I’m splitting the trailer post up again and will continue doing this because it’s better to have shorter posts than huge ones with lots of videos and text. There are three Japanese films released today in Japan and more tomorrow. The big hulking beast is the latest SPEC movie so a lot of the other releases seem to be counter-programming. Don’t like the big-budget flashy SPEC films then you get documentaries, comedies, and anime.
The SPEC films are a phenomenon of their own. They are based on a television series which started with Keizoku back in 1999 and has had numerous television series and movie adaptations. They look fun but my viewing habits are fragmented so I won’t be embarking on watching them.
I must admit that I have no idea what’s going on with the films at this point because there are so many of them!
SPEC: Close – Crisscross Version 
Japanese: 劇場版 SPEC 結（クローズ） 爻（コウ）ノ篇
Romaji: Gekijō-ban supekku yui (kurōzu) 爻 (Kō) no-hen
Running Time: 85 mins.
Release Date: November 29th, 2013
Director: Yukihiko Tsutsumi
Writer: Yumie Nishiogi
Starring: Erika Toda, Ryo Kase, Raita Ryu, Kazuki Kitamura, Chiaki Kuriyama, Ryunosuke Kamiki, Yuko Oshima, Takahiro Miura, Kasumi Arimura,
This is the follow-up to last year’s SPEC: Heaven film and this year’s SPEC: Close – Progress Version film which featured a lot of the same cast, the same director and the same writer. This movie intends to reveal more secrets.
Detective Saya Toma (Erika Toda) has an IQ of 201 and works together with veteran detective Takeru Sebumi (Ryo Kase) in the Unsolved Crimes Unit taking on and cracking mysterious cases that others have given up on.
Asa Hiru Ban 
Japanese: あさひるばん
Romaji: Asa Hiru Ban
Running Time: 110 mins.
Release Date: November 29th, 2013
Director: Juzo Yamasaki
Writer: Juzo Yamasaki
Starring: Jun Kunimura, Itsuji Itao, Mirei Kiritani, Keiko Saito, Koichi Yamadera, Yoichi Nukumizu, Akiko Hinagata,
Manga writer Juzo Yamasaki makes his debut as a film director at the age of 71 in this film starring Jun Kunimura (Vital, Why Don’t You Play in Hell?), Mirei Kiritani (Ace Attorney), Keiko Saito (Mitsuko Delivers), and Itsuji Itao (I’m Flash!, Be My Slave).
30 years ago, Asamoto (Kunimura), Hirukawa (Itao), and Bando (Yamadera) were ace baseball players known as “Asa Hiru Ban” and each was in love with their manager Sachiko (Saito) but it all went wrong when their team lost a game. Now they are middle-aged men leading their own lives but a letter from Sachiko’s daughter Yumiko (Kiritani) brings them together with news that she is sick!
Story of a Butcher Shop 
Japanese: ある 精肉店 の はなし
Romaji: Aru Seiniku-ten no Hanashi
Running Time: 108 mins.
Release Date: November 29th, 2013
Director: Aya Koketsu
Story of a Butcher Shop is a documentary set in a butcher shop in Osaka. This shop has been owned by the same family for generations and during the film we see it get passed down to a new generation.
