This is my second trailer post of the week! The first post contained a quirky selection of titles but this is where we get to the big names, anime and alternative programming. In anime terms we have the much hyped Persona 3 movie and the cult title Bayonetta Bloody Fate full of supernatural action. The big anime release has to be Isao Takahata’s Princess Kaguya, his first work as a director in fourteen years. The more I see of it the more I want to watch it. Other interesting titles include Tamako in Moratorium and The Extreme Sukiyaki which have writers, directors and actors who have been in plenty of quality titles I have already reviewed. We’re talking about Nobuhiro Yamashita and Shiro Maeda, Kengo Kora and Shuichi Okita, Atusko Maeda and Arata. If I had to choose one to see it would be Tamako in Moratorium because it has the quirky sense of humour and easy to identify with character plus it looks so freaking adorable.
The Story of Princess Kaguya 
Japanese: かぐや 姫 の 物語
Romaji: Kaguya Hime no Monogatari
Running Time: 137 mins.
Release Date: November 23rd, 2013
Director: Isao Takahata
Writer: Isao Takahata, Riko Sakaguchi (Screenplay)
Starring: Aki Asakura (Kaguya), Kengo Kora (Sutemaru), Nobuko Miyamoto (ouno), Takeo Chii (Okina)
This is the big release for the weekend, the latest Studio Ghibli project! It’s helmed by Studio Ghibli co-founder Isao Takahata, writer and director of Only Yesterday, Pom Poko Grave of the Fireflies and Little Norse Prince Valiant. I can vouch for them all being very good since they come on British television regularly.
What is he bringing his considerable talents to? An adaptation of a famous ancient Japanese folktale originally called Taketori Monogatari (The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter) which is about a princess named Kaguya who is discovered as a bab inside the stalk of a growing plant by a bamboo cutter and adopted. Joe Hisaishi (The Kids Return, Spirited Away) is composing the film’s soundtrack. Check out Alua Luna’s fascinating post about the different re-tellings of this folk-tale.
Tamako in Moratorium 
Japanese: もらとりあむ タマ子
Romaji: Moratoriamu Tamako
Running Time: 78 mins.
Release Date: November 23rd, 2013
Director: Nobuhiro Yamashita
Writer: Kosuke Mukai (Screenplay),
Starring: Atsuko Maeda, Suon Kan, Keiichi Suzuki, Kumi Nakamura, Yasuko Tomita
Director Nobuhiro Yamashita and writer Kosuke Mukai have collaborated on a lot of excellent films like Linda Linda Linda, No One’s Ark and My Back Page so it comes as no surprise that I’m excited about this one. This stars Atsuko Maeda, former AKB48 superstar and lead actress in Yamashita’s 2012 film, The Drudgery Train. I did not really know about it until Tired Paul, a fellow Japanese film afficianado told me about it. The film’s genesis started with short film segments on the TV channel MUSIC ON! TV. I thought they were so adorable I downloaded a bunch.
Tamako (Maeda) is a university graduate who lives with her father. She spends her days lazing around.
The Extreme Sukiyaki 
Japanese: ジ、 エクストリーム、 スキヤキ
Romaji: Ji, Ekusutori-mu, Sukiyaki
Running Time: 111 mins.
Release Date: November 23rd, 2013
Director: Shiro Maeda
Writer: Shiro Maeda (Original Novel and Screenplay),
Starring: Arata, Yosuke Kubozuka, Mikako Ichikawa, Kana Kurashima, Kengo Kora, Shuichi Okita, Daisuke Kuroda, Toru Okada
Shiro Maeda is a writer who crops up a lot on this blog thanks to his scripts for The Story of Yonosuke and Isn’t Anyone Alive? and now he is directing his first feature film. Well done, Shiro! The film stars a plethora of top acting talent including Arata and Yosuke Kubozuka, both of whom starred in the hilarious comedy Ping Pong. Other names include Mikako Ichikawa (Tokyo Oasis), Kana Kurashina (Dreams for Sale), Kengo Kora (The Drudgery Train), and the director Shuichi Okita (The Woodsman & the Rain, The Story of Yonosuke).
