Happy weekend everyone!
I hope you are all well. Another week has passed and we’re already half way through the year. In film terms I have watched over 100 titles, the last one being Fuku-chan of Fukufuku Flats (2014) which I reviewed earlier this week. I have started watching the summer 2015 anime and decided I will do first impressions again as well as the summer of splatter so anime reviews will be interspesred with manga/movie reviews. The first one I have written is for Ushio to Tora.
In terms of gaming, I’m doing pretty well at Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions mainly because I like to over level and open up as many jobs as possible. I also upped my pledge for the Shenmue III Kickstarter to buy a physical copy of the game but I won’t be getting to play that until December 2017 (according to the campaign).
What’s released this weekend?
Dictator, Koga
Japanese: 独裁者,古賀
Romaji: Dokusaisha, Koga
Release Date: July 18th, 2015
Running Time: 79 mins.
Director: Toshimitsu Iizuka
Writer: Toshimitsu Iizuka (Screenplay)
Starring: Naoya Shimizu, Honoka Murakami, Tateto Serizawa, Chiaki Usui,
Koga (Shimizu) is the victim of bullies in his class but the vicious attentions of his tormentors turn to Soejima after he speaks up for Koga. The feelings between the two are deep but is it because of love or because they feel sorry for each other? Love (probably) can’t change the world. Then the only way left is to change yourself. Will Koga be able to change himself to prove his feelings for Soejima?
Hero
Japanese: Hero
Romaji: Hero
Release Date: July 18th, 2015
Running Time: 120 mins.
Director: Masayuki Suzuki
Writer: Yasushi Fukuda (Screenplay)
Starring: Takuya Kimura, Keiko Kitagawa, Takako Matsu, Koichi Sato, Tetta Sugimoto, Gaku Hamada, Bokuzo Masana, Yo Yoshida, Yutaka Matsushige,
Here’s a great write-up of the Hero franchise.
Prosecutor Kohei Kuryu (Kimura) of the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office takes charge of the case of a woman who was killed in a car accident near the embassy of a foreign country. She appeared to be fleeing from someone. The woman held key evidence in a case Kohei has been investigating and the circumstances are suspicious. Due to the extraterritoriality involving the case, the investigation has stalled and as Kohei Kuryu and his office attempt to extract the truth behind the walls of the embassy.
Umi no Futa
Japanese: 海のふた
Romaji: Umi no Futa
Release Date: July 18th, 2015
Running Time: 84 mins.
Director: Keisuke Toyoshima
Writer: Hisako Kurosawa (Screenplay), Banana Yoshimoto (Original Novel),
Starring: Akiko Kikuchi, Azusa Mine, Yukichi Koayashi, Keiichi Suzuki,
Seeking a change of pace in life, Mari (Kikuchi) moves from Tokyo back to her small hometown in Shizuoka Prefecture where opens a small store selling ice flakes with syrup. Mari runs the store with Hajime-chan (fMine) who has a large burn scar on her face.
Osaka Snake Road Snake of Violence
Japanese: 大阪蛇道 Snake of Violence
Romaji: Osaka Jadou Snake of Violence
Release Date: July 18th, 2015
Running Time: 110 mins.
Director: Takahiro Ishihara
Writer: Takahiro Ishihara (Screenplay),
Starring: Maya Fukuzawa, Tak Sakaguchi, Tomoko Tabata, Takashi Nishina,
Synopsis from IMDB
In Osaka, three troubled young kids, Kanako, Atsushi and Kenji, are hanging out together all the time. One day Kenji who lives in an orphanage is sold to a yakuza and their friendship has to come to an end. 25 years later, Kanako is married to Atsushi who is an incompetent yakuza. They have 3 daughters. Kenji is a competent unbeatable yakuza. Atsushi, who sucks at everything, for the first time gets a dangerous mission to kill a thug who has attacked the office of his yakuza group. Kenji, who has advanced to the first lieutenant position, by mistake kills a dumb-ass son of the head of Tokyo Yakuza, which triggers a battle between Osaka and Tokyo Yakuzas. Then, Kenji meets Atsushi in 25 years.
Runta / Lung Ta
Japanese: ルンタ
Romaji: Runta
Release Date: July 18th, 2015
Running Time: 111 mins.
Director: Kaoru Ikeya
Writer: Hisako Kurosawa (Screenplay), Banana Yoshimoto (Original Novel),
Starring: Kazuhiro Nakahara, Dalai Lama XIV, Naoko Yamazaki
This documentary looks at the clash between non-violent Tibetans against the Chinese government through the stories of a nun an old man and others who risk prison and worse in order to keep the teaching’s of the Dalai Lama’s version of Buddhism going in Tibet.
Lord of Tsurimela
Japanese: ロード・オブ・ツリメラ
Romaji: Ro-do Obu Tsrimera
Release Date: July 18th, 2015
Running Time: 72 mins.
