Happy weekend, everyone.
I hope you are all well and getting hyped for Christmas.
Since I last did a trailer post I recorded the Christmas episode of the Heroic Purgatory podcast where I spoke with John Atom about films we associate with Christmas. As with previous years, I will have a film review lined up for the big day which is a week away. I have been watching lots of short films and a handful of features and I posted review for An Actor’s Revenge (1963) and Matango (1963).
This is the first of a two-part trailer post asking a very important question… What is released in Japan this weekend?
Hold Me Back 
私をくいとめて 「Watashi o Kuitomete」
Release Date: December 18th, 2020
Duration: 135 mins.
Director: Akiko Ohku
Writer: Akiko Ohku (Script), Risa Wataya (Original Novel)
Starring: Non, Kento Hayashi, Asami Usada, Hairi Katagiri, Takuya Wakabahayshi, Ai Hashimoto,
This won Best Film at this year’s Tokyo International Film Festival thanks to audience votes. Here’s a Festival Report from the event to clue you in as to why it was so popular.
Synopsis: 31-years-old Mitsuko Kuroda (Non) is happily enjoying her single life after getting used to living alone. A big reason is that she has a consultant, counsellor “A”, a voice in her mind which gives her advice on how to behave and on her relationships. She believes her happy and peaceful single life with “A” will continue, but she falls in love with Tada-kun (Kento Hayashi), a salesman who is younger than her. Mitsuko decides to take a step forward, even though she is confused by her new lack of courage.
The Promised Neverland 
約束のネバーランド 「Yakusoku no Neverland」
Release Date: December 18th, 2020
Duration: 118 mins.
Director: Yuichiro Hirakawa
Writer: Noriko Goto (Script), Kaiu Shirai, Posuka Demizu (Original Manga)
Starring: Minami Hamabe, Rihito Itagaki, Kairi Jyo, Keiko Kitagawa, Naomi Watanabe, Fuga Shibazaki,
Synopsis: Emma (Minami Hamabe), Norman (Rihito Itagaki) and Ray (Kairi Jyo) are three gifted kids living in an orphanage called “Grace Field House”. The place is run by a lady named Isabella (Keiko Kitagawa) who takes such good care of the orphans she is like a mother, but perceptions change when Emma and Norman learn the dark secret of the orphanage and the outside world and it is something that forces the three to escape from the orphanage with the other kids as soon as possible…
Kamen Rider Zero-One: REAL×TIME 
劇場版 仮面ライダーゼロワン リーエルタイム 「Gekijouban Kamen Raida- Zerowan Ri-erutaimu」
Release Date: May 18th, 1986
Duration: 127 mins.
Director: Teruaki Sugihara
Writer: Yuya Takahashi (Script),
Starring: Fumiya Takahashi, Ryutaro Okada, Noa Tsurushima, Hiroe Igeta, Asumi Narita, Satsuki Nakayama,
Website IMDB Kamen Rider Fandom
Synopsis from Kamen Rider Fandom: Japan has entered a new era. Hiden Intelligence, the country’s most thriving technology company that specializes in artificial intelligence (AI), has developed a way to utilize these A.I.s in a humanoid form, known as the Humagear. These virtually identical humanoid androids have become a staple in everyday life, to the general public as well as the private sectors. After his grandfather’s death, a young but failing stage comedian named Aruto Hiden bears witness to several terrorist attacks orchestrated by MetsubouJinrai.net, prompting the creation of an anti-Humagear military squad, A.I.M.S.. Upon inheriting his late grandfather’s company and the Zero-One Driver, Aruto becomes Kamen Rider Zero-One and finds himself caught in the crossfire between MetsubouJinrai.net and ZAIA Japan, led by Gai Amatsu who wishes to rid the Humagear from society and take over the world.
Kamen Rider Saber: The Phoenix Swordsman and the Book of Ruin 
劇場短編 仮面ライダーセイバー［聖刃］不死鳥の剣士と破滅の書 「Gekijoutanpen Kamen Raida- Seiba- Fushichou no Kenshi to Hametsu no Hon」
Release Date: December 18th, 2020
Duration: 127 mins.
Director: Takayuki Shibasaki
Writer: Takuro Fukuda (Script),
Starring: Shuichiro Naito, Takaya Yamaguchi, Asuka Kawazu, Ryo Aoki, Yuki Ikushima, Eiji Togashi, Rina Chinen,
Website IMDB Kamen Rider Fandom
Synopsis: A short movie version of “Kamen Rider Saber” which began broadcast in September 2020 as the second instalment of the Reiwa Kamen Rider series. The story revolves around the book of ruin which Kamen Rider Saber and Kamen Rider Falchion must seal before the world is swallowed by the darkness that lies within.
Densha o tomeru na! Noroi no 6. 4 Km 
電車を止めるな！ のろいの6.4km 「Densha o tomeru na! Noroi no 6. 4 Km」
Release Date: December 18th, 2020
Duration: 84 mins.
Director: Koji Akai
Writer: Koji Akai, Miyako Yoshimura, Hiroki Terai (Script), Hiroki Terai (Original Novel)
Starring: Shinobu Koga, Yurie Suenaga, Hina, Hideshi Hino, Atsuhiko Nakata, Yoshiki Michii, Kota Matsumoto,
A comedy movie produced by Choshi Electric Railway, a local railway in Choshi City, Chiba Prefecture, for the unusual purpose of raising funds for repair work on a substation. The line, which opened in 1923, runs for a total length of 6.4 km but it requires 100 million yen to fix up.
Synopsis: A railway company on the verge of discontinuing the line plans a “psychic train” as a way to save it. Employees are asked to produce a psychic phenomenon in front of the camera but nothing seems to go right. What they don’t realise is that an unexpected and very real psychic phenomenon is beginning to occur and it puts the passengers on board in danger as the psychic train continues to run without showing any signs of stopping and approaches the terminal station…
More Japanese film trailers tomorrow!