Welcome to the weekend.
I hope everyone is feeling good.
My coverage of some of the festival films screened in New York is over so I’ve got time to do other things like read books and practice Japanese. Well, instead of doing that, I watched a bunch of Seijun Suzuki films!
Anyway, here the week started with the publishing of an interview I did with Takuji Suzuki, the director of the film Randen: The Comings and Goings on a Kyoto Tram. I did it at the Osaka Asian Film Festival. It was also published on VCinema. I then followed that up with news on Naomi Kawase coming to the UK in September to take part in the Open City Documentary Festival where she will present her films and an extended talk and Q&A. The final post of the week was a review of The Gun which screened at the New York Asian Film Festival.
What is released this weekend?
Melancholic 
メランコリック 「Merankorikku」
Release Date: August 02nd, 2019
Duration: 113 mins.
Director: Seiji Tanaka
Writer: Seiji Tanaka (Screenplay),
Starring: Yoji Minagawa, Yoshitomo Isozaki, Mebuki Yoshida, Makoto Hada, Hiroko Shinkai, Keiji Yamashita, Takanori Minagawa
Seiji Tanaka’s debut feature Melancholic won him a share of the best director prize in the Japanese Cinema Splash section at last years Tokyo International Film Festival (Masaharu Take also won for his film, The Gun (2018) which played at the New York Asian Film Festival) and one can see why as it manages to combine a number of tones and genres to create a film that feels fresh and original as well as socially conscious and it has a great performance by Yoji Minegawa. It’s a real treat with a great lead performance from Yoji Minagawa. It played at this year’s Japan Cuts where it went down well with audiences. Here’s my review.
Synopsis: Kazuhiko (Yoji Minagawa) graduated from the prestigious halls of Tokyo University you would expect him to be in some high-flying job but since leaving academia he has moved back home with his parents and lived the life of a slacker. A chance encounter with a girl he knew at high school at a bathhouse leads to him taking a job there as an attendant and he quite likes it, not least because he can talk to the girl. However, what seems like a normal onsen turns out to be a killing space for yakuza-ordered hits and when Kazuhiko stumbles upon this he ends up getting dragged into the criminal underworld…
Dragon Quest: Your Story 
ドラゴンクエスト ユア・ストーリー 「Doragon Kuesuto Yua Suto-ri-」
Release Date: August 02nd, 2019
Duration: 103 mins.
General Director: Takashi Yamazaki, Director: Ryuichi Yagi, Makoto Hanafusa
Writer: Jun’ichi Fujisaku (Screenplay), Yuuji Horii (Original Creator)
Starring: Takeru Satoh (Ruka), Takayuki Yamada (Papasu), Kasumi Arimura (Bianca), Kentaro Sakaguchi (Prince Harry), Ken Yasuda (Pusan), Haru (Flora)
Synopsis: When Ryuka was a young boy, he travelled with his father, Papasu, in order to save his mother, Martha, who was taken away by the demons led by the mage Gema. Unfortunately, during a battle, Papasu perishes and Ryuka is left to fend for himself. Ten years later, Ryuka has become a different person, a fighter and adventurer in his father’s mould. When he discovers the old man’s diary he gains a new determination to save his mother…
Yojouhan Trilogy (when you say yojouhan, I think Tatami Galaxy)
Ikebukuro’s Cinema Rosa hosts screenings of short and medium-length films made over the last two years by the director Tomoyuki Ito while he worked on the NHK Education slot with the show “Shakiin!” and at a film school. Here’s where to find more info:
Yasashii shatsu kanatasoutarou no tabi
優しいシャツ カナタソウタロウの旅 「Yasashii shatsu kanatasoutarou no tabi」
Release Date: 2017
Duration: 18 mins.
Director: Tomoyuki Ito
Writer:
Starring: Kohei Mori, Kei Imai, Mizuki Ooeda, Erika Oota, Souichiro Tanaka, Yuki Sugawara, Miho Suzumasa, Yoko Hattori,
Synopsis: Tomoyuki Ito met actors at a workshop and made this is short film in an apartment in Koenji, Tokyo.
The Devil’s Dance 
悪魔の舞を手に入れし者 「Akuma no mai o te ni ireshi mono」
Release Date: August 03rd, 2019
Duration: 18 mins.
Director: Tomoyuki Ito
Writer: Jun’ichi Fujisaku (Screenplay),
Starring: Kohei Mori, Kei Imai, Mizuki Ooeda, Erika Oota, Souichiro Tanaka, Yuki Sugawara,
Synopsis: More action from the apartment.
Emoshonaruremon tabidachi wa itsumo remon no aji ga suru, anata wa don’na aji ga suru?
エモーショナルレモン 旅立ちはいつもレモンの味がする、あなたはどんな味がする？ 「Emoshonaruremon tabidachi wa itsumo remon no aji ga suru, anata wa don’na aji ga suru?」
Release Date: August 03rd, 2019
Duration: 46 mins.
Director: Tomoyuki Ito
Writer:
Starring: Kikuyo, Kei Imai, Kyuichiro Nakayama, Souichiro Tanaka, Yuki Sugawara,
Synopsis: A sequel to the apartment antics.
Give Me the Sun 
太陽がほしい 劇場版 「Taiyou ga hoshii gekijouban」
Release Date: August 03rd, 2019
Duration: 108 mins.
Director: Tomoyuki Ito
Writer: N/A
Starring: Kikuyo, Kei Imai, Kyuichiro Nakayama, Souichiro Tanaka, Yuki Sugawara,
Synopsis: The director of this film has made documentaries about Chinese “comfort women” in the past. This work recorded the testimonies of seven women who were subjected to sexual violence by the Japanese Army during World War II. It is estimated that over 100 thousand women were taken to be “comfort women” but what is little known about are the “bunker women” who were trapped in fortified bunkers and farmhouses. Seven ex-Japanese Army soldiers and a handful of Chinese collaborators testify in the film about what happened. More importantly, some of the women who were subjected to this horrific treatment were given the chance to testify. Find out more about the film on the IMDB page.
Tokyo Trial – International Military Tribunal for the Far East 4K Digital Restoration 
東京裁判 「Tokyo Saiban」
Original Release Date: June 04th, 1983
Duration: 277 mins.
Director: Masaki Kobayashi
Writer: Masaki Kobayashi, Kiyoshi Ogasawara, Shun Inagaki (Story),
Starring: Kei Sato
Synopsis: A chronicle of the International Military Tribunal for the Far East that held the generals and politicians who took Japan to war accountable for their actions. It was put together from half a million feet of Pentagon film dealing with the Tribunal and the war.
Dear Mr. Yasuo Otsuka
飄々 拝啓、大塚康生様 「Hyōhyō haikei, ōtsuka yasuo-sama」
Release Date: August 03rd, 2019
Duration: 66 mins.
Director: Hidenori Ushiro
Writer:
Starring: Yasuo Otsuka, Masaki Oosumi, Yoichi Kotabe, Atsuko Tanaka,
Synopsis: Yasuo Otsuka is a veteran animator who worked with the likes of Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahataon films like The Little Norse Prince, Panda Kopanda and Lupin III. The film gathers testimonies from people who knew him, including Takahata. It will be screened at the cinema Yuziku Asagaya in August 2019. I used to live about a 15 minute walk away from there.
Summer Girl 
夏少女 「Natsu Shoujo」
Release Date: 1996
Duration: 90 mins.
Director: Tokihisa Morikawa
Writer: Akira Hayasaka (Screenplay),
Starring: Kaori Momoi, Kanbei Hazama, Asako Yazaki, Takashi Fujioka, Hitomi Kageyama,
Synopsis: Apparently, this film was completed in 1996 but has not been released ever. This is the first theatrical release. It is a fantasy depicting the encounter a 12-year-old boy named Mamoru has with a beautiful girl who seems to link Hiroshima’s past and present. Mamoru lives on a small island in the Seto Inland Sea with a population of 3000. Mamoru’s mother is a captain on a postal ship, and his father runs a general store and each carries the scars of war. Mamoru’s days are quiet but filled with history and emotions that are locked up until the beautiful girl shows up…
Watashitachi ha, 
私たちは、 「Watashitachi ha,」
Release Date: August 03rd, 2019
Duration: 67 mins.
Director: Yuu Katsumata
Writer: Yuu Katsumata (Script),
Starring: Takeuchi Shino, Koko, Kanae Hirohashi, Miyabi Mizuhara, Ami Yuuki, Kanon Hanakage, Reina Fuji,
Synopsis: A movie / documentary that depicts the days of five high school girls. The first half is a documentary depicting the efforts of the five girls who will be part of the cast to be part of the film. The second half is the short film part, a youth road movie that depicts the journey of five girls who hate acting as adults, which they play.