Happy weekend, people!
I’m currently in London and about to watch some films at the Japan Foundation Touring Film Programme run at the ICA with a friend. I’m looking forward to seeing some great titles! I have been reviewing films related to the tour over the last two weeks and this week saw me publish the reviews for the exciting chambara film Sword of the Stranger (2007) and the exquisitely emotionally powerful Joy of Man’s Desiring (2014) and a couple of news pieces on the Japan Foundation’s programme on various sites like Anime UK News / V-Cinema including one about guests here and the opening film for the Osaka Asian Film Festival 2018 plus a review of Before We Vanish (2017) which gets a theatrical run in the US.
What is getting screened this weekend?
Miko Girl 
巫女っちゃけん。 「Mikocchaken!」
Running Time: 98 mins.
Release Date: February 03rd, 2018
Director: Gu Suyeon
Writer: Mitsunori Gu (Screenplay),
Starring: Alice Hirose, Taiki Yamaguchi, Sawa Nimura, MEGUMI, Naoko Iijim, Lily Franky
This comedy comes from the director of Hard Romanticker. It was filmed in Fukuoka City and later showed up at the Tokyo International Film Festival last year.
Synopsis from the festival site: The daughter of a Shinto priest, the shrine maiden Shiwasu takes care of 5-year-old boy Kenta under extraordinary circumstances. This is the story of Shiwasu’s growth as a woman, intertwined with the rules and etiquette of the shrine, and its behind-the-scenes workings.
Impossibility Defense 
不能犯 「Funohan」
Running Time: 106 mins.
Release Date: February 01st, 2018
Director: Koji Shiraishi
Writer: Junpei Yamaoka, Koji Shiraishi (Screenplay), Arata Miyatsuki, Yuya Kanzaki, (Original Manga),
Starring: Tori Matsuzaka, Erika Sawajiri, Mackenyu Arata, Erina Mano, Sae Okazaki, Shugo Oshinari, Akiko Yada, Ken Yasuda,
A great cast for this thriller with character actors like Ken Yasuda roped in. A special mention for Shugo Oshinari who was in the 2015 indie film Promises.
Synopsis: Police detective Tomoko Tada (Erika Sawajiri) is on the hunt for a seemingly untraceable contract killer. Her target is Tadashi Usobuki (Tori Matsuzaka), a mysterious man who wears a black suit and picks up his contracts from a specific phone booth. His method of killing and what makes him hard to track is the power of suggestion. He can drive people to take their own lives through mind control. The police better be careful when chasing him!
The Scythian Lamb 
羊の木 「Hitsuji no ki 」
Running Time: 126 mins.
Release Date: February 03rd, 2018
Director: Daihachi Yoshida
Writer: Masato Kagawa (Screenplay), Tatsuhiko Yamagami, Mikio Igarashi (Original Manga),
Starring: Ryo Nishikido, Fumino Kimura, Kazuki Kitamura, Yuka, Mikako Ichikawa, Shingo Mizusawa, Min Tanaka, Ryuhei Matsuda, Tamae Ando,
Website IMDB
Daihachi Yoshida of The Kirishima Thing fame us back with this interesting looking murder mystery which is supposed to have equal doses of drama and comedy.
Synopsis: Thanks to a government program, the small seaside town of Uobuka gets six strangers into the community. They include a scary fisherman (Kazuki Kitamura), a methodical cleaning woman (Mikako Ichikawa), and a simple-minded deliveryman (Ryuhei Matsuda). All are under the supervision of local government official Hajime Tsukisue (Ryo Nishikido) who gets reports of suspicious behaviour. When he finds out who these people are and their criminal backgrounds, a body is discovered in the harbour and Tsukisue suspects one of the newcomers committed murder…
The Wolves of the East 
東の狼 「Higashi no ohkami」
Running Time: 79 mins.
Release Date: February 03rd, 2018
Director: Carlos M Quintela
Writer: Carlos M Quintela, Fabian Suarez, Abel Arcos
Starring: Tatsuya Fuji, Shima Oonishi, Masahiro Kohri
Website IMDB
Nara Film Festival helps promote its home turf with international co-productions involving talented creatives expected to be active in the future. This latest is produced by Naomi Kawase.
Synopsis: The story takes place specifically in Higashiyoshino village where a solitary old hunter named Akira (Tatsuya Fuji) keeps on tracking the phantom wolves not seen for more than 100 years ago. He is the president of the Hunting Association. Akira is the only one who believes they still exist and despite opposition, he heads into the depths of the forest in search of a wolf. What he gets is the ghost of the former lover in the figure of the wolf. He decides to put his gun down. A year after that, men of the Hunting Association discover that wolf, but Akira tries to stop the wolf hunt…
Kamen Rider EX-AID: Another Ending Part 1 – Kamen Rider Brave & Kamen Rider Snipe 
仮面ライダーエグゼイド トリロジー アナザー・エンディング PartI 仮面ライダーブレイブ＆スナイプ 「Kamen Raida- Eguzeido Toriroji- Anaza- Endingu Part I Kamen Raida- Bureibu & Sunaipu」
Running Time: 56 mins.
