Happy weekend!
Here is the first batch of trailers for films released this weekend. The second batch comes tomorrow!
Character 
キャラクタ 「Kyarakuta」
Release Date: June 11th 2021
Duration: 125 mins.
Director: Akira Nagai
Writer: Akira Nagai, Anna Kawahara, Takashi Nagasaki (Script), Takashi Nagasaki (Original Manga)
Starring: Masaki Suda, Fukase, Shun Oguri, Mitsuki Takahata, Shido Nakamura, Yoshiki Fujieda,
Akira Nagai, director of Judge! and If Cats Disappeared From this World, teams up with talented actors Masaki Suda and Mitsuki Takahata, and also the musician Fukase, from the band Sekai no Owari in this glossy crime thriller.
Synopsis: Keigo Yamashiro (Masaki Suda) is a talented artist who is stuck as an assistant to a manga artist. He is struggling to make his own work but he lacks the experience and imagination to make a villain. That changes when he is given a task to sketch an ideal family, turns up at their home and finds them all murdered and the culprit still there. The murderer becomes the inspiration for his manga which becomes a hit. The only snag is that the police know he encountered the killer and the killer starts to re-enact murders from the manga…
Namonaihi: A Day with no Name 
名も無い日 「Kyarakuta」
Release Date: June 11th 2021
Duration: 124 mins.
Director: Yuichi Hibi
Writer: Seito Shinryo, Yuichi Hibi (Script), Yuichi Hibi (Original Idea)
Starring: Masatoshi Nagase, Joe Odagiri, Miki Imai, Yoko Maki, Nobuaki Kaneko, Mariko Fuji, Kayoko Ohkubo,
Yuichi Hibi, director of Erica 38, comes back in this film which has a strong cast.
Synopsis: Tatsuya (Masatoshi Nagase), Akihito (Joe Odagiri) and Takashi (Nobuaki Kaneko) are three brothers born and raised in Atsuta Ward in Nagoya City. Tatsuya left home to work as a photographer in New York but he returned to Nagoya after receiving news of the death of his younger brother Akihito (Joe Odagiri). Armed with his camera, Tatsuya travels around Nagoya as if searching for memories of people and experiences.
Aoi-chan wa yarasete kurenai 
葵ちゃんはやらせてくれない 「Aoi-chan wa yarasete kurenai」
Release Date: June 11th 2021
Duration: 98 mins.
Director: Shinji Imaoka
Writer: Shinji Imaoka, Minoru Sato (Script),
Starring: Mako Komaki, Shohei Matsuzaki, Ryu Morioka, Kizuna Sakura, Yuri Mishima,
A time-slip love story by Shinji Imaoka, director of Reiko and the Dolphin. I interviewed him for that film last year and interviewed him for A Rainbow-colored Trip just this week!
Synopsis: Shingo, a young man who aspires to become a film director, is visited by the ghost of Kawashita, a senior from his film club at university. Kawashita committed suicide a year ago but has come back to life because he wanted to have sex with Aoi-chan, their junior at university. The two travel back in time to the day when Kawashita had his only chance to have sex with Aoi-chan…
All the Kindness of a Man is a Motive 
男の優しさは全部下心なんですって 「Otoko no yasashi-sa wa zenbu shitagokoronande sutte」
Release Date: June 11th 2021
Duration: 72 mins.
Director: Nao Nomura
Writer: Nao Nomura (Script), Yuichi Hibi (Original Idea)
Starring: Chie Tsuji, Atomu Mizuishi, Makoto Tanaka, Shunsuke Tanaka, Taichi Kodama, Oto Abe, Kenta Kiguchi,
This is a re-edited version of a MOOSIC LAB 2019 film. It has music composed by Mariko Goto and its star Chie Tsuji who won the Best Actress award at MOOSIC LAB 2019.
Synopsis: Miko Uda (Chie Tsuji) works as an attendant for a merry-go-round at a shopping mall and as a mascot. Miko believes in people to the utmost but has been rejected by every man she has ever given herself to. Unable to become the only one for someone, Miko spends her days alone on the merry-go-round.
Amazing! The Super Legend of Sea Creatures: Darwin’s Coming! 
驚き！海の生きもの超伝説 劇場版ダーウィンが来た！「Odoroki! Umi no ikimono chō densetsu gekijō-ban dāu~in ga kita!」
Release Date: June 11th 2021
Duration: 84 mins.
Director: Yuuki Tadokoro
Writer: N/A
Starring: Sakana-kun, Naoki Tatsuta,
Synopsis: The third film adaptation of NHK’s nature documentary program Darwin is Here! The theme of the film is the ocean and the many new species and mysterious ecology that are being discovered. Featured in the film are creatures such as a monkfish that crushes shells with a powerful punch, a flying fish that escapes from enemies with its amazing flying skills, Gentoo penguins that dash to teach their chicks how to run, and sea otters that patiently teach their young how to crack shells.
Blue Heaven For You 
ブルーヘブンを君に 「Buru- Hebun o Kimi ni」
Release Date: June 11th 2021
Duration: 93 mins.
Director: Takehiko Hata
Writer: Takehiko Hata (Script),
Starring: Saori Yuki, Yutaka Kobayashi, Yurina Yanagi, Hajime Okayama, Takafumi Honda, Michiko Iwahashi,
Synopsis: Fuyuko Sagisaka (Saori Yuki) is known in some gardening circles as the creator of “Blue Heaven,” the world’s first blue rose, which was said to be impossible to produce. Now a grandmother, she has been diagnosed with cancer and its terminal. With only six months to live, her doctor encourages her to try to make the most of her days. Fuyuko remembers one thing she has left undone, and that is to fly in the sky with a hang glider.
Kotei no Sora 
湖底の空 「Kotei no Sora」
Release Date: June 12th 2021
Duration: 111 mins.
Director: Tomoya Sato
Writer: Tomoya Sato (Script),
Starring: Im Tae-kyung, Tsuyoshi Abe, Agnes Chan, Myonpa, Hiromitsu Takeda,
Synopsis: A Japan-China-Korea co-production about siblings, Sora and Umi (both played by Lee Tae-kyung) who were born to a Japanese father and a Korean mother and raised in South Korea. Sora now lives in Shanghai and works as an illustrator. When she meets a Japanese guy named Mochizuki, they become close. This is when her sibling Umi visits. Umi was born intersex and had undergone gender reassignment surgery to become a woman. Umi encourages Sora and Mochizuki to fall in love, but Sora becomes mentally unstable…