Director: Taishi Shiode
Writer: Taishi Shiode. (Screenplay),
Starring: Muck Akazawa, Agatha Okada, Akira Kuzuki, Ayumi Nigo, Miwako Sensui,
Taishi Shiode, writer/director on Death and Tanya (2013) crafts a story about a girl idol group named Tsurimela who break up after the death of a member and slink back to their everyday lives including dealing with a boyfriend with an Oedipus complex and massive debt. They need some magic to change their present but something bad is lurking out there…
Pokémon the Movie: Hoopa and the Clash of Ages
Japanese: ポケモン・ザ・ムービーXY 「光輪（リング）の超魔神 フーパ」
Romaji: Pokémon za Mu-bi- XY: Ring no Chōmajin Hoopa
Release Date: July 18th, 2015
Running Time: N/A
Director: Kunihio Yuyama
Writer: Atsuhiro Tomioka (Screenplay),
Starring: Ikue Ohtani (Pikachu), Rica Matsumoto (Satoshi), Inuko Inuyama (Nyarth), Mariya Ise (Eureka), Mayuki Makiguchi (Serena), Megumi Hayashibara (Musashi)
Anime News Network have an excellent write-up on the latest Pokemon movie and the accompanying short:
Satoshi, Pikachu, and their friends come to a desert city by the sea. Here they meet the Mythical Pokémon Hoopa, which has the ability to summon things—including people and Pokémon—through its magic rings. After a scary incident, they learn of a story about a brave hero who stopped the rampage of a terrifying Pokémon long ago. Now, the threat that has been bottled up for years is in danger of breaking loose again.
There will also be the short which is a musical performance: Pikachu to Pokémon Ongakutai (Pikachu & the Pokémon Music Band). The short is a performance created by the cries of Pokémon who will play a beautiful harmony.
Gekijouban Meiji Tokyo Renka: Yumihari no Serenade
Japanese: 劇場版 明治東亰恋伽 弦月（ゆみはり）の小夜曲（セレナーデ）
Romaji: Gekijouban Meiji Tokyo Renka: Yumihari no Serenade
Release Date: July 18th, 2015
Running Time: N/A
Director: Hiroshi Watanabe
Writer: Yoshiko Nakamura (Screenplay),
Starring: Nobuhiko Okamoto (Kyouka Izumi), Sumire Morohoshi (Mei Ayazuki), Daisuke Namikawa (Ougai Mori), Jun Fukuyama (Goro Fujita), Kenn (Shunsou Hishida),
Anime News Network also provided the synopsis for this anime. The trailer comes from the game.
On an evening lit by a crimson full moon, an ordinary high school girl named Mei Ayazuki meets a self-proclaimed magician named Charlie at a festival. Through Charlie’s magic, she time-travels to the Meiji era in Tokyo, where she meets and falls in love with various great historical figures from that time period.
Jorei Tantei / Jyourei Tantei
Japanese: 浄霊探偵
Romaji: Jorei Tantei
Release Date: July 18th, 2015
Running Time: 89 mins.
Director: Hiroaki Tsuzuki
Writer: Kana Matsui (Screenplay), Chihiro Kamishima (Original Story),
Starring: Akane Takayanagi, Haruo Konno, Chihiro Kamishima, Serena Kozuki, Daiki Ohyama, Elle Tanaka,
Akane Takayanagi of idol group SKE48 gets her first starring role as a character in a film about a real psychic named Atsushi (Konno) investigating a popular television programme called “Psychic Hunter” and meeting demons and then exorcising them. Yurika (Takayanagi) was present and Atsushi noticed that she is haunted by a “white shadow” but Yurika doesn’t buy an of this nonsense util she is attacked…
Kazoku no Fukei
Japanese: 家族の風景
Romaji: Kazoku no Fukei
Release Date: July 18th, 2015
Running Time: 89 mins.
Director: Keitaro Sakon
Writer: N/A
Starring: Sosuke Ikematsu, Mari Sato, Shigekazu Nakajima, Hikaru Sonoda,
This is the graduation work of director and Nihon University College of Art student Keitaro Sakon and it went on to tour numerous festivals in 2013. Sosuke Ikematsu plays Takashi, a freelance writer who returns home in the wake of his mother injuring herself. He considers family relationships ad the way time changes things.
Kimi to Miru Fukei
Japanese: きみとみる風景
Romaji: Kimi to Miru Fukei
Release Date: July 18th, 2015
Running Time: 63 mins.
Director: Yuko Imanishi
Writer: Yuko Imanishi (Screenplay)
Starring: Madoka Matsuda, Chie Murakami, Honoka Taniguchi, Azusa Teraguchi, Yudai Amano, Daisuke Masuda, Akio Muto, Mami Ishimizu, Nene Nishimoto,
This one looks like a tourist video but it has a story. A photographer named Azusa Taguchi (Matsuda) is working on a new project with the theme of “nostalgia” running through it so she heads to Takayama in Gifu Prefecture and encounters various people.
Random music video resdiscovered two years after writing about another film:
