Welcome to the first of this week’s trailer posts
Similar to last week, due to the large amount of films hitting cinema screens, the trailer post has been split into three parts and this is the first. Two of the trailers come from my Busan post.
This week I’ll be covering the Chicago International Film Festival 2023 so there are going to be reviews nearly every day here for the next couple of weeks. It has been wall-to-wall movie watching and writing but it has been fun.
I also did a recording of Heroic Purgatory podcast dedicated to King Hu’s A Touch of Zen which was fun to revisit.
What are the first batch of films released this weekend?
キリエのうた 「Kirie no Uta 」
Release Date: October 13th, 2023
Duration: 178 mins.
Director: Shunji Iwai
Writer: Shunji Iwai (Screenplay),
Starring: Aina the End, Hokuto Matsumura, Haru Kuroki, Suzu Hirose, Nijiro Murakami, Megumi Okina, Miyoko Asada, Yuya Matsuura, Yosuke Egichi,
This work is based on a novel by Shunji Iwai (The Bride of Rip Van Winkle), a filmmaker who had a massive impact in Korea when the country opened up its theatrical market to Japanese movies in the 90s.
Synopsis: One evening, at the south exit of Shinjuku Station, a young singer-songwriter named Kyrie begins singing and playing her guitar. Her singing attracts the attention of pedestrians and she earns a lot of money. One such pedestrian is an old friend from high school. The two share a history linked to their time at school in Sendai, the crossed emotions they share with each other and the people around them, and also the Great East Japan Earthquake. A tapestry involving all of these people emerges from Kyrie’s song.
月 「Tsuki」
Release Date: October 13th, 2023
Duration: 144 mins.
Director: Yuya Ishii
Writer: Yuya Ishii (Screenplay), Yo Henmi (Original Novel)
Starring: Rie Miyazawa, Hayato Isomura, Eri Nagai, Hirota Otsuka, Hideyuki Kasahara, Yuka Itaya, Joe Odagiri, Fumi Nikaido,
Yuya Ishii, director of The Great Passage, The Tokyo Night Sky is Always the Densest Shade of Blue and Sawako Decides, has adapted a novel of the same title and that novel was inspired by a real-life murder case. The film stars Rie Miyazawa (Twilight Samurai) Joe Odagiri (Mushishi), Hayato Isomura (Offbeat Cops), and Fumi Nikaido (Himizu).
Synopsis: Yoko was once famous for being a writer but she settled down with her husband and is now a non-celebrity. Taking on care work for severely disabled people at a facility deep in the woods, she meets fellow staff members including Yoko, an aspiring writer, and Satokun, an artist. She also meets patients, including Ki-chan, who lies motionless in bed in a room with no light. Yoko gets closer to various people but then she witnesses patients being abused and Satoru begins to reveal a much darker side to his nature…
Shunga Sensei 
春画先生 「Shunga Sensei」
Release Date: October 13th, 2023
Duration: 114 mins.
Director: Akihiko Shiota
Writer: Akihiko Shiota (Screenplay),
Starring: Seiyo Uchino, Kana Kita, Rion Fukumuro, Yumi Adachi, Tasuku Emoto, Kazuki Shirakawa,
Akihiko Shiota wrote an original story and turned it into the screenplay for this film which has been given a R15+ rating by the Eirin Screening Committee. It became the first commercial Japanese film to screen an uncensored ukiyoe shunga on the screen.
Synopsis: Shunga is a style of ukiyoe (woodblock prints) that depict sexual relationships. Ichiro Haga is a widowed middle-aged guy who researches this. He even researches it out in the open! While at a cafe, a waitress named Yumiko sees him looking at an erotic painting and the two strike up a conversation where he invites her to his home to learn more. She falls in love with him the more time they spend together but getting to be in a relationship might prove to be hard as Ichiro’s editor and the older sister of his late wife keep interfering…
We’re Millennials Got a Problem?: International 
ゆとりですがなにか インターナショナル 「Yutori desu ga Nani ka Inta-nashonaru」
Release Date: October 13th, 2023
Duration: 116 mins.
Director: Nobuo Mizuta
Writer: Kankuro Kudo (Screenplay),
Starring: Masaki Okada, Tori Matsuzaka, Yuya Yagira, Sakura Ando, Taiga Nakano, Moka Kamishiraishi,
This is an adaptation of a TV show.
Synopsis: Masakazu, Kazutoyo, and Maribu are three men who were born in 1987. They are from the so-called yutori generation (relaxed generation), a cohort known for not being competitive, ambitious etc in an age of relentless change. Illustrating that, Masakazu quit a large company to take over his family’s sake business but it’s a big struggle. Kazutoyo is a sweet guy who works as a teacher but has never had a romantic relationship. Maribu tried setting up a business in China but it didn’t work out and he returned to Japan where he works multiple part-time jobs.
Jigen Daisuke 
次元大介 「Jigen Daisuke」
Release Date: October 13th, 2023
Duration: N/A
Director: Hajime Hashimoto
Writer: Yoshimasa Akamatsu (Screenplay), Monkey Punch (Original Creator),
Starring: Masaki Okada, Tori Matsuzaka, Yuya Yagira, Sakura Ando, Taiga Nakano, Moka Kamishiraishi,
This will be available to view via Amazon Prime.
Synopsis: Daisuke Jigen is the cool but melancholy sidekick of Lupin III and he is known for his gun slinging skills. He returns to Japan to fix his Combat Magnum but gets caught up trying to protect from a mysterious organisation Oto, a young girl who is unable to speak due to a sad incident in her past. Daisuke Jigen also meets Adele, a beautiful woman missing a leg and her voice on account of her past life as an assassin.
Kaina of the Great Snow Sea: Star Sage 
大雪海のカイナ ほしのけんじゃ 「Ooyukiumi no Kaina: Hoshi no Kenja」
Release Date: October 13th, 2023
Duration: 100 mins
Director: Hiroaki Ando
Writer: Sadayuki Murai, Tetsuya Yamada (Screenplay), Tsutomu Nihei (Original Creator),
Starring: Rie Takahashi (Liliha), Yoshimasa Hosoya (Kaina), Ayumu Murase (Yaona), Maaya Sakamoto (Amelothee), Tomokazu Sugita (Ngapoge),
Animation Production: Polygon Pictures
A feature film version of a manga created by Tsutomu Nihei (Abara, Biomega). It has been adapted for the screen by writer Sadayuki Murai (Blame!, Knights of Sidonia) as a continuation of the TV series.
Synopsis: On a world where a sea of snow is spreading across the surface, some live huddled around the roots of enormous trees that cover the surface, while others live in the canopy. A chance meeting between Kaina, a young man who lives in the canopy, and Liliha, a princess of the Snow Sea who lives in a town at the base of the tree, occurs as a search for the “Great Orbital Tree” begins but an autocrat threatens both the tree, and the young people who are trying to save the world.