Welcome to the weekend, everyone.
I hope you are well.
I’ve spent less time this week watching films since I’ve been doing a little more press and social media for the Kotatsu Japanese Animation Festival and working my regular job. I’ve put together posts about the London Film Festival and the Kotatsu Festival for this week.
What films are released this weekend?
Startup Girls 
スタートアップ・ガールズ 「Suta-toappu Ga-ruzu」
Release Date: September 06th, 2019
Duration: 93 mins.
Director: Chihiro Ikeda
Writer: Izumi Takahashi (Screenplay) Yutaka Kono (Novel)
Starring: Mone Kamishiraishi, Hirona Yamazaki, Meisha Brooks, Koji Yamamoto,
Synopsis: Two women with different philosophies on life meet in this film when free-spirited university student named Hikari creates a startup company which gets invested in by a big company the more straitlaced Nozomi works in. She is someone who has always followed the “correct” path, giving up on many things to make a stable life and advance her career. They don’t get along at first but soon begin to understand that they can integrate each other’s values into the way they work.
Violet Evergarden Side Story: Eternity and the Auto Memories Doll 
ヴァイオレット・エヴァーガーデン 外伝 –永遠と自動手記人形– 「Baioretto Eba-ga-den Gaiden: Eien to Jidou Shuki Ningyou」
Release Date: September 06th, 2019
Duration: 100 mins.
Director: Haruka Fujita
Writer: Takaaki Suzuki, Tatsuhiko Urahata (Screenplay), Reiko Yoshida (Series Composition), Kana Akatsuki (Original Creator)
Starring: Yui Ishikawa (Violet Evergarden), Aoi Yuuki (Taylor Bartlett), Minako Kotobuki (Isabella York), Aya Endo (Cattleya Baudelaire), Takehito Koyasu (Claudia Hodgins),
Animation Production: Kyoto Animation
This side story to the television series is a forerunner to the theatrical film that gets released next year. The arson attack at Kyoto Animation was devastating and the company is still recovering while working on their projects. This film was finished the day before the fire and all of the staff involved are listed in the credits as living proof that they existed.
Synopsis: Following the end of the Great War, Violet Evergarden, a young girl raised to destroy the enemy, was left with a shattered body and only words from the person she held dearest, but with no understanding of their meaning. She finds new purpose acting as an “Auto Memory Doll,” amanuenses that transcribe people’s thoughts and feelings into words on paper and travels the world in an adventure that will reshape the lives of her clients and hopefully lead to self-discovery.
In this film she meets Isabella, the heir to a noble house who attends a school for well-groomed young women, under a “contract” with her father. Isabella feels like a bird in a gilded cage and has given up hope for her future but an encounter with Violet gets her to reconsider things.
Sleep in the Shadows / Kage ni dakerete nemure 
影に抱かれて眠れ 「Kage ni dakerete nemure」
Release Date: September 06th, 2019
Duration: 108 mins.
Director: Masahide Ichii
Writer: Masahide Ichii (Screenplay)
Starring: Masaya Kato, Toshio Matsumoto, Shinsuke Katou, Asami Kumakiri, Kimiko Yo, Shohei Hino,
Synopsis: Fuyuki is an artist who runs two bars in Yokohama. One day, he gets involved with his hero, Shinji, a member of a charity group which looks after troubled young girls. Shinji has been hurt by Yakuza for helping an underage girl out of their prostitution business. While this is going on, Fuyuki learns that his beloved Kyoko has a very short time to live and he feels a strong desire to express his love for her in a painting…
Kaguya-sama: Love Is War 
かぐや様は告らせたい～天才たちの恋愛頭脳戦～ 「Kaguya-sama wa Kokurasetai: Tensaitachi no Renai Zunosen」
Release Date: September 06th, 2019
Duration: 113 mins.
Director: Hayato Kawai
Writer: Yuichi Tokunaga (Screenplay), Aka Akasaka (Manga)
Starring: Sho Hirano, Kanna Hashimoto, Hayato Sano, Natsumi Ikema, Nana Asakawa, Mayu Hotta, Jiro Sato, Masahiro Takashima
Synopsis: There is an elite high school that the smartest students in Japan attend and the best of the best run the school’s student council. The president is Miyuki Shirogane (Sho Hirano) and the vice-president is Kaguya Shinomiya (Kanna Hashimoto). They are attracted to each other and have been for a long time, but, out of stubborn pride, refuse to confess their feelings for each other because they don’t want to be seen as weak. They are in a cold war to see who will confess first.
Inakunare Gunjo 
いなくなれ、群青 「Inakunare Gunjo」
Release Date: September 06th, 2019
Duration: 105 mins.
Director: Akina Yanagi
Writer: Minato Takano (Screenplay) Yutaka Kono (Novel)
Starring: Ryusei Yokohama, Marie Iitoyo, Honoka Yahagi, Koudai Matsuoka, Riho Nakamura, Yumi Ito, Moemi Katayama, Kiyo Matsumoto,
Synopsis: Nanakusa (Ryusei Yokohama) is a new guy on the mysterious Kaiden Island, a place for the abandoned. He reunites with childhood friend Yuu Manabe (Marie Iitoyo) since both are high school students and they unravel the mystery of the island.
