Welcome to the first trailer post of the week
Come back tomorrow for the second post
Well, I’ve started in on the final Nintendo 3DS game in my collection: Fire Emblem: Awakening. It was actually the first game that I bought for the console, back when it first released. I’m hoping to love it since I am a fan of SRPGs but we’ll see.
I briefly went back to Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together and fell back in love with it and I’m itching to play more Castlevania.
Anyway!
What are the first bunch of films getting a release?
RYUICHI SAKAMOTO | OPUS 
Release Date: May 10th, 2024
Duration: 103 mins.
Director: Neo Sora
Writer: N/A
Starring: Ryuichi Sakamoto
Synopsis: In March 2023, Ryuichi Sakamoto passed away after his struggle against cancer. During this struggle, performing in concerts was hard but he gave his all in one final performance with his custom-made Yamaha grand piano where it is just him and his piano. This concert was recorded and can be seen on the big screen in black-and-white. The song list includes works Sakamoto composed for Yellow Magic Orchestra and Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence.
Trapezium 
トラペジウム 「Torapejiumu」
Release Date: May 10th, 2024
Duration: 94 mins
Director: Masahiro Shinohara
Writer: Yuko Kakihara (Screenplay), Kazumi Takayama (Original Novel),
Starring: Asaki Yuikawa (Yu Azuma), Haruka Aikawa (Mika Kamei), Hina Kino (Sachi Mizuno), Hina Yomiya (Kurumi Taiga), Reina Ueda (Ranko Katori),
Animation Production: CloverWorks
Kazumi Takayama, a former idol in Nogizaka46, turned her experiences into a novel named “Trapezium.” This has been adapted into an anime.
Synopsis: The novel depicts the 10 years in the life of Yuu Azuma, a high school girl who aspires to be an idol. To achieve her dream, she sets four rules for herself: she will not use social media, she will not have a boyfriend, she will not stand out in school, and she will make friends with beautiful girls from the north, south, east, and west. Part of this plan is travelling around to make friends and through events such as a cultural festival, she strengthens her bonds with them. Eventually, with the friends she makes, she garners media attention and they start making plans to debut as idols but there are still problems to overcome…
Code Geass: Rozé of the Recapture 
コードギアス 奪還のロゼ 第1幕 「Koudo Giasu: Dakkan no Roze」
Release Date: May 10th, 2024
Duration: 74 mins
Director: Yoshimitsu Ohashi
Writer: Noboru Kimura (Screenplay/Series Composition), Goro Taniguchi, Ichiro Okouchi (Original Story), CLAMP (Character Design)
Starring: Kohei Amasaki (Roze), Makoto Furukawa (Ash), Anzu Haruno (Yuri Sano), Reina Ueda (Sakuya Sumeragi),
Animation Production: Sunrise
Website Twitter: @GEASSPROJECT ANN MAL
This is a spin-off from the theatrical anime Code Geass: Lelouch of the Re;surrection (2019) and it forms the first of a series of four films.
Synopsis: Roze and Ash are two brothers who form the “Nameless Mercenaries” unit and reside in the old Hokkaido block of the United States of Japan, which is now occupied by the “Neo Britannian Empire”. Ash, the older brother, is the muscle since he has superior piloting and physical skills while Roze is the brains of the duo. The two are asked by the Japanese resistance group, the “Seven Shining Stars” to take on Neo Britannia and rescue Sakuya Sumeragi, the daughter of the Hokkaido Block Lord, who is being held prisoner, and also stop the 100th Emperor of the Neo-Britannian Empire, Charis al Britannia, from causing further conflict.
Uma Musume Pretty Derby: Road to the Top 
劇場用再編集版 ウマ娘 プリティーダービー ROAD TO THE TOP 「Gekijouyou sai Henshuu ban Uma Musume Puriti- Da-bi- ROAD TO THE TOP」
Release Date: May 10th, 2024
Duration: 98 mins
Director: Cheng Zhi Liao
Writer: Tetsuya Kobari (Screenplay/Series Composition), Cygames (Original Creator),
Starring: Hitomi Sasaki (Admire Vega), Kanna Nakamura (Narita Top Road), Sora Tokui (T.M. Opera O), Hiroshi Tsuchida (Trainer Okita),
Animation Production: CygamesPictures
Uma Musume is a popular mixed-media franchise that started life as a cellphone game where players raise various “Uma Musume”, girls who inherit the names and souls of real racehorses.
This is a compilation film for the Uma Musume Pretty Derby: Road to the Top series which is available to stream online. It runs ahead of the Uma Musume Pretty Derby: Shinjidai no Tobira (Uma Musume Pretty Derby: Beginning of a New Era) anime film which will open in cinemas in Japan on May 24.
