Hello dear audience!
I gorged myself on a lot of new anime this week just to get a feel for the season so I’ve picked up Bungo Stray Dogs, Kiznaiver, Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure: Diamond is Unbreakable and Re:ZERO. I spent more time writing film reviews than watching films… I did post about the Japanese films at the Cannes Film Festival and I posted a film review for Cesium and a Tokyo Girl (2015).
What’s released this weekend?
Hero Mania: Seikatsu
ヒーローマニア 生活「Hi-ro- Mania Seikatsu」
Running Time: 109 mins.
Release Date: May 07th, 2016
Director: Keisuke Toyoshima
Writer: Jun Tsugita (Screenplay), Shigeyuki Fukumitsu (Original Manga)
Starring: Masahiro Higashida, Masataka Kubota, Nana Komatsu, Tsurutaro Kataoka, Eiichiro Funakoshi, Shizuyo Yamazaki,
This is an action comedy starring Masahiro Higashide (The Kirishima Thing), Masataka Kubota (13 Assassins) and Nana Komatsu (The World of Kanako). It looks a lot like the film Kick Ass (2010) only not as mean spirited. I’m surprised a film like this hasn’t already been made.
Synopsis: After losing his job at a company, Hidetoshi Nakatsu (Masahiro Higashide) gets work as a part-timer at a convenience store. His frustration with society’s decay reaches boiling point when he has to deal with horrible people in his job and his frustration gets an outlet when he meets a young man named Toshida (Masataka Kubota), who has gadgets, a high school girl named Kaori (Nana Komatsu), who is super smart, and Kusaki (Tsurutaro Kataoka), a man who wields hammers under his sleeves. The four form a vigilante group to take out criminals and slowly become famous. That fame attracts a businessman who wants to form a team of his own…
Ajin: Shoutosu
亜人第2部 -衝突-「Ajin Part dai 2 bu: Shoutotsu」
Release Date: May 06th, 2016
Running Time: 106 mins.
Chief Director: Hiroyuki Seshita, Director: Hiroaki Ando
Writer: Hiroshi Sekio (Screenplay), Gamon Sakurai (Original Manga),
Starring: Mamoru Miyano (Kei Nagai), Yoshimasa Hosoya (Kaito), Takahiro Sakurai (Tosaki), Aya Suzaki (Eriko Nagai),
Animation Production: POLYGON PICTURES
I read the manga for about two volumes over a year ago and it didn’t appeal that much to me but it’s getting a major push with English-language releases and films by the guys behind the adaptation of Knights of Sidonia. The TV anime has turned out to be good, from what I have heard.
Synopsis from Anime News Network and MAL: 17 years ago, immortals first appeared on the battlefields of Africa. Later, rare, unknown new immortal lifeforms began appearing among humans, and they became known as “Ajin” (demi-humans). Just before summer vacation, a Japanese high school student named Kei is instantly killed in a traffic accident on his way home from school but is instantly revived.
For high schooler Kei—and for at least forty-six others—immortality comes as the nastiest surprise ever.
Sadly for Kei, such a feat doesn’t make him a superhero. In the eyes of both the general public and governments, he’s a rare specimen who needs to be hunted down and handed over to scientists to be experimented on for life—a demi-human who must die a thousand deaths for the benefit of humanity.
64: Part 1 Prequel
64 ロクヨン前編 「64 Rokuyon Zenpen」
Running Time: 121 mins.
Release Date: May 07th, 2016
Director: Takahisa Zeze
Writer: Shinichi Hisamatsu, Takahisa Zeze (Screenplay), Hideo Yokoyama (Original Novel)
Starring: Koichi Sato, Gou Ayano, Nana Eikura, Eita, Masatoshi Nagase, Kippei Shiina, Tomokazu Miura, Eiji Okuda, Yui Natsukawa
It’s a continuation of a TV series.
Synopsis from IMDB: 1989 is the 64 Shouwa year in the Japanese calendar, thus the unsolved case of a girl who was kidnapped and murdered is called “64 (rokuyon). It has hung over the Criminal Investigation Department in the Prefectural Police Department for fourteen years and the statute of limitations is approaching it. In 2002, Yoshinobu Mikami, an ex-detective who was the lead investigator on the “Rokuyon” works as a Public Relations Officer in the Police Affairs Department and finds his department dealing with a new case connected to the “Rokuyon” case.
