Hello, dear audience. I hope you are all well. The autumn anime season is in full swing and I have watched a lot of premieres for a lot of shows. I was very impressed with Parasyte, fun a blackly comic body horror, and Gugure! Kokuri-san a comedy that made me laugh more than I hoped for. It also had a really, really dark tone surrounding the loneliness of the characters. Shingeki no Bahamut: Genesis was as action-packed as hoped. The biggest disappointment was Amagi Brilliant Park which didn’t make me laugh at all, plus a needless nude shot.
In terms of films, I had unexpected fun at work when I struck up a conversation with a lady from Hong Kong and we talked Wong Kar-Wai for quite a while. Moments like that make life fun. On the blog, I posted about the Korean action-thriller A Company Man and the UK release of Black Butler.
Next week, I’ll be back in London for the BFI London Film Festival. The following day, I’ll be watching Black Butler!
What is released this weekend?
A Drop of the Grapevine 
Japanese: ぶどうのなみだ
Romaji: Budou no Namida
Release Date: October 11th, 2014 (Japan)
Running Time: 117 mins.
Director: Yukiko Mishima
Writer: Yukiko Mishima (Screenplay),
Starring: Yo Oizumi, Yuko Ando, Shota Sometani, Kyoko Enami, Tomorowo Taguchi, Kitaro, Ren Osugi, Lily,
Ao (Oizumi) returns to back home to Sorachi, Hokkaido, to take over his father’s vineyard after many years away. His younger brother Roku (Sometani) has never known him and their reunion is frosty but the two agree to work together try an create a special wine called “Black Diamond”, but it is a hard job and things look bad until a travelling camper named Erika (Ando) enters their lives and brings harmony.
Cape Nostalgia 
Japanese: ふしぎな岬の物語
Romaji: Fushigina Misaki no Monogatari
Release Date: October 11th, 2014 (Japan)
Running Time: 117 mins.
Director: Izuru Narushima
Writer: Masato Kato (Screenplay), Akio Morisawa (Original Novel)
Starring: Sayuri Yoshinaga, Hiroshi Abe, Yuko Takeuchi, Arata Iura, Eiko Koike, Tsurube Shofukutei,
Etsuko (Yoshinaga) lives in a village in Cape Myogane, Chiba Prefecture. With the help of her nephew Koji (Abe), she runs a coffee shop that has views of Mount Fuji. It is a popular place for people to gather and Etsuko shares the lives of her patrons.
Kin Kyori Renai 
Japanese: 近キョリ恋愛
Romaji: Kin Kyori Renai
Release Date: October 11th, 2014 (Japan)
Running Time: 118 mins.
Director: Naoto Kumazawa
Writer: Yukiko Manabe (Screenplay), Rin Mikimoto (Original Novel)
Starring: Tomohisa Yamashita, Nana Komatsu, Hirofumi Arai, Asami Mizukawa, Nozomu Kotaki, Mizuki Yamamoto, Kazuma Sano,
A film where a teacher starts a relationship with his pupil and the guy isn’t arrested…? This is based on a manga that was adapted into a television show and video game.
Haruka Sakurai (Yamashita) is a handsome part-time English teacher who is popular with his stuents. When he gives privates lessons to one of his students named Yuni (Komatsu) she develops more romantic feelings for him…
Housoukinshi: Sennou – Jaaku Naru Tetsu no Image 
Japanese: 放送禁止 洗脳 邪悪なる鉄のイメージ
Romaji: Housoukinshi: Sennou – Jaaku Naru Tetsu no Image
Release Date: October 11th, 2014 (Japan)
Running Time: 118 mins.
Director: Toshikazu Nagae
Writer: Toshikazu Nagae (Screenplay), Rin Mikimoto (Original Novel)
Starring: N/A
A psychotherapist named Kirika Odajima is handed the case of a woman named Shimako who was brainwashed after a mysterious event which drove away her family. While digging into the story, Odajima finds a recording made by a journalist and friend of Shimako, Minami Washizu. On the recording is something horrifying. Something evil.
Minyon Baionno Hōsoku / Harmonics Minyoung 
Japanese: ミンヨン 倍音の法則
Romaji: Minyon Baionno Hōsoku
Release Date: October 11th, 2014 (Japan)
Running Time: 140 mins.
Director: Shoichiro Sasaki
Writer: Shoichiro Sasaki (Screenplay),
Starring: Min Youg, Yun Young, Hideaki Muto, Tatsunori Tanbe,
Min-Young is a college student living in Seoul who, inspired by the photo her recently deceased grandmother, goes in search of the Japanese family in the photo which was taken way back in World War II. She travels to Japan and encounters various people and learns of the hardships of the Japanese family.
Fukushima A Record of Living Things Episode Two Disruption 
Japanese: 福島 生きもの の 記録 シリーズ2 異変
Romaji: Fukushima Ikimono no Kiroku Shirīzu 2 ihen
Release Date: October 11th, 2014 (Japan)
Running Time: 85 mins.
Director: Masanori Iwasaki
Writer: Masanori Iwasaki (Screenplay),
Starring: N/A
Hats off to Japanese documentarians who are still reporting on the 3/11 disaster and the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant meltdown because they are tracking the reach of the damage done to the ecosystem, the people and animals. This one is about animals such as macaques, cows and birds which were left in the danger zone. Some strange physical variations have been reported… Nothing exceptionally dangerous like in Fallout 3 but still, things are changing. It’s a sequel to a documentary released last year which picked up an award for Excellence at the Japan Film Awards.
Sengoku Bloody Agent 
Japanese: 戦極 Bloody Agent
Romaji: Sengoku Bloody Agent
Release Date: October 11th, 2014 (Japan)
Running Time: 83 mins.
Director: Naoki Takeda
Writer: Naoki Takeda, Shin Tachibana (Screenplay),
Starring: Ayumi Kinoshita, Yuto Nakano, Masaki Nishimori, Rei Toda, Yoshiyuki Yamaguchi, Etsuke Sasai, Rie Nishiwaki,
It isn’t all horror, idols, and school girls! Japan can create bad ass low-budget action films. In this one, a woman named Aika (Kinoshita) hires a group of martial arts experts to take out every yakuza organisation in Japan but they meet their match with the Black Bullet organisation!
Kumano Kara 
Japanese: 熊野から
Romaji: Kumano Kara
Release Date: October 11th, 2014 (Japan)
Running Time: 90 mins.
Director: Chiseko Tanaka
Writer: Chiseko Tanaka (Screenplay),
Starring: Tsuyoshi Kaibe, Yoshinobu Iseya, Koichi Ito,
A travel writer and his best friend head to the south of Japan to visit a series of shrines from Taisha to Kumanogawa, Kamikura and Totsukawa. They see priests and pilgrims tourists and locals. Although there are actors here, some of the things filmed are unscripted.
Kabadeen! Gekitotsu Koko hen 
Japanese: カバディーン!!!!!!! 激突・怒黒高校篇
Romaji: Kabadeen! Gekitotsu Koko hen
Release Date: October 04th, 2014 (Japan)
Running Time: 92 mins.
Director: Yuichi Abe
Writer: Kota Oura (Screenplay),
Starring: Ryusuke Nakamura, Daisuke Watanabe, Toshihiko Tanaka,
This is about a bunch of ikemen high school boys who play a game called Kabaddi and that originates in India. The basketball team are invited to sign up.
Following on from last week’s Kabadeen! Film, this one sees the basketball team come to terms with the change of sport and they engage in brutal training in a forest to be Kabaddi all-stars…
HappinessCharge Precure! The Movie: The Ballerina of the Land of
Dolls
Japanese: 映画ハピネスチャージプリキュア！人形の国のバレリーナ
Romaji: Eiga HapinesuCha-ji Purikyua! Ningyō no Kuni no Bararina
Release Date: October 04th, 2014 (Japan)
Running Time: 92 mins.
