Happy Weekend!
I hope you are well
This week, I posted reviews for two romance films, Just Only Love and Love at Least. I’ll be talking about the 2008 film Departures for Heroic Purgatory this weekend. I first wrote about the film here a decade ago. The latest episode covers Johnnie To’s Hong Kong crime classic The Mission (1999).
This week, I’ve watched Mikey and Nicky (1976), The Workhorse and the Bigmouth (2013) and a couple of more films.
What are the films released this weekend?
First up are two medium-length films directed by Kozue Nomoto.
Kanojo-tachi no Hanashi 
彼女たちの話 「Kanojo-tachi no Hanashi」
Release Date: August 13th, 2022
Duration: 56 mins.
Director: Kozue Nomoto
Writer: Kozue Nomoto (Script),
Starring: Mioko Inamura, Nanami Kasamatsu, Ao Sekiguchi, Sarasa Nakamura, Ayane, Koh Okano,
Synopsis: Junior high school girl Miku and her older sister Chika have both had unpleasant experiences disadvantages and discomfort in society just because they are women. Miku takes up boxing while Chika gets involved with women’s rights via SNS. It isn’t long before the sisters join forces to work for the advancement of women’s rights but Miku still feels frustrations with others, and that also includes Chika…
3653 no Tabi 
3653の旅 「3653 no Tabi」
Release Date: August 13th, 2022
Duration: 42 mins.
Director: Kozue Nomoto
Writer: Kozue Nomoto (Script),
Starring: Sarasa Nakamura, Hirono Nita, Keigo Unohara, Tatsuya Suzuki, Yuu Sakamaki,
Synopsis: The Great East Japan Earthquake may have occurred 10 years ago, but Rei is like many others affected by it and still living with the trauma. For Rei, a resident of Ishinomaki at the time, she moved to Tokyo and went to university and now works for a remodelling company in Saitama. However, not knowing what happened to her mother haunts her. Meanwhile, her friend Nagi has become reclusive. Rei visits Ishinomaki with Yuta, a junior colleague from her workplace, and they get in contact with Nagi and Rei’s own memories.
Two films by Shinji Imaoka, the director of award-winner Reiko and the Dolphins check my interview with him here.
Far Away, Further Away 
遠くへ,もっと遠くへ 「Toku he, motto Toku he」
Release Date: August 13th, 2022
Duration: 107 mins.
Director: Shinji Imaoka
Writer: Kishu Izuchi (Screenplay),
Starring: Manami Shindo, Kaito Yoshimura, Hitomi Wada, Ippei Osako, Yohta Kawase,
This one played at the Osaka Asian Film Festival 2022. Check out my review here.
Synopsis: “A marriage is weaker without something in common.”
Sayoko Ota (SHINDO Manami) is a seemingly carefree woman but she hides doubts about her marriage behind her cheerful demeanour. After five years of being in Tokyo, it is apparent that she has little in common with her husband and so she begins scoping out apartments which is how she meets Yohei (YOSHIMURA Kaito), a real estate agent who is nursing a broken heart. As they tour properties, Sayoko’s girlish charms work their magic on the downhearted man and she convinces him to look for the wife who abandoned him but their journey brings the two closer.
This is the latest work by director IMAOKA Shinji in his exploration of the differences between men and women and their love lives. Following on from “Reiko and the Dolphin” (OAFF 2020), number one in Eiga Geijutsu’s Best Japanese Films of 2020, it is a more light-hearted drama that takes advantage of the natural beauty of Hokkaido.
Aitakute Aitakute Aitakute 
あいたくて あいたくて あいたくて 「Aitakute Aitakute Aitakute」
Release Date: August 13th, 2022
Duration: 78 mins.
