Welcome to the third trailer post of the week.
You can find part one here, part two here, and the fourth and last part comes tomorrow. I’ll get going with film reviews next week since there aren’t as many new Japanese releases to cover!!!!!
What are the trailers in this post???
Hypnosis Mic Division Rap Battle 
ヒプノシスマイク Division Rap Battle 「Hipunoshisu maiku Division Rap Battle」
Release Date: February 21st, 2025
Duration: 100 mins
Director: Takanori Tsujimoto
Writer: Yuichiro Momose (Screenplay), Pom (Original Creator),
Starring: Eiji Takeuchi (Hitoya Amaguni), Haruki Ishiya (Jiro Yamada), Kengo Kawanishi (Rosho Tsutsujimori), Sho Hayami (Jakurai Jinguji),
Animation Production: Polygon Pictures
Website Twitter: @painoko_anime ANN MAL
Takanori Tsujimoto from the Ultraman film/TV show above, has directed this anime at Polygon Pictures (Knights of Sidonia).
Synopsis: The Hypnosis Mic rap battle multi media mix franchise is more familiar as recordings of the stage musical rather than an anime film. The hook for the franchise is various teams from across Japan have rap battles. Here, audiences get an “interactive film” in Japan that allows votes from people in the cinema to decide who wins the battle. Voting is done via a smartphone application, and the story progresses according to the option which receives the most votes, thus changing the story at each screening.
Gekijouban YOASOBI 5th ANNIVERSARY DOME LIVE 2024 “Cho Genjitsu” 
劇場版 YOASOBI 5th ANNIVERSARY DOME LIVE 2024 “超現実” 「Gekijouban YOASOBI 5th ANNIVERSARY DOME LIVE 2024 “Cho Genjitsu”」
Release Date: February 21st, 2025
Duration: 158 mins.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
Starring: Ayase, Ikura,
Website Twitter: @YOASOBI_staff
Trailer is region locked so here’s a performance.
Synopsis: This is a concert film which features the final performance YOASOBI gave at Tokyo Dome on November 10, 2024. It was originally broadcast on WOWOW but the theatrical screening has extra footage, including all the songs performed on the day, as well as rare documentary footage.
Kireina, aku 
奇麗な、悪 「Kireina, aku」
Release Date: February 21st, 2025
Duration: 76 mins.
Director: Kazuyoshi Okuyama
Writer: Kazuyoshi Okuyama (Screenplay) Fuminomori Nakamura (Original Story)
Starring: Kumi Takiuchi
Website Twitter: @kireina_aku
This is the feature directorial debut of Kazuyoshi Okuyama, a veteran producer. Two big fnames that jumped out of his filmography were Au revoir l’ete and Sayounara by Koji Fukada. He also produced The Gun. He teamed up with the writer of that film, Fuminomori Nakamura, to make this one.
Fuminomori Nakamura is a novelist and also a writer and director. He directed Evil and the Mask.
This stars Kumi Takiuchi (A Balance, Greatful Dead, It Feels So Good) who gives a one-woman performance.
Synopsis: A woman walks menacingly through the crowds in a city. She eventually arrives at an old Western-style house, which she remembers is a psychiatric clinic she has been to in the past, and she lies on a recliner and begins to tell the story of her tragic life…
Jiyuuna Fanshii 
自由なファンシィ 「Jiyuuna Fanshii」
Release Date: 2015
Duration: 115 mins.
Director: Takefumi Tsutsui
Writer: Takefumi Tsutsui, Koichi Kudobera, Eiko Matsudaira (Screenplay)
Starring: Ryo Iwase, Eiko Matsudaira, Akane Hamasaki, Harumi Arai, Yoshiki Kanahashi, igeru Okuse, Taiga Fujisawa,
This is the second film in Takefumi Tsutsui’s love trilogy, the first and third being In a Lonely Planet (2011), which was written by Daisuke Miyazaki (Videophobia, Tourism), and Hotel New Moon (2019). One of the leads is Ryo Iwase (It Must Be Love).
Synopsis: Chihiro, an employee at an art college who has been living apart from his live-in lover Yukari, proposes to her in order to set their relationship straight but her response is ambiguous. When he wants to introduce Yukari to his relatives, he has to search for her. This is when Chihiro is given an invitation to a stage play by her friends and Yukari play the heroine who elopes with her lover and writes a farewell letter to her husband…
Thunderbolt Fantasy: Toriken Yuki Saishusho 
サンダーボルトファンタジー 東離劍遊紀 最終章 「Sanda-borutofantaji- Touriken Yuuki Saishuushou」
Release Date: February 21st, 2025
Duration: 90 mins.
Chief Supervisor: Gen Urobuchi
Writer: Gen Urobuchi (Screenplay) Thunderbolt Fantasy Project/Nitroplus (Original Creator)
Starring: Junichi Suwabe (Shang Bu Huan), Katsuyuki Konishi (Ling Ya), Kosuke Toriumi (Lin Xue Ya), Takanori Nishikawa (Lang Wu Yao), Mai Nakahara (Dan Fei), Nao Toyama (Mu Tian Ming), Rie Kugimiya (Chao Feng),
Synopsis: Gen (Urobutcher) Urobuchi of Puella Magi Madoka Magica and Psycho-pass, surprised everyone by teaming up with a Taiwanese puppet theatre company to make the Thunderbolt Fantasy series but it proved to be massively popular. This is the final instalment in the series.
おーい！どんちゃん 「O-i! Donchan」
Release Date: November 25th, 2021
Duration: 157 mins.
Director: Shuichi Okita
Writer: Shuichi Okita (Screenplay),
Starring: Don-chan, Tappei Sakaguchi, Hirota Otsuka, Ryuta Endo, Hiroaki Morooka, Junko Miyabe,
I had no idea that this existed until it played as part of a JFF+ stream despite it being the work of Shuichi Okita, a guy whose career I’ve been aware of since The Woodsman and the Rain (2012) and A Story of Yonosuke (2013), and, more recently, The Fish Tale (2022) – the latter of which has earned exceptional praise via word of mouth.
According to the old JFF+ page, “The movie is a self-produced project featuring OKITA and his actor friends, documenting the life of his own daughter from 6 months to 3 and a half years old. Shot entirely with a handheld camera, the film captures the heartwarming moments of Don-chan’s growth and the challenges faced by the three men in nurturing her.”
Essentially, Okita teamed up with actor friends and had his baby daughter at the centre of the story. Filming began in 2014, when she was six months old, and continued through 2017, when she began speaking and could say her lines.
Synopsis: Three struggling actors Michio, Gunji, and Enoken, who share a house together, are left in charge of a baby girl who was placed in their care by Michio’s ex-girlfriend. They name her “Don-chan” and take on parenting duties.