Welcome to the second of two trailer posts for this week.
You can find the first post here.
The 2025 edition of the Osaka Asian Film Festival is due to launch next week and so I posted a preview made up of material from the festival’s press releases to give a good overview of what films are on offer. I’ll be covering as many as possible over the coming months.
I also posted a review of the Banmei Takahashi film Tattoo Irezumi (1982) and this comes just ahead of the festival screening his latest work, a biopic of Satoshi Kirishima, the now-deceased former fugitive of justice (for five decades!) who held Tokyo in a grip of fear due to his groups terrorist acts.
What are the rest of this week’s Japanese film releases?
Ai cheruka-re 
アイチェルカーレ 「Ai cheruka-re 」
Release Date: March 08th, 2025
Duration: 60 mins.
Director: Takumi Koike
Writer: Takumi Koike, Asami Sato (?) (Screenplay)
Starring: Shihori Yukino, Tofu, Tomoki Kimura, Ryu Yoshikawa, Yukiko Kawaji, Karin Nishina, Sho Ono, En Nakagami,
Website Twitter: @icercare
Apparently, this film was conceived by Ryu Yoshikawa to show his beloved French bulldog, Tofu, running. Shihori Yukino, a former idol with the group Kamen Joshi, takes the lead role alongside the doggy, Tofu.
Ai cheruka-re may not be the official title but from talking with my partner, it seems to possibly be a pun taking into account the story and the Italian word for search/look for “carcare.” In the story, the protag looks for a friend named Ai, Tofu’s owner. As the two travel around, they connect with others.
Synopsis: Mana Mizumoto is shy and has a hard time relating to others but she begins to grow when she becomes roommates with the cheerful and innocent Ai Nito and has to go searching for her when she disappears. During this journey, she meets a French bulldog named Tofu and, together, they set off and meet more people.
Eiga Doraemon: Nobita no Esekai Monogatari 
映画ドラえもん のび太の絵世界物語 「Eiga Doraemon Nobita no Esekai Monogatari」
Release Date: March 07th, 2025
Duration: 99 mins
Director: Yukiyo Teramoto
Writer: Satoshi Ito (Screenplay), Fujiko F. Fujio (Original Creator),
Starring: Wasabi Mizuta (Doraemon), Megumu Ohara (Nobita), Atsumi Tanezaki (Milo), Tomokazu Seki (Suneo), Misaki Kuno (Chai), Misaki Watada (Claire),
Animation Production: Shin-Ei Animation
Website Twitter: @doraemonChannel ANN MAL
For the 45th anniversary of the Doraemon movie series, we get the 45th feature film. It was written and directed by Satoshi Ito and Yukiyo Teramoto, both of whom have worked on the TV and movie side of the Doraemon franchise.
Synopsis: Doraemon, Nobita, and friends enter a painting and find themselves in a medieval European world. As they explore, they discover that they are in the country of Artoria and meet Claire and Milo, and a small demon with wings named Chai. Together, they face a powerful enemy while searching for a legendary jewel called “Artoria Blue.”
You’re Under Arrest The Movie 
逮捕しちゃうぞ the MOVIE 「Taiho shichau zo The Movie」
Release Date: April 24th, 1999
Duration: 88 mins
Director: Junji Nishimura
Writer: Masashi Sogo, Seiji Sooga (Screenplay), Kosuke Fujishima (Original Manga),
Starring: Akio Hiramatsu (Miyuki Kobayakawa), Sakiko Tamagawa (Natsumi Tsujimoto), Bin Shimada (Ken Nakajima), Etsuko Kaozakura (Yoriko Nikaido), Chie Nakamura (Minae Yasuda), Tomokazu Seki (Shoji Tokairin),
Animation Production: Studio DEEN
Website Twitter: @VSTORAGE ANN MAL
You’re Under Arrest is an old school franchise that ran in the magazine in Kodansha’s seinen manga magazines Morning Party Zokan and Morning from 1986 to 1992, and was adapted into a four-part anime OVA from 1994 to 95. and then given a TV series in 1996-97, 1999, 2001, and 2007. To commemorate the 30th anniversary of the anime adaptation, the 1999 film will be screened once again.
Synopsis: Natsumi and Miyuki of the Sumoto Police Station usually deal with nothing more nefarious than speeding cars but they find a cache of guns in a stolen car and it’s linked to a series of problems with the traffic control system and a bomb threat against Sakurabashi Bridge. It is soon up to them to stop a mysterious group of armed men.