Welcome to the first trailer post of the week.
There are two trailer posts this week and the next one is tomorrow.
There are six Japanese films getting released or re-released this week so it’s a bit of a chill time that I have spent stocking up on film reviews and practicing Japanese.
What are the first set of trailers for this week’s theatrical releases?
Kao dake ja suki ni narimasen 
顔だけじゃ好きになりません 「Kao dake ja suki ni narimasen」
Release Date: March 07th, 2025
Duration: 104 mins.
Director: Saiji Yakumo
Writer: Kisa Miura (Screenplay) Karin Anzai (Original Manga)
Starring: Ryubi Miyase, Rinka Kumada, Sota Nakajima, Reia Yonekura,
Website Twitter: @kaosuki_movie
This movie adaptation of a manga comes from director Saiji Yakumo. His previous titles are adaptations of novels (My Pretend Girlfriend (2014)) and manga (The Dark Maidens (2017)) and being a second unit director on John Woo’s Red Cliff (according to IMDB) and also Touken Ranbu films.
Synopsis: Sana, an otaku girl who loves beautiful faces gets roped into a madcap scheme orchestrated by Kanato, a handsome blue-haired senior to boost the number of pupils at their school by getting 100,000 followers for their school’s social media. He is on the verge of being expelled and the Principal has given him this task to save himself, it’s just that he has no idea of how to use social media and so Sana has to secretly help him. As the two work together, romance develops but a classmate finds out what they are up to…
The 35-Year Promise 
35年目のラブレター 「35 nen me no rabu reta-」
Release Date: March 07th, 2025
Duration: 99 mins.
Director: Renpei Tsukamoto
Writer: Renpei Tsukamoto (Screenplay)
Starring: Shofutei Tsurube II, Tomoyo Harada, Noriko Eguchi, Giiko, Chikara Honda, Mone Kamishiraishi, Rie Kuwabata, Takashi Sasano, Eri Tokunaga, Ken Yasuda,
Website Twitter: @35th_loveletter JFDB IMDB
Renpei Tsukamoto is a writer/director who has a long career working in TV on cute comedies like Watashi no kiraina tantei (2014) and The Great Passage, and film, with titles like One Missed Call 2 (2005) and Bento Harassment (2019).
His latest is based on a true story (which you can read here, although I would recommend it because it tells everything) about a man named Tamotsu Nishihata who never learned to read or write for various reasons and when he did, his first letter, a love letter, was dedicated to his wife who supported him. The story was reported in 2003 and became a popular Rakugo story.
Tamotsu Nishihata appears as an extra in the film and Shofutei Tsurube II (Dear Doctor (2009)) portrays him. Also appearing are Mone Kamishiraishi (All the Long Nights (2024)) and Ken Yasuda (The Actor (2016)).
Synopsis: Born during the war, Tamotsu Nishihata struggled to get a proper education due to the terrible conditions around his village and bullying from classmates. As he grew up, being unable to read or write made him the target of bullying and brought him great shame. After marrying his beloved Kyoko, he could hide his lack of learning and confessed even though he was worried they might divorce. Kyoko’s response was to love him and support him even more and becomes his hand. At the age of 65, Tamotsu began attending night school in order to express his gratitude to his beloved wife Kyoko, who had supported him for so long, he becomes determined to write a love letter he can give to her.
Ikimono no kiroku 
いきもののきろく 「Ikimono no kiroku」
Release Date: March 07th, 2025
Duration: 47 mins.
Director: Junichi Inoue
Writer: Junichi Inoue (Screenplay)
Starring: Masatoshi Nagase, Kanako Mizumoto,
Website Twitter: @K2v5Ri
Junichi Inoue, veteran screenwriter of works like Dare to Stop Us (2018), Revolution + 1 (2023) and also a director of titles like A Woman and War (2013), Dare ga tame ni kenpou wa aru (2019) and Hijacked Youth: Dare to Stop Us 2 (2024) has taken an original Great East Japan Earthquake story written by Masatoshi Nagase to make this film. Nagase stars in it.
The film was shot at the Nakagawa Canal in Nagoya at the end of 2013. 11 years on, it is now hitting more cinemas (there’s a YouTube video of a stage greeting from an initial screening).
Synopsis: A man picks up trash that has washed up in a canal in an abandoned town. His life changes when a woman appears.