Welcome to the Weekend
I hope you are well
I delayed this post from a Friday launch due to the assassination of Japan’s ex-prime minister Shinzo Abe.
What are the first batch of films released this weekend?
Broken Commandment 
破戒 「Hakai」
Release Date: July 08th, 2022
Duration: 119 mins.
Director: Kazuo Maeda
Writer: Masato Kato, Norio Kida (Script), Toson Shimazaki (Original Story)
Starring: Shotaro Mamiya, Anna Ishii, Yuma Yamoto, Naoto Takenaka, Ayako Kobayashi, Yoji Tanaka, Renji Ishibashi,
Thursday Jul 28, 6:30pm
Asia Society
This is based on Toson Shimazaki’s work and has been adapted into film already, first by Keisuke Kinoshita in 1948 and then by Kon Ichikawa in 1962.
Synopsis: Ushimatsu Segawa is a popular teacher and has a budding romance with a woman from a samurai family but one thing jeopardises it all: he is burakumin. This is a class considered as “untouchables” due to low jobs they had to do. This secret is a source of anxiety but meeting the free-thinking writer and poet Rentaro Inoko helps Segawa open up and consider fighting for equal rights, especially after tragedy strikes…
The Wonder of a Summer Day 
幻の蛍 「Maboroshi no Hotaru」
Release Date: July 09th, 2022
Duration: 86 mins.
Director: Yuka Ibayashi
Writer: Hajime Ibuki (Screenplay),
Starring: Konoha Nogishi, Nonoka Ikeda, Seiko Iwaido, Akiko Kikuchi, Hisashi Yoshizawa,
Synopsis: Kanata (NOGISHI Konoha) and her younger sister Sumire (IKEDA Nonoka) have been living apart since their parents’ divorce. Kanata is having trouble adjusting to her new school and is spending her summer holiday helping her mother run her snack bar. When Kanata’s mother suggests that she go to her grandmother’s house for a final summer holiday memory, Kanata heads into the countryside. Once there, Kanata can’t hide her annoyance at the innocent Sumire who bubbles with enthusiasm for the time they will spend together but a trip with Sumire in search of fireflies, which are not supposed to appear during the summer, forces the lonely teen out of her shell.
Director IBAYASHI brings the warmth and charm of her leading cast, who give beguiling naturalistic performances, and also Toyama Prefecture, from the calm city streets to the wonders of the natural world in the surrounding mountains and waterways. The everyday aspects of the environment that might normally get ignored are made visceral and special through IBAYASHI’s cinematic lens.
Tell Me 
TELL ME ～hideと見た景色～ 「Tell Me: Hide to Mita Keshiki」
Release Date: July 08th, 2022
Duration: 111 mins.
Director: Renpei Tsukamoto
Writer: Renpei Tsukamoto (Script), Hiroshi Matsumoto (Original Non-fiction Novel),
Starring: Tsubasa Imai, Takashi Tsukamoto, Juon, Kenjiro Tsuda,Yoshihiko Hosoda. Shinji Asakura, Yorie Yamashita, Reika Tajima,
Synopsis: X JAPAN guitarist Hide passed away suddenly in 1998 but his legacy still looms large in Japan. Here, this drama depicts the work that his younger brother, and manager, Hiroshi and his friends did to release the music that Hide left behind to the world.
My Boyfriend in Orange 
モエカレはオレンジ色 「Moekare wa Orenji Iro」
Release Date: July 08th, 2022
Duration: 97 mins.
Director: Shosuke Murakami
Writer: Junpei Yamaoka (Script), Non Tamashima (Original Manga),
Starring: Hikaru Iwamoto, Meru Nukumi Jin Suzuki, Shuhei Uesugi, Riko Nagase,
Synopsis: In a “is this legal???” story, high schooler Moe Sasaki’s lonely days come to an end when she meets a serious and well-mannered firefighter named Kyosuke Ebihara and falls in love with him. Her personality becomes brighter and he opens up to her but a rival firefighter appears…
Believers 
ビリーバーズ 「Biri-ba-zu」
Release Date: July 08th, 2022
Duration: 118 mins.
Director: Hideo Jojo
Writer: Hideo Jojo (Script), Naoki Yamamoto (Original Manga),
Starring: Hayato Isomura, Yui Kitamura, Shohei Uno, Katsuya Maiguma, Naoki Yamamoto,
Synopsis: Two men and a woman live on a deserted island as part of a religious organisation known as the Nico Nico Nico Life Centre. One goes under the moniker Operator, the other man is Chairman, and the woman is Vice-Chairman. They carry out tasks sent by email to them. These tasks include meditation, dream exploration, and telepathy experiments. This training is meant to purify them and set them up to live in a place of peace and tranquility. However, daily problems and their human desires start to cause problems…
Kibou to Zetsubou: Sono Namida o Daremo Shiranai 
希望と絶望 その涙を誰も知らない 「Kibou to Zetsubou Sono Namida o Daremo Shiranai」
Release Date: July 08th, 2022
Duration: 120 mins.
Director: Yuusuke Takenaka
Writer: N/A
Starring: Sarina Ushio, Yuka Kageyama, Shiho Kato, Kyoko Saito, Kumi Sasaki,
Synopsis: The second documentary film about the idol group Hinatazaka46 on their long journey to perform at Tokyo Dome. They set out their plans in 2019, the year that Covid-19 struck, and spent the years battling illness, pandemic restrictions, delays, and more that affected their performances and plans. They made it March 2022. See the journey in the doc!
Kochira Amiko 
こちらあみ子 「Kochira Amiko」
Release Date: July 08th, 2022
Duration: 104 mins.
Director: Yusuke Mori
Writer: Yusuke Mori (Script), Natsuko Imamura (Original Manga),
Starring: Kana Osawa, Arata Iura, Machiko Ono, Yuji Ozeki, Eiko Kuroki,
Synopsis: This is the story of Amiko, a fifth grader living in Hiroshima, whose pure-hearted and high-spirited character influences those around her.