Happy weekend, everyone.
I hope you are all well!
This week, I watched more Shohei Imamura films in preparation for a podcast. I also watched a bunch of Ryutaro Nakagawa films like Mio on the Shore, Summer Blooms, and Silent Rain. I also watched Eriko Pretended. The last four are on Amazon Prime. I’m transitioning to Osaka Asian Film Festival titles now. You can see the full programme here. I hope you take a look because I wrote the English-language synopses! I had a blast doing it. I’m still doing work for the festival.
This week I posted a review for the film Colorless.
This trailer post will be split into three parts. This is the first.
So, what is released in Japan this weekend?
Aristocrats 
あのこは貴族 「Ano ko wa Kizoku」
Release Date: February 26th, 2021
Duration: 124 mins.
Director: Yukiko Sode
Writer: Yukiko Sode (Script), Mariko Yamauchi (Original Novel)
Starring: Mugi Kadowaki, Kiko Mizuhara, Kengo Kora, Shizuka Ishibashi, Rio Yamashita, Yukiko Shinohara, Kei Ishibashi,
Based on Mariko Yamauchi’s novel of the same name, it follows two women with different lives who live in Tokyo.
Synopsis: Hanako Haibara (Mugi Kadowaki) is in her late twenties and is from a well-to-do background (perhaps cloistered) in Tokyo and is looking for a man to marry. After getting dumped by her boyfriend Koichiro (Kengo Kora), she hits the dating scene but she questions her path in life. Meanwhile, Miki Tokioka (Kiko Mizuhara) is from a less affluent background having come from Toyama prefecture but studied and worked hard to get to into a prestigious university and, after tough times where she questioned the meaning of everything, she now works at an IT company but is also uncertain about life. They are introduced through an intermediary man. Due to a man, Hanako Haibara and Miki Tokioka meet each other and contrast their lives.
The next two films are screened as a double-bill:
Face Forward 
今は、進め。 「Ima wa, susume. 」
Release Date: February 26th, 2021
Duration: 74 mins.
Director: Tetsutaro Yaguchi
Writer: N/A
Starring: Mao Morishita, Seri Suzumura, Yuuri Kinoshita,
Synopsis: A documentary about the creation of the newly formed idol unit “kiraboshi” from the idol group “Kamen Joshi,” an underground idol group that are popular but were unable to hold live performances in 2020 due to the spread of Covid-19. We watch as Mao Morishita, Seri Suzumura, and Yuuri Kinoshita work together to get their act going.
Wasurerareta Kamisama 
忘れられた神様 「Wasurerareta Kamisama」
Release Date: February 26th, 2021
Duration: 24 mins.
Director: Tetsutaro Yaguchi
Writer: Tetsutaro Yaguchi (Script),
Starring: Ako Yamamoto, Kazuaki Hankai, Sakura Nodoka, Momoka Aoba, Momoka Kobayashi,
Synopsis: Yukari has lived with her older sister Aki following the death of their mother. Due to bullying, Yukari is never at school and, instead, spends time sketching at a riverside. It is there that she meets a mysterious man who calls himself a god. Yukari and this strange man communicate with one another until the day that her sister discovers that Yukari is truanting from school. Yukari decides to run away from home after their quarrel and when she returns to the riverbank where she always spent time with the old man, she finds he is no longer there…
GET OVER JAM Project THE MOVIE 
劇場版ポルノグラファー プレイバック 「Gekijouban Porunogurafa- Pureibakku 」
Release Date: February 26th, 2021
Duration: 114 mins.
Director: Yoshiko Osawa
Writer: N/A
Starring: Masami Okui, Hironobu Kageyama, Masaaki Endoh, Hiroshi Kitadani, Yoshiki Fukuyama,
Synopsis: To celebrate the 20th anniversary of the super unit “JAM Project” (Japan Animationsong Makers Project), this documentary was commissioned and shot in 2020. It follows the band for 15 months and shows them in the studio and on worldwide tours. It also shows the impact of Covid-19 on their schedule. Through their example on screen and their awesome anime songs, we will be encouraged to keep on living to the fullest!
New Directions in Japanese Cinema
Three short films produced in 2020 under the auspices of “ndjc (New Directions in Japanese Cinema): Young Filmmaker Development Project,” a scheme set up by the Agency for Cultural Affairs commissioned project aimed at supporting the development of film directors.
Samete Maboroshi 
醒めてまぼろし 「Samete Maboroshi」
Release Date: February 26th, 2021
Duration: 30 mins.
Director: Kanna Kimura
Writer: Kanna Kimura (Script),
Starring: Karin Ono, Yuzu Aoki, Kyoko Toyama, Takashi Nishina, Takaya Aoyagi,
Synopsis: It is 2009 and we follow Akiko Shimizu, a second-year high school student who lives in Tokyo. She is struggling with home life and school, particularly because of a lack of sleep and so she goes to her grandmother’s house to sleep. One day, she meets a person on the train on her way to school…
Explosive Cooking Every Day 
毎日爆裂クッキング 「Mainichi bakuretsu kukkingu」
Release Date: February 26th, 2021
Duration: 30 mins.
Director: Sakura Ueki
Writer: Sakura Ueki (Script),
Starring: Seia Yasuda, Mika Hijii, Ryusuke Komakine, Makoto Imazato, Seiichi Kohinata, Eri Watanabe,
Synopsis: Fumi Aijima, the editor of a food magazine begins to suffer from dysgeusia (loss of the taste of food) due to stress from her boss. Eating food with all sorts of seasoning becomes difficult but then Fumi has a meeting with an essayist named Kayoko Yoshimura who says that she likes Fumi’s writing…
Madotachi 
窓たち 「Madotachi」
Release Date: February 26th, 2021
Duration: 30 mins.
Director: Daisuke Shigaya
Writer: Daisuke Shigaya (Script)
Starring: Ryoko Kobayashi, Anan Sekiguchi, Saori Seto, Ryuju Kobayashi,
Synopsis: Asako, a beautician who lives with her lover and works part-time at a pizza shop, finds that her relationship with her other half has changed. He wants to be a father and for Asako to bear his child. However, their relationship becomes even more complicated when another woman gets involved…