Happy Weekend
I hope that you are well
What are the first batch of films released this weekend?
yes, yes, yes 
Release Date: March 25th, 2022
Duration: 74 mins.
Director: Akihiko Yano
Writer: Akihiko Yano, (Script),
Starring: Kazuma Uesugi, Kazunari Uryu, Minami Inoue, Nahoko Kawasumi,
A year after its world premiere, yes, yes, yes, finally gets a theatrical release. This one is an absolute stunner of a film. It features searing dramatic performances and such a focussed script and direction that it will hit you in the heart. Here’s my review and here’s my interview with director Akihiko Yano.
Synopsis: In this ensemble drama, we watch a few days in the life of a family of four people who have to wrestle with the devastating news that the mother, Sayuri (Nahoko Kawasumi), may not be able to come back from hospital after the return of a serious illness. Each member of the family is personally devastated but the one who seems to take this news the worst is teenage son Takeaki (Kazuma Uesugi) who lacks the maturity to process what it all means and so he bristles with nihilistic anger. In contrast, his older sister Juri (Minami Inoue) knows enough to put on a brave face but her mind is also elsewhere as she faces her own lonely struggle on her way to single-motherhood. Meanwhile, their father, Masaaki (Kazunari Uryu), has adopted a false mask as he desperately tries to play the patriarch to hide his own fear and sadness. At this moment of crisis when they should all be pulling together, each person retreats into themselves and their family begins to fall apart. However, it is only in facing death that each person can learn to cherish life.
Love Like the Falling Petals 
桜のような僕の恋人 「 Sakura no Yona Boku no Koibito」
Release Date: March 24th, 2022
Duration: 128 mins.
Director: Yoshihiro Fukagawa
Writer: Tomoko Yoshida (Script) Keisuke Uyama (Original Novel),
Starring: Kento Nakajima, Honoka Matsumoto, Kento Nagayama, Yuki Sakurai, Yumi Wakatsuki,
A Netflix film.
Synopsis: Haruto Asakura’s passion for photography is on the wane until he meets and falls in love with a hairdresser named Misaki Ariake. Her endless hard work inspires Haruto to pursue his calling and it seems he has the perfect life with a partner waiting for him until Misaki is diagnosed with a disease that ages her ten-times faster than normal.
Osomatsu-san The Movie 
映画 おそ松さん 「 Eiga Osomatsu-san」
Release Date: March 25th, 2022
Duration: 128 mins.
Director: Tsutomu Hanabusa
Writer: Ryoichi Tsuchiya (Script) Fujiko Akatsuka (Original Manga),
Starring: Koji Mukai, Raul, Daisuke Sakuma, Tatsuya Fukazawa, Ren Meguro, Ryota Miyadate, Mari Hamada,
This is a live-action film adaptation of the manga starring members of the idol group Snow Man. It doesn’t look great, especially when compared to the anime adaptation…
Synopsis: The six children of the Matsuno family, Osomatsu, Karamatsu, Choromatsu, Ichimatsu, Jyushimatsu, and Todomatsu, are over 20 years old in age but still live at home with their parents. One day, the eldest son, Osomatsu, meets a rich gentleman who says he wants to adopt Osomatsu because he looks exactly like his son who was died in an accident. This sparks a battle between the brothers. Meanwhile, a trio of villains appear.
Bokemasu kara, yoroshiku onegaishimasu. Okaeri Okaasan 
ぼけますから、よろしくお願いします。 おかえり お母さん 「 Bokemasu kara, yoroshiku onegaishimasu. Okaeri Okaasan」
Release Date: March 25th, 2022
Duration: 101 mins.
Director: Naoko Nobutomo
Writer: N/A
Starring: N/A
Synopsis: Director Naoko Nobutomo has made a follow-up documentary to her 2018 work I Go Gaga, My Dear. Again, documents the lives of her nonagenarian parents in Kure, Hiroshima and reveals how her mother’s Alzheimer’s-related dementia worsened and she suffered a stroke. Her father’s efforts to visit her in hospital and his preparation for her return home is shown, just as Covid-19 spreads. While highlighting the difficulties of living with dementia and the problems faced by Japan’s aging society as a whole, the film depicts a happy couple.
Ginzuru Monotachi 
吟ずる者たち 「 Ginzuru Monotachi」
Release Date: March 25th, 2022
Duration: 115 mins.
Director: Seiji Aburatani
Writer: Seiji Aburatani, Yumi Hitose, Kuniho Yasui (Script)
Starring: Manami Higa, Shunsuke Nakamura, Naho Toda, Tengai Shibuya III, Ren Imai, Masaki Nakao,
Synopsis: Asuka Nagamine had tried her hand at sake brewing in Tokyo but failed and returned to her hometown in Hiroshima. It’s not common for a woman to enter the field and she had her misgivings because she is the adopted daughter of descendants of Senzaburo Miura, a master brewer, but, like her venerable family ancestor who came up with a stable sake brewing technique that avoids spoilage, Asuka persists in trying to make it.
Jinsei no Kigaekata 
人生の着替えかた 「 Jinsei no Kigaekata」
Release Date: March 25th, 2022
Duration: 101 mins.
Director: Yusuke Goto, Tetsuya Okabe, Tetsuo Shinohara
Writer: Tetsuya Okabe, Naomi Hiruta (Script)
Starring: Kentaro Akisawa, Yuichi Nakamura, Soichiro Sorihashi, Misao, Ena Koshino, Mami Kamura,
Synopsis: An omnibus film involving stories of a young man who is deaf who tries to live up to the wishes of his late father, who ran a Japanese tea store, and two brothers caught up in an “ore ore” scam.