Happy weekend, people.
I hope you are all well.
This week, I went to work twice and spent a bit of time helping to programme a festival coming up in the autumn. I watched and reviewed Fish Story and posted a preview of the many fantastic Japanese films at the New York Asian Film Festival 2020 and at the Fantasia International Film Festival, both of which are online but are limited to people in the US and Canada respectively.
What is released this weekend? Inception gets a re-release and there are also these:
Yowamushi Pedal 
弱虫ペダル「Yowamushi Pedaru」
Release Date: August 14th, 2020
Duration: 112 mins.
Director: Koichiro Miki
Writer: Koichiro Miki, Rino Itaya (Script), Wataru Watanabe (Original Manga)
Starring: Ren Nagase, Kentaro Ito, Kanna Hashimoto, Ryota Bando, Mizuki Inoue,
Synopsis: Sakamichi Onoda (Ren Nagase) is an otaku who has just become a high school student. Nobody really shares his passions, not just in his class but his school since the anime club has been disbanded due to a lack of interest! And so, despite not really being a super-sporty type, he figures he might join another club, one he might stand a chance in. There’s the bicycle racing club he considers due to the fact that he has ridden his mamachiri since he was a young boy. His body is perfectly built for the club and when members notice his skills, he starts to win friends.
Fate/stay night: Heaven’s Feel III. spring song 
劇場版 Fate/stay night [Heaven’s Feel] III. spring song 「Gekijouban Fate/stay night [Heaven’s Feel] III. spring song」
Release Date: August 15th, 2020
Duration: 122 mins.
Director: Tomonori Sudo
Writer: Akira Hiyama (Screenplay), Kinoko Nasu, TYPE-MOON (Original Creator),
Starring: Ayako Kawasumi (Saber), Noriaki Sugiyama (Shirou Emiya), Jouji Nakata (Kirei Kotomine), Noriko Shitaya (Sakura Matou), Kana Ueda (Rin Toosaka), Mai Kadowaki (Illyasviel von Einzbern),
Animation Production: ufotable
Here’s my review for the first film.
Synopsis: Shirou Emiya and Saber are still in the Holy Grail War and still trying to save Sakura Matou.
Date A Bullet Dead Or Bullet 
デート・ア・バレット デッド・オア・バレット 「De-to a baretto deddo oa baretto」
Release Date: August 14th, 2020
Duration: 25 mins.
Director: Jun Nakagawa
Writer: Koushi Tachibana (Original Creator)
Starring: Asami Sanada (Kurumi Tokisaki), Kaede Hondo (Hibiki Higoromo), Rina Hidaka (Panie Ibusaki), Natsumi Fujiwara (Isami Hijikata), Mariya Ise (Tsang), Saori Oonishi (White Queen), Asami Seto (Yui Sagakura),
Animation Production: GEEK TOYS
Synopsis: An amnesiac young girl named Empty has found herself in another world where girls known as semi-Spirits have gathered to battle.
Omoi, Omoware, Furi, Furare, Love Me, Love Me Not 
思い、思われ、ふり、ふられ 「Omoi, Omoware, Furi, Furare」
Release Date: August 14th, 2020
Duration: 124 mins.
Director: Takahiro Miki
Writer: Takahiro Miki, Yoko Yonaiyama (Script), Io Sakisaka (Original Manga)
Starring: Minami Hamabe, Takumi Kitamura, Riko Fukumoto, Eiji Akaso,
Synopsis: Akari (Minami Hamabe) and her friend Yuna (Riko Fukumoto) are poles apart when it comes to personality. Akari is practical and forward while Yuna is more romantic and shy. The two get involved with two boys who are also very different in outlook. Yuna falls for Rio (Takumi Kitamura), Akari’s stepbrother and a guy who falls in love at the drop of a hat, while Akari develops feelings for Yuna’s childhood friend Kazuomi (Eiji Akaso), a complete airhead. These four classmates end up leading a youthful romance that will surpass their expectations.
Youth: The 50th National High School Baseball Tournament 
第50回全国高校野球選手権大会 青春 「Dai 50-kai Zenkoku Koko Yakyu Senshuken Taikai Seishun」
Release Date: September 21st, 1968
Duration: 97 mins.
Director: Kon Ichikawa
Writer: N/A
Starring: N/A
Synopsis from the Japan Society: Among the hardest-to-see films in Kon Ichikawa’s oeuvre, this 1968 documentary finds the legendary director approach the subject of Japanese high school baseball with the same lyricism and visual splendor as he did with the 1964 Summer Games in Tokyo Olympiad (1965). On the 50th anniversary of the Koshien games, Ichikawa captures the uniquely rigorous training—in snow, dirt and schoolyard lots—of the young athletes preparing for the all-important tournament, interspersed with historical footage that contextualizes Japan’s long love affair with student baseball. A thrilling portrait of youth in the economic boom of the postwar period, Ichikawa’s rare film encapsulates an entire generation through sports.
The Girl I Like
僕の好きな女の子 「Boku no sukina onna no ko」
Release Date: August 14th, 2020
Duration: 90 mins.
Director: Shinya Tamada
Writer: Shinya Tamada (Script), Naoki Matayoshi (Original Essay)
Starring: Daichi Watanabe, Nao, Minori Hagiwara, Eri Tokunaga, Taiga Nakano, Aki Asakura,
Synopsis: Playwright and director Shinya Tamada has adapted a love-fantasy called “Boku no suki na onnanoko”, that was written Akutagawa Prize-winning writer Naoki Matayoshi. It is about the idea of romance itself as a man searches for his “ideal woman” as told through a series of talky vignettes.
Here’s a better write-up from the Okinawa International Movie Festival.
The Emperor’s Naked Army Marches On 
ゆきゆきて、神軍 「Yuki yukite, shingun」
Release Date: August 01st, 1987
Duration: 122 mins.
Director: Kazuo Hara
Writer: N/A
Starring: Kenzo Okuzaki, Shizumi Okuzaki,
This film comes 75 years after the war and on the 100th anniversary of Kenzo Okuzaki’s birth and will be released in mini theatres nationwide under the title of “Summer Shinjuku Festival”. Here’s my review.
Synopsis: The Emperor’s Naked Army Marches On is regarded as one of the finest documentaries ever made. Kazuo Hara and his team followed 62-year-old Kenzo Okuzaki, a World War II veteran and anarchist, who is on a quest to expose a possible war crimes involving former members of his regiment who killed their own soldiers on dubious charges of cowardice 23 days after hostilities ceases. Okuzakai tears up and down the Japanese archipelago in search of the NCOs and officers involved and sometimes uses force to extract testimonies.
Rock and Roll Strip 
ロックンロール・ストリップ 「Rokkun ro-ru sutorippu」
Release Date: August 14th, 2020
Duration: 108 mins.
Director: Hanta Kinoshita
Writer: Hanta Kinoshita (Script), Hanta Kinoshita (Original Novel)
Starring: Junpei Goto, Eri Tokunaga, Natsume Mito, Chisun, Ryotaro Sakaguchi, Gikko,
Synopsis: This is based on Hanta Kinoshita’s autobiographical novel and follows a guy in Osaka named Yuta who dreams of becoming a director and has his own theatre troupe but makes his money from working as a bartender. One night, just before the store is about to close, a beautiful woman named Tone enters and asks if she can perform as a stripper in the bar. It turns out that she is a popular stripper and so, in order to fulfil her desire, Yuta and his theatre troupe swing into action.
March Girl 
13月の女の子 「13 Tsuki no Onna no Ko」
Release Date: August 15th, 2020
Duration: 97 mins.
Director: Akihiro Toda
Writer: Yoshiyuki Kakuhata (Script),
Starring: Arisa Komiya, Honoka Akimoto, Minori Hagiwara, Himika Akaneya, Yuuka Tano, Mei Sakai,
Synopsis: Ichiho Anamori is a loner at her school girl but when she meets Miko Karakida, she makes a friend. However, six months later, Miko dies from heart disease. Ichiho is devastated and so when she receives a letter, some months later, from someone promising to reveals a secret about Miko, she cannot resist. All she has to do is go into the school building at night. When she does, she meets the mysterious transfer student, Rin Ukima, who appeared at the same time Miko died…
Haribote 
はりぼて 「Haribote」
Release Date: August 16th, 2020
Duration: 100 mins.
