I have watched more films in the last week than I have for many months. Only double-figures but that still counts frequent trips to my favourite cinema to watch things like Cold in July as well as a LOT of Korean films from 2012/13 and a smattering of Japanese films. Expect many reviews over the next few months. The summer anime season has started and I’m patiently waiting for my shows to launch but I’ll avoid doing first impressions and just do a series review when the dust has settled.
In terms of the blog, I posted a review for a hilarious feel-good comedy called Judge! and I posted about the Asian Film Festival of Dallas.
What’s released in Tokyo this weekend?
Documentary of AKB48 The Time Has Come 
Japanese Title: DOCUMENTARY of AKB48 The time has come 少女たちは、今、その背中に何を想う？
Romaji: DOCUMENTARY of AKB 48 The time has kamu shōjo-tachi wa, ima, sono senaka ni nani o omou?
Release Date: July 04th, 2014
Running Time: N/A
Director: Takahashi Eiki
Writer: N/A
Starring: AKB48,
This is the fourth in a series of documentaries about the super group and it looks at a period stretching from June 2013 to July 2014. Some of the things touched upon will be Yuko who graduated, a mega concert that was put off due to bad weather, and the AKB48 Senbatsu General Election. There is a lot of behind-the-scenes footage and interviews with the group as we see the changing dynamics play out in concerts and their home in Akihabara.
Blue Demon 
Japanese Title: 青鬼
Romaji: Ao Oni
Release Date: July 05th, 2014
Running Time: 70 mins.
Director: Daisuke Kobayashi
Writer: Kozuru (Screenplay)
Starring: Anna Iriyama, Kenta Suga, Syo Jinnai, Seiya, Seika Furuhata, Riku Ozeki,
I never thought I would see the day when the Japanese entertainment industry would sink low enough to adapt a free PC survival horror game that I’ve seen in Let’s Plays by PewDiePie (Yes, I used to watch him on occasion when looking for horror games – here’s a Japanese Let’s Player) but that day has arrived… The story is about six high school students stuck in a house known as “Jail House”. Apparently a monster resides there (and he is pretty freaky in the game) and the kids have to escape. Meanwhile, film critics leave the cinema and predict the implosion of the Japanese film industry. Actually, this could be good. You never know until you watch.
It stars Kenta Suga who has appeared in Fuan no Tane (review next week). and AKB48 girl Anna Iriyama. If anybody should escape, it has to be her!
Girls & Panzer This is the Real Anzio 
Japanese Title: ガールズ＆パンツァー これが本当のアンツィオ戦です！
Romaji: Ga-ruzu & Pansha: Kore ga Hontō no Anzio-sen Desu!
Release Date: July 05th, 2014
Running Time: 38 mins.
Director: Tsutomu Mizushima
Writer: N/A
Starring: Mai Fuchigami (Miho Nishizumi), Ikumu Nakagami (Yukari Akiyama), Ai Kayano (Saori Takebe), Mami Ozaki (Hana Isuzu), Yuka Iguchi (Mako Reizei(, Maya Yoshioka (Anchovy),
The Girs Und Panzer franchise is getting a new installment in the form of an OVA which sees Miho and her classmates battle the girls of Anzio High School in a tournament. Fans get to see it at a cinema.
Soreike! Anpanman Ringo Boya to Minna no Negai 
Japanese Title: それいけ！アンパンマン りんごぼうやとみんなの願い
Romaji: Soreike! Anpanman Ringo Boya to Minna no Negai
Release Date: July 05th, 2014
Running Time: 48 mins.
Director: Jun Kawagoe
Writer: Takashi Yanase (Original Creator), Shoji Yonemura (Screenplay)
Starring: Keiko Toda (Anpanman), Ryusei Nakao (Baikinman), Mao Inoue (Apple Boy), Keisuke Okada (Majora),
Small children get a treat at the cinema this weekend. Apple Island is the scene of a crime where the apples are being poisoned and Apple Boy (Inoue) must work with Anpanman (Toda) to solve the crisis! The 26th movie in the Anpanman franchise has the wonderful Mao Inoue (Rebirth, Snow White Murder Case).
Also screened is the 21 minute shortTanoshikute Asobi Mama ni Natta Kokin-chan directed by Yuki Nichimaki and written by Yuka Aoki. Kids can sing and dance to the action.
Children of the Revolution 
Japanese Title: 革命の子どもたち
Romaji: Kakumei no Kodomotachi
Release Date: July 05th, 2014
Running Time: 88 mins.
Director: Shane O’Sullivan
Writer: N/A
Starring: Ulrike Meinhof, Fusako Shigenobu, May Shigenobu. Masao Adachi, Bettina Rohl, Astrid Proll. Takaya Shiomi, Kyoko Ohtani
This is a British/Irish film released in 2010 that is getting a Japanese release because of the involvement of Japanese people.
Inspired by the student revolutions of 1968, two women in Germany and Japan set out to plot world revolution as leaders of the Baader Meinhof Group and the Japanese Red Army. What were they fighting for and what have we learned? – direct from the IMDB page.
Expect interviews and footage. 4 minutes have been cut.
Danchi no Yume Dreams of the Projects 
Japanese Title: Danchi no Yume
Romaji: Danchi no Yume
Release Date: July 05th, 2014
Running Time: 86 mins.
Director: Sam Cole, Jonathan Turner
Writer: N/A
Starring: ANARCHY, RUFF NECK, RYUZO,
This is an American documentary from 2012 about Mukaijima New Town, a low income housing project hidden in the south side of the historic city of Kyoto. In this project are immigrants, yakuza, drug addicts and low income families struggling to provide a life for their children. They are the forgotten since many residents of Kyoto ignore the place but ANARCHY, a rapper, is using Hip Hop to raise awareness. We see him record his album and release it and tour the thing. He’s no GZA but he’s cool. 90’s Hip Hop was so good.
Koudou no Kioku Tankou Eshi Yamamoto Sakube 
Japanese Title: 坑道の記憶 炭坑絵師・山本作兵衛
Romaji: Koudou no Kioku Tankou Eshi Yamamoto Sakube
Release Date: July 05th, 2014
Running Time: 72 mins.
Director: Yukiko Omura
Writer: N/A
Starring: N/A
Another documentary! Sakube Yamamoto was a coal miner and artist who captured the details of mining to leave memories to the descendants of the miners of Fukuoka prefecture so they can understand what life was like. There are interviews with people who knew the artist.
Ogiwara Ikuzou, 63 Years Old 
Japanese Title: 荻原郁三、六十三才。
Romaji: Ogiwara Ikuzou, Roku Juu San-sai
Release Date: July 05th, 2014
Running Time: 82 mins.
Director: Hasebe Morihiko
Writer: Hasebe Morihiko (Screenplay)
Starring: Shiro Go, Hasebe Morihiko, Ko Inoue, Clayton Jacobson, Ronald Jacobson, Kaori Takakuwa,
First off, cool jazz soundtrack. That immediately gets a point from me. Jazz makes films sound better. Second, the story is about Ikuzo Ogiwara, a 63-year-old chef with a quiet sushi shop and a daughter. He’s suddenly head-hunted by a global sushi chain as head chef in their newest restaurant and he seems to be the ideal fit. They start throwing gifts his way to persuade him but he’s definite in his refusal. Can he afford to be when his sushi restaurant is on the brink of financial collapse?
Hoso Dekinai Kindan Re Eizo: Gekijoban 
Japanese Title: 放送デキナイ禁断霊映像 劇場版
Romaji: Hoso Dekinai Kindan Re Eizo: Gekijoban
Release Date: July 05th, 2014
Running Time: 66 mins.
Supervisor (No Director, Apparently): Junichi Yamamoto
Starring: Eizo, Ryota Koyama, Misaki Momose,
The director of the awful Meatball Mmachine and even worse Slit-mouthed Woman Returns is back with a collection of horrible clips full of weirdoes, ghosts and loons. These clips aren’t suitable to broadcast on television, so cinema goers Cheap to produce and full of low-budget scares. It plays alongside Hontou ni Atta Toukou Yami Eizou 2 which does have a director – Satoshi Kamimoto.
Mount Navi
Japanese Title: マウント・ナビ
Romaji: Maunto Nabi
Release Date: July 05th, 2014
Running Time: 72 mins.
Director: Seiji Chiba
Writer: Seiji Chiba
Starring: Danny Trejo, Toru Katayama, Sakae Tomomatsu, Ayana Kaneko, Kida Tomokazu, Daisuke Noguchi,
There’s a lot going on in this trailer. Blair Witch, Versus, The Exorcist, Danny Trejo saves Japan. It looks like Seiji Chiba (Alien vs Ninja) s making a mockumentary that incorporates POV shots to make a horror film about a group of men and women who travel up a haunted mountain and disappear one by one as they head towards a forbidden zone….
