Every weekend over the last few years I wrote down the titles of most of the films I watched but never really got around to making a list so this year I will. I was inspired to do so by Lynn who listed all the books she read. So far in 2015 I have watched five films. I started this week watching the George A. Romero film, Survival of the Dead (2009) which had plenty of inventive zombie kills and then the Hitchcock thriller Suspicion (1941). I then followed that up with the indie sci-fi Primer (2004) which was more talk and time travel and no action.
In anime terms, Yurikuma Arashi, Samurai 7, Ghosthound, Death Parade, JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders Battle in Egypt and Rolling Girls. After the awful run of anime I watched last year I’ve stopped writing first impressions and will stick to series reviews dotted amongst the film reviews.
In terms of the blog I posted about the films from last year that I really want to see and went gaga over a glorious selection of films at this year’s Rotterdam International Film Festival which looks so good it makes me want to head to Holland right now.
What is released in Japan this weekend?
Chokolietta
Japanese: チョコリエッタ
Romaji: Chokorietta
Release Date: January 17th, 2015 (Japan)
Running Time: 159 mins.
Director: Kazama Shioro
Writer: Masumi Ooshima (Original Novel), Kazama Shiori, Shotaro Oikawa (Screenplay),
Starring: Aoi Morikawa, Masaki Suda, Miwako Ichikawa, Jun Murakami, Toko Miura, Atsuo Nakamura, Atsuko Sudo, Kiyohiko Shibukawa,
On New Year’s Day I took to Twitter to highlight some films I’m looking forward to in 2015 and a fellow cinephile pointed me in the direction of this one. Although the director is new, it is adapted for the screen by Shotaro Oikawa who has some horror (Arcana, Tomie: Another Face) and drama (Tokyo Trash Baby) on his long filmography. It stars a great raft of new actors. Aoi Morikawa is the lead here. She had a fantastic 2014 with brief appearances in The World of Kanako and taking the lead in Zero. She is supported by Masaki Suda who was the rough but charming Takuji in The Light Shines Only There. Both are sporting the same haircuts they had in the films. Jun Murakami is supporting the two young leads and he’s a great actor.
Chiyoko (Morikawa) is a high school girl who lost her mother at an early age and has closed her heart to others. When her pet dies she feels loneliness bite. When a senior at the school film cub, Masamune (Suda) screens the Italian film, “La Strada,” Chiyoko watches it because her mother loved it. She begins acting in a film directed by Masamune.
Wonderful World End
Japanese: ワンダフルワールドエンド
Romaji: Wandafuru Warudo Endo
Release Date: January 17th, 2015 (Japan)
Running Time: 82 mins.
Director: Daigo Matsui
Writer: Daigo Matsui (Screenplay),
Starring: Ai Hashimoto, Jun Aonami, Yu Inaba, Go Riju, Marie Machida, Seiko Oomori,
Daigo Matsui, directed a film called How Selfish I Am! (2013) which started life as a series of music videos that were turned into a full movie with the actors from those music videos taking on the lead roles. Has has done the same thing with this one which is based on two music videos by Seiko Oomori: “Midnight Seijun Isei Kouyuu” and “Kimi To Eiga.” Ai Hashimoto, Jun Aonami and Yu Inaba all appeared in the original music videos. This is all about a tight friendship between two girls. One girl is layed by Ai Hashimoto who I know about from The Kirishima Thing (2012). The other actress is making her debut. Jun Aonami was winner of miss iD 2014 and is already making another film.
Again
Japanese: アゲイン28年目の甲子園
Romaji: Agein 28 Nenme no Koushien
Release Date: January 17th, 2015 (Japan)
Running Time: 120 mins.
Director: Sumio Omori
Writer: Kiyoshi Shigematsu (Original Novel), Sumio Omori (Screenplay),
Starring: Kiichi Nakai, Haru, Toshiro Yanagiba, Emi Wakui, Mugi Kadowaki, Taiga, Asuka Kudo, Ken Yasuda,
Following the death of her father during the Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunami of 2011, Mie (Haru) is sorting through his belongings. She discovers a collection of New Year’s cards that were never sent after they were written twenty-eight years ago. Mie tracks down the intended recipients and discovers that they were connected to her father’s high school baseball team. She contacts more to learn about her father and they all gather together to play in the Masters Koshien (a senior league baseball tournament) and tell Mie about him.
