Happy weekend!
I only watched three films this week the first, Breakmode (2014), a Japanese-Korean film about a salaryman chasing after a stolen car in Korea with the aid of his high-kicking Korean colleague. The second was Drugstore Girl (2003), a silly comedy written by Kankuro Kudo about old men drawn into the dog-eat-dog world of lacrosse because they are lusting over a female player. The third film I watched was Caravaggio (1986), a film about the great artist which features performances from a young Tilda Swinton and Sean Bean. In terms of anime, Ore Monogatari!! (oh, the emotions on the latest episode) and the entire series of The Record of Lodoss War, a nice anime with great character designs and a simple story. I also started Baccanno!!, a series I haven’t seen since university.
Anyway, there were two posts this week, the first about the Edinburgh International Film Festival and the second about the Annecy International Animation Festival.
What’s released in cinemas this week?
Mother’s Tree
Japanese: おかあさんの木
Romaji: Okaasan no Ki
Release Date: June 06th, 2015
Running Time: 114 mins.
Director: Itsumichi Isomura
Writer: Itsumichi Isomura (Screenplay), Etsuo Okawa (Original Novel),
Starring: Kyoka Suzuki, Mirai Shida, Takahiro Miura, Takehiro Hira, Ren Osugi, Yoneko Matsukane, Jun Nishiyama,
Mitsu Tamura (Suzuki) has seven sons and they are called up to fight in the war. For every son sent to battle she has planted a paulownia tree. With the death of each son she talks to the tree.
Pieta in the Toilet
Japanese: トイレノピエタ
Romaji: Toire no Pieta
Release Date: June 06th, 2015
Running Time: 120 mins.
Director: Daichi Matsunaga
Writer: Daichi Matsunaga (Screenplay), Osamu Tezuka (Part of an Original Manga that inspired script),
Starring: Yojiro Noda, Hana Sugisaki, Lily Franky, Saya Ichikawa, Shinobu Otake, Rie Miyazawa,
Hiroshi (Noda) once had ambitions of being a painter but has given up and now works cleaning office windows.That’s not the worst thing that has happened to him because he has found out that he has three months left to live. It is during these final months that he falls for a high school student named Mai (Sugisaki)…
Prophecy
Japanese: 予告煩
Romaji: Yokokuhan
Release Date: June 06th, 2015
Running Time: 119 mins.
Director: Yoshihiro Nakamura
Writer: Daichi Matsunaga (Screenplay), Tetsuya Tsutsui (Original Manga),
Starring: Toma Ikuta, Erika Toda,YosiYosi Arakawa, Gaku Hamada,
Yoshihiro Nakamura is a good director. Ignore See You Tomorrow, Everyone (2013) which has scripting issues that make the protagonist a wretch, in my opinion, and watch the scathing social media satire The Snow White Murder Case (2014) and the late devestating-twist The Foreign Duck, The Native Duck & the God in the Coin Locker (2007) to see why. He’s adapting Tetsuya Tsutsui’s manga, and he has assembled a decent cast such as YosiYosi Arakawa (Fine, Totally Fine), Erika Toda (one of the leads in the SPEC series), Toma Ikuta and Gaku Hamada.
There is a man covered by newspapers issuing threats to launch a campaign of violent crime and he does so through the website “Yourtube.” The threats come from a group named “Shinbunshi,” and they are lead by a man named Geitsu (Ikuta). The cybercrimes unit of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department are investigating and they are lead by Inspector Erika (Toda).The two forces will clash!
Seven Days: Monday – Thursday
Japanese: 予告煩
Romaji: Yokokuhan
Release Date: June 06th, 2015
Running Time: 66 mins.
Director: Takeshi Yokoi
Writer: Natsuko Takahashi (Screenplay), Benio Tachibana, Rihito Takrai (Original Manga),
Starring: Tomoki Hirose, Takeshi James Yamada,
This one is based on a boy’s love manga and that’s enough to make me flee. I watched the first four episodes of yaoi/boys-love title Love Stage, the scariest romance I have ever seen and never again. Never a-flipping-gain am I treading in the halls of fujoshi bait. I’ll stick to girls piloting giant robots, thank you:
Anyway, this is the first of two films. The first film has the title Seven Days: MONDAY→THURSDAY and that’s the one released today. The second film has the title Seven Days: FRIDAY→SUNDAY, and that’s released on July 4th.
Toji Seryo is a popular first year high school student who is famous for dating anyone who confesses their affection for him on a Monday and then breaking up with that person by Sunday. Yuzuru Shino is a third year student at the same high school. and although he’s handsome, girls still break up with him. He’s intrigued by this Toji character and so half serious & half joking, Yuzuru Shino asks Toji Seryo to date.
Typhoon Noruda
Japanese: 台風のノルダ
Romaji: Taifu no Noruda
Release Date: June 05th, 2015
Running Time: N/A
Director: Yojiro Arai
Writer: N/A
Starring: Daichi Kaneko (Kenta Saijou), Kaya Kiyohara (Noruda), Shuhei Nomura (Shuuichi Azuma),
Former Ghibli animator Yōjirō Arai is making his directorial debut on the film, though he previously served as animation director on short anime for Studio Colorido. Hiroyasu Ishida, who previously directed award-winning shorts such as “Fumiko’s Confession” and “rain town,” is designing the characters and serving as animation director. Masashi Hamauzu (Good Luck Girl!) is composing the music.
