Welcome to the first of three trailer posts this week
Come back Thursday and Friday for the next two parts
Well, I have started Fire Emblem: Awakening and after the first couple of missions, I have shelved it in favour of watching films. I’ll get back around to playing it soon enough since I want to move on to games with Akira Toriyama’s involvement and influences and also step into Persona 1 and the two-parter Persona 2 games.
What are the first bunch of films released this weekend?
Missing 
ミッシング 「Misshingu」
Release Date: May 17th, 2024
Duration: 119 mins.
Director: Keisuke Yoshida
Writer: Keisuke Yoshida (Screenplay),
Starring: Satomi Ishihara, Tomoya Nakamura, Munetaka Aoki, Yusaku Mori, Karin Ono, Gaku Hosokawa, Jun Miho, Shinsuke Kato, Yurei Yanagi, Tsugumi Arita,
Website Twitter: @kokoromissing IMDB
Keisuke Yoshida, director of My Little Sweet Pea, Thicker than Water, and The Work Horse and the Big Mouth, returns with an original drama that sees a family fall apart under media scrutiny over the disappearance of their daughter and then try to reform.
Synopsis: When Saori’s daughter, Miu, disappears, her family enter the realm of media attention. As the months elapse, that attention wanes and search efforts begin to die down. The only person still regularly covering things is a reporter named Sumida. Saori feels frustrated and she and her husband, Yutaka, constantly fight. Then rumours start to spread over Saori’s role in the case: on the day Miu went missing, Saori went to an idol concert. As she comes in for bashing on the internet, Saori becomes more anguished and acts out in public. She soon fits the role of a desperate mother and the media, eager to boost ratings, begin to drag her back into the public spotlight…
The Women in the Lakes 
湖の女たち 「Mizuumi no Onnatachi」
Release Date: May 17th, 2024
Duration: 141 mins.
Director: Tatsushi Omori
Writer: Tatsushi Omori (Screenplay), Shuichi Yoshida (Original Novel),
Starring: Sota Fukushi, Marika Matsumoto, Momoko Fukuchi, Tadanobu Asano, Kana Kita, Kumi Kureshiro, Naomi Zaizen,
Website Twitter: @womeninthelakes JFDB
Director Tatsushi Omori (Mother, Seto and Utsumi) has adapted a novel by Shuichi Yoshida (Rage, Villain, Parade) to bring to life an erotic thriller.
Synopsis: When 100 year-old resident of a nursing home near Lake Biwa dies because his respirator stops working, there are suspicions as to whether it was a simple malfunction or a case of murder. In steps a detective named Keisuke and his first suspect is Kayo, a carer. as he sniffs around for clues, the two become attracted to each other and for Keisuke, maybe something akin to an obsession. Hovering around is a journalist named Yuki who makes a break in the case by revealing a connection between drugs and a police coverup and a mystery from the past emerges…
BUSHIDO 
碁盤斬り 「Gobangiri」
Release Date: May 17th, 2024
Duration: 129 mins.
Director: Kazuya Shiraishi
Writer: Masato Kato (Screenplay),
Starring: Tsuyoshi Kusanagi, Kaya Kiyohara, Taishi Nakagawa, Takumi Saito, Kyoko Koizumi, Jun Kunimura,
Website Twitter: @gobangiri_movie JFDB IMDB
This is the first jidaigeki by Kazuya Shiraishi, a director who has carved a path of gangster and true-crime features such The Blood of Wolves, Last of the Wolves, and Lesson in Murder.
Synopsis: Kakunoshin Yanagida was a proud samurai before being falsely accused of a crime and cast out of his domain. This was the start of his journey into becoming a ronin living in Edo with his daughter and along the way, he loses his wife but when the truth behind his downfall comes to light, he finds himself heading back to his old home to take revenge, even if it means that he sacrifices his relationship with his daughter…
Happiness 
ハピネス 「Hapinesu」
Release Date: May 17th, 2024
Duration: 118 mins.
Director: Tetsuo Shinohara
Writer: Izumi Kawasaki (Screenplay), Novala Takemoto (Original Novel),
Starring: Airu Kubozuka, Aju Makita, Ai Hashimoto, Masayoshi Yamazaki, Yo Yoshida,
Website Twitter: @movie_happiness JFDB IMDB
Synopsis: High schoolers Yukio and Yuma are dating each other after falling in love and everything seems fine until Yuma tells Yukio that she only has a week left to live due to a heart condition. Knowing that she will soon die, she intends to live her life the best she can and Yukio, who is devastated, does his best to support her.
i☆Ris the Movie Full Energy!! 
Release Date: May 17th, 2024
Duration: 60 mins
Director: Hiroshi Ikehata
Writer: Hiroko Fukuda (Screenplay),
Starring: Himika Akaneya, Miyu Kubota, Saki Yamakita, Yu Serizawa, Yuki Wakai, Mitsuki Saiga (Kurorise(, Rie Takahashi (Shirorisu),
Animation Production: Studio Gokumi
This film has been made as part of a 10th anniversary project of “i☆Ris,” a group that consists of voice actors and idols, and it features scenes of the group performing live.
Synopsis: The five members of “i☆Ris” reach their 10th anniversary and wonder what will happen over the next decade. This is when a white squirrel appears and the five members are transported to a world full of rainbows, a place where they can be where they want to be and fulfil their dreams. However, in this world, there are no songs and so i☆Ris aims to bring them back.n assistant for artistic direction and other processes at the Center for Ethnological Visual Documentation in Tokyo.