Welcome to the second of three trailer posts this week
You can find the previous one here while the third and final one follows tomorrow.
No time for video games this week although I have a hankering to return to the world of Lea Monde in Vagrant Story.
After watching a YouTube video about the dungeon crawler genre and the top indie games in that field, I decided to put some in my Steam/GOG basket to purchase later this year. Actually, the YouTuber claimed that the genre had been left behind by major studios but Japanese studios have kept the genre strong with games like the Etrian Odyssey franchise and Undernauts: Labyrinth of Yomi.
What are the second batch of Japanese films released this weekend?
Girlz und Panzer das Finale Part 4 
ガールズ＆パンツァー 最終章 第4話 「Ga-ruzu & Pansha- Saishuushou dai 4 wa 」
Release Date: October 06th, 2023
Duration: 54 mins.
Director: Tsutomu Mizushima
Writer: Reiko Yoshida (Screenplay),
Starring: Mai Fuchigami (Miho Nishizumi), Ai Kayano (Saori Takebe), Mami Ozaki (Hana Isuzu), Ikumi Nakagami (Yukari Akiyama), Yuka Iguchi (Mako Reizei),
Production Studio: Actas
Synopsis: The Oarai Girls’ Academy Tank Do team (a martial art involving tanks…) are in the semi-finals of the Winter Continuous Track Cup but are in trouble as their team is reduced by a loss and their opponents, Continuity Academy, are brutalising them.
Mobile Suit Gundam Seed Destiny Special Edition The Broken World HD Remaster 
機動戦士ガンダムSEED DESTINY スペシャルエディション 砕かれた世界 HDリマスター 「Kidou Senshi Gundam Seed Supesharu Edishon: Kudakareta Sekai HD Rimasuta-」
Release Date: First Broadcast in 2006
Duration: 93 mins
Director: Mitsuo Fukuda
Writer: Chiaki Morosawa (Series Composition),
Starring: Akira Ishida (Athrun Zala), Souichiro Hoshi (Kira Yamato), Rie Tanaka (Lacus Clyne, Meer Campbell), Kotono Mitsuishi (Murrue Ramius),
Animation Production: Sunrise,
This is the first of four movies that are HD remasters of TV movies that were compiled from Kidou Senshi Gundam SEED Destiny series that was first broadcast in 2004. Said TV movies were screened in 2006. Phew.
With that out of the way, what was different from the TV movies and the series? A shift in perspective, telling the story from the POV of side characters so that the story is more neutral. Also new scenes and tweaks to animation and dub.
The four films go under the titles:
1. The Broken World (Kudakareta Sekai)
2. Respective Swords (Sorezore no Ken)
3. The Hell Fire of Destiny (Sadame no Goka)
4. The Cost of Freedom (Jiyuu no Daishou)
They will open on October 06th, October 20th, November 03rd, and November 17th, respectively
They run ahead of the Mobile Suit Gundam Seed FREEDOM film project which will open in Japan on January 26, 2024.
Synopsis: The war between the Earth Alliance and ZAFT comes to a halt but when Earth Alliance special forces steal ZAFT Gundams, conflict erupts again.
Urban Crow 
アーバンクロウ 「A-ban Kurou」
Release Date: October 06th, 2023
Duration: 105 mins.
Director: Ichiro Hashimoto
Writer: Izumi Funasaki (Screenplay), Tatsuo Kaneshita (Original Stageplay)
Starring: Ichiro Hashimoto, Saki, Tsukasa Tsuchiya, Rise Amano, Kanji Tsuda,
Ichiro Hashimoto, an actor who I last saw in Howling, directs his first feature and it is based on a stageplay that was first performed in the year 2000.
Synopsis: Detective Ichiro Akai is trying to get to the bottom of the rape and robbery suffered by a woman in an old apartment in Tokyo and the murder of her wealthy father at the same location. His key is a witness named Mio Mochizuki. His problems is that a person from the National Police Agency emerges as a suspect…
Sayonara Monotone 
さよならモノトーン 「Sayonara Monoto-n」
Release Date: October 06th, 2023
Duration: 105 mins.
Director: Tomoyuki Kamimura
Writer: Tomoyuki Kamimura, Eisuke Matsuo (Screenplay), Eisuke Matsuo (Original Story)
Starring: Keisuke Nakata, Yuno Ohara, Tomoki Kimura, Ui Mihara, Takumi Kizu, Motoki Nakazawa, Shoko Okezu, Mariri Sugimoto,
Synopsis: Shuta Seno is a university student living by himself in Tokyo. Despite being assailed by loneliness and regrets, he decides to start working with a “family agency service” and soon begins to learn about what family can mean. Meanwhile, his employer has secrets…
Short Trial Project 2023 
ショートトライアルプロジェクト 「Sho-to Toraiaru Purojekuto」
Release Date: October 06th, 2023
Duration: 118 mins.
Director: Ryuichi Kitabata, Ryotaro Nishi, Nobuhiro Suzumura, Sara Masuda,
Writer: Ryo Ikeda, Ryotaro Nishi, Seiya Machida, Sahoko Yamazaki (Screenplay),
Starring: Rena Matsui, Hidetoshi Hoshida, Koki Yamashita, Kazuki Kosakai, Mitsuomi Takahashi, Makiko Watanabe,
Synopsis: This is a collection of films and a music video depicting tender memories of the protagonists as they face their father, mother, grandfather, and students.
Ima Dansu o Suru no wa Dare da? 
いまダンスをするのは誰だ？ 「Ima Dansu o Suru no wa Dare da?」
Release Date: October 07th, 2023
Duration: 114 mins.
Director: Shun Coney
Writer: Shun Coney (Screenplay/Original Story)
Starring: Ryoichi Higuchi, Nozomi Kojima, Hanano Yamamoto, Shun Shioya, IZAM,
Singer-songwriter Ryoichi Higuchi takes on the role of a character who is diagnosed with juvenile Parkinson’s disease in his 40s.He himself was also diagnosed with the condition.
Synopsis: Already struggling to connect with his family and co-workers, life gets grimmer for Koichi when he is diagnosed with juvenile Parkinson’s disease. He begins to attend “PD SMILE,” a community for people with Parkinson’s disease, and he begins to talk about his true feelings and learn to dance. This is when he comes to understand the importance of human contact.
Kanta to Jiichan no Yoaoshi Channeru 
寛太と、じいちゃんの世直しチャンネル 「Kanta to, Jiichan no Yoaoshi Channeru」
Release Date: October 07th, 2023
Duration: 64 mins.
Director: Kensuke Ashihara
Writer: Kensuke Ashihara (Screenplay),
Starring: Bunmei Tobayama, Ichiro Banka, Reina Nakamura, Noriko Kohara, Kensuke Uchida,
Synopsis: Kozo Sakurai, a 71-year-old man living alone in the countryside, decides to make online videos to put the world to rights but his obscurity causes him grief. When Kozo’s 12-year-old grandson, Kanta, travels from Tokyo with his girlfriend to visit him, he learns more about Kanta’s unhappy home life.