Bali Big Brother
Japanese: 神様はバリにいる
Romaji: Kamisama wa Bari no Iru
Release Date: January 17th, 2015 (Japan)
Running Time: 106 mins.
Director: Toshio Lee
Writer: Kiyoshi Shigematsu (Original Novel), Sumio Omori (Screenplay),
Starring: Shinichi Tsutsumi, Machiko Ono, Hiroshi Tamaki, Nanao,
I like the look of this light comedy. First off, it’s directed by Toshio Lee and he did Detroit Metal City. Good start. There’s a solid set of actors here with the versatile actor Shinichi Tsutsumi displaying his comedy chops once again and after seeing I’ll Give it My All Tomorrow and Why Don’t You Play in Hell? I think he can carry the film by himself but he has Hiroshi Tamaki who is also excellent at giving comedic performances as seen in his turn in Watashi no Kirai no Tantei. He has able support from actors like Machiko Ono (Like Father, Like Son) and nanao (The Snow White Murder Case).
When Sachiko’s (Ono) matchmaking business goes bust she heads to Bali to find a new direction and a way to deal with a large debt. What she finds when she arrives is a flamboyant and mysterious Japanese business man named Aniki (Tsutumi) who offers her advice and encouragement.
Gekijouban Kobe Zaiju
Japanese: 劇場版 神戸在住
Romaji: Gekijouban Kobe Zaiju
Release Date: January 17th, 2015 (Japan)
Running Time: 96 mins.
Director: Mitsuhito Shiraha
Writer: Kon Kimura (Original Manga), Mana Yasuda (Screenplay),
Starring: Izumi Fujimoto, Eiji Sugawara, Misato Tanaka, Alisa Urahama, Nagisa Matsunaga, Sayuri Yanagita, Takashi Matsuo, Keiko Takeshita,
Kei (Fujimoto) is an art student who has moved from Tokyo to Kobe because of her father’s work transfer. She slowly learns about the Great Hanshin Earthquake from locals and meets Yoji, an illustrator who is physically disabled. Despite his situation, he donates the money he makes from his paintings to help areas affected by the earthquake. This inspire Kei.
Yamamoto Shigeaki bokyo no kane manmokaitaku-dan no rakujitsu
Japanese: 山本慈昭 望郷の鐘 満蒙開拓団の落日
Romaji: Yamamoto Shigeaki bokyo no kane manmokaitaku-dan no rakujitsu
Release Date: January 17th, 2015 (Japan)
Running Time: 102 mins.
Director: Hisako Yamada
Writer: Kazuhiro Saki (Screenplay),
Starring: Takashi Naito, Azusa Watanabe, Yuri Hoshino, Yosuke Saito, Ichiro Ogura,
A film all about those who lived through the last days of Manchuria just before, during and after before the Soviets invaded and shipped lots of people off to labour camps and many children were left as orphans.
Iron Girl: Ultimate Weapon
Japanese: アイアンガール Ultimate Weapon
Romaji: Aian Garu Ultimate Weapon
Release Date: January 17th, 2015 (Japan)
Running Time: 83 mins.
Director: Kenichi Fujiwara
Writer: Kon Kimura (Original Manga), Mana Yasuda (Screenplay),
Starring: Kirara Asuka, Hiroaki Iwanaga, Asuka Kishi, Ryunosuke Kawai, Yuri Morishita, Asami,
Kurisu Saotome (Asuka) is a bounty hunter who wears an armoured suit. Her skills and appearance have earned her the moniker “Iron Girl” but for all her toughess she is uncertain about her background because she has lost her memories and so she searches for a way to regain them whilst battling bad guys.
Paraoiac
Japanese: パラノイアック
Romaji: Paranoiakku
Release Date: January 17th, 2015 (Japan)
Running Time: 77 mins.
Director: Hiroki Irasawa
Writer: Uri (Original Game), Hiroki Iwasawa, Miho Aotsuka (Screenplay),
Starring: Kisu Konishi, Sho Kajiwara, Kota Satsunai
Has the Japanese movie industry run out of books and manga to adapt? I ask because over the last few months we have had adaptations of free online games and Paranoiac is just the latest in a series of low-budget horror flicks taking inspiration from games. Check out let’s play video to see the video game in action!
No trailer.
