Happy weekend, people!
I hope you are all well!
The weather has gotten cold and I have been staying in a bit more and watching films. I’ve continued my exercise routines and trying to get my English language studies back in flow. Really, this is business as usual.
This week I posted a review for Pink and Gray (2016) and a preview for the Japanese films playing at this year’s International Film Festival Rotterdam.
What is released this week?
Aiuta: My Promise To Nakuhito 
愛唄 約束のナクヒト 「Aiuta Yakusoku no Nakuhito」
Running Time: 126 mins.
Release Date: January 25th, 2019
Director: Yasuhiro Kawamura
Writer: Masashi Shimizu, GReeeeN (Screenplay),
Starring: Ryusei Yokohama, Kaya Kiyohara, Hiroki Iijima, Riko Narumi, Naomi Zaizen, Miho Nakayama, Eita Okuno, Yuri Nakamura, Yasuko Tomita,
Synopsis: Toru (Ryusei Yokohama) has grown up without ever having the courage to love someone. One day, two fateful things happen: he meets his old friend Tatsuya (Hiroki Iijima) and finds a poem which inspires him. Toru now gains the courage to face love just in time to meet a girl named Nagi (Kaya Kiyohara) but it turns out she has a secret…
School-Live! 
がっこうぐらし！ 「Gakkou Gurashi!」
Running Time: 101 mins.
Release Date: January 25th, 2019
Director: Issei Shibata
Writer: Issei Shibata (Screenplay), Norimitsu Kaiho, Sadoru Chiba (Manga)
Starring: Nanami Abe, Midori Nagatsuki, Wakana Majima, Rio Kiyohara, Nonoka Ono, Daichi Kaneko,
Synopsis: Kurumi Ebisuzawa (Nanami Abe), Yuki Takeya (Midori Nagatsuki), Yuri Wakasa (Wakana Majima) and Miki Naoki (Rio Kiyohara) are high school girls in a place where the student body is mostly rotten. It turns out they are surrounded by zombies!
Restaurant in the Sky 
そらのレストラン 「Sora no resutoran」
Running Time: 126 mins.
Release Date: January 25th, 2019
Director: Yoshihiro Fukgawa
Writer: Atsumi Tsuchi (Screenplay),
Starring: Yo Oizumi, Manami Honjou, Masaki Okada, Makita Sports, Jun Fubuki, Fumio Kohinata, Hidekazu Mashima, Huwie Ishizaki,
Synopsis: Yo Oizumi has made another film in his native Hokkaido. This one sees him play a farmer named Wataru who lives with his wife Kotoe (Manami Honjou) and daughter Shiori on a cattle ranch he inherited from his father. The place also contains a cheese workshop and Wataru works hard and has fun with family and friends on the property. They try their hand at opening a restaurant on site to promote local ingredients but just as it is about to happen a friend falls ill…
12 Suicidal Teens 
十二人の死にたい子どもたち 「Jyuuni Nin no Shinitai Kodomotachi」
Running Time: 118 mins.
Release Date: January 25th, 2019
Director: Yukihiko Tsutsumi
Writer: Yutaka Kuramochi (Screenplay), Tow Ubukata (Novel)
Starring: Mahiro Takasugi, Yuto Fuchino, Kotone Furukawa, Kanna Hashimoto, Mackenyu Arata, Yuina Kuroshima, Hana Sugisaki, Riku Hagiwara, Takumi Kitamura, Ryota Bando, Ai Yoshikawa, Aisa Takeuchi,
Synopsis: Tow Ubukata will be familiar to anime fans because he wrote Le Chevalier D’Eon and entries in the Ghost in the Shell franchise. He also almost destroyed Psycho-Pass with a trash storyline but we won’t mention that and will pretend the second season never happened. Anyway, his story sees 12 teens gather at an abandoned hospital in order to commit suicide but when they find the body of a dead boy they attempt to find the killer. As they search we learn more about their backgrounds…
Day and Night 
デイアンドナイト 「Dei ando Naito」
Running Time: 134 mins.
