan will encounter in the future, one who finds ways to work around the restrictions that society places on women and remains independent.

Better still is her relationship with Shino, a connection that begins as hunter and hunted, which becomes equal without being too sentimental. Shino is charismatic and beautiful and when put next to Hamaji, their relationship comes across like that of Namsoon and Sad Eyes in Duelist. Miyano and Kotobuki work up a great chemistry but as an older brother I loved the relationship between siblings Hamaji and Dousetsu.

Dousetsu is a bit of a braggart but with a good-heart and steadfast when required. He deeply cares about his sister and treats her with respect and isn’t afraid of being silly around her. He comes across as a less supercilious and scheming Yojimbo but still has the smug look. Konishi and Kotobuki had me in stitches and smiling fondly whenever their characters interacted.

The characters are all loveable in their own way. Everybody from the camp clothes seller to the stubborn officials of the Shogunate to the people Dousetsu lives around is designed and animated skilfully and are full of life. Their faces are very expressive and their behaviour is idiosyncratic to be memorable. I wanted to spend more time with them.

Overall, I am glad that I watched this. The anime is visually wonderful and the story is a great adventure for adults and kids. Some of the sights on offer aren’t fully explained such as the supernatural elements that Iesada deals with and I bet some may feel that the story is slight but I found the story a lot of fun and all of the contextual details and the visuals carried me along without worrying too much. If this got a UK release I would definitely pick it up.

4/5

The Kirishima Thing                                                   

Romaji: Kirishima, Bukatsu Yamerutteyo

Japanese Title: 桐島、　部活　やめるってよ

Release Date: August 11^th, 2012 (Japan)

Running Time: 103 mins.

Director: Daihachi Yoshida

Writer: Ryo Asai (Original Novel), Kohei Kiyasu, Daihachi Yoshida (Screenplay)

Starring: Ai Hashimoto, Ryunosuke Kamiki, Suzuka Ohgo, Mayu Matsuoka, Motoki Ochiai, Masahiro Higashide, Kurui Shimizu, Mizuki Yamamoto, 

High school is a universal experience for a lot of people and a very popular setting for film and anime. Japan is especially good at creating high school, especially when one considers the dominance of clubs in high school life¹. Many stories look deep into the nature of relationships and the way people socialise and deconstruct various aspects to capture high school life and all of the ephemeral emotions adolescents have as this treasure of a film demonstrates.

The story starts on a Friday when news that the popular high school volleyball star player Kirishima has quit the team is broken to various people.

Shockwaves are sent through the school’s social world with Kirishima’s handsome and equally popular best friend Hiroki Kikuchi (Higashide) left bewildered by the news, Kirishima’s socially popular girlfriend Risa (Yamamoto) angry, and the volleyball team in a panic ahead of a big game with the less capable Koizumi Fuusuke (Taiga) taking Kirishima’s pivotal libero position and getting scared by the pressure.

Also affected, but indirectly, are the rest of the students who also see the results of the revelation like badminton players Kasumi Higashihara (Hashimoto) and Mika Miyabe (Kurumi Shimizu), the less popular kids in the culture clubs like Aya Sawashima (Ohgo) a brass band musician with an impossibly earnest crush on Hiroki,, and the president of the film club Ryoya Maeda (Kamiki) and his assistant director Takefumi (Maeno).

 The story ends on a Tuesday when some of the students find themselves having crossed social boundaries and redefined themselves while others remain steadfastly in their mind-set. 

The Kirishima Thing was the big winner at the 36^th Japan Academy Prize Awards taking Picture of the Year, Most Popular Film and Director of the Year awards.  It is based on a similarly named high school novel written by Ryo Asai who worked on adapting the book’s omnibus story framework into a film which has resulted in a non-linear narrative that covers all sorts of people who witness different things from different perspectives.

At first the film builds audience interest in the Kirishima thing, why he quit and what he will do. His name is constantly said like a mantra by characters and despite never being on screen his presence hangs heavy, ghost-like, haunting everyone who is puzzled by his disappearance. As well as being the lynchpin of the successful volleyball team we discover he was the focal point of a lot of relationships.

This isn’t the story of Kirishima and his reasons for quitting but the story of the students surrounding him. It ranges from the alpha students in the sports clubs all the way through to the omega students, the nerdy members of the culture clubs. Without him the ties that bind people start to fray. Friendships are revealed to be hollow, personas deflate and the social world of high school, which means everything to most students, is exposed as being nothing more than a house of cards and people have to decide what is important to them.

As the film wanders through various small incidents, big existential questions are forced upon the student and it all rings true, which is where this film/coming-of-age drama works well.

Nothing feels contrived because the film’s locations and narrative structure reflects the realities of the self-absorbed and school-based adolescent life.

The film’s locations are limited to one’s high school students will know intimately. It takes place almost entirely in classrooms, corridors gym halls and behind bike sheds and only dips into a cinema or coffee shop briefly on weekends. This builds up our familiarity with the social stage the teens are on and is also perfect for providing many entrances and exits and windows into scenes allowing us places to observe from them like voyeurs. The camera constantly wanders down corridors tracking people who mingle with friends, mid-shots are used for classroom confrontations to capture the stares of onlookers and the intense feelings people feel in such confrontation.

In terms of narrative structure the audience gets snatches of events from different perspectives which create a worldview. The disjointed narrative is a great way to cover various perspectives and a hook that makes the audience pay attention to the behaviour of the characters which is what the film is interested in. The individual characters themselves are stuck with their blinkered views and we see how disconnected and cruel they can be and how inadvertently ridiculous their actions are and how they change at the end.

Many characters are defined by their clubs and everybody outside of their respective circles are not worth paying attention to. Risa and her gang mock Ryoya Maeda and his filmmaking aspirations, mocking the title of his film and whispering insults just within earshot². Aya Sawashima deliberately practices her saxophone on a school roof to attract the attention of Hiroki without realising that she has become a bit of a spectacle for everyone else. Hiroki Kikuchi is so caught up in the turmoil of his own feelings that he fails to notice how others feel about him. With Kirishima’s absence the facades of characters start to crumble and their true character is revealed to be unpleasant.

What makes this compelling is that while the characters are part archetype they are individual enough and you can relate to them. Risa is not just some air-head beauty queen, the sudden disconnect from the person she has built her image around has left her floundering and the situation brings out her natural cruelty. Kasumi and Mika are desperate to conform and hide their true feelings for two guys who aren’t on top of the pile from their more waspish and nastier friends and Aya, who seems to be aping the actions of a shoujo manga, has to negotiate the realities of real life romance.

When the film ended I felt a sense of connection and satisfaction. It does not sugar-coat teen experiences nor does it sensationalise them but presents a set of relatable characters that Some will carry on being blind and basing their personalities on others, some will have grown stronger at the end, others will realise that they cannot continue acting out false roles. What is certain is that the momentum of youth will carry them along and their experiences, if remembered, will be looked back on with a rueful smile and a shake of the head and, like most people who survives high school, you can imagine them thinking “Did I really act like that?” 

4.5/5 

¹ Students tend to pick one club and activities can take place after school nearly every day. There are two streams of clubs: sports (kendo, badminton, volleyball) and culture (science, filmmaking, photography). These clubs provide an opportunity for socialisation and create the senpai (senior) and kohai (junior) relationships which makes the slash-fiction world of anime spin. (Stanford Program on International and Cross-Cultural Education)

² Every time a girl opened her mouth I was reminded of the line, “Girl talk is scary” that Hikigaya Hachiman came out with in My Youth Rom-Com.

A lot of recent anime have deconstructed the high school myth rather intelligently:

Aku no Hana mixes the existential angst and teen melodrama of being in a small town.

My Youth Rom-Com focussed on what it was like to be an outsider in high school and to pursue that life-style.

Watamote is a tragic psychological horror/comedy about a girl’s desperation to be popular.

My efforts at getting back into film reviewing are off to a good start with two reviews for two great films this week. I started with the anime Fuse: A Gun Girl’s Detective Story which I really like a lot. It’s a historical fantasy title with a little light romance and I found it pretty beautiful. The second title I reviewed was  the live-action film The Kirishima Thing, the big winner at the Japanese Academy Awards earlier this year. Again I liked this one but it was more down to the intricacy and believability in the relationships in the film. Expect more some 90’s yakuza thriller reviews next week.

This week sees the release of World War Z and Pacific Rim in Japan as well as these interesting titles:

A Boy Called H                            

Japanese Title:  少年　H

Romaji: Shounen H

Release Date: August 10th, 2013

Running Time: 122 mins.

Director: Yasuo Furuhata

Writer: Kappa Senoh (Original Novel), Ryota Kosawa (Screenplay)

Starring: Tatsuki Yoshioka, Yutaka Mizutani, Ran Ito, Yurine Hanada, Shun Oguri, Taichi Saotome, Jun Kunimura, Kuranosuke Sasaki, Taizo Harada, Ittoku Koshibe

Kappa Senoh’s autobiographical novel Shonen H gets lavish treatment for its big screen adaptation and a safe pair of hands with director Yasuo Furuhata (Dearest) and popular screenwriter Ryota Kosawa (Phone Call to the Bar, Always: Sunset on Third Street). Notable actors include Shun Oguri (The Woodsman & the Rain), Jun Kunimura (Vital) and Ittoku Koshibe (13 Assassins, Adrift in Tokyo).

A Boy Called H follow’s a boy named Hajime Senoh, nicknamed “H”. He lives with his mother Toshiko (Ito) sister Yoshiko (Hanada) and father Morio (Mizutani). Told from the viewpoint of Morio, we witness H growing up around World War II and the hardships he and his community suffer. Despite the tough times, H still burns with curiosity and a sense of justice. 

Enoshima Prism                                

Japanese Title:  江ノ島プリズム

Romaji: Enoshima Purizumu

Release Date: August 10th, 2013

Running Time: 90 mins.

Director: Yasuhiro Yoshida

Writer: Hirotoshi Kobayashi, Yasuhiro Yoshida (Screenplay)

Starring: Sota Fukushi, Shuhei Nomura, Tsubasa Honda, Mariko Akama, Yo Yoshida, Naomi Nishida, Honoka Miki

Ah, a teen time travel movie with soppy singing. I can tell from the trailer that this isn’t for me. Shuta (Fukushi), Saku (Nomura) and Michiru (Honda) have been best friends since they were children but things go wrong when Michiru decides to move overseas and Saku dies of a heart attack. As a result of this dead, Shuta and Michiru drift apart. On the third anniversary of Saku’s death, Shuta boards a train at the Enoshima subway and finds himself transported back to a time before Saku’s death. Although he cannot stay for long in that time period he can keep going back which makes him determined to save Saku’s life but a mysterious girl named Kyoko (Miki) warns him that his actions could have unforeseen consequences.

