Happy Weekend
I hope you are well.
This is the first of a two-part trailer post. Come back tomorrow for the next part.
What are the first batch of films released this weekend?
The Zen Diary
土を喰らう十二ヵ月 「Tsuchi o Kurau Junikagetsu」
Release Date: November 11th, 2022
Duration: 111 mins.
Director: Yuji Nakae
Writer: Yuji Nakae (Script), Tsutomu Mizukami (Original Essay),
Starring: Kenji Sawada, Takako Matsu, Naomi Nishida, Fumi Dan, Shohei Hino, Tomoko Naraoka, Toshinori Omi,
Yuji Nakae of Hotel Hibiscus fame has Kenji Sawada of Hiroko the Goblin and The Happiness of the Katakurais team up with Takako Matsu, famous for her roles in April Story, Dreams for Sale, and Confessions. It looks like a film about food, love, and mourning, all explored over four seasons.
Synopsis: Tsutomu is a writer who specialises in essays on growing and cooking zen food. He does this while living alone in a mountain cabin in Nagano. His organic-fantastic routine is sometimes complimented with the presence of his editor/lover Machiko who joins in with his daily life. Tsutomu seems happy but he has yet to bury his dead wife’s ashes despite the fact that she died 13 years ago…
Suzume no Tojimari 
すずめの戸締まり 「Suzume no Tojimari」
Release Date: November 11th, 2022
Duration: 121 mins
Director: Makoto Shinkai
Writer: Makoto Shinkai (Screenplay/Original Creator)
Starring: Hokuto Matsumura (Sota Munakata), Nanoka Hara (Suzume Iwato), Ann Yamane (Daijin), Eri Fukatsu (Tamaki Iwato), Sairi Ito (Rumi Ninomiya), Ryunosuke Kamiki (Tomoya Serizawa), Kana Hanazawa (Tsubame Iwato),
Animation Production: CoMix Wave Films
This is the latest from Your Name director Makoto Shinkai. Anime News Network report that Crunchyroll, Sony Pictures Entertainment, and Wild Bunch International will release the film worldwide except in Asia in early 2023. There’s a glowing review on the Japan Times website.
Synopsis: 17-year-old Suzume lives a quiet life in a town in Kyushu but all of that changes when she meets a young man named Sota who tells her “I’m looking for a door.” She follows after him and discovers that he seals doors that, if opened, can allow disasters to occur. They find a weathered door in a set of ruins in the mountains and, as if drawn by something, Suzume reaches for the door and she is able to seal it but this sparks a potentially bigger disaster when a keystone turns into a cat and begins to wreak havoc.
Achira ni iru oni 
あちらにいる鬼 「Achira ni iru oni」
Release Date: November 11th, 2022
Duration: 139 mins.
Director: Ryuichi Hiroki
Writer: Haruhiko Arai (Script), Areno Inoue (Original Story),
Starring: Shinobu Terajima, Etsushi Toyokawa, Ryoko Hirosue, Kengo Kora, Jun Murakami, Mitsuko Oka, Shohei Uno, Mayuki Katayama, Kinuo Yamada,
Ryuichi Hiroki (Your Friends) works with Shinobu Terajima, who he struck dramatic gold with on Vibrator (2003), to bring a fictional version of the real-life love triangle between Jakucho Setouchi, Mitsuharu Inoue, and his wife to the screen. It was glimpsed in the Kazuo Hara/Sachiko Kobayashi documentary A Dedicated Life (1994). It’s all coming from a novel by Areno Inoue, Mitsuharu’s eldest daughter. Names have been changed, so Setouchi is Miharu Osanai and Inoue is Atsuru Shiraki.
Lots of excellent supporting players like Shohei Uno, Etsushi Toyokawa, Kengo Kora, and more.
Here’s the Japan Times review.
Synopsis: Popular writer Miharu Osanai goes to a lecture hosted by Atsuro Shiraki, a leading novelist, and the two fall in love. Atsuro is already married but his wife accepts his philanderous behaviour and they continue to live peacefully as a couple. For Miharu, this relationship becomes more than something physical and strikes at something artistic.