Release Date: January 26th, 2019
Director: Michihito Fujii
Writer: Shinnosuke Abe, Kazuhisa Kodera, Michihito Fujii, Takayuki Yamada (Screenplay),
Starring: Shinnosuke Abe, Masanobu Ando, Kaya Kiyohara, Tetsushi Tanaka, Manami Konishi, Aimi Satsukawa, Hiroyuki Watanabe, Shigeru Muroi,
Super-handsome and cool Takayuki Yamada has produced this crime drama starring super-handsome Shinnosuke Abe, the hapless teacher in Ordinary Everyday (2017)
Synopsis: Koji Akashi’s (Shinnosuke Abe) family is falling apart after his father committed suicide due to his involvement as a whistleblower in a corporate scandal. This is connected to an orphanage under threat and one of the workers, Kitamura (Masanobu Ando), approaches Koji Akashi asking him to protect the children. The two men go to extreme lengths…
The Nikaido’s Fall 
二階堂家物語 「Nikaido Ie Monogatari」
Running Time: 106 mins.
Release Date: January 25th, 2019
Director: Ida Panahandeh
Writer: Ida Panahandeh, Arsalan Amiri (Screenplay),
Starring: Masaya Kato, Shizuka Ishibashi, Keita Machida, Yoji Tanaka, Kazuko Shirakawa, Hana Hizuki, Kayo Ise,
Synopsis: Tatsuya Nikaido (Masaya Kato) is a middle-aged divorcee who runs an agricultural company and lives in a suburb with his daughter Yuko (Shizuka Ishibashi) and mother. Crisis hits the clan when his son dies and he and Yuko are pressured to save his family name and ancestral line. What this entails is only a male in the family can continue things. Tatsuya can either remarry and try and have a son or Yuko can marry a man who takes her family’s surname as a mukoyoshi (adopted son-in-law) of her father. But they both in love with someone who won’t provide such a solution and so tensions rise.
Imagination Alone is Beautiful GO TO THE FUTURE 
想像だけで素晴らしいんだ GO TO THE FUTURE 「Souzou dakede subarashīnda GO TO THE FUTURE」
Running Time: N/A
Release Date: January 26th, 2019
Director: Abera Hidenobu
Writer: Abera Hidenobu (Screenplay),
Starring: Keiichi Yamamoto, Kantoku Ayaman, Makoto Endo, Fumiya Kimura, Kokoro Tobata, Rei Sugai,
Synopsis: A movie released to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Osaka-based band “PAN” which looks at the wonders of music through Tanabata. Three high school kids wrote wishes on one particular Tanabata, hoping for a bright future, but 20 years later, on the verge of hitting 40 years of age, the dreams have yet to come true. Do they give up? No!
Parallel World Theater 
パラレルワールド・シアター 「Parareru Wu-rudo Shiata-」
Running Time: 121 mins.
Release Date: January 26th, 2019
Director: Shinya Tsutsumi
Writer: Shinya Tsutsumi (Screenplay),
Starring: Akira Tsuda, Kumi, Masataka Fujino, Toshiki Hirose, Risa Honma,
Synopsis: A small theatre company known as “Quantum Physics” are preparing for their biggest performance in three years for a big anniversary and they are going to do a sci-fi play that portrays the sad destiny of the time travellers coming and going through the parallel world but conflict arises within the company itself as people’s lives and ideas complicate things.
Kamen Rider Build NEW WORLD: Kamen Rider Cross-Z 
ビルド NEW WORLD 仮面ライダークローズ 「Birudo NEW WORLD Kamen Raida- Kuro-zu」
Running Time: 60 mins.
