Happy Weekend
This is the first of a two-part trailer post. Come back tomorrow for more.
I’m really enjoying Castlevania: Symphony of the Night and I can see myself replaying this one quite a lot. Up until now, I’d been a Portrait of Ruin guy and found the older entries in the series a might bit intimidating due to their tough (but fair nature) but Symphony is really working for me. It’s not as funny – the further on the series goes, the more tongue in cheek it gets with its monster mash and their designs/move sets.
It got me thinking of games I adore:
Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together
Final Fantasy Tactics
Vagrant Story
Parodius Da!
Shenmue
Soul Calibur / Dead or Alive 2
Chrono Trigger
Monkey Island 2 & 3
Etrian Odyssey
Broken Sword I and II
Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin / Symphony of the Night
Anyway, back to films…
What are the first set of films released this weekend?
Sefure no Hinkaku (Puraido) Ketsui 
セフレの品格（プライド） 決意 「Sefure no Hinkaku (Puraido) Ketsui」
Release Date: August 04th, 2023
Duration: 106 mins.
Director: Hideo Jojo
Writer: Hideo Jojo (Screenplay), Yoriko Minato (Original Story)
Starring: Aika Yukihara, Sho Aoyagi, Moemi Katayama, Shinya Niiro, Yota Kawase, Akari Takaishi,
This is the second of a two-part live action adaptation of a manga written by Yoriko Minato – Sefure no Pride. It is directed by Hideo Jojo of On the Edge of Their Seats (Interview).
Synopsis: Choko is 36 and a single mother with a teenage daughter. Her prospects aren’t great as she also only has temp work. Attending her high school reunion, she gets teased about her problems but then she runs into her first love, Kazuki, He’s a doctor in a women’s clinic and he takes her out. The two agree to no-strings sex, or to be friends with benefits, but tamping down these feelings proves hard for Choko to do. Meanwhile, Kazuki has a secret.
From Dawn to Midday on the Sea 
情動海の夜明けから真昼まで 「Umi no Yoake Kara Mahiru Made」
Release Date: September 19th, 2022
Duration: 15 mins.
Director: Takayuki Hayashi
Writer: Takayuki Hayashi, (Script), Shun Umezawa (Original Manga),
Starring: Kaito Yoshimura, Hanon, Yuu Uemura, Aino Kuribayashi, Runa Endo, Jiei Wakabayashi, Kento Sakurai, Ryota Miura,
A live-action film adaptation of a story from Shun Umezawa’s omnibus manga 一匹と九十九匹と. Umezawa has recently won awards for his manga Darwin Incident. This was screened last year as part of a programme dedicated to the actor Kaito Yoshimura.
Synopsis: A small port town not too distant from a city plays host to three dramatic episodes, one involving a man who has given up on life and society, another of a girl kept confined because of that man, and another of her classmate who suffers violence.
Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead 
ゾン100 ゾンビになるまでにしたい100のこと 「Zon 100 Zonbi ni Naru Made ni Shitai 100 no Koto」
Release Date: August 03rd, 2023
Duration: 129 mins.
Director: Yusuke Ishida
Writer: Tatsuro Mishima (Screenplay), Haro Aso, Kotaro Takata (Original Manga)
Starring: Eiji Akaso, Mai Shiraishi, Shuntaro Yanagi, Yui Ichikawa, Akari Hayami, Miwako Kakei, Kazuki Kitamura,
Coming to a Netflix screen near you.
Synopsis: Akira Tendo works for a black company. What that means is that he and his colleagues are exploited to the point of exhaustion by their unscrupulous boss. One day, Akira wakes up to find the streets filled with zombies and once he realises that he doesn’t need to go to work, he is overjoyed. Now, with newfound freedom, he writes a bucketlist of 100 things to do before he becomes a zombie…
Enjou Suru Kimi 
炎上する君 「Enjou Suru Kimi」
Release Date: August 03rd, 2023
Duration: 42 mins.
Director: Momoko Fukuda
Writer: Momoko Fukuda (Screenplay), Kanako Nishi (Original Short Story)
Starring: Nuno Uraji, First Summer Uika, Tomo Nakai, Saito Kodai, Hiroto Oshita, Kyoichiro Nakayama, Toru Kageyama, Arisa Takarada,
Momoko Fukuda, who I interviewed over her short film Slowly, is back with another short, this one based on a short story by Naoki Prize-winning author Kanako Nishi.
Synopsis: Nashida and Hamanaka are dancing furiously under the the elevated railway tracks in Koenji. Their reason? To express their hurt over the oppression of women that occurs on a daily basis. One day, they hear a rumour of a “man on fire” who appears in the Koenji area, and out of curiosity, they begin to search for him.
