My efforts at getting back into film reviewing are off to a good start with two reviews for two great films this week. I started with the anime Fuse: A Gun Girl’s Detective Story which I really like a lot. It’s a historical fantasy title with a little light romance and I found it pretty beautiful. The second title I reviewed was the live-action film The Kirishima Thing, the big winner at the Japanese Academy Awards earlier this year. Again I liked this one but it was more down to the intricacy and believability in the relationships in the film. Expect more some 90’s yakuza thriller reviews next week.
This week sees the release of World War Z and Pacific Rim in Japan as well as these interesting titles:
A Boy Called H 
Japanese Title: 少年 H
Romaji: Shounen H
Release Date: August 10th, 2013
Running Time: 122 mins.
Director: Yasuo Furuhata
Writer: Kappa Senoh (Original Novel), Ryota Kosawa (Screenplay)
Starring: Tatsuki Yoshioka, Yutaka Mizutani, Ran Ito, Yurine Hanada, Shun Oguri, Taichi Saotome, Jun Kunimura, Kuranosuke Sasaki, Taizo Harada, Ittoku Koshibe
Kappa Senoh’s autobiographical novel Shonen H gets lavish treatment for its big screen adaptation and a safe pair of hands with director Yasuo Furuhata (Dearest) and popular screenwriter Ryota Kosawa (Phone Call to the Bar, Always: Sunset on Third Street). Notable actors include Shun Oguri (The Woodsman & the Rain), Jun Kunimura (Vital) and Ittoku Koshibe (13 Assassins, Adrift in Tokyo).
A Boy Called H follow’s a boy named Hajime Senoh, nicknamed “H”. He lives with his mother Toshiko (Ito) sister Yoshiko (Hanada) and father Morio (Mizutani). Told from the viewpoint of Morio, we witness H growing up around World War II and the hardships he and his community suffer. Despite the tough times, H still burns with curiosity and a sense of justice.
Enoshima Prism 
Japanese Title: 江ノ島プリズム
Romaji: Enoshima Purizumu
Release Date: August 10th, 2013
Running Time: 90 mins.
Director: Yasuhiro Yoshida
Writer: Hirotoshi Kobayashi, Yasuhiro Yoshida (Screenplay)
Starring: Sota Fukushi, Shuhei Nomura, Tsubasa Honda, Mariko Akama, Yo Yoshida, Naomi Nishida, Honoka Miki
Ah, a teen time travel movie with soppy singing. I can tell from the trailer that this isn’t for me. Shuta (Fukushi), Saku (Nomura) and Michiru (Honda) have been best friends since they were children but things go wrong when Michiru decides to move overseas and Saku dies of a heart attack. As a result of this dead, Shuta and Michiru drift apart. On the third anniversary of Saku’s death, Shuta boards a train at the Enoshima subway and finds himself transported back to a time before Saku’s death. Although he cannot stay for long in that time period he can keep going back which makes him determined to save Saku’s life but a mysterious girl named Kyoko (Miki) warns him that his actions could have unforeseen consequences.
Time Slip Glasses 
Japanese Title: たいむ すりっぷ メガネ
Romaji: Taimu Surippu Megane
Release Date: August 10th, 2013
Running Time: N/A
Director: Jiro Nagae
Writer: Keiko Kaname
Starring: Ai Shinozaki, Erika Nishi, Haruna Shijou, Kumi Takana, Mamoru Tsubouchi, Koji Moriishi
Gravure idol Ai Shinozaki and the rest of the J-pop group AeLL (Activity Eco Life with Love) appear in a sci-fi comedy where Fujiko (Shinozaki) returns to Japan to attend the funeral of her father and remembers a land acquisition scam by rogue traders which damaged the town. With her amazing ‘time slip glasses’, Fujiko will change the future of her town.
Koisuru Kami sama Kojiki Nyūmon 
Japanese Title: 恋する神さま 古事記入門
Romaji: Koisuru Kami sama Kojiki Nyūmon
Release Date: August 10th, 2013
Running Time: 90 mins.
