Welcome to the second of this week’s trailer posts.
You can find the first one here and the third one follows tomorrow.
I think that one of my big motivators for learning Japanese is to continue playing the Japanese-language games I have in my collection and try out new ones like Gunparade March. I can’t quite stop myself from picking up the PS Vita and Nintendo DS and there are a couple of titles on my hard drive.
Playing games in Japanese would constitute language practice, haha.
What are the other Japanese films released this weekend?
Zagin de shisu!? 
ザギンでシースー!? 「Zagin de shi-su!?」
Release Date: August 30th, 2024
Duration: 97 mins.
Director: Masaaki Kanemori
Writer: Shin Akamatsu (Screenplay),
Starring: Koji Abe, Nanami Akatsuki, Kentaro Ito, Koichi Iwake, Midori Oka,
Website Twitter: @zagin_man IMDB
So the title for this time travel comedy was an odd one and I Googled it and came up with some factoids:
Zagin de shisu” is “ginza de sushi” (sushi at Ginza) with the words (except for de) flipped. It was a popular turn of phrase during the 80’s, when tougo (flipped language) was particularly in fashion. Nowadays people use it as a tongue in cheek callback to bubble era frivolity.
Source:
https://x.com/sakaimii/status/1389061853226012674?lang=en
You can find out more here:
https://takashionary.com/zagin-de-shisu/
Synopsis: The Kido family own a chunk of land in Ginza, one of Tokyo’s upmarket areas, and they have fallen out with each other. Enter a group of people, including a former pickpocket with a telephone card that allows people to travel back and forth in time, to clear things up. The problem soon emerges that, when something is changed in the past, it has ramifications for the future and the group have to figure out how to solve the new problem and with uses on the time travelling card running out…
Ifudodo shogakkintte iikata yamete moratte iidesu ka? 
威風堂々 奨学金って言い方やめてもらっていいですか？ 「Ifudodo shogakkintte iikata yamete moratte iidesu ka?」
Release Date: August 30th, 2024
Duration: 86 mins.
Director: Naruse Yuusei
Writer: Naruse Yuusei (Screenplay),
Starring: Akana Ikeda, Rinne Yoshida, Hideyoshi Kan, Rui Tabuchi, Kyoko Toyama,
Website Twitter: @ifudodo_movie
Synopsis: Sora has left high school and entered university with no particular goal in mind but having education in something as a backup and a desire to leave home. Unfortunately, Sora has to deal with debt in the form of a scholarship and also a no-good boyfriend named Takuto whom Sora moves in with. Deep in debt and feeling desperate since she has calculated that it will take her 20 years to clear her debt, Sora takes the advice of university classmates and takes on an underhanded part-time job…
Manga-ka, Hori Mamoru 
マンガ家、堀マモル 「Manga-ka, Hori Mamoru」
Release Date: August 30th, 2024
Duration: 111 mins.
Director: Yuusuke Sakakibara, Sakurako Take, Remi Noda
Writer: Aoi Hayashi (Screenplay), Seta (Original Creator),
Starring: Kouki Yamashita, Momoka, Daiki Uyo, Taiyo Saito, Maki Sakai, Naoto Takenaka,
Website Twitter: @hori_mamoru
The film is based on an original story by Seta, a singer-songwriter, illustrator and storywriter, and it was directed by three up-and-coming directors.
Synopsis: Mamoru Hori hasn’t been able to create a manga since winning a rookie of the year award because he no longer has anything he wants to draw. It is while he is in a slump that three ghosts from his past pay him a visit and lead him to confront painful memories in his heart, including the girl he left behind.
Yan-san no Shigoto 
顔（イェン）さんの仕事 「Yan-san no Shigoto」
Release Date: August 31st, 2024
Duration: 111 mins.
Director: Akiyoshi Imazeki
Writer: N/A
Starring: Yan Jhen-fa, Mayumi Mitome
A search for the background of the director revealed that he had been sentenced to 28 months in prison for buying sex from underage girls (aged 12 and 14) and, at the trial, it seems that the judge stated this was a habitual thing on his part. Source
Synopsis: This documentary covers a Taiwanese film signboard artist who resides in Tainan City and charts his career, from an early passion for the art to his emergence in the 1970s, when the Taiwanese film industry was booming and he was painting 100 to 200 movie billboards a month. Even though his sight suffered, he has continued to paint.