Welcome to the third trailer post of the week.
You can find part one here and part two here.
This week, I posted a review of Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust (2001), which will hit Japanese cinemas from today for a week-long series of screenings. It will then be released on Blu-Ray on March 26th.
I then posted a review of Extraneous Matter: Complete Version (2021), an hour-long erotic sci-fi movie with a little depth as it sets itself in a world where passion has dried up.
I then posted a review of It Comes (2018), Tetusya Nakashima’s scenes from a marriage, where family therapy takes the form of an exorcism. It has themes of recovering from bad parents and protecting kids that run deep and it is presented in a maximalist cinema spectacle.
What are the last new releases for this week?
アンダーグラウンド 「Anda-guraundo」
Release Date: March 01st, 2025
Duration: 83 mins.
Director: Kaori Oda 小田香
Writer: N/A
Starring: Nao Yoshigai, Mitsuo Matsunaga, Mikie Nishihara, Eiga Matsuo, Hayato Nagasaki
Website Twitter: @AraganeFilm IMDB
This is an experimental film from documentarian Kaori Oda as she plumbs depths of caves across Japan for stories.
She has previously explored underground worlds in her films. Mines in Bosnia were in Aragane (2015) and caves in Mexico in Cenote (2019). Shot over a number of years and featuring footage or Oda’s Japanese-set adventures. You can read about the finer details over at Asian Docs which gives a great insight into the background.
This played at Berlinale 2025.
Synopsis: Kaori Okada returns to the caves under Japan. She is accompanied by choreographer/dancer/writer/director Nao Yoshigai as a “shadow” for her exploration of underground spaces in Okinawa, Shimane, Saga, and elsewhere. This shadow hears the sound of a subway train running and the voices of the dead in a cave where people lost their lives during the Second World War, and the shadow even heads for a city sunk at the bottom of a lake. This exploration turns up all sorts of stories that linger in the dark.
Encouragement of Euthanasia 
安楽死のススメ 「Anraku shi no susume」
Release Date: March 01st, 2025
Duration: 111 mins.
Director: Ikunosuke Okazaki
Writer: Ikunosuke Okazaki (Screenplay)
Starring: Koya Ishihara, Riku Tanaka, Masako Todoroki, Nanami Ebisawa, Ikunosuke Okazaki
Website Twitter: @anrakushi_film
Ikunosuke Okazaki is the writer/director of Wash Away (2023, interview) who is on the rise.
This is actually his first film since it was made in 2022 and on the festival circuit the next year and Wash Away was made second. It’s actually quite funny in its second half as the main protag is such a weirdo and gets into surreal situations when in Okinawa.
Synopsis: 27-year-old Tadashi learns that the average life expectancy of Japanese men is 81.4 years. Figuring that the rest of his life won’t be as much fun as what he has experienced already, he decides to die. To find the perfect way to go, he talks to friends, counselling services, and a suicide prevention support group, but all they do is stop him from dying. Then he finds a flyer that promotes a three-days euthanasia tour in Okinawa. Tadashi has borrowed money from his friend for a one-way trip to Okinawa to join this tour and gets involved with a tour participant and tour representative as he begins to face the question of what death means…
Hare no kuni 
晴れの国 「Hare no kuni」
Release Date: March 01st, 2025
Duration: 99 mins.
Director: Seiji Omori
Writer: Motofumi Tomikawa (Screenplay)
Starring: Kunihiko Mitamura, Tomoya Maeno, Midori Oka, Maiko Kawakami, Norio Ishizawa,
Twitter: @harenokuni2024
This film is set in Takahashi City in Okayama Prefecture, which is where director Seiji Omori Tomoya Maeno come from.
Synopsis: Kota has quit city life and makes and returned to Takahashi City in Okayama Prefecture, where he can indulge in stargazing. This is where he meets a mysterious old man who lives alone in the mountains. Two men, who have chosen to live away from society, come to communicate with each other through a “messenger dog” instead of a “messenger pigeon.” Then, one day, a woman appears in front of them, and the situation changes drastically.