Welcome to the first of two trailer posts for this week.
The next one follows tomorrow.
I’m progressing with chapter one of Bravely Default and all of that grinding I have done over the last few weeks has resulted in me being level 50 and tougher than all enemies. I’ve broken the difficulty of the game by overlevelling but have found I might not be able to experiment with special moves connected to jobs if I annihilate foes on the first turn of a battle. Ah well, I really want to finish the game and move on to Fire Emblem Awakening and then move on to clearing my Nintendo DS games.
Some podcast recommendations: Remap Radio for fun (without the fanboyism) and erudite video game chatter from veteran games journalists who cover the industry (from an American perspective), Optimism Vaccine for films from a crew who absolutely know their films but spend just as much time ribbing each other. They cover world cinema and all sorts of genres. I find both podcasts entertaining and the personalities absolutely engaging due to their wit and humour.
What are the first batch of films released this weekend?
Matching 
マッチング 「Macchingu」
Release Date: February 23rd, 2024
Duration: 110 mins.
Director: Eiji Uchida
Writer: Eiji Uchida, Hideki Shishido (Screenplay/Original),
Starring: Tao Tsuchiya, Daisuke Sakuma, Nobuaki Kaneko, Tetta Sugimoto, Reiko Kataoka,
This is the second Eiji Uchida film released this year and it is based on an original story and screenplay he wrote.
Synopsis: Rinka may be a wedding planner but due to shyness, she hasn’t met “the one” yet. When her best friend recommends using a matching app, Rinka finds herself paired up with Tomu, a guy he has serial killer vibes – that’s AI and algorithms for you. Rinka seeks for help from a programmer named Kageyama as a series of murders involving couples who have “app-married” starts to take place…
Ultraman Blazar the Movie: Tokyo Kaiju Showdown 
ウルトラマンブレーザー THE MOVIE 大怪獣首都激突 「Urutoraman Bure-zā Za- Mūbī Dai Kaijuu Shuto Gekitotsu」
Release Date: February 23rd, 2024
Duration: 76 mins.
Director: Kiyotaka Taguchi
Writer: Takao Nakano (Screenplay),
Starring: Tomoya Warabino, Himena Tsukimiya, Konomi Naito, Hayate Kajihara, Ritsuto Morishima, Masaya Kato,
Synopsis: Captain Gento and the Special Kaiju Reaction Detachment (SKaRD) respond to a wave of kaiju appearances in Tokyo. It appears that the chemical company Necromass Co. has something to do with it and so they visit the company’s CEO, Dr. Mabuse, a world-renowned chemist. He is working on an immortality drug. When an alien attack occurs, the drug causes the creation of a fearsome new kaiju and Ultraman Blazar and SKaRD must battle it.
Visitors – Complete Edition 
悪魔がはらわたでいけにえで私 「Akuma ga Harawata de Watashi」
Release Date: February 23rd, 2024
Duration: 60 mins.
Director: Kenichi Ugana
Writer: Takao Nakano (Screenplay),
Starring: Ryuta Endo, Saki Hirai, Keisuke Nomura, Kento Miura, Lloyd Kaufman, Shiho, Haruki Itabashi,
Kenichi Ugana has expanded his 2021 short film Visitors with new characters and developments. It looks like an Evil Dead-esque splatter fest and it features veteran horror director Lloyd Kaufman making an appearance.
Synopsis: Haruka, Nana, and Takanori visit the house of their friend and fellow band member Souta after he drops off the radar. When they get there, they find that all of the windows are covered with newspaper and there is something strange about him. In the back of a room is a door to another world and demonic forces are lurking…
Dorareko Rei 
ドラレコ霊 「Dorareko Rei」
Release Date: February 23rd, 2024
Duration: 51 mins.
Director: Seiji Chiba
Writer: Seiji Chiba (Screenplay/Original Story),
Starring: Sayuri Date, Rin Kaname, Seri Suzumura, Saaya Minase, Chihaya Yoshitake, Shunsuke Nishikawa,
Seiji Chiba of Alien vs Ninjahas been splitting his time between low-budget horror movies and the Shukatsu corporate employment drama. This one is a horror omnibus and the cast is made up of a voice actress from the TV anime Love Live! Superstar!, a member of Dempagumi.inc and other young talents.
Synopsis: In one story, a man and a woman get a driving recorded and see footage of a driver being attacked by something on a road deep in the mountains and they get sucked into a strange situation. In another story, after inheriting a house from her deceased parents, a woman has terrifying psychic phenomena, and in the last story, a woman searches for her psychic idol sister and is led to a haunted hotel.
SINoALICE Ichiban Saigo no Monogatari 
シノアリス 一番最後のモノガタリ 「 SHINoARISU- Ichiban Saigo no Monogatari 」
Release Date: February 16th, 2024
Duration: 65 mins
Director: Tact Aoki
Writer: Yoko Taro (Original Creator),
Starring: M.A.O (Alice), Eri Kitamura (Cinderella), Kaede Hondo (Ibara Hime – Sleeping Beauty), Maaya Uchida (Greta), Shizuka Ito (Princess Kaguya), Rie Takahashi (Dorothy),
Animation Production: ILCA
Website Twitter: @sinoalice_jp ANN
SINoALICE Ichiban Saigo no Monogatari is a movie instalment of a smartphone game that was shut down in January 2024. It was worked on by Yoko Taro (NieR). Tact Aoki, the director, did the manga adaptation.
Synopsis: Alice plays “Sino-Alice” but she finds herself in the world after despair drives her to attempt suicide. There, she works with fantasy heroines who help her get stronger.
Tada Anata wo Rikaishitai 
ただ、あなたを理解したい 「Tada Anata wo Rikaishitai」
Release Date: February 23rd, 2024
Duration: 94 mins.
Director: Masahiro Usui
Writer: Yuna Suzuki, Mirai Shibuya (Screenplay),
Starring: Takahide Suzuki, Yuzumi Shintani, Ai Moritaka, Kota Nomura, Chiyuri Ito, Yumeka Jo, Aika Yamamoto,
Website Twitter: @bokura_monogata
Takahide Suzuki is one of the members of the group “THE RAMPAGE from EXILE TRIBE” and gets his first role as a leading man.
Synopsis: Yuya, Haruki, and Yuka grew up together and had a secret base as children. After graduating from high school, they went their separate ways. Yuya returns from Tokyo with his girlfriend to find that his friends share the same doubts and issues with adulthood as he does and so they head to their secret base to bring time to a standstill.