The films run ahead of “Uma Musume: Pretty Derby Hot-Blooded Extreme Grand Appreciation Festival” game, which will launch on the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, and PC via Steam on August 30 (source).
Synopsis: The Uma Musume Admire Vega, Narita Top Road, and T.M. Opera O, and their trainers, all aim to win the Classic Triple Crown races “Satsuki-sho”, “Japan Derby”, and “Kikka-sho”.
Undead Lovers 
不死身ラヴァーズ 「Fujimi Raba-zu」
Release Date: May 10th, 2024
Duration: 103 mins.
Director: Daigo Matsui
Writer: Daigo Matsui, Toshiya Ono (Screenplay), Yuna Takagi (Original Manga),
Starring: Ai Mikami, Kanta Sato, Yuzu Aoki, Atsuko Maeda, Misuzu Kanno,
Website Twitter: @undeadlovers_m JFDB IMDB
This is an adaptation of a manga and has been adapted for the screen by Daigo Matsui (How Selfish I Am!, Ice Cream and the Sound of Raindrops, Japanese Girls Never Die).
Synopsis: Rino Hasebe believes that Jun Kono is her fated lover. Throughout her life, she has focussed on him and reach out but whenever he is about to return her feelings, he disappears without a trace and it is as if nobody around them remembers him. When he reappears, it is as if he is a different person – a member of her school’s music club, a disabled man etc. Despite this, Rino persists and her persistence leads to a miracle.
Onihei Hankacho: Blood Feud 
鬼平犯科帳 血闘 「Onihei Hankacho: Ketto」
Release Date: May 10th, 2024
Duration: 111 mins.
Director: Shigemichi Sugita
Writer: Sumio Omori (Screenplay), Shotaro Ikenami (Original Stories),
Starring: Matsumoto Koshiro X, Ichikawa Somegoro VIII, Nobuko Sendo, Yuri Nakamura, Akira Emoto. Kiichi Nakai, Mirai Shida, Tokio Emoto, Honoka Matsumoto,
Website Twitter: @jdigk_partners JFDB IMDB
Shotaro Ikenami is the novelist behind the Onihei stories and these have been adapted into anime (available via Amazon) and TV shows.
In January, to commemorate 100 years since his birth, a TV special, Onihei Hankacho: Honjo Sakurayashiki, was broadcast and this film is a follow-up work. It comes ahead of more stories that will be broadcast and hit cinemas over the next year. (source)
Synopsis: Hasegawa Heizo is visited by Omasa, the daughter of a tavern owner who took care of him when he was young, and asks to become a secret agent. When Heizo refuses her request, Omasa learns that Heizo is looking for Kuhei Sagihara, who has two faces, that of a potato liquor store owner and that of a bandit, and sets out on her own to investigate.
Last Turn Fukuyama Kenji 71-sai, Nidome no Seishun 
ラストターン 福山健二71歳、二度目の青春 「Rasuto Ta-n Fukuyama Kenji 71-sai, Nidome no Seishun」
Release Date: May 10th, 2024
Duration: 98 mins.
Director: Shinji Kuma Co-director The Long Excuse Dreams for Sale
Writer: Shinji Kuma (Screenplay),
Starring: Koichi Iwaki, Sara Takatsuki, Yoshiko Miyazaki, Mari Nishio, Yasushi Fuchikami,
Website Twitter: @lastturn_movie
Director Shinji Kuma has directed a number of works solo, but I have only seen his work as assistant director on The Long Excuse and Dreams for Sale.
Synopsis: 71-year-old Kenji Fukuyama is a retiree who takes care of his beloved wife who suffers from dementia. The two live alone and so he naturally begins to worry when he feels his own memory slipping and the weight of his age. In these circumstances, Kenji joins the city’s community club to improve his physical and mental wellbeing. It is here that he makes friends and even begins to take up swimming, something he cannot do. Learning to swim becomes a goal he sets himself.
SINGULA 
Release Date: May 10th, 2024
Duration: 76 mins.
Director: Yukihiko Tsutsumi
Writer: Kyosuke Ichinose (Screenplay), Shotaro Ikenami (Original Stories),
Starring: spi
Website Twitter: @SINGULA_movie
Synopsis: This is a film based on a 2019 stageplay which explores the value of humanity and AI in the modern world. It sees actor/singer spi play 15 androids debating each other over whether humanity should be destroyed. It is a battle royale of a debate where one android will be left standing wit the final answer.