Time Slip Glasses                                                

Japanese Title:  たいむ　すりっぷ　メガネ

Romaji: Taimu Surippu Megane

Release Date: August 10th, 2013

Running Time: N/A

Director: Jiro Nagae

Writer: Keiko Kaname

Starring: Ai Shinozaki, Erika Nishi, Haruna Shijou, Kumi Takana, Mamoru Tsubouchi, Koji Moriishi

Gravure idol Ai Shinozaki and the rest of the J-pop group AeLL (Activity Eco Life with Love)  appear in a sci-fi comedy where Fujiko (Shinozaki) returns to Japan to attend the funeral of her father and remembers a land acquisition scam by rogue traders which damaged the town. With her amazing ‘time slip glasses’, Fujiko will change the future of her town.

Koisuru Kami sama Kojiki Nyūmon            

Japanese Title:  恋する神さま　古事記入門

Romaji: Koisuru Kami sama Kojiki Nyūmon

Release Date: August 10th, 2013

Running Time: 90 mins.

Director: Toshiro Enomoto

Writer: Toshiro Enomoto (Screenplay)

Starring: Hiroaki Kawazure, Rei Ayana, Koto Masahiko, Aiko Eguhi, Takuya Suzuki, Moe Saito, Haruka Amami, Masaomi Soga

Indie film. Right, part of the title is Kojiki (Record of Ancient Matters). The Kojiki is the oldest chronicle of Japan and charts its creation myths, how the four islands came into being and the Kami and all of the stuff that forms the the basis of the Shinto religion. The Koisuru Kami-sama bit reads a bit like Introduction of God’s Love. The film seems to be about a troupe of actors who use this as inspiration. Now the poster seems innocuous enough but images connected to the film show pretty women stripping and there seems to be mention of crazy naked dancing so who knows where this one’s going…

SHAKE HANDS シェイク　ハンズ                                   

Japanese Title:  SHAKE HANDS シェイク　ハンズ

Romaji: SHAKE HANDS シェイク　ハンズ

Release Date: August 10th, 2013

Running Time: 90 mins.

Director: Fujii Michihito

Writer: Saki Kawarada (Screenplay)

Starring: U-Taro, Yuta Amanuma, Kanta Imazaki,

This is a drama about four middle school boys who find their friendship renewed when they take part in a b-boy competition with the chance to head to the US and face off against the Rock Steady Crew. The film features a lot of b-boy talent. No trailer.

HOMESICK                                         

Japanese Title:  HOMESICK

Romaji: N/A

Release Date: August 10th, 2013

Running Time: 98 mins.

Director: Hirohara Saturo

Writer: Hirohara Saturo (Screenplay)

Starring: Tomohiro Kaku, Yuuki Kaneda, Tsubasa Funasaki, Syo Honma, Erika Okuda, Taro Suwa, Mutsuo Yoshioka

Director Hirohara Saturo has quietly been carving a niche for himself writing and directing stories focussed on this generation of Japanese who have faced the long recession and peacefulness that the country has endured. Stagnation in other words. In his last major film, Good Morning to the World (2010), the main characters was a boy raising living alone having been abandoned by his family. Distant from his contemporaries and more interested in the outsiders – the homeless and the equally alone. Homesick continues that trend.

Kenji (Kaku) is 30 and lives in a house about to be demolished. He’s also unemployed after the boss in his last dead end job left without warning. His father lives in the countryside running an inn and his sister travels the world. His life is aimless and boring and he is about to be made homeless just when three young boys named Korosuke (Kaneda), Yataro (Funasaki) and Occi (Honma) start visiting him. After finding out that Korosuke has no mother, Kenji promises to take him to an aquarium. Nozomi (Okuda) is a former classmate of Kenji’s and takes an interest in him. When she tries to find out why Kanji stays in the house, he can’t answer her but his relationship with Korosuke suddenly turns sour.

Hontō ni atta Tōkō Yami Eizō Gekijōban                 

Japanese Title:  本当にあった投稿闇映像　劇場版

Romaji: Hontō ni atta Tōkō Yami Eizō Gekijōban

Release Date: August 10th, 2013

Running Time: 70 mins.

Director: Junpei Tsuchida

Writer: N/A

Starring: Yone Aoki, Hiroshi Aochi

This is the movie version of a TV show which collects together supernatural tales from around Japan. There are eight stories here including one about the ghost of a woman killed in a traffic accident who wears one high heel shoe (spooky), children talking to invisible people caught on camera (as can be seen in films like Insidious/The Conjuring/The Orphanage) and one about a woman who goes into the ruins of a house as can be seen in this imag… Look out, ghost!!!

Village of Target                        

Japanese Title:  標的の村

Romaji: Hyōteki no Mura

Release Date: August 10th, 2013

Running Time: 91 mins.

Director: Chie Mikami

Writer: N/A

Starring: N/A

This is a documentary that looks at the issue of US military bases in Okinawa and the way inhabitants of the island reacted to the appearance of the new Osprey transport used by US forces. We get to see sit-ins at the gates to Futenma airbase and protests.

I posted the trailer for Sion Sono’s latest film Why Don’t You Play in Hell?  last week and Tired Paul suggested I make some Gifs for the film… Little did he know I was already doing it! Well, I posted them on my Tumblr. Some are so large I need to post them here because of the file upload limit on Tumblr.

So, here’s the film done through the power of Gifs (I expect this post will take ages to load due to the size and number of the things).

Why Don’t You Play in Hell?           

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

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

Release Date: September 28^th, 2013 (Japan)

Running Time: N/A

Director: Sion Sono

Writer: Sion Sono (Screenplay),

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

Muto (Kunimura)

and Ikegami (Tsutsumi)

are rival gangsters who despise each other but there’s a catch for Ikegami… he loves Muto’s actress daughter Mitsuko (Nikaido).

Part of the reason she’s an actress is because Muto arranged it as a gift for his loyal wife Shizue (Tomochika) who dreamed that Mitsuko would be a star even after she was sent to prison after taking the fall for him and his criminal escapades.

Muto is out to make that dream happen. Enter Koji (Hoshino), a timid passer-by who is mistaken for being a film director and kidnapped.

When dealing with gangsters you don’t mess about so Koji gets a cinephile named Hirata (Hasegawa) who is waiting for a chance to exercise his skills (and madness).

Hirata takes charge of the film.

He casts Mitsuko in a fictional gang war where she’s a sword wielding lunatic.

But it soon goes wrong when it turns real and Hirata lets loose with his imagination and a guy dressed like Bruce Lee (Sakaguchi).

Uhhh, there was no real place for me to put the Blood Side gif in the synopsis (especially because there are two characters involved) so here it is at the end.

BLOOOOOOD SLIIIIIIDE!!!

That was fun! I’m being genuine when I say that I am more of a Suicide Club and Strange Circus chap. I love the gore, the black humour and get twisted by the themes and emotions involved. This looks to play with the love of films. Anyway, posting these on my Tumblr introduced me to the Nikaido Fumi Fan Club International. Check them out for pics.

A Woman Called Abe Sada                

Japanese Title: 実録　阿部　定

Romaji: Jitsuroku Abe Sada

Release Date: February 08^th, 1975

Running Time: 76 mins.

Director: Noboru Tanaka

Writer: Akio Ido (Screenplay),

Starring: Junko Miyashita, Hideaki Ezumi, Nagatoshi Sakamoto, Yoshi Kitsuda

A Woman Called Abe Sada is based on the infamous story of a real woman named Abe Sada¹ that took place in 1936. The case is so well-known it has been turned into film multiple times, the most famous being Nagisa Oshima’s In the Realm of the Senses (1976). A Woman Called Abe Sada was released the year before and was been largely overshadowed by Oshima’s title despite being voted one of the best ten films of 1975 by the high-brow movie institution Kinema Junpo. For me, this is the version I prefer and it comes down to Junko Miyashita’s beauty and emotive performance and Noboru Tanaka’s tight direction and Akio Ido’s intelligent script.

 “Whatever happens to us, I don’t care.”

Abe Sada is a geisha who has been locked in a passionate affair with and Kichi, the owner of a hotel she works in. They have spent a month travelling between machiai (teahouses) where they stay for a few days of sex and drink while geisha sing. Sada is deeply in love with Kichi and asks him, “Will you give them up? Hotel, wife and children”

Kichi replies, “I’ll go to hell if you want me to. I’ve never known a woman like you.”

What Kichi doesn’t know is the intensity of Sada’s feelings. Perhaps he doesn’t take her seriously when she says, “Maybe I will kill you. I’ll cut off your manhood.”

If only Kichi did take her seriously, but then we wouldn’t have great tales like this.

Let me get the obvious out of the way. A Woman Named Abe Sada is sexy. This being a pink film made in Japan¹ no penetration or genitalia are shown but there are a lot of bouncing breasts, legs spread at all sorts of angles, lusty breathing, and increasingly strange sex games. What’s on screen is pretty erotic. Most of the running time is dedicated to showing Sada and Kichi in the act of coupling or pawing and play-acting and they both go at it with such verve that a world of passion is built up for the viewer. Sada and Kichi may exist in tiny rooms for short periods of time but they are lost in each other.

The way the film displays their passions makes every scene feel a lot longer and intense. Indeed there is a sense of freedom in their willing confinement, breaking social and moral boundaries.

Tanaka uses the small sets, long takes, close-ups and medium shots to capture the two when they are entwined and it is incredibly intimate and makes the emotions and physical actions all the more potent.

But there’s more to this than just sex. The script places flashbacks and the narration of Sada to build psychological complexity. We get a sense of why she acts the way she does. Having been a victim of a sexual assault by a student at the age of 16 she was cast out by her family and falls from being a geisha to a waitress to a mistress and a prostitute. By the time she works as a maid for Kichi’s hotel at the age of 31, she was addicted to sex and has experienced awful treatment at the hands of men.

These terrible moments have inspired more than just an addiction to sex. Again, the script and Tanaka’s direction highlight sequences of Sada being gripped by darker moments like playing with knives and voicing her melancholy and increasingly obsessive thoughts aloud. These moments are a gift because it illustrates how complex she is. Sada Abe is not a monster or a sex doll but a human who has been hurt.

As Sada, Junko Miyashita² is incredible. Originally discovered as a waitress in a coffee shop, she turned to acting in pink films and it is easy to see why she was hired because she is gorgeous and her acting is passionate.

She has a strength that is barely hidden by her beautiful façade. We initially perceive her to be an air-headed sexy woman clad in a red kimono with an insatiable passion but Tanaka’s close-ups and Miyashita’s acting reveal more. Miyahsita has an intense gaze when her emotions are running hot, a gaze that threatens to burn the object of desire. Tears fall down her face in quiet moments when the passion threatens to go cold and her fevered actions at the end, while gruesome (especially from a man’s perspective!!!) evoke sympathy so it is impossible to regard her as a monster. Miyashita embodies and displays the pleasures of the flesh but also embodies the effects of trauma.

I have reviewed zero pink films for this blog. I must admit I have only watched about four or five ever and it is usually by accident thinking I was getting erotic thrillers or sexy comedies. I am no expert on the genre but I know enough not to dismiss it entirely since great directors cut their teeth in the genre and went on to bigger things like Koji Wakamatsu, and Kiyoshi Kurosawa. Add to that list Noburu Tanaka who would go on to become one of Japan’s most celebrated directors before his untimely death in 2006. Based on the material alone I didn’t expect to be as moved as much as I was. Miyashita’s performance, Tanaka’s direction and Ido’s screenplay created quite a visceral experience that shows how skilled they are as performers and how much the Pink Film genre can give artistically.

4.5/5

¹Pink films were on the rise in the 1960’s due to the ability of companies to make them in a couple of weeks for cheap and turn a profit. Nikkatsu Studio, the company behind this film, was in financial trouble due to competition for audiences from western films, pink films, and television so Nikkatsu made the decision to make pink films and Roman Porno (romantic pornography) using its stable of directors and its production assets, including sets and crew. Pink films gave directors great artistic freedom so long as they fulfilled a quota of four nude/sex scenes per film and came in on budget. Due to censorship laws, genitals and pubic hairs are not shown on screen. They are usually blurred or covered up by props such as bottles and lamps so one can hardly compare pink films to western pornography. That written, on display are plenty of breasts and buttocks as can be seen here.

² Junko Miyashita worked with Noboru Tanaka in his Showa Trilogy, of which this and Watcher in the Attic are two titles. For her work, she was nominated for a number of awards and is still acting today and has had a number of features released this year.

This week I posted a Gif version of the trailer for Why Don’t You Play in Hell? because the trailer was so damn awesome. I also posted a review of A Woman Called Abe Sada which was so damn erotic. I needed a break from work and took it which meant that my hours were spent day-tripping, watching films and anime and writing (and trying to complete Etrian Odyssey/Sigma Harmonics before I start going through my PSP games next month). I watched a whole range of films like The Conjuring and The Lone Ranger as well as plenty of Japanese titles. I’m almost finished writing up my Autumn 2013 Anime Guide for Anime UK News which was an epic undertaking that left me numb and disillusioned… Only joking. 

What’s released this week in Japan? Lots of Korean films but there are also some films about World War II because last week was the anniversary of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. 

Osorubeki Isan Hadaki no Kage        

Japanese Title: 恐るべき　遺産　裸　の　影

Romaji: Osorubeki Isan Hadaki no Kage

Release Date: August 15^th, 2013

Running Time: 84 mins.

Director: Koji Wakamatsu

Writer: N/A

Starring: Mitsuko Miura, Hananomoto Kotobuki, Fumiko Sakakibara, Noriko Okayama, Aiko Watanabe

The week starts off with a Koji Wakamatsu film about victims of Hiroshima called Osorubeki isan Hadaka no Kage. Finding information on this one was a bit of a hunt because the IMDB listing is Hadaka no Kage but part of the reason why it was so hard to find is becayse it was only recently rediscovered! This is a long lost film! Along the way I found this cool Japanese film website which makes my wild ramblings look really inept and its article about Koji Wakamatsu  was really insightful. The film is about a girl named Noriko who lost her parents to the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and was exposed to radiation.

Joker Game Escape                                            

Japanese Title: ジョーカーゲーム　脱出

Romaji: 　Jo-ka- Ge-mu Dasshutsu

Release Date: August 17^th, 2013

Running Time: 80 mins.

Director: Shintaro Ashzuka

Writer: Ai Yamazaki (Screenplay)

Starring: Hirono Suzuki, Rina Matsuno Mio Miyatake, Fuina Hara, Madoka Yoshida, Kyouka, Sara Takatsuki, Mila Aina, Yuzuki Sato, Shingo Mizusawa, Jyo Hyuga

This is a direct sequel to last year’s Joker Game film. It’s actually set seven days after the story of the last one ended and it follows seven girls who lost the previous game and are locked up in a correctional facility where they must participate in “Escape Game of Death”. They are locked in a room and have to cooperate with one another to find a way to escape but judging from the trailer it doesn’t quite go smoothly.

This is one of those death game films packed to the rafters with idols and fresh new faces although some of these girls have worked in v-cinema J-horror before like Rina Matsuno (Apartment 1303) and Fumina Hara (The Locker 1 and 2). Mio Miyatake also starred in Tajomaru. Rather interestingly, Sara Takatsuki will be seen in the live-action adaptation of I Don’t Have Many Friends, a trashy light-novel/anime I kind of enjoyed.

The Morning Set, Milk and Spring                          

Japanese Title: モーニング　セット、　牛乳、春

Romaji: Mo-ningu Set, Gyunyuu, Haru

Release Date: August 17^th, 2013

Running Time: 85 mins.

Director: Toshiki Sato

Writer: Haruka Takenami (Screenplay)

Starring: Mitsuru Hirata, Takeshi Ito, Kanako Mizumoto, Asuka Ishii, Aoi Kirishima, Mayuko Irie, Mutsuo Yoshioka, Yota Kawase, Yukijiro Hotaru, Syuma Shimizu

Ichiro Sasaki (Hirata) is a dull middle-aged salary-man who finds himself questioning his path in life when he hears of the death of his childhood friend Okabe (Ito). The reason for his soul-searching is because Okabe left a final message for Sasaki where he admits that he was in love with Sachi (Kirishima), Sasaki’s first girl, and that a person they both knew had hit unfortunate times. Sasaki thinks back on his younger days and remembers that Okabe was the luckier one in life. After meeting a young woman named Haru (Mizumoto), Sasaki’s passion for his youth is revived.

Schoolgirl Complex                        

Japanese Title: スクール　ガール　コンプレックス　放送部　篇

Romaji: Suku-ru Ga-ru Konpurekksu Housoubu Hen

Release Date: August 17^th, 2013

Running Time: 96 mins.

Director: Yuichi Onuma

Writer: Yuki Aoyama (Original Photobook), Shin Adachi (Screenplay)

Starring: Aoi Morikawa, Mugi Kadowaki, Maaya Kondo, Aoi Yoshikura, Ayuri Konno, Tsukina Takai, Minako Kotobuki, Yuko Araki, Tomoharu Hasegawa

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, we have an entire movie inspired by a photobook full of cute girls. A script, characters and a plot and decent directing. It’s all organised by Stardust Pictures who have drafted in Yuichi Onuma, a director with a talent for dramas and Shin Adachi as writer. There are also a raft of actresses who have been in films like Confessions and Another. This being set in a all-girls school there are plenty of repressed feelings passed between the girls and lots of meaningful glances and stares exchange between sempai and kohai whose hearts go doki doki. It’s so totemo romantiku ~sigh~. No supernatural shenanigans like Memento Mori.

Manami (Morikawa) is a senior and a member of the school’s broadcast club. She’s also about to graduate. Chiyuki (Kadowaki) has just joined the club. Manami is shaken by Chiyuki’s presence.

Noborito Army Institute                            

Japanese Title: 陸軍　登戸　研究所

Romaji:　Rikugun Noborito Kenkyuujo

Release Date: August 17^th, 2013

Running Time: 180 mins.

Director: Tadayuki Kusuyama

Writer: N/A

Starring: N/A

The Noborito Laboratory was run by the Imperial Japanese army between 1937 to 1945 in Kanagawa Prefecture. At its height it had a staff of over 1000 people who helped to research and develop all sorts of thing connected to unconventional warfare like energy weapons (death rays), balloon bombs, and chemical weapons. At the end of World War II it was shut down and a lot of materials relating to its output were destroyed. Now there is a museum called the Noborito Institute for Peace Education at the site and it has artifiacts and details from the lab. Tadayuki Kusuyama’s documentary gives a glimpse of the facility.

Kakehashi Kikoenakatta 3.11                                   

Japanese Title: 架け橋　きこえなかった　3.11

Romaji: Kakehashi Kikoenakatta 3.11

Release Date: August 17^th, 2013

Running Time: N/A

Director: Ayako Imamura

Writer: N/A

Starring:  N/A

Another documentary that covers the Great East Japan Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunami but from the viewpoint of deaf people who did not hear the evacuation orders.

NHK Special Movie Version Colossal Deep-Sea Squid First Filming!  

Japanese Title: 劇場版　NHK スペシャル　世界　初　撮影！　深海　の　超巨大　イカ

Romaji: Gekijouban NHK Supesharu SEkai Hatsu Satsuei! Shinkai no Choukyodai Ika

Release Date: August 17^th, 2013

Running Time: N/A

Director: N/A

Writer: N/A

Starring: N/A

An NHK Special about a giant sea squid (the world’s largest!!!) which was televised in January gets shown in a cinema. No trailer but that’s okay because the pictures I saw were creepy.

My Summertime Map                       

Japanese Title: 夏休み　の　地図

Romaji: Natsu Yasumi no Chizu

Release Date: August 01^st, 2013

Running Time: 96 mins.

Director: Kenta Fukasaku

Writer: Yoshinobu Kamo (Screenplay)

Starring: Kenta Honyashiki, Taro Yamamoto, Megumi Okina, Eri Murakawa, Daisuke Miyaji, Jun Matsuo, Yurika Shimano, Honoka Yatsuka

Kenta Fukasaku, son of Kinji Fukasaku and director of (X-Cross) teams up with writer Yoshinobu Kamo (Signal) for a drama that follows a boy named Kento Tanabe (Honyashiki) as he attempts to draw a map of Hiroshima. He will encounter all the city has to offer (tourist locations) which contains colourful characters including a mysterious chap who goes by the name “Junk Man”. Actors include Megumi Okina (Crime or Punishment?!?, The Grudge), Taro Yamamoto (My Way, Battle Royale, Go) and Eri Murakawa (Train Brain Express).

Battlefield

Japanese Title: 戦場

Romaji: Senjou

Release Date: August 17^th, 2013

Running Time: 53 mins.

Director: Hiroshi Matsumoto

Writer: Hiroshi Matsumoto

Starring: Takeshi Tsuchiya, Yoko Hara, Yoshihisa Sugai, Asuka Takahashi, Ryuhei Kawasaki, Chihiro Sasaki

An indie drama from indie kids about a two year relationship between Manami and Takada which is put to the test when a man named Shingo enters their lies and brings the threat of violence. 

The 70^th Venice Film Festival is due to take place at the end of this month (August 28^th – September 07^th). Last year saw a neat but small selection of Japanese films and a drama. This year there seems to be less on offer but they include some of the latest title. Hayao Miyazaki’s The Wind Rises gets its world premiere and as a result is in competition at the festival. Out of competition we see the likes of Kim Ki-Duk returning after his win last year. He has stiff competition from Lee Sang-il who brings his Japanese remake of Clint Eastwood’s Unforgiven and Shinji Aramaki’s rather nice looking Captain Harlock movie. Here’s the line-up:

The Wind Rises                              

Japanese Title: 風立ちぬ

Romaji: Kaze Tachi Nu

Running Time: 126 mins.

Director: Hayao Miyazaki

Writer: Hayao Miyazaki (Screenplay)

Starring: Hideaki Anno, Miori Takimoto, Hidetoshi Nishijima, Masahiko Nishimura, Steven Alpert, Morio Kazama, Keiko Takeshita,

Miyazaki’s latest film was recently released in Japan where it has done good numbers at the box office. It has been five years since Hayao Miyazaki’s last film, Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea. Since then he has written scripts and manga. He’s back with a new film which tells the story of Jirou Horikoshi, the designer of Japan’s famous Mitsubishi A6M Zero fighter plane of World War II. We witness his upbringing and his struggles with poverty, an earthquake and war and his relationship with a woman named Naoko Satomi who is suffering from tuberculosis. Jirou Horikoshi is voiced by Evangelion creator Hideaki Anno. The mecha anime maestro is surrounded by live-action film actors like Hidetoshi Nishijima (Zero Focus) amd co-star Miori Takimoto (Sadako 3D 2, Rinco’s Restaurant).

Space Pirate Captain Harlock                         

Japanese Title: キャプテン　ハーロック

Romaji: Kyaputen Harokku

Running Time: 115 mins.

Director: Shinji Aramaki

Writer: Harutoshi Fukui (Screenplay), Leiji Matsumoto (Manga)

Starring: Shun Oguri, Haruma Miura, Yu Aoi, Arata Furuta, Ayano Fukuda

Leiji Matsumoto is a big deal in Japan and his manga/anime keep getting remade. This year sees the big budget CG movie adaptation of his 1977 manga¹/1978 TV Asahi anime. The film is directed by Shinji Aramaki who has been in the anime industry for a long time with involvement in titles like Bubbegum Crisis, Megazone 23, Wolf’s Rain and Gundam. He knows how to make CG films hacing directed the recent Appleseed movies. He does have some awful titles to his name but he at least knows how to make a pretty picture and bring sci-fi designs to the big screen. The seiyuu (voice actors) are impressive with live-action film stars Shun Oguri (The Woodsman & the Rain) voicing the heroic Harlock, Yu Aoi (Penance, Hana and Alice, Mushishi), Arata Furuta (Thirteen Assassins, Ninja Kids!!!) and Ayano Fukuda voicing some of Harlock’s crew and Haruma Mirua (Tokyo Park) voicing an assassin. There are also fullt-time seiyuu like Maaya Sakamoto, Chikao Ohtsuka and Kiyoshi Kobayashi on the cast.

In the year 2977, mankind has become complacent and stagnant because machines perform all manner of tasks while humans indulge in entertainment. This is the moment when mysterious invaders from space invade the Earth. Rebelling against Earth’s inept government, Harlock (Oguri) and his crew of 40 use his space battleship to fight for humanity. This fight comes with risks beyond space battles as a young man named Yama (Miura) is ordered to kill Harlock.

Unforgiven                                                

Japanese Title: 許されざる者

Romaji: Yurusarezaru Mono

Running Time: 119 mins.

Director: Lee Sang-Il

Writer: Lee Sang-Il  (Screenplay),

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

This is the remake of the 1992 Clint Eastwood film of the same name. It swaps out the US and cowboys for Japan in the late 1800’s and samurai. I have reviewed one Lee Sang-Il film and that was Villain where he got a fantastic performance from lead actor Satoshi Tsumabuki. This is his first film since Villain and he gets a star-studded cast with Ken Watanabe (Letters from Iwo Jima, Inception, Tampopo), the grizzled Akira Emoto (A Woman and War, Starfish Hotel), Koichi Sato (Infection), and two of my favourites, Eiko Koike (Rebirth, Penance, Kamikaze Girls, 2LDK) and Jun Kunimura (Outrage, Vital, Audition).

Jubei Kamata (Watanabe) was once a loyal samurai for the Edo shogunate government. Famous for being a skilled and deadly fighter he killed many and became infamous in Kyoto but disappeared during the battle of Goryoukaku. Ten years later and he is living with his child, looking after his wife’s grave in peace after vowing never to pick up his sword again but being in poverty forces him to do just that as he accepts the assignment of being a bounty hunter. 

The film goes on theatrical release in Japan on September 13^th.

That’s about it, I think. Fewer films than last year but full of Japanese stars. I look forward to the reviews.

¹I’ve actually got some of those original manga after buying them from a friend a few years back and despite struggling with the Japanese, the designs were impressive and Matsumoto draws cool characters. I have reported about this film a couple of times for Anime UK News and each trailer and teaser leaves me even more impressed. The film goes on theatrical release in Japan from September 07^th.

This has been a long time in coming. I attended the festival a couple of months ago and in the meantime I have only published a review for one of the four films I saw, The Berlin File. Now’s the time to get the three other films I watched. Here are previews:

These were the main reasons I was attending the festival. All three are Japanese and come from directors whose films I have reviewed before. Two of the three were also released in Japan earlier this year, one last year, so this is a great slice of what Japanese film culture can produce. Furthermore, all three will be released by Third Window Films during the rest of this year. 

First up is THE LAND OF HOPE  is from Sion Sono, one of my all-time favourite directors who I frequently post about. Released last year, this is his follow-up to the mighty drama Himizu. Like that film, The Land of Hope also deals with the after-effects of the Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunami that occurred on March 11^th back in 2011 but it’s more of a disaster epic as it pretty much covers what happened to a larger number of people in the areas affected by the tsunami and nuclear power plant explosion. After I first watched it I was bewildered and I did not like it at all but I put that down to the fact that I was tired after a day packed full of tourist activities so I was in no condition to absorb what was going on. A second viewing has proven vital in improving my understanding and I think the film is a pretty staggering achievement. The DVD is released at the beginning of next week by Third Window Films. The review is published on Wednesday.

Next is Yoshihiro Nakamura’s SEE YOU TOMORROW, EVERYONE which was released in Japan in January. This one stars Gaku Hamada who has appeared in a number of his previous titles like Fish Story and The Foreign Duck, the Native Duck & God in a Coin Locker , I was very impressed by the latter title and placed it near the top of my Top Ten for 2013 (there’s going to be a major shake-up of that soon) and it received great review from Mark Schilling over at The Japan Times so I was confident that I would enjoy it and discussed the films merits (director/actors) with other festival attendees I had never met before. Would I walk out feeling the same things? Review on Friday.  

The final title I’ll review is THE STORY OF YONOSUKE which comes from Shuichi Okita who really (really!) impressed me with his title The Woodsman & the Rain, a film which contained a wonderfully observed and rather touching comedy about filmmaking and human bonds where he got great performances from his actors including the two lead stars, Koji Yakusho and Shun Oguri. The Story of Yonosuke was released in Japan back in February. Out of the films I saw in the festival this was easily my favourite because Okita once again brought all of the warmth, quirks and humanity out of his characters and created wonderful comedic scenes. Review on Sunday.

There’s a lot of nostalgia, love and drama over the next week on the cards but that’s okay because the rest of August and September sees an upsurge in dark yakuza tales due to a Takashi Ishii and a Kiyoshi Kurosawa season.

The Land of Hope                               

Japanese: 希望　の　国

Romaji: Kibou no Kuni

Release Date: October 20th, 2012 (Japan)

UK Release Date: August 26th, 2013

UK Distributor: Third Window Films

Running Time: 133 mins.

Director: Sion Sono

Writer: Sion Sono

Starring: Isao Natsuyagi, Naoko Otani, Jun Murakami, Megumi Kagurazaka, Yutaka Shimizu, Hikari Kajiwara, Denden, Mariko Tsutsui, Yusuke Iseya, Mitsuru Fukikoshi,

When Sion Sono’s last film Himizu came to its stunning open ending it was clear that he was far from finished addressing the issues surrounding the Tōhoku Earthquake and Tusnami. The Land of Hope is the powerful and important follow-up which is epic in scale and drama. For daring to take on such a taboo subject in Japan, Sono had to go to foreign investors but what has resulted is a film that is a key way of seeing the effects of a disaster. At two hours it captures all sorts of aspects about the disaster but remains incredibly humane as it centres on the travails of two families.

An old couple named Yasuhiko and Chieko Ono (Natsuyagi and Otani) live on a farm with their son Yoichi (Murakami) and his wife Izumi (Kagurazaka) near Ohara town in Nagashima prefecture.

It is a peaceful place whose only claim to fame is the nearby Nagashima Daiichi nuclear power plant. Yasuhiko’s days are spent farming land owned by his family for generations, taking care of Chieko who suffers dementia and talking with the neighbouring Suzuki family made up of father Ken (Denden), mother Meiko (Tsutsui), son Mitsuru (Shimizu) and his girlfriend Yoko (Kajiwara). 

When an earthquake and tsunami strike Nagashima prefecture the nuclear power plant goes into meltdown and residents of Ohara town are forced to evacuate by the government as a mandatory evacuation zone stretching twenty kilometres from the plant is put into effect.

The situation for the Ono family is different. Only half of their farm lies in the evacuation zone and the rest is outside it. 

They are faced with a tough decision: evacuate with the rest of the village and the Suzuki family or stay on the farm. For Yasuhiko the choice is simple. Yoichi and his wife should evacuate while he and Chieko remain but Yoichi wants to keep the family together while Izumi is beset by worries over radiation. 

Meanwhile the Ono family must find out what happened to relatives in the disaster area.

The Land of Hope is a film which leaves behind all of the familiar Sono horror film hallmarks: labyrinthine plot, ambiguity, dense visual imagery, crazy characters and gore. It is a simple and direct film based in reality. It is more like an example of social filmmaking which generates a heavy sense of anxiety by placing us in the March 11^th disaster and depicting the emotions and feelings of people who lived with the consequences.

Against the very real background of a disaster, a smaller family one involving the break-up of the household plays out. The story is inspired by a real-life family who Sono encountered during repeated trips to Fukushima prefecture while location scouting.

Sono has been very deliberate in everything included in the film. It starts with the script. It may take place in the near future in the fictional Nagashima (the name of which is a combination of three cities affected by nuclear radiation: Nagasaki, Hiroshima and Fukushima) but everything is drawn from reality. We witness the chaos of evacuation, finding the missing, and the devastation wrought by both the tsunami and nuclear disaster. Characters affected by the disaster range from those forced to evacuate to celebrities in Tokyo urging people to forget about the crisis and smile to paranoid housewives who fear radiation and those who level discrimination at people associated with the disaster.

The large amount of issues covered in the script is almost bewildering and it takes time to warm up to the story (it took me two viewings to fully get into it)  but Sono’s choice to deliver everything at a stately pace with a simple plot split between different characters ensures everything is given the time to be explored and the emotions involved are examined. What makes Sono’s approach work is because through his humane script we care about the people. The actors are given a platform to issue stunning performances full of emotions, none more impressive than the one given by the late Isao Natsuyagi as Yasuhiko who passed away earlier this year.

With his lined but warm face and his simple and honest demeanour he exudes goodness as he a proud and fierce patriarch who looks after his family. We sympathise with him as he accepts his losses and in his steadfastness. His relationship with Jun Murakami as Yoichi is strong as the two face off in a father–son relationship where loyalty and love are the dominant emotions but it is with Otani where the most sympathy is evoked.

Otani as the mother Chieko radiates such innocence that the film is heart-breaking at points. Her faulty memory keeps flashing back to happier times. What might drive others crazy brings a patient and fond smile to Yasuhiko which makes us sympathise more.

It would have been easy to make an anti-nuclear diatribe but Sono steers clear from making a film too concerned about issues that it forgets about people. The anti-nuclear camp is shown to be earnest, made up of a mixture of survivors from real-life Fukushima who lament all the missteps that the Japanese government took with them, doctors who present startling facts in quieter moments but there are nods to hysteria that can come about. The film is more incisive when it needles the media reaction to the disaster as we see how mainstream television urges audiences to forget about the disaster, calling on people to just follow the group mentality and not worry others. The critique is sharp because we are aware of the plight of the refugees who huddle in schools.

Indeed all of the characters exhibit a degree of humanity, good and bad. Even government workers on the front-lines show sympathy. These very real human emotions and thoughts extend throughout the cast so the audience can always empathise and understand the issues better.

Visually and aurally, Sono is also masterful at creating atmosphere. The Land of Hope, like Himizu, was shot on locations actually affected by the 3.11 disaster like Ishinomaki. We are embedded in the situation of the victims because of directing techniques and the way scenes are orchestrated. Long takes and long shots capture the desolation and the lonely figures the actors cut against such wide open spaces.

Then there are sequences involving Mitsuru and Yoko walking through streets where the tsunami wrought huge devastation.

We see the apartment blocks with curtains waving balefully in the air, the skeleton foundations of buildings, wrecked house uprooted, and debris strewn everywhere.  Sono even shot in Fukushima which is where some of the most stunning where everything is intact but life has been sucked away.

The initial evacuation is a breathless and confusing sequence as we witness cordons set by police and military personnel who constantly march about refusing to answer questions to a soundtrack of rumbling, squawking radios, people on loud speakers and shouting, the ticking of Geiger counters. It is all disorientating and as an audience member I almost felt like the people who were forced out with no satisfactory explanation and at the end I felt all of the uncertainty and hope that Yoichi and Izumi felt.

Overall this film came across as a masterful analysis of the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami. Evocative, beautiful and haunting visuals layer a script which dares to point out the faults in society.

A beautiful coruscating cloud of criticism capturing the ineptitude and absurdity of the government response and the uncaring nature of public consciousness as it chooses to forget about the disaster. The Land of Hope is a timely reminder that the disaster is still on-going as it slips away from news headlines. Unlike many other films that deal with March 11^th, this is one which dares to shake its audience as it interrogates our response to the disaster. It is like an aberration in Japanese cinema, a film that is a bruising reminder that all is not well. It is an important and powerful film that grants us a level of understanding of the disaster and its human cost.

4.5/5

The main review has gone on long enough. If you got down this far, thanks and well done!

EXTRAS:

The extras on the DVD include a weblink and trailer but the real treasure is a one hour documentary which shows everything from the making of the film from pre to post-production and screenings for people affected by the disaster. We see who the Ono family were based on and their house, locations from the disaster area that Sono travels to and how he works with his professional and non-professional crew such as the actors and victims of the disaster who agreed to be extras. Like Himizu and The Land of Hope, it is an important document showing us what the areas are like since these areas are changing with the recovery efforts. More importantly we see how people feel about the issues explored in a film about them and how deeply Sono was moved by the whole experience (we get some of his poetry!) of making the film and the ideals he brings to the table. There is no need for director interviews or anything like that because it’s all in the documentary.

5/5

See You Tomorrow, Everyone                  

Japanese Title: みなさん、　さようなら

Romaji: Minasan, Sayonara

Release Date: January 26th 2013 (Japan)

UK Release Date: October 14th, 2013

UK Distributor: Third Window Films

Running Time: 120 mins.

Director: Yoshihiro Nakamura

Writer: Tamio Hayashi, Yoshihiro Nakamura (Screenplay), Takehiko Kubodera (Original Novel),

Starring: Gaku Hamada, Kana Kurashina, Kento Nagayama, Kei Tanaka, Nene Otsuka, Bengal, Haru

Satoru Watari (Hamada) lives in a danchi. Danchi’s are a large cluster of public buildings thrown up from the 50’s to the 70’s to address the housing demands of the post-war baby-boomers. These places are like a little world unto themselves with their own shops that serve the attendant community.

After graduating from elementary school Satoru tells his mother Hinagu (Otsuka) that he has decided to stay in the danchi for the rest of his life.

True to his word he stays at home. As the years pass and his former classmates leave the danchi to attend schools outside the area, Satoru institutes a schedule of day-to-day activities starting in the morning with breakfast, chores, exercises, martial arts training and ending at night with a patrol checking on all of the apartments to make sure everyone living in the danchi is safe.

Some regard Satoru’s behaviour as strange but for the most part he is left to act like a warden protecting kids like Noriaki (Nagayama) who is mercilessly bullied at school. At the age of sixteen, Satoru gets a job in a cake shop in the danchi and finds a girlfriend in Saki Ogata (Kurashina), a beautiful girl who says she wants to stay there but as time slips by more and more of Satoru’s classmates leave the complex to make new lives for themselves. Even with the support of Saki, will Satoru be able to leave projects someday?

Through following Satoru’s choice of remaining in the danchi over the course of twenty years, Nakamura thoroughly explores a slice of Japanese history and social changes in a location that is constantly a location in Japanese films.

As great as that sounds, despite filming in a confined location it is never really brought to life and it remained as anonymous, depopulated and dull as a tower block in a Kiyoshi Kurosawa film and that’s no good thing in this case. When I think of a film with a similar environment like Clockers (Spike Lee, 1997) I remember it brought a wealth of well sketched characters in a pungent hot-house atmosphere that was affecting and detailed enough to be evocative. This film felt inert. In trying to build up a psychological picture of Satoru, this film focusses a lot on him at the expense of everybody and everything else. Without the details and people, I did not feel the nostalgia that Nakamura was aiming for in recreating danchi life.

Part of the problem was the script. While unpredictable it was rather dull. Even more problematic was the fact that the catalyst for Satoru’s crisis was not revealed early enough which lead my perceptions too far in the wrong direction for the rest of the film to totally work. I took Satoru’s behaviour at face value and his actions were so weird I found it hard to empathise with him as a character. When he explained his reasons for staying in the danchi to a stranger she replied, “If you’ve clung onto that you’ve got to be sick.” I had to agree. With all of the focus on Hamada’s performance the film lived and died on it but I never warmed to him which meant I was distanced from the film. Couple this with the flat atmosphere and dry comedy that did not quite work for me and the film felt like its full two hour length which seemed to drag on as things kept getting added like the appearance of migrants from Brazil. While it is an admirable attempt to address the social changes in Japan I would have preferred it was cut out altogether. Actually, I would have preferred a film that provided greater focus on the characters around Satoru and their attempts at trying to get him out of the place. It would have been more believable and added detail.

The greatest emotional impact for me came right at the end when Sataru understood why his mother tolerated his behaviour. She pretty much disappears from the film halfway through but when we see things from her viewpoint in a flashback sequence it made me feel more emotion than the preceding 90+ minutes.

Yoshihiro Nakamura’s film The Foreign Duck, the Native Duck & God in a Coin Locker  genuinely surprised me by wrapping up an emotional story of human connection and loss in what at first seemed like a gentle off-beat comedy. Nakamura tries a similar thing here for a story of an existential crisis that forces a boy to retreat into the safety of his housing complex but does not quite pull it off because the main protagonist is hard to relate to and thanks to the script delaying key information. By the time we get to the revelation it is hard to sympathise with Satoru and I felt the attempts to wrap up the plot threads and characters arcs neatly dragged on too long. Perhaps I missed something or I am being overly critical because other, better film reviewers have praised this, but for me the film did not work which is a shame.

2.5/5 (and it only scored that high because of the gorgeous Nene Otsuka)

This week I thought I’d be a hero and try and get lots of reviews done as well as the Anime UK News Autumn Anime Preview Guide. I actually did achieve quite a bit of it by finishing the guide and most of the reviews. I finally finished up my Terracotta Far East Film Festival reviews with The Land of Hope and See You Tomorrow, Everyone. The Story of Yonosuke gets released tomorrow. I also posted about all of the Japanese films taking part in the Venice Film Festival this year. I’ll post about the autumn anime I’ll be watching next week and take the rest of the week off to get some more reviews finished before starting a mini Kiyoshi Kurosawa season and following that up with a Takashi Ishii season.

What’s released in Japan today? A lot of HK films including Vulgaria.

RETURN Hard Version                                               

Japanese Title:  RETURN (リタ-ン　ハードバージョン)

Romaji: RETURN (RITAN HA-DO BA-JON)

Release Date: August 10th, 2013

Running Time: 105 mins.

Director: Masato Harada

Writer: Masato Harada (Screenplay)

Starring: Kippei Shiina, Asami Mizukawa, Anna Tsuchiya, Yusuke Yamamoto, Midoriko Kimura, Kazuhiro Yamaji, Keisuke Horibe, Kenichi Yajima, Mariko Akama, Denden

Masato Harada… That name rings a bell… Bounce KO Gals and Kamikaze Taxi, two films from the 90’s I vaguely remember watching parts of. Action-packed dirty films in complete contrast to the high class drama Chronicle of My Mother which was Harada’s last film just released last year. He’s back with a film about a businessman named Kitahara (Kippei) who fled to Argentina after killing some crime bosses and returns ten years later facing all sorts of crazy people out for revenge including the Midonogawa sisters who want revenge for their brothers he originally killed. It looks like a nice bit of gangster action harking back to some of the 90’s stuff I’ve been watching recently plus it stars a bunch of great actors who are clearly having fun.

Joukyou Monogatari                       

Japanese Title:  上京ものがたり

Romaji: Joukyou Monogatari

Release Date: August 24th, 2013

Running Time: 109 mins.

Director: Toshiyuki Morioka

Writer: Toshiyuki Morioka (Screenplay), Rieko Saibara (Original Manga)

Starring: Kie Kitano, Sosuke Ikematsu, Asuka Kurosawa, Kanon Tani, Satoru Matsuo, Fumino Kimura, Rieko Saibara, Ittoku Kishibe, Asaka Seto

In Japan (and around the world) a generation of young people have to deal with a recession that has reduced their opportunities for lifelong careers and, more specifically, men have to deal with a generation of successful slightly more aggressive women who won’t settle just for being at home. There are some men who are passive enough to just accept being outsiders, on the bottom of the ladder and allowing women to take charge. This movie is a reflection of that. The trailer is shows Kie Kitano (Gegege no Kitaro and the Millenieum Curse) working hard to be a manga-ka while her husband played by Ikematsu loafs around dreaming like a character from Fine, Totally Fine, and it causes friction between the two but there’s also some comedy. It is based on a story by manga-ka Rieko Saibara who is also an actress and perhaps she has experience of this. Other actors include Satoru Matsuo (The Land of Hope), the incredible and incredibly sexy Asuka Kurosawa (A Snake of June, Cold Fish) and the prolific Ittoku Kishibe (Adrift in Tokyo)

Natsumi (Kitano) moves to Tokyo to study at a fine arts university where she meets the kind-hearted Ryosuke (Ikematsu) and falls in love with him. Unfortunately he doesn’t have a job and spends his days lying around while Natsumi has to work at a bar. Soon the two grow apart from each other and decide to break up just as her manga is published.

Gatchaman                                  

Japanese Title:  ガッチャマン

Romaji: Gatchman

Release Date: August 24th, 2013

Running Time: 113 mins.

Director: Toya Sato

Writer: Yusuke Watanabe (Screenplay)

Starring: Gou Ayano, Tori Matsuzaka, Ayame Gouriki, Ryohei Suzuki, Tatsuomi Hamada, Eriko Hatsune, Ken Mitsuishi, Goro Kishitani, Shido Nakamura

Ah, we come to the controversial release of the weekend. Not because it does anything horrific but because it looks like a cheap adaptation of a much-loved franchise dating back to the 70’s. I think it sort of looks alright with decent costumes and CGI…. Which probably isn’t good enough for hardcore fans of the classic anime Gatchaman.

When a terrorist organisation known as Galactor declare war on the world, governments fall due to their superior technology. Dr. Kozaburo Nambu of the International Science Organisation gathers together five superhero ninja agents, known collectively as Gatchaman, to stop Galactor.

I grew up watching the cartoon and have fond memories of it and I’m watching the re-imagining of it, Gatchaman Crowds. The film is written and directed by two guys who have adapted manga/anime (Dragon Ball Z, Kaiji, GANTZ) and it has acting muscle since it stars Gou Ayano who was pretty good in The Story of Yonosuke, Ryohei Suzuki (Tokyo Tribes), the rather lovely Eriko Hatsune who was the lead in the J-horror Spiral and largely wasted in Norwegian Wood, and the fantastic Ken Mitsuishi (Noriko’s Dinner Table).

Hakuoki First chapter Kyoto Wild Dance  

Japanese Title:  薄桜鬼 第一章 京都乱舞

Romaji: Hakuoki Dai-issho Kyoto Ranbu

Release Date: August 24th, 2013

Running Time: N/A

Director: Osamu Yamasaki

Writer: Osamu Yamasaki, Tsunekiyo Fujsawa (Screenplay)

Starring: Hiroyuki Yoshino (Heisuke Todo), Koji Yusa (Sanosuke Harada), Noriko Kuwashima (Chizuru Yukimura), Kousuke Toriumi (Hajime Saito), Kenjiro Tsuda (Chikage Kazama), Shinichiro Miki (Toshizo Hijikata)

The Hakuoki video game/anime franchise gets a two-part film adaptation which tells a new story. It is directed by Osamu Yamasaki who has handled other franchise entries as well as old anime like Tokyo Revelation and two episodes of Mushi-shi. Rather interestingly, Kenji Kawai is providing the music and hes the guy who did the fantastic OSTs for Ringu, Ghost in the Shell, and Patlabor 2 and The Sky Crawlers. That soundtrack is kind of awesome but the animation is so-so.

It is the Edo period and a young woman named Chizuru Yukimura (Kuwashima) is drawn into the upheaval of the time when she encounters the Shinsengumi trying to keep order.

Space Battleship Yamato 2199   Chapter VI I: And Now the Warship Comes       

Japanese Title: 宇宙戦艦ヤマト２１９９ 第七章「そして艦は行く」

Romaji: Uchū Senkan Yamato 2199 Dai-nana-shou: Soshite Kan wa Iku

Release Date: August 24^th 2013 (Japan)

Running Time: 100 mins.

Director:  Yutaka Izubuchi

Writer: Hiroshi Onoki, Sadayuki Murai, Shigeru Morita

Starring: Daisuke Ono (Susumu Kodai), Houko Kuwashima (Yuki Mori), Kenichi Suzumura (Daisuke Shima), Takayuki Sugo (Captain Jūzō Okita), Aya Hisakawa (Lt. Kaoru Niimi), Rie Tanaka (Ensign Akira Yamamoto), Rina Satou (Makoto Harada) 

The sixth instalment of Space Battleship Yamato was released back in June and this is the seventh and final instalment which joins together episode 23 to the final episode 26 where Yamato warps to the Sareza star system and battle Gamilos on Iscandar and totally wipe the swine out thus ending the greatest existential threat to humanity. It will get a release on the international stage under the Star Blazers 2199 title. Here’s the first ten minutes of the film, story and background to the anime:

In the year 2199, the human race has lost a war against alien invaders named Gamilos and have been driven underground due to the threat of radiation. Scientists give humanity a year before it is destroyed. When young officers Susumu Kodai and Daisuke Shima retrieve a capsule from a ship that crash landed on Mars they set off to Iscandar on the other side of the Magellan Galaxy which has the technology to smash the Gamilos and save Earth. The battleship Yamato is sent on a mission to get that technology. In this instalment, the Yamato has come out of warp space and aims to avoid a large Gamilos fleet.

In 1974 Leiji Matsumoto (Galaxy Express 999, Captain Harlock) and Yoshinubu Mishizaki created Space Battleship Yamato which became a massive hit. Thirty-nine years later we see the latest part of the anime movie adaptation released. This is actually the sixth part but the staff and voice actors remain the same. The role of director is taken up by Yutaka Izubuchi is a veteran designer in the anime industry having worked on anime like RahXephon and the brilliant anime Patlabor. Nobuteru Yuki (Escaflowne) acting as character designer and animation director.

There are a lot of veteran seiyuu involved with Daisuke Ono (Shizuo Heiwajima in Durarara!!), Kenichi Suzumura (Uta no Prince Sama), Aya Hisakawa (Yoko Yuzuki in Mōryō no Hako), Rina Satou (Mikoto Misaka in A Certain Magical Index), and Rie Tanaka (Sammy in Time of Eve). The animation is produced by Xebec (Nyarko-san: Another Crawling Chaos) and AIC (Burn Up). 

Children’s Theatre Volume 3                 

Japanese Title:  こび　と　劇場　3

Romaji: Kobi to Gekijou 3

Release Date: August 24th, 2013

Running Time: N/A

Director: Nabata Toshitaka

Writer: N/A

Starring: N/A

Nabata Toshitaka is a popular author of children’s books and her Kobito Dukan (Dwarf Encyclopaedia) works are a big hit even if those things look as creepy as hell. Just look at the trailer. If I saw these things in a field I’d head in the other direction! And yet kids love these things! I mean, seriously, that one that leapt on the grasshopper is a threat, dudes! RUN!

Wu-san’s Knives                               

Japanese Title:  呉さん　の　包丁

Romaji: Wu san no Houchou

Release Date: August 24th, 2013

Running Time: 120 mins.

Director: Masayuki Hayashi

Writer: Masayuki Hayashi (Screenplay)

Starring: Wu

My translation is probably way off but this one is about a man named Wu who lives on Kinmen/Quemoy Island which is part of Taiwan’s territory but which was the site of major artillery barrages conducted by the Chinese during the various Taiwan Strait crises. When I write barrage I mean 450,000 shells fired during the second conflict alone. These shells have now been recycled to create famous meat cleavers and Mr Wu is one of the craftsmen who uses these “gifts from the sky”. This documentary reveals his lifestyle and the creation process.

The Story of Yonosuke                      

Japanese Title: 横道世余之介

Romaji: Yokomichi Yonosuke

Release Date: February 23^rd, 2013 (Japan)

UK Release Date: N/A

UK Distributor: Third Window Films

Running Time: 160 mins.

Director: Shuichi Okita

Writer: Shiro Maeda (Screenplay), Shuichi Yoshida (Original Novel)

Starring: Kengo Kora, Yuriko Yoshitaka, Sosuke Ikematsu, Ayumi Ito, Gou Ayano, Arata, Kimiko Yo, Aki Asakura, Mei Kurokawa, Tasuku Emoto, Aimi Satsukawa, Keiko Horiuchi, Noriko Eguchi,

I’m a fan of Shuichi Okita after watching The Woodsman & the Rain, a film which is a wonderfully observed and rather touching comedy about the art of filmmaking and human bonds. Despite potentially weighty subjects it is an amusing and gratifying film that, through its great characters and well-observed dry comedy. Okita is back a year after that film with a more complex one as he directs Shiro (Isn’t Anyone Alive?) Maeda’s adaptation of Shuichi’s Yoshida’s novel which flits between the 80’s and now with a larger cast of characters.

Tokyo 1987, Yonosuke Yokomichi (Kora) has left a small port city in Nagasaki and lumbers into Tokyo to attend university. It blows his mind. There are huge buildings covered with ads for Sony and Kiss Mint gum, he sees amateur idol groups performing J-pop on the street and fashionable people everywhere.

He is staying in a simple apartment while attending Hosei University where he’s studying business administration alongside friends he makes at an entrance ceremony.These friends are the over-enthusiastic Ippei Kuramochi (Ikematsu) and a cute girl named Yui Akutsu (Asakura) who takes pride in her makeup. The three spend time together at the university samba club until Ippei and Yui leave…

… Tokyo 20XX and we see that Ippei and Yui are married and have a daughter. The two talk about the past and wonder what happened to Yonosuke…

We then go back to 1987 where Yonosuke meets more people like party girl Chiharu Katase (Ito) who uses her good looks to prey on men by flirting with them and he falls in with cool guy and girl magnet Yusuke Kato (Ayano) who has other things on his mind. Through them he meets Shoko Yosano (Yoshitaka), the daughter of a company president, and future girlfriend. We witness them reminiscing about Yonosuke we see his story.

The Story of Yonosuke is a nostalgic and kind-hearted film which shows the impact of one person which echoes down the ages. It takes place in a wonderfully recreated 80’s Japan full of period details (the fashion like jeans and woolly jumpers, 80’s J-pop, Sony Walkmen and adverts for Wimpy Burger) and this world is populated by an array of people who seem nice on the outside, project a nice persona, but have problems or character flaws they are dealing with. Through Yonosuke these problems are explored as he makes connections and as the future versions of the characters concerned think about their encounters with him, the audience’s understanding and appreciation of Yonosuke grows.

Yonosuke is totally nice and through this he enables people to become better thanks to his open and honest behaviour. Not as sophisticated as the Tokyo set he meets and constantly getting laughed at because of the alliteration his name makes, he comes across as a naïve hick in the big city especially when he makes social faux pas or misreads people and situations that we with the benefit of experience and hindsight understand but he wins through nevertheless because of his good nature.

As a result it’s not cruel comedy because his relentlessly cheery and positive nature eventually wears through the cynicism that the characters and audience have and make a connection with him and laugh with him.

I write relentlessly cheery but do not fear because it’s never irritating. Yonosuke is a genuinely nice guy and he views the world and the people in it with a degree of admiration and positivity which sees the best in situations and makes even the most closed-off characters and places open up. As Yonosuke gets caught up in strange situations and crazes of the 80’s and big-city life we see the fun he sees.

This world building is what the film does so much better than See You Tomorrow, Everyone. I felt like I was watching interesting people from real families in places familiar from old travel documentaries like Michael Palin’s Around the World in 80 Days. These people and the cute relationship building came across as genuine. You can imagine these characters still interacting with each other off-screen.

The film shuns sentimentality for the most part as characters go on unpredictable journeys thanks to Yonosuke and end up better. It works because the events are not contrived and the people are interesting and it allowed the human drama to feel fresh and funny.

Kora is the heart of a wonderful film which follows a nice guy. With his mop of hair and grin he is easy to watch and love. Yuriko Yoshitaka who made a strong impression in her debut Noriko’s Dinner Table is irresistibly cute as Shoko and their relationship is beautiful without being idealised… much. It’s the type of relationship you think back on with a smile because of all the happy memories and moments of beauty which is the essence of this wonderful film.

Despite the more complex narrative structure, Okita’s breezy and light visual touch is in evidence here. His style serves to emphasise dry comic touches, the large array of characters and their actions and the things they go through. The director’s approach to what is ostensibly a human drama about the meaning of life and the memories we make yields a delightful and warm-hearted film that is easy to love, highly entertaining and rewarding.

4.5/5

If I had to describe anime in one word it would be diverse. The large numbers of titles released every season contain a highly varied number of concepts. Some of them may be sequels or plumb familiar themes and settings but there is usually something to set them apart and make them unique. It’s all down to the efficient production model the Japanese entertainment industry uses where any manga/light novels gets treated to a multi-format adaptation. In recent years we have slowly edged out of a trough of moe into some more sophisticated titles that can be described as post-modern or meta-narratives with interesting characters. Compared to anime alone (not including films or dorama), western television is absolutely unimaginative. Diversity best sums up what’s on offer with the Autumn 2013 Season.

I finished the Anime UK News Autumn 2013 Anime Guide last week Tuesday while listening to the soundtrack to Hana and Alice non-stop. It took a while (hours) what with checking the autumn 2013 anime season guide (on the right) and looking up things on Anime News Network/MAL and news reports I do for AUKN. The spring and summer seasons had a large number of titles but the autumn one blows them all away with over forty. There are some sequels and a lot of manga/LN adaptations but after a disappointing summer season (the only stand-out anime was the incredible Watamote) I felt energised by the variety and imagination on offer with the autumn season which starts September/October. Here are my selections:

Essentials (I’ll see it through to the bitter end!):

Coppelion             

Original Manga Creator: Tomonori Inoue, Director: N/A, Series Composition: N/A, Scripts: N/A, Character Designer: N/A, Chief Animation Director: N/A

Voice Actors: Haruka Tomatsu (Ibara Naruse), Kana Hanazawa (Aoi Fukasaku), Satomi Akesaka (Taeko Nomura), Yui Horie (Kanon Ozu), Rikiya Koyama (Onihei Mishima), Maaya Sakamoto (Shion Ozu)

Studio: N/A

It is the year 2036 and a nuclear accident has caused Tokyo to suffer radioactive contamination which has resulted in the city being put under a blockade. Three high school girls have been sent to the city. These girls aren’t normal, though since they have been selected for this deadly mission because they are the results of genetic engineering which has made them impervious to radioactivity. They are a special forces unit codenamed “Coppelion,” in the 3^rd Division of Japan’s Ground Self-Defence Force and they know how to use guns!

This was the first title to get my attention thanks to the detailed key visuals and a quick read of the manga which is by Tomonori Inoue which is full of girls and guns and…, yes, pantsu. It was originally going to be adapted a few years ago but was put on hold after the Tohoku Earthquake and Tusnami which hit Japan on March 11^th, 2011 and all of the subsequent problems with Fukushima Daichi nuclear power plant. The nuclear problems haven’t gone away as news reports and films reveal (Land of Hope review last week) but inappropriate or not, I think this manga is definitely due an adaptation because it’s pretty action-packed and a lot of fun.

The trailer is full of great animation and music. Three girls taking out giant robots and stealth bombers with rocket launchers? I totally want to see this now!

There are no details of the staff list at the time of writing but it will be updated when that info comes to light. The Japanese vocal cast has been announced with industry vets Maaya Sakamoto (beautiful but tough Funamushi in Fuse: A Gun Girl’s Detective Story), Haruka Tomatsu (the big existentialist speech giver Older Sister Maid in Maouyu), Yui Horie (the sexy and deadly Masako Natsume in Mawaru Penguindrum) and Kana Hanazawa (the so cute I’d die for her Mayuri Shiina in Steins;Gate) filling the lead roles.

Pupa  

Director: Tomomi Mochizuki, Original Manga Creator: Sayaka Mogi,

Voice Actors: Ibuki Kido (Yume Hasegawa)

Studio: Studio DEEN

Utsutsu and his little sister Yume Hasegawa are close so when Yume sees a mysterious red butterfly and her body undergoes a strange metamorphosis into a creature that eats humans, Utsutsu struggles to find a way to restore his sister.

This is billed as a “life-and-death sibling” story and is based on Sayaka Mogi’s rather gory manga and it was the second title that caught my eye. The manga is very misleading at first because it’s art style is rather light and the cute sister and school stuff was rather rote but I didn’t expect it to become quite as bitter and bloody as it did. But it went there… and I was hooked and now I want to watch this. Perhaps it’s my roots in violent 80/90s body-horror anime or my interest in seeing how far the anime will take this… Anyway, the concept has great drama in it what with the mix of horror/love and othering that goes on. Another thing that suggests the story will be brought to the screen with skill is that the director is Tomomi Michizuki and he was the chap behind House of Five Leaves and Kimagure Orange Road so he knows how to craft stories around compelling characters which is what I expect this brother/sister title to be. The only voice actress announced has been Ibuki Kido (Kasumi Shinomiya in GJ Club) who voices the sister Yume Hasegawa.

Kyousogiga                   

Director: Rie Matsumoto, Original Creator: Izumi Todo, Series Composition: Izumi Todo, Rie Matsumoto, Character Designer: Yuki Hayashi,

Voice Actors: Rie Kugimiya (Koto), Kenichi Suzumura (Myoue), Akira Ishida (Inari), Aya Hisakawa (Lady Koto), Eiji Takemoto (Fushimi), Chiwa Saito (Shouko), Ryoko Shiraishi (Un), Noriko Hidaka (A)

Studio: Toei Animation

The original story took place in an alternate version of Kyoto where humans and spirits co-exist. A young girl named Koto from our world found herself wandering into that world where she met a mysterious monk, was chased by tech-obsessed girls and uncovered a mysterious plot.

I loved the original 2011 one-shot Kyousogiga ONA. The visuals were fun, the story crashed along merrily and it was generally a brash and bizarre anime that contained so much life it had to get a TV anime. It was like Toei was just having fun and throwing out their bizarre ideas and creativity onto the screen and it worked because every episode was like a riot of visuals and audio and it all made sense in a mixed-up hyperactive way. The original staff and cast return so it will be directed by Rie Matsumoto and feature character designs from Yuki Hayashi.

Koto is voiced by Rie Kugimiya (Happy in Fairy Tale) and she has support from Aya Hisakawa (Yoriko Yasaka in Haiyore! Nyaruko-san), Chiwa Saito (Aika in Aria the Natural) and Kenichi Suzumura (Atori in Noein). The latest instalment of Kyousogiga will see theme joined by Akira Ishida (Judeau in the Berserk movies). Here’s my excuse to use this image again.

Beyond the Boundary (Kyoukai no Kanata)   

Director: Taichi Ishidate, Series Composition: Jukki Hanada, Original Light Novel Creator: Nagomu Torii, Original Character Designer: Chise Kamoi, Music: Masumi Ito, Character Designer: Miku Kadowaki, Art Director: Mikko Watanabe

Voice Actors: Kenn (Akihito Kanbara), Minori Chihara (Mitsuki Nase), Risa Taneda (Mirai Kuriyama), Tatsuhisa Suzuki (Hirofumi Nase),

Studio: Kyoto Animation

Akihito Kanbara may be a high school sophomore student but he isn’t a normal boy because he is half youmu and invulnerable to wounds due to quick healing abilities. He meets Mirai Kuriyama who is a freshman at the same school when it appears she is about to jump from the school rooftop but he saves her. Mirai has the ability to manipulate blood which is unique even in the spirit world. After their encounter they become the focal point of disturbing events.

Kyoto Animation make lots of “slice-of-life” anime like Tari Tari where cute girls do things etc. I don’t watch that type of thing. There last major title was Free, an anime full of sinewy slim guys in a constant state of undress swimming to a dubstep soundtrack which was aimed at a female market who lapped it up. In short I don’t watch their stuff even if it is brilliantly animated.

Their latest title is a supernatural one?

Ooohhh, you guys! I can’t resist supernatural tales. It’s supernatural stuff in school like Red Data Girl and it looks like it’s going to be just as good looking if not more because KyoAni are bringing their considerable animation expertise to an adaptation of Nagomu Torii’s original light novel and the trailer looks awesome.

Oh gosh, that animation is f*cking awesome. This is going to be Hyouka all over again… screencaps every ten seconds… The director is Taichi Ishidate (Hyouka) and series composition comes from Jukki Hanada (Steins;Gate). Kenn (Phinks in Hunter x Hunter) voices Akihito and Risa Taneda voices Mirai.

There are so many great titles coming out in the Autumn season that I’ll be watching more than these four. I’ve got my next list coming out next month.

It is September and the greatest film festival in the world is about to take place. It is time for The Toronto International Film Festival.

This year’s festival looks to be better than last year’s one. There are so many of my favourite Japanese directors like Sion Sono, Hirokazu Koreeda and Kiyoshi Kurosawa (a season dedicated to him starts here next week!) getting their works screened and great films from around the world in general. As I looked at the list of titles I have never felt so bad about not being in Canada. This time next year I will be Canadian. I will live in Toronto and I will do Canadian things… I’m not sure what Canadians do exactly but Goregirl is cool and she’s Canadian and they have this awesome festival in Toronto where there are lots of great Japanese and South Korean films and I want to be there…

Here are the Japanese titles (click on the titles to go to the page for more info)!!!

