Welcome to the first of two trailer posts this week
The second one will follow later today
I’m nearing the end of Bravely Default and grinding out Job Points for a couple of the last two jobs before hitting the final bosses. The game was easy to play and had nice visuals but the roster of characters and character designs didn’t quite grab me despite good writing so I was not invested in the story and played more for trying combinations of job skills.
Maybe next week’s trailer comment will be different once I complete it!
What are the first set of trailers for this week?
Detective Conan: The Million-dollar Pentagram 
名探偵コナン 100万ドルの五稜星（みちしるべ） 「 Meitantei Konan 100-man Doru no Michishirube」
Release Date: April 12th, 2024
Duration: 111 mins
Director: Chika Nagaoka
Writer: Takahiro Okura (Screenplay), Gosho Aoyama (Original Creator),
Starring: Minami Takayama (Conan Edogawa). Kappei Yamaguchi (Kaitou Kid), Rikiya Koyama (Kogoro Mori), Wakana Yamazaki (Ran Mori)
Animation Production: TMS Entertainment,
Website Twitter: @conan_movie ANN MAL
This is the 27th theatrical version of the Detective Conan/Case Closed franchise and it feature the Phantom Thief and a case about a mysterious sword in Hakodate, Hokkaido.
Synopsis: A message from Kid the Phantom Thief announces that he will steal a Japanese sword belonging to the wealthy Onoe Family in Hakodate, Hokkaido. Conan and Heiji Hattori are in Hakodate for a kendo tournament and investigate . They learn that the Onoe Family’s collection is connected to Toshizo Hijikata, a Shinsengumi leader who passed away in Hakodate, and the Japanese arms industry. Heiji immediately rumbles Kid but a dead body is discovered in the Hakodate warehouse district with a cross-shaped slash across the chest, and a Japanese-American man known as the “Merchant of Death” emerges as a suspect.
The Yangtze River 
再会長江 「Saikai Choukou」
Release Date: May 19th, 2023
Duration: 129 mins.
Director: Ryo Takeuchi
Narration: Ruriko Kojima
This is a re-edited version of a film that was originally screened during Ryo Takeuchi Documentary Week from May 2023.
Synopsis: Ryo Takeuchi first encountered the Yangtze River while working on an NHK program 10 years ago. It inspired in him a desire to find out more about this natural wonder and so when he decamped Japan to live in China, he had the opportunity to do this. He spent two years following the river and, along the way, reunited with people he met on that original NHK programme and also the river itself.
The next two films have been written and directed by Shigeyoshi Tsukahara and based off a scenario written by Ryohgo Narita (Baccano!, Durarara!!). The films will be available to stream on Crunchyroll as part of their Spring 2024 Anime Simulcast lineup.
Kuramerukagari 
クラメルカガリ 「Kuramerukagari」
Release Date: April 12th, 2024
Duration: 61 mins
Director: Shigeyoshi Tsukahara
Writer: Shigeyoshi Tsukahara (Original Creator/Screenplay), Ryohgo Narita (Scenario),
Starring: Ayane Sakura (Kagari), Aoi Yuki (Ameya), Nanako Mori (Shiina), Takeo Otsuka (Iseya), Yoshimasa Hosoya (Eiwajima), Yuki Sakakihara (Yuya),
Animation Production: Team OneOne
Website Twitter: @kurayukabaINFO ANN MAL
This was the opening film for this year’s Niigata International Animation Film Festival and is the newer of the two films.
Synopsis: Kagari is a girl who makes her living as the mapmaker of Hakoniwa, a mining town crowded with small-scale excavators. Yuya is a boy who dreams of escaping the place, which constantly changes and is like a labyrinth. The two find themselves discovering a conspiracy that threatens to shake the entire town and Kagari’s mapmaking skills are key to stopping disaster.
Kurayukaba 
クラユカバ 「Kurayukaba」
Release Date: April 12th, 2024
Duration: 61 mins
Director: Shigeyoshi Tsukahara
Writer: Shigeyoshi Tsukahara (Series Composition/Screenplay), Ryohgo Narita (Original Creator),
Starring: Hakuzan Kanda (Sotaro), Raiko Sakamoto (Inarizaka), Tomoyo Kurosawa (Tanne), Yu Serizawa (Saki), Setsuji Satoh (Command Team Leader), Sho Karino (Matsu),
Animation Production: Team OneOne
Website Twitter: @kurayukabaINFO ANN MAL
Kurayukaba was made first and won the Audience Award and the Gold Prize in the Animated Feature Film category at the 2023 edition of the Fantasia International Film Festival. It was then screened in competition at the 2024 Niigata International Animation Film Festival.
Synopsis: It is festival season in the city but a pall has been cast over events due to mysterious disappearances. A newspaperman hires Shoutarou to investigate and suggests the Dark, the notorious, anarchic maze that is the city’s physical, social, and moral underground. Shoutarou subcontracts the gig to his sidekick Saki, but when she goes missing, Shoutarou has to go into the Dark himself, which is where he meets the malicious Laughing Masks gang and a renegade police squad piloting a black-gold armoured train named Demon 463.
Himuro Renji 
氷室蓮司 「Himuro Renji」
Release Date: April 12th, 2024
Duration: 119 mins.
Director: Hiroyuki Tsuji
Writer: Hiroyuki Tsuji (Screenplay),
Starring: Yasukaze Motomiya, Mario Kuroba, Wakana Matsumoto, Shadow Liu, Mondo Ohtani, Hiroto Honda, Yutaka Kyan, Yoshiyuki Yamaguchi,
Website Twitter: @nihon_touitsu JFDB
This is the 10th anniversary film of the popular Nihon Toitsu (Unification of Japan) series which has a manga and V-Cinema films with the involvement of people like Hitoshi Ozawa. One of the main characters, Renji Himuro, takes the limelight.
Synopsis: After taking part in a gang battle with the Taiwanese Black Dragon gang in Okinawa, Himuro gets a message on his smartphone showing the threat of revenge and a picture of his son Yuta, a high school student on a school trip to Taiwan, tied up and gagged. Himuro figures it must be the work of the “Black Dragon” gang and heads to Taiwan to rescue his son.
Fromage Japonais 
フロマージュ・ジャポネ 「Furoma-ju Japone」
Release Date: April 12th, 2024
Duration: 106 mins.
Director: NORIZO
Writer: N/A
Starring: N/A
Synopsis: Director Norizo follows Vin Japonais, his documentary on Japanese wine, with one about Japan’s varieties of cheeses and cheese producers. There are over 300 cheese factories in Japan and cheese production is quite sophisticated so the film shows the history of the industry and the techniques to roll out cheese.