Taro the Fool 
タロウのバカ 「Tarou no Baka」
Release Date: September 06th, 2019
Duration: 119 mins.
Director: Tatsushi Omori
Writer: Tatsushi Omori (Screenplay)
Starring: Yosihi, Masaki Suda, Taiga, Eita Okuno, Sasha Ueda, Ellie Toyota, Jun Kunimura,
Synopsis: Taro (Yoshi) has dropped out of society. He is someone who has never even been to school. When he meets two troubled guys named Eji (Masaki Suda) and Sugio (Taiga), they form a tight-knit gang but when they come across a pistol it signals a change as the boy’s troubles escalate…
Kamen Rider Build NEW WORLD: Kamen Rider Grease 
ビルド NEW WORLD 仮面ライダーグリス 「Birudo Nyū Warudo Kamen Raidā Gurisu」
Release Date: September 06th, 2019
Duration: 64 mins.
Director: Shojiro Nakazawa
Writer: Shogo Muto (Screenplay), Aka Akasaka (Manga)
Starring: Kaho Takada, Kohei Takeda, Tateto Serizawa, Eishin, Takuya Yoshimura,
Synopsis: Kamen Rider Grease is the only Kamen Rider left standing after an attack by the terrorist organisation “Downfall”. With the Kamen Riders defeated and Misora Isurugi kidnapped, it turns to Kamen Rider Grease to fight the terrorists.
Sayounara 
左様なら 「Sayounara」
Release Date: September 06th, 2019
Duration: 86 mins.
Director: Yuho Ishibashi
Writer: Yuho Ishibashi (Screenplay), Gomen (Original Manga)
Starring: Haruka Imou, Kirara Inori, Amon Hirai, Taichi Kodama, Nanami Hidaka,
Yuho Ishibashi’s film is based on an SNS manga of the same name by the artist Gomen, This was at the Osaka Asian Film Festival in March this year and my review was published on V-Cinema. Essentially, Ishibashi took four characters and a few frames of the original and expanded its world to create a coming-of-age tale that is familiar in so many elements and yet a good example of a textured exploration of one person coming to terms with grief as life carries on around her.
Synopsis: High school student Yuki (Haruka Imou) is a quiet girl who lives in a sleepy coastal town. The loudest noises are those of the waves of the sea and the laughter she shares with her best friend Aya (Kirara Inori), a cryptic girl who is soon to leave town because her mother has remarried. Their friendship is strong and a kiss snatched by Aya opens up all sorts of emotions in Yuki. Tragedy strikes when Aya commits suicide. In response, Yuki dives deep into herself and turns away from any turbulent emotions. Her classmates are also caught in the ripples of the event and react differently, some showing respect while others spread rumours.
Typhoon Family 
台風家族 「Taifu Kazoku」
Release Date: September 06th, 2019
Duration: 108 mins.
Director: Masahide Ichii
Writer: Masahide Ichii (Screenplay) Yutaka Kono (Novel)
Starring: Tsuyoshi Kusanagi, Megumi, Machiko Ono, Erika Osanai, Tatsuya Fuji, Rumi Sakakibara,
Synopsis: The Suzuki family name fell into disrepute when parents Mitsuko Suzuki (Rumi Sakakibara) and Ittetsu (Tatsuya Fuji) robbed a bank. Their kids, eldest child Kotetsu (Tsuyoshi Kusanagi), second child Kyosuke (Hirofumi Arai), third child Rena (Megumi) and youngest child Chihiro (Tomoya Nakamura), find their lives derailed and dreams cancelled as they are shunned around town. 10 years later, and with no sign of their parents ever coming back, the children gather in order to hold their parents’ imaginary funeral and divide their property. Rivalries emerge.
Kazoku Awase 
かぞくあわせ 「Kazoku Awase」
Release Date: September 07th, 2019
Duration: 93 mins.
Director: Atsushi Hasegawa (Left-arm Psychedelic), Takayuki Ohashi (Best Partner), Keita Taguchi (Before You Separate)
Writer: Atsushi Hasegawa (Left-arm Psychedelic), Takayuki Ohashi (Best Partner), Keita Taguchi (Before You Separate) (Screenplay)
Starring: Harumi Shuhama, Takehiko Fujita, Konomi Kikutsu, Keita Taguchi, Asami Kuroda,
This stars Harumi Shuhama from One Cut of the Dead. She, alongside Takehiko Fujita, takes on the main role in each story in this three-part omnibus which takes place within a seaside wedding hall on the Kanagawa coast over three days.
Synopsis: The first story, Left-arm Psychedelic, is about parents whose daughter disappears on her wedding day and it turns out there is a mysterious reason. The second story, Best Partner, follows two company workers who try to set up their subordinates at a party and it seems like the supervisors might also fall in love. The third story, Before You Separate, is about a middle-aged couple who have decided to divorce and their daughter doesn’t want them to.