Director: Toshiro Enomoto
Writer: Toshiro Enomoto (Screenplay)
Starring: Hiroaki Kawazure, Rei Ayana, Koto Masahiko, Aiko Eguhi, Takuya Suzuki, Moe Saito, Haruka Amami, Masaomi Soga
Indie film. Right, part of the title is Kojiki (Record of Ancient Matters). The Kojiki is the oldest chronicle of Japan and charts its creation myths, how the four islands came into being and the Kami and all of the stuff that forms the the basis of the Shinto religion. The Koisuru Kami-sama bit reads a bit like Introduction of God’s Love. The film seems to be about a troupe of actors who use this as inspiration. Now the poster seems innocuous enough but images connected to the film show pretty women stripping and there seems to be mention of crazy naked dancing so who knows where this one’s going…
SHAKE HANDS シェイク ハンズ 
Japanese Title: SHAKE HANDS シェイク ハンズ
Romaji: SHAKE HANDS シェイク ハンズ
Release Date: August 10th, 2013
Running Time: 90 mins.
Director: Fujii Michihito
Writer: Saki Kawarada (Screenplay)
Starring: U-Taro, Yuta Amanuma, Kanta Imazaki,
This is a drama about four middle school boys who find their friendship renewed when they take part in a b-boy competition with the chance to head to the US and face off against the Rock Steady Crew. The film features a lot of b-boy talent. No trailer.
HOMESICK 
Japanese Title: HOMESICK
Romaji: N/A
Release Date: August 10th, 2013
Running Time: 98 mins.
Director: Hirohara Saturo
Writer: Hirohara Saturo (Screenplay)
Starring: Tomohiro Kaku, Yuuki Kaneda, Tsubasa Funasaki, Syo Honma, Erika Okuda, Taro Suwa, Mutsuo Yoshioka
Director Hirohara Saturo has quietly been carving a niche for himself writing and directing stories focussed on this generation of Japanese who have faced the long recession and peacefulness that the country has endured. Stagnation in other words. In his last major film, Good Morning to the World (2010), the main characters was a boy raising living alone having been abandoned by his family. Distant from his contemporaries and more interested in the outsiders – the homeless and the equally alone. Homesick continues that trend.
Kenji (Kaku) is 30 and lives in a house about to be demolished. He’s also unemployed after the boss in his last dead end job left without warning. His father lives in the countryside running an inn and his sister travels the world. His life is aimless and boring and he is about to be made homeless just when three young boys named Korosuke (Kaneda), Yataro (Funasaki) and Occi (Honma) start visiting him. After finding out that Korosuke has no mother, Kenji promises to take him to an aquarium. Nozomi (Okuda) is a former classmate of Kenji’s and takes an interest in him. When she tries to find out why Kanji stays in the house, he can’t answer her but his relationship with Korosuke suddenly turns sour.
Hontō ni atta Tōkō Yami Eizō Gekijōban 
Japanese Title: 本当にあった投稿闇映像 劇場版
Romaji: Hontō ni atta Tōkō Yami Eizō Gekijōban
Release Date: August 10th, 2013
Running Time: 70 mins.
Director: Junpei Tsuchida
Writer: N/A
Starring: Yone Aoki, Hiroshi Aochi
This is the movie version of a TV show which collects together supernatural tales from around Japan. There are eight stories here including one about the ghost of a woman killed in a traffic accident who wears one high heel shoe (spooky), children talking to invisible people caught on camera (as can be seen in films like Insidious/The Conjuring/The Orphanage) and one about a woman who goes into the ruins of a house as can be seen in this imag… Look out, ghost!!!
Village of Target 
Japanese Title: 標的の村
Romaji: Hyōteki no Mura
Release Date: August 10th, 2013
Running Time: 91 mins.
Director: Chie Mikami
Writer: N/A
Starring: N/A
This is a documentary that looks at the issue of US military bases in Okinawa and the way inhabitants of the island reacted to the appearance of the new Osprey transport used by US forces. We get to see sit-ins at the gates to Futenma airbase and protests.
