Happy weekend, everyone!
I hope you are all feeling good.
I have managed to get past a few big projects having completed reviews for four films appearing at CAAMFest and also having dealt with two interviews, one from the Osaka Asian Film Festival and the other from the director of The Depth of Yagen. I’m feeling a bit tired at the moment but I am maintaining my genki levels in public. I need to get my skates on and write about Cannes and Nippon Connection which both open this month!
This week I posted reviews for the films Jeux de Plage and Afternoon Breezes. What is released this week?
Jeux de Plage 
浜辺のゲーム 「Hamabe no Ge-mu」
Running Time: 77 mins.
Release Date: May 04th, 2019
Director: Aimi Natsuto
Writer: Aimi Natsuto (Screenplay),
Starring: Haruna Hori, Shinsuke Kato, Juri Fukushima, Otsuka Nanaho, Donsaron Kovitanitcha,
I saw Jeux de Plage at the Osaka Asian Film Festival. It is the debut feature of Aimi Natsuto. Natsuto’s past film experience comes, most notably, from collaborating with Kiki Sugino having acted alongside her in Chigasaki Story (2015) and worked as a script editor on Snow Woman (2017). Jeux de plage was produced under the auspices of Sugino’s production company, Wa Entertainment. It reminded of Koji Fukada’s Au revoir l’ete (2013), also made by Wa Entertainment. However, I was much more entertained by Jeux de plage. While the two films share passions for various things Gallic, similar themes, a coastal setting and scripts with deconstructions of character and romance very reminiscent of Eric Rohmer’s oeuvre, Natsuto’s work is more focused and lively compared to the languid experience turned in by Fukada.
Synopsis: Three college students, Sayaka (Haruna Hori), Yui (Juri Fukushima) and Yui’s best friend Momoko (Nanaho Otsuka), head to the seaside town of Shonan (in Natsuto’s home prefecture of Kanagawa) and stay in a large guest house which is where numerous romantic waifs and strays wash up. Being young and attractive, the three are the targets of interest from nearby guys. These include a weirdo film director (played by real-life auteur Edmund Yeo), a disgustingly selfish and disarmingly louche goofy guitarist named Akihiro (Shinsuke Kato) who tries to bed every girl in sight, a horny film professor (whose wife is played by Sugino in a cameo appearance) and Korean students Min Jun and the girl he is crushing on, Yona, who wants to visit colleges for her study abroad. More people show up and a lustful comedy of errors ensues. There are plenty of fish in the sea but poor Sayaka gets tangled up in various lines of lust cast out by the guys when she simply wants to reel in Yui, her best friend and someone whom she has been in love for quite a while.
Love in Parallel 
恋するふたり 「Koisuru futari」
Running Time: 90 mins.
Release Date: Summer 2018
Director: Yusuke Inaba
Writer: Kouta Ooura (Screenplay),
Starring: Toshiyuki Someya, Haruka Imou, Yuuki Izawa, Hinako Tanaka, Mari Hoshino,
Synopsis: 23-year-old young woman named Sachiko Yoshizawa has centreed her life on her boyfriend, Mahiro a member of a popular indie band who is a colossal jerk. One day, a good-looking guy named Shunsuke Katagiri appears at her workplace and tells her that Mahiro is cheating on her with his girlfriend and persuades her to crash the party by locating them. What starts is a journey of self-discovery and a little romance…
Kakegurui The Movie 
映画 賭ケグルイ 「Eiga Kakegurui」
Running Time: 119 mins.
Release Date: May 03rd, 2019
Director: Tsutomu Hanabusa
Writer: Minato Takano, Tsutomu Hanabusa (Screenplay), Homura Kawamoto, Toru Naomura (Manga)
Starring: Aoi Morikawa, Minami Hