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A Preview of the Kotatsu Japanese Animation Film Festival 2018

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Kotatsu Japanese Animation Film Festival 2018

Mirai Film Image

Cardiff                                                                                         Aberystwyth

Chapter 28th – 30th September      Aberystwyth Arts Centre 20th – 21st October

So I work as a writer for the Kotatsu Japanese Animation Festival and it’s going to launch soon. More than 10 feature films have been programmed to present the wide variety of stories and styles in Japanese animation. This year, we welcome two guests from Japan who will treat audiences to special events.

The festival gets off to a start on September 28 at 14:00 at Chapter Arts, Cardiff, with a screening of the Masaaki Yuasa’s latest film Lu Over the Wall.

Lu Over the Wall   Lu Over the Wall Film Poster

夜明け告げるルーのうた Yoake Tsugeru Lu no Uta

Running Time: 112 mins.

Release Date: May 19th, 2017

Director: Masaaki Yuasa

Writer: Masaaki Yuasa, Reiko Yoshida (Screenplay)

Animation Production: Science SARU

Starring: Kanon Tani (Lu), Shota Shimoda (Kai), Akira Emoto (Grandfather), Minako Kotobuki (Yuuho), Shinichi Shinohara (Lu’s father), Souma Saitou (Kunio),

Website ANN MAL

Lu Over the Wall was huge last year where it picked up awards including at Annecy, where it took the “Cristal for a Feature Film”. It was directed by Masaaki Yuasa with a script written by Reiko Yoshida, a woman who has written many different anime such as A Silent Voice, Yowamushi Pedal, and Shirobako. It was produced by Yuasa’s protege (and a highly talented animator) Eun young Choi, and animated by Science SARU and these folks are the geniuses behind Mind Game, Ping Pong: The Animation, and The Tatami Galaxy amongst other great artistic titles. 

It has the look of the 2009 Ghibli film Ponyo if I were to make a glib comparison but the animation and style are pure Science SARU, a studio finally picking up fans in the mainstream. The film has been picked up for UK distribution by Anime Limited.

Synopsis: Middle school student Kai finds himself forced to move from Tokyo to the declining fishing town of Hinashi to live with his father and grandfather following his parents’ divorce. For a kid from the big metropolis, there’s little for him to do besides composing music and sharing it on the Internet. One day his classmates Kunio and Yuuho invite him to join their band, and when he reluctantly accompanies them to practice on Mermaid Island, the three of them meet a mermaid named Lu. Through meeting her and playing music, Kai is slowly able to open up about his emotions but calamity soon strikes the town and he must find a way to avert it with his new-found friends and community!

With a perfect combination of fantastic animation and a sublime story full of magical characters and great music, the film is perfect for the family.

The day continues with screenings of Momotaro – Sacred Sailors, a rare chance for audiences in Wales to see how anime was used for propaganda in World War II. The evening arrives with a screening of the emotionally powerful drama, Fireworks, which takes us into an intense relationship between teenagers during a memorable summer. With characters voiced by the hottest talent in live-action Japanese cinema and with a script based on the work of Shunji Iwai, this will prove to be an emotional show-stopper. The day then ends with Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust, a modern horror classic from Madhouse.

A diverse festival programme will await the audience on Saturday, September 29 along with the Japanese marketplace and a selection of wonderful events with special guests:

Goda and Minegishi 2

After a successful Q&A last year graciously conducted by Professor Yuichi Ito, Kotatsu is excited to announce we have two award-winning animators making a trip to Wales when Tsuneo Goda and Hirokazu Minegishi will present a master-class and conduct workshops and an autograph signing session. This is a very rare and unique opportunity to learn more about the craft of stop-motion animation from the creators of the highly popular Domo-kun which was aired by Japan Broadcasting Corporation (NHK) and Nickelodeon in 2007, and Komaneko: The Curious Cat. They will bring beautiful, expressive models and a wealth of experience and advice and will interact with audience members in what is sure to be a fun and informative event open to the whole family.

We have three films directed by Hiromasa Yonebayashi, Mary and the Witch’s Flower and, two made at Studio Ghibli, When Marnie Was There and Arrietty programmed to help celebrate cultural and artistic ties between Britain and Japan in the year of British animation as part of Anim18, a celebration of British animation.

When one thinks of Ghibli, strong female characters come to mind and Maquia: When the Promised Flower Blooms provides that with a tale of pure love in trying circumstances as an elfin teenage girl who doesn’t age takes care of a human boy who does. This fantasy tale comes from Mari Okada, a veteran writer who used her skills to direct what many consider one of the finest animated movies of 2018.

Maquia: When the Promised Flower Blooms

さよならの朝に約束の花をかざろう Sayonara no Asa ni Yakusoku no Hana wo KazarouLet's Decorate the Promised Flowers in the Farewell Morning Film Poster

Running Time: 115 mins.

Release Date: February 24th, 2018

Director:  Mari Okada

Writer: Mari Okada (Screenplay),

Starring: Manaka Iwami (Maquia), Miyu Irino (Ariel), Misaki Kuno (Medmel), Tomokazu Sugita (Izol), Hiroaki Hirata (Barlow), Yoko Hikasa (Dita), Rina Satou (Mido),

Animation Production: P.A. Works

Website ANN MAL

The film will be the directorial debut of anime screenwriter Mari Okada (The Anthem of the Heart, The Dark Maidens) and it will be animated at P.A. Works.

Synopsis: Maquia, comes from the elfin lolf race. They stop ageing in their mid teens. She isn’t as brave as Leilia, the most beautiful girl in her clan and the person she idolises. Although her days are peaceful she feels lonely, maybe because she has no parents and Leila has attracted the attention of Clear, the boy Maquia has secret feelings for. When an army of dragon-riding bandits invades seeking the legendary women who stop ageing, Maquia is able to escape, but she loses her friends and her home. Wandering alone in the forests of the outside world, a place she was warned to avoid, she finds Erial, a baby boy who has lost his parents. Unable to leave him behind, she adopts him, initially untroubled by the fact he will age like a human while she won’t…

The day then ends with a screening of the live-action adaptation of the super-popular manga Tokyo Ghoul in our traditional horror/mature slot. Sui Ishida’s dark-horror manga is brought to life with CG and features some top-class actors bringing the characters to life in a tale full of horror and action that is sure to sate the appetites of fans of the franchise.

The final day of the Kotatsu festival in Cardiff on September 30 opens with When Marnie Was There and then Hirokazu Minegishi and Tsuneo Goda will be conducting stop-motion animation demonstrations and a workshop to show people how they animate their films. These events will be followed by Q&A sessions.

The films continue with Psychic School Wars, a beautifully animated adaptation of a well-known Japanese sci-fi tale that is sure to delight a wide audience.

Psychic School Wars     Nerawareta Gakuen Poster

ねらわれた学園 「Nerawareta Gakuen」

Release Date:  October 19th, 2012 (Japan)

Running Time: 106 mins

Director: Ryousuke Nakamura

Writer: Taku Mayumura (Original Story), Yuko Naito, Ryosuke Nakamura (Screenplay)

Starring: Mayu Watanabe, Yuutaro Honjou, Kana Hanazawa, Daisuke Ono

Synopsis: It is spring and another new school year and another school for 8th grade junior high school student Ryoichi Kyogoku (Ono) who has recently moved to Kamakura. Things might be boring but Kyogoku is a telepath and has been ordered by his father to use this ability to scan other people’s minds and take over the school.

Being good looking and charismatic, he wins major popularity at the school which allows him to initiate his plans. He secretly manipulates his followers and pushes aside anyone who gets in his way but there is one student who seems unaffected – Seki. Does Seki have what it takes to save everyone?

The day closes with a screening of the immensely popular Attack on Titan: The Roar of Awakening, which takes audiences back into the thrilling and gruelling fight for humanity’s survival in a world full of man-eating giants.

Attack on Titan : The Roar of Awakening
at a Secret Location
Shingeki no Kyojin Movie 3 Kakusei no Houkou Film Poster

劇場版 進撃の巨人 覚醒の咆哮 Shingeki no Kyojin Movie 3: Kakusei no Houkou

Running Time: 120 mins.

Release Date: January 13th, 2018

Chief Director:  Tetsuru Araki, Director: Masashi Koizuka,

Writer: Hiroshi Seko, Yasuko Kobayashi, (Screenplay), Hajime Isayama (Original Creator)

Starring: Yuuki Kaji (Eren Jaeger), Yui Ishikawa (Mikasa Ackerman), Marina Inoue (Armin Arlelt), Hiroshi Kamiya (Levi), Daisuke Ono (Erwin Smith),

Animation Production: Wit Studio

Website MAL ANN

I used to be a huge fan of this show. I read the manga, a light novel or two, and watched the anime. Now, I barely watch anime at all… This is a compilation film consisting of episodes from the second season.

Synopsis from My Anime List: Eren Yeager and others of the 104th Training Corps have just begun to become full members of the Survey Corps. As they ready themselves to face the Titans once again, their preparations are interrupted by the invasion of Wall Rose—but all is not as it seems as more mysteries are unravelled. As the Survey Corps races to save the wall, they uncover more about the invading Titans and the dark secrets of their own members.

Running alongside the film screenings and the animation workshops will be a series of Japanese-themed events and a Japanese marketplace which sells things such as food, model kits, video games and manga and other goods from Japan.

We also have festival raffle to win lots of prizes such as signed goods from Tsuneo Goda and Hirokazu Minegishi and Aardman.

The festival launches in the beautiful coastal town of Aberystwyth at the Aberystwyth Arts Centre on Saturday, October 20 at 10:00, with a screening of the Studio Ghibli When Marnie Was There. This will be followed by the family film Lu Over the Wall at 12:30 before the cinematic delights finish with a 15:00 screening of Psychic School Wars.

The Kotatsu raffle will be held throughout Saturday with goods from Japan on offer to people who take part.

Sunday, October 21 opens with Mamoru Hosoda’s latest eagerly-anticipated title, Mirai, which is a magical tale of the time-travelling antics.

Mirai of the Future    Mirai of the Future Film Poster

未来のミライ Mirai no Mirai

Running Time: 100 mins.

Release Date: July 20th, 2018

Director:  Mamoru Hosoda

Writer: Mamoru Hosoda (Screenplay/Original Work)

Starring: Haru Kuroki (Mirai-chan), Moka Kamishiraishi (Kun-chan), Gen Hoshino (Father), Koji Yakusho (Father), Kumiko Aso (Mother), Mitsuo Yoshihara (Mysterious Man), Yoshiko Miyazaki (Grandmother)

Animation Production: Studio Chizu

Website ANN MAL

Probably film of the week by a long-shot. The reviews from this year’s Cannes film festival paint this to be a home-run for Mamoru Hosoda.

Synopsis: A family living in a small house in a corner of a Yokohama dotes on a spoiled four-year-old boy named Kun-chan. When he gets a little sister named Mirai, he feels that his new sister stole his parents’ love from him. Jealousy and resentment well up until he meets an older version of Mirai, who has come from the future and takes him on an adventure.

The film got its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival and will be screened at the BFI London Film Festival and Kotatsu is proud to be bringing it to Wales when it screens in Aberystwyth at 13:45.

The next film to follow is the emotionally powerful drama, Fireworks at 15:35, and the final day of Kotatsu 2018 closes with Attack on Titan: The Roar of Awakening.

 

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Eating Women, Okko’s Inn, Café Funiculi Funicula, My Dad is a Heel Wrestler, Think Again, Junpei, Double Drive: Ryuu no Kizuna, Takaramono no daki kata, Seido no Kirisuto, Konya Shinjuku de Kanojo wa Japanese Film Trailers

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Happy weekend, everyone!

Okko's Inn Key Image

I hope everyone is feeling great.

Overtime at work is going to calm down for a bit and I’ve just finished a big otome game project so I can breathe a little easier. I managed to watch over 130 films over the last month or so but mostly for fun. I am still doing all sorts of things such as the on-going social media/writing for the Kotatsu Japanese Animation Festival which starts next weekend. I’ll be able to meet two animators who are jetting in from Tokyo to the UK so that will be cool. I posted a review for The Hungry Lion (2017) and I’m going to get back to reviewing live-action films soon and watching let’s plays of survival horror games as October approaches.

What is released in Japan this weekend?

Eating Women    Eating Women Film Poster

食べる女 Taberu Onna

Running Time: 111 mins.

Release Date: September 21st, 2018

Director: Jiro Shono

Writer: Tomomi Tsutsui (Screenplay/Book)

Starring: Kyoko Koizumi, Erika Sawajiri, Atsuko Maeda, Alice Hirose, Yu Yamada, Charlotte Kate Fox, Mitsu Dan, Kyoka Suzuki,

Website IMDB

Synopsis: Kyoko Koizumi plays Atsuko Mochitsuki, a lady who runs an old book store in a traditional Japanese house. The store is named “Mochi no Ie” and it is here a group of women played by some of the most famous actors in Japan, gather to eat food and talk about their loves. These women have a lot of interesting stories to tell considering their wide variety of experiences from working on drama productions to clothing stores and we see them reveal their personalities through what they eat and say.

Okko’s Inn    Okko's Inn Film Poster

若おかみは小学生! Waka Okami wa Shōgakusei!

Running Time: 94 mins.

Release Date: September 21st, 2018

Director:  Kitaro Kosaka

Writer: Reiko Yoshida (Script), Asami, Hiroko Reijou (Original Creator)

Starring: Seiran Kobayashi (Oriko “Okko” Seki), Etsuko Kozakura (Suzuki), Nana Mizuki Kaji (Matsuko Akino), Satsumi Matsuda (Makoto “Uri-bō” Tachiuri),

Animation Production: Madhouse

Website ANN   MAL

This was at Annecy earlier this year

Synopsis: “Okko” is a girl who has lost her parents in a traffic accident. Since she is in the sixth grade of elementary school, she moves to her grandmother’s hot spring inn “Haru no Ya” (Spring House) where she begins training to take over running the establishment. She finds it tough at first but discovers she can see ghosts and soon begins to enjoy herself with the help of the ghost “Uri-bō” and other mysterious friends.

Café Funiculi Funicula (English title) / Before the Coffee Gets Cold (Literal title)   Café Funiculi Funicula Film Poster

コーヒーが冷めないうちに Kohi ga Samenai Uchi ni

Running Time: 116 mins.

Release Date: September 21st, 2018

Director: Ayuko Tsukahara

Writer: Satoko Okudera (Screenplay) Toshikazu Kawaguchi (Novel)

Starring: Kasumi Arimura, Kentaro Ito, Haru, Kento Hayashi, Motoki Fukami, Wakana Matsumoto, Hiroko Yakushimaru, Yo Yoshida, Yutaka Matsushige, Yuriko Ishida,

Website

Synopsis: The cafe “Funiculi Funicula” which is run by Nagare Tokita (Motoki Fukami) has a reputation for having a strange feature: people who sit in a particular can travel back in time. There are rules to this such as, “what happens in the past won’t affect the present” and “you have to wait your turn” and, more importantly, “you can only stay from the time coffee is poured into a cup until said coffee gets cold”. Kazu Tokita (Kasumi Arimura) who works at the cafe meets the various customers and even finds out something about herself…

My Dad is a Heel Wrestler   My Dad is a Heel Wrestler Film Poster

パパはわるものチャンピオン Papa wa Warumono Chanpion

Running Time: 111 mins.

Release Date: September 21st, 2018

Director: Kyohei Fujimura

Writer: Kyohei Fujimura (Screenplay), Masahiro Itabashi, Hisanori Yoshida(Picture Book)

Starring: Hiroshi Tanahashi, Yoshino Kimura, Riisa Naka, Kokoro Terada, Yo Oizumi, Ryohei Otani,

Website

Synopsis: Professional wrestler Hiroshi Tanahashi stars as Takashi Omura, a man who was once a hero in the wrestling ring but after suffering an injury, he is forced to play a villain and wears a cockroach mask to do his bad guy routine. He and his wife Shiori (Yoshino Kimura) haven’t told their son Shota (Kokoro Terada) what papa does for a living so the young lad has the shock of his life when he discovers he is a pro-wrestler and a villainous one at that! The little boy feels a sense of shame…

Think Again, Junpei    Think Again Junpei Film Poster

純平、考え直せ Junpei, Kangaenaose

Running Time: 95 mins.

Release Date: September 22nd, 2018

Director: Toshiyuki Morioka

Writer: Rumi Tsunoda, Takashi Kimura, Nami Yoshikawa (Screenplay), Hideo Okuda (Novel)

Starring: Shuhei Nomura, Yurina Yanagi, Katsuya Maiguma, Amane Okayama, Manaka Kinoshita, Yuu Yashiro,

Website IMDB

Synopsis: Junpei (Shuhei Nomura) is a yakuza thug in Kabuki-cho and, at the age of 21-year-old, still a newly-minted adult. He is pretty low down in the hierarchy and desperate to be seen as a man and he thinks he has his chance when his boss orders him to kill a high ranking yakuza from a rival group. Junpei leaps at the assignment. It seems that fate is leading him in this direction when he meets an office lady named Kana (Yurina Yanagi) and spends the night with her but when he tells her about his plans, she feels a mixture of fear and excitement. With a lot of yen and a gun, the two hang out over three days as anxiety, bravado, and passion are felt in the lead-up to the hit. Maybe even love? Will Junpei go through with it or will the presence of Kana get him to think again.

Double Drive: Ryuu no Kizuna   Double Drive Ryuu no Kizuna Film Poster

ダブルドライブ 龍の絆 Daburu Doraibu Ryuu no Kizuna

Running Time: 74 mins.

Release Date: September 22nd, 2018

Director: Takashi Motoki

Writer: Masao Ikegaya (Screenplay),

Starring: Ryuji Sato, Yuria Kizaki, Kazuki Namioka, Rei Fujita, Tomohiro Waki,

Website IMDB

Synopsis: Junya Igarashi (Ryuji Sato) works at his family’s scrap yard but in order to pay off a debt, he steals cars. One luxury car has a package in the trunk, a woman named Arisa (Yuria Kizaki) who has been tied up.

Takaramono no daki kata   Takaramono no daki kata Film Poster

宝物の抱きかた Takaramono no daki kata

Running Time: 84 mins.

Release Date: September 22nd, 2018

Director: Sakura Enomoto

Writer: Sakura Enomoto (Screenplay), Hideki Murakami (Novel)

Starring: Sakura Enomoto, Hiromi Nagayama, Yoshinori Sakagawa, Sanae Yuuki, Ryo Ushimaru, Yu Toyama,

Website

Synopsis: Writer, director and lead actor Sakura Enomoto stars as Toru Sakurai. He has returned to the family home after 10 years away and he brings with him a five year-old boy named Yuuki. Running the family home and business is Toru’s older brother Naoya who sacrificed his own desires to take on the mantle of responsibility while his younger sibling got to lark around Tokyo. There is tension between the two but the presence of Yuuki lightens the atmosphere and the brothers relax.

Seido no Kirisuto

青銅の基督 Seido no Kirisuto

Running Time: 75 mins.

Release Date: September 22nd, 2018

Director: Akihara Hokuin

Writer: Yukie Ochiai (Screenplay), Yoshiro Nagayo (Original Work)

Starring: Tokio Emoto, Ryo Yoshimura, Makotoha Hiroyama, Yoji Matsuda, Mitsuho Otani, Kotomi Takahata,

Website

Synopsis: An artisan in Nagasaki marries a secret Christian at the time when Christians were being persecuted. He is ordered to make a fumi-e, a bronze image of Christ, something people were forced to step on to prove they weren’t Christians… This is a remake of a 1955 film starring Eiji Okuda which was based on a novel by Yoshiro Nagayo.

Konya Shinjuku de, Kanojo wa

今夜新宿で、彼女は、 Konya Shinjuku de, Kanojo wa

Running Time: 30 mins.

Release Date: September 22nd, 2018

Director: Kana Yamada

Writer: Kana Yamada (Screenplay),

Starring: Makotoha Hiroyama, Masaki Kusaka, Yusuke Ueda, Honoka, Bobumi Hidaka, Keita Yoshimura,

Website

Synopsis: A woman locked out of her ex-boyfriend’s home is determined to get back in but has to do a lot of roaming around in Shinjuku to find a solution.

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Highlights of Japannual Japanese Film Festival Vienna 2018 (October 01st – 07th)

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Japannual Banner

This is the year when I try and give a little boost to smaller film festivals and the Japannual Japanese Film Festival in Vienna deserves one. The Austrian-Japanese Society is trying to bring some great films to the nation’s capital.

This could turn into a laborious cut-and-paste job from previous festival’s I’ve covered because I have information on all but four films but I’ll spare you by giving the highlights.

The program has a mix of classic titles restored to new and shiny life, to contemporary films still being talked about in film groups. Some of these have been on the festival circuit for a while there are others that pop up rarely. There are indies that need a push and anime that are too good to miss. I’m going to highlight independent cinema and hard to see classics as well as an anime that is guaranteed to put a smile on everyone’s face.

INDIES AND FEATURES

Indie titles come thick and fast with a diverse array of stories and styles on offer from the excessively arty anti-war pic Hanagatami which set out on its festival tour a year ago at Tokyo, to the fresh and fun One Cut of the Dead, an award-winning zombie film where a horror production gets jumped on by real zombies. It is a film which has wowed audiences wherever it has played.

Amiko    Amiko Film Poster

あみこ Amiko

Running Time: 66 mins.

Release Date: September 01st, 2018

Director: Yoko Yamanaka

Writer: Yoko Yamanaka (Screenplay),

Starring: Ai Sunohara, Hiroshi Oshita, Mineo Maiko,

This special gem won the Audience Award and Hikari TV Award at the Pia Film Festival and was featured at the Berlin International Film Festival and it will be at Japan Cuts this month as well. It’s an excellent debut film from Yoko Yamanaka and shows a filmmaker who is unafraid to use the camera and her actors in distinctive and, crucially, fun ways to deliver a quirky comedy about a sucky first love. My review for this film was published some time ago! All I have to say is…

SEE THIS FILM!!!

Synopsis: 16-year-old Amiko is convinced that “the Japanese are unable to dance spontaneously.” She’s just tried it out herself, with some strangers in a Tokyo underground passage. Believing that she’s had more than her fair share of days where she’d do absolutely anything, she’s left behind the provincial city of Nagano to head to the capital and take her heartthrob Aomi to task. A year before, she took a long winter’s walk with him and thought she’d met her soulmate, someone else like her who wonders in which phase of life there’s actually room for being happy. But then he disappeared, headed for Tokyo, together with Amiko’s nemesis Miyako of all people, the very “epitome of mass culture”, quite unlike her anti-bourgeois and wildly romantic self.

Our House    Watashitachi no ie Film Poster

わたしたちの家Watashitachi no ie

Running Time: 80 mins.

Release Date: January 13th, 2018

Director:  Yui Kiyohara

Writer: Yui Kiyohara, Noriko Kato (Screenplay),

Starring: Kazuki Kasai, Yukiko Anno, Mari Ozawa,

Website

This film comes from Yui Kiyohara, a graduate student at the Tokyo National University of the Arts and has studied with Kiyoshi Kurosawa. It took top prize at the The Pia Film Festival Award Winning Film and was at the Tokyo International Film Festival last year. It looks fascinating and mysterious!

Synopsis from the festival site: A mother named and daughter live on a boat in the city of Kure. They exist in two separate worlds in their house but as the two worlds start to merge, confusion develops.What will happen when they connect to each other?

Zan (Killing)     Killing Film Poster

センセイ君主 Zan

Running Time: 80 mins.

Release Date: November 24th, 2018

Director: Shinya Tsukamoto

Writer: Shinya Tsukamoto (Screenplay),

Starring: Sosuke Ikematsu, Yu Aoi, Shinya Tsukamoto, Tatsuya Nakamura, Ryusei Maeda

Website    IMDB

Shinya Tsukamoto is back writing, directing, editing and producing his own films after a short spell acting in features like Shin Godzilla and Over the Fence. I’m a big fan of his works thanks to Nightmare Detective(2007), Tetsuo: The Iron Man (1989), Tokyo Fist (1995), and Vital (2003) and his film A Snake of June, which was given the Special Jury Prize at the 2002 Venice Film Festival. This was at Venice and Toronto earlier this year.

Synopsis: The ronin Mokunoshin Tsuzuki (Sosuke Ikematsu) is alive during the end of the Edo period where many samurai like him are finding their way of life losing its edge as the country exists in a state of peace. He lives in the suburbs of Tokyo where he helps out farmers and is acquainted with one farmer’s son named Ichisuke (Ryusei Maeda) who dreams of being a samurai. Tsuzuki spends his days farming and sparring with Ichisuke but, despite the tranquillity, Tsuzuki’s heart is in tumult because he is concerned about the questions of whether he could follow a lord’s orders and kill a man and, more importantly, passions are brewing as he is falling in love with Ichisuke’s sister Yu (Yu Aoi). Passions from further afield are also growing as the country is on the verge of a civil war when a mild-mannered and skilful ronin Jirozaemon Sawamura (Shinya Tsukamoto) arrives in town looking for warriors to take to Edo.

Bad Poetry Tokyo      Bad Poetry Tokyo Film Poster

東京不穏詩 「Tōkyō fuon uta

Running Time: 114 mins.

Release Date: 2018

Director: Anshul Chauhan

Writer: Anshul Chauhan, Rand Colter (Screenplay), Anshul Chauhan (Original Story)

Starring: Shuna Iijima, Orson Mochizuki, Takashi Kawaguchi, Nana Blank, Kohei Mashiba, Kento Furukoshi,

Website    IMDB

Bad Poetry Tokyo is a stunning human drama with a tone reminiscent of The Light Shines Only There (2014). It is lead by a powerful performance from Shuna Iijima who has to deal with heavy issues and does so with a grace that is breathtaking. Her performance won her the Best Actress award at this year’s Osaka Asian Film Festival and I can tell you now that it will keep you riveted to the screen. Here’s my review of the film and an interview with the director and cast. Highly recommended.

Synopsis: Jun Fujita is 30 years old. She majored in English at Tokyo University. That is the lie she tells people when she applies for acting jobs. In reality, she works as a hostess at a shady club. Life hasn’t turned out the way she wanted when she escaped home back in Nagano Prefecture five years ago. Still, she dreams of being an actress and is about to touch her dream when she is betrayed by her lover and things go wrong at the club. Broken and made savage by the experience, she heads back to her sleepy hometown in the countryside to lick her wounds. Things haven’t changed much there and she reconnects with an old flame but there are ugly truths about her past that lurk beneath the surface …

I think people who are paying attention to Japanese cinema would have noticed that Takumi Saitoh is, as well as starring in films, steadily building his experience as a writer and director with writing work on an animated short and directorial work on a live-action short. This time last year, he had his film Blank 13 screened at the London East Asian Film Festival and it has steadily toured the world. That’s a family drama about a man who had been missing returning to his family but in a hospital bed as he’s about to kick the bucket. His family find out what happened to him. Another family drama, and one I can recommend, is Dear Etranger which features some great performances from a cast led by Tadanobu Asano and Rena Tanaka as a couple trying to make their current marriage work while juggling responsibilities and people from past relationships. It doesn’t flinch from showing the selfish side of people and how people have to swallow pride and anger and it doesn’t flinch from showing the rewards that love can bring.

Another film that premiered at the Tokyo International Film Festival a year ago is Akiko Ohku’s dramedy Tremble All You Want which has earned plaudits for its relationship shenanigans. There’s also a major scoop for the festival with another Akiko Ohku film that isn’t even supposed to be released until next year!

Marriage Hunting Beauty

美人が婚活してみたら Bijin ga Konkatsu Shite Mitara

Running Time: 93 mins.

Release Date: 2019

Director: Akiko Ohku

Writer: Jiro (Original Screenplay), Arako Toaru (Original Manga)

Starring: Mei Kurokawa, Asami Usuda, Tomoya Nakamura, Kei Tanaka,

IMDB

Synopsis: Takako (Mei Kurokawa) is a beautiful designer who has hit thirty and is desperate to get hitched. She’s cautious despite this because she has been let down by a guy before but this time will be different! She’s got herself registered on a marriage site. Keiko (Asami Usuda) is in a similar boat and the two end up quarrelling as well as helping each other…

There are supernatural adventures with yokai and a private detective in Destiny: A Tale of Kamakura and a more realistic crime thriller based on a novel by Kanae Minato, Homecoming.

Pumpkin and Mayonnaise    Pumpkin and Mayonnaise Film Poster

南瓜とマヨネーズ 「Kabocha to Mayone-zu

Running Time: 93 mins.

Release Date: November 11th, 2017

Director:  Masanori Tominaga

Writer: Masanori Tominaga (Screenplay), Kiriko Nananan (Original Manga)

Starring: Asami Usuda, Taiga, Joe Odagiri, Ryuya Wakaba, Koudai Asaka, Ritsu Otomo, Kurumi Shimizu, Ken Mitsuishi, Sario Okada, Emina Kondo,

Website IMDB

Masanori Tominaga (Rolling) assembles a great cast with Asami Usada (The Woodsman and the Rain) in a love triangle with Joe Odagiri (Mushishi) and Taiga (Japanese Girls Never Die).

Synopsis: Tsuchida (Asami Usuda) lives with her boyfriend Seiichi (Taiga). He is an aspiring musician but he has no job and is struggling to write new songs. Tsuchida decides to work at a hostess club to support them both but doesn’t inform Seiichi. Things blow up when she gets herself involved with her customer Yasuhara (Ken Mitsuishi) and Seiichi finds out. Arguments ensue and he decides to get a job but around this time, Tsuchida runs into her ex-boyfriend Hagio (Joe Odagiri)…

Other dramas include the motor vehicle insurance drama Recall and manga-inspired Teiichi: Battle of Surpeme High and “aftermath of 3-11”-inspired drama Side Job. There is also Passage of Life, a topical film about immigration.

With the sad passing of Kirin Kiki, auds might be interested in seeing one of her last roles, Mori: The Artist’s Habitat in order to see her talent at work.

ANIME

I mentioned anime earlier and here it is! It’s freaking awesome! It’s the phenomenal…

The Night is Short, Walk on Girl

夜は短し歩けよ乙女 「Yoru wa Mijikashi Aruke yo Otome

Release date: April 07th, 2017    The Night is Short, Walk on Girl Film Poster

Running Time: 93 mins.

Director: Masaaki Yuasa

Writer: Masaaki Yuasa, Reiko Yoshida (Screenplay) Tomihiko Morimi (Original Novel),

Animation Production: Science SARU

Starring: Kana Hanazawa (Kurokami no Otome), Gen Hoshino (Senpai), Kazuya Nakai (Seitarou Higuchi), Yuuko Kaida (Ryouko Hanuki), Nobuyuki Hiyama (Johnny), Aoi Yuuki (Princess Daruma), Junichi Suwabe (Nise Jougasaki),

MAL     IMDB    Website

The Night is Short, Walk on Girl is probably the join-first best work from Masaaki Yuasa (the first being Mind Game). I can guarantee you will have a good time with this one having seen it with an audience of anime fans who were totally absorbed in its fantastic story. Others seemingly agree since it took top awards. The 41st Ottawa International Animation Festival was where it won Best Animated Feature and the 41st Japan Academy Prize Animation of the Year went to the film. This film is the very definition of the word exuberant in terms of story and style and should cement Yuasa as one of the best anime directors around. Here’s my review!

SEE THIS FILM!

Synopsis: The narrative is simple: A black haired girl (voiced by the ubiquitous and super-talented Kana Hanazawa) is attending the wedding reception of a friend. As far as she is concerned, the party doesn’t have to end there and she walks around the streets of Kyoto at night from the alleyways and izakayas of Pontocho to the university campus, following the Komagawa river and making detours along the way. She is pursued by a male admirer, Sempai (Gen Hoshino), who tries to catch her attention by appearing before her as often as possible. As this rather one-sided romantic dance unfolds, they experience surreal magical-realist moments that grow increasingly absurd thanks to a cast of unique characters, all of which tests Sempai’s resolve in love and the girl’s capacity for drink and fun because all the while, everyone keeps drinking and having a good time.

DOCUMENTARIES AND EVENTS

Goh Harada presents his films and a workshop. His works are both narrative and experimental cinema that are, to quote the site:

“equally accessible to audiences interested in practice and theory alike. HARADA does not focus on people as privileged actors or performers, but he does rather on the emotional network of relationships between the elements “technology” and “physical living worlds”. HARADA’s 16mm works captivate his craftsmanship without neglecting the lyrical aspects. If, for example, he makes a black pigment image surface meet a white one, he brings the materials onto the transparent film, image by image, with his fingertips. And exactly this film then chases 17,000 black and white images through the projector, generating  feverish movements, not contradicting those films in which HARADA documents an afternoon in Tokyo in the 2000s: cooking a favourite soup, washing dishes, listening to the radio and strolling through the park. His current video works combine different images with non-affiliated sounds (at a first glance), but then synchronize a time lapse within their montage and their interplay.”

There’s a music doc with Ryuichi Sakamoto, Coda, which came out a year ago.

Ramen Heads   Ramen Heads Film Poster

ラーメンヘッズ Ra-men Hezzu

Running Time: 93 mins.

Release Date: January 27th, 2018

Director:  Koki Shigeno

Starring: Shota Iida, Kumiko Ishida, Katsuya Kobayashi, Yuki Ohnishi, Tom Takahashi, Osamu Tomita,

Website IMDB

Synopsis from IMDB: In ‘Ramen Heads,’ Osamu Tomita, Japan’s reigning king of ramen, takes us deep into his world, revealing every single step of his obsessive approach to creating the perfect soup and noodles, and his relentless search for the highest-quality ingredients. In addition to Tomita’s story, the film also profiles five other notable ramen shops, each with its own philosophy and flavour, which exemplify various different aspects the ramen world. Mixing in a brief rundown of ramen’s historical roots, the film gives viewers an in-depth look at the culture surrounding this unique and beguiling dish. This is a documentary record of 15 months in the lives of Japan’s top ramen masters and their legions of devoted fans.

Inland Sea  Seto Inland Sea Film Poster

 港町 Minatomachi

Running Time: 122 mins.

Release Date: April 07th, 2018

Director:  Kazuhiro Soda

IMDB     Website

This one was at this year’s Berlin International Film Festival.

Synopsis: Documentarian Kazuhiro Soda has been touring around the world based on films like The Oyster Factory (2015). Here, he brings his camera to the fishing village of Ushimado on the coast between Honshu and Shikoku. It is famous for being the place Shohei Imamura shot two features but now it has an ageing population but fishermen and fish-traders who tour the village and knows the local’s habits and lives. With insiders leading the way, including the film’s producer Kiyoko Kashiwagi whose family hails from the village, many tales emerge.

Life Goes On    Life Goes On Film Poster

一陽来復 Life Goes On Ichiyouraifuku Life Goes On

Running Time: 81 mins.

Release Date: March 03rd, 2018

Director: Mia Yoon

Writer: N/A

Starring: Norika Fujiwara, Koichi Yamadera (Narration)

Website IMDB

Synopsis: This is a documentary looking at the people of Iwate si years on from the Great East Japan Earthquake. A farmer who works near a nuclear power plant, a couple who lost their children, and a child growing up in the area.

CLASSICS

There are three classics on offer with Kenji Mizoguchi’s Ugetsu and Sansho Dayu appearing. These two are bonafide classics so if you consider yourself a movie fan or a person of culture, get yourself down to them!!! There are also two films by the female director Kinuyo Tanaka, and these are rarely screened!

The Eternal Breasts 

乳房よ永遠なれ 「Chibusa yo eien nare

Release Date: November 23rd, 1955

Running Time: 106 mins.

Director: Kinuyo Tanaka

Writer: Sumie Tanaka (Screenplay),

Starring: Yumeji Tsukioka, Ryoji Hayama, Yuko Sugi, Junkichi Orimoto, Choko Lida, Masayuki Mori, Hiroko Kawasaki

IMDB

Eternal Breasts Film Image

Synopsis: Not only one of Japan’s greatest actresses, Kinuyo Tanaka was also the director of six features, including this powerful, frank film about the poet Fumiko Nakajo, who died of breast cancer aged 31 in 1954. Tanaka brings an unmistakeably female perspective to recounting Nakajo’s life – from divorce through single motherhood, illness and her growing independence in life and love as her literary reputation grows

Love Letter   

恋文 Koibumi

Running Time: 98 mins.

Release Date: December 13th, 1953

Director: Kinuyo Tanaka

Writer: Keisuke Kinoshita (Screenplay), Fumio Niwa (Original Novel)

Starring: Masayki Mori, Yoshiko Kuga, Jukichi Uno, Juso Dozan, Kyoko Kagawa,

IMDB

Synopsis: Reikichi Mayumi (Masayuki Mori) is one of many struggling to make ends meet at the end of World War II. He finds a job where he will write love letters for other people but his own love life is far from the beautiful odes he creates for others and we see it when he rediscovers his former girlfriend, Michiko (Yoshigo Kuga), a woman who has also struggled with the war and the US occupation…

I could have included trailers and information for all but three films and Harada’s event but this post is long enough. It’s interesting seeing things I wrote a year ago and even further back and wondering how my writing style has changed. This is prep for a long post that is coming soon…

I hope I haven’t bored you! Thanks for taking the time to read the post.

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Japanese Films at the London East Asian Film Festival 2018

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London East Asian Film Festival Banner 2018

Film fans who love Japanese cinema are spoiled for choice over the next month as Raindance will launch today and we have the BFI London Film Festival with a smattering of Japanese titles and then we have the London East Asian Film Festival.

The organisers announced their programme last week and there will be a lot of films to see from October 25th to November 04th and they have assembled an impressive line-up of titles from over 12 countries including Singapore, South Korea, and more. There are familiar titles from the international festival circuit plus a surprise collaboration with the Nara International Film Festival providing some indies. On a side note, I’ve seen a couple of the non-Japanese films and have even reviewed The Thieves (2012). There is a lot to watch!

Here is the festival’s trailer:

Here are the details:

Yocho  (Foreboding)     Yocho Sanpo Suru Shinryakusha Gekijoban Film Poster

予兆 散歩する侵略者 劇場版  Yocho Sanpo Suru Shinryakusha Gekijoban

Running Time: 140 mins.

Release Date: November 11th , 2017

Director:  Kiyoshi Kurosawa

Writer: Kiyoshi Kurosawa, Hiroshi Takahashi (Screenplay), Tomohiro Maekawa (Original Stageplay),

Starring: Kaho, Shota Sometani, Masahiro Higashide, Ren Osugi, Taro Suwa, Yukino Kshii, Eriko Nakamura, Makoto Nakamura, Makiko Watanabe,

Website IMDB

Yocho is an edited version of the WOWOW drama series Yocho Sanpo Suru Shinryakusha and boils down the five 40 minute episodes into a film that lasts 140 minutes. It was shown in cinemas for 2 weeks and was made as a tie-in for the film, Before We Vanish (2017).

Synopsis: When Etsuko Yamagiwa (Kaho) gets involved in what seems to be an emotional crisis faced by co-worker Miyuki Asakawa (Yukino Kishii), little did she expect she could be facing the end of humanity. One day, Miyuki tells Etsuko that she has seen a ghost in her father, that the way the sky seems to be different and even the way people’s behaviour is changing are all signs of something. Etsuko is worried and arranges for Miyuki to be sent to the psychiatric hospital where her husband Tatsuo (Shota Sometani) works. There, Miyuki receives a diagnosis that she lacks the concept of “family.” It is also there that Miyuki becomes disturbed by the presence of Dr. Jiro Makabe (Masahiro Higashide) and Etsuko also has misgivings because the strangely unemotional man is working with Tatsuo. The growing paranoia may not be unfounded because, one day, Etsuko hears Dr. Jiro Makabe state “I came to Earth to invade.” Before that takes place, he just needs to steal some concepts like “family” and “dignity”…

River’s Edge   River's Edge Film Poster

リバーズ・エッジ Riba-zu Ejji

Running Time: 118 mins.

Release Date: February 16th , 2018

Director:  Isao Yukisada

Writer: Isao Yukisada (Screenplay),

Starring: Fumi Nikaidou, Ryo Yoshizawa, Aoi Morikawa, Shuhei Uesugi, Sumire, Shiori Doi,

Website   IMDB

Isao Yukisada has made a lot of films. Go is his 2001 teen action film which was nominated for over 50 international awards and is best-known by foreigners but his biggest film in Japan is Crying Out Love in the Center of the World  which reached an audience of 6.2 million, making it Japan’s most commercially successful film of 2004. I’ve reviewed two of his works, Parade (2010) and Aroused by Gymnopedies (2016). This was at the Berlin Film Festival.

Synopsis: This is a film told from a variety of perspectives, all linked up to show a generation and their experiences with extreme emotions. Stories consist of a bulimic model who gorges herself on food every night, a gay highschooler who is bullied by classmates who discovers something gruesome in a polluted river, a girl who pushes the boundaries of rough sex to frightening levels, and an introvert who reads her pregnant sister’s diaries.

10 Years Japan    Ten Years Japan Film Poster

十年Ten Years Japan Juunen Ten Years Japan

Running Time:99 mins.

Release Date: November 03rd, 2018

Producer: Hirokazu Kore-eda

Website IMDB

Three years ago, we had the award-winning indie omnibus film 10 Years Hong Kong (wikipedia) which offered some speculative fiction about the island territory’s future 10 years in the future. It was made at the time of student protests over the encroaching power of Mainland China so the stories have a mostly dystopian setting. Other Asian countries have got in on the act with Thailand and now Japan being up next.

Here, Hirokazu Kore-eda helps produce the stories of five young directors who bring different episodes together into one film that will be released in November.

The Air We Can’t See (Sono Kuki wa Mienai その空気は見えない)

Director: Akiyo Fujimura

Writer: Akiyo Fujimura (Screenplay)

Starring: Chizuru Ikewaki

Akiyo Fujimura was at the 2016 Osaka Asian Film Festival with Eriko Pretended (2016), a drama that got great reviews. I saw one of her short films recently and was impressed by the drama. Her story is about a girl named Mizuki who has been forced to relocate underground with the rest of the population of Japan due to pollution. She dreams of the surface world when one of her friends goes missing.

Four Our Beautiful Country (Utsukushii Kuni 美しい国)

Director: Kei Ishikawa

Writer: Kei Ishikawa (Screenplay)

Starring: Taiga, Hana Kino

Kei Ishikawa is probably famous for Gukoroku – Traces of Sin (2017), a disturbing crime drama. Here he is examining a Japan with conscription into the military is compulsory for everyone and the moral dilemma an advertising agency worker named Watanabe has when he is given the assignment of designing a poster.

PLAN 75

Director: Chie Hayakawa

Writer: Chie Hayakawa (Screenplay)

Starring: Satoru Kawaguchi, Kinuwo Yamada, Kazue Mitani, Motomi Makiguchi,

This story takes place in a Japan struggling to cope with the elderly. The government implements Plan 75 whereby elderly people who are sick or poor are recommended for death by public officials. One man, Itami, struggles with this while his wife is dealing with her own mother who has Alzheimer’s.

Mischievous Alliance (Itazura Domei いたずら同盟)

Director: Yusuke Kinoshita

Writer: Yusuke Kinoshita (Screenplay)

Starring: Jun Kunimura, Seiya Okawa, Bako Tsujimura, Ryu Nakano,

A group of schoolboys living in an area that has been transformed into a special IT zone play a prank on an old horse that is about to be put down.

DATA

Director: Megumi Tsuno

Writer: Megumi Tsuno (Screenplay)

Starring: Hana Sugisaki, Tetsushi Tanaka, Oshiro Maeda, Masaki Miura,

A girl inherits the digital memories of her mother and discovers a different side to her.

Festival Focus: Nara Internatioal Film Festival

At the time of writing this post, the Nara International Film Festival has reached it’s penultimate night.

NIFF is a film festival that takes place every two years. It was set up by Naomi Kawase to boost filmmaking in her home prefecture. Under her direction, it screens films with the historical backdrop of Nara and its shrines and temples adding some magic to proceedings. The festival welcomes filmmakers from around the world to screen their works and take part in workshops. Some of these filmmaker on to make films in the prefecture. Japanese filmmakers sometimes get their start here and crop up with films.

Reflecting this background, LEAFF has a selection of Kawase’s films and some works from new talent, the Nara-Wave, if you will.

NAOMI KAWASE

Embracing

につつまれて Nitsutsumarete

Running Time: 40 mins.

Release Date: 1992

Director: Naomi Kawase

Writer: N/A

Starring: Naomi Kawase, Uno Kawase,

Website IMDB

Synopsis: A documentary about Kawase’s search for her father, the man who left her when she was a small child and never attempted to make contact. She tracks down a person who she has never seen and reveals how his non-presence created parts of her identity, her dreams and imagination, and how she regards the world. Kawase uses the power of cinema to access these realms.

Katatsumori

かたつもり Katatsumori

Running Time: 40 mins.

Release Date: 1994

Director: Naomi Kawase

Writer: N/A

Starring: N/A

Website

Synopsis: Katatsumori is a film about Kawase’s grandmother, the woman who stepped in to be her foster mother. Kawase uses the camera to capture their close relationship, the love, loss, and loneliness between them as Kawase begins to find her own place in the world. In a surprising move, the old lady gets in on the act as they connect through cinema…

EMERGING TALENT AT NARA

The Wind From Persia

ペルシャからの風 Perusha kara no kaze

Running Time: 35 mins.

Release Date: N/A

Director: Misaki Matsui

Writer: N/A

Starring: N/A

Synopsis: I had the pleasure of meeting Misaki Matsui at the 2014 edition of the Raindance Film Festival where she showed a music video, White Sea, that screened before a feature film and since then she has done some documentary and fiction shorts and photography work. She has work at NIFF with a making-of documentary that tracks the work that went into another film at NIFF, The Nikaido’s Fall, which was shot by the Iranian film director, Ida Panahandeh, the first woman to win the Golden Shika Award at the 2016 Nara International Film Festival.

Good Afternoon

グッド・アフタヌーン Guddo Afutanu-n

Running Time: 30 mins.

Release Date: N/A

Director: Akira Yamamoto

Writer: Yohei Yamazaki (Screenplay/Book)

Starring: Io Haiki, Kyoko Kudo, Shoichi Okano, Nairu Masaki, Supika Yufune, Masana Hirabuki, Naruaki Onishi,

Born in Hiroshima in 1991, Akira Yamamoto entered Tokyo Zokei University to study film. After graduating, he directed Cycling, which was filmed in his hometown and whose character was his grandfather. Cycling won a prize in the Pia Film Festival (PFF) and was screened in Hong Kong. After that he went to study at the Tokyo University of the Arts for a Master’s degree, majoring in Film, studying under Nobuhiro Suwa and Kiyoshi Kurosawa.

Synopsis: A junior high school girl in Yokohama travels with her family to a reunion during Obon. They meet her aunt’s family and everything seems friendly at first, but when the conversations turn to who will take care of the grandfather, relations start to break down…

The Girlfriend

昔の恋人 Mukashi no Koibito

Running Time: 28 mins.

Release Date: N/A

Director: Saki Michimoto

Writer: N/A

Starring: N/A

Director Saki Michimoto is a graduate of the Osaka Visual Arts College and has a film entered into this year’s Pia Film Festival.

Synopsis: Mami doesn’t get along with her mother who won’t talk to her at all. There’s her father, but he is totally wrapped up in his wife. Until he dies. This twist marks the moment that Mami bails out on home and goes in search of an ex-girlfriend her father talked fondly about in the hope of finding something she is missing.

Kofukuna

幸福な、 Koufukuna

Running Time: 39 mins.

Release Date: N/A

Director: Ayane Nakasu

Writer: Ayane Nakasu (Screenplay)

Starring: Momona, Naoko Takaki, Natsumi Mori,

Ayane showed this at the Kanazawa Film Festival and Nara.

Synopsis From Nara’s festival site because it’s interesting and polite: I’ve never had a feeling of being in love with another person in the twenty years that I ‘ve lived. I have loved only my mother, who works and lives for me, and I have also lived for my mother. I have depended on the person who loves me for nothing. The film is about a woman reflected in another woman’s eyes. It is ugly, confused and frantic, and it has only an impulse. Please come and see the film.

Closing-Gala Film

Ramen Shop      Ramen Teh Film Poster

Running Time: 89 mins.

Release Date: March 29th, 2018

Director:  Erik Khoo

Writer: Erik Khoo (Screenplay),

Starring: Takumi Saitoh, Seiko Matsuda, Mark Lee, Tsuyuoshi Iharam Jeanette Aw, Tetsuya Bessho, Beatrice Chien,

 IMDB

Synopsis: Masato is a young ramen chef in the city of Takasaki in Japan who has just lost his emotionally distant father. His Singaporean mother died when he was ten and he has no idea about his family history so he is completely adrift. After he discovers a red notebook – filled with musings and old photos – left behind by his mother, he decides to head to Singapore and uses it to track down his missing background. With the help of Miki, a Japanese food blogger and single mother, he discovers a whole side of his family including his grandmother Madam Lee who is still alive know more about the story of his parents. Through the power of cooking, Masato gets in touch with his Singaporean family and his own history.

Quite the line-up!

Samurai’s Promise, Gekijouban Linked Horizon Live Tour “Shingeki no Kiseki” Souin Shuuketsu Gaisen Kouen, DTC Yukemuri Junjo Hen from HiGH & LOW, Fooly Cooly Progressive, Girls Und Panzer 63rd National High School Sensha-dō Tournament Compilation, Natsume Yujin-cho the Movie: Ephemeral Bond, Please Be My Slave Chapter 2 Please Call Me Master., At the Children’s Restaurant, Tarinae, Tower of the Sun, Ai to, sakaba to, ongaku to (Love and a Bar and Music), Seven Girls Japanese Film Trailers

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Happy weekend, people!

Lu Over the Wall Film Image

I hope you are well!

This trailer post is a rush job because I have been working this weekend at an anime film festival. The 2018 Kotatsu Japanese Animation Festival seemed to go well. Everyone was happy. Everyone had fun. I spoke to the two Japanese animators, Tsuneo Goda and Hirokazu Minegishi, almost entirely in Japanese. We all watched great films. In truth, the work went on for most of the year. I posted info about two film festivals this week, Japannual in Austria and the London East Asian Film Festival.

What are the films on display this weekend?

Samurai’s Promise    Samurai's Promise Film Poster

散り椿 Chiri Tsubaki

Running Time: 112 mins.

Release Date: September 28th, 2018

Director: Daisaku Kimura

Writer: Takashi Koizumi (Screenplay), Rin Hamuro (Original Novel)

Starring: Junichi Okada, Hidetoshi Nishijima, Haru Kuroki, Sosuke Ikematsu, Kumiko Aso, Naoto Ogata, Kyoko Yoshine, Hirofumi Arai, Yuya Yagira,

IMDB Website

Synopsis: Shinbei Uryu (Junichi Okada) is expelled from his hometown after bringing up his boss’s corruption. His sick wife Shino (Kumiko Aso) makes him promise to go back and help his old friend Uneme Sakakibara (Hidetoshi Nishijima), the man he beat to wed Shino. This is something hard for Shinbei to do because Uneme Sakakibara is also related to Shinbei Uryu’s exile but a promise is a promise, especially when it’s to your wife.

Gekijouban Linked Horizon Live Tour “Shingeki no Kiseki” Souin Shuuketsu Gaisen Kouen    Linked Horizon Live Tour SHINGEKI NO KISEKI Souin Shuuketsu Gaisen Kouen Film Poster

劇場版 Linked Horizon Live Tour 「進撃の軌跡」総員集結 凱旋公演 Gekijouban Linked Horizon Live Tour “Shingeki no Kiseki” Souin Shuuketsu Gaisen Kouen

Running Time: 75 mins.

Release Date: September 28th, 2018

Director: N/A

Writer: N/A

Starring: REVO

Website

Synopsis: You may know Linked Horizon Live Tour from their work on the Attack on Titan opening theme. Well they are 5 years old and to celebrate reaching that milestone, they held a tour. It took place last year and encompassed 34 performances inside and outside Japan. The “SHINGEKI NO KISEKI” Souin Shuuketsu Gaisen Kouen tour film features footage from places like the Yokohama Arena, where they performed a concert featuring people from past and present who made Linked Horizon what it is today.

DTC Yukemuri Junjo Hen from HiGH & LOW   DTC yukemuri junjo-hen furomu HiGH & LOW Film Poster

DTC 湯けむり純情篇 from HiGH&LOW DTC yukemuri junjō-hen furomu HiGH& LOW

Running Time: 102 mins.

Release Date: September 28th, 2018

Director: Daisaku Kimura

Writer: Takashi Koizumi (Screenplay), Rin Hamuro (Original Novel)

Starring: Taiki Sato, Kenjiro Yamashita, Kanta Sato, Yuko Fueki, Masayasu Yagi, Tomoki Hirose,

Website

Synopsis: Dan, Tettsu, and Chiharu (DTC) are facing leaving their youthful adventures behind and having to grow up. But not just yet. They take one last roadtrip by motorcycle to look for fun and girls. Alas, that costs money and they have to stop midway and get jobs at a hot spring resort where they meet and mother and daughter who run the place and help them make money…

Fooly Cooly Progressive    Fooly Cooly Progressive

フリクリ プログレ 「Furikuri Purogure

Release Date: September 28th, 2018

Running Time: 136 mins.

Chief Director: Katsuyuki Motohiro, Director: Hiroshi Ikehata, Kei Suezawa, Kazuhito Arai, Yuki Ogawa, Yoshihide Ibata, Toshihisa Kaiya,

Writer: Hideto Iwai (Screenplay),

Starring: Inori Minase (Hidomi), Megumi Hayashibara (Haruhara), Jun Fukuyama (Ide), Kikuko Inoue (Hinae), Reiko Suzuki (Tami Hanae), Miyuki Sawashiro (Jinyu),

Animation Production: Production I.G, NUT, Revoroot,

Website  ANN MAL

Synopsis: This is the second of two FLCL OVAs which tell the story of 14-year-old Hidomi, her classmate Ide, and two otherworldly beings, “Jinyu” and “Haruha Raharu,” who will unlock their hidden potential whilst dodging an all-powerful force known as “ATOMSK” by way of a gorgeous vintage car and a certain Vespa Scooter.

Girls Und Panzer 63rd National High School Sensha-dō Tournament Compilation    Girls Und Panzer 63rd National High School Sensha-dō Tournament Compilation Film Poster

ガールズ&パンツァー 第63回戦車道全国高校生大会 総集編 「Ga-ruzu & Pansha- Dai 63 Kai Sensha-dō Zenkoku Kōkōsei Taikai Sōshūhen

Release Date: September 29th, 2018

Running Time: 122 mins.

Director: Tsutomu Mizushima

Writer: Reiko Yoshida (Screenplay/Series Composition),

Starring: Ai Kayano (Saori Takebe), Mai Fuchigami (Miho Nishizumi), Mami Ozaki (Hana Isuzu), Kana Ueda (Momo Kawashima), Yuka Iguchi (Mako Reizei),

Animation Production: Actas

Website  ANN

Synopsis: Imagine a bunch of Yamato nadeshiko high school girls going to school and training in the venerable art of tank warfare and you have Girls und Panzer, a long-running franchise which is back next year for another TV series. This film is a compilation which summarises the TV anime and the OVA This is a Real Anzio War!

Natsume Yujin-cho the Movie: Ephemeral Bond    Natsume Yujin-cho the Movie Ephemeral Bond Film Poster

劇場版 夏目友人帳 ~うつせみに結ぶ~ 「Natsume Yūjin-Chō: Utsusemi ni Musubu

Release Date: September 29th, 2018

Running Time: 104 mins.

Chief Director: Takahiro Omori, Director: Hideki Ito

Writer: Sadayuki Murai (Screenplay), Yuki Midorikawa (Original Work)

Starring: Hiroshi Kamiya (Takashi Natsume), Akemi Okamura (Hinoe), Akira Ishida (Shuichi Natori), Kazuhiko Inoue (Nyanko-sensei), Kyoko Chikiri (Kappa), Rina Satou (Toru Taki), Kengo Kora (Rio Tsumura)

Animation Production: Shuka

Website  ANN MAL

Synopsis from ANN: Natsume has been able to see yokai since he was little. This makes him a bit of an outsider when it comes to people and he doesn’t particularly get along with yokai. Things change when he inherits a Yūjin-Chō (“Book of Friends”) from his grandmother and finds that book is actually full of contracts that his grandmother made to trap yōkai. As one yōkai after another shows up, Natsume tries to release or help them — even while many of them seek vengeance on him. In this story, he meets a woman and her son who have links to his past.

Please Be My Slave Chapter 2 Please Call Me Master.   Please Be My Slave Chapter 2 Please Call Me Master Film Poster

私の奴隷になりなさい第2章 ご主人様と呼ばせてください Watashi no dorei ni nari nasai dai 2-shō goshujinsama to yoba sete kudasai

Running Time: 103 mins.

Release Date: September 29th, 2018

Director: Hideo Jojo

Writer: Hitoshi Ishikawa, Hideo Jojo (Screenplay), Shu Satami (Original Work)

Starring: Katsuya Maigumi, Aika Yukihira, Sayuri, Masaki Miura

Website

Synopsis: This is the sequel to the sensual movie “Become My Slave” where a man named Meguro meets a married woman named Akeno and is roped into “training” her when her husband threatens Meguro’s social standing.

At the Children’s Restaurant    At the Children's Restaurant Film Poster

こども食堂にて Kodomo shokudō nite

Running Time: 115 mins.

Release Date: September 29th, 2018

Director: Sho’on Sano

Writer: Sho’on Sano (Screenplay), Shu Satami (Original Work)

Starring: Hano Honshita, Sawako Kitahara, Tomoko Hirata, Mariko Takahashi, Nobunaka Daichi,

Website

Synopsis: The “Children’s Restaurant” is where Sunshine, a movie production team which specialises in works on children’s social care themes, gathers various children. Chieko who started volunteering at “Children ‘s Restaurant” is driven to join because she suffered from abuse at the hands of her parents. There are more stories than just abuse as children from poor families attend the place for food, there are children who live alone, and also single mothers who attend. A small community has formed and Chiaki gets involved in their stories…

Tarinae    Tarinae Film Poster

タリナイ Tarinae

Running Time: 93 mins.

Release Date: September 29th, 2018

Director: Shiori Ookawa

Writer: N/A

Starring: N/A

Website

Synopsis: The Marshall Islands was one of the battlefields of WWII and the man at the centre of it travels to see where his father died of starvation due to supplies being cut off. He has diaries and wills written by his father and his comrades before his death. The son was 74 when he travelled to the islands in 2016 to see where it all happened.

Tower of the Sun    Tower of the Sun Film Poster

太陽の塔 Taiyo no To

Running Time: 112 mins.

Release Date: September 29th, 2018

Director: Kosai Sekine

Writer: N/A

Starring: Norio Akasaka, Reiji Ando, Shigesato Itoi, Shingo Ueda, Koji Osugi, Hideo Kasami,

Website

Synopsis: The last time I was in Osaka, they were hoping to hold the World Expo (either Osaka or Kansai), and this documentary looks at the work of Taro Okamoto and his “Tower of the Sun” which was made for the 1970 Osaka World Expo, so 48 years ago. The theme was “Progress and Harmony of Mankind” and was made at a time when the Japanese economy was in overdrive. What was the message that this alien-like structure was meant to convey? Find out in the documentary.

Ai to, sakaba to, ongaku to (Love and a Bar and Music)    Ai to, sakaba to, ongaku to Film Poster

愛と、酒場と、音楽と Ai to, sakaba to, ongaku to

Running Time: 95 mins.

Release Date: September 29th, 2018

Director: Kai Inowaki, Masato Oki, Kenichi Ebisawa, Sara Ogawa,

Writer: Kai Inowaki, Masato Oki, Sara Ogawa,

Starring: Kai Inowaki, Masato Oki, Sara Ogawa, Yoshio Saiga, Gen Kuwayama, Yuji Miyazaki, SHIHO, Toshihiro Fumoto, Yuu Sakuma,

Website

Synopsis: This anthology film comes from four young directors who provide three different stories:

LOVE WITHOUT WORDS

BOURBON TALK

BEATOPIA

Seven Girls   Seven Girls Film Poster

セブンガールズ Sebun Ga-ruzu

Running Time: 144mins.

Release Date: September 29th, 2018

Director: David Miyahara

Writer: David Miyahara

Starring: Ai Sakazaki, Hotena Horikawa, Sachiko Kawahara, Naoko Fujiim Kazuki Saito, Mai Higuchi,

Website

Synopsis: This film is about the Pan Pan girls who sold themselves to US servicemen to survive in the rubble of Tokyo. Despite their hardship, these girls refuse to give in and try to live their lives to the fullest. It’s based on a stage-play that was first brought to life in 2004 and it has the original cast.

Born Bone Born 洗骨 (2018) Dir: Toshiyuki Teruya

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Born Bone Born

洗骨 Senkotsu

Running Time: 111 mins.

Release Date: 2018

Director:  Toshiyuki Teruya

Writer: Toshiyuki Teruya (Screenplay),

Starring: Ayame Misaki, Eiji Okuda, Michitaka Tsutsui, Yoko Oshima, Akira Sakamoto, Kyutaro Suzuki, Mariko Tsutsui,

There is diversity to Japan that would surprise people but when one considers it is an archipelago which consists of over 6000 islands, of which 430 are inhabited with a diverse mix of people, most famously the Ainu in Hokkaido and the Ryukyu of Okinawa, it makes sense. Each region in Japan has its own unique custom, culinary dish, and colloquialisms and some places can be so cut-off from the mainland or under-explored that they have traditions that are unheard of even to Japanese which is what this film uses to give new life to the dysfunctional family reunion narrative.

Born Bone Born was written and directed by Toshiyuki Teruya, perhaps better known as Gori from comedy trio Garage Sale. He developed this feature from his award-winning 2016 short film to allow audiences to experience the unique and increasingly rare Okinawan ceremony of Senkotsu, a ritual for families to remember a person who has passed away through recovering the mummified body around five years after their internment and washing their bones in seawater or sake. This ceremony acknowledges the passage of life from the dead to the living and the film uses it to show how a much-loved matriarch has the power to unite her family even in her death.

Senkotsu Film Image

It takes place in Aguni, a small island which lies to the west of the Okinawa. It is effectively village community where time passes slowly and it is here that Senkotsu is still performed even though it is a tradition that has largely died out on other islands. The Shinjo family are reuniting for the first time since the death of the mother Emiko (Mariko Tsutsui) five years ago but all is not well. Yuko Shinjo (Ayame Misaki) has taken a vacation from her job as a hairdresser in Nagoya to head home. She is nine-months pregnant and alone. Her father Nobutsuna (Eiji Okuda) has been left devastated by Emiko’s death and is quietly nursing his grief with alcohol while living alone at the family home. Yuko’s argumentative older brother Tsuyoshi (Michitaka Tsutsui) has arrived without his wife and children who he insists will join him later.

As everyone drifts to the family home, we see each of the three main characters is effectively an island surrounded by a reef of mourning and resentment over family politics which has caused them to make mistakes in the five years since they were last together. These issues are gradually revealed as the narrative tide allows arguments to wash in during scenes of family gatherings before receding and allowing people more introspective moments when they examine the past and try to figure out a flow to their future. Rumours may swirl around the family but a charming collection of friends and relatives rally round each person who faces their hardship head on. Soon, emotional storms pass and bridges are built as people work through their problems and grief. This is reflected in the actors physicality, the defensive and angry body-language decreasing, their closeness increasing, until they are reunited in saying goodbye to Emiko and welcoming in a new life in the most intimate ways possible. As serious as this sounds, the film chooses to chart a narrative course through comedy to reach its resolution.

The weather is almost always sunny and the landscape beautiful as cliffs and beaches provide a backdrop for small houses surrounded by lush vegetation. The slow pace of life on the island influences the rhythm of the film which is laid-back and allows the charming characteristics of people and places to float to the surface. Yuko’s pregnancy forms a lot of the drama and comedy as everyone reacts differently. Ayame Misaki brings a layered performance while also acting as an emotional conduit for others to work from, especially Michitaka Tsutsui as Tsuyoshi who visibly softens as he swallows his resentment and admits his own problems. Yuko’s character also allows the introduction of the baby’s father, Ryoji, a good-natured goof-ball with a fashion-sense from the 70s and a much too casual way of speaking. He may be from mainland Japan but he’s definitely not sophisticated. He does act as a surrogate for the audience, asking questions about Senkotsu and reacting as many might, and he neatly fits into the Shinjo tradition of strong women choosing nice guys to marry. This is best exemplified by aunt Nobuko who is powered by Yoko Oshima’s hilariously dominant and feisty behaviour which, while funny, is an expression of her love and keeps a firm hand on the emotional tiller to steer the family into more positive currents.

There is a natural flow to the film which builds up to a strong denouement as people start sailing in the same direction. The Senkotsu sequence itself is treated with respect and shows the love and duty involved and the way people are able to send off the dead. Teruya doesn’t flinch from showing it and we see a family activity both special and normal. Audiences gets the pleasure of experiencing a unique custom from Okinawa, understanding its power, and seeing people united together through it. Born Bone Born is a wonderful film.

No trailer for the feature but here’s one for the short:

My review was published on V-Cinema on July 20th as part of the site’s coverage of Japan Cuts 2018.

Amiko  あみこ Dir: Yoko Yamanaka (2017)

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Amiko     Amiko Film Poster

あみこ Amiko

Running Time: 66 mins.

Release Date: September 2018

Director: Yoko Yamanaka

Writer: Yoko Yamanaka (Screenplay),

Starring: Ai Sunohara, Hiroshi Oshita, Mineo Maiko,

Intro and Q&A with director Yoko Yamanaka

Amiko is the directorial debut from Yoko Yamanaka, a twenty-year-old from Nagano whose indie film won the Audience Award and Hikari TV Award at the Pia Film Festival 2017 for it’s originality and entertainment and was featured at the 2018 Berlin International Film Festival, Fantasia and Japan Cuts, which is how I saw it. Its tale of a girl’s experience in love is a universal one but unique because of its central character, a firecracker of a person who is effortlessly entertaining.

Pity those who are pure of heart for when it comes to love they are going to encounter some disappointments. Somewhere in Nagano, 16-year-old Amiko (Aira Sunohara) is about to get crushed. She is a high school girl who has many charm points for a disaffected teenager: admirably mischievous, lovably precocious, highly self-aware, and eager to be sincere. These emotions swirl underneath her placid surface in uneven doses and she finds an outlet when she falls in love with Naoya Aomi (Hiroto Oshita), a handsome guy on the football team.

This love came about during a long winter’s walk together one evening. They travelled from their school, over a hill, to Nagano’s city centre. They spoke from the heart about various things from Radiohead to conforming to expectations. He plays football even though he dislikes it because, “it’s easier to live being told what to do” and she nihilistically wonders why anybody does anything. He seems to understand that Amiko and her best-friend Kanako (Maiko Mineo) are also wearing false masks when dealing with society. He also said he thinks she’s smart. That’s a declaration of love as far as Amiko is concerned. She has found her soulmate in her dull life. He is someone who, like her, seems to be operating at a higher level of awareness than most others who are merely conformists like the school’s prettiest girl and social-media star, Mizuki (Ayu Hasegawa) who has gone to Tokyo to attend university.

Alas, our boy Naoya may be cool and smart but he’s still just a teen and learning about himself. Perhaps confusion explains his half-year-long silence towards Amiko, something she just about copes with. It is his sudden disappearance which has her worried. Where could he be, the love of her life? Then Amiko finds out that Naoya headed to Tokyo together with Miyako, Amiko’s soulless antithesis. It’s certainly more than confusion, it’s a disaster! Amiko absolutely needs to find out what made Naoya do this!

As far as films about love gone awry go this acerbic gem feels fresh and new because it is shot with a jazzy verve dictated by our girl Amiko’s personality, sometimes turbulent and capricious, sometimes laser focussed and unremitting. Her actions make the narrative a freewheeling adventure as the simple plot deconstructs the realities of love for people establishing their personalities.

Amiko’s mind, body, and personality are written brilliantly by Yoko Yamanaka and acted so well by Aira Sunohara that the entire film is enveloped by her energy. The camera is entirely subjective as it mirrors her sudden rushes of emotion and tracks the actions she performs.

Yoko Yamanaka infuses every shot with the colour of Amiko’s emotions and ideas. The push of the camera into Amiko’s face after Naoya compliments her, well, the camera is not so much moved as jammed into Sunohara’s grin and eyes which express joy. We feel the urgent beat of her heart and the rush of joy. When Sunohara cycles towards the camera in a backward tracking shot midway through the film, her power and determination to recapture Naoya are evident. She could move mountains. When she enters Tokyo to find her lost love, we follow her from high angled shots and forward tracking shots into the densely populated city, the camera circling around her face as she exits Ikebukuro station. She is out of her depth. When she stalks her prey through Tokyo, she is often shot from a low angle and seen doing something hilarious or there are menacing POV shots. It’s the close-ups that are the killer as Sunohara communicates her character’s tumultuous emotions to the audience from joy to disillusion, and when narration segues into Sunohara talking directly to the camera, it breaks the fourth wall and makes this as personal as possible.

Slowly, Amiko learns from Naoya’s betrayal that ideals are something we aspire to and give us direction rather than inherent in a person’s character which is always subject to change. Leading to this realisation are the wonderful questions. What will she do? Where will she go? What does she hope to accomplish? The film delves into this and adds, how unhinged is she?

There’s a dangerous energy to some scenes as it seems that Amiko is about to lose the plot entirely and it’s both scary and beautiful to watch the weirdly fluctuating energy, the absolute highlight of which is a sequence in Ikebukuro station involving Amiko and a young couple bursting into an impromptu dance. It’s grin-inducing and fun in its spontaneity and choreography and electro music.

Romance makes us do crazy things and sometimes it’s entertaining to watch as it is here with this wonderfully off-kilter film and its leading lady. Adults will smile and cringe as they recognise life lessons and there are plenty of times when they will laugh. Most importantly, we come to care about the titular character and love it when she dictates the terms of every scene. Amiko is definitely one to watch and Yoko Yamanaka and her lead actress Aira Sunohara prove to be exciting to watch!

My review was first published on V-Cinema on July 26th, 2018.

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Anoko no Toriko, Perfect World, You Are the Apple of My Eye, Kyoukaishi, Morgen, Ashita, Monster Strike The Movie: Sora no Kanata, Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World- Memory Snow, Usuzumizakura -Garo-, K SEVEN STORIES Episode3, Heartbeat, Single Mom Yasashii Kazoku。 a sweet family, Charlotte-Susabi Japanese Film Trailers

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Happy weekend, everyone!

I hope you are well!

I’ve got past the Kotatsu Japanese Animation Festival work, I’m between otome games, and I’m not doing as much overtime in my regular job at the minute but I still don’t have much time to watch films or do much else. I’m trying to jam in as much writing, English/Japanese/French practice and films as possible and I’m also looking to try and sneak in some video games – Tactics Ogre in Japanese? One of the Persona games?

I am currently working on a review for a Malaysian film at the moment and considering purchasing some Thai cinema classics from the mid-00s since I’ve only got one or two.

This week, I posted reviews for Amiko and Born Bone Born which I reviewed a couple of months ago.

What is released this weekend in Japanese cinemas?

Anoko no Toriko    Anoko no Toriko Film Poster

あのコの、トリコ。 Anoko no Toriko

Running Time: 99 mins.

Release Date: October 05th, 2018

Director: Ryo Miyawaki

Writer: Taeko Asano (Screenplay), Yuki Shiraishi (Original Manga)

Starring: Ryo Yoshizawa, Yuko Araki, Yosuke Sugino, Rio Uchida, Daimao Kosaka, Reiko Takashima, Goro Kishitani,

Website IMDB

Synopsis: Three childhood friends promised to make it big in show business but for one, it doesn’t happen quite as soon as the others. Yori Suzuki (Ryo Yoshizawa) is the “plain Jane” of the trio. His crush, Shizuku Tachibana (Yuko Araki) is a model, and then there’s Subaru Tojo (Yosuke Sugino), an actor. Looking on at their success, Yori decides to make a move and transfers to Tachibana’s high school and becomes her assistant on CM shoots. On one particular shoot, he gets in a shot and gains popularity as the “mysterious boy” but just as things are looking up, Tojo confesses his feelings to Tachibana when the two appear together on stage…

Perfect World    Perfect World Film Poster

パーフェクトワールド 君といる奇跡 Pafekuto Warudo: Kimi to Iru Kiseki

Running Time: 102 mins.

Release Date: October 05th, 2018

Director: Kenji Shibayama

Writer: Keiko Kanome (Screenplay), Rie Aruga (Original Manga)

Starring: Hana Sugisaki, Sei Ashina, Takanori Iwata, Aya Ohmasa, Kenta Suga, Naomi Zaizen,

Website IMDB

Synopsis: Tsugumi Kawana (Hana Sugisaki) used to love Itsuki Ayukawa (Takanori Iwata) when he was her senior in high school but parted ways after graduation. They reunite as adults as she works as an interior designer and he works as an architect but they feels awkward since he is disabled and in a wheelchair. The two slowly overcome their initial feelings as they become attracted to each other’s characters…

You Are the Apple of My Eye    You Are the Apple of My Eye Film Poster

あの頃、君を追いかけ Ano Koro, Kimi wo Oikaketa

Running Time: 114 mins.

Release Date: October 05th, 2018

Director: Yasuo Hasegawa

Writer: Kenzaburo Iida (Screenplay), Giddens Ko (Original Novel)

Starring: Yuki Yamada, Asuka Saito, Honoka Matsumoto, Takara Sakumoto, Naoki Kunishima, Keisuke Nakata, Ryosuke Yusa,

Website IMDB

Synopsis: High school student and all-round class-clown Kosuke Mizushima (Yuki Yamada) has a crush on model student Mai Hayase (Asuka Saito) but when one of his jokes goes too far, Hayase is put in charge of looking after the boy. This inevitably leads to them spending time together and, you guessed it, despite their differing personalities, getting closer…

Kyoukaishi    Kyoukaishi Film Poster

教誨師 Kyoukaishi

Running Time: 114 mins.

Release Date: October 06th, 2018

Director: Dai Sako

Writer: Dai Sako (Screenplay),

Starring: Ren Osugi, Reo Tamaoki, Setsuko Karasuma, Takeo Gozu, Noboru Ogawa, Kenji Furutachi, Ken Mitsuishi,

Website

This was Ren Osugi’s last film before he passed away in February this year. He produced this project. Can you imagine being one of the actors selected to play one of these roles? It would be an honour.

Synopsis: Saeki (Ren Osugi) is a prison chaplain who works with death-row inmates. He is good at communicating with them and uses this skill to try and reform them but he agonizes over whether he makes a difference in their lives and whether he is doing the right thing. He also tries to avoid facing an incident in his past…

Morgen, Ashita    Morgen, Ashita Film Poster

モルゲン、明日 Morugen, Ashita

Running Time: 71 mins.

Release Date: October 06th, 2018

Director: Masako Sakata

Writer: N/A

Starring: N/A

Website

Synopsis: Masako Sakata has made anti-nuclear documentaries in the past and has travelled around the world to see the negative effects of nuclear energy. In this documentary, she travels to Germany, a country pushing its renewable energies programme into new territory as it prepares to decommission all of its nuclear power plants by 2022. Sakata interview all sorts of German people.

Monster Strike The Movie: Sora no Kanata   Monster Strike The Movie Sora no Kanata Film Poster

モンスターストライク THE MOVIE ソラノカナタ 「Monsuta- Sutoraiku THE MOVIE Sora no Kanata

Release Date: October 05th, 2018

Running Time: 97 mins.

Director: Hiroshi Nishikiori

Writer: Takuya Ikami (Screenplay),

Starring: Alice Hirose (Sora), Aoi Yuki (Yuna), Koichi Yamadera (Senju), Masataka Kubota (Kanata), Yoshimasa Hosoya (Toya),

Animation Production: Orange

Website  ANN MAL

Synopsis: It has been over a decade since half of Tokyo broke off and floated into the sky. Renamed, “Old Tokyo” people there were unable to communicate with the land-based “New Tokyo”, the part that stayed on the ground. The two parts of the city maintained separate worlds but when a young girl discovers that Old Tokyo will fall back down to the ground, she sets tries to descend to New Tokyo to save the citizens from the impending crisis.

Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World- Memory Snow    Re ZERO -Starting Life in Another World- Memory Snow Film Poster

Re:ゼロから始める異世界生活 Memory Snow Re:Zero kara hajimeru Isekai Seikatsu

Release Date: October 06th, 2018

Running Time: 68 mins.

Chief Director: Tatsuya Koyanagi, Director: Masaharu Watanabe,

Writer: Masahiro Yokotani (Screenplay), Tappei Nagatsuki (Scenario/Original Creator)

Starring: Yusuke Kobyayashi (Subaru), Inori Minase (Rem), Rie Murakawa (Ram), Rie Takahashi (Emilia), Yumi Uchiyama (Puck),

Animation Production: White Fox

Website  ANN MAL

Synopsis: After our hapless hero Subaru and his friends rescue the children of Irlam village by defeating the Demon Beast Wolgarm, he finds himself given a secret mission he must not let anyone find out about. However, his cover is blown from the start when Petra and other children of the village spot him. Doesn’t sound bad, right? Well, not doing the mission jeopardises Subaru’s “date course” with Emilia…

Usuzumizakura -Garo-   Usuzumizakura -Garo- Film Poster

薄墨桜 GARO Usuzumizakura -Garo-

Release Date: October 06th, 2018

Running Time: 82 mins.

Director: Satoshi Nishimura

Writer: Yasuko Kobayashi (Screenplay), Keita Amemiya (Original Creator)

Starring: Masei Nakayama (Raiko), Romi Park (Seimei), Akiko Yajima (Kintoki), Atsuko Tanaka (Akira), Tomokazu Seki (Takeru),

Animation Production: Studio M2, Studio VOLN

Website  ANN MAL

Synopsis from MAL: Set during the Heian Period, Kyo is a beautiful city that is proud of its glory. Two beautiful onmyouji meet, and the sad and short-lived beautiful cherry blossom starts to stir after 1000 years.

K SEVEN STORIES Episode 3 Lost Small World ~ Ori No Mukou Ni Beyond the cage ~」   K SEVEN STORIES Episode3 「Lost Small World ~ Ori No Mukou Ni Beyond the cage ~」

K SEVEN STORIES Episode 3 Lost Small World ~檻の向こうに~」

Release Date: October 06th, 2018

Running Time: 69 mins.

Director: Shingo Suzuki

Writer: Azano Kouhei (Screenplay), GoRA, GoHands (Original Creator)

Starring: Mamoru Miyano (Saruhiko Fushimi), Fun Fukuyama, Yui Ogura (Aya Oogai), Satomi Akasaka (Kisa Fushimi), Shinichiro Miki (Niki Fushimi),

Animation Production: GoHands

Website   ANN MAL K Wiki ANN Honey

Synopsis: This is the fourth of K SEVEN STORIES, a series of spin-off films that draw upon the novels and manga of the “K” franchise. Lost Small World sees Munakata bringing in Saruhiko Fushimi into the ranks of Scepter 4 so he joins the Blue clan. Due to his past as a member of Homura, it seems that he is able to harness two different auras at the same time which makes him a special person.

Heartbeat   Shokou Film Poster

曙光 Shokou

Running Time: 120 mins.

Release Date: October 06th, 2018

Director: Katsumi Sakaguchi

Writer: Katsumi Sakaguchi (Screenplay),

Starring: Asuka Kurosawa, Futoshi Moriyama, Yura Semono, Shoichiro Tanaka, Wanjiro Tokyo, Misako Kano, Shun Tanigawa,

Website IMDB

Synopsis from IMDB: Japan is renowned as a suicide nation where around 80 people daily and 30,000 people annually commit suicide. 13 years ago, Fumie (Asuka Kurosawa (A Snake of June by Shinya Tsukamoto, Cold Fish by Sion Sono)) lost her daughter who committed suicide as a result of being bullied at her school. After the ordeal, Fumie, together with her son, returned to her parents’ home in a mountainous area, to create an organization called ‘Heartbeat.’ She attempts to rescue people who are likely to attempt suicide. Fumie who supports them through inviting them into a communal life where whilst also experiencing her sorrow and emotional conflicts over the loss of her own daughter. One day, a man who is attempting to commit suicide calls Fumie. The man who is rescued by her takes on a violent and insolent attitude. Fumie feels anxious but takes him back home. That night, an unexpected situation hits her…

Single Mom Yasashii Kazoku a sweet family   Single Mom Yasashii Kazoku。 a sweet family Film Poster

single mom 優しい家族。 a sweet family Single Mom Yasashii Kazokua sweet family

Running Time: 98 mins.

Release Date: October 06th, 2018

Director: Kazumi Matsumoto

Writer: Kazumi Matsumoto (Screenplay),

Starring: Rina Uchiyama, Hanon Hasegawa, Kanako Nishikawa, Atsuko Okamoto, Maho Morikawa,

Website IMDB

Synopsis: Niseko Town in Hokkaido is the setting for a story of a single-mother named Aimi Sora (Rina Uchiyama) and her daughter Emily (Hanon Hasegawa) told in a series of episodes. These stories are based on real life cases. Aimi finds it hard to get a job and is using up her savings. She also feels exhausted every day. Arguments happen in her family and she wants to find love. The first step to solving her problem is to go to the town office and it is there that she meets another single-mother, a city employee named Miyuki. Through this one encounter, Aimi’s life begins to change…

Charlotte-Susabi   Charlotte-Susabi Film Poster

シャルロット すさび Sharurotto Susabi

Running Time: 114 mins.

Release Date: October 06th, 2018

Director: Masaki Iwana

Writer: Masaki Iwana (Screenplay),

Starring: Ai Suzuki, Yuri Osawa, Kyoko Takahashi, Clara Elena Cuda, Mamoru Narita, D’Dee, Hiroshi Okazaki,

Website IMDB

Masaki Iwana was born in 1945 in Tokyo and is a famous Butoh artist. Since 1988, he has lived and worked in France and travelled around the world performing. He has made indie films combining his philosophy on life and Butoh with his first feature film Vermilion Souls (2008) and his second A Summer Family (2010). Both have received official selections from numerous international film festivals including the Rotterdam Film Festival. His latest film was crowd-funded, so this is truly indie.

Synopsis from the filmmaker’s website: A small ordinary love story gradually transforms itself into an almost mythological epic poem.

Charlotte-Susabi is a surrealistic drama in which a Japanese artist Kamimura, disillusioned by the world and himself, combats and connects with the world before him – as he moves freely among reality, memory and fantasy through the three women who are involved with him.

Passage of Life 

僕の帰る場所 Boku no kaerubashoPassage of Life Film Poster

Running Time: 100 mins.

Release Date: November 25th, 2017

Director:  Akio Fujimoto

Writer: Akio Fujimoto (Screenplay)

Starring: Kaung Myat Thu, Khin Myat Thu, Issace, Htet Myat Naing, Yuki Kitagawa, Kanji Tsuda,

IMDB Website

Fujimoto, a first-time feature film director, worked with non-professional actor and their efforts ensured the film won the Spirit of Asia Award, given by the Japan Foundation Asia Center at last year’s Tokyo International Film Festival. I reviewed it when it was part of the Osaka Asian Film Festival and appreciated its realist style and insight into migratory patterns in Asia. Here’s my review after I saw the film as part of Osaka.

Synopsis: Passage of Life is based on reality and shows the lives of a Burmese family that emigrated to Japan with no visa. Khin and her husband Issace have an uncertain home with their two boys, 7-year-old Kaung and his younger brother Htet. The boys were raised in Japan and are happy. Their parents are not.

Without the proper paperwork, a secure life is impossible and all hope lies with obtaining political refugee status which seems impossible to get in Japan. However, the stress is too much for Khin who is hospitalised with depression. She decides to take the kids back to Burma which is when the film switches focus to depict the inner struggles of Kaung who struggles with a great change in his environment and longs for the place he calls home: Japan.

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Toward a Common Tenderness あの優しさへ Dir: Kaori Oda (2017)

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Toward a Common Tenderness

あの優しさへ Ano Yasashi-sa e

Running Time: 63 mins.

Release Date: N/A

Director:  Kaori Oda

Writer: N/A

Starring: N/A

Director Kaori Oda uses her film Towards A Common Tenderness to explore the way that cinema can be used to depict the space and feelings between people, how the camera has the power to understand and destroy what is recorded, the ethics of film-making, and her own personal journey as a film-maker.

Originally from Osaka, Oda moved to Virginia where she studied film at Hollins University. She made her debut with the short Thus a Noise Speaks (2010), a self-documentary about her coming out as gay to her family which won the Audience Award at the Nara International Film Festival. Following this came a period where she faced a creative and personal impasse which resulted in her travelling to Sarajevo to study at Béla Tarr’s film.factory film workshop from 2013 to 2016. Whilst studying she made a few shorts and then created her first feature-length film Aragane (2015) which depicted work inside a coal mine. It made waves at documentary festivals around the world due to its impressionistic form which Oda created by focussing on using the senses to convey the space in the mine rather than approaching the subject solely through more conventional means such as an analysis of class. Her time in Bosnia proved to be beneficial as a way of overcoming personal and professional questions over using her family as the subject of her debut film. With a wealth of experience and footage to root through, Oda dives into this issue, sinuously and seamlessly pulling together many threads to create a smooth stream of images and sounds in an exploration of her own character and creative urges as she makes herself the subject.

Kaori Oda’s film is deeply personal. She narrates from the first shot to the last, utilising analysis of her memories as well as extracts from others works such as “Notes on Cinematography” by Robert Bresson and Rosemary Menzies’ “Poems for Bosnia” to frame her search for the well-spring of her creativity and how and why she wants to film people.

A lot of footage is drawn from a variety of sources, the most affecting taken from Thus a Noise Speaks where we see Oda’s mother crying in a moment of emotional vulnerability. Tightly framed, it is highly intimate. Oda’s camera persistently films the woman, doggedly hovering in her face as she records a raw reaction to get material. The camera positions itself between mother and daughter and its proximity seems to violate private territory. It is a powerful sight and one can imagine it haunting Oda who admits in her narration she would never do it again, perhaps regretting the way she used her camera to translate the emotions of everyone in the film at the time.

It is sort of like an inciting incident, a ghost that she has to confront. As she recalls this and other moments from her memories, she questions the power of the camera to capture a presence, to cement people’s connections in film or shatter them, something she contemplates as she attends film school.

Bosnia, Sarajevo, the mine and myriad of remote villages in mountains and valleys she bravely explored whilst studying forms the majority of the geographical landscape shown on screen but the space of Oda’s memories and emotions that she travels through expands the world and gives the documentary its structure and potency. She bravely talks about her moments of solitude and the warm connections she made with people wholly unlike herself in her search for subjects. She encounters Roma people, coal miners, and others who take her into their lives and offer kindness and secrets. She is aware of her status as an outsider and the difficulty in communication, a Japanese woman with a camera and a small dictionary in remote areas of Europe, but she touches her subjects and they do the same to her. Oda’s position allows her freedom to investigate their lives in depth but in the process she feels the weight of trust and begins to look at the responsibility film-makers face in how they represent others from different cultural and economic backgrounds. Seeing others in this light allows her to zero in on her family and then herself. By having clips of messages from her family interspersed between encounters in Bosnia, we see the evolution of her understanding of her career and what drives her creative passions, and a new sympathy is born for herself and others.

For Oda, film is about people, finding signs of life in spaces caught on film and she does this through poetic visuals that capture the essence of a person, often seen in close-up, and layering thoughtful narration to proceedings as she gains a sense of the beauty, fragility and preciousness of human connections and the desire to preserve them on camera. This is best illustrated when she shows Aragane to the miners and films the audience, herself amongst them. Pensive, she looks on. The results are warmly received but we empathise with her vulnerability in this moment.

It is an honest film that lays bare personal history and the creative process. Oda matures on screen as she bravely and unflinchingly looks back at her journey and finds her voice through thoughtful analysis that leads her to recognise how becoming an artist and a person involves others. It will inspire audiences to think about film in new ways and explore their own ideas of media.

My review was published on V-Cinema on July 25th as part of the site’s coverage of Japan Cuts 2018.

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Hanagatami 花筐 Dir: Nobuhiko Obayashi (2017)

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Hanagatami    Hanagatami Film Poster

花筐 「Hanagatami

Running Time: 169 mins.

Release Date: December 16th, 2017

Director:  Nobuhiko Obayashi

Writer: Nobuhiko Obayashi, Chiho Katsura(Screenplay), Kazuo Dan (Original Novel)

Starring: Shunsuke Kubozuka, Shinnosuke Mitsushima, Keishi Nagatsuka, Tokio Emoto, Mugi Kadowaki, Tetsuya Takeda, Takako Tokiwa, Hirona Yamazaki,

IMDB Website

Is there subject-matter that film as a medium is better than others at capturing? Perhaps it is emotions. Or maybe memories. Filmmakers can examine them in many expressive ways and with an incredible arsenal of technical tools open to the cast and crew, imagination really is the limit. Enter the adventurous Nobuhiko Obayashi, a man not shy of being creative as proven in his career which stretches back to the 1950s and features a long filmography that trades in fantasy, experimentalism, and surrealism. He is best known for the haunted-house musical House (1977) but nothing will prepare those familiar solely with that fun film for Hanagatami! Obayashi’s limiters are off in this deep-dive into the precious memories of a man who lived through an age of emotional turbulence as Japan hurtled headlong into the chaos of World War II.

Hanagatami Image 4

It is the summer of 1941 in Karatsu City, Saga Prefecture. 17-year-old Toshihiko Sakakiyama (Shunsuke Kubozuka) has just travelled from his parents’ home in Amsterdam to stay with his wealthy aunt Keiko Ema (Takako Tokiwa) in her large manor. He will share it with his sickly cousin Mina (Honoka Yahagi) who suffers from tuberculosis. While there, he is attending a school where falls under the influence of the grim and philosophical Kira (Keishi Nagatsuka) who is physically infirm, and Ukai (Shinnosuke Mitsushima), a boy both strong in body and mind and with a pure soul that attracts Toshihiko. There are girls his age, too. Kira’s cousin, the melancholy Chitose (Mugi Kadowaki) who carries a camera she loves to use to capture people’s existence and the more playful and positive Akine (Hirona Yamazaki) whose mischievous grin and compassion for others lights up all occasions.

These characters live life to the full with dinner parties, frolicking in the country and partying in the city, working hard at their parent’s restaurants and ultimately finding their personalities through each other. The intensity of their searching and discoveries gives the film its surging energy which ratchets up with the war drawing closer and the knowledge that their lives will be changed forever…

Hanagatami Image 2

The film is based on Kazuo Dan’s 1937 novel of the same name and Obayashi uses many cinematic techniques to capture the passions of people falling in and out of love, questioning the meaning of life, reminiscing over dead loved-ones, and railing against the seemingly relentless tide of nationalism and violence. Dialogue focusses on death and sacrifice and there’s an oppressive sense of an approaching calamity to proceedings. Physical effects and history provide a lot of atmosphere as old and new wars loom large thanks to soldiers ominously marching through multiple scenes, ghost-like in their white make-up, and, towards the end of the film, as war draws near, the dusk sky is a menacing shade of red and orange like a city on fire.

This serves as a backdrop for powerful memories that define Toshihiko’s knowledge of mortality and love, emotions heightened by cinema.

Hanagatami Image

With live-action, one can only film what is real. With animation and CG, whatever exists in one’s head can be brought to the screen. Obayashi uses it all to create a world which reflects the characters. Animation, set-design, expressionistic lighting, scene transitions such as slide cuts, match cuts and cross-cutting between sequences involving different friends show us how these passionate people living through tumultuous times feel, how they are all linked together in living life to the full and luxuriating in their good experiences and agonising over the bad. It isn’t enough to just look at someone, no. Toshihiko will gaze at Mina and be struck by her beauty as light from a bulbous moon hanging above her head strikes her in a beatific way which we see from a POV low-angle shot. People do not sink or swim together in the sea, they are carried away by currents that are animated with twisting and twirling lines that surge around the actor’s bodies which are linked together in romantic rapture and shine with a strange glow. Every scene has music playing through it, a beautiful score dominated by a cello that switches from pleasant to sad depending upon what is happening.

This constant use of techniques is a double-edged sword. Green screen scenes can look awkward. Some of the are risible due to the intensity of the delivery or the acting which is deliberately theatrical and sometimes hammy. Regardless of these criticisms, it mostly works because it lends heart to everything and when the ending hits and we learn about the fate of characters, it is hard not to be moved, having tasted some of the character’s experiences.

The final result is a film that has a strong anti-war message because of its exuberant and colourful celebration of youth. It is intoxicating, both exhausting and exhilarating because Obayashi absorbs us in the character’s emotions with imagination as they present and embellish their fatalistic and romantic behaviour through philosophy and beauty for what it is worth. Some scenes may be insufferable, some laughable but all are passionately conveyed and the weight of memories and emotions is powerfully felt as is the sense of being alive and together and affecting each other.

I reviewed this as part of V-Cinema’s coverage of Japan Cuts 2018.

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Louder!: Can’t Hear What You’re Singin’, Wimp!, Every Day a Good Day, Dare to Stop Us, The Laws of the Universe: Part 1, Asia Sanmenkyo 2016 Reflections, Saint Young Men, Lock-On Love, BD Akechi tantei jimusho, Blood-Club Dolls 1, Please Be My Slave Chapter 3 Depending On You., Mutafukaz Japanese Film Trailers

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Happy Weekend, people!

LOUDER I CAN'T HEAR WHAT YOU ARE SINGING

I hope you are all well!

I’ve had a busy week of constant travelling between cities and trying to get back into reading books. I reviewed two Edmund Yeo films, River of Exploding Durians and Aqerat. I watched some Italian horror movies and posted reviews for the documentary Towards A Common Tenderness and the Nobuhiko Obayashi drama Hanagatami. Also, the lead picture is awesome.

I hope you had a good week.

What is released this weekend in Japan?

Louder!: Can’t Hear What You’re Singin’, Wimp!   Louder! Can_t Hear What You_re Singin_, Wimp! Film Poster

音量を上げろタコ!なに歌ってんのか全然わかんねぇんだよ!! Onryo wo Agero Tako! Nani Utatten noka Zenzen Wakannendayo!!

Running Time: 106 mins.

Release Date: October 12th, 2018

Director: Satoshi Miki

Writer:  Satoshi Miki (Screenplay),

Starring: Sadao Abe, Riho Yoshioka, Yudai Chiba, Kumiko Aso, Eri Fuse, Ryo Iwamatsu, Suzuki Matsuo, Shoko Ikezu,

Website    IMDB 

Satoshi Miki (Adrift in Tokyo) is back (!!!!!!!) and this film looks like a whole lotta fun!!! 

Synopsis: Sin (Sadao Abe) is a rock star who has the most awesome vocal chords on the planet. He has a loud voice and can scale up and down four octaves. How is he able to do this? Vocal cord doping. This is not without its problems and his voice is wearing out but not before he meets a street musician named Fuka (Riho Yoshioka) who has the tiniest voice Sin has ever heard. However, her presence makes him look back upon his life and he decides to help her find her voice…

Every Day A Good Day   Every Day A Good Day Film Poster

日日是好日 Nichinichi Kore Kojitsu

Running Time: 100 mins.

Release Date: October 13th, 2018

Director: Tatsushi Ohmori

Writer: Tatsushi Ohmori (Screenplay), Noriko Morishita (essay)

Starring: Haru Kruoki, Mikako Tabe, Kirin Kiki, Shingo Tsurumi, Mayu Tsuruta, Mayu Harada, Saya Kawamura, Chihiro Okamoto,

Website IMDB

Synopsis: Noriko (Haru Kuroki) is a 20-year-old university student who has lost her way in life. Noriko’s mother suggests that she attends a Japanese tea ceremony near her house with her cousin Michiko (Mikako Tabe). Michiko is enthusiastic about it but Noriko doesn’t seem so certain. However, once there, Noriko learns from the teacher, Takeda (Kirin Kiki) and experiences a whole new world. It stays with Noriko throughout her life, during frustrations while job hunting, moments when she suffers a broken heart, and during the death of someone important. The tea ceremony always offers her something to return to…

Dare to Stop Us   Dare to Stop Us Film Poster

止められるか、俺たちを Tomerareruka, Oretachi wo

Running Time: 119 mins.

Release Date: October 13th, 2018

Director: Kazuya Shiraishi

Writer: Junichi Inoue (Screenplay),

Starring: Mugi Kadowaki, Arata Iura, Hiroshi Yamamoto,Soran Tamoto, Katsuya Maiguma, Shinobu Terajima. Sousuke Takaoka, Kisetsu Fujiwara,

Website IMDB

Synopsis: Political/pink film director Koji Wakamatsu died six years ago but his presence is still felt in the Japanese film industry as acolytes and collaborators still operate. This film takes a year of his life but frames it through the eyes of, 21-year-old Megumi (Mugi Kadowaki) who joins Wakamatsu Production in the hope of becoming someone worthwhile. There, she meets Wakamatsu (Arata Iura) who has a cadre of young talents dedicated to movie making. Megumi’s world opens up…

The Laws of the Universe: Part 1   The Laws of the Universe Part 1 Film Poster

宇宙の法 黎明編 「Uchuu no Hou: Reimei-hen

Release Date: October 12th, 2018

Running Time: N/A

Director: Isamu Imakake

Writer: Ryuho Okawa (Original Creator)

Starring: Asami Seto (Anna), Hisako Kanemoto (Halle), Ryota Ohsaka (Ray), Ayumu Murase (Dahar), Sayaka Ohara (Gaia),

Animation Production: HS Pictures Studio

Website  ANN MAL

This film is the first part of a trilogy based on a story created by Ryuho Okawa, the founder of the religious organisation Happy Science.

Synopsis from Eleven Arts via ANN: University students, Ray, Anna, Tyler, Halle, and Eisuke are enjoying college life and pursuing their dreams, but in reality, They have a secret mission, to fight against invading Reptilians from outer space. One day, Ray travels back in time to 330 million years ago on Earth, to find his missing friend Tyler who has fallen into a trap set by the evil alien, Dahar. During that time, Alpha, the God of the Earth, was planning to create a new civilization on Earth and invited Queen Zamza and her fellow Reptilian from the planet Zeta, to Earth.

What is the intention of Dahar? What will happen to Ray and Tyler?

And what is “the plan of the God of the Earth”?

Asia Sanmenkyo 2016 Reflections   Asia Sanmenkyo 2016 Reflections Film Poster

アジア三面鏡2016 リフレクションズ Ajia Sanmenkyo 2016 Rifurekushonzu

Running Time: 119 mins.

Release Date: October 12th, 2018

Director: Brillante Mendoza (Shiniuma), Kulikar Sotho (Beyond the Bridge), Isao Yukisada (Pigeon),

Writer: Ian Masters, Jon Smith, Kulikar Sotho, Isao Yukisada (Screenplay),

Starring: Masahiko Tsugawa, Sharifah Amani, Masatoshi Nagase (Pigeon), Masaya Kato, Chumvan Sodhachivy, Osamu Shigematsu (Beyond the Bridge), Lou Veloso (Shiniuma),

Website IMDB

Synopsis: This is a three-part omnibus film bringing together three directors from Asia with the mission of creating stories with theme of, ‘Living Together in Asia’.

Brillante Mendoza of the Philippines brings a story of a stable worker deported from Hokkaido back to the Philippines in “Shiniuma”.

Isao Yukisada has written and directed “Pigeon”, the story of an elderly Japanese man living in Penang, Malaysia, who is visited by his son once a month. He has a closer bond with a helper who comes to his house and he sees the beaches where his brothers died in WWII after some drama.

Sotho Kulikar of Cambodia has “Beyond the Bridge”, a love story that spans the decades as a Japanese man who helped construct a bridge in Phnom Penh remembers a romance he had with a woman during the reign of the Khmer Rouge and he wonders if the lady is still alive.

Read more about the stories over at IMDB

Saint Young Men   Saint Young Men Film Poster

聖☆おにいさん Saint Oniisan

Running Time: 77 mins.

Release Date: October 12th, 2018

Director:  Yuuichi Fukuda

Writer: Yuuichi Fukuda (Screenplay), Hikaru Nakamura (Original Manga)

Starring: Ken’ichi Matsuyama, Shota Sometani, Jiro Sato, Umi Yamano,

Website IMDB

Synopsis: Jesus (Ken’ichi Matsuyama) and Buddha (Shota Sometani) are enjoying some time off from their daily routines and are renting an apartment in Tokyo. The trailer is a 360-degree video which shows the duo dealing with a cockroach. Apparently, the two actors ad libbed all their lines in the video.

Lock-On Love    Lock-On Love Film Poster

覚悟はいいかそこの女子。 Kakugo wa ii ka soko no joshi.

Running Time: 95 mins.

Release Date: October 12th, 2018

Director: Noboru Iguchi

Writer: Jung-hee Lee (Screenplay), Nana Shiiba (Original Manga)

Starring: Shouma Kai, Erika Karata, Kentaro, Teppei Koike Taishi Nakagawa, Jiei Wakabayashi,

Website IMDB

Synopsis: Ikemen high school boy Towa Furuya has always been surrounded by women but has never had a girlfriend. A classmate tells him “you’re the type of guy girls only like to look at.” Towa makes it his mission to get Misono Miwa, the school’s most beautiful girl and popular girl, to be his girlfriend but she turns him down and he discovers that she likes art teacher Takatsugu Masaki.

BD Akechi tantei jimusho   BD Akechi tantei jimusho Film Poster

BD 明智探偵事務所 BD Akechi tantei jimusho

Running Time: 87 mins.

Release Date: October 12th, 2018

Director:  Ryosuke Nagura

Writer: Yoshimasa Akamatsu (Screenplay), Edogawa Rampo (Original Story)

Starring: Ren Ozawa, Raiga Terasaka, Yuuta Iiyama, Atsushi, Takuto Nakashima, Hayato Mori, Shigemitsu Oki,

Website

Synopsis: Edogawa Ranpo’s mystery novel “Boy Detective Group” series gets the live action movie treatment with the Boy Detectives being the ikemen models and idol group members from “B 2 takes!” and “Rainbow Conquistador”. They work for Akechi Kogoro, the master detective, and are searching for a missing girl after her mother comes to them for help.

Blood-Club Dolls 1   Blood-Club Dolls 1 Film Poster

覚悟はいいかそこの女子。 Kakugo wa ii ka soko no joshi.

Running Time: 85 mins.

Release Date: October 13th, 2018

Director: Shutaro Oku

Writer: Shutaro Oku, Junichi Fujisaki (Screenplay), Production I.G, CLAMP (Original Work)

Starring: Kanon Miyahara, Aki Asakura, Yoji Tanaka, Ko Hosokawa, Ren Yagami, Taishi Sugie, Dai Hasegawa, Yuki Kandagawa,

Website IMDB

Synopsis: This is based on Blood-C, the seeming misfire of an anime (that worked if you watched the whole thing unlike what I did) crafted by CLAMP and Production I.G as an attempt to leverage the Blood franchise into a new adventure. It was turned into a stage play called Blood-C: The Last Mind and actors like Kanon Miyahara make the transition from stage to screen. The focus of the film is an underground fight club and the people drawn to it.

Please Be My Slave Chapter 3 Depending On You.   Please Be My Slave Chapter 3 Depending On You. Film Poster

私の奴隷になりなさい第3章 おまえ次第 Watashi no dorei ni nari nasai dai 3-shō omae shidai

Running Time: 103 mins.

Release Date: October 13th, 2018

Director: Hideo Jojo

Writer: Hitoshi Ishikawa, Hideo Jojo (Screenplay), Shu Satami (Original Work)

Starring: Katsuya Maigumi, Mio Sugiyama, Aika Yukihira, Sayuri, Masaki Miura

Website

Synopsis: Mio Sugiyama dropped out of agricultural college to act. She stars in this pink film where she plays Mayuko, a woman who is repressed until she finds her desires stimulated by Meguro (Katsuya Maigumi), a guy who likes to “train” women.

Mutafukaz   Mutafukaz Film Poster

ムタフカズ 「Mutafukazu」

Running Time: 90 mins.

Director: Shoujirou Nishimi, Guillaume Renard

Writer: Guillaume Renard (Screenplay)

Animation Production: Studio4°C

Starring: Gringe, Kelly Marot, Gilbert Levy, Jeremie Covillault, Frantz Confiac, Casseurs Flowters

IMDB   Website

This is a French-Japanese co-production that was at Annecy. It’s based on a comic-book series and brought to life by Studio4°C (Batman Gotham Knight, Animatrix, Tekkonkinkreet, the three Berserk CG movies) and Ankama (WAKFU series). Mutafukaz is full of pop-culture references to things such as John Carpenter’s They Live and Batman and is described as “fast-paced, very gory, flowing with juvenile humour and a total riot.”

Synopsis: Angelino is one of the thousands of deadbeats living in Dark Meat City, a Californian ghetto which could best be described as a hell hole. Angelino may be an orphan but he has friends such as Vinz who has a flaming-head and he has a pizza-delivery job. Said job gets him involved in a scooter accident caused by seeing the heavenly vision of a mysterious girl and pretty soon Angelino starts experiencing violent headaches doubled with strange hallucinations involving monstrous creatures lurking throughout the city…

Mutafukaz Film Poster

 

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Kirin Kiki (January 15, 1943 – September 15, 2018)

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It has been over a month since veteran actor Kirin Kiki passed away. Fans of Asian cinema are still mourning her passing and I’d just like to add a couple of thoughts.

Kirin Kiki 1960s

Kirin Kiki was born in Tokyo in 1943 and started her acting career fresh from graduating from high school in the early 1960s. Her first steps were to become a member of the Bungakuza theatre troupe using the stage name Chiho Yuki and taking on two early screen roles, the first being a TBS drama Seven Grandchildren (Shichinin no mago 七人の孫) in 1964 and then two film roles, the drama Gentlemen Beware (Tonogata Goyoujin 殿方御用心), released in June 1966 and the comedy Drunken Doctor Continues (Zoku Yoidore hakase 続・酔いどれ博士), written by Kaneto Shindo and released in September of the same year. She continued working throughout the years and showed her versatility when she collaborated with the likes of Seijun Suzuki on Zigeunerweisen (1980) and Pistol Opera (2001) and Nobuhiko Obayashi on Sabishinbo (1985), continuing on to titles like Villain and Arrietty (both from 2010) where she played grandmother types. She had a diverse range but I, and many Japanese film fans, would come into contact with her due to her work with Hirokazu Kore’eda.

Koreeda and Kirin Together

An interesting life and deep experience in the world of acting gave her a quality of wisdom and endurance and also brusqueness, something she called upon when working with Kore-eda. Usually playing a grandmother or an old friend of a family with a flinty personality, she became a reassuring and welcome presence who was like a steady hand at the tiller when all around her were adrift *even if you disagreed with her) whenever she was on the screen in titles such as Kiseki (2011), Like Father, Like Son (2013), and Our Little Sister (2015), and After the Storm (2016) but her most iconic role will be Still Walking (2008).

In it, lead actor Hiroshi Abe plays Ryota Yokoyama, the unpopular second son and an art restorer who returns to his parent’s home to commemorate the death of the beloved eldest son. Everyone is struggling with barely suppressed emotions as we find that the Yokoyama family are riven by the death and the healing process is glacial. Audiences will wonder if it will ever occur as comments and actions are full of personal slights and resentment that show a lifetime of hurt. Kirin’s character probably has the sharpest moments where her harshness is well-hidden by the jollity she brings to her performance. 

That mother and son double-act she formed with Abe was brought back with After the Storm as the two worked together perfectly to showcase another quietly dysfunctional family but with less of a sharper and darker edge as Abe’s character tries to deal with his separation from his wife. Hope springs eternal for these characters but they eventually have to let go of the past. Kirin steals the show in a tear-inducing scene where she tries to revive her son’s happy family. A nice thematic link between the two is the butterfly...

After the Storm Koreeda Kirin Abe

Perhaps her best performance in recent years is to be found in the Naomi Kawase film An (2015) where she starred alongside granddaughter Kyara Uchida and she finds another perfect acting partner in the superb Masatoshi Nagase. While he is all stoicism and bitterness, she is the hopeful and delightful ray of light that balances him and helps the film make a point about people needing to understand the world around us. 

Kirin’s death was not unexpected. She had been diagnosed with cancer back in 2004 and had undergone operations for it. In an interview with reporter Mai Yoshikawa for The Japan Times earlier this year she commented,

My cancer has spread throughout my entire body and there’s nothing the doctors can do,” Kiki added. “There’s no point in comparing myself now to my old healthy self and feeling miserable. . . . Rather than fighting reality, I choose to accept what’s in front of me and go with the flow.”

To think that she went through cancer treatment and still put in these great performances! 2018 was the year of Kirin as she starred in Kore-eda’s latest film, which won the Palme d’Or at Cannes, and she was feted at his year’s Japan Cuts where she won the CUT ABOVE award for her services to the Japanese film industry.

This isn’t the last we have heard of her as audiences in Japan can see her in a Tatushi Omori film in October called Nichinichi Kore Kojitsu (2018).

Every Day A Good Day   Every Day A Good Day Film Poster

日日是好日 Nichinichi Kore Kojitsu

Running Time: 100 mins.

Release Date: October 13th, 2018

Director: Tatsushi Ohmori

Writer: Tatsushi Ohmori (Screenplay), Noriko Morishita (essay)

Starring: Haru Kruoki, Mikako Tabe, Kirin Kiki, Shingo Tsurumi, Mayu Tsuruta, Mayu Harada, Saya Kawamura, Chihiro Okamoto,

Website IMDB

Synopsis: Noriko (Haru Kuroki) is a 20-year-old university student who has lost her way in life. Noriko’s mother suggests that she attends a Japanese tea ceremony near her house with her cousin Michiko (Mikako Tabe). Michiko is enthusiastic about it but Noriko doesn’t seem so certain. However, once there, Noriko learns from the teacher, Takeda (Kirin Kiki) and experiences a whole new world. It stays with Noriko throughout her life, during frustrations while job hunting, moments when she suffers a broken heart, and during the death of someone important. The tea ceremony always offers her something to return to…

Kiki Kirin’s final screen appearance in a drama. Here is a clip from her performance, Erika 38, which is released next year:

My words don’t really do her justice but through her films, family, friends, and fans, she will live on.

Kirin Kiki, Rest in Peace.

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Still Walking 歩いても 歩いても Dir: Hirokazu Kore-eda (2008)

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Still Walking   Still Walking Film Poster

歩いても 歩いても Aruitemo Aruitemo

Running Time: 114 mins.

Release Date: June 28th, 2008

Director:  Hirokazu Koreeda

Writer: Hirokazu Koreeda (Screenplay/Original Story),

Starring: Kiki Kirin, Hiroshi Abe, You, Yui Natsukawa, Kazuya Takahashi, Yoshio Harada, Shohei Tanaka, Haruko Kato, Susumu Terajima,

IMDB

Quite possibly Kore-eda’s best film this is a snapshot of a family over 24 hours that, through deft storytelling reveals richly complicated and interwoven lives from different generations.

The seasons are about to change from summer to autumn and preparations are underway at the Yokoyama household for the annual commemoration of the eldest son Junpei who drowned in an accident 15 years ago. The spacious, comfortable and old-fashioned house run by Toshiko (Kirin Kiki) will welcome her middle-aged children and their young families who will be arriving soon. Meanwhile, curmudgeon father Kyohei (Yoshio Harada), a former physician, walks around their quiet neighbourhood to the beach where the tragic accident happened when not hiding in the clinic attached to their home. The daughter, Chinami (YOU), will bring her good-natured husband Nobuo (Kazuya Takahashi) and their cheerful kids Satsuki (Hotaru Nomoto) and Mutsu (Ryoga Hayashi) who will invade the house and fill it with laughter and tales from school but there is an edge to the atmosphere as they await second son Ryota (Hiroshi Abe).

Ryota is seen as the black sheep of the family, having left home and headed to Tokyo where he works as an art restorer. When we meet him he is with his new wife, Yukari (Yui Natsukawa), a former widow with a 10-year-old son named Atsushi (Shohei Tanaka). From dialogue in the opening scenes we know that Toshiko isn’t impressed with the match – a divorcee chose to leave her husband but a widow is forced – and as we follow Ryota and Yukari from the station we understand that they fear this prejudice. Further pressure is added by the fact that work is a bit slow for Ryota.

It isn’t long before Kyohei and Toshiko start picking holes based on expectations different generations have.

Children don’t necessarily grow up the way you want them to.”

The drumbeat of the film is Ryota’s sense of betrayal that his parents resent he didn’t follow his brother and father into the medical profession to carry on the family practice and, most grievous of all, maybe they feel that the wrong son died. Interwoven into this drama is Yukari dodging questions about widowhood as her fitness as a wife is questioned. These sources of conflict are mostly brought out in passive-aggressive ways: subtly through naturalistic dialogue and actions that break the host/guest relationship and family ties. Sly criticism over a woman drinking too much, misremembered memories brought up to humiliate someone, barely suppressed indifference for lifestyle choices all mount up to test the children.

The old folks might sound unreasonable but their behaviour stems from their ingrained conservative values from the generation they grew up in and the need to follow social mores. As well as the loss of Junpei, they carry other indignities perhaps most potently shown when Toshiko plays a special record that recalls a moment of infidelity and their children don’t take the time to understand them.

Arguments row back and forth between the generations but the family holds together. As much as they are all connected by death and as much as personal agendas and resentments may colour behaviour, they know each other, they care enough to love and chastise each other, and they walk together as one unit because the underlying connection of love is also present. Everyone endures a mixture of affectionate digs and share closely held memories and when the family photos come out everyone gathers together and the people in the various couples understand each other. As the film drifts along the enduring thing is that everyone continues walking together and the moments are precious.Still Walking Film Image 2

What cannot be doubted is that the old couple, Toshiko especially, form the nucleus of the family and there is a definite sense of regret to proceedings – that of a family whose ties are frayed and the bond that holds them together is loosening. The elderly parents and the changing face of the city and the changes to the traditional home shows the passing of time and the weakening of the past and causes the kids to tenderly ask how their parents are doing and endure all of the foibles. This last element really gives the film a wistful air and a deep sense of regret as the 24 hours we spend with them begins to feel like too little. We know from interviews that Kore-eda made this film a few years after the death of his own mother¹ and knowing that makes the sense of lost time and connections more potent.

These are heady emotions but Kore-eda keeps the tone light by refraining from melodramatics and using actors and location changes to continually modulate the tone and allow the characters (and audience) to breathe. The old house where the action takes place is fantastic and speaks of a lived-in location full of memories. The camera work is perfectly measured in relaying the efforts of this fine ensemble of actors as they interact with each other and move around the set strategically to begin and end the drama. The chipper Chinami and her jovial husband Nobuo and the sweet-natured kids help defuse arguments with spicy humour and food is always a welcome break from talking. Hiroshi Abe and his soulful eyes and pensive face brilliantly conveys a thoughtful son stifling his disappointments while Yui Natsukawa is wonderfully down-to-earth with her patient and kind presence and politeness. When they are both pushed too far and we see the fury and indignation they feel over the social slights we are moved more. Kiki Kirin as a woman whose brusqueness and jollity hides both the deep care for her family and the way she bravely bears life’s disappointments and she is absolutely scary when her face takes a hard edge as she gives her reasoning for carrying on with the memorial and chastises others for weakness. Being with them is intense so it is a relief to get outdoor scenes bathed in sunlight and the relaxing sound of the guitar duo Gonchichi which allow the characters a way to escape and breathe. Nonetheless, we feel we are around real people and understand them.

The power Still Walking stems from how universal and humane it is. Many of these ideas have been looked at by Kore-eda in his other films, the connection of blood that makes a family in Like Father, Like Son (2013), inter-generational conflict Kiseki (2011) and patchwork families in Our Little Sister (2015) but what makes this a fine drama (and possibly Kore-eda’s finest) is that they are all combined into one smoothly told tale made potent with keenly felt emotions. The conflicts are many and very relatable: having to deal with ageing parents from a different generation and the desire to balance meeting expectations and preserving a sense of self. All of this is displayed by a fine set of actors especially Hiroshi Abe and Kiki Kirin who would work with Kore-eda again in a sort of unofficial sequel After the Storm (2016).

¹ Interview on Mubi 

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It’s Boring Here, Pick Me Up, Hanalei Bay, Million Dollar Man, Love’s Water Drop, Gokko, Usuke Boys, Their Nuclear Power Plant, Karera no Genpatsu, Idol SKE48, Obo no Koe, Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha Detonation, Haikara-san ga Tooru Movie 2: Hana no Tokyo Dai Roman, Workers Arise in Disaster Areas, Last Wedding Dress, Take 8, Neapolitan, Tamae no supa harawata, Mimikaki Randebu, Bunbuku chagama Japanese Film Trailers

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Happy weekend, people!

Still Walking Film Image 2

I hope you are all well!

It is time for another weekend trailer post and it has come after a somewhat productive week film-wise. I watched a couple of Japanese films from the 1960s and continued my role as social media/writer guy for a film festival and I managed to write three reviews. I’ve set aside time to watch three classic Japanese films tomorrow after exercise and Japanese practice. I published an article about Kiki Kirin who passed away last month and a review for Still Walking (2008) this week. At least I’m not overworking myself in my day job.

I hope all of you are managing to be productive.

What is released this weekend?

It’s Boring Here, Pick Me Up    It's Boring Here, Take Me Away Film Poster

ここは退屈迎えに来て Koko wa Taikutsu Mukae ni Kite

Running Time: 97 mins.

Release Date: October 19th, 2018

Director: Ryuichi Hiroki

Writer: Mariko Yamauchi (Screenplay), Tomonari Sakurai (Manga)

Starring: Ai Hashimoto, Mugi Kadowaki, Ryo Narita, Daichi Watanabem Yurina Yanagi, Yukino Kishii, Jun Murakami, Rio Uchida,

Website IMDB

Synopsis: Two women, one man.

I (Ai Hashimoto) has returned to her home town after 10 years in Tokyo and has moved back in with her parents. She works as a freelance writer and spends her days meeting ol high school friends. She also contacts Shiina (Ryo Narita), her high school crush, There is also Me (Mugi Kadowaki) who stayed in her home town and dated Shiina. They broke up but she finds him hard to forget. A love triangle develops.

Workers Arise in Disaster Areas   Workers Arise in Disaster Areas Film Poster

Workers 被災地に起つ Workers hisai-chi ni tatsu

Running Time: 89 mins.

Release Date: October 20th, 2018

Director: Yasuyuki Mori

Writer: N/A

Starring: N/A

Website

Synopsis: This documentary shows of a workers cooperative in an area affected by the Great East Japan Earthquake such as Iwate and Miyage Prefectures. It has a flat structure so everyone is equal and they help create environments safe for children, people with disabilities, and the elderly.

Hanalei Bay    

ハナレイ・ベイ Hanarei Bei

Running Time: 97 mins.

Release Date: October 19th, 2018

Director: Daishi Matsunaga

Writer: Daishi Matsunaga (Screenplay), Haruki Murakami (Original Short Story),

Starring: Yo Yoshida, Reo Sano, Nijiro Murakami, Louis Kurihara, Gai Sato

Website IMDB

Synopsis:Sachi (Yo Yoshida) has to leave her bar in Japan behind and head to Hanalei Bay, Hawaii when she receives a phone call telling her that her son Takashi (Reo Sano) died as a result of a shark attack when he was surfing. For the next 10 years she heads to the same beach to mourn his passing but on the tenth she meets two Japanese surfers who tell her of a Japanese surfer who is missing his right leg who is named Takahashi (Nijiro Murakami).

Million Dollar Man   

億男 Oku Otoko

Running Time: 116 mins.

Release Date: October 19th, 2018

Director: Keishi Ohtomo

Writer: Keishi Ohtomo (Screenplay), Genki Kawamura (Original Novel),

Starring: Takeru Satoh, Issey Takahashi, Erika Sawajiri, Tatsuya Fujiwara, Haru Kuroki, Kazuki Kitamura, Elaiza Ikeda,

Website IMDB

Synopsis: When Kazuo’s (Takeru Satoh) brother goes missing he is left with a massive debt which has has to pay off by working two jobs. Pretty soon his wife takes off with their daughter after getting fed up with their predicament but she may regret doing that because he wins 300 million yen in a lottery. Without a wife to tell him what to do, he is not sure how to use his newfound riches and so he asks his well-off friend Tsukumo (Issey Takahashi) for advice which turns out to be a bad idea because his so-called friend takes off with the cash leaving Kazuo with only one option left: find Tsukumo and get his cash back! Cue epic globe-trotting adventure meeting fabulous people who knew Tsukumo so that Kazuo can learn that a wife and kid are worth more than 300 million yen. And also that having money is great.

Love’s Water Drop   Koi no Shizuku Film Poster

恋のしずく Koi no Shizuku

Running Time: 117 mins.

Release Date: October 20th, 2018

Director: Naoki Segi

Writer: Yoshinobu Kamo (Screenplay),

Starring: Rina Kawaei, Hayato Onozuka, Mao Miyaji, Yuichi Nakamura, Tsunenori Aoki, Tomoya Warabino, Atsushi Nishida, Kanji Tsuda, Ren Osugi,

Website IMDB

Synopsis: Shiori Tachibana (Rina Kawaei) is an agriculture student at university who wants to receive training at a winery. She gets training but it’s with Japanese rice wine at a sake brewery in Hiroshima where the work is tough. The owner of the brewery is ill and his son (Hayato Onozuka) isn’t interested in taking over the place. When his father dies, he faces a crisis and it is at this time that Shiori begins to fall in love with the son…

Gokko    Gokko Film Poster

恋のしずく Gokko

Running Time: 116 mins.

Release Date: October 20th, 2018

Director: Naoto Kumazawa

Writer: Izumi Takahashi, Naoto Kumazawa, (Screenplay), Hiroyuki Shoji (Original Manga),

Starring: Junior Chihara, Yuka, Nanaka Hirao, Chisun, Fumika Shimizu, Taisaku Akino, Hideo Nakano, Renji Ishibashi,

Website IMDB

Synopsis:Shiromiya (Junior Chihara) is a 40-year-old jobless layabout with a daughter named Yoyoko (Nanaka Hirao) who is five. He’s an emotionally volatile presence in her life but loves her. When his childhood friend Machi (Yuka) shows up in the neighbourhood, things change…

Usuke Boys    Usuke Boys Film Poster

ウスケボーイズ Usuke Bo-izu

Running Time: 102 mins.

Release Date: October 20th, 2018

Director: Yuji Kakizaki

Writer: Masaru Nakamura, (Screenplay), Kaori Kawai (Original Essay),

Starring: Dai Watanabe, Masayuki Deai, Yuka Takeshima, Kenta Uchino, Satoshi Judai, Shogo Shimizu, Reiko Tajima, Yurei Yanagi, Yumi Adachi,

Website IMDB

Synopsis: Okamura (Dai Watanabe), Shiroyama (Masayuki Deai), Kamimura (Yuka Takeshima), and many others are part of a wine club where they enjoy tasting and learning about wines from around the world. They are of the opinion that French wine is the best but when they taste Kikyogahara Merlot, made by Usuke Asai (Isao Hashizume), they are inspired to try their own hand at winemaking.

Their Nuclear Power plant / Karera no Genpatsu    Karera no Genpatsu Film Poster

彼らの原発 Karera no Genpatsu

Running Time: 119 mins.

Release Date: October 20th, 2018

Director: Tsutomu Kawaguchi

Writer: N/A

Starring: N/A

Synopsis: The problem of nuclear power plants in Japan is examined by looking at dissenting views of residents of Ooi town in Fukui Prefecture.

Idol SKE48    Documentary Film Idol SKE48 Film Poster

アイドル Aidoru

Running Time: 120 mins.

Release Date: October 20th, 2018

Director: Yusuke Takenaka, Masahiko Suzuki,

Writer: Masaru Nakamura, (Screenplay), Kaori Kawai (Original Essay),

Starring: The Girls of SKE48 – there are 48 members, that’s too many to write

Website

Synopsis: This documentary is dedicated to the popular idol group “SKE 48” based in Nagoya. It was born in 2008 as the first sister group of “AKB 48” and this year it celebrates its 10th anniversary. Recordings of the concert held at Nagoya Dome and some of the trials and tribulations to get there.

Obo no Koe   Obo no Koe Film Poster

オボの声 Obo no Koe

Running Time: 99 mins.

Release Date: October 20th, 2018

Director: Takashi Saito

Writer: Takashi Saito (Screenplay),

Starring: Takashi Yuki, Shun Sugata, Miki Mizuno, Saburo Ishikura, Kazuki Namioka, Setsuko Karasuma,

Website

Synopsis: In this human drama a former prizefighter works a dead-end part-time job delivering gas cylinders with no plans of making something of himself and he meets others who are on the fringes of society.

Haikara-san ga Tooru Movie 2: Hana no Tokyo Dai Roman   Haikara-san ga Tooru Movie 2 Hana no Tokyo Dai Roman Film Poster

劇場版 はいからさんが通る 後編 花の東京大ロマンHaikara-san ga Tooru Movie 2: Hana no Tokyo Dai Roman

Release Date: October 19th, 2018

Running Time: 105 mins.

Director: Toshiaki Kidokoro

Writer: Kazuhiro Furuhashi (Screenplay), Waki Yamato (Original Creator)

Starring: Saori Hayami (Benio Hanamura), Mamoru Miyano (Shinobu Ijuin), Asami Seto (Tamaki Kitakoji), Maaya Sakamoto (Larisa), Shizuka Itou (Kichiji),

Animation Production: Nippon Animation

Website  ANN MAL

Synopsis: The story follows Benio “Haikara-san” Hanamura, who lost her mother when she was very young and has been raised by her father, a high-ranking official in the Japanese army. As a result, she has grown into a tomboy. Contrary to traditional Japanese notions of femininity, she studies kendo, drinks sake, dresses in often outlandish-looking Western fashions instead of the traditional kimono, and is not as interested in housework as she is in literature. She also rejects the idea of arranged marriages and believes in a woman’s right to a career and to marry for love.

Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha Detonation   Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha Detonation Film Poster

魔法少女リリカルなのは Detonation Mahou Shoujou Ririkaru Nanoha Detonation

Release Date: October 19th, 2018

Running Time: N/A

Director: Takayuki Hamana

Writer: Masaki Tsuzuki (Script/Original Creator)

Starring: Yukari Tamura (Nanoha Takamachi), Nana Mizuki (Fate T. Harlaown/Levi), Asami Sanada (Vita), Yoko Hikasa (Iris), Kaori Shimizu (Signum),

Animation Production: Seven Arcs Pictures

Website  ANN MAL

Synopsis from ANN: In the story, a pair of researchers stay behind on their dying planet of Eltoria with their two daughters, Amitie and Kyrie, in hopes of finding a way to revive the planet. But when the husband Grants falls ill it seems their dream of reviving the planet will die. Against her older sister’s wishes, Kyrie sets off with her childhood friend Iris to seek help from a distant alternate world. They arrive in Japan on Earth to search for the key to their planet’s regeneration. There, they meet Nanoha Takamachi, Fate T. Harlaown, and Hayate Yagami.

Bunbuku chagama   Bunbuku chagama Film Poster

文福茶釜 Bunbuku chagama

Running Time: 87 mins.

Release Date: October 20th, 2018

Director: Takuya Ohata

Writer: Makoto Sano (Screenplay), Hiroyuki Kurokawa (Original Work)

Starring: Taro Suruga, Fuuka Koshiba, Hidekazu Akai, Midori Wakai, Joji Murakami, Katsunori Uchiba, Shizuyo Yamasaki,

Website

Synopsis from the Okinawa Film Festival: Bunbuku Chagama roughly translates to “happiness bubbling over like a tea pot”. It also refers to a story where a poor old man rescues a Tanuki which decides to repay the favour by turning into a teapot through magical means. Find out more on Wikipedia. This is a based on the work of Hiroyuki Kurokawa, an art uni graduate and a former art teacher who used his experience to become the Naoki prize winning writer of mystery novels that use antiques and art as a theme. These novels are going to become films starting with this one.

The film follows antique dealer Tetsuya Saho and his partner Suzuka Kawashima who want to start an antique shop. A certain storehouse in the mountains aims to become the first Osaka Citizens Study Group. An old woman finds herself alone, and takes a tea pot that was cherished by the deceased chef. The old tea pot is known as Ashiyakama, said to have been brought from heaven around the time of Genroku Kyoho, and if genuine is worth at least 5 million yen. Anxious to start their shop, Suzuka and Saho decide to take back the tea pot. along with Kikuchi. But the tea pot has already been sold, making it impossible to take back. They then think of creating counterfeits to sell for their shop, to get money exceeding the value of the tea pot. Who will deceive and who will be deceived? Will Saho win? money exceeding the value of the tea pot. Who will deceive and who will be deceived? Will Saho win?

Director Shinichiro Ueda may be familiar to regular readers thanks to his film One Cut of the Dead (2017) storming the international film festival circuit and scooping up lots of awards. Well, there’s a cinema playing a lot of his early films as well as one by his partner.

Mimikaki Randebu   Mimikaki Randebu Film Poster

耳かきランデブー Mimikaki Randebu

Running Time: N/A

Release Date: October 20th, 2017

Director:  Miyuki Fukuda

Writer: Miyuki Fukuda (Screenplay),

Starring: Pikari Shunbutei, Daisuke Kawashima, Jun Etoh, Makoto Kagawa, Megumi Hirosawa, Jun Murakami, Teppei Tomidokoro, Hiroshi Yamamoto,

Website IMDB

Synopsis: A lady who loves to pick her boyfriend’s ears finds a new person in a work colleague…

Tamae no supa harawata   Tamae no supa harawata Film Poster

たまえのスーパーはらわた Tamae no supa harawata

Running Time: 45 mins.

Release Date: October 20th, 2018

Director:  Shinichiro Ueda

Writer: Shinichiro Ueda (Screenplay),

Starring: Seigo Agatsuma, Momona Harukawa, Otake Hirohisa, Kazuma Ikeda, Ayano Kudo, Aya Murata, Yua Shiraishi,

Website IMDB

Synopsis: Girls high school student Tamae Urano wants to be a horror movie director. She lives in Saitama city which is made up from the old cities Urawa, Omiya, Yono, and Iwatsuki. When she gets the chance to direct a promotional video for Saitama City she plans to make a video in the form of a horror film and begins production, but faces a tough time because of disputes between the Urawa, Omiya and Iwatsuki districts of the city. Will Saitama unite as one team? Since I lived in Urawa, I want that area to win!

Confession Ranking of Girlfriend

彼女の告白ランキング Kanojo no kokuhaku rankingu

Running Time: 21 mins.

Release Date: September 14th, 2014

Director: Shinichiro Ueda

Writer: Shinichiro Ueda (Screenplay),

Starring: Yusuke Nakayama, Yuuki Enami, Akihiro Hashimoto, Kenji Kanezaki, Tomokazu Yamaguchi, Manabu Hosoi, Tomoyuki Ishiwake, Ryo Sakagawa,

Website IMDB

Synopsis: A man proposes to his girlfriend but before she can accept she must confess 17 things.

Take 8

テイク8 Teiku8

Running Time: 19 mins.

Release Date: October 10th, 2016

Director:  Shinichiro Ueda

Writer: Shinichiro Ueda (Screenplay),

Starring: Tateto Serizawa, Mayumi Yamamoto, Koji Muta, Tomokazu Yamaguchi, Yoshio Hosokawa, Ryuichi Fukushima,

Website IMDB

Synopsis: A film director working on a movie with the theme of marriage finds shooting one scene difficult when the actor portraying the bride, Akane, is unable to show up but the real father of Akane who was watching the scene enters as a substitute…

Neapolitan

ナポリタン Naporitan

Running Time: 19 mins.

Release Date: September 18th, 2016

Director:  Shinichiro Ueda

Writer: Shinichiro Ueda (Screenplay),

Starring: Ryuichi Fukushima, Yuzuki Akiyama, Koji Muta, Ryo Sakagawa, Manabu Hosoi, Emi Mori,

Website IMDB

Synopsis: Kawakami, an office worker who does not listen to people’s story, suddenly develops a strange affliction one day: the only word he can hear people saying when they speak is ‘Neapolitan’…

Last Wedding Dress

Running Time: 24 mins.

Release Date: 2014

Director:  Shinichiro Ueda

Writer: Shinichiro Ueda (Screenplay),

Starring: Ryuichi Fukushima, Yuzuki Akiyama, Koji Muta, Ryo Sakagawa, Manabu Hosoi, Emi Mori,

Website IMDB

Synopsis: 71-year-old Sadao Ueda has been married to his wife, 70-year-old Kotomi, for a long time but they feel they are nearing then end. He asks her if there is something she wants to do and she says, “I want to wear a wedding dress.” This was something she was unable to do during their wedding ceremony because they did not have money but now Sadao is willing to give Kotomi a wedding dress…

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After the Storm 海よりもまだ深く Dir: Hirokazu Koreeda (2016)

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After the Storm   

After the Storm Film Poster
After the Storm Film Poster

海よりもまだ深く 「Umi yori mo mada fukaku」

Release Date: May 21st, 2016

Running Time: 117 mins.

Director: Hirokazu Koreeda

Writer: Hirokazu Koreeda (Original Story, Screenplay)

Starring: Hiroshi Abe, Kirin Kiki, Lily Franky, Sosuke Ikematsu, Yoko Maki, Satomi Kobayashi, Isao Hashizume, Taiyo Yoshizawa

IMDB   Website

After the Storm is a story of everyday human failings and the constant hope for a better tomorrow that motivates us. Kore-eda cast a cadre of familiar actors who he had worked with in previous films including Kirin Kiki and Hiroshi Abe, both of whom were in Still Walking (2008) as mother and son Toshiko and Ryota. This family drama could be a sort of sequel to Still Walking due to similarities – Kiki’s character Toshiko (とし子) turns into Yoshiko (淑子) here while Abe’s character is named Ryota (良多) in both films – and callbacks likethe butterfly motif and it features a deceptive simpleness in its approach, a story of a family gathering made complex by tangled emotions tinged with bitter history.

The story follows Ryota (Hiroshi Abe). He is an easy-going fellow whose ego stays afloat on his past glory as a prize-winning author. Recent output has slowed to a trickle and despite an editor offering him work on a manga series he holds out for making worthy works of literature and tries to accrue ideas. To that end, and to pay his bills, he works as a private detective. Cases range from infidelity to missing pets. Unfortunately he gambles away the money he earns and so he can barely pay child support to his frustrated ex-wife Kyoko (Yoko Maki) and his loyal but level-headed young son Shingo (Taiyo Yoshizawa). Ryota seems to be drifting on the surface of life but everyone else is starting to swim in other directions away from him.

After the Storm Hiroshi Abe

After the death of his father, Ryota’s ageing mother Yoshiko (Kirin Kiki) is caught between contemplating her own mortality while she carries on her routines in her danchi apartment which she has spent 40 years in but recently she has developed a crush on a neighbour who she visits. Kyoko is a single-mother navigating the choppy waters of life and looking for stability and holding down a job and there is a well-to-do guy interested in her. Shingo is on the cusp of adolescence and beginning to become a responsible young man who will captain his own ship so Ryota isn’t a great example. However, a stormy summer night will place this fractured family in Yoshiko’s apartment and offer them the chance to truly bond again but to do that Ryota will have to dive deep into himself.

Far from being a contrived way to bottle characters up, Kore-eda, like the documentarian he is, spends time sifting through everyday scenes to explore the characters while naturally building up to this dramatic crescendo.

Storm warnings and discussions of family and life are laced into scenes of normality like Ryota eating onion rings in the fast-food chain Mos Burger with Shingo and swigging bottles of Calpis while traipsing around anonymous quiet suburban streets handing out flyers with Machida (Sosuke Ikematsu), a fellow private investigator. These quiet passages of a person’s life allow Ryota to display how he feels when not being judged and characters act like a mirror. We hear the fiction Ryota creates to justify his shabby behaviour and when his character traits foul him up we see the gap between the ideal Ryota holds and his reality.

Ryota sails through his life gambling and grumbling, spying on people and retreating to his room to half-heartedly work on his novel but we get big doses of truth when he visits his mother and talks over family history and Kyoko confronts him over his faithless attitude and the film’s dramatic undercurrents become plainer to see and we find that it is less about Ryota getting Kyoko back and more about him breaking a pattern of negative behaviour. He is ashamed of his own father’s faithless behaviour and the hurt it caused and ashamed over how he follows in the old man’s footsteps. Kore-eda has thus cleverly set-up the pre-storm sections to layer little story details that show us how people imprint themselves on others and understand how Ryota will have to sincerely face the depth of his love for his family and the bridge distance between his ideal self and where he currently is. These moments come to life thanks to the experienced actors.

It’s all in the eyes, where they look and what their gaze holds. Kiki has the glint of mischievousness that darts around and her quick wits, humour and a gently comedic physical presence make her charming. It all works with the camera to relay deep affection for her loved ones. As we listen to her aged voice throughout the film we believe there is an allayed cynicism and a depth of kindness and hope that could have been boundless if given the right circumstances. Life and a feckless husband got in the way (which acts as a warning to Ryota) but hope springs eternal and she has reasons to be positive and these come out in shared family time when she shows her earnest desires. The moment when she admits to Kyoko her hope for family harmony is so raw it strikes the heart.

Operating with her is Abe who has grown from a handsome model into a fine actor. His ageing face retains a sparkle of youthfulness but it also has a slight hang-dog look. It matches with his lanky frame which can be erratic for moments of shiftiness when he’s trying to dodge responsibilities such as paying child support and it fits when he’s downhearted and slumps around, normally when he has to admit he is sinking into a sea of mediocrity. What really roots the camera to him are the hopeful eyes that glisten with emotion as he gazes upon the people he cares about when forced to be sincere and shine with vigour and determination when he needs to show resolution and acceptance that times and people change and he has to as well.

Family history and moments of confrontation and confessions over behaviour feel organically created because of the performers and the script so the heart-to-heart moments and give the film emotional heft. You feel there is a deep bond between people and it comes through how individuals are supportive and show a desire to improve, how people can hang on to the best qualities of a person and love someone for how they can make them feel but there is also the grit of realism in how time and bad behaviour can wash these things away. At the end, what matters most is to understand our depth of emotion and swim for all we are worth. Hopefully to better places with people who care for us.

After the Storm Ryota and Yoshiko

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Sweet Bean あん Dir: Naomi Kawase (2015)

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Sweet Bean

An Sweet Red Bean Paste Film Poster
An Sweet Red Bean Paste Film Poster

あん 「An」

Release Date: May 30th, 2015

Running Time: 113 mins.

Director: Naomi Kawase,

Writer: Naomi Kawase (Screenplay), Tetsuya Akikawa (Original Novel),

Starring:  Masatoshi Nagase, Kirin Kiki, Kyara Uchida, Etsuko Ichihara, Miki Mizuno, Taiga, Wakato Kanematsu, Miyoko Asada.

Website   IMDB

Travelling through Japan is an amazing culinary experience because of the sheer amount of restaurants, stores and street food available in shotengai, yokocho and main streets. Everything from big chains to small stores selling a variety of things from tasteless but healthy jelly-like konyaku to the pastry-like manju (the greatest delicacy!!!) all cooked up and served by a variety of people. The most memorable encounters I had were usually old ladies with crooked backs bent from a lifetime of hard work. While they were cooking they would impart some of their experiences and what the food means and these experiences and informed how they cooked and made the food seem more meaningful and tasty than store-bought goods. It is this sort of thing that Naomi Kawase channels in her drama Sweet Bean which is based on a novel by Durian Sukegawa. It tells the tale of a melancholy cake shop owner who rediscovers his joie de vivre after meeting an exceptional person. It marries Kawase’s visual lyricism and penchant for making connections between humans and nature to a simple tale and works well.

Sweet beans, known as an in Japanese, is a wonderfully sweet-tasting thick substance made from adzuki beans and is a filling usually found in confections from doughnuts to the dorayaki as seen in this film. Dorayaki are like pancakes where the batter is poured onto a metal griddle and flipped with a spatula before the sweet bean filling is added.

We get to see this sizzling delight up close and when we encounter Sentarou (Masatoshi Nagase), or Sen-chan, as he is called by a gaggle of schoolgirls who frequent his dorayaki store and tease him for being glum. He is a man of few words with a saturnine expression who joylessly churns out dorayaki which taste a little off. He has a loyal customer named Wakana (Kyara Uchida), a girl about to enter high school who sticks around for the leftover dorayaki. She is in a battle with her mother who wants her to get a job instead of education to help with the finances. Sentarou’s store doesn’t make much money by the looks of it which may explain why he looks so sad as he listlessly interacts with his customers and cooks the same old lifeless dorayaki. When he advertises for help, he gets an offer from an older woman.

Wearing a cloche hat and a big grin, Tokue Yoshii (Kirin Kiki) wanders up but at 76 years-old she’s not exactly the ideal candidate considering the physical labour involved in cooking, something made more difficult by the fact she has mysteriously scarred hands. However, she refuses to take no for an answer and eventually wins Sentarou over when she gives him a tub of her own homemade red bean paste. Cue delightful sequences of the Tokue schooling the younger man in the art of cooking adzuki. They labour from the crack of dawn as they take fresh adzuki beans, soak them in water to get the bitterness out, drain waste water, boil them the adzuki while adding salt and sugar, and stir them into their final form then fill the dorayaki with the results before the store opens just as the afternoon approaches.

The sweet taste of Tokue’s red bean paste soon replaces the store-bought stuff that Sentarou previously used to fill the dorayaki and the confection becomes popular with local people and the dorayaki shop flourishes. Sentarou begin to look a little happier while Wakana and other customers also enjoy the presence of the chatty and charming lady. Of course, during such intense prep the two get to talking and Tokue discovers the surprising fact that Sentarou is a man without a sweet tooth and she also discovers that he is shackled to the store because of a secret debt linked to an incident that lies at the heart of his sadness. Tokue also has a secret linked to her scarred hands and as the truth about it gets around town she is forced to retreat from society. Sentarou and Wakana decide to search for her…

Both Sentarou and Tokue are outsiders in society and during the midsection of the film we see how they are isolated and what it means that they venture into each other’s orbit and show some humanity. His simple act of hiring Tokue and her philosophy on life and appreciating every aspect of being alive help the two become connected to the world again.

As is Kawase’s style nature features heavily and the changing seasons mark the passage of time. The location of the film, Higashimurayama in western Tokyo, features an abundance of cherry blossoms and the film is book-ended with beautiful sights and sounds as streets burst with life from all the showers of pink petals and sunshine and the start of a new school term with the sound of children laughing. Summer is spent with Tokue and Sentaro working hard and we feel the enthusiasm for cooking and meeting people while autumn and winter mark the end of things before there is renewal in spring again.

The cooking sections mesh well with the characters talking philosophically. Gentle urging from Tokue for the correct way to approach treating ingredients leads to lines like,bean paste is the soul of dorayaki”, which she will say as we see the sweet beans come to life. Their efforts take the form of omotenashii, a concept of hosting the ingredients – listening to them and treating them gently as they are turned into the filling. It is a caring and soulful way of looking at cooking and delivered with Kirin’s charming performance so it comes across as wise rather than folksy. We believe that her character’s 50 years of experience are shown in the hours it takes to prepare the food as we are given a lesson in the art of culinary craftsmanship from the delightful elderly lady who has boundless appreciation for living.

When Kawase wants to make a larger point about how people are connected to nature she crafts beautiful dreamlike sequences with Kirin walking through forests and her narration giving her character’s positive philosophy on life that celebrates the existence of all things. “We are brought into the world to listen to it. We each have meaning.” Lines like this can fall flat with other films but due to witnessing Tokue’s cooking tips given to Sentarou and the images Kawase conjures up it doesn’t feel pretentious here. We appreciate the flow of time and momentary connections that help characters grow, much like the appearance of cherry blossoms.

The performers are perfect for evincing the humanity of their characters through showing the purest and simplest of emotions such as friendship and sadness in expressive ways so we feel sympathy and understand how much each person helps the other out of their isolation. Nagase sells the stoic and mirthless Sentarou well and generates authentic force when his cryptic character breaks down while in the presence of Tokue. It gives the film a powerful burst of emotion in one key scene and an uplift at the end. Kyara Uchida, Kirin’s granddaughter, is good as Wakana. Kirin herself is truly charming as the vulnerable but relentlessly positive Tokue, an emotion we learn that has come from a tragic background. She is a lesson for everyone to appreciate life and seek it out, regardless of hardships.

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The Travelling Cat Chronicles, Black Dahlia, Oz Land, Bookmark, Under One Umbrella, Dreaming Novelist, A Cherry Boy’s Love, Yaru Onna: She’s a Killer, Eiga HUGtto! Pretty Cure Futari wa Pretty Cure: All Stars Memories, Exorcism of Mary Lamb, No Mark Bakuhaito, Stay with Me Till the Dawn Japanese Film Trailers

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Happy weekend!

After the Storm Ryota and Yoshiko

I hope everyone is well!

I’ve had a decent week what with work at the day job and getting film reviews done. I also managed to finish a book my sister bought for me which is cool. To be honest it was the first fiction book that I’ve finished in quite a while and so I feel good. Inspired. I posted reviews for After the Storm (2016) and Sweet Bean (2015) to highlight two great performances from Kirin Kiki. Halloween next week so stay tuned for a spooky film I’m going to review!

What is released this weekend?

The Travelling Cat Chronicles    The Travelling Cat Chronicles Film Poster

旅猫リポート Tabineko Ripo-to

Running Time: 118 mins.

Release Date: October 26th, 2018

Director: Koichiro Miki

Writer:  Hiro Arikawa (Novel and Screenplay), Emiko Hiramatsu (Screenplay)

Starring: Sota Fukushi, Mitsuki Takahata, Yuko Takeuchi, Alice Hirose

Website    IMDB

Synopsis: Satoru (Sota Fukushi) is a kind-hearted man who has adopted a stray cat named Nana (voiced by Mitsuki Takahata) but since he cannot keep it he has a mission: to find a new owner for Nana. The two travel around and meet various people such as his childhood friends and his first love and Nana begins to understand his owner more.

Black Dahlia   Black Dahlia Film Poster

黒蝶の秘密 Kokuchou no Himitsu

Running Time: 87 mins.

Release Date: October 26th, 2018

Director:  Masaaki Jindo

Writer: Naoko Takatsu (Screenplay),

Starring: Toshiyuki Someya, Erena Mizusawa, Mariya Nagao, Yuichi Nakamura, Ryo Iwamatsu, Jun Miho, Yuriko Hirooka, Nao Sakaki,

Website IMDB

Synopsis: Ryohei Toyama (Toshiyuki Someya) is a shy guy but gets promoted at work and moves to Tokyo where he rents a room in an apartment block introduced after getting advice from a man named Okazaki (Yuichi Nakamura), a real estate agent. Paintings of “Black Dahlia” are displayed in the building and there is a mysterious, beautiful woman named Maiko Saeki (Erena Mizusawa) who catches the eye of Toyama but he better be careful because some of the other residents are suspicious and the apartment he rents has an unexpected secret hidden.

Oz Land   Oz Land Film Poster

オズランド 笑顔の魔法おしえます。 Ozu rando Egao no maho oshiemasu

Running Time: 105 mins.

Release Date: October 26th, 2018

Director:  Takafumi Hatano

Writer: Erika Yoshida (Screenplay), Yoichi Komori (Original Novel),

Starring: Haru, Hidetoshi Nishijima, Ai Hashimoto, Amane Okayama, Motoki Fukami, Erika Asakura, Mari Hamada, Akira Emoto,

Website IMDB

Synopsis: Kurumi Namihiro (Haru) has landed a job with a big hotel chain and she thinks she’s going to be working for a fancy hotel but gets a big shock when she is transferred out into the sticks to Amusement Park Greenland. It is part of the hotel’s portfolio of businesses and a pretty place with lots of country and smiley, happy employees including Yoshiko Ozuka (Hidetoshi Nishijima), AKA the “Wizard”, a man with much success when it comes to running projects and some secrets. Kurumi is determined to make a good impression and be a success herself so she can move on but her curiosity over Ozuka may make her reconsider.

Bookmark   Bookmark Film Poster

Shiori

Running Time: 105 mins.

Release Date: October 26th, 2018

Director:  Yusuke Sakakibara

Writer: Yusuke Sakakibara, Yasunori Matake (Screenplay),

Starring: Takahiro Miura, Shinnosuke Abe, Sei Shiraishi, Reina Ikehata, Kaori Ikeda, Shingo Tsurumi,

Website IMDB

Synopsis: Masaya Takano (Takahiro Miura) is a physical therapist at a hospital. One day his father Minoru (Shingo Tsurumi) is brought in with an injury and the road to recovery is tough on both father and son but Masaya gets inspiration from a new patient who was injured during a rugby game and Masaya finds himself regaining his sense of purpose.

It stars Shinnosuke Abe who was in Ordinary Everyday (2017), a fantastic supernatural thriller.

Under One Umbrella   Under One Umbrella Film Poster

あいあい傘 Ai Ai Gasa

Running Time: 116 mins.

Release Date: October 26th, 2018

Director:  Takayuki Takuma

Writer: Takayuki Takuma (Screenplay),

Starring: Kana Kurashina, Tomoyo Harada, Hayato Ichihara, Anna Iriyama, Akio Kaneda, Masaru Nagai,

Website IMDB

Synopsis: Satsuki Takashima’s (Kana Kurashina) father Rokuro (Danshun Tatekawa) disappeared 25 years ago but she has tracked him down to a small village and she intends to take him home… only, he has changed his name and started a new life with a new family. Satsuki decides to meet these people…

Dreaming Novelist

恋する小説家 Koisuru shousetsuka

Running Time: 40 mins.

Release Date: 2011

Director:  Shinichiro Ueda

Writer: Shinichiro Ueda (Screenplay),

Starring: Norio Horiuchi, Yuzuki Akayama, Yuuki Okamoto, Shogo Kuzakami,

Website

Synopsis: An aspiring mystery writer named Tatsuo is suffering from writer’s block but when he gets a visit from a strange school girl claiming to be the main character of a novel and on a mission to save him, Tatsuo finds his inspiration also comes back…

A Cherry Boy’s Love    A Cherry Boy_s Love Film Poster

サクらんぽの恋 Sakuranbo no koi

Running Time: 117 mins.

Release Date: October 27th, 2018

Director:  Tomoyuki Furumaya

Writer: Yosuke Masaike, Tomoyuki Furumaya (Screenplay),

Starring: Daisuke Miyagawa, Yuki Sakurai, Takuya Kusakawa, Goki Maeda, Hinako Sano, Tokio Emoto, Mayumi Myosei, Daikichi Sugawara,

Website IMDB

Synopsis: Norio Yamakawa (Daisuke Miyagawa) is a singleton who works at a family restaurant and is, at the age of 45, a virgin. He prefers his own company and to relax he watches the works of AV actress Rio Onda (Yuki Sakurai). Watching her on screen is one thing but being in her physical presence is even better and so when she dashes into his apartment wearing nothing but a bathrobe, Norio finds his life changing…

Yaru Onna: She’s a Killer   Yaru Onna Film Poster

殺る女 Yaru Onna

Running Time: 84 mins.

Release Date: October 27th, 2018

Director: Keiji Miyano

Writer: Keiji Miyano (Screenplay),

Starring: Kang Ji-Young, Rina Takeda, Taro Suruga, Jake Zyrus,

Website IMDB

Synopsis: Aiko (Kang Ji-Young) is a hitwoman who is good at her job. She is driven by the memory of the murder of her family and seeks revenge on the man who committed it. Her only clue is a scorpion tattoo.

Eiga HUGtto! Pretty Cure Futari wa Pretty Cure: All Stars Memories    Eiga HUGtto! Pretty Cure Futari wa Pretty Cure All Stars Memories Film Poster

映画HUGっと!プリキュア・ふたりはプリキュア オールスターズメモリーズEiga HUGtto! Purikyua Futari Purikyua O-rusuta-zu Memori-zu

Release Date: October 27th, 2018

Running Time: 73 mins.

Director: Hiroshi Miyamoto

Writer: Junko Komura (Script)

Starring: Rie Hikisaki (Hana Nono), Youko Honna (Nagisa Misumi), Yukana (Honoka Yukishiro), Nao Tamura (Emiru Aisaki), Yui Ogura (Homare Kagayaki),

Animation Production: Toei Animation

Website  MAL Pretty Cure Wiki

Synopsis from the Pretty Cure Wiki:

We refuse to hand over everyone’s precious memories!!

Whwhwhat! Pretty Cure All Stars has suddenly gotten a lot smaller! And the reason for this is because Miden is aiming to steal the “Pretty Cure’s Memories”! Once their memories are stolen, it seems they’ll forget everything they’ve ever been through!? And all that remains is “HUGtto! Pretty Cure” and “Futari wa Pretty Cure” who are…in trouble!? I just can’t wrap my head around all this! So with our power combined, let’s go take back those shining precious memories!!

Exorcism of Mary Lamb   Shinmashi Film Poster

心魔師 Shinmashi

Running Time: 95 mins.

Release Date: October 27th, 2018

Director:  Yasumasa Konno

Writer: Yasumasa Konno, Hiroshi Gokan (Screenplay),

Starring: Toru Kizu, Karen Masaki, Yurei Yanagi, Shohei Abe, Naoto Takenaka, Megumi Kobashi, Riki Hanai,

Website IMDB

Synopsis: Yasumasa Konno has been mentioned on this blog before since he directed the Valentine Nightmare and Halloween Nightmare films. He’s back with a serial-killer thriller film where a cop named Imamura, is given a murder case involving a body was just found inside a plastic bag filled with blood. The clues lead to a small sanatorium where there are six patients.

No Mark Bakuhaito     No Mark Bakuhaito Film Poster

ノーマーク爆牌党 No-ma-ku Bakuhaito

Running Time: N/A

Release Date: October 27th, 2018

Director:  Akifumi Tomizawa

Writer: Akifumi Tomizawa (Screenplay), Masayuki Katayama (Original Work)

Starring: Akira Ishida, Yuuma Yamoto, Marina Nagasawa, Shota Takasaki, Akira Nagata, Ryo Mukuta,

Website

Synopsis: No Mark Bakuhaitou is based on a manga by Masayuki Katayama that was published from 1989 to 1997. The follows a mahjong player named Tanjuro Bakuoka who is one of the best in the game because he has mastered “bakutai” – reading the opponent’s hand and searching for the remaining pieces. He faces a new challenge from a player named Tomotsu.

Stay with Me Till the Dawn   Stay with Me Till the Dawn Film Poster

夜明けまで離さない Yoake made hanasanai

Running Time: 95 mins.

Release Date: October 27th, 2018

Director:  Toshiyuki Morioka

Writer: Hideki Shishido (Screenplay),

Starring: Yurika Akane, Kazuyuki Arai, Taketo Arai, Mayumi Asaka, Akio Hirose, Masahiko Koto, Mao Miyaji, Aki Morita,

Website IMDB

Synopsis: A love story between a hostess and a hitman who meet after an accidental encounter.

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That’s It  それだけ Dir: Gakuryu Ishii (2015)

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That’s It   

Soredake That's It Film Poster
Soredake That’s It Film Poster

それだけ 「Sore dake」

Release Date: May 27th, 2015

Running Time: 110 mins.

Director: Gakuryu Ishii

Writer: Kiyotaka Inagaki (Screenplay),

Starring: Shota Sometani, Erina Mizuno, Kiyohiko Shibukawa, Jun Murakami, Gou Ayano,

Website   IMDB

Gakuryu Ishii loves punk music and this film was inspired by the 1999 song “Sore dake” by Japanese rock band Bloodthirsty Butchers. The rest of the band’s music is also featured in the film which was released on May 27, 2015, two years to the day the Bloodthirsty Butchers’ lead singer Hideki Yoshimura died. With lyrics and chords adding to the energy of the proceedings, this is a shot of urban punk action with echoes of films from director Gakuryu’s earlier career.

The story is a crime thriller with a genre twist thrown in but it essentially follows a homeless kid named Samao Daikoku (Shota Sometani). Ever since his abusive father sold his birth certificate to gangsters he has been trapped in an underground life where he faces the choice of either working for criminals or starving on the streets. Without those papers, he cannot be a proper citizen of Japan. He is not alone since others such as a prostitute named Ami Nanmu (Erina Mizuno) are exploited by gang bosses like the information-broker Daikichi Ebisu (Kiyohiko Shibukawa) and the pimp Inogami (Jun Murakami). Samao breaks into Daikichi’s coin locker to steal money but finds a hard drive worth millions of yen because it is packed with the birthright papers as well as all sorts of other personal information that can be used for money. What follows is a cat-and-mouse game with Ebisu to get the info back but an even bigger gangster named Senju (Gou Ayano) is interested in getting that info to cement his control on the city…

Shot partly in black and white and with riotous energy and lots of sequences where people run around screaming, this is a departure from Gakuryu’s two previous films, Isn’t Anyone Alive (2012) – which featured Shota Sometani and Jun Murakami – and Flower of Shanidar (2013) – which starred Gou Ayano. It’s style when it is at its most exuberant may reminds fans of the director’s more anarchic punk works which had pared down narratives, a cocky swagger, and boundless energy. The location of the film is Kobe and it seems to have been recorded in the summer such are the use of frames affected by heat haze from the asphalt. Apart from a few scenes by the coast, the city is the main stage as the characters race through warrens of streets, warehouses and more with quick cutting and a soundscape full of strange ambient noise, and guitar feedback from the soundtrack that floats in and out of scenes to give things an industrial edge when the punk-rock isn’t roaring along.

After a break in the middle which features a little too much talking, the second half of the film races into an enjoyable series of action scenes. Shot in colour and with an eye for making the characters look cool the film picks up in energy after that break and becomes enjoyable and even surprising in its narrative turns. The mixture of camera tricks in both halfs feature floating dolly shots and rapid pans, a POV camera for when the film turns into a shooting gallery and they are all stitched together by sharp editing that knows how to keep the pace up.

Much like the visuals of the film are balanced so are the characters. Performances are all good with Sometani’s character being compelling since he is driven by explosive moments of violence while Ami is a counterbalance as a character who is all love and peace. Kiyohiko Shibukawa almost steals the show with his character Ebisu being played as a Puckish figure prone to fits of violence and politeness and always with a grin on his face while other mobster, Inugami, as played by Jun Murakami is all louche and ennui. Gou Ayano plays Senju as a monster and doesn’t fall flat in the role. His is a hard role to gauge and I am still not sure what to make of his performance.

There is a lot of invention in this film but that is typical for Gakuryu Ishii who has spent most of his career flitting between experimentalism and more straight features as well as CMs and music videos. The film feels like an attempt to refocus himself and rediscover his punk soul after Isn’t Anyone Alive (2012) and Flower of Shanidar (2013). If you are familiar with his work it might be easy to think of it as one part the black-and-white Crazy Thunder Road (1980) and one part Electric Dragon 80000 V (2001) and nothing like Angel Dust (1994) or August in the Water (1995) which were packed with metaphors and beautifully composed static-shots. Whether you are a fan of his early or late stuff or totally new to him, this is a solid thriller with some great shots and mean style and it flies by quickly.

Here is more on the song Sore dake lyrics and video:

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The Snow Woman 怪談雪女郎 Tokuzo Tanaka (1968)

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The traditional Halloween movie review is back and there’s a continuation from last year as we look at another film incarnation of the legendary Yuki Onna, only this time it’s from an older interpretation of the film.

The Snow Woman   Yuki Onna 1968 Film Poster

怪談雪女郎 「Kaidan yukijorô

Running Time: 79 mins.

Release Date: April 20th, 1968

Director:  Tokuzo Tanaka

Writer: Fuji Yahiro (Screenplay), Lafcadio Hearn (Novel)

Starring: Shiho Fujimura, Akira Ishihama, Machiko Hasegawa, Tatsuo Hanabu, Sen Hara, Yoshiro Kitahara,

IMDB

Yuki Onna has been a famous legend around Japan for centuries and has become a part of Japanese popular culture thanks to seminal works such as Lafcadio Hearn’s collection of folk-tales, Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange Things (1904), a book which went on to inspire Masaki Kobayashi’s omnibus horror film Kwaidan (1965).  Yuki Onna has had many film incarnations, some of which focus on her monstrousness while others look at her humanity and relation to nature like Kiki Sugino’s 2016 film of the same name. Here we get the mysterious and somewhat scary take as well as a rumination on the supernatural world and its relation on the world of people.

Long ago, on the border between Mino and Hida, where there is much snow, there circulated among the people who lived there, the legend of Yuki Onna…”

The film opens with this narration during a snow storm. We are treated to an extreme close-up of Yuki Onna’s golden eyes before a long shot of the shape of a person moving through the blizzard with howling wind as our soundtrack. From our distance it’s a hazy shape but we can just about see a white kimono and long black hair blending in with the flurries of snow that dazzle the camera. Yuki Onna is reputed to be the spirit of snow turned into a terrible witch and it can take possession of men and take their vitality away from them. Common villagers believe this legend and two common villagers will find she is more than a legend one night.

The elderly carpenter Shigetomo and his apprentice Yosaku are in a forest scouting out the finest tree on the land of the local bailiff because they have been commissioned by the local Buddhist temple to craft a statue of the deity Kannon, a bodhisattva who is associated with compassion and is is also known as the “Goddess of Mercy”. The two have had to trudge through snowy mountains and fields to get there. When they get caught in a brutal snow storm on their way back home, just as night descends and the temperatures drop even further, they spot a hut where they can take shelter. This is where Yuki Onna strikes.

The two men are asleep when the door to the hut creaks open with what sounds like a woman’s exhaling breath. The sound of the storm floods in as Yuki Onna floats in like a serene spirit. The interior suddenly becomes icy with her entrance. The camera pans around as it zeroes in on Yosaku who has awakened and watches as Yuki Onna floats to his master and breathes over him, covering the man’s body in frost. The camera pans over the inert body and the view drifts up to Yuki Onna and her yellow eyes as she looks across the room at Yosaku. It seems that he will be next as the spirit spies him staring at her but after approaching Yosaku, Yuki Onna says,

You… so young and so beautiful, I ahve decided that I will not kill you. But in return, you mustn’t tell anyone about what you saw today. Even your most intimate people…”

The Snow Woman 1968

Having warned the young man that speaking out will result in death, she departs into the night leaving him to slip into unconsciousness.

A few days later, Yosaku has recovered from the experience but is still haunted. Despite this he takes over from his dead master and is expected to work on the commission to craft a statue of Kannon. It is around this time that he meets a mysterious and beautiful woman named Yuki as she shelters from intense rains under the eaves of the house/workshop he shares with his master’s widow. The young man and woman fall in love and marry but her beauty is enough to capture the attention of the bailiff, a cruel bully, who begins to harass Yosaku to steal Yuki away from him just as his personal and professional life begin to bloom…

The film then slips into a pattern of establishing the feudal setting of the world Yosaku and Yuki inhabit and the interference of the bailiff. It shows the two attending festivals dedicated to nature, the influence of the Buddhist temples on people, and the power structures that allow people such as the bailiff and his samurai to roam about the place and bully others including beating up the elderly and children. This bunch of samurai abuse their positions because they have that power and they pay lip service to social mores and religious precepts that keep those less powerful in check. The wanton acts of cruelty are contrasted with the more restrained nature of Yuki Onna who blends in perfectly with the human world and lends succour in the form of her magic power to those in need of it, even as it leaves her drained and vulnerable. Through helping others she learns how to be a more compassionate and merciful person and she also enjoys love and the milk of human kindness so while her essential nature still remains and she still freezes people, it’s only people who discover what she is rather than random souls caught in snow storms.

The world of humans and the supernatural link at so many points and not just death as acknowledged by festivals and traditions which allow all sorts of interactions to take place.

Japan, due to its agrarian past and Shintoism has a whole array of spirits that manifest themselves in nature and Yuki Onna is just one of them. Spirituality in Japan is open and flexible allowing Shintoism and Buddhism to co-exist and the film shows how they intersect through Yuki Onna’s emergence from nature, her presence in Yosaku’s life and the rustic village they inhabit and the conflict that emerges when humans try to exercise their power over her through unjust actions. Yosaku’s dedication to his craft and his Buddhist principals shadow the two characters happy lives and portends the ending which helps to define the story just as much as adding tension to the film. The horror parts soon arrive to chill the audience.

Tokuzo Tanaka’s direction favours slow build up. The whole middle section after Yuki Onna’s first manifestation is world building and hints at her magical powers while maintaining believable and relatable character growth as she goes from legendary monster in the first frame to a sympathetic character full of love. When threatened, her original nature comes to the fore and Tanaka makes her a scary presence.

As delightful and dutiful as she is as a wife, she has a fierceness that comes out at moments, usually initiated by a man transgressing social boundaries and threatening to reveal her supernatural side.

When she lets loose her supernatural fury the set changes as people slip between the human and supernatural world. Snow blows into scenes and the interiors of houses freeze over before turning into arctic wastelands. She is framed in close-ups, her ghostly face and her piercing golden gaze holding the attention of victims and audience members alike. The camera often zooms in on her face and the faces of her victims and it always begins and ends with the eyes, her piercing golden eyes attention-riveting. She moves with an unearthly poise and grace at a slow speed as her victims find themselves unable to flee. It’s a beautiful and scary spectacle.

The Snow Woman

For all of her fierceness however, Yosaku would not be able to finish the statue of Kannon had he not glimpsed true compassion and love from Yuki Onna. For while he could construct the body of the statue, seeing the love and mercy in his wife’s face after she has sacrificed so much for others and learned to be compassionate herself inspires him to new artistic heights and imbues the statue of Kannon with deeply felt meaning.

Even if you know how the legend ends, the finale is still very powerful because a lot of the prior scenes are used as evocative moments to emphasise Yuki Onna as a loving mother and wife and not just a creature bound to her nature and going about freezing people. She made the conscious choice to love and be loved. The film has a tragic element to it as our titular ghost and her human husband, having found true compassion and love with each other, find the supernatural world and the human one don’t coexist easily. Or maybe they do and men, weak-willed as we are, find some way to disrespect and ruin it. The film is beautiful, well shot, and offers plenty to think about as well as its heartfelt ending.

That’s it for this year’s review. It ballooned more than I thought it would since I wrote it at a time when I was turning in 900 words reviews. Thanks for reading it and HAPPY HALLOWEEN.

Since starting the Halloween reviews, I have covered Nightmare DetectiveStrange CircusShokuzaiPOV: A Cursed Film, Charisma, Don’t Look Up, and Snow Woman (2016). 

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10 Years Japan, Biblia Used Bookstore Casebook, Sumaho o Otoshita dake, Run! T High School Basketball Club, Uchuu Senkan Yamato 2202: Ai no Senshi-tachi Chapter 6 “Kaisei-hen”, No Where, Now Here, Nekkyo Sengen, K SEVEN STORIES Episode 5 「Memory of Red BURN」, Simple gift haimari no utagoe, Tetsuya Kumagawa K Ballet Company “Coppelia” in Cinema, The Darkness of Pure White, Bokemasukara, yoroshiku onegaishimasu, Boku ha boku, kujira ha kujira de, oyoide iru Japanese Film Trailers

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Happy weekend, everyone!

The Snow Woman 1968

I hope you are well!

Interesting week at work insofar as a new exhibition has opened and I’ve had a nice time introducing art to people whilst doing my regular job. I also met a progressive young artist who I think I had good chemistry with which inspires hope and I had a bunch of great conversations with trusted workmates. Still, I’ve got to do something more with my time…

I watched a whole grip of Japanese films although the horror film I chose for Halloween was a Japanese found footage film that sent me to sleep. I posted reviews for Snow Woman (1968) and Sore dake (2015). 

What is released this weekend?

10 Years Japan    Ten Years Japan Film Poster

十年Ten Years Japan Juunen Ten Years Japan

Running Time:99 mins.

Release Date: November 03rd, 2018

Producer: Hirokazu Kore-eda

Website IMDB

Three years ago, we had the award-winning indie omnibus film 10 Years Hong Kong (wikipedia) which offered some speculative fiction about the island territory’s future 10 years in the future. It was made at the time of student protests over the encroaching power of Mainland China so the stories have a mostly dystopian setting. Other Asian countries have got in on the act with Thailand and now Japan being up next.

Here, Hirokazu Kore-eda helps produce the stories of five young directors who bring different episodes together into one film that will be released in November.

The Air We Can’t See (Sono Kuki wa Mienai その空気は見えない)

Director: Akiyo Fujimura

Writer: Akiyo Fujimura (Screenplay)

Starring: Chizuru Ikewaki

Akiyo Fujimura was at the 2016 Osaka Asian Film Festival with Eriko Pretended (2016), a drama that got great reviews. I saw one of her short films recently and was impressed by the drama. Her story is about a girl named Mizuki who has been forced to relocate underground with the rest of the population of Japan due to pollution. She dreams of the surface world when one of her friends goes missing.

Four Our Beautiful Country (Utsukushii Kuni 美しい国)

Director: Kei Ishikawa

Writer: Kei Ishikawa (Screenplay)

Starring: Taiga, Hana Kino

Kei Ishikawa is probably famous for Gukoroku – Traces of Sin (2017), a disturbing crime drama. Here he is examining a Japan with conscription into the military is compulsory for everyone and the moral dilemma an advertising agency worker named Watanabe has when he is given the assignment of designing a poster.

PLAN 75

Director: Chie Hayakawa

Writer: Chie Hayakawa (Screenplay)

Starring: Satoru Kawaguchi, Kinuwo Yamada, Kazue Mitani, Motomi Makiguchi,

This story takes place in a Japan struggling to cope with the elderly. The government implements Plan 75 whereby elderly people who are sick or poor are recommended for death by public officials. One man, Itami, struggles with this while his wife is dealing with her own mother who has Alzheimer’s.

Mischievous Alliance (Itazura Domei いたずら同盟)

Director: Yusuke Kinoshita

Writer: Yusuke Kinoshita (Screenplay)

Starring: Jun Kunimura, Seiya Okawa, Bako Tsujimura, Ryu Nakano,

A group of schoolboys living in an area that has been transformed into a special IT zone play a prank on an old horse that is about to be put down.

DATA

Director: Megumi Tsuno

Writer: Megumi Tsuno (Screenplay)

Starring: Hana Sugisaki, Tetsushi Tanaka, Oshiro Maeda, Masaki Miura,

A girl inherits the digital memories of her mother and discovers a different side to her.

Biblia Used Bookstore Casebook   Memory of Antique Books Film Poster

ビブリア古書堂の事件手帖 Biblia Koshodo no Jiken Techou

Running Time: 121 mins.

Release Date: November 01st, 2018

Director:  Yukiko Mishima

Writer: Ryohei Watanabe, Kana Matsui (Screenplay), En Mikami (Original Novel),

Starring: Haru Kuroki, Shuhei Nomura, Masahiro Higashide, Ryo Narita, Kaho,

Website IMDB

Synopsis: There is a book store in Kamakura where old, rare and special books are collected by Shioriko Shinokawa (Haru Kuroki) and her assistant Daisuke Goura (Shuhei Nomura), a young man with an unusual condition that prevents him from reading books. They find their store targeted by a mysterious person searching for a specific book.

Sumaho o Otoshita dake    Sumaho o Otoshita dake Film Poster

スマホを落としただけなのに Sumaho o Otoshita dake

Running Time: 116 mins.

Release Date: November 02nd, 2018

Director:  Hideo Nakata

Writer: Tetsuya Oishi (Screenplay), Akira Shiga (Original Novel),

Starring: Keiko Kitagawa, Yudai Chiba, Ryo Narita, Miwako Kakei, Kenta Sakai, Jun Kaname, Taizo Harada, Kei Tanaka,

Website IMDB

Synopsis: Asami Inaba (Keiko Kitagawa) finds her life flipped upside down when her boyfriend leaves his smartphone in a taxi and a mysterious man starts spreading all sorts of information on social media. Worse is to come when she gets involved in a strange murder case when a young woman’s body is found in the mountains…

Run! T High School Basketball Club   Run! T High School Basketball Club Film Poster

走れ!T校バスケット部 Hashire! T Ko Basuketto Bu

Running Time: 115 mins.

Release Date: November 03rd, 2018

Director:  Takeshi Furusawa

Writer: Koji Tokuda (Screenplay), Hiroshi Matsuzaki (Original Novel),

Starring: Jun Shison, Hayato Sano, Akari Hayami, Junki Tozuka, You, Kippei Shiina, Naoto Takenaka, Yudai Chiba, Katsuhiro Suzuki,

Website IMDB

Synopsis: Yoichi Tadokoro (Jun Shison) used to be the captain of his middle school basketball team. He enters a private high school on a scholarship. The basketball team at the high school is strong. Yoichi gets bullied at his high school and decides to transfer. His new school is named “T School.” He joins the basketball team there, but there are not very good. The “T School” team will go up against his previous private high school team.

Uchuu Senkan Yamato 2202: Ai no Senshi-tachi Chapter 6Kaisei-hen”    Uchuu Senkan Yamato 2202 Ai no Senshi-tachi Chapter 6 “Kaisei-hen” Film Poster

宇宙戦艦ヤマト2202 愛の戦士たち 第六章「回生篇」Uchuu Senkan Yamato 2202: Ai no Senshi-tachi “Kaisei-hen

Release Date: November 02nd, 2018

Running Time: 98 mins.

Director: Nobuyoshi Habara

Writer: Harutoshi Fukui (Screenplay),

Starring: Daisuke Ono (Susumu Kodai), Takayui Sugo (Juzo Okita), Noriko Kuwashima (Yuki Mori), Kenichi Suzumura (Daisuke Shima), Aya Uchida (Yuria Misaki), Rina Sato (Makoto Kato), Aya Hisakawa (Kaoru Niimi),

Website    MAL    ANN

Synopsis from ANN: Three years after the Yamato’s return from the planet Iscandar. The people of Earth restored their planet with the Cosmo Reverse System, and they signed a peace treaty with Garmillas. In addition to reconstruction, Earth developed a new defense fleet that includes the state-of-the-art battleship Andromeda. The Earth goes down a path of military expansion, despite Starsha Iscandar’s wishes. The Yamato helps accomplish this so-called peace, but it comes at the price of many invaluable sacrifices. The goddess Teresa, who prays for tranquility in space, calls the Yamato to a new voyage. The threat of Gatlantis is sweeping over the universe and approaching Earth.

No Where, Now Here   No Where Now Here Film Poster

どこでもない、ここしかない Doko demonai kko shikanai

Running Time: 90 mins.

Release Date: November 03rd, 2018

Director:  Lim Kah-wai

Writer: Lim Kah Wai (Screenplay), Hiroshi Matsuzaki (Original Novel),

Starring: Ferdi Lutviji, Nurdan Lutviji, Dejan Pesic, Anja Kyrmyza, Avgust Krsnik,

Website IMDB

Synopsis: Ferdi is an ethnic Turk who runs guest houses and apartments in Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia. He has earned a lot of money from the tourism and real estate boom over the past few years and has had the help of his wife Nurdan but despite her faithfulness and his adherence to Islam, he chases single women who stay at his properties. Nurdan cannot endure Ferdi’s callous treatment of her and after a confrontation, she leaves. Ferdi gradually becomes aware of how much her existence is important to him and decides to go back to her home-town in Macedonia. Will he be able to win back her love or has Nurdan checked out of their marriage for good?

Nekkyo Sengen   Nekkyo Sengen Film Poster

熱狂宣言 Nekkyo Sengen

Running Time: 75 mins.

Release Date: November 04th, 2018

Director:  Kazuyoshi Okuyama

Writer: N/A

Starring: Atsuhisa Matsumura

Website

Synopsis: Atsuhisa Matsumura is a successful company president who operates many restaurants, wedding venues, and amusement venues and he employs thousands of people. He was recently diagnosed with Parkinson’s and so we see him from the perspective of his employees who were given cameras and allowed to record him.

K SEVEN STORIES Episode 5 Memory of Red BURN」    K SEVEN STORIES Episode 5 「Memory of Red BURN」 Film Poster

K SEVEN STORIES Episode5 「メモリー ・オブ・ レッド BURN

Release Date: November 03rd, 2018

Running Time: 64 mins.

Director: Shingo Suzuki

Writer: Azano Kouhei (Screenplay), GoRA, GoHands (Original Creator)

Starring: Kenjiro Tsuda (Mikoto Suoh), Takahiro Sakurai (Izumo Kusanagi), Yuuki Kaji (Tatara Totsuka), Yui Horie (Anna Kushina), Jun Fukuyama (Misaki Yata), Yuichi Nakamura (Rikio Kamamoto),

Animation Production: GoHands

Website   ANN MAL K Wiki ANN Honey

Synopsis: Mikoto Suoh is the Red King and he possesses a strong personality and many abilities that make him dangerous. He is fire personified. His clan is strong and he wants the members to be more than soldiers, they must become family and so they are fiercely loyal to each other. This film is their story.

Simple gift haimari no utagoe   Simple gift haimari no utagoe Film Poster

シンプル・ ギフト はじまりの歌声 Shinpuru gifuto haimari no utagoe

Running Time: 90 mins.

Release Date: November 03rd, 2018

Director:  Shinji Shinoda

Writer: N/A

Starring: John Caird, Tamai Yoshiomi, Kento Ito, Maria Kusaka, Sharon, Pius, Anitah, Samantha Smith, Miranda Reese, Christine Howlett,

Website

At a time when we’re all arguing and trying to kill each other and throw borders up, a documentary reminding us that we can actually take all that energy and money and use it to help others and yes, it isn’t simple, but let’s try something different because what we’re doing now just isn’t working. And art helps out a lot!

Synopsis from the official website: About a century ago, the novel Daddy-Long-Legs came out in the United States. A Japanese person inspired by the book collected 100 billion yen in donations over 50 years, and has continued to provide educational support for 100,000 orphaned children. That man, now over 80 years old, has targeted poverty-stricken Africa as “the last big job of his life”. He believes that motivated young Africans can study at universities in developed countries and if they eventually return to their home country and participate in nation-building, such contributions will surely lead to the eradication of poverty. But to accomplish that, worldwide support is needed. So he came up with a stunning PR strategy-to persuade the great theatre director of the musical, Les Miserables, to hold a Broadway concert in New York. Uganda’s AIDS orphans, the Great East Japan Earthquake tsunami orphans, the American college chorus that became a model for the novel-all those who appeared in the performance, were amateurs. However, they received a standing ovation at the end of the deeply moving performance. This is a story of the four years in which the characters learned what was important in life and grew enormously.

Tetsuya Kumagawa K Ballet Company “Coppelia” in Cinema      Tetsuya Kumagawa K Ballet Company “Coppelia” in Cinema Film Poster

熊川哲也 Kバレエ カンパニー 「コッペリア」 in Cinema Kumakawa tetsuya K barē kanpanī `Kopperia’ in Cinema

Running Time: N/A

Release Date: January 06th, 2018

Director: Tetsuya Kumakawa

Writer: N/A

Starring: Mina Kobayashi, Masaya Yamamoto, Stuart Cassidy,

Website

Synopsis:  This is the eighth in a series of films that bring the performances of the Kumagawa Tetsuya K Ballet Company to the cinema screen. The performance took place in May of this year and it is a rendition of “Coppelia”. The story of this ballet is set in a village in Europe in the middle of the 19th century. An inventor named Coppelius creates a mechanical doll modelled on his ideal woman – the most beautiful girl in the village. Her sweetheart gets confused when he sees the doll…

Bokemasukara, yoroshiku onegaishimasu   Bokemasukara, yoroshiku onegaishimasu Film Poster

ぼけますから、よろしくお願いします。 Bokemasukara, yoroshiku onegaishimasu

Running Time: 102 mins.

Release Date: November 03rd, 2018

Director:  Naoko Nobutomo

Writer: N/A

Starring: N/A

Website

Synopsis: Award-winning television and film director Naoko Nobutomu looks at her parents in this documentary. Her mother has dementia and her father is distant from her. They still live in Kure City, Hiroshima Prefecture, while Nobutomo has lived in Tokyo for nearly 40 years and has focussed on her career instead of marrying. Mother and daughter were in a documentary together and that subject was breast cancer the director suffered. Her mother helped her overcome that illness and so this film is an emotional follow-on and a moment to get to know her father as he cares for the mother.

Good to see a long-lived marriage with a happy couple.

Boku ha boku, kujira ha kujira de, oyoide iru   Boku ha boku, kujira ha kujira de, oyoide iru Film Poster

ボクはボク、クジラはクジラで、泳いでいる。 Boku ha boku, kujira ha kujira de, oyoide iru

Running Time: 117 mins.

Release Date: November 03rd, 2018

Director:  Tomoyuki Fujiwara

Writer: Makoto Kikuchi (Screenplay)

Starring: Rina Takeda, Masato Yano, Rei Okamoto, Takuma Sueno, Orie Akiyoshi, Shin Nagahama,

Website

Synopsis: Taiji town in Wakayama prefecture is the location for a film about young people trying to draw more people to a museum dedicated to whales and other sea creatures. They need an increase in visitor numbers of the place will be shit down!!! They get help from all sorts of places including a lady with connections to an aquarium in Tokyo.

The Darkness of Pure White   Masshiro no Yami Film Poster

まっ白の闇 Masshiro no Yami

Running Time: 115 mins.

Release Date: November 03rd, 2018

Director:  Masafumi Uchiya

Writer: Masafumi Uchiya (Screenplay/Original Work)

Starring: Saku Momose, Ryota Ozawa, Kuniharu Tokunaga, Asami Shinohara, Takehiro Murata, Juri, Eri Mitsuto,

Website

Synopsis: Masafume Uchiya’s movie is about a guy who gets sucked into the world of drugs thanks to his brother. Said brother regrets this and tries to get him out.

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