Welcome to the third and final trailer post of the week.
You can find part one here and part two here.
It’s a case of slowly chunking down work as I try to strike a healthy balance between festival films, Japanese lessons, and reviews/interviews. My background music is Unicorn Overlord. Outside of festival films, I’ve been watching the latest season of The Boys.
In terms of film coverage here, I wrote about the Japanese films programmed for l’Etrange and San Sebastian.
What are the other films released this weekend?
Kodokuna Rakuen 
孤独な楽園 「Kodokuna Rakuen」
Release Date: September 06th, 2024
Duration: 100 mins.
Director: Ikki Katashima
Writer: Jiro Yoshikawa (Screenplay),
Starring: Akiho Otsubo, Sho Aoyagi, Shugo Oshinari, Mizuki Wataya, Natsume Mito,
Twitter: @kodoku_movie_1209
Synopsis: Popular novelist Akira Tsushima lives on an island and has been in a slump for a while despite the fact that he has been commissioned to write a new series. He meets Ayame, a girl abandoned by her mother and traumatized by her father’s suicide and raised by her over-controlling aunt. She lives an uneventful life while working in a factory on the island. One day, at the request of a foreign colleague, Ayame ghostwrites a love letter and Tsushima finds it…
Shimaneko 
しまねこ 「Shimaneko」
Release Date: September 07th, 2024
Duration: 66 mins.
Director: Akiyoshi Imazeki
Writer: Hirotoshi Kobayashi (Screenplay), Akiyoshi Imazeki (Original Story),
Starring: Raiju Kamata, Koko Masui, Misaki, Go Riju, Naoko Oshima,
Akiyoshi Imazeki. He had a documentary out last weekend. Now he has this title.
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: Choco, Cocoa, and Mint are stray cats who live on the island of Kitagijima in the Seto Inland Sea. However, in this fantasy drama, these cats take on an anthropomorphised form and their daily lives are acted out by young girls. Someone call the police to save them from the director…
Hiraya monogatari shogyou mujou session 
平家物語 諸行無常セッション 「Hiraya monogatari shogyou mujou sesshon」
Release Date: September 07th, 2024
Duration: 64 mins.
Director: Hiroki Kawai
Writer: N/A
Starring: Hideo Furukawa, Akira Sakata, Shutoku Mukai,
Synopsis: This film documents a one-night-only live event, held on May 18, 2017, where novelist Hideo Furukawa, saxophonist Akira Sakata, and rock musician Shutoku Mukai (ZAZEN BOYS, NUMBER GIRL) brought to life “The Tale of the Heike” at Chikurin-ji Temple on Mt. Godaisan in Kochi Prefecture.
A Shunsuke Yamamoto double-bill
Dokumamushi Torako ga iku! Bouken-hen
毒蝮寅子が行く！冒険篇 「Dokumamushi Torako ga iku! Bouken-hen」
Release Date: September 08th, 2024
Duration: 33 mins.
Director: Shunsuke Yamamoto
Writer: Yukie Kusuki, Akira Nagase (Screenplay),
Starring: Sari Tachibana, Hiromi Wakasa, Sayaka Uetake, Mika Hara, Yui Akane,
Synopsis: The titular Torako lives in Shibamata, a downtown area of Tokyo, and has arranged a date with Maotan-sensei, a junior high school teacher but the teacher is under a curse which has to be broken…
Freaks’ Umbrella 
フリークスの雨傘 「Furi-kusu no amagasa」
Release Date: September 08th, 2024
Duration: 74 mins.
Director: Shunsuke Yamamoto
Writer: Ai Suzuki (Screenplay),
Starring: Mamiko Abe, Sasa Handa, Noriko Kohara, Toko Namiki, Shima Izutsu,
Synopsis: Sakurako Sato, a 51-year-old dumpy single woman has spent so long taking care of her younger sister and working on the debt left behind by their parents who disappeared, that she finds herself too old to fall in love or have fun. She works for a home care company and finds it tough since her co-workers tease her about her looks. One day, she falls in love with the son of a rich client…