A woman named Miki moves nto the Western-style house her aunt died in a number of years ago. There’s a reason her aunt died and a mystery lurks in the house that puts herlife at risk.
Nani wo osoreru Feminizumu wo ikita onnatachi
Japanese: 何を怖れる フェミニズムを生きた女たち
Romaji: Nani wo osoreru Feminizumu wo ikita onnatachi
Release Date: January 17th, 2015 (Japan)
Running Time: 111 mins.
Director: Hisako Matsui
Writer: N/A
Starring: Eriko Ikeda, Teruko Inoue, Yoko Sakurai, Keiko Higuchi, Suzuyo Takasato, Noriko Takeshi, Mitsu Tanaka,
The title for the documentary is a challenging one! Nani wo osoreru – What are you Afraid of? Feminizumu wo ikita onnatachi. Women have taken on the role of feminists and so what? When you live in a patriarchal society you need to step up and defend your rights! Yes, this is a documentary about feminists. More spcificlly, it’s about a group who started campaigning in the ‘70s with unique live activities that were created to make people think about their lives. They faced prejudice and misunderstanding from both men and women. The documentary is a sympathetic portrait of the women describing their aims at the time and looking back at what they did and whay they have achieved and what they want to pass on to the next generation.
This year in the UK we are getting films and dramas that look at what the Suffragettes went through. I’m kinda curious about feminism in Japan.
Appleseed Alpha
Japanese: アップルシード アルファ
Romaji: Appuru Shi-do Arufa
Release Date: January 17th, 2015 (Japan)
Running Time: 93 mins.
Director: Shinji Aramaki
Writer: Shirow Masamune (Original Manga), Marianne Krawczyk (Screenplay),
Starring: Yuka Komatsu (Deunan Knute), Junichi Suwabe (Briareos Hecatonchires), Aoi Yuuki (Iris), Hiroki Takahashi (Olson)
UK anime fans will know Appleseed from the old ‘80s over that aired on the Sci-fi channel. It is based on a manga by Shirow “Ghost in the Shell” Masamune. They will also know director Shinji Aramaki as the director of Megazone 23 and Gasaraki and the recent Captain Harlock movie, each of which were released in the UK. This was released in America last year and it’s available pretty widely in the UK with physical and digital versions.
The World was savaged by a nuclear war but humanity did survive. Two such survivors are Deunan Knute and Briareos who work as mercenaries in the ruins of New York City. Deunan has heard of a highly advanced city named Olympus but nobody knows if it exists or not until a mysterious girl and her cyborg bodyguard cross her path and tell her they are on an important mission for Olympus and that they are fleeing a team of highly advanced cyborg mercenaries are chasing them.
Ressha Sentai ToQger VS Kyouryuger The Movie
Japanese: 烈車戦隊トッキュウジャーVSキョウリュウジャー THE MOVIE
Romaji: Ressha Sentai Tokyuuja- vs Kyou Ruuja- The Movie
Release Date: January 17th, 2015 (Japan)
Running Time: 83 mins.
Director: Katsuya Watanabe
Writer: Yasuko Watanabe (Screenplay),
Starring: Kappei Yamaguchi, Jun Fukuyama, Haruka Tomatsu, Yui Horie, Nao Ichimichi, Shunsuke Nishikawa, Ai Orikasa,
Two super sentai teams work together to save the world from a mysterious energy. We get to meet the new guys and gals of the Zyuden Sentai Kyoryuger series1
TM NETWORK THE MOVIE 1984 ~ 30th ANNIVERSARY
Japanese: TM NETWORK THE MOVIE 1984 ~ 30th ANNIVERSARY
Romaji: TM NETWORK THE MOVIE 1984 ~ 30th ANNIVERSARY
Release Date: January 17th, 2015 (Japan)
Running Time: 112 mins.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
Starring: Tetsuya Komuro Takashi Utsunomiya, Naoto Kine,
The popular Japanese rock/pop group TM Network became popular in the ‘80s and subsequently influenced much of the music scene in Japan during the ‘90s. Thirty years on from their debut we get this documentary that has plenty of live-video performances like the above! More examples can be found on their website.
Aaaaan that’s it for the trailer preview!
The random music video is not so random because I was influenced to place it in after listening to TM Network. Here’s a mix of Yasutaka Nakata’s works, y’know. That guy producing the awesome tracks behind a lot of techno-pop groups like Capsule, Perfume…