Release Date: January 27th, 2018
Director: Nobuhiro Suzumura
Writer: Yuya Takashi (Screenplay), Shotaro Ishinomori (Original Creator)
Starring: Toshiki Seto, Ruka Matsuda, Yurina Yanagi, Reina Kurosaki, Hayato Onozuka, Tetsuya Iwanaga,
Website
The first of the Kamen Rider Ex-Aid V-Cinema trilogy focusing on the characters of Hiiro Kagami/Kamen Rider Brave and Taiga Hanaya/Kamen Rider Snipe.
Synopsis from Kamen Rider wikia: Saki, who is supposed to have disappeared, shows up and Hiiro is concerned. However, Lovelica was behind her reappearance and he is controlling her! Also, Luke Kidman, a mysterious American who is fond of Nico appears at Taiga’s hospital. However, he starts showing Lovelica’s Game Disease symptoms in front of Taiga, he didn’t know that Lovelica is revived after he was killed by Cronus. The destiny of both heroes is put in jeopardy by the worst game plot ever. And God Kuroto Dan, lurking in the shadows has plans of his own…
The Idol Cannon Ball Run 2017, Movie 
劇場版 アイドルキャノンボール2017 「Gekijouban Aidoru Kyanonbo-ru 2017」
Running Time: 135 mins.
Release Date: February 03rd, 2018
Director: Company Matsuo
Writer: N/A
Starring: BiS Girls: Pour Lui, Kika Front Frontal, Peri Ubu, Go Zeela, Pan Luna Leafy, Momoland, Saki Kamiya / Gang Parade Girls:Miki Yamamachi, Yua Yumeno, Maika Kyan, Yuuka Terashima, Dokuson Yui ga, Coco Partin Coco, AYA EiGHTPRiNCE
Synopsis: If you can remember the last BiS documentary, it followed the disbandment of the group. This one tracks the time since their reformation and includes behind the scenes stuff from their record label and fellow idols working the circuit. Three years are recorded. The death of high culture is on show.
Blank 13 
ブランク１３ 「Buranku 13」
Running Time: 70 mins.
Release Date: February 03rd, 2018
Director: Takumi Saito
Writer: Mitsutoshi Saijo (Screenplay), Koji Hashimoto (Original Story)
Starring: Issei Takahashi, Mayu Matsuoka, Takumi Saito, Misuzu Kanno, Lily Franky, Jun Murakami, Riku Ohnishi, Sairi Itoh,
We all know Takumi Saito as an actor from roles such as Ai to Makoto and For Love’s Sake but how about as a director? He has worked on two short films and this is his feature-film debut. It is based on the true story of a journalist named Koji Hashimoto who found out about the life of his estranged father 13 years after the man went missing.
Synopsis: A father (Lily Franky) disappears from his wife and two sons. 13 years later, he shows up. However, his life expectancy is short since he has cancer. With only 3 months left to live, the father and his family must come to terms with their short reconciliation. It’s not enough time but at the funeral ’13-year blanks are filled up by a number of fathers’ friends and acquaintances who all have tales to tell…
Silent Revolution / Odayakana kakumei 
おだやかな革命 「Odayakana kakumei」
Running Time: 100 mins.
Release Date: February 03rd, 2018
Director: Satoshi Watanabe
Writer: N/A
Starring: Masato Sato, Minoru Kobayashi, Akihide Hirano, Kaoru Hirano,
Cooperation and Community was the last documentary I saw to do something about the topic of sustainable living and demographic shifts and this one looks equally as interesting.
Synopsis: This documentary looks at people heading to places where depopulation and an ageing population are problems and hoping to turn those places around. From Fukushima to Gifu, people take to the land and create food and drink and natural energy.
Namae no nai onnatachi usotsuki onna 
名前のない女たち うそつき女 「Namae no nai onnatachi usotsuki onna」
Running Time: 86 mins.
Release Date: February 03rd, 2018
Director: Toshiki Sato
Writer: Hitomi Kato (Screenplay), Atsuhiko Nakamura (Original Book)
Starring: Mitsuru Fukikoshi, Anthia Jo, Fujiko, Makiko Kuno, Yota Kawase, Haruka Enta,
Mitsuru Fukikoshi from Cold Fish takes the lead in this adaptation of Atsuhiko Nakamura’s non-fiction book.
Synopsis: Atsushi (Mitsuru Fukikoshi) is a writer who gets to know AV actresses and interviews them. He discovers that life in the industry is tough and the women are looked down on but they keep their heads held high for various reasons. One actress, Yoko (Anthia), is looking after her younger brother who is about to graduate from high school.