STARTO!

Real                                                                               

Japanese Title: リアル　完全なる首長　竜の日

Romaji: Riaru Kanzen’naru Shuchou Ryuu no Hi

Toronto Screening Dates: June 01^st, 2013 (Japan)

Running Time: 127 mins.

Director: Kiyoshi Kurosawa

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

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

I champion Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s films. Even the bad ones. Out of the ones I have seen, his best is Tokyo Sonata. I’ll admit, as much as I love his J-horror like Pulse, Cure and Retribution, his dramas and crime thrillers are pretty strong. I haven’t seen a science fiction film from him yet but he does have one. It’s this title, Real. I have heard mixed things about it but I’m staying hopeful. It reminds me a little of Inception but does it have the budget to make as much of an impact? What I do know is that it has a great cast of actors but with Takero Sato and Haruka Ayase taking the limelight, will they be up to the high standards set by Sometani, Koizumi, Odagiri, Nakatani and the rest of the supporting cast? Check the trailer!

Koichi (Sato) and Atsumi (Ayase) are childhood friends who have become lovers. Despite this closeness when Atsumi attempts suicide Koichi is at a loss as to what the reason that drove her to do such a thing could be. Now she is in a coma and Koichi needs to find out the reason. Since Koichi is a neurosurgeon he has access to the latest studies and so he takes part in a medical procedure that will allow him to enter Atsumi’s subconscious through her central nervous system.

When he arrives she asks him to find a picture of a plesiosaur she drew as a child. It is the key to a suppressed memory connected to a childhood trauma. Finding this picture will allow Koichi to truly get close to knowing his love.

R100                                    

Japanese Title: R100

Romaji: R100

Running Time: 100 mins.

Director: Hitoshi Matsumoto

Writer: Hitoshi Matsumoto (Screenplay)

Starring: Nao Omori, Mao Daichi, Atsuro Watabe, Shinobu Terajima, Hairi Katagiri, Ai Tominaga, Eriko Sato, You, Suzuki Matsuo, Hitoshi Matsumoto, Gin Maeda, Naomi Watanabe, Haruki Nishimoto

Hitoshi Matsumoto is unknown to me but lots of people like his feature Big Man Japan. A lot of the cast are familiar to me. Nao Omori (Mushishi), Atsuro Watabe (Love Exposure, Heat After Dark), Shinobu Terajima (Kitaro and the Millennium Curse, Vibrator), Eriko Sato (Crime or Punishment?!?), You (Nobody Knows, Still Walking) are all great actors and I believe they can make this comedy work. The concept is hilarious – a guy into a bit of S&M is hounded by dominatrixes in public.

Takafumi Katayama (Omori) is a mild-mannered father who escapes the pressures of everyday life by joining a mysterious S&M club where the dominatrix will visit the client in real life settings. At first the pinch and tickle treatment he receives from these girls in leather is fun but t becomes relentless. He is now at the mercy of a gang of dominatrixes who torment him!

Can I just say that while I’m not into S&M, Eriko Sato looks so good that I’d let her harass me at work or in public.

Why Don’t You Play in Hell?           

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

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

Running Time: 126 mins

Director: Sion Sono

Writer: Sion Sono (Screenplay),

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

Sion Sono has had a short run of issue films. The critically lauded Himizu and The Land of Hope are serious dramas that look at the after-effects of the Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunami and radiation in Japan. Now he’s back making entertainment films like Love Exposure and Strange Circus , films that play with the cinema and are bloody fun as can be seen in this trailer. I’ve posted about this three times already because this looks so damn awesome. The festival blurb describes this as such: “this extravaganza has autobiographical undercurrents in its tribute to the undying pursuit of one’s cinematic dreams” and describes it as a rip-roaring tale of cinematic passions slashed and shredded into a bloody mess. Clearly this is going to be fun especially when Sono is in charge of so many elements like direction, editing, sound and blowing your mind! Let’s go!

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

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

Like Father, Like Son                          

Japanese Title:　そして　父　に　なる

Romaji: Soshite Chichi ni Naru

Running Time: 120 mins.

Director: Hirokazu Koreeda

Writer: Hirokazu Koreeda (Screenplay)

Starring: Masaharu Fukuyama, Machiko Ono, Yoko Maki, Jun Fubuki, Keita Ninomiya, Lily Franky, Jun Kunimura, Kiki Kirin, Isao Natsuyagi

Hirokazu Koreeda’s Like Father Like Son won an award for Cannes and with its Japanese release next month it must be aiming to pick up even more critical plaudits on the festival circuit to boost box office takings. Koreeda deserves it because he is one of the best directors operating in Japan and from the reviews I have read this is another moving family drama. The film stars Masaharu Fukuyama (Suspect X), Machiko Ono (Eureka, The Floating Castle), Yoko Maki (Infection, The Grudge), Lily Franky (Afro Tanaka), Jun Fubuki (Séance, Rebirth) Kirin Kiki (Kiseki) and Jun Kunimura (Outrage, Vital) and Isao Natsuyagi (The Land of Hope, Warm Water Under a Red Bridge).

Successful architect Ryota (Fukuyama) and his wife Midori (Ono) have a happy family life with their six-year-old son Keita (Nonomiya) but a phone call from the hospital informing them of the fact that their child was mixed up with another at birth shatters their happiness. Their birth-son Ryusei has been raised by a poorer but more easy-going family run by Yudai (Franky) and Yukari (Maki) Saiki. Ryota and Midori must decide whether to hand over the son they have carefully raised for the last six years and take back their biological son or not.

An Autumn Afternoon                              

Japanese Title: 秋刀魚の味

Romaji: Sanma no Aji

Running Time: 113 mins.

Director: Yasujiro Ozu

Writer: Kogo Noda (Screenplay)

Starring: Chishu Ryu, Shima Iwashita, Mariko Okada, Shinichiro Mikami, Teruo Yoshida, Noriko Maki, Nobuo Nakamura, Kuniko Miyake, Eijiro Tono, Haruko Sugimura

Yasujiro Ozu is a titan of Japanese cinema who many directors either aspire to be or fight against. This is his last film and one of only four he made in colour. It is another family drama exploring the changes in Japan, the journey to wealth the nation was making, ageing parents and loyal children in an examination of family ties. I’m pretty sure that I’ve watched this…

Shuhei Hirayama (Ryu) is a widower who, despite some reluctance, wants his loyal daughter Michiko (Iwashita) to get married because he realises that she would be miserable if she spent her life as a single woman looking after him. He meets his secondary school teacher who also has a daughter in a similar position.

Ningen                              

Japanese Title: にんげん

Romaji: Ningen

Running Time: 104 mins.

Director: Guillaume Giovanetti, Cagla Zemcirci

Writer: Guillaume Giovanetti, Cagla Zencirci (Screenplay)

Starring: Masahiro Yoshino, Masako Wajima, Xiao Mu Lee. Megumi Ayukawa

This is a Japanese/Turkish co-production which uses Japanese folklore – kitsune and tanuki (fox and racoons) who have the ability to shape-shift in this comedy/fantasy story.

Yoshino is an old man who runs a company in decline. He is scared about his future and letting his wife and employees down so he turns to his friend, a Chinese restaurant owner for guidance. Little does he know that kitsune and tanuki are lurking around, waiting to enter his life.

The Wind Rises                     

Japanese Title: 風立ちぬ

Romaji: Kaze Tachi Nu

Running Time: 126 mins.

Director: Hayao Miyazaki

Writer: Hayao Miyazaki (Screenplay)

Starring: Hideaki Anno, Miori Takimoto, Hidetoshi Nishijima, Masahiko Nishimura, Steven Alpert, Morio Kazama, Keiko Takeshita,

It has been five years since Hayao Miyazaki’s last film, Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea but this year he has returned with a film that has stormed the Japanese box-office chart and has begun touring the festival circuit. This is another film screened at Venice only it’s a bit of a departure of Miyazaki as he drops the fantasy he is known for in order to focus on a real life person and their life over the decades. This real life person is Jirou Horikoshi, the designer of Japan’s famous Mitsubishi A6M Zero fighter plane of World War II. Jirou Horikoshi is voiced by Evangelion creator Hideaki Anno. There are actors from the non-anime world like Hidetoshi Nishijima (License to Live, Zero Focus) and Miori Takimoto (Sadako 3D 2, Rinco’s Restaurant).

Jiro Horikoshi (Anno) lives in the countryside but he dreams of flying in the skies. He meets Caproni, an Italian aeronautical engineer who designs flying machines and with Caproni’s guidance, Jiro manages to enter Tokyo university where he dedication and intelligence lead him to become a superb engineer.

Unforgiven                                      

Japanese Title: 許されざる者

Romaji: Yurusarezaru Mono

Running Time: 135 mins.

Director: Lee Sang-Il

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

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

This is the remake of the 1992 Clint Eastwood film of the same name. It swaps out the US and cowboys for Japan in the late 1800’s and samurai. It got its international premiere at the Venice Film Festival last month where it garnered some rather … reviews. It is directed by Lee Sang-Il (Villain) and it stars Ken Watanabe (Letters from Iwo Jima, Inception, Tampopo), Akira Emoto (A Woman and War, Starfish Hotel), Koichi Sato (Infection),  Eiko Koike (Rebirth, Penance, Kamikaze Girls, 2LDK) and Jun Kunimura (Outrage, Vital, Audition). The festival details make this sound interesting what with its use of the Ainu people.

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

The film goes on theatrical release in Japan on September 13^th.

Short films:

There are a collection of short films brought together with varying themes and amidst these short films are ones from Japanese directors.

Wavelengths 2 Now & Then                              

Running Time: 75 mins.

Japanese Film: Flower

Director: Naoko Tanaka

Running Time: 21 mins.

Writer: Naoko Tanaka (Screenplay)

Starring: N/A

The theme here is about simplicity as opposed to intricacy. The Japanese fil is Naoko Tasaka’s Flower which is described as unfolding like a children’s story before it plumbs the depths of both a physical and metaphorical surface, as straightforward narration gives way to sublimated abstraction and was shot sing a number of multiformat techniques.

Wavelengths 3: Farther Than the Eye Can See 

Running Time: 63 mins.

Japanese Film: 45 7 Broadway

Director: Tomonari Nishikawa

Running Time: 6 mins.

Writer: N/A

Starring: N/A

This collection of short films are about “geographic, spatial and historical freefall”. Tomonari Nishikawa’s 45 7 Broadway films Times Square with black-and-white 16mm and different colour filters to capture the rhythms of the place.

That’s it. Awesome, right? Tickets go on sale on September 01st.