One of my newly discovered favourite songs found in a week filled totally with anime and no films.
This trailer post was quick to write considering that there are only ten Japanese films (and Hollywood’s Godzilla reboot which I reviewed earlier this week) released this weekend. The quality is high for all of the releases with many interesting stories and some good looking cinematography (so no complaints!). I managed to get my hands on Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s latest film and I also ordered a few films/books/manga from Japan like The Snow White Murder Case. I also ordered some stuff connected to Tokyo Ghoul which remains my favourite anime this season although Zankyou no Terror and Space Dandy are equally as good.
It has been a very hot and sunny week as the UK is experiencing its best summer in recent memory. I have spent more time outside with my cat drinking milkshakes and watching Hataraku Maou-Sama. When not doing that, I have posted about the Godzilla film and the latest release from Third Window Films, Behind the Camera (2013). There’s a review for that due on Monday. Staying on the subject of reviews, I finished one for the first two episodes of Zankyou no Terror for AUKN and it reads better than my First Impression (but with far fewer images).
What’s released in Japan this weekend?
Eight Rangers 2 
Japanese: エイトレンジャー2
Romaji: Eitorenjā 2
Release Date: July 26th, 2014 (Japan)
Running Time: 103 mins.
Director: Yukihiko Tsutsumi
Writer: Yuya Takahashi (Screenplay)
Starring: Yu Yokoyama, Shota Yasuda, Subaru Shibutani, Shingo Murakami, Ryuhei Maruyama, Ryo Nishikido, Tadayoshi Okura, Atsuko Maeda,
This is the sequel to last year’s super sentai parody and directed once again by Yukihiko Tsutsumi. Five years after saving Eight City from crime, the Eight Rangers are on the slide, living dissolute lives and it isn’t until a journalist named Jun Saigo (Maeda) discovers evidence about the mysterious disappearances of 100 citizens a year that the gang start to get their acts together.
Z – Zetto 
Japanese: Z -ゼット～
Romaji: Z – Zetto
Release Date: July 26th, 2014 (Japan)
Running Time: 109 mins.
Director: Norio Tsuruta
Writer: Norio Tsuruta (Screenplay), Koji Aihara (Original Manga)
Starring: Mayu Kawamoto, Noriko Kijima, Miharu Tanaka, Koji Aihara, Shoichi Matsuda,
Z is adapted from a manga by Koji Aihara and directed by horror veteran Norio Tsuruta, the man who helmed the dramatic horror Ring 0: Birthday (2000), and the entertaining POV – A Cursed Film (2012). Just like POV, Tsuruta uses characters with video cameras to show a myriad of people meeting up with a mysterious sword-wielding girl who saves people from zombies.
This looks like a step-up from the usual Japanese zombie movie, the nadir being Rape Zombie (2012) and the best being Junk (2000) but if producers were looking for a Zombie manga to adapt, they could have chosen I Am a Hero, the latest volume was recently released in Japan and maintains the high quality and adds freakish monsters.
Time Trip App / Bakumatsu Kokosei 
Japanese: 幕末高校生
Romaji: Bakumatsu Kokosei
Release Date: July 26th, 2014 (Japan)
Running Time: 108 mins.
Director: Toshio Lee
Writer: Atsuko Hashibe (Screenplay), Taku Mayumura (Original Manga)
Starring: Hiroshi Tamaki, Satomi Ishihara, Akira Emoto, Tokio Emoto, Haruna Kawaguchi, Yudai Chiba, Mitsuki Tanimura, Yo Yoshida, Koichi Sato,
Ah, this is a comedy which plunders a popular piece of Japanese history, the late Edo period, the time when Japan transitioned from a society dominated by samurai and into the modern nation state that we recognise today.
The year is 1868 and Japan watches as the new government gathers its forces and battles a shogunate on its last legs. One such battle will take place in Edo. Katsu Kaishu (Tamaki) wants to prevent the battle and sends a peace envoy to Takamori Saigō, but despite waiting, no response is forthcoming. One day, Katsu Kaishu meets high school teacher Mikako (Ishihara) and her student Masaya (Tokio Emoto) who is captivated by the shogunate. The two tell Kaishu that they are from the future and that things go well but an unexpected event occurs and Katsu Kaishu has to look out for the time travellers who hope to go back to the future where they came from!
The film stars the charismatic Hiroshi Tamaki (Watashi no Kirai na Tantei) and Satomi Ishihara. It is directed by Toshio Lee (Detroit Metal City).
Still the Water 
Japanese Title: ２つ目の窓
Romaji: Futatsume no Mado
Release Date: July 26th, 2014
Running Time: 120 mins.
Director: Naomie Kawase
Writer: Naomie Kawase (Screenplay),
Starring: Nijiro Murakami, Jun Yoshinaga, Tetta Sugimoto, Miyuki Matsuda, Makiko Watanabe, Jun Murakami, Hideo Sakaki, Fujio Tokita
Still the Water was at this year’s Cannes film festival where it got mixed reviews, some praising its beauty and atmosphere while others lamenting the heavy handed symbolism used throughout the film.
It is the full-moon night of August and on Amami-Oshima traditional dances take place. A 14-year-old boy finds a dead body floating in the sea. With the help of his girlfriend, the two set about trying to solve the mystery. As they investigate the two grow into adults by experiencing the interwoven cycles of life, death and love.
Koppa Mijin 
Japanese: こっぱみじん
Romaji: Koppamijin
Release Date: July 26th, 2014 (Japan)
Running Time: 88 mins.
