Happy weekend, dear readers!
I may not be watching as many films at the London Film Festival this year as I have in others but I am still kept in the loop about events thanks to friends who tell me that Hirokazu Koreeda’s Our Little Sister (2015) is a brilliant film. Industry contacts have sent me news about the London East Asian Film Festival which launches at the end of next week so I’ll be posting about that next week. I finally watched The Martian (2015) as well and enjoyed it a lot. As for the new anime I am watching Subete ga F ni naru: The Perfect Insider and One Punch Man are two of the shows I’m picking up.
Only one review this week and it’s for Alien vs Ninja (2010).
What’s released this weekend in Japan?
Cyborg 009 Vs. Devilman
サイボーグ009VSデビルマン「Saibo-gu 009 VS Deburuman」
Release Date: October 17th, 2015
Running Time: 85 mins.
Director: Jun Kawagoe
Writer: Tadashi Hayakawa (Screenplay), Shotaro Ishinomori (Original Creator of Cyborg 009), Go Nagai (Original Creator of Devilman)
Starring: Jun Fukuyama (Cyborg 009/Joe Shimamura), Shintaro Asanuma (Akira Fudou/Devilman), Saori Hayami (Miki Makimura), Hozumi Goda (Cyborg 007/Great Britain),
Two of anime’s older franchises get mixed together. Akira Nagai’s Devilman was ‘90s anime fare in the West with its sex and violence storyline earning it a release from Manga UK. Meanwhile, in the US, Shotaro Ishinomori’s Cyborg 009 got aired. The latter title seems more popular considering all of the reboots and re-releases you read about. According to Anime News Network Nagai worked as an assistant to Ishinomori and drew backgrounds for Cyborg 009 before launching Devilman.
Synopsis from Anime News Network: Joe Shimamura and his cyborg allies find themselves working against Akira Fudo, a kid who turns into Devilman after getting possessed by demonic powers. I bet both sides team up in the end…
Expedition Party’s Glory
探検隊の栄光「Tankentai no Eiko」
Release Date: October 16th, 2015
Running Time: 91 mins.
Director: Toru Yamamoto
Writer: Tatsuya Kanazawa, Koji Tokuo, Toru Yamamoto, (Screenplay), Gen Araki (Original Novel)
Starring: Tatsuya Fujiwara, Yusuke Santamaria, Yoji Tanaka, Hinako Sano, Yosuke Kawamura, Yukiyoshi Ozawa,
The first half of the trailer makes this look like a cool and funny riff on reality television shenanigans forced on a once popular actor with Tatsuya Fujiwara wrestling a crocodile but by the end it turns into a heart-warming journey of self-discovery. Will it be too saccharine sweet to bear?
Synopsis: Sugisaki (Fujiwara) is an actor who finds his career on the slide when he takes on the lead role in a low-budget reality adventure television show where he heads into the unknown to find a legendary creature. Sugisaki begins to take things seriously when the team find themselves in a dangerous situation.
Mr. Max Man
Mr.マックスマン「Mr.Makkusuman」
Release Date: October 17th, 2015
Running Time: 69 mins.
Director: Akihide Masuda
Writer: Takuro Fukuda, (Screenplay),
Starring: Yudai Chiba, Mizuki Yamamoto, Anju Suzuki, jun Kaname, Tasuku Nagase, Yuki Kubota, Rio Uchida,
Synopsis: Masayoshi Taniguchi (Chiba) is a clumsy presenter on a morning television programme during the day and a super hero nerd in his spare time. He works with his childhood friend Yuko (Yamamoto) who he has a crush on. When he finds a pair of glasses that give him superpowers he becomes a real life super hero which is handy because the girl he is sweet on gets kidnapped!
Senpai to Kanojo
先輩と彼女「Senpai to Kanojo」
Release Date: October 17th, 2015
Running Time: 103 mins.
Director: Chihiro Ikeda
Writer: Kiyohito Wada, (Screenplay), Atsuko Nanba (Original Manga)
Starring: Jun Shison, Kyoko Yoshine, Riria, Junki Tozuka, Kaho Mizutani, Makiko Watanabe,
Throughout August there were lots of D-Boy stage-plays screened at a certain cinema. Jun Shison is a member of D-Boys and he gets a big acting role in an adaptation of Atsuko Nanba’s shoujou manga.
