What a week! The focus was on Japanese classes and getting to grips with constructing complex sentences with clauses embedded here, there and everywhere. In between that I’ve started clearing out 20 years worth of stuff – old magazines, video games, letters and cards. Very busy.
In live-action movie terms I wrote my review for 12 Years a Slave and then an announcement from Third Window Films for their forthcoming release of Shady. I started watching the dorama Double Face and… that was it. More anime than live-action. Yesterday was the trailer post. Next week I will post the final two reviews from last year’s BFI London Film Festival.
What about today’s trailers? Yesterday had a nice mix of titles but my true favourites lie in today’s post with Hello Superova and ‘Shun ka’ to wa, nandatta no ka? both bringing a more experimental edge to cinema screens.
Refugee in Tokyo 
Japanese: 東京難民
Romaji: Tokyo Nanmin
Running Time: 130 mins.
Release Date: February 22nd, 2014
Director: Kiyoshi Sasabe
Writer: Takeshi Aoshima (Screenplay), Tetsuzo Fukuzawa (Original Novel)
Starring: Aoi Nakamura, Chihiro Otsuka, Sho Aoyagi, Mizuki Yamamoto, Akiyoshi Nakao, Jun Inoue, Nobuaki Kaneko
Shu Tokieda (Nakamura) was a college student in Tokyo but when he is kicked out for failing to pay his tuition fees, he soon falls down the social ladder and survies near the bottom working part-time at an internet café. Shu makes the decision to become a successful host…
Train Heroes the Movie 
Japanese: 劇場版 トレインヒーロー
Romaji: Gekijouban Torein Hi-ro
Running Time: 88 mins.
Release Date: February 22nd, 2014
Director: Masae Takeharu
Writer: N/A
Starring: Daisuke Namikawa (Aru), Daisuke Ono (Gou), Kazuyuki Okitsu (Samu), Misuzu Togashi (Ann), Hideki Tanaka (Aito)
Ah, this is a co-production between a Chinese animation company and TV Tokyo. This CG action film is about trains with artificial intelligence who join forces to stop a malfunctioning satellite from attacking earth.
Ikeshima Ballade 
Japanese: 池島譚歌
Romaji: Ikeshima Tanka
Running Time: 117 mins.
Release Date: February 22nd, 2014
Director: Kinshirou Ogino
Writer: N/A
Starring: Noboru Kaneko, Saori Tominaga, Tatsuya Tanaka, Ryuto Tajima,
Ikeshima is an island near Nagasaki and on this island exist a diverse mix of people from guys who work at the coal mine to normal school kids like Ryoichi He is a new transfer student. His mother has returned home after a divorce and he finds it tough to adjust but he finds three friends to help him get through things. Unfortunately, his mother goes missing and Ryoichi suspects she is in the coal mine. With the hlp of his friends, he heads into the mine…
Bodacious Space Pirates Abyss of Hyperspace 
Japanese: モーレツ宇宙海賊 ABYSS OF HYPERSPACE 亜空の深淵
Romaji: Mōretsu Pirates: Abyss of Hyperspace -Akū no Shien-
Running Time: 95 mins.
Release Date: February 22nd, 2014
Director: Tatsuo Sato
Writer: Tatsuo Sato (Screenplay)
Starring: Kana Hanazawa (Chiaki Kurihara), Mikako Komatsu (Marika Kato)
This is the movie adaptation of the TV anime Bodacious Space Pirates (Mōretsu Pirates) which is an adaptation of the sci-fi comedy light novel series Mini-Skirt Uchū Kaizoku (Mini-Skirt Space Pirates) written by Yūichi Sasamoto (Venus Wars, Dirty Pair). The film and TV series is animated by Satelight (Aquarion Evol) and directed by Tatsuo Sato (Cat Soup, Martian Successor Nadesico). Art design comes from Masahiro Sato (Armitage III, Colorful, House of Five Leaves). Momoiro Clover are on hand to sing these. Voice actors from the television series return including Mikako Komatsu (Keita in Natsuiro Kiseki) as Marika, Kana Hanazawa (Mayuri Shiina in Steins;Gate) as Chiaki, Keiji Fujiwara (Ladd Russo in Baccano!) as Hyakume, Masaya Matsukaze (Kasper Hekmatyar in Jormungand) as Kane Mac Dougall, and Shizuka Itou (Haruka Morishima in Amagami SS) as Misa Grandwood.
High school student Marika lives in a distant galaxy known as Uminoakeboshi. When she isn’t studying she spends her days working at a space yacht club and a retro café. All that changes when two men appear claiming to have been part of a crew of a space pirate ship named Bentenmaru which was owned by her father. It turns out that the ship has to be inherited by the captain’s descendatnts and that means Marika and so she finds herself embarking on a new life in space priacy. Presumably in a mini skirt.
Hello Supernova 
Japanese Title: ハロー、スーパーノヴァ
Romaji: Harō, Sūpānova
Release Date: February 22nd, 2013
Running Time: 88 mins.
Director: Yuichiro Konno
Writer: Yuichiro Konno (Screenplay)
Starring: Chisato Ushio, Mitsuharu Kobayashi, Azusa Uemura, Kaoru Ozawa
This film comes from Yuichiro Konno, a multimedia artist who has worked with photography, theatre and now film. In this film, a woman who has been stuck in her house for a long period of time ventures out an encounters all sorts of people in various situations. It looks different and interesting and when so many films are adaptations, being unique is a good thing.
‘Shun ka’ to wa, nandatta no ka? 
Japanese Title: 「瞬か」とは、なんだったのか？
Romaji: ‘Shun ka’ to wa, nandatta no ka?
Release Date: February 22nd, 2013
Running Time: 80 mins.
Director: Kosuke Mori
Writer: N/A
Starring: Sugadairo, Ryohei Kondo, Hana Sakai, misako Tanaka, Manami Kita, contact Gonzo
This looks pretty damn interesting. Sugadairo is a free jazz pianist and he, together with dancers and actors, performed all sorts of improvised pices expressing ideas and feelings on family.