Director: Yuji Tajiri
Writer: Naoko Nishida (Screenplay),
Starring: Miwako Wagatsuma Mukau Nakamura, Tatsuki Kobayashi, Yoshino Imamura, Miki Hayashida, Yumek Sasaki
Miwako Wagatsuma is a Japanese actress I am interested in seeing in action. She has been picked as a lead of a series of interesting looking projects like Kuro (20120, Shing Shing Shing (2011) and The End of Puberty (2011) and this drama.
Kaede (Wagatsuma) and her brother Ryuta (Kobayashi) are friends with Oda (Nakamura) and Yuki (Imamura). Kaede is in love with Takuya who has influenced her decision to become a hairdresser after years of being indifferent to life but when Takuya sleeps with Yuki, the four become split apart.
NMB48 Geinin! THE MOVIE Returns 
Japanese Title: NMB48 げいにん！
Romaji: NMB48 Geinin
Release Date: July 25th, 2014
Running Time: 95 mins.
Director: Hidemi Uchida
Writer: Yuko Matsuda (Screenplay),
Starring: Sayaka Yamamoto, Miyuki Watanabe, Nana Yamada, Mayu Ogasawara, Riho Kotani, Shu Yabushita, Yuko Yagura, Kei Jonishi, Kendo Kobayashi, Ritsuko Tanaka
This is the sequel to NMB48 Geinin!! The Movie Owarai Seishun Girls which was released last year. The girls must get laughter by any means necessary regardless of their acting skills and these hijinks are what delight idol fans and non-idol fans alike. It was screened at last year’s Okinawa International Movie Festival which is where I got the synopsis from.
Namba Girls’ School is one of the top private girls’ schools in Kansai and the school Comedy Club has a top selection of students played by members of NMB48, Sayaka, Miyuki, Nana, Mayu, Riho and Shu.
The manzai double-act Nana and Miyuki who won the Jury’s Special Award in the previous Manzai Competition, lose in the preliminary round. The other members completely lose heart, threatening the club’s disbandment at the same time as a mysterious beauty named Fuko joins the Club. No one knows that she is an earthbound spirit and she will make the members of the club work together again!
Little Finger Rhapsody 
Japanese: 小指ラプソディ
Romaji: koyubi rapusodi
Release Date: July 26th, 2014 (Japan)
Running Time: 30 mins.
Director: Satoshi Tanaka
Writer: Satoshi Tanaka, Jun Hatano, Masataka Kato (Screenplay),
Starring: Yasuhi Nakamura, Toru Miura, Tsuyoshi Maekawa, Kaoru Okunuki, Tetsu Watanabe, Koichi Ueda, Hiroaki Morooka, Takashi Tago
This short movie takes place in a busy public bath run by Yuriko (Kaoru Okunuki) and is about the interactions between a group of several patrons who are discussing who would be a good love match for Yuriko. It all culminates in a competition to see who can stay in the sauna the longest.
Tsugunai Shinjuku Gorudengai no Onna 
Japanese: つぐない 新宿ゴールデン街の女
Romaji: Tsugunai Shinjuku Go-rudengai no Onna
Release Date: July 26th, 2014 (Japan)
Running Time: 87 mins.
Director: Shinji Imaoka
Writer: Minoru Sato, Haruhiko Arai (Screenplay),
Starring: Yuya Ishikawa, Kyoko Hayami, Takeshi Ito, Mutsuo Yoshioka, Kanae Mizuhara, Yuya Takayama, Shoko Kudo, Makoto akeda, Yukari Kabutomushi,
Pink film director Shinji Imaoka (Underwater Love, writer on The Drudgery Train) directs a film about four people who meet at a bar in Shinjuku. They are all tied together by Toko (Kudo), a woman who is reunited with her lover Gunji (Ito) who is hiding a dark past…
Hoete mo Todokanai 
Japanese: 吠えても届かない
Romaji: Hoete mo Todokanai
Release Date: July 26th, 2014 (Japan)
Running Time: 80 mins.
Director: Kenzo Matsumura
Writer: Kenzo Matsumura (Screenplay),
Starring: Keisuke Tomita, Nana Rokusha, Jiro Sato, Taro Kamakura, Shinya Kaneko, Keisuke Nomura, Masakazu Sato,
This has unexpectedly become the film of the week next to Time Trip App. Keisuke Tomita stars as Yuji, a young and lonely man who works part-time at a tavern and but tries to limit his contact with others. Then he meets a woman named Shaki (Rokusha) who reminds him of his mother and he also meets a dog. The two make a change in Yuji’s life… The music on the website was so nice that I left the tab open and let it play while finishing this post off. So relaxing.
Living with Feral Cats 
Japanese: みんな生きている 飼い主のいない猫と暮らして
Romaji: Minna ikite iru kainushi no inai neko to kurashite
Release Date: July 26th, 2014 (Japan)
Running Time: 91 mins.
Director: Etsuko Izumi
Writer: N/A
Starring: Stray cats and the people who rescue them, ;_;7
Here’s the decription for the film from the English portion of the website. It’s more eloquent than I could be and it’s worth heading there through the link to find out more about the film and the director:
While domestic cats are loved and protected as part of the family, feral cats live and die neglected and unnoticed. But why is there so much difference? Feral, stray or tame, they are all cats. They are all alive.
Feral cats are pet cats abandoned by their owners, or descendants of pet cats who are free to go around without being spayed or neutered. They are cats forsaken by people.
First, my daughter brought home Evi, a kitten her friend found abandoned in a parking lot. Nine years on, I now have four cats at home, because I have taken in more and more feral cats that wandered into our garden. In this documentary I tried to chronicle my days with those cats as they grew from kittens to adults; I also went visiting with a video camera in hand government facilities and workshops, volunteer groups, and vets—and my quest even took me to animal shelters in Germany and the U.S.A.
