Welcome to the second of three trailer posts this week.
You can find the first post here. The third post follows tomorrow.
These trailer posts have become a way to just mention my interest in video games. I’m still playing Bravely Default on the 3DS and grinding levels out.
Well, the release of the video game Pacific Drive has me intrigued but I’ve got a whoooole bunch of DS, SNES, and GBA games ready to play once I get past Bravely Default and Fire Emblem Awakening. I’m looking forward to playing a bunch of Front Mission and Wizardry titles, too. I’ll purchase Pacific Drive and it’ll go in my Steam library.
Other than that, it’s all a holding pattern as I continue writing about films. I hope I become a sharper writer!
What are the next batch of films released this weekend?
The Great Passage
舟を編む 「Fune wo Amu」
Running Time: 133 mins.
Director: Yuya Ishii
Writer: Shion Miura (Original Novel), Kensaku Watanabe (Screenplay),
Starring: Ryuhei Matsuda, Aoi Miyazaki, Joe Odagiri, Haru Kuroki, Misako Watanabe, Kumiko Aso, Shingo Tsurumi, Chizuru Ikewaki, Hiroko Isayama, Kaouru Kobayashi, Go Kato, Kaoru Yachigusa, Ryu Morioka, Shohei Uno,
Kazuki Namioka
Yuya Ishii made the leap from indie titles like Sawako Decides and Mitsuko Delivers, to bigger-budgeted projects like adaptations of books such as The Tokyo Night Sky is Always the Densest Shade of Blue (a collection of poems) and The Great Passage, his real breakout work. It scored big at the Japanese Academy Awards 2014 and it was selected to represent Japan at the 86th Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film. I found it a warm and funny character comedy and I have recommended it to many people.
March 2024 is the 10th anniversary of its release and it will get a limited theatrical run and that also includes 35mm film screenings.
Synopsis: Mitsuya Majime (Matsuda) has the talent to comprehend different and unique aspects of words. This ability sees him poached from the sales department of a publisher and moved over to the dictionary department where he becomes a key member of the editorial team involved in the creation of a new dictionary “Dai-tokai.” Despite his cleverness, he struggles to tell Kaguya Hayashi (Miyazaki), a sushi chef and the granddaughter of the owner of the boarding house he is lodging in, how he feels about her…
愛のゆくえ 「Ai no Yukue」
Release Date: March 01st, 2024
Duration: 88 mins.
Director: Fuka Miyajima
Writer: Fuka Miyajima (Screenplay),
Starring: Itsuki Nagasawa, Airu Kubozuka, Mari Hayashida, Katsumi Hyodo, Atsuko Hirata, Keisuke Horibem Rena Tanaka,
Website Twitter: @Where_LoveGoes IMDB
This was Fuka Miyajima’s debut theatrical feature and it played at Osaka Asian Film Festival 2023. It’s an atmospheric and beautiful work that holds its own against larger titles that you may see in the Japan Film Festival+ line-up.
The story is based on her own experiences of losing her mother at an early age.
Synopsis: Filmed in the sunning snowbound landscape of Hokkaido, Fuka Miyajima regales audiences with a tale of people seeking catharsis after losing everything. It starts with junior high schoolers Ai Sudo and Sosuke Ito living together as a patchwork family in a small town in Hokkaido, all thanks to Ai’s mother Yumi creating an environment of love. Bullying and the harsh environment cannot pierce that safety until Yumi dies. Cast adrift, the kids are separated, Ai taken to Tokyo by her father and Sosuke left behind. This is the start of Ai’s journey of meetings with others in the big city and magical realist jaunts which leads her back to her hometown, Sosuke, and self-understanding.
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,
Website Twitter: @kitanimaki
This film was previewed at a cinema in Ikebukuro last year in December and it now goes on general release.
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 between their teen years and adulthood.
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…
Remembering Every Night 
すべての夜を思いだす 「Subete no Yoru o Omoidasu」
Release Date: March 02nd, 2024
Duration: 116 mins.
