Happy postponed weekend…
This is last weekend’s trailer post. Not much else to say other than apologies for the delay. I’m aiming to get back on track and deliver regular trailer posts but there is a lot of content every week and I will be travelling. On a tangentially connected note, I finally saw Parasite at a cinema and was blown away by it.
What was released last weekend?
Red 
Release Date: February 21st, 2020
Duration: 123 mins.
Director: Yukiko Mishima
Writer: Yukiko Mishima, Chihiro Ikeda (Script), Rio Shimamoto (Original Novel)
Starring: Kaho, Satoshi Tsumabuki, Tasuku Emoto, Shotaro Mamiya, Reiko Kataoka, Kimiko Yo,
Synopsis: Toko Suguri (Kaho) has a house, is married to a handsome guy and has a charming daughter. Despite these signs of success, she is unhappy. When Toko meets her ex-boyfriend Akihiko Kurata (Satoshi Tsumabuki) at a friend’s wedding, the two launch into a passionate affair. Akihiko looks after Toko in ways her husband doesn’t but as she gets sucked into the passion, she loses her sense of responsibility and her life begins to fall apart.
NDJC (New Directions in Japanese Cinema) aims to foster a new generation of filmmakers by helping directors produce films with experienced cast and crew. There are fewer titles in this year’s crop, all of which were produced in 2019, but the directors are known and have talent. Here’s my review of the 2018 batch.
Le Cerveau 
Le Cerveau セルヴォ「Le Cerveau Serubu」
Release Date: February 21st, 2020
Duration: 30 mins.
Director: Yoshiyuki Shimada
Writer: Yoshiyuki Shimada (Script),
Starring: Sae Tanaka, Ayami Fujisawa, Kisa Minami, Koji Hatta, Shoichiro Jotaki,
Synopsis: Saya Maekawa has been raising her beloved son Sota in desperate circumstances because he is afflicted by a strange disease. Saya is willing to sacrifice her own body for a living transplant operation to save Sota. After an accident, Saya wakes up in a lab and finds herself as a different person…
Uoza Doushi 
魚座どうし「Uoza Doushi」
Release Date: February 21st, 2020
Duration: 30 mins.
Director: Yoko Yamanaka
Writer: Yoko Yamanaka (Script),
Starring: Mahiro Nemoto, Ryo Togawa, Kinuyo Yamada, Shinsuke Kato, Saho Ito,
Website
Yoko Yamanaka made the wonderful teenage comedy Amiko which won big prizes at the Pia Film Festival and was at Berlinale and Japan Cuts after its release. She brings a drama led by children for her NDJC short.
Synopsis: A fourth grader named Midori finds life difficult as her father often goes abroad for work and her mother is lonely. hardly ever returns. Midori is also lonely but makes a connection with a boy in similar circumstances whose sister is going through a rebellious phase. Both kids hope their worlds get better.
I don’t want to be like you 
あなたみたいに、なりたくない。「Anata mitai ni, naritakunai.」
Release Date: February 21st, 2020
Duration: 30 mins.
Director: Ryo Kawasaki
Writer: Ryo Kawasaki (Script),
Starring: Junko Abe, Hijiri Kojima, Hiroyuki Toritani, Aoi Yoshikura, Masumi Fujita,
Directed by Ryo Kawasaki, whose debut feature film about women about to hit their 30s, Wasted Eggs , was officially invited to the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival.
Synopsis: A 28-year-old OL named Megumi Suzuki, joins a marriage counseling office after seeing a senior, Satoko Koyama, get bullied for being unmarried in past her 20s. Satoko might be characterised as a “lonely woman who missed her marriage chance” but she has a secret side.
Shinsotsu Pomodoro 
新卒ポモドーロ「Shinsotsu Pomodo-ro」
Release Date: February 21st, 2020
Duration: 110 mins.
Director: Hiroki Inoue
Writer: Hiroki Inoue (Script),
Starring: Joji Shibue, Ito Ono, Atomu Mizuishi, Keisuke Sakurai, Ruka Matsuda, Reiko Mori,
Synopsis: A company in Fukuoka run by a very demanding president named Souji Kitamura finds that many of its employees quit to form a new company. To strike back, Kitamura forms a project team led by a new graduate, Misa Kawashima, a young employee who uses the social psychology she had learned during college to achieve high sales results.