Release Date: January 25th, 2019
Director: Kyohei Yamaguchi
Writer: Shogo Muto (Screenplay), Shotaro Ishinomori (Original Creator)
Starring: Eiji Akaso, Atsuhiro Inukai, Kaho Takeda, Yukari Taki, Kensei Mikami, Yuki Ochi, Tetsuo Kanao,
Synopsis: A new world has been created and people live in peace after having lost their memories. However, one day, Ryuga Banjo/Kamen Rider Cross-Z meets a woman named Yui (Mariya Nagao) and she still has memories of the old world for some reason. This is the moment that the evil Kilbus attacks and people start to regain memories and fight again…
Le Chocolat de H 
Running Time: 80 mins.
Release Date: January 25th, 2019
Director: Takashi Watanabe
Writer: N/A
Starring: Hironobu Tsujiguchi
Synopsis: Hironobu Tsujiguchi is a famous chocolatier and he is the subject of this documentary. We watch him searching for materials in Ecuador to complete new works as well as participating in the world’s largest chocolate festival in Paris “Salon du Chocolat” where he received the highest rating “Gold Tablet” at the CCC (Club des Croqueurs de Chocolat) exhibition for the fifth consecutive year. The film was shot using the latest recording technology such as drones and ultra high speed cameras.
Kakitai, ga tomaranai 
描きたい、が止まらない 「Kakitai, ga tomaranai」
Running Time: 90 mins.
Release Date: January 26th, 2019
Director: Takeshi Kondo
Writer: N/A
Starring: Noritsu Kokubo
Synopsis: Noritsu Kokubo is a painter with Autism who started creating art at the age of three. He creates works using ballpoint pens and coloured pencils alone. He is world-famous and has drawn more than 300 works so far. For the last seven years, he has worked on the creation of ultra-precision paintings that are 1.6 meters wide by 10 meters long and it all depicts a town that combines influences he saw on the internet and television with his imagination. We see him at work and at home as he tries to get a driver’s license and lives his own life.
Ashita Sekai ga Owaru Toshitemo 
あした世界が終わるとしても 「Ashita Sekai ga Owaru Toshitemo」
Release Date: January 25th, 2019
Running Time: 108 mins.
Director: Yuhei Sakuragi
Writer: Yuhei Sakuragi (Screenplay),
Starring: Yuuki Kaji (Shin Hazama), Maaya Uchida (Kotori Izumi), Yoshiki Nakajima (Other Shin), Sayaka Senbongi (Kotoko Izumi), Aoi Yuki (Miko), Nana Mizuki (Yuri), Inori Minase (Riko)
Animation Production: Craftar
Synopsis: Shin and Kotori have been friends since childhood but ever since Shin lost his mother he has developed a tendency to close himself off from others. These two high-schoolers find themselves confronted with other versions of themselves when two teens from another Japan appear in front of them.
Psycho-Pass: Sinners of the System – Case. 1 Crime and Punishment 
PSYCHO-PASS サイコパス Sinners of the System Case.1「罪と罰」 「PSYCHO-PASS Saikopasu Sinners of the System Case.1 Tsumi to Batsu」
Release Date: January 25th, 2019
Running Time: 59 mins.
Director: Naoyoshi Shiotani
Writer: Ryo Yoshigami (Screenplay), Gen Urobuchi (Original Concept)
Starring: Ayane Sakura (Mika Shimotsuki), Hiroki Touchi (Teppei Sugo), Kana Hanazawa (Akane Tsunemori), Kenji Nojima (Nobuchika Ginoza), Tomokazu Seki (Shinya Kogami),
Animation Production: Production I.G
New Psycho-Pass! What’s this? Tow Ubukata isn’t involved in this one? Good!
Synopsis: The Public Safety Bureau Building is rammed into by a car driven by Izumi Yasaka. This act of violence triggers all sorts of alerts especially because she is a psychological counsellor at the Sanctuary, a Latent Criminal Isolation Facility in Aomori Prefecture. However, right before her interrogation, orders are given to Enforcer Mika Shimotsuki and Inspector Nobuchika Ginoza to take Yasaka back to Aomori but what they discover there is a False Paradise.