Happy weekend, everyone!
Just a few days more until Christmas.
I’ve been helping my mother with Christmas preparations and buying presents whilst also watching lots of Japanese indie films. I saw one revelatory title which had me in tears and a couple of interesting ones. I have also managed to sneak in some horror movies.
This week I reviewed Sion Sono‘s latest movie, The Forest of Love, which cynics might see as a retread of Cold Fish. I also posted a preview of next year’s Japan Foundation Touring Film Programme which has many interesting titles.
What is released this weekend?
My Hero Academia the Movie 2: Heroes: Rising
僕のヒーローアカデミア THE MOVIE ヒーローズ:ライジング 「Boku no Hi-ro- Akademia THE MOVIE 2 Hi-rozu: Raijingu」
Release Date: December 20th, 2019
Duration: 96 mins.
Director: Kenji Nagasaki
Writer: Yousuke Kuroda (Screenplay), Kohei Horikoshi (Original Creator)
Starring: Daiki Yamashita (Izuku Midoriya), Kenta Miyake (All Might), Ayane Sakura (Ochako Uraraka), Yuuki Kaji (Shoto Todoroki), Mio Imada (Slice), Shinsuke Takeuchi (Chimera), Yuka Terasaki (Katsuma),
Animation Production: Bones
Synopsis: Deku and his classmates visit Nabu Island where the peace is shattered by a villain with an unique Quirk and it looks like Shigaraki has a connection to this incident. It’s time for the class to take on the job of being heroes once again.
In This Corner (and Other Corners) of the World
この世界の(さらにいくつもの)片隅に 「Kono Sekai no (Sara ni Ikutsumono) Katasumi ni」
Director: Sunao Katabuchi
Duration: 168 mins.
Writer: Sunao Katabuchi (Screenplay), Fumiyo Kono (Original Manga)
Animation Production: MAPPA
Starring: Non (Suzu Urano), Daisuke Ono (Akira), Mayumi Shintani (San), Kana Hanazawa (Teru), Shigeru Ushiyama (Entaro), Megumi Han (Sumi), Minori Omi (Michiko), Natsuki Inaba (Harumi), Yoshimasa Hosoya (Shuusaku), Nanase Iwai (Rin Shiraki),
This is a reworking of the original 2016 film which has footage and extra characters played by Kana Hanazawa and Nanase Iwai. It is an award-winner directed by Sunao Katabuchi who directed the awesome Mai Mai Miracle and the TV anime Black Lagoon. It was animated by the studio MAPPA (Shingeki no Bahamut: Genesis, Terror in Resonance).
Synopsis: Suzu Urano (Non) is a Hiroshima girl from a close-knit family but when she marries a naval officer, she has to move from Hiroshima City to Kure, the city which launched the battleship Yamato and the site of one of Japan’s largest naval bases. As a new housewife, she encounters uncertainty in her new family, her new city, and her new world but she perseveres and finds happiness even as the war grinds on and comes closer to home.
Last War of Heavenloids and Akutoloids
天上人とアクト人 最後の戦い 「Tenjounin to Akuto-nin Saigo no Tatakai」
Release Date: April 18th, 2009
Duration: 83 mins.
Director: Shigeharu Takahashi
Writer: Yoshiji Kigami (Screenplay),
Starring: Daisuke Ono (Munto), Mai Aizawa (Yumemi Hidaka), Chika Horikawa (Ichiko Ono), Hiromi Konno (Suzume Imamura),
Animation Production: Kyoto Animation
Synopsis from ANN: Himemi has gone to the world of the Heavenloids with Munto, the Magical King, so she can save both his world and her own. Little does she know that the most difficult part won’t be facing the dangerous Union, who want to crystalize her to harness her power, but facing her own heart and the secret that lies within.
Witness to the Gegenmiao Massacre
劇場版 葛根廟事件の証言 「Gekijouban Kakkonbyou jiken no Shogen」
Release Date: December 21s, 2019
Duration: 106 mins.
Director: Ryuichi Tanoue
Writer: Masaya Ozaki (Script) Masahiro Imamura (Original Work)
Starring: Mankichi Oshima, Masako Shirhama, Masahiro Sato,
Synopsis: Screened at the 2018 Fukuoka Independent Film Festival where it won the Best Documentary Award, this a documentary about the Gegenmiao Massacre that took place a day before the end of the Pacific War in World War II when the Soviet Army and Chinese killed and brutalised many of a group of 1,800 Japanese women and children who had taken refuge in the lamasery Gegenmiao. The film contains the testimony of 12 survivors who tell what happened.
みぽりん 「Mipo Rin」
Release Date: December 21st, 2019
Duration: 108 mins.
Director: Daiju Matsumoto
Writer: Daiju Matsumoto (Screenplay)
Starring: Asami Kakio – Miho, Haruka Tsuda – Yuka Kanda, mayu, Yuki Inoue – Akiyama, Atsuko Gouda,
This tribute to classic horror movie works of the 70s and 80s was filmed in the suburbs of Kobe. It was screened at the Kanazawa Film Festival this year.
Synopsis: A tale of horror where an idol named Yuka Kanda who is bad at singing but wants to go solo from her underground group because she is popular with fans. Her manager Aikawa and producer Akiyama sets her up in a camp run by the suspicious voice trainer Mipo Rin. As the lessons progress, bad stuff happens and Yuka is abducted…
さそりとかゑる 「Sasori to Kaeru」
Release Date: December 20th, 2019
Duration: 92 mins.
Director: Yasunori Mohri
Writer: Yasunori Mohri (Script)
Starring: Rui Yoko, Shuto Washio, Ryu Kiyama, Aki Kobayashi, Kazuki, Haruto Nakano,
Synopsis: A youth road movie where three brothers in an enka group perform songs in local snack bars and shopping streets. They hope to hit the big time while travelling to different regions when they meet a man named Machida who wants to be their manager after hearing their voices but he does a poor job.
FOR REAL Modoranai shunkan, nokosa reru mono.
FOR REAL 戻らない瞬間、残されるもの。 「FOR REAL Modoranai shunkan, nokosa reru mono.」
Running Time: N/A
Release Date: December 20th, 2019
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
Starring: N/A
Synopsis: This is the seventh in a series of documentaries dedicated to the Yokohama DeNA Bay Stars baseball team (the last one was released almost exactly a year ago) and it looks at their 2019 season where they had recover from a string of defeats at the start. 400 hours of footage has been boiled down into this epic documentary.
Kamen Rider: Reiwa The First Generation
仮面ライダー 令和 ザ・ファースト・ジェネレーション 「Kamen Raida- Reiwa Za Fa-suto Jenere-shon」
Release Date: December 21st, 2019
Duration: 92 mins.
Director: Teruaki Sugihara
Writer: Yuya Takahashi (Script) Shotaro Ishinomori (Original Work)
Starring: Fumiya Takahashi, Ryutaro Okada, Noa Tsurushima, Hiroe Igeta, Daisuke Nakagawa, Shuya Sunagawa, Jun Fukuzoe,
Synopsis: This is the 11th Movie War crossover film of Kamen Rider Zero-One and Kamen Rider Zi-O. It is intended to be the first successor to the Heisei Generations Series, and serves as a tribute to the original Kamen Rider series. In the film, Sougo travels to the World of Zero-One to assist Aruto in fixing the damage caused by a Time Jacker, while Aruto learns of his family’s history as well as his own powers.
オキナワへいこう 「Okinawa he ikou」
Release Date: December 21st, 2019
Duration: 81 mins.
Director: Nobuo Onishi
Writer: N/A
Starring: Toshiko Masuda, Masatoshi Tamura, Shinya Yamanaka,
Synopsis: A quick Google search for director Nobuo Onishi reveals he is a photographer but he has turned to documentary to look at the long-term inpatients of a psychiatric hospital in Sakai City, Osaka. One patient, Toshiko Masuda, told nurses they want to go to Okinawa once in their lifetime, hence the film’s title where she and others talk about their lives and trying to realise this dream.