Happy Weekend
I hope you are well
This is the first of a two-part trailer post.
My coverage of Japan Cuts continued this week when I posted reviews of Mari and Mari and School Radio to Major Tom on my blog and my review for To Sleep so as to Dream was posted on V-Cinema. I also had a satisfying discussion about Whispering Corridors and Memento Mori for a Heroic Purgatory podcast recording.
What is released this weekend?
Moonlight Shadow 
ムーンライト・シャドウ 「Mu-nraito Shadou」
Release Date: September 10th, 2021
Duration: 92 mins.
Director: Edmund Yeo
Writer: Tomoyuki Takahashi (Script), Banana Yoshimoto (Original Script),
Starring: Nana Komatsu, Hio Miyazawa, Asami Usuda, Aoi Yoshikura, Nana Nakahara, Seiya Nakano, Himi Sato,
An interesting combination has emerged with this film. Malaysian director Edmund Yeo – I’ve reviewed a couple of his films – Aquerat and River of Exploding Durians – adapts a story from Banana Yoshimoto from her short story collection Kitchen and the film stars Nana Komatsu (The World of Kanako, Samurai Marathon). You can read an interview with the director about the casting of Komatsu over on this site Nana Komatsu International.
Synopsis: When Satsuki’s (Nana Komatsu) and Hitoshi (Hio Miyazawa) meet on a riverbank one night, they fall in love. Satsuki meets Hitoshi’s brother Hiiragi (Himi Sato), and Hiiragi’s girlfriend, Yumiko (Nana Nakahara), who harbours an interest in the paranormal, especially the concept of the “moonlight shadow” and how people can meet with the dead during this phenomenon. This happy quartet is broken up when Hitoshi and Yumiko die in a traffic accident leaving Satsuki and Hiiragi behind. As they struggle to get over the deaths of their loved ones, they meet a woman named Urara (Asami Usuda) who seems to know something about the “moonlight shadow…”
Sensei, Would You Sit Beside Me? 
先生、私の隣に座っていただけませんか？ 「Sennsei, Watashi no Tonari ni Suwatte Itadakemasennka?」
Release Date: September 10th 2021
Duration: 119 mins.
Director: Takahiro Horie
Writer: Takahiro Horie (Script)
Starring: Haru Kuroki, Tasuku Emoto, Daichi Kaneko, Nao, Jun Fubuki,
Haru Kuroki (The Bride of Rip van Winkle) and Tasuku Emoto (And Your Bird Can Sing) form a double-act in this film which looks very intriguing.
Synopsis: Manga artist Sawako (Haru Kuroki) is working on her latest title and her husband Toshio (Tasuku Emoto) is worried. Her story is about adultery and the details are close to his affair with her editor Chika. Then, Sawako embarks upon an affair with a young driving instructor. Is this her way of getting even???
Hama no Asahi no Usotsukidomo to 
浜の朝日の嘘つきどもと 「Hama no Asahi no Usotsukidomo to」
Release Date: September 10th, 2021
Duration: 114 mins.
Director: Yuki Tanada
Writer: Yuki Tanada (Script),
Starring: Mitsuki Takahata, Kyotaro Yanagiya, Kayoko Okubo, Masahiro Komoto, Hiroki Sano, Pistol akehara, Ken Mitsuishi, Kazuko Yoshiyuki,
Synopsis: Asahi-za is a cinema in Minamisoma, Fukushima Prefecture, with a history stretching back for almost a 100 years. However, this old-fashioned institution that plays silent films and other oldies is under threat from nearby multiplexes. The manger, Yasuzo Morita (Kyotaro Yanagiya), has finally had enough and decides to close down the cinema but a young woman from Tokyo named Rika Motegi (Mitsuki Takahata) suddenly appears in town and tries to save the cinema.
Super Battle Junretsuger 
スーパー戦闘 純烈ジャー 「Su-pa- Sento Junretsuja-」
Release Date: September 10th, 2021
Duration: 83 mins.
Director: Hiroshi Butsuda
Writer: Hiroaki Kubo (Script),
Starring: Shota Gogami, Yujiro Shirakawa, Ryohe Odai, Kazuyoshi Sakai, Kiyoshi Maekawa, Kohei Yamamoto, Kenichi Suzumura, Eri Fuse,
Some of the lead actors are members of Junretsu, a vocal music group whose members portrayed characters in tokusatsu shows, and they have a fanbase made up primarily of older women. They appeared on NHK Kōhaku Uta Gassen in 2018.
Synopsis: The Junretsu lads are called in by the authorities to discover why handsome men are disappearing from sento (bathhouses) and onsen (hotsprings) across Japan. When they go full on Junretsuger to solve the mystery, they transform into heroes via special karaoke microphones.
Iru 
いる 「Iru」
Release Date: September 07th, 2021
Duration: 41 mins.
Director: Yasuhiro Isobe
Writer: Yasuhiro Isobe (Script),
Starring: Yasuhiro Isobe, Yuuji Makita, Mari Ando, Kazuki Sato, Yoko Hara,
Synopsis: Yasuhiro Isobe is better known as an actor, as evidenced by his appearance in Masanori Tominaga’s Rolling (which I still haven’t seen and am desperate to watch!), Well, he wrote, directed, and starred in this medium-length film that won the Best Actor Award in the Competition section of the 14th Tanabe Benkei Film Festival in 2020. He plays a self-centred actor who we see endure everyday struggles. One day, he goes home and his front door is already open…
Eiga Okaasan to issho Escape from the Weird World! 
映画 おかあさんといっしょ ヘンテコ世界からの脱出！ 「Eiga Okaasan to issho henteko sekai kara no dasshutsu!」
Release Date: September 10th, 2021
Duration: 67 mins.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
Starring: Atsuko Ono, Yuichiro Hanada, Makoto Fukuo, Azuki Akimoto, Yoshihisa Kobayashi, Daisuke Yokoyama,
Synopsis: This is the third film of the NHK program “Okasan to Issho”, which has been broadcast since 1959. The hosts of the show get into a fight and get lost and go on an adventure to return to their original world. This is an interactive screening involving a quiz and take photos.
Gekijouban Hontou ni Atta Kowai Hanashi Jiko Bukken Geinin 3 
劇場版 ほんとうにあった怖い話 事故物件芸人3 「Gekijouban Hontou ni Atta Kowai Hanashi Jiko Bukken Geinin 3」
Release Date: September 10th, 2021
Duration: 75 mins.
Director: Hiromitsu Amano
Writer: Hiromitsu Amano (Screenplay)
Starring: Takeru, Shogo, Shuuhei Nakano, Iwakura, Takashi Sakai, Manami Enosawa,
This is the third in an omnibus horror series that dramatizes the re-enactments of ghostly and frightening experiences in haunted properties submitted by the general public. These films star young comedians who are tipped to become big.
Synopsis: A deserted film studio is the setting for this one as a comedian named Keita talks about his horror experiences with a TV crew. A year later, Norio and Akemi, a male-female comedy duo, decide to broadcast a video at a haunted studio…