Happy weekend, everyone!
I hope you are all doing well.
The state of emergency over the Covid-19 pandemic has ended and cinemas have reopened across Japan and I imagine what we see in the video of this tweet sums up the new reality for going to the movies – empty seats between patrons and internet Q&As.
I know I’ll be going to the cinema to watch Christopher Nolan’s latest, Tenet. This tweet comes from the Twitter account of Tagore Songs which I wrote about on Monday’s trailer post because it was in cinemas. It’s a wonderful documentary.
For the rest of the week, I posted a review of Inabe (2013) which is being screened as part of the We Are One Global Film Festival (and is still online). I then started posting about Nippon Connection 2020 with a Highlights post, a look at the mainstream and classic movies, the indie movies and anime and I’ll continue posting about Nippon Connection with an anime post and some reviews.
I finished watching Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure: Golden Wind, almost two years after starting it. I came to love the characters in the second half of the show and got a bit emotional at the end. I also watched Inception, Yalta Conference Online, Ice Cream and the Sound of Raindrops and Tremble All You Want.
This is the second trailer post of the week as the industry tries to get back on its feet and films on the big screen.
What is released this weekend?
Yan 
燕Yan 「Tsubame Yan」
Release Date: June 05th, 2020
Duration: 86 mins.
Director: Keisuke Imamura
Writer: Noriko Washizu (Script),
Starring: Long Mizuma, Takashi Yamanaka, Yo Hitoto, Ryushin Tei, Mitsuru Hirata, Yoji Tanaka, Satomi Nagano,
Keisuke Imamura is a cinematographer but he made his feature-length directorial debut with Yan which I saw at the Osaka Asian Film Festival 2020 where I reviewed it and interviewed him. It’s a beautiful film about rediscovering family history and intercultural relations.
This one is playing at Nippon Connection.
Synopsis: 28-year-old Tsubame Hayakawa (Long Mizuma) has seemingly achieved everything. He has his dream job at an architectural firm, a girlfriend and lives comfortably in Tokyo. Yet on the inside, he has a history of self-doubt, which is revealed when he is asked by his father to hand-deliver a document to his older brother Ryushin (Takashi Yamanaka) in Taiwan. Tsubame is reluctant. It has been 23 years since they last saw each other after their mother, Toshie (Hitoto Yo) disappeared with Ryushin one night and left Tsubame behind. He has never forgiven them for leaving him but his father’s request is a final and so Tsubame reluctantly accepts this task and heads to Taiwan to search for Ryushin.
We Are at the End of the Droste 
ドロステのはてで僕ら「Droste no hate de bokura」
Release Date: June 06th, 2020
Duration: 70 mins.
Director: Junta Yamaguchi
Writer: Makoto Ueda (Script/Original Creator)
Starring: Kazunari Tosa, Aki Asakura, Riko Fujitani, Gota Ishida, Masashi Suwa,
Synopsis: The first original feature film from some of the people behind Summertime Machine Blues. The film is a time travel comedy set in a multi-tenant building where a guy named Kato discovers himself talking to him from 2 minutes ahead in the future. He hops down to the first floor where there is a cafe and discovers that his TV is a “Time TV”. Soon, his friends and fellow tenants get involved.
Monster Seafood Wars 
三大怪獣グルメ「San dai kaiju gurume」
Release Date: June 06th, 2020
Duration: 84 mins.
Director: Minoru Kawasaki
Writer: Masakazu Migita, Minoru Kawasaki (Script), Minoru Kawasaki (Original Work)
Starring: Keisuke Ueda, Yoshida Ayano Christie, Yuya Asato, Ryo Kinomoto,
Synopsis: A kaiju eiga where a giant seafood monster is eaten as a seafood bowl at the national stadium in Tokyo and the city finds itself under attack from a giant squid, giant octopus, and giant crab. A disgraced chemical expert working at his family’s sushi restaurant is hired by a team investigating the monsters since he has the formula for turning things super-big. Naturally big battles occur.
Local Peace! Illusion Driving 
地元ピース！ 幻想ドライビング「Jimoto Pi-su! Gensou Doraibingu」
Release Date: June 06th, 2020
Duration: 84 mins.
Director: Akiyoshi Koba
Writer: Akiyoshi Koba (Script), Minoru Kawasaki (Original Novel)
Starring: Yo Hasegawa, Taichi Fujii, Daisuke Kobayashi, Shoco, Mai Moritomo,
Synopsis: An omnibus movie directed by Akiyoshi Koba (Nunchaku and Soul) that was made with the help of crowdfunding. It was shot in Tochigi, Miyagi, and Gifu prefectures.
River 
リバー「Riba-」
Release Date: June 06th, 2020
Duration: 57 mins.
Director: Allen Ai
Writer: Allen Ai (Script),
Starring: Michael Fanconi, Allen Ai, Motoki Kobayashi, Takeshi Masago, Otogi, Hiroyuki Watanabe,
Synopsis: The actor Allen Ai, one of the stars of the Crying Free Sex, teams up with her co-star in this film, Michael Fanconi, where she directs a story of their character’s forbidden love as she gets involved with the bodyguard hired to protect her family.