The Glasgow Film Festival (February 24th – March 07th) will launch for its 17th edition this month and there is only one Japanese film in the line-up.
Here is what is on offer:
ベイビーわるきゅーれ 「Beibi- Warukyu-re」
Release Date: July 30th 2021
Duration: 95 mins.
Director: Yugo Sakamoto
Writer: Yugo Sakamoto (Script),
Starring: Akari Takaishi, Saori Izawa, Masanori Mimoto, Mone Akitani, Yasukaze Motomiya,
Stunt Coordinator: Kensuke Sonomura
Synopsis from JFDB: Chisato and Mahiro, a pair of high school girls who are assassins, have to become “members of society” to disguise their true identities from tomorrow. That means they have to get day jobs and become roomies. It all gets put under threat when Chisato gets into trouble with a Yakuza while working. Are they going to survive the battles with Yakuza and whose turn is it to clean their apartment?
犬王「Inu Oh」
Release Date: 2022
Duration: 90 mins.
Director: Masaaki Yuasa
Writer: Akiko Nogi (Script), Hideo Furukawa (Original Novel – Heike Monogatari – Inu-Oh no Maki)
Starring: Avu-chan (Inu-oh), Mirai Moriyama (Tomona),
Animation Production: Science SARU
This is an adaptation of Heike Monogatari – Inu-Oh no Maki by Hideo Furukawa and is based on the true story of 14th-century Sarugaku Noh performer and playwright Inu-Oh. The film is billed as a musical that will incorporate both modern song and dance which is all being produced by animation outfit Science SARU with ASMIK Ace working as distributor.
Manga artist, Taiyo Matsumoto (Tekkonkinkreet, Ping Pong, Sunny), who previously worked with Yuasa on Ping Pong: The Animation, is credited as the character designer. The screenplay comes from Akiko Nogi who has adapted manga into live-action films like Library Wars and I Am a Hero.
Synopsis from Asmik Ace: “You should make a song of my life with Biwa.”
Inu-Oh was a real person who lived in the 14th century. He was a Noh dancer and extremely popular in that era. However, he is all but unknown to people nowadays, because only few documents about his life remain. This film imagines his life.
Born with deformities that shocked people who saw him, his parents covered his body with garments and a mask. When he meets a boy named Tomona, a blind biwa player, Inu-Ou discovers an incredible ability to dance. The two become business partners and inseparable friends, using their creative gifts to survive on the margins of society, as song after song gain them notoriety and propel them to stardom. Through the songs, Inu-Ou mesmerizes his audiences on stage, and gradually begins to transform into someone of unequalled beauty. But why is Tomona blind? Why was Inu-Ou born with unique characteristics? It is a story about the friendship of Inu-Ou and Tomona, who dance and sing to get to the truth and break each other’s curse.
すくってごらん 「Sukutte Goran」
Release Date: March 12th, 2021
Duration: 92 mins.
Director: Yukinori Makabe
Writer: Atsumi Tsuchi (Script), Noriko Otani (Original Manga)
Starring: Matsuya Onoe, Kanako Momota, Hayato Kakizawa, Nicole Ishida, Hiroshi Yazaki,
Synopsis: Makoto Kashiba (Matsuya Onoe) was once an elite bank clerk at a big Tokyo bank who lived only for work. One day, a minor mistake saw him, demoted to a small branch office in the countryside. The initial feeling of this robot is devastation but that turns into first love when he meets Yoshino Ikoma (Kanako Momota), the beautiful young woman who runs a goldfish scooping store…
Here’s coverage of Glasgow from past years: