The week started with the announcement of Hirokazu Koreeda’s win of the Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival for his latest film Like Father Like Son. I followed that with news on the BFI Nikkatsu Season and then my take on the very amusing fantasy/comedy anime Hataraku Maou-Sama and I’m writing up my thoughts on Red Data Girl. In terms of films I watched 2LDK and that was it. I really need to review it but finding time is tough. Tonight I am going to watch Kuroneko and tomorrow I will try and watch something else… I can’t decide what but it will probably be anime. Ah, this time next week I’ll be in London watching Japanese films on the big screen at the Terracotta Far East Film Festival! Awesome!
Before we get into the trailers, here’s an image from Takashi Shimizu’s Live Action Kiki’s Delivery Service:
16-year-old Fūka Koshiba stars as the magical good-natured witch Kiki. This story is based on the book and has no connection to the Ghibli anime according to Anime News Network. The film is directed by horror veteran Takashi Shimizu (Ju-On The Curse 1 & 2) and written by Satoko Okudera (The Wolf Children).
The trailers stretch across May and June with Makoto Shinkai’s latest films getting its release on May 31st and a bunch of live-action titles going on June 01st.
The Garden of Words 
Japanese Title: 言の葉の庭
Romaji: Kotonoha no Niwa
Release Date: May 31st, 2013 (Japan)
Running Time: 46 mins
Director: Makoto Shinkai
Writer: Makoto Shinkai
Starring: Kana Hanazawa (Yukino), Miyu Irino (Takao)
Makoto Shinkai’s latest film was released yesterday. The anime looks and sounds stunning. The depiction of the world, the rain and the plants, and the highlighting of natural sounds stand out. It looks very immersive. A five minute promo was released quite recently and so here is the trailer and the promo.
“We met, for each of us to walk forward.
Takao is a 15-year-old boy with dreams of becoming a professional shoe designer and was skipping high school, sketching shoes in a Japanese garden when he encounters a mysterious older woman named Yukino who is 27. Without arranging it they end up meeting again and again, but only on rainy days, deepening their relationship and opening up to each other. But the end of the rainy season soon approaches…
The Gaze of Another 
Japanese Title: だれかのまなざし
Romaji: Dare ka no Manazashi
Release Date: May 31st, 2013 (Japan)
Running Time: 7 mins
Director: Makoto Shinkai
Writer: Makoto Shinkai
Starring: Aya Hirano (Katari), Satomi Hanamura (Aya Okamura), Shinji OGawa
This short was produced for a home living exposition that took place at the Tokyo International Forums in February. The themes are “the future” and “family ties” and we watch the story of the growth of a family from the point of view of the cat. Seiyuu involved include Satomi Hanamura (Kanae in 5 Centimetres Per Second), Aya Hirano (Kana in Nura Rise of the Yokai Clan) and Shinji Ogawa (Suguru in Roujin Z and Fukushima in Patlabor: The Movie).
June Trailers:
Real 
Japanese Title: リアル 完全なる首長 竜の日
Romaji: Riaru Kanzen’naru Shuchou Ryuu no Hi
Release Date: June 01st, 2013 (Japan)
Running Time: 127 mins.
Director: Kiyoshi Kurosawa
Writer: Kiyoshi Kurosawa (Screenplay), Rokuro Inui (Original Novel)
Starring: Takeru Sato, Haruka Ayase, Jo Odagiri, Miki Nakatani, Shota Sometani, Keisuke Horibe, Kyoko Koizumi, Keisuke Horibe, Yuki Kan
OH MY GOD! IT’S FINALLY HERE.
After my embarrassingly enthusiasm was displayed in a rambling preview I can finally take in the reviews of the films and see if it lives up to y lofty expectations. This is Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s latest film. After helming TV dorama Penance he has gone on to make this big-budget sci-fi thriller. The film is based on the 2011 novel Riaru Kanzen’naru Shuchou Ryuu no Hi, written by Rokuro Inui and it stars a mixture of new and familiar actors like Shota Sometani (Himizu), Haruka Ayase (Ichi), Miki Nakatani (Loft, Zero Focus), Joe Odagiri (Adrift in Tokyo, Mushishi, Retribution and Bright Future) and Kyoko Koizumi, (Survive Style 5+).
Koichi (Sato) and Atsumi (Ayase) are childhood friends who have become lovers. Despite this closeness when Atsumi attempts suicide Koichi is at a loss as to what the reason that drove her to do such a thing could be. Now she is in a coma and Koichi needs to find out the reason. Since Koichi is a neurosurgeon he has access to the latest studies and so he takes part in a medical procedure that will allow him to enter Atsumi’s subconscious through her central nervous system.
When he arrives she asks him to find a picture of a plesiosaur she drew as a child. It is the key to a suppressed memory connected to a childhood trauma. Finding this picture will allow Koichi to truly get close to knowing his love.
Road of the Beginning (Literal Title) / Kinoshita Keisuke Story (Working Title)
Japanese Title: はじまり の みち 
Romaji: Hajimari no Michi
Release Date: June 01st, 2013 (Japan)
Running Time: 96 mins.
Director: Keiichi Hara
Writer: Keiichi Hara (Screenplay),
Starring: Ryo Kase, Yuko Tanaka, Aoi Miyazaki, Gaku Hamada, Ren Osugi, Mari Hamada, Yusuke Santamaria, Ken Mitsuishi Shigeru Saiki, Itsuki Sagara, Mayu Matsuoka, Shoko Fujimura
This film is made to commemorate the 100th year anniversary of Keisuke Kinoshita’s birth and it follows his early life from his days as a lively youth to his entry into Shochiku movie studio. The trailer is pretty earnest and some of the themes seem to be the loyalty of a son to his mother and the mother’s belief in him. Wipe away the tears and you will see that footage from Kinoshita’s films has been interwoven into the new film. Aoi Miyazaki leading those children along the riverbank is a clear nod to Twenty-Four Eyes.
Keisuke Kinoshita was a contemporary of Kurosawa, Ozu and Mizoguchi and yet he is 
pretty unknown to a lot of cinephiles in the west. Okay, that may be a bit of an exaggeration because his films Twenty-Four Eyes and The Ballad of Narayama are available in the west and pretty famous but a lot of his other titles are only now getting screened at recent film festivals like Berlin and Venice. To be quite frank his work is unknown to me but from writing up about him I can see how he is important since a lot of those titles sound different to the films of Ozu, presenting interesting new stories that must have challenged the views of audiences of the time. Wikipedia makes him sound like he has an interesting visual style as well:
He refused to be bound by genre, technique or dogma. He excelled in almost every genre, comedy, tragedy, social dramas, period films. He shot all films on location or in a one-house set. He pursued severe photographic realism with the long take, long-shot method, and he has gone equally far toward stylization with fast cutting, intricate wipes, tilted cameras and even medieval scroll-painting and Kabuki stage technique.
Well the cast involved are suitably skilled with Ryo Kase (Outrage) taking the role of the director, Yuko Tanaka (The Milkwoman) playing his mother. Other actors include Gaku Hamada (Foreign Duck, Potechi), Aoi Miyazaki (The Great Passage), Ken Mitsuishi (Noriko’s Dinner Table), Itsuki Sagara (Goodybye Debussy), Mayu Matsuoka (The Kirishima Thing) and Ren Osugi (Exte).
It is directed and written by Keiichi Hara who has a background in anime and helmed the film Colorful.
Dogs and Cats and Humans Earthquake of Animals 2 
Japanese Title: 犬と猫と人間と2 動物たちの大震災
Romaji: Inu to Neko to Ningen to 2 Doubutsu-tachi no Daishinai
Release Date: June 01st, 2013 (Japan)
Running Time: 104 mins.
Director: Daiyu Shishido
Writer: N/A
Starring: N/A
Prepare to cry. This documentary depicts the stories of cats and dogs and their owners who were all affected by the Great East Japan Earthquake. We watch the fortunes of a family of stray cats, dog owners who lost their pets during the tsunami, the hardships of farmers and their livestock in the Fukushima area. It’s not all grim though because pets and owners are reunited.
Two Years of Cancer and Yoko Enjoys Life, 
Japanese Title: いのち を 楽しむ 容子 戸がん 2 年間
Romaji: Inochi o Tanoshimu Yoko to Gan no 2-nenkan
Release Date: June 01st, 2013 (Japan)
Running Time: 102 mins.
Director: Akira Matsubara, Yumi Sasaki
Writer: N/A
Starring: N/A
Awful translation work again because there’s nothing enjoyable about something like cancer but that does appear to be the title.
Inochi wo Tanoshimu = I enjoy life
Yoko to Gan no 2-nenkan = Yoko and 2 Years of Cancer
The documentary follows Yoko Watanabe who was diagnosed with breast cancer at te age of 40 and died at the age of 58. More specifically it catches the last two years of her life where she went without taking any form of surgery or medication and just had the support of her doctor, family and friends.
Kankin Tantei 
Japanese Title: 監禁探偵
Romaji: Kankin Tantei
Release Date: June 01st, 2013 (Japan)
Running Time: 103 mins.
Director: Takuro Oikawa
Writer: Takuro Oikawa (Screenplay), Takemaru Abiko (Manga)
Starring: Takahiro Miura, Natsuna Watanabe, Shoko Tsuda, Masahiro Komoto
Kankin Tantei = Confinement detective. Confinement and detective work? Sounds sexy. Or problematic. Being confined would be problematic. Not that I would complain if it involved Natsuna Watanabe… Anyway, moving on before I embarrass myself further… Takuro Oikawa, director of suspense thriller Shuffle is on hand to make this locked room mystery come to life. The premise is intriguing and the trailer is promising and it stars two fine young actors in the form of Takahiro Miura (Cold Bloom, Ninja Kids!!!) and Natsuna Watanabe (Gantz).
A woman has been stabbed to death in an apartment and all clues point to Ryota (Miura). He is suspected to be the killer by Akane (Watanbe) who just happened to be at the murder scene but Ryota claims he is innocent and imprisons her so he can think about what happened and prove his innocence. Definitely the actions of an innocent man! Akane offers to help him.
AKIKO Portrait of a Dancer by AKIKO, 
Japanese Title: してAKIKOは… AKIKO あるダンサーの肖像
Romaji: Shite AKIKO wa… AKIKO ARU DANSA- no Shouzou
Release Date: June 01st, 2013 (Japan)
Running Time: 120 mins.
Director: Suiko Haneda
Writer: N/A
Starring: Akiko Kanda
Akiko Kanda was a major award winning figure in the modern dance movement in Japan at her death due to cancer at the age of 75 in September 2011. She had a film made about her in 1985 when she was in her 40’s and this is the follow-up made when she was in her 70’s. We see her hospitalised after a dance recital in 2010 and her recovery and attempt at dancing again.