Director: Chiaki Kon
Writer: Yoshimi Narita (Screenplay),
Starring: Haruka Tomatsu (Iona Hikawa/Cure Fortune), Megumi Han (Hime Shirayuki/Cure Princess), Megumi Nakajima (Megumi Aino/Cure Lovely), Rina Kitagawa (Yuuko Oomori/Cure Honey),
The Pretty Cure girls are all set to watch a play when the dolls start talking. “Please rescue our kingdom!” the ballerina named Tsumugi says, and she leads the Pretty Cures to the Doll Kingdom. The Pretty Cures find things look normal at first, they are surrounded by cute stuffed animals and clockwork soldiers, but things get strange when they encounter a mysterious man named Black Fang. It turns out he is attacking the kingdom. Worse is to come when he captures Tsumugi. The Pretty Cures won’t stand for this and aim to save the day.
Space Battleship Yamato 2199: Voyage of Remembrance 
Japanese: 宇宙戦艦ヤマト2199「追憶の航海」
Romaji: Uchū Senkan Yamato 2199: Tsuioku no Kōkai
Release Date: October 11th, 2014 (Japan)
Running Time: 131 mins.
Director: Takao Kato
Writer: Shigeru Morita (Screenplay),
Starring: Daisuke Ono, Takayui Sugo, Noriko Kuwashima, Kenichi Sugumura, Aya Uchida, Rina Sato, Shizuka Ito, Aya Hisakawa,
This is a compilation of the Space Battleship Yamato 2199 series, 26 episodes condensed into 131 minutes, ahead of the reboot for the franchise. Aliens’ attack Earth, humanity builds a big spaceship named Yamato. Lasers are fired. Things explode.
The Tenor Lirico Spinto 
Japanese: ザ・テノール 真実の物語
Romaji: Za Tenōru Shinjitsu no Monogatari
Release Date: October 11th, 2014 (Japan)
Running Time: 121 mins.
Director: Sang Man Kim
Writer: Sang Man Kim (Screenplay),
Starring: Ye-ryeon Cha, Yusuke Iseya, Ji-tae Yu, Natasa Tapuskovic, Kii Kitano, Dean Dawson,
Bae is a Korean opera singer and a rising star in the European opera world. Sawada is a music producer who wants to recruit him for a performance in Japan. The two become friends but when thyroid cancer threatens Bae’s life, he must have it cut out and that means cutting his vocal chords and losing his voice. With Sawada’s help, Bae gets back on the road to recovery and, possibly, back to singing.
Tsuma ga Koishita Natsu 
Japanese: 妻が恋した夏
Romaji: Tsuma ga Koishita Natsu
Release Date: October 11th, 2014 (Japan)
Running Time: 88 mins.
Director: Shinji Imaoka
Writer: Shinji Imaoka (Screenplay),
Starring: Mao Miyaji, Noboru Kaneko, Rynosuke Kawai, Honoka,
Koji has lost his wife Kaori physically and emotionally before she died and yet she was three months pregnant despite their sexless relationship… Koji decides to investigate their past including a former lover he had named Reiko…
Endless Affair Owari Naki Jouji Movie Version 
Japanese: 劇場版エンドレスアフェア 終わりなき情事
Romaji: Gekijouban Endoresu Afea Owari Naki Jouji
Release Date: October 11th, 2014 (Japan)
Running Time: 103 mins.
Director: Shinji Imaoka
Writer: Shinji Imaoka (Screenplay),
Starring: Shigeyuki Totsugi, Hijiri Kojima, Tomoharu Hasegawa, Wakana Sakai, Ikkei Watanabe, Mickey Curtis,
Jdramas wrote about the drama last month because the film started off as a TV show.
Kosuke is a married man and a section manager in the media department of a large company. He has the chance to be the next department manager and to become the leader of a massive building project but things are in danger when a rival arrives at the company. Tachibana is desperate and so he contacts someone connected to the project, an ex-girlfriend from his university days… The two meet and soon, Kosuke is cheating on his wife with whom he has become distant. More complications emerge.
The wife is better looking than the mistress… If I were him, I’d make more effort at home.
This post took ages to write and I bet it took ages for you to read. Here’s a random video as a reward:
