Welcome to the third and final trailer post of the week.
You can find the first trailer post here and the second trailer post here.
By the time you read this, I’ll be ready for Christmas, save getting a couple of boxes of chocolates and sending packages/cards off. I’ve got a list of films to work through but I don’t think anything will top last year’s one-two punch of Wages of Fear and Eternity and a Day. This week, I posted my review of Shinji Somai’s Typhoon Club. I’m looking at buying a couple of games to round the year off – World of Horror and Lunacid. Other than that, I’ll return to older games.
What are the other new Japanese films released this week?
18-Sai no Otona-tachi 
18歳のおとなたち 「18-Sai no Otona-tachi」
Release Date: December 02nd, 2023
Duration: 105 mins.
Director: Amane Sato
Writer: Masaru Iwagi (Screenplay),
Starring: Katsumi Ito, Ui Mihara, Hiromu Kuroda, Ryohei Abe, Riko Hisada,
In April 2022, the Japanese government lowered the age of adulthood to 18. This film was made in response to capture the anxieties of those caught on this new threshold of change.
Synopsis: Makoto is a troubled kid who has spent much of his life in a juvenile reformatory for fighting and who doesn’t get along with his mother. When, Natsumi, an employee of the Board of Education, gives him the opportunity to join the committee for the coming-of-age ceremony, he remembers a dream he had in elementary school and agrees and sets out to make a movie with his classmates, including Kakeru, a recluse, and Sui, an influencer…
Living with Others 
他人と一緒に住むという事 「Tanin to Issho ni Sumu to Iu Koto」
Release Date: December 02nd, 2023
Duration: 105 mins.
Director: Tsutomu Yagihashi
Writer: Tsutomu Yagihashi (Screenplay),
Starring: Koh Morita, Sumire Ashina, Tsuyoshi Yamashita, Toshiaki Hashimoto,
Playwright/director Tsutomu Yagihashi adapts his own 2015 play for his directorial debut.
Synopsis: The difficulties of living with others are examined through the travails of a small group including Tsuyoshi, an unsuccessful actor who has just hooked up with a new girlfriend, the girlfriend’s childhood friend, and Iwabuchi, an unemployed middle-aged senior. Tsuyoshi kicks everyone out of his home and shacks up with his girl. Then there is a solar panel magnate whose much younger wife is dodging moving in to their new home…
Futari no Kizuato 
ふたりの傷跡 「Futari no Kizuato」
Release Date: December 02nd, 2023
Duration: 95 mins.
Director: Hideki Noda
Writer: Hideki Noda (Screenplay),
Starring: Minami Yagi, Moe, Giko, Kazumasa Matsuhashi, Ryo Sakuma
Synopsis: It has been a struggle for high schooler Mina following her best friend’s suicide before the school festival, but upon discovering music her friend was composing, Mina and a transfer student form a band with the intention of performing at the festival.
Hozo wo Kamu 
ホゾを咬む 「Hozo wo Kamu」
Release Date: December 02nd, 2023
Duration: 108 mins.
Director: Eiichi Takahashi
Writer: Eiichi Takahashi (Screenplay),
Starring: Sho Mineo, Mayu Ozawa, Tomoki Kimura, Akira Fukunaga, Takuya Fuji,
Synopsis: Hajime has been married to his wife for several years but when he becomes suspicious of her behaviour, he installs a hidden camera in their home. What he sees from the people it records upsets him and pushes him to follow his wife around on the street. That is when a strange boy appears in front of him.
Maelstrom 
Maelstrom マエルストロム 「Hozo wo Kamu」
Release Date: December 02nd, 2023
Duration: 79 mins.
Director: Mizuko Yamaoka
Writer: N/A
Starring: N/A
Synopsis: This documentary follows Mizuko Yamaoka, a filmmaker and artist who was left paralysed after getting hit by a car accident. This happened shortly after she graduated from an art college in New York in 2002. In this work, she shows recordings of her daily life to document how she regenerates herself in the midst of chaos (Maelstrom).
Merosu-tachi 
メロスたち 「Merosu-tachi」
Release Date: December 02nd, 2023
Duration: 83 mins.
Director: Shinichiro Origuchi
Writer: N/A
Starring: Shogo Soda, Hiroki Tsunematsu, Ryuusei Sato, Yoshihiro Kameo, Keisuke Ishitobi,
This film is the follow-up to Hashire! Hashire Hashire Merosu. As written previously, that first film won four awards at the 14th Shimokitazawa Film Festival, including the Special Jury Award and the Audience Award, and was selected for the Tokyo Documentary Film Festival 2022.
Synopsis: Following on from the successful staging of an adaptation of Osamu Dazai’s story “Run, Melos,” the teacher and high school students who put it on moved on with their lives as graduation and thinking about careers came calling. This documentary follows each of the people involved and shows them wrestling with what to do with their lives while also enjoying putting on performances, including one just before they graduated.