Director: Yukio Iokibe, Satoshi Sunazawa
Writer: N/A
Starring: Osamu Sakuta (Narrator)
Synopsis: This documentary follows a Toyama city TV station called Tulip TV which received the Japan Press Club Special Award, amongst others, in their three-year investigation into an expenses scandal that forced 14 LDP politicians to resign from the city council for corruption.
The final four are all part of the Toei Manga Matsuri 2020. This serves to advertise new shows that are in the middle of being created. The same trailer is used because it contains clips from the shows.
Kamen Rider Den-O: Pretty Den-O Appears!
仮面ライダー電王 プリティ電王とうじょう！ 「Kamen Raidā Den’ō Puriti Den’ō Tōjō!)」
Release Date: August 14th, 2020
Duration: 22 mins.
Director: Shojiro Nakazawa
Writer: Shoji Yonemura (Script), Shotaro Ishinomori (Original Creator)
Starring: Otoha, Nika Takao, Tsugu Sasaki, Rina Akiyama, Toshihiko Seki, Koji Yusa, Masaki Terasoma, Kenichi Suzumura
Synopsis: Following a quarrel with her mother, a 10-year-old girl named Anna runs away from home and, for an unknown reason, is chased by Shocker and gets on a time travelling train known as DenLiner, and gets off during the year 1989 – the first year of the Heisei Era, and meets with Momotaros.
Eiga Fushigi Dagashiya Zenitendō: Tsuritai Yaki
映画 ふしぎ駄菓子屋 銭天堂 つりたい焼き 「Eiga Fushigi Dagashiya Zenitendō: Tsuritai Yaki」
Release Date: August 14th, 2020
Duration: 9 mins.
Director: Satoshi Tomioka
Writer: Yuji Kobayashi (Script), Reiko Hiroshima, jya jya (Original Novel)
Starring: Nobue Iketani (Beniko), Toshiki Kumagai (Keiji), Tamaki Shiratori (Fuyuko), Ikkei Watanabe (Old man)
Animation Production: Toei Animation
Synopsis: Zenitendō is the name of a mysterious candy and snack shop which only lucky people can find. The owner, Beniko, can recommend the perfect candy for each person’s troubles but the recipient of the candy has to be careful how they use it because it might backfire.
Eiga Oshiri Tantei: Tentō Mushi Iseki no Nazo 
映画 おしりたんてい テントウムシいせきの なぞ 「Eiga Oshiri Tantei: Tentō Mushi Iseki no Nazo」
Running Time: 40 mins.
Release Date: August 14th, 2020
Director: Hiroki Shibata
Writer: Natsuko Takahashi (Screenplay), Tororu (Original Book)
Starring: Yuuko Sanbei (Oshiri Tantei), Ikkei Watanabe (Maltese Chief), Ayaka Saito (Brown),
Synopsis: A father-son detective duo, Dandy and Pantin, who both look like butts and solves crimes is brought to the screen as they attempt to solve the mystery of the ladybug ruins which can save the troubled village of Tenten which has gone a long time without rain. They just have to deal with some robbers as they search.
Recycle Zoo: Mamore! Mokuyobi wa Shigen Gomi no Hi
りさいくるずー まもれ！もくようびは資源ごみの日 「Risaikuru Zu- Mamore! Mokuyoubi ha Shigen Gomi no Hi」
Release Date: August 14th, 2020
Duration: 9 mins.
Director: Bempi Neko
Writer: Bempi Neko (Script), coyote (Original Work)
Starring: Bempi Neko (Voice Over)
Animation Production: Toei Animation
Synopsis: This is the second Recycle Zoo movie, a slightly mysterious animation in which cardboard characters begin to move. A cardboard explorer duo, Yamaori, a cat, and Tanioli, a dog, battle an evil hammer monster that appears in Cardboard Town…