Horaguchi (Arata) is a failure. 15 years after leaving university he has achieved nothing and let time pass. Time to give up. He tries to commit suicide but even that fails. For Horaguchi his best days were at uni and so he yearns for those days. Yearns for them so much that he finds an old friend from university Ohkawa (Kubozuke). Things are a little awkward between them because of an incident in their past but they soon warm up to each other and plan a trip to the sea. Ohkawa’s girlfriend Kaeda (Kurashina) and Horaguchi’s ex Kyoko (Ichikawa) join them and bring a sukiyaki pot. They start to get along on their trip but Horaguchi has a secret reason for seeing his friend…
Honto Ni Atta! Noroi Video 55 
Japanese: ほんとにあった！呪いのビデオ55
Romaji: Honto Ni Atta! Noroi Video 55
Running Time: 106 mins
Release Date: November 23rd, 2013
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
Starring: N/A
Welcome back Honto Ni Atta! Noroi Video, a documentary-style horror movie series that has been going since 1999 and it involves an investigation team track down “cursed videos” which have caused misfortune. This is based on real life stuff and some of it is grisly. Most of it is also fake. It’s best viewed with a girl/boyfriend and a willingness to endure jump-scares and people screaming.
Ties 
Japanese: 晴れのち晴れ、ときどき晴れ
Romaji: Hare Nochi Hare, Tokidoki Hare
Running Time: 117 mins
Release Date: November 23rd, 2013
Director: Akira Uchikata
Writer: Hiroyuki Yatsu (Screenplay),
Starring: Matsu, Miho Shiraishi, Karen Miyazaki, Yasufumi Hayashi, Tamao Sato Ryuichi Ohura, Takaaki Enoki, Yumi Takigawa, Katsuhiko Watabiki
Sadatora Ogata (Matsu) left his hometown to become an action star but failed spectacularly and ended up being a marriage swindler. Unemployed and fleeing creditors he returns and tries to hook up with his first love, a high school teacher named Izumi (Shiraishi) but when he enrols at high school he meets a girl named Miwa (Miyazaki) who claims to be his daughter…
Persona 3 The Movie #1 Spring of Birth 
Japanese: ペルソナ3
Romaji: Perusona 3
Running Time: 91 mins.
Release Date: November 23rd, 2013
Director: Noriaki Akitaya
Writer: Jun Kumagai (Screenplay)
Starring: Akira Ishida (Makoto Yuki), Megumi Toyoguchi (Yukari Takeba), Kousuke Toriumi (Junpei Iori), Rie Tanaka (Mitsuru Kirijo), Hikaru Midorikawa (Akihiko Sanada), Mamiko Noto (Fuka Yamagishi), Isamu Tanonaka (Igor), Miyuki Sawashiro (Elisabeth)
I’m a fan of the Persona 3 (even though I haven’t completed the game… I’ll get to it next year!) but I’m a little weary of the anime adaptations. Persona 4 was fun but Devil Survivor left me cold and this… well it looks okay. I must admit that I have yet to play Persona 3 all the way through yet…
There is a hidden time known as the “Dark Hour” that exists between one day and the next when all movement in the town of Iwatodai stops and terrible creatures known as Shadows room. A group of students from Moonlight Hall School are drawn to fight these creatures and expore the mysterious tower of Tartarus with their special weapons called Evokers which they use to summon Persona.
Bayonetta Bloody Fate 
Japanese: ベヨネッタ ブラッディフェイト
Romaji: Beyonetta Buraddi Feito
Running Time: 89 mins.
Release Date: November 23rd, 2013
Director: Fuminori Kizaki
Writer: Mitsutaka Hirota (Screenplay)
Starring: Atsuko Tanaka (Bayonetta), Daisuke Namikawa (Luka), Mie Sonozaki (Jeanne), Miyuki Sawashiro (Cereza), Norio Wakamoto (Balder), Tessho Genda (rodin), Wataru Takagi (Enzo)
Wow, two anime adaptations of video games and wow, another game I have not completed. Not only have I not completed the video game Persona 3 but have not completed Bayonetta which lies unopened in a box. Anyway the story is about a witch named Bayonetta (Tanaka) who is fighting angels.
No Voice 
Japanese: ノー・ヴォイス
Romaji: Nō Vu-oisu
Running Time: N/A
Release Date: November 23rd, 2013
Director: Shun Furujin
Writer: Midori Sato, Shun Furujin (Screenplay),
Starring: Hidekazu Ichinose, Junko Okura, Aya Yoshioka
This is a drama/documentary which relays the facts behind discarded dogs by crafting a story of a young man who goes to work in an animal shelter after discovering an abandoned dog. The young man learns about the precious relationship that can develop between pet and owner and a narrator and interviews with foster parents and people who work at animal shelters helps to ground this.
