Happy weekend, again!
This is the follow-up post to yesterday’s. Since I posted it, I watched a couple of Wong Kar-Wai films and more episodes of the anime adaptation of Blade of the Immortal.
What else was released this weekend?
Ura Aka – L’Aventure 
裏アカ 「Ura Aka」
Release Date: April 02nd, 2021
Duration: 72 mins.
Director: Takuya Kato
Writer: Ryo Takada, Takuya Kato (Script),
Starring: Kumi Takiuchi, Fuju Kamio, Tomohiro Ichikawa, SUMIRE, Yoji Tanaka, Takashi Nishina, Eri Fuse,
Synopsis: Machiko (Takiuchi Kumi) manages a fashion boutique which is where she gets clothes for racy photos she posts on a secret social media account. She becomes addicted to getting reactions online and it isn’t long before she meets and sleeps with one of her followers, a younger guy named Yuto (Kamio Fuju).
Sower of Seeds 4 Tanemaku Tabibito Karen (Hasu) no Kagayaki, 
種まく旅人 華蓮（ハス）のかがやき 「Tanemaku Tabibito Karen (hasu) no Kagayaki」
Release Date: April 02nd, 2021
Duration: 72 mins.
Director: Masanori Inoue
Writer: Kyoko Moriwaki (Script),
Starring: Chiaki Kuriyama, Yuta Hiraoka, Yuichi Kimura, Mariko Okubo,
Synopsis: Ryoichi Yamada works as a banker in Osaka but when he receives a phone call from his mother informing him that his father has collapsed due to a stroke, he returns to the family-run lotus root farm in his hometown of Kanazawa. Ryoichi faces choosing between taking over or selling his parents’ farm and it is difficult to make a decision. Meanwhile, Keiko, a bureaucrat of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, comes to Kanazawa to inspect a lotus root farm…
Good-bye 
グッドバイ「Guddo Bai」
Release Date: June 27th, 2020
Duration: 66 mins.
Director: Aya Miyazaki
Writer: Aya Miyazaki (Script),
Starring: Mayuko Fukuda, Asako Kobayashi, Kohei Ikeue, Hiroe Igeta, Akihito Yoshiie,
Aya Miyazaki got the filmmaking bug while studying at Waseda University. She took the video production course in her third year with one of her teachers being Hirokazu Kore-eda. I reviewed this film and interviewed director Miyazaki last year. The film stars Mayuko Fukada who was in Kamata Prelude.
Synopsis: Sakura Ueno (Mayuko Fukuda) is a twenty-something who still lives with her mother (Asako Kobayashi) in their suburban home while her father lives separately after a period spent raising Sakura by himself. One day, Sakura quits her job and takes on casual work at a nursery. This sets in motion a big changes as she meets Ai, a girl who reminds Sakura of herself. She then meets Ai’s father, Shindo (Kohei Ikeue), who resembles her own father and so she begins to feel close to him and the girl…
Farmer’s Wife, Handle with Care! Part 1 Angel Advent 
農家の嫁は、取り扱い注意！ Part1 天使降臨篇「Noka no Yome wa, Toriatsukai chuui! Part 1 Tenshi Kourin-hen」
Release Date: April 02nd, 2021
Duration: 75 mins.
Director: Shinji Imaoka
Writer: Shinji Imaoka (Script),
Starring: Fumika, Junko Maru, Hitomi Wada, Junko Miyashita,
Synopsis: An action comedy in which Fumika, a popular gravure idol who was a finalist in the 50th Miss Japan Contest 2018, plays the wife of a farmer who also happens to be a former police officer and karate expert. She plays Rumi, a woman who is married to a farmer who is reluctant to see to her “night-time” needs. She has two friends, Midori and Asami, who work in a snack bar. Rumi meets an old lady named Kiwako who is trying to raise 3 million yen because she believes her son embezzled some company’s money but Rumi suspects that it might be a case of fraud and so she investigates…
Farmer’s Wife, Handle with Care! Part 2 A Great Organic Strategy
農家の嫁は、取り扱い注意！ Part 2 有機ある大作戦篇 「Noka no Yome wa, Toriatsukai chuui! Part 2 Yuuki aru dai sakusen-hen」
Release Date: April 02nd, 2021
Duration: 72 mins.
Director: Shinji Imaoka
Writer: Hideki Shishido (Script),
Starring: Fumika, Junko Maru, Hitomi Wada, Junko Miyashita,
No trailer or poster
Synopsis: The second instalment of this action comedy sees Rumi get used to being a farmer’s wife but she suspects that her husband is a victim of fraud carried out by a guy asking for investment into an organic farm…
Uzu ga Mori Danchi no Nemurenai Ko-tachi 
渦が森団地の眠れない子たち 「Uzu ga Mori Danchi no Nemurenai Ko-tachi」
Release Date: April 02nd, 2021
Duration: 137 mins.
Director: Ryuta Horai
Writer: N/A
Starring: Tatsuya Fujiwara, Ryohei Suzuki, Kaoru Okunuki, Katsumi Kiba, Ryo Iwase,
Synopsis: Tatsuya Fujiwara and Ryohei Suzuki took to the stage to play the roles of elementary school students Tetsushi Sayama and Keiichiro Taguchi. These two live in the same danchi (housing complex) and have been close friends for a while but they confront each other in a battle to be king of the danchi.
Ensemble Stars!! ES Music Garden Delay Viewing 
あんさんぶるスターズ!! ES Music Garden Delay Viewing 「Ansan Buru Suta-zu!! ES Music Garden Delay Viewing」
Release Date: April 02nd, 2021
Duration: 72 mins.
Director: N/A
Writer: Seitaro Kinoshita (Script),
Starring: Yohei Azakami, Shintaro Asanuma, Kohei Amasaki, Shunya Ikeda, Kaito Ishikawa,
No trailer
Synopsis: This is based on the smartphone game “Ensemble Stars!!”
Hadaka no Tenshi Akai Heya 
裸の天使 赤い部屋 「Hadaka no Tenshi Akai Heya」
Release Date: April 02nd, 2021
Duration: 71 mins.
Director: Shoji Kubota
Writer: Shoji Kubota (Script), Edogawa Ranpo (Original Novel)
Starring: Houka Kinoshita, Kurumi Nakayama, Yurei Yanagi, Kazuki Namioka, Kota Kusano, Takashi Nishina,
This is the second film in the sensual suspense “Red Room” series, based on a short story by Edogawa Rampo but with everything given a modern twist.
Synopsis: A real estate company president named Matsunaga (Houka Kinoshita) becomes obsessed with a girl named Fumiko (Kurumi Nakayama) who appears at his secret retreat. A deep relationship starts, however, a mysterious man appears in front of Matsunaga, telling him not to see Fumiko.