Director: Shinji Imaoka
Writer: Shinji Imaoka (Script),
Starring: Junko Maru, Manabu Hamada, Nanami Kawakami, Akiyoshi Shibata, Suguru Adachi, Yota Kawase,
Synopsis: Following the death of her husband and her daughter moving out to live with her boyfriend, Junko lives alone and runs the family’s Thai restaurant by herself. When ordering furniture, she starts exchanging emails with Yuji, a craftsman while Teraoka, a close friend of her husband’s, visits Junko and presses her to remarry. Junko doesn’t commit and instead continues e-mailing Yuji about her daily life. For his part, Yuji is a divorcee who still harbours feelings for his ex-wife. However, as these two lonely adults continue to correspond with each other, the two, who have reached middle age, start to take an interest in one another.
Tang 
TANG タング 「TANG Tangu」
Release Date: August 11th, 2022
Duration: 115 mins.
Director: Takahiro Miki
Writer: Arisa Kaneko (Script), Deborah Install (Original Story),
Starring: Kazunari Ninomiya, Hikari Mitsushima, Mikako Ichikawa, Shinya Kote, Nao, Taiga Kyomoto,
Kazunari Ninomiya of Arashi fame steps in front of movie cameras for this adaptation of a British novel. It is helmed by Takahiro Miki, a guy that does big-budget melodrama adaptations. Ninomiya’s co-stars are Hikari Mitsushima (Sawako Decides), Mikako Ichikawa (Rent-a-Cat), and Nao (The Sound of Grass).
Synopsis: Ken Kasugai gives up dreams of his future and life with his wife and heads off on a road trip with Tang, a robot that had lost its memory and wandered into his garden. Tang hides a secret that could change the world.
Yakyubu ni Hanataba o 
野球部に花束を 「Yakyubu ni Hanataba o」
Release Date: August 11th, 2022
Duration: 99 mins.
Director: Ken Iizuka
Writer: Ken Iizuka (Script), Tetsuro Kuromatsu (Original Manga),
Starring: Kotaro Daigo, Mario Kuroba, Ryusuke Komakine, Masahiro Takashima, Tomohiro Ichikawa, Kento Miura,
Synopsis: After earning such fond memories of playing baseball in junior high, Teppei Kuroda and his friends join the high school baseball team with the expectation that it will also be great. Initially, the seniors in the team and the coach are nice but their devilish side emerges soon enough and the juniors are treated like slaves. Somehow, the kids are going to have to work together to survive this…
Zenbu Boku no Sei 
ぜんぶ、ボクのせい 「Zenbu Boku no Sei」
Release Date: August 11th, 2022
Duration: 121 mins.
Director: Yusaku Matsumoto
Writer: Yusaku Matsumoto (Script),
Starring: Haruta Shiratori, Ririka Kawashima, Joe Odagiri, Marika Matsumoto, Ryuya Wakaba, Taiga Nakano, Reiko Kataoka, Mai Kiryuu, Taro Suruga,
Yusaku Matsumoto of Noise (2017) fame has two films out this year, one being Bagmati River for which I interviewed him, and the other this one.
Synopsis: Yuta escapes from the orphanage his mother left him in to track her down. On his way, he meets Sakamoto, a homeless man who lives in a light truck and the man takes the boy under his wing. Joining them is Shiori, a girl from a rich family who feels the same loneliness that Yuta does.
Kakari 
カカリ 憑「Kakari Kakari」
Release Date: August 12th, 2022
Duration: 73 mins.
Director: HiROKI
Writer: Kotaro Terauchi (Script),
Starring: Silk Road, HiROKI, Hiromu Kuroda, Yuu Ando, Yue Yamashita, Naoko Yoshimoto, Kanao,
An original horror film produced by Silk Road, the creator of the popular YouTuber group Fischers. The film consists of two parts, the first being “exploration” wherein Silk Road visits haunted places he knows about, as done in a mockumentary style, and that is followed by the “drama” based on his scary experiences as a student.
Synopsis: Silk Road is taken by a member of a film crew and taken to an abandoned building that is reputedly haunted. It is there that he recalls spooky incidents from his past. Cue the drama where Silk Road was a high school student and went to an island on a school trip and found some haunted ruins with his friends. Bad stuff goes down that he cannot remember and his friends get him, some haunted photos he had taken, and a mysterious red stone out. When he looks at the photos, a girl’s face appears in the shadows.