Director: Yui Kiyohara
Writer: Yui Kiyohara (Screenplay),
Starring: Kumi Hyodo, Minami Oba, Ai Mikami. Guama Uchida. Tadashi Okuno, Mizuho Nojima,
Website Twitter: @subete_no_yoru IMDB
Yui Kiyohara won Pia Film Festival 2017’s Grand Prize with the film Our House and took part in the anthology film Made in Yamato (2021). This is her latest work. It played at Berlinale 2023 and the Busan International Film Festival 2023 and had a release in North America thanks to Kim Stim.
Synopsis: The film takes place in Tama New Town, a satellite city off the edge of
Tokyo where newbuilds promote uniformity. We watch women living there over the course of a day. One is unemployed 44-year-old Chizu who discovers a postcard from an old friend and goes hunting for the address on the postcard. Another is 33-year-old gas company meter inspector Sanae. She spots Chizu in a predicament but soon gets involved in the rescue of a senile elderly man who has wandered off. Then there is 22-year-old university student Natsu who practices her dance steps while Chizu follows along at a distance. Natsu meets the mother of a childhood friend on the anniversary of his death and ends up with a roll of of undeveloped photographs.
Akemashite, Omedetai Hito 
明けまして、おめでたい人 「Akemashite, Omedetai Hito」
Release Date: March 01st, 2024
Duration: 83 mins.
Director: Yuma Uto
Writer: Tatsuya Yamawaki (Screenplay/Original Stageplay/Story),
Starring: Tatsuya Yamawaki, Hanon, Ryutaro Akimoto, Tengo Saito, Natsuki Oku,
Website Twitter: @akeomebito2022
This is the film adaptation of actor Tatsuya Yamawaki’s own stage play, which was performed in 2021. The story is based on his own experiences. The film was produced as part of the latest MOOSIC LAB.
Synopsis: It is the end of the year and things are going well in love and life for Yamawaki. As part of making a new start, he breaks things off with his ex-girlfriend so he can jump into a new relationship, he spends the New Year’s Eve playing video games with his friends, and he then visits his grandmother with his family.
Atogaki 
あとがき 「Atogaki」
Release Date: March 01st, 2024
Duration: 129 mins.
Director: Kei Tamaki
Writer: Kei Tamaki, Toshihiro Sato (Screenplay),
Starring: Tatsuya Yamawaki, Hanon, Ryutaro Akimoto, Tengo Saito, Natsuki Oku,
Website Twitter: @atogaki_movie
This is a coming-of-age drama that spans eight years of the lives of an aspiring musician and actor based in Shimokitazawa, Tokyo. Kei Tamaki modelled the characters on his own friends.
Synopsis: Haruta works part-time at a tavern and has a loyal girlfriend. Both support him in his efforts to be an actor. He spends his spare time putting on one-man shows on the streets of Shimokitazawa. During one show, he meets Leo, a rock musician who has a stutter. Leo has just returned from the U.S. and has no place to stay and so he crashes at Haruta’s place. The two don’t gel well together but their shared natures as dreamers see them become friends. However, Haruta falters in chasing his own dreams and a distance opens up with Leo…
Checkers 1987 GO TOUR at Nakano Sun Plaza (Digitally Restored Version) 
チェッカーズ 1987 GO TOUR at 中野サンプラザ デジタルレストア版 「Chekka-zu 1987 GO TOUR at Nakano San Puraza Dejitaru Resutoa ban」
Release Date: March 01st, 2024
Duration: 125 mins.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
Starring: The Checkers: Fumiya Fujii, Yoshihiko Takamoku, Masaharu Tsuruku, Tohru Takeuchi, Yuji Ohdoi, Yoshiya Tokunaga, Naouyuki Fujii,
Synopsis: On the 40th anniversary of the debut of the Checkers, fans can watch a film that shows footage from their five-day concert at Nakano Sun Plaza in 1987 which they held to launch the release of their album “GO.” This footage is considered rare and has been upgraded for this theatrical work.