Road to High & Low
Release Date: May 07th, 2016
Running Time: 95 mins.
Director: Shigeaki Kubo
Writer: Team Hi-Ax (Screenplay),
Starring: AKIRA, TAKAHIRO, Takanori Iwata, Hiroomi Tosaka, Sho Aoyagi, Nobuyuki Suzuki, Keita Machida, Yuya Endo,
One of those Exile Tribe films where idol boys act in dramas. In this one, they are all in different gangs so different trailers for each gang which double as music videos on the YouTube channel and so on.
Synopsis: Here’s European Exile Tribe with the synopsis:
The story begins in a dangerous and desolate town filled with gangsters.
This area is known as “SWORD”, an acronym attributed to the names of five groups: “Sanno Rengokai”, “White Rascals”, “Oya Koukou”, “RUDE BOYS” and “Daruma Ikka”, and those who belonged to either of these gangs came to be referred to as “G-SWORD” accordingly.
But prior to the formation of SWORD, this area used to be under the rule of a legendary organization called “MUGEN”. But somehow this power monopoly by MUGEN was suddenly dispersed during its deadly battle with an unyielding force called the “Amamiya Kyodai”.
For now, a balance of power is somehow maintained by these groups – until a ghost of the past emerges, setting off a series of events that will shake this town once again.
With the resurgence of the past comes a battle of epic proportions, which will then decide the fate of this town.
Sanma to Qatar: Onagawa Tsunagaru Hitobito
サンマとカタール 女川つながる人々「Sanma to Kata-ru: Onagawa Tsunagaru Hitobito」
Running Time: 73 mins.
Release Date: May 07th, 2016
Director: Hiroaki Inui
Writer: N/A
Starring: Kiichi Nakai (Narrator), Yuri Abe, Yoshiaki Suda,
Synopsis: This is a documentary with its roots in the Great East Japan Earthquake of 2011. The film takes in the reconstruction of Onagawa in Miyagi prefecture where 80% of the residents lost their homes in the city. An injection of cash from a Qatari friendship fund helped in the rebuilding of the town which we see the results of as well as the emotional journeys of the residents.
Iitatemura no kaachantachi tsuchi to tomo ni
飯舘村の母ちゃんたち 土とともに 「Iitatemura no kaachan-tachi tsuchi to tomoni」
Release Date: May 07th, 2016
Running Time: 95 mins.
Director: Mizue Furui
Writer: N/A
Starring: Eiko Kanno, Yoshiko Kanno,
Synopsis: Two elderly sisters, Eiko 78 and Yoshiko 79, were still running their family farm in Iitate which is close to the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. They had to evacuate with everyone else and now live in temporary housing. We see these tough ladies carrying on with life, continuing to do what they love while surrounded by grandchildren and other family members.
Ametsuchi no hibi
あめつちの日々 「Ametsuchi no hibi」
Release Date: May 07th, 2016
Running Time: 92 mins.
Director: Mika Kawase
Writer: N/A
Starring: Yoneji Matsuda
Synopsis: A documentary on Yoneji Matsuda, an artist who specialises in ceramics who lives and works in Okinawa, specifically the village of Yachimun which is what his pottery is named after. The Okinawa Island Guide has more on the area. Matsuda channels traditional methods of ceramic making – such as local clay, unique kilns – and continues the trend but it is getting harder and harder to pass on the traditions to a new generation…
Japanese Movie Box Office Results for this Week:
Detective Conan: The Darkest Nightmare (2016/04/16)
Zootopia (2016/04/23)
Captain America Civil War (2016/04/29)
Crayon Shin-chan Movie 24: Bakusui! Yumemi World Dai Totsugeki (2016/04/16)
Chihayafuru Part II Shimo no ku (2016/04/29)
I Am a Hero (2016/04/23)
TerraFormars (2016/04/29)
The Revenant (2016/04/22)
Yu-Gi-Oh!: The Dark Side of Dimensions (2016/04/23)
Assassination Classroom: The Graduation (25/03/16)
