This is the first in a three-part trailer post because 18 films have been released this weekend.
Ito 
いとみち 「Itomichi」
Release Date: June 25th, 2021
Duration: 92 mins.
Director: Satoko Yokohama
Writer: Satoko Yokohama (Script), Osamu Koshigaya (Original Novel)
Starring: Ren Komai, Etsushi Toyokawa, Mei Kurokawa, Yoko Nishikawa, Mayuu Yokota, Ayumu Nakajima, Daimaou Kosaka, Shohei Uno,
Winner of the Grand Prix and Audience Award at the Osaka Asian Film Festival 2021, Ito is the first solo feature film from director Satoko Yokohama since her 2015 drama The Actor. Her cinematic return is set in Aomori Prefecture, the birthplace of Yokohama and also of the film’s lead actress Ren Komai.
I saw this as part of the Osaka Asian Film Festival earlier this year. I found it a charming film. You can read my review here and my interview with the director, Satoko Yokohama, here.
Synopsis: High schooler Ito Soma (Ren Komai) is a gangly girl who hails from Itayanagi, a small town outside Hirosaki city. She has a timid nature and a thick Tsugaru accent which makes her sound a bit like a hick. However, far from being a hayseed, Ito is very knowledgeable about her local culture and dialect and she can also play the shamisen, a three-stringed instrument that is particularly popular in Aomori. This skill is something she picked up from her grandmother (Yoko Nishikawa) and a massive part of the few memories she holds of her late mother, a talented shamisen player in her own right. Alas, Ito refuses to practice and stays silent due to her embarrassment over her country roots and also her melancholy over never having known her mother. However, it is through fully embracing these factors that Ito can eventually unlock her ability to express herself. What puts the girl on the path of self-acceptance and self-expression is an unlikely job at a maid café in Hirosaki City.
The Goldfish: Dreaming of the Sea 
海辺の金魚 「Umibe no Kingyo」
Release Date: June 25th 2021
Duration: 76 mins.
Director: Sara Ogawa
Writer: Sara Ogawa (Script)
Starring: Miyu Ogawa, Runa Hanada, Tateto Serizawa, Nayuta Fukuzaki, Kinuo Yamada,
Synopsis: 18-year-old Hana (Miyu Ogawa) is on the verge of leaving the foster home she has lived in ever since she was taken from her mother. As the oldest there, she helps take care of newcomers and this includes an 8-year-old girl named Harumi (Runa Hanada) who is deeply introverted and prickly. The two gradually bond and open up to each other as they see their similarities and they share the secret scars they hold inside…
The Dream Manipulator Mugen: Ningyo Jigoku 
夢幻紳士 人形地獄「Mugen Shinshi Ningyou Jigoku」
Release Date: June 26th, 2021
Duration: 90 mins.
Director: Misako Unakami
Writer: Ayumi Sato, Kazuhiro Tokage, Takashi Suganuma (Screenplay), Yousuke Takahashi (Original Manga)
Starring: Masazumi Minaki, Kana Yoko, Yumiko Oka, Suwaro Ryu, Kiriko Kina, SARU, Fumio Sugiyama,
Synopsis: Based on the manga Dream Gentleman Mugen Shinshi by Yousuke Takahashi, the story takes place in the Showa era and follows mysterious and famous detective Mugen Mamiya who has travelled from Tokyo to a mountain village where he investigates the case of a girl who was discovered stuffed in a wooden box. The girl, Nayuko Mishima, had been in the service of a local lady with a mysterious reputation named Hinako before she disappeared. Now in a clinic, the girl lies comatose or maybe she is behaving exactly like a doll. Mugen will have to use his special ability to manipulate dreams to find out what lies at the heart of the case…
Body Remember 
Release Date: June 25th, 2021
Duration: 85 mins.
Director: Keita Yamashina
Writer: Ippei Miyake, Keita Yamashina (Script),
Starring: Yume Tanaka, Yohei Okuda, Ryuta Furuya,
Takaya Shibata, Momoka Ayukawa, Keita Yamashina,
Body Remember is the directorial debut by actor Keita Yamashina. In between appearing in indie films like Swaying Mariko (2017), My Lovely Days (2018), and Stay (2019), he took to the stage and was inspired by the actors he met to craft this film. You can read my review here.
Synopsis: Told through a series of nested stories, Body Remember opens with a bang as we gaze upon the aftermath of a double-shooting which has resulted from a love triangle gone tragically wrong. We watch as the history of this compelling scene is recounted by a sexy woman named Yoko (Yume Tanaka) in an interview with her cousin, a young novelist named Haruhiko (Takaya Shibata), and his artist girlfriend Ririko (Momoka Ayukawa) at a café. She relates a tale of friends who fell out over her, the details of which Yoko’s two listeners intend to turn into a novel. But over the course of the film we question what is truth and what is fiction.
BanG Dream! Episode of Roselia II：Song I am. 
BanG Dream! Episode of Roselia I：約束 「BanG Dream! Episode of Roselia I：Yakusoku」
Release Date: June 25th, 2021
Duration: 70 mins.
Chief Director: Koudai Kakimoto, Director: Atsushi Mimura
Writer: Yuniko Ayana (Series Composition) Ko Nakamura (Original Story)
Starring: Aina Aiba (Yukina Minato), Haruka Kudou (Sayo Hikawa), Kanon Shizaki (Rinko Shirokane), Megu Sakuragawa (Ako Udagawa), Yuki Nakashima (Lisa Imai)
Animation Production: Sanzigen Animation Studio
BanG Dream! is a project in which the voice actors acting the characters actually form a band to play musical instruments and sing. This is the second in a two-part release focussed on the band Roselia. The first part was released in April.
Synopsis: Minato Yukina decides to form the band Roselia to participate in a music festival. She recruits four other girls, all of whom are aiming for success.