COMPLY+-ANCE 
COMPLY+-ANCE コンプライアンス「Konpuraiansu」
Release Date: February 21st, 2020
Duration: 70 mins.
Director: Takumi Saitoh
Writer: Takumi Saitoh, Takashi Iizuka, Isora Iwagiri (Script),
Starring: Yuzuki Akiyama, Takumi Saitoh, Yuuki Hirako, Yosuke Omizu, Asuka Hanamura, Tomo Nagai, Naoto Kawashima, Miki Handa,
Synopsis: Takumi Saitoh returns to the director’s chair for a film created to look at the issue of Japanese compliance and self-regulation and the challenge over the limits of expression in Japan.
Gundam: G no Reconguista Movie II – Bellri’s Fierce Charge 
劇場版 ガンダム Ｇのレコンギスタ Ⅱ ベルリ 撃進 「Gekijouban G no Rekongisuta II – Bellri Gekishin」
Release Date: February 21st, 2020
Duration: 94 mins.
Director: Yoshiyuki Tomino
Writer: Yoshiyuki Tomino (Series Composition), Yoshiyuki Tomino, Hajime Yatate (Original Creator)
Starring: Mark Ishii (Bellri Zenam), Yu Shimamura (Aida Surugan), Akio Hirose (Cumpa Rusita), Atsuko Tanaka (Wilmit Zenam) Atsuki Tani (Lorucca Biskes), Chihiro Suzuki (Happa),
Animation Production: Sunrise
Synopsis: Bellri Zenam has been recruited to protect a tower which brings resources to Earth and he gets caught up in a space pirate attack where a girl named Aida is captured. She has the power to activate her high-performance mobile suit that she calls “G-Self” and she joins Bellri in an adventure.
The World’s Greatest First Love: Proposal Arc 
世界一初恋 プロポーズ編「Sekaiichi Hatsukoi: Puropo-zu Hen」
Release Date: February 21st, 2020
Duration: 50 mins.
Director: Tomoya Takahashi
Writer: Yoshiko Nakamura (Script), Shungiku Nakamura (Original Manga)
Starring: Takashi Kondo (Ritsu Onodera), Katsuyuki Konishi (Masamune Takano),
Production: Kadokawa Animation
Synopsis: Ritsu Onodera takes up a new job as an editor at Marukawa Publishing looking after shojo manga —something he has no interest in and no experience with and this at a time when he has sworn he’d never fall in love again. To make matters worse, it turns out that his overbearing boss, Masamune Takano, is actually his first love from high school!
Dinosaur Super Legend: Darwin the Movie has arrived! 
恐竜超伝説 劇場版ダーウィンが来た！「Kyouryuu chou densetsu gekijouban dawin ga kita!」
Release Date: February 21st, 2020
Duration: 86 mins.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
Starring: Seiichi Tanabe, Nene Otsuka, Naoki Tatsuta (Narrators)
Synopsis: The documentary program “Darwin is here!” gets another movie and it’s full of CG dinosaurs.
Digimon Adventure: Last Evolution Kizuna 
デジモンアドベンチャー LAST EVOLUTION 絆「Dejimon Adobencha- LAST EVOLUTION Kizuna」
Release Date: February 21st, 2020
Duration: 94 mins.
Director: Tomohisa Taguchi
Writer: Akatsuki Yamatoya (Script),
Starring: Chika Sakamoto (Agumon), Natsuki Hanae (Taichi Yagami). Kunko Takeuchi (Gomamon), Daisuke Ono (Kyotaro Immura),
Production: Toei Animation
Synopsis: As the Digimon kids hit university, their ties with their Digimon begin to fray with the approach of adulthood. This could be their last adventure…
Stolen Identity 2 
スマホを落としただけなのに 囚われの殺人鬼 「Sumaho o otoshita dake na no ni: Toraware no satsujinki」
Release Date: February 21st, 2020
Duration: 118 mins.
Director: Hideo Nakata
Writer: Tetsuya Oishi (Script), Akira Shiga (Original Novel)
Starring: Ryo Narita, Yudai Chiba, Mai Shiraishi, Noriko Eguchi, Takuma Oto, Nao,
Synopsis: The end of the serial murder case from the first film was not the end because FRANCHISE. Detective Manabu Kagaya investigates a new body showing up connected to the case and he goes to see serial killer Yoshiharu Urano (Ryo Narita) in prison where he learns that there is mysterious figure called M who is a super internet criminal…
Renren in Taiwan 
恋恋豆花 「Renren Doufa」
Release Date: February 21st, 2020
Duration: 101 mins.
Director: Akiyoshi Imazaki
Writer: Akiyoshi Imazaki (Script),
Starring: Serina Motola, Hako Oshima, Taizo Shiina, Hatsuki Mamiya,
Synopsis: Nao, a college student, is nervous about relationships and is thinking about dropping out but, at the suggestion of her father, she decides to travel to Taiwan with her step-mother Aya. An unexpected encounter awaits them on their trip to Taiwan.
Woman Woman Woman Full Version 
完全版ウーマンウーマンウーマン 「Kanzenhan Uman Uman Uman」
Release Date: February 22nd, 2020
Duration: 68 mins.
Director: Keisuke Kondo
Writer: Keisuke Kondo (Screenplay),
Starring: Nori Sato, Nene Ito, Titi Hasegawa, Shiotomo Mizui, Shun Yamamoto, Yuugo Migawa,
A new version of the film first released in July with two extra minutes of footage.
Synopsis: An adventurous woman who travels the world while pulling a cart meets a female college student who believes in all things cute and fighting for justice. Meanwhile, four men in a baseball club go on a hot spring trip…
Genzaichi wa idzu ku nari ya eiga kantoku Higashi Yoichi 
現在地はいづくなりや 映画監督東陽一 「Genzaichi wa idzu ku nari ya eiga kantoku Higashi Yoichi」
Release Date: February 22nd, 2020
Duration: 94 mins.
Director: Kenichi Kodama
Writer: Akiyoshi Imazaki (Script), Akira Shiga (Original Creator)
Starring: Yoichi Higashi, Takako Tokiwa, Setsuko Karasuma, Mako Midori, Kohei Ando,
Synopsis: A documentary that captures veteran writer/director Yoichi Higashi, who talks about the filmmaking process and himself. Expect conversations with actors he has worked with.
Uta no Hajimari 
うたのはじまり 「Uta no Hajimari」
Release Date: February 22nd, 2020
Duration: 86 mins.
Director: Hiroki Kawai
Writer: Akiyoshi Imazaki (Script), Akira Shiga (Original Creator)
Starring: Harumichi Saito, Manami Moriyama, Itsuki Mariyama, Tabito Nanao, Cantus, Norimizu Ameya,
Synopsis: Deaf photographer Harumichi Saito has taken pictures of the stars and now gets a documentary about himself where he reveals he chose to focus on what he sees rather than what he hears, discarding his hearing aid at the age of 20 and taking up a camera. Since then he has worked with artists such as Masataka Kubota, Mr. Children, Clambon and more. He has a son who can hear and this film captures their relationship.
Movie Cat Neko Nippon History-Ryoma’s Harmecha Time Travel! 
映画 ねこねこ日本史 龍馬のはちゃめちゃタイムトラベルぜよ！「Eiga neko neko nipponshi Ryoma no wa chamecha taimu toraberu ze yo!」
Release Date: February 22nd, 2020
Duration: 73 mins.
Director: Tomohiro Kawamura
Writer: Tadashi Shimizu (Script), Kenji Sonishi (Original Book)
Starring: Yu Kobayashi (Ryoma Sakamoto), Daiki Yamashita (Fuku), Koichi Yamadera (Yatchan), Jiro Sato (Hiraga Gennai),
Production: N/A
Synopsis: Fuku is a little elementary school cat who likes to take a nap. Inadvertently riding on the crow-type time machine Yachan made by Grandpa, Fuku travels back to Japan in the past and meets Ryoma Sakamoto where they go on an adventure that can only end when they have made a “karuta” of each era. They meet famous names like Himiko, Prince Shotoku, Nobunaga Oda, Shinsengumi and Admiral Perry and they are all portrayed as cats!