Happy weekend, people!
I hope everyone is feeling good.
I’ve had a busy week but it has been good busy with work progressing well, getting
I posted a review of Wasted Eggs (2018) on Monday, a week after it was first posted on V-Cinema. I then posted a review of Snake Beneath the Flower Petals (2016) from Rina Tanaka who I interviewed along with some of her cast and crew at the Osaka Asian Film Festival after a screening of Filled With Steam (2017).
What is released this weekend?
It Comes 
来る 「Kuru」
Running Time: 134 mins.
Release Date: December 07th, 2018
Director: Tetsuya Nakashima
Writer: Tetsuya Nakashima, Hideto Iwai (Screenplay), Ichi Sawamura (Original Novel)
Starring: Junichi Okada, Satoshi Tsumabuki, Haru Kuroki, Nana Komatsu, Takako Matsu, Munetaka Aoki, Taiga, Rie Shibata, Miho Ninagawa, Eri Ishida,
Get hyped for this one! Excellent director and excellent cast. Tetsuya Nakashima is back after making The World of Kanako and he brings some of the stars from that film, Satoshi Tsumabuki (Rage, Gukoroku) and Nana Komatsu as well as Takako Matsu (Dreams for Sale). The trailer looks intense and this is a film that many Japanese film fans are anticipating.
Synopsis: Newlyweds Hideki and Kana Tahara are awaiting the arrival of their first child, a girl they plan to name “Chisa” and life seems to be going smoothly but everything is thrown out of whack when a mysterious person visits Hideki’s workplace and leaves a note with the cryptic message, “about Chisa-san case”. Now, Hideki and Kana are the only ones who know what they plan to name their daughter so that’s odd but stranger things happen when the colleague who passed Hideki the note is killed and Hideko and Kana’s home is attacked… To protect his family, Hideki asks for help from a journalist named Nozaki and a prestigious exorcist because what they are dealing with is something totally unnatural and mind-blowing...
Ao no Kaerimichi 
青の帰り道 「Ao no Kaerimichi」
Running Time: 120 mins.
Release Date: December 07th, 2018
Director: Michihito Fujii
Writer: Michihito Fujii, Hidenobu Abera (Screenplay),
Starring: Erina Mano, Kurumi Shimizu, Ryusei Yokohama, Yuki Morinaga, Junki Tozuka, Mika Akizuki, Keisuke Tomita, Yuki Kudoh, Mitsuru Hirata,
Synopsis: 7 young people from Maebashi, Gunma Prefecture, find themselves on the cusp of adulthood and they take different directions. Some remain in their hometown and get married, while others go to Tokyo to pursue their dreams and become celebrities. Three years elapse and they meet again in Maebashi.
Shukatsu 3 
シュウカツ3 「Shukatsu 3」
Running Time: 120 mins.
Release Date: December 07th, 2018
Director: Seiji Chiba
Writer: Seiji Chiba (Screenplay/Original Story),
Starring: Shu Watanabe, Yoshihiko Aramaki, Takuya Mizoguchi, Kentaro Tomita, Kaoru Masaki, Seishu Uragami,
No trailer
Synopsis: The part in the omnibus suspense “Shukatsu” series that depicts the psychological warfare that young people engage with when they are job hunting.
From All Corners 
旅するダンボール 「Tabisuru danbo-ru」
Running Time: 91 mins.
Release Date: December 07th, 2018
Director: Ryusuke Okashima
Writer: N/A
Starring: Fuyuki Shimazu
Synopsis: Fuyuki Shimazu (website) is a freelance illustrator and graphic designer who is famous for making things from cardboard. A graduate from Tama Art University, he loves all things cardboard and travels the world to harvest the material to turn into things such as wallets. This documentary is at the South by Southwest Festival.
Koi no Hana Theatre 
鯉のはなシアター 「Koi no Hana shiata-」
Running Time: 94 mins.
Release Date: December 08th, 2018
Director: Hideyuki Tokigawa
Writer: Hideyuki Tokigawa, Ayako Kitagawa (Screenplay),
Starring: Yoshimi Tokui, Honoka Yahagi, Yuki Ogoe, Rokuhei Takao, Norito Yashima, Ryusuke Ishimoto, Yumiko Matsumoto,
Synopsis: Part of the Local Origination Project Films the story follows… Aimi Okusaki who decides to quit Tokyo and return to her hometown of Hiroshima where her grandfather runs an independent movie theatre. Unfortunately, it will soon close after encountering financial difficulties and they aren’t the only ones struggling as other shops in the neighbourhood could do with a hand.
The day before they give up on the theatre, a man from Tokyo named Tokuzawa appears and inspires residents with stories of the baseball team, the Hiroshima Carp, which was born when Hiroshima was picking itself up from the ruins of war. Tokuzawa tells tales of when they first started and Aimi and the residents use these stories as ideas to help revive their area.
Play Room 
プレイルーム 「Purei Ru-mu」
Running Time: 94 mins.
Release Date: December 08th, 2018
Director: NARIO, Matsukage, Mayu Nakamura, Makoto Sasaki, Takuya Fukushima,
Writer: Goro Arai, NARIO, Matsukage, Mayu Nakamura, Takuya Fukushima (Screenplay), Englishman, Yutaka Utoya (Original Work)
Starring: Miho Wakabayashi, Kiyohiko Shibukawa, Englishman, Hiroyuki Mamiya, Hinako Saeki, Kota Kusano,
Miho Wakabayashi, one of the stars of Suffering of Ninko gets a film dedicated to her.
Synopsis: Actress, stripper and stage performer Miho Wakabayashi stars in an omnibus film where five directors portray Wakabayashi with their own world view. Stories include a musician who encounters her in a live house and the two roam the streets at night. Another story portrays her as an office lady and another as a woman abducted by someone as a baby and raised as a terrorist. Different stories and different styles.
Isshougai 
イッショウガイ 「Isshougai」
Running Time: 94 mins.
Release Date: December 08th, 2018
Director: Masayoshi Tani,
Writer: Yuuma Wakabayashi, Masayoshi Tani (Screenplay),
Starring: Shion Tsuchiya, Miku Tanabe, Nona Shibako, Yusuke Ueda, Daichi Nakashima, Kunta,
No trailer
Synopsis: This captures a stageplay. Set in Osaka and Tokyo, the story looks at how disability draws prejudice and discrimination from others. A high school student living in Osaka finds her life changes overnight when her mother collapses and becomes disabled. Her family, who seemed to be happy, begin to display selfish and hurtful behaviour.