On a certain isolated island, at a certain middle school, on the eve of the culture festival, Shūichi Azuma quits baseball after playing his whole life. He has a fight with his best friend Kenta Saijō. Then they suddenly meet a mysterious, red-eyed girl named Noruda, and a huge typhoon hits the middle school.
Anata wo Zutto Aishiteru
Japanese: あなたをずっとあいしてる
Romaji: Anata wo Zutto Aishiteru
Release Date: June 06th, 2015
Running Time: 82 mins.
Chief Director: Kazumi Nonaka, Director: Choi Gyonsoku
Writer: Tatsuya Miyanishi, Hisao Masuda (Screenplay), Tatsuya Miyanishi (Original Book),
Starring: Marina Watanabe (Serra), Junko Takeuchi, Kengo Takanashi, Kappei Yamaguchi, Yumi Kakazu, Kentaro Hayami,
This anime is a Japanese-Korea co-production based on Tatsuya Miyanishi’s Tyrannosaurus book series. It is the sequel to Omae Umasou Da Na. The story is about a Tyrannosaurus who is lonely because everybody is scared of him and he decides to become respectable, going on a long journey in the process.
Hito mazususume
Japanese: ひとまずすすめ
Romaji: Hito mazususume
Release Date: June 06th, 2015
Running Time: 30 mins.
Director: Keisuke Shibata
Writer: Maki Komori (Screenplay),
Starring: Natsumi Saito, Masato Yamada, Tomoki Kimura, Yuto Kobayashi, Hatsune Yazaki, Akari Kinoshita,
Director Keisuke Shibata and writer Mki Komori collaborated last year on Otome no Reshipi and are reunited here with an award winning short about a girl named Miyuki struggling to live her life at more than a slow pace and a potential love interest.
Happy Landing
Japanese: ハッピーランディング
Romaji: Happi Randingu
Release Date: June 06th, 2015
Running Time: 109 mins.
Director: Chihiro Amano,
Writer: Yoshinobu Kamo (Screenplay),
Starring: Yuri Nakamura, Takashi Nagayama, Megumi Sato, Kunito Watanabe. Keisuke Minami, Rina Koike
Oooohhh, everybody is getting married in this film! Seven couples with different backgrounds see proposals, preparations and the actual event. Here’s a video that gives the tone of the film:
To be honest, I’d die of embarrassment being at the centre of a dance and expected to laugh and compliment people for three minutes. I’m not normal, I’m weird. Perhaps I’m better off living in a log cabin in a snowy forest far away from people.
Eyes
Japanese: アイズ
Romaji: Eyes
Release Date: June 06th, 2015
Running Time: 95 mins.
Director: Yohei Fukuda,
Writer: Yohei Fukuda (Screenplay), Koji Suzuki (Original Story)
Starring: Marika Ito, Seiko Ozone, Taichi Yamada, Keiji Nakagawa, Yasushi Endo,
Did any of you watch The Complex (20120, directed by Hideo Nakata and starring Atsuko Maeda? It was terrible. THIS film which looks similar, however, looks REALLY GOOD!
Nogizaka46 idol Marika Ito takes the lead role of Yukari Yamamoto in a movie based on a Koji Suzuki story. She see’s a mysterious letter F on her apartment’s nameplate and finds that her family becomes haunted and suffers mysterious deaths! More strange things happen and she begins to see more ominous signs… Is she hallucinating?
Samurai Rock
Japanese: サムライ・ロック
Romaji: Samurai Rokku
Release Date: June 06th, 2015
Running Time: 102 mins.
Director: Ryo Nakajima
Writer: Chieko Nakagawa, En Hayano (Screenplay),
Starring: Yutaka Kobayashi, Shunsuke Tanaka, Takafumi Honda,
This films about a rock band who meet Oda Nobunaga, Toyotom Hideyoshi, Tokugawa Ieyasu after they time travel to the future and become idols/rock musicians. The 11 idols of Boys and Men play the characters.
Senritsu kaiki fairu chou kowa sugi! FILE – 01 kyoufu kpurin! Kokkuri-san Japanese: 戦慄怪奇ファイル超コワすぎ！FILE-01 恐怖降臨！コックリさん
Romaji: Senritsu kaiki fairu chou kowa sugi! FILE – 01 kyoufu kpurin! Kokkuri-san
Release Date: April 11th, 2015
Running Time: 89 mins.
Director: Koji Shiraishi
Writer: Koji Shiraishi (Screenplay),
Starring: Shigeo Osako, Koji Shiraishi, Chika Kuboyoama
Koji Shiraishi (Noroi: The Curse, The Slit-Mouthed Woman), is a genius at creating low-budget horror. He takes a digital video camera and creates found-footage stories. I’ve seen five and while I wouldn’t describe them as scary. They are fun and inventive and everybody looks like they are having fun which is rather infectious.
This is the first instalment of a straight-to-video series and it features kokkurisan, a spirit who is called by playing a game. Highs school girls caught it on film so their video is investigated! I’ve heard so many bad stories surrounding ouiji boards and the like, I wouldn’t go anywhere near one but this looks like a riot!
Random music video of the week:
I watched Suicide Club, recently, and I have had this on repeat all week. Haruko Momoi, I love you!!!