Sayonara Konbanwa 
左様なら今晩は 「Sayonara Konbanwa」
Release Date: November 11th, 2022
Duration: 98 mins.
Director: Natsuki Takahashi
Writer: Natsuki Takahashi, Mayu Akiyama (Script), Chugaku Yamamoto (Original Story),
Starring: Shiori Kubo, Riku Hagiwara, Rina Ono, Riko Nagase, Hiroko Nakajima, Shohei Uno,
Synopsis: Yohei is dumped by his girlfriend but a female ghost named Aisuke appears, so it’s not all bad. It turns out that Aisuke haunts his home and she has never experienced love so she wants to find out more from Yohei. At first, he is reluctant but he soon begins to feel comfortable spending time with her.
Tsuiso Journey 
追想ジャーニー 「Tsuiso Ja-ni-」
Release Date: November 11th, 2022
Duration: 66 mins.
Director: Kenji Tani
Writer: Umi Yamano (Script),
Starring: Taiyu Fujiwara, Kazuya Takashi, Aimi Satsukawa, Marin, Akari Takaishi, Rion Okamoto,
Synopsis: High school boy Fumiya is a slacker and after getting into a fight with his mother and dozing off while studying, he awakens to the sight of a strange man who claims to be Fumiya 30 years in the future! Fumiya starts to examine his life choices, including who he should date, a classmate or childhood friend… And probably whether he should study.
Nagisa ni Sakuhana 
渚に咲く花 「Nagisa ni Sakuhana」
Release Date: November 11th, 2022
Duration: 76 mins.
Director: Keita Matsuda
Writer: Keita Matsuda (Script),
Starring: Haruka Kodama, Sayaka Kaneko, Yuichi Nakamura, Ryoma Baba, Hidekazu Akai,
Synopsis: Nagisa is a free-spirited young woman who has inherited a yakitori restaurant from her grandfather and it is here that she meets a former career woman from Tokyo named Ayaka. The two may be different in personality but Ayaka feels comfortable at the place and decides to stay and help run the restaurant. Things go well but Ayaka confesses the incident that became the reason for her absence from work.
RIGHTS! Panku ni Aisareta Otoko 
RIGHTS! パンクに愛された男 「RIGHTS! Panku ni Aisareta Otoko」
Release Date: November 11th, 2022
Duration: 111 mins.
Director: Junji Kojima
Writer: N/A
Starring: Kazuki, COOKIE!, Sho Ayanokoji, Kazuhiro Ozawa, Macha-Macha,
Synopsis: This documentary follows the life of Kazuki, vocalist in the punk bands CRACK The MARIAN and JUNIOR. It covers his background coming from a family of traditional potters from Saga Prefecture and his leap into the chaotic and wild world of punk rock in Tokyo in the 1990s all the way to now. Included in his story is him going back to his hometown to help save his family’s company.
Remember to Breathe 
わたしのお母さん 「Watashi no Okaasan」
Release Date: November 11th, 2022
Duration: 106 mins.
Director: Masakazu Sugita
Writer: Masakazu Sugita, Kana Matsui (Script),
Starring: Mao Inoue, Eri Ishida, Junko Abe, Sho Kasamatsu, Giko, Shohei Uno, Uchiro Hashimoto,
Masakazu Sugita, director of The Joy of Man’s Desiring (2014), works with a top cast that includes Mao Inoue (Rebirth), Junko Abe (Bagmati River) and others in a story of strained relations between a mother and her children.
Synopsis: Yuko, the eldest of three sisters and currently living alone with her husband, has to accept a new housemate in the form of her mother Hiroko after a fire breaks out in her mother’s home. Hiroko is a sociable person but when it comes Yuko, their relationship is cold. It turns out that the mother has often inadvertently hurt her daughter’s feelings. Being together, mother and daughter soon face their feelings.