Synopsis: Rika Tsuzuki (Yoshine) is a first year high school student who is in love with third year high school student Keigo Minohara (Shison) who is in love with Aoi Okita (Riria), a university student.
SCANDAL “Documentary film「HELLO WORLD」”
Release Date: October 17th, 2015
Running Time: 105 mins.
Director: Chie Okazawa
Writer: N/A
Starring: Haruna, Mami, Tomomi, Rina
This is compiled from Scandal’s first world tour which covered eight countries and ten shows. Scandal visited the UK, France, Taiwan, and the US amongst other countries.
Messiah: Shinku no Shou
メサイア 深紅ノ章「Mesaia shinku no Shou」
Release Date: October 17th, 2015
Running Time: N/A
Director: Hiroki Yamaguchi
Writer: Hiroki Yamaguchi, Ayumi Yokoyama (Screenplay),
Starring: Tomoru Akazawa, Daisuke Hirose, Yuukie Igawa, Hiroaki Iwanaga, Taishi Sugie,
Looking up low-budget movie adaptations of stage-plays often reveals a passionate fan-base that adores the actors and reveals areas of Japanese cinema I have no idea about which is why I refer to them in these trailer previews. Here are two examples: masayume85 and The Messiah Project. This film is developed by Hiroki Yamaguchi who is steadily making low-budget sci-fi films and while this doesn’t look to have the interesting visuals of Hellevator, it’s still good to see his unique visions getting made especially in an industry that doesn’t make many sci-fi films.
Synopsis from masayume85.tumblr: Focuses primarily on the relationship between Ariga and Mamiya and the mysterious terrorist organization: Quantum Cat. A spy is in the midst of Sakura, can the cadets figure it out before Japan explodes in flames? Meanwhile Amane continues to seek out his father while Misu is caught at a crossroads with Public Security. Introduces Sugie Taishi as Kagami Itsuki and features the return of Ota Motohiro as Gojou Souma.
Vietnam no Kaze ni Fukarete
ベトナムの風に吹かれて「Betonamu no Kaze ni Fukarete」
Release Date: October 17th, 2015
Running Time: 114 mins.
Director: Kazuki Ohmori
Writer: Kazuki Ohmori (Screenplay), Miyuki Komatsu (Original Novel)
Starring: Keiko Matsuzaka, Reiko Kusamura, Akira Emoto, Reina Fujie, Koji Kikkawa, Eiji Okuda, Yoneko Matsukane,
Synopsis: Misao (Matsuzaka) and Shizue (Kusamura) are a daughter/mother team in Vietnam. Misao teaches Japanese and is recovering from a divorce in Japan while her mother Shizue has dementia and mist be cared for. The warmth of the people of Vietnam gradually help the two find a new take on life.
Boku wa Bosan
ボクは坊さん。「Boku wa Bosan」
Release Date: October 17th, 2015
Running Time: 114 mins.
Director: Yukinori Makabe
Writer: Kenya Hirata (Screenplay), Missei Shirakawa (Original Novel)
Starring: Atsushi Ito, Mizuki Yamamoto, Junpei Mizobata, Gaku Hamada, Miyuki Matsuda, Issey Ogata, Yoneko Matsukane,
Synopsis: Koen Shirakawa (Ito) is shocked by the death of his grandfather, a priest at a local temple. This event makes him reassess life so he quits his job at a bookstore and becomes a monk at a temple.
Japanese Movie Box Office Results for this Week:
Library Wars – The Last Mission (2015/10/10)
Bakuman (Release: 2015/10/03)
The Intern (2015/10/10)
Heroine Shikkaku (Release: 2015/09/19)
UFO Gakuen no Himitsu (2015/10/10)
Fantastic Four (Release: 2015/10/09)
Gamba: Gamba to Nakama-tachi (2015/10/10)
Attack on Titan: End of the World (Release: 2015/09/19)
The Anthem of the Heart (Release: 2015/09/19)
Unfair: The End (Release: 2015/09/05)