Kataomoi 
カタオモイ 「Kataomoi」
Release Date: August 03rd, 2023
Duration: 78 mins.
Director: Shinji Imaoka
Writer: Hideki Shishido (Screenplay),
Starring: Junko Maru, Yoshihiko Hosoda, Yota Kawase, Amon Hirai, Shuri Nakamura, Shinji Imaoka, Azusa Shinonome, Hiroshi Sato,
Shinji Imaoka of Reiko and the Dolphin (interview) has made a May-December rom-com – I think a 20-year age gap counts…
Synopsis: Kanako is 43 and has been married for 20 years. That relationship ends with she discovers that her husband is having an affair and she runs away to downtown Tokyo where she begins a new life as a server in a diner. When she takes a lovelorn young man named Kenichi from lying dead drunk on the street to his apartment, she receives a sudden hug and kiss that makes her fall in love with him. Thus begins a comedy romance where Kanako starts a relationship with a guy half her age.
Geki x Cine BARA & SAMURAI 2 -RETURN OF THE PIRATE QUEEN- 
ゲキ×シネ「薔薇とサムライ2 海賊女王の帰還」 「Geki x Shine」
Release Date: August 03rd, 2023
Duration: 173 mins.
Staging: Hidenori Inoue
Writer: Kazumi Nakashima (Screenplay),
Starring: Arata Furuta, Yuki Amami, Nicole Ishida, Fuju Kamio, Shoko Takada, Makoto Awane, Miharu Morina,
Synopsis: This is a sequel to a play first staged in 2010 and starring Arata Furuta and Yuki Amami. After settling conflict in the Kingdom of Cordonia with the help of legendary thief Goemon, the pirate named Anne became a king. She calls upon Goemon again when a new threat emerges.
Wandering Memories 
さまよえ記憶 「Samayoe Kioku」
Release Date: August 03rd, 2023
Duration: 24 mins.
Director: Yudai Noguchi
Writer: Yudai Noguchi (Screenplay),
Starring: Natsuko Haru, Moro Morooka, Yoshihiko Takehara, Sota Noguchi,
This one played at Skip City. It is the debut of Yudai Noguchi and he has cast Natsuko Hara (And Your Bird Can Sing), Moro Morooka (Kids Return), and Yoshihiko Takehara (One Cut of the Dead).
Synopsis: Shiori’s son Takashi is missing and so when she receives word of an “information pawnbroker” who trades in memories and info, she decides to go ahead with the exchange in order to find her son. Meanwhile, her father has misgivings.
Shin Jigen! Crayon Shin-chan The Movie 
しん次元！クレヨンしんちゃんTHE MOVIE 超能力大決戦 とべとべ手巻き寿司 「Shin Jigen! Crayon Shin-chan The Movie Chōnōryoku Dai Kessen: Tobetobe Temakizushi 」
Release Date: August 04th, 2023
Duration: 125 mins
Director: Hitoshi One
Writer: Hitoshi One (Screenplay), Yoshito Usui (Original Creator)
Starring: Yumiko Kobayashi (Shinnosuke “Shin-chan” Nohara, Akari Kito (Negiko Fukaya), Katamari Mizukawa (Nustradamus II), Miki Narahashi (Misae Nohara), Toshiyuki Morikawa (Hiroshi Nohara),
Animation Production: Shin-Ei Animation, Shirogumi Inc.
This is the 31st film in the Shin-chan franchise – I can still hear that American intro to the TV anime… – and the first animated in 3DCG. It was written and directed by Hitoshi One – yes, the chap who directed Scoop! and Moteki.
Synopsis: Shinnosuke and a man named Mitsuru Hiriya both gain telekinetic superpowers after lights from space pass through Earth. While Hiriya wants to destroy the Earth due to his life going wrong – his job sucks and his favourite idol is getting married, Shinnosuke tries to stop him.
Sound! Euphonium: Ensemble Contest Arc 
特別編 響け！ユーフォニアム アンサンブルコンテスト 「Tokubetsuhen Hibike! Yu-foniamu Ansamburu Contesuto 」
Release Date: August 04th, 2023
Duration: 57 mins
Director: Tatsuya Ishihara
Writer: Jukki Hanada (Screenplay), Ayano Takeda (Original Creator)
Starring: Ayaka Asai (Hazuki Kato), Chika Anzai (Reina Kosaka), Moe Toyota (Sapphire Kawashima), Tomoyo Kurosawa (Kumiko Omae), Sora Amamiya (Kanade Hisaishi),
Animation Production: Kyoto Animation
Synopsis: Kumiko has taken over as the head of Kita-Uji’s brass band club and she has to co-ordinate everyone’s efforts at competing in a competition between schools. That’s 65 members she has to deal with, all of whom have their problems.