Welcome to the fourth and final trailer post for this week.
You can find part one here, part two here, and part three here.
Over the last few months, I have watched 100+ films and have been able to do a considerable amount of writing. A lot of this writing is available to read on the Osaka Asian Film Festival 2025 site. I’ll post some reviews of older films and trailer posts but from March 14, there’ll be award-winning features and indies and shorts from across Asia!
What are the rest of the Japanese films released this week?
Two Angels, One Midnight Escape 
飛べない天使 「Tobenai tenshi」
Release Date: February 21st, 2025
Duration: 47 mins.
Director: Ayaka Horii
Writer: Yutaka Tsunemachi (Screenplay) Ayaka Horii (Original Story)
Starring: Momoko Fukuchi, Yuzu Aoki, Mizuki Maehara, Nari Saito,
Website Twitter: @an_gel_film
This medium-length film by Ayaka Horii stars Momoko Fukuchi (Leave in Summer) and Yuzu Aoki (Sacrifice). and it looks like it builds on Horii’s previous film The Night Before, which was released in December 2023. Her short film Angel Island will be at Osaka Asian Film Festival 2025.
Synopsis: While walking home from a company party, Yuka sees a young man running through a shopping street with a pillow in his arms and white feathers spilling out. With the white feathers dancing around him, he leaves like an angel. When she next encounters him again, she discovers that his name is Satotaro, and he seems to have escaped from a hospital. He says, “I have somewhere I want to go,” and a mysterious escape of a city-weary woman and a lonely young man begins.
Gintama on Theatre 2D Kabuki-cho Shitennou hen, 
銀魂オンシアター2D かぶき町四天王篇 「Gintama on shiata- 2D Kabuki-cho Shitennou hen」
Release Date: February 21st, 2025
Duration: N/A
Director: Yoichi Fujita
Writer: Akatsuki Yamatoya (Screenplay/Series Composition), Hideaki Sorachi (Original Creator),
Starring: Tomokazu Sugita (Gintoki Sakata), Ai Nonaka (Pirako Chin), Daisuke Sakaguchi (Shinpachi Shimura), Rie Kugimiya (Kagura), Kujira (Otose), Takayuki Sugo (Jirocho Doromizu),
Animation Production: Bandai Namco Pictures
Synopsis: This is the fifth instalment of Gintama on Theater 2D series of films where popular episodes from the TV anime series Gintama are re-edited into a compilation film to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the franchise.
Acting for Beginners 
初級演技レッスン 「Shokyu engi ressun」
Release Date: February 22nd,
Duration: 186 mins.
Director: Takeshi Kushida
Writer: Takeshi Kushida (Screenplay)
Starring: Katsuya Maiguma, Ayaka Onishi, Kanade Iwata, Keiichiro Mori, Toki Koinuma, Kenji Masaki, Hideki Nagai,
Website Twitter: @act_for_begi
I still remember Takeshi Kushida’s commercial debut feature Woman of the Photographs (2020) and interviewing him and I’m pleased to see he’s still going with this, his third feature. He’s also kept working with some of the players of his first film, Toki Koinuma and Hideki Nagai, but has included Ayaka Onishi (Randen) and Katsuya Maiguma (in the forthcoming Satoshi Kirishima film I Am Kirishima).
This played at Skip City D-Cinema Festival.
Synopsis from Skip City: Hozumi Chono, suffering from a rift with his father, teaches acting for beginners in an abandoned factory where time stands still. Through improvisation, he dives into the memories of Issei, a child actor whose father has passed away, and Chikako, a lonely teacher. As he explores their lives, something miraculous occurs.
Kaze ni tatsu Aiko-san 
風に立つ愛子さん 「Kaze ni tatsu Aiko-san」
Release Date: February 22nd,
Duration: 79 mins.
Director: Keizo Fujikawa
Writer: N/A
Starring: N/A
Website Twitter: @minatominato311
Synopsis: While making his Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami documentary Finding Refuge in Ishinomaki (2012, IMDB), where he recorded the lives of survivors living in an elementary school that had been turned into an evacuation centre, director Fujikawa encountered and was captivated by 69-year-old Aiko Murakami, an elderly woman with a cheerful personality and began filming her. He followed the course of her life over eight years while intermittently visiting Ishinomaki. Apparently, she had lived a solitary life up until the point she was at the shelter but being amongst people allowed her to connect with others. When she was moved back to a rebuilt house, she died a few months later. Her life , thus, becomes emblematic of the disaster that hit the Tohoku region and also of elderly people living alone and the resulting solitary deaths.
Gekijouban “Funya~ri biyori” neko ekicho sakura no monogatari 
劇場版「ふにゃ～り日和」ねこ駅長 さくらの物語 「Gekijouban “Funya~ri biyori” neko ekicho sakura no monogatari」
Release Date: February 21st, 2025
Duration: 76 mins.
Animation Director: Hiroshi Namiki
Writer: N/A
Starring: Junya Enoki, Satomi Akesaka, Sumire Uesaka, Shiori Izawa, Yoshino Nanjo,
Website Twitter: @funyari_biyori
Synopsis: This is the film adaptation of a popular story about cat stationmasters in Fukushima Prefecture that was originally broadcast on Fukushima Central Television. This is based on the real-life station master cats at Ashinomaki Onsen Station in the Aizu region of Fukushima Prefecture. The first was Basu, and he was followed by Rabu, and then Sakura, Rabu’s younger sister. They have a fanbase and the film crafts a story around their lives at the station.