Welcome to the first trailer post of the week.
Two more trailer posts will follow.
I’m closing in on the end of SRPG Project X Zone and will start the sequel. It has proven to be great commuting gaming with easily accessible quick saves and the Nintendo 3DS’ ability to go into standby mode.
I was planning on playing lots of games over Christmas but there are still films I want to write about!
Anyway!
What are the first set of films released this week?
When Morning Comes, I Feel Empty 
朝がくるとむなしくなる 「Asa ga Kuru to Munashiku naru」
Release Date: December 01st, 2023
Duration: 125 mins.
Director: Yuho Ishibashi
Writer: Yuho Ishibashi (Screenplay),
Starring: Erika Karata, Haruka Imou, Kazuma Ishibashi, Oto Abe, Yuto Nakayama, Toshihiro Yashiba,
Synopsis: 24-year-old Nozomi quit her job at an ad agency and now works part-time at a convenience store. Her ordinary days are enlivened by funny and kind co-workers but her heart is troubled because she cannot tell her parents about her situation and she is haunted by her failure to meet the excessive demands at her previous workplace. One day, her former junior high school classmate Kanako appears and Nozomi begins to articulate how she feels.
The Great Resignation. Quiet Quitting. These buzzwords signal how it has become common for workers to seek more satisfying employment or lessen the negatives of their current workplaces. Following her debut feature Sayounara (2018), Yuho Ishibashi puts a face on this phenomenon through quiet observance and sensitivity for her characters while drawing on real-world exploitation.
Rascal Does Not Dream of a Knapsack Kid 
青春ブタ野郎はランドセルガールの夢を見ない 「Seishun Buta Yarou wa Randoseru Girl no Yume wo Minai」
Release Date: December 01st, 2023
Duration: 70 mins
Director: Soichi Masui
Writer: Masahiro Yokotani (Screenplay), Hajime Kamoshida (Original Creator),
Starring: Kaito Ishikawa Ishikawa (Sakuta Azusagawa), Asami Seto (Mai Sakurajima), Inori Minase (Shoko Makinohara), Maaaya Uchida (Nodoka Toyohama), Nao Toyama (Tomoe Koga),
Animation Production: CloverWorks
This anime movie is the sequel to a TV anime and adapts the ninth light novel in the Rascal franchise, Rascal Does Not Dream of a Knapsack Kid.
Synopsis: Sakuta’s girlfriend Mai has graduated high school but while he waits for her on a beach, an elementary schooler who looks exactly like her appears. Then, Sakuta’s father suddenly calls with news about his estranged mother wanting to see the family…
Lumberjack The Monster 
怪物の木こり 「Kaibutsu no Kikori」
Release Date: December 01st, 2023
Duration: 118 mins.
Director: Takashi Miike
Writer: Hiroyoshi Koiwai (Screenplay), Mayusuke Kurai (Original Novel),
Starring: Kazuya Kamenashi, Nanao, Riho Yoshioka, Shota Sometani, Kiyohiko Shibukawa,
Kenji FUKUMA (1949) is a poet, film maker, film critic and scholar of English literature and cultural studies. Professor at Tokyo Metropolitan University. A Fairy Tale (2013)
Synopsis: Decapitated bodies with brains removed are showing up. These are the results of the work of an axe-wielding serial killer whose M.O. and costuming is inspired by a child’s named “The Monster Woodsman.” Akira Ninomiya, a soon-to-be-married, handsome hotshot solicitor, is the next target but it turns out he is a cold-blooded psychopath with a crew of fellow crazies, including a psychopathic surgeon and a man accused of murder. Other people become involved in the case including Metropolitan Police Department criminal Profiler Ranko Toshiro and Ninomiya’s fiancé Emi Hasumi. Everyone gets involved in figuring out just why the brain collector is targeting Ninomiya.
Rinjin X: Giwaku no Kanojo 
隣人X 疑惑の彼女 「Rinjin X: Giwaku no Kanojo」
Release Date: December 01st, 2023
Duration: 120 mins.
Director: Naoto Kumazawa
Writer: Naoto Kumazawa (Screenplay), Ayako Paryusu (Original Novel),
Starring: Kento Hayashi, Juri Ueno, Shuhei Nomura, Yota Kawase, Kyusaku Shimada
Synopsis: After being expelled from their home planet, alien refugees settle on Earth. Since humans don’t get along with each other already, dealing with the aliens is even harder even though they have taken on human form. People begin to turn on the refugees and uncover them. A journalist named Kentaro tries to expose a woman named Ryoko as being an X refugee but as he gets close to her, he begins to have feelings for her.
Joyu wa Nakanai 
女優は泣かない 「Joyu wa Nakanai」
Release Date: December 01st, 2023
Duration: 116 mins.
Director: Yoshifumi Udo
Writer: Yoshifumi Udo (Screenplay),
Starring: Misako Renbutsu, Marika Ito, Shusaku Kawakami, Mana Mikura, Jinto Yoshida, Kenta Hamano,
Synopsis: Rie Sonoda was a top actress but a scandal put a stop to all that. Now, ten years after she left, she returns to her hometown in secret to shoot a documentary about her life but the only person who shows up is Saki, the AD of a TV station’s variety group. Thus begins a difficult shoot where people from Rie’s hometown gradually hear about her reappearance and she learns that her father is now suffering from terminal cancer.
MY (K)NIGHT 
マイ・ナイト 「Mai Naito」
Release Date: December 01st, 2023
Duration: 91 mins.
Director: Ryutaro Nakagawa
Writer: Ryutaro Nakagawa (Screenplay),
Starring: Kazuma Kawamura, RIKU, Yumi Adachi, Lisa Oda, Moeka Hoshi, Hokuto Yoshino, Kiyo Matsumoto, Jun Murakami,
Synopsis: Ryutaro Nakagawa of Mio on the Shore and Summer Blooms fame, has penned and directed this Yokohama-set drama that depicts one-night-only encounters between three lonely women and men who are “date therapists” who act as stand-ins. Cheated on, with a parent eager to see a suitor, and someone looking to gain social media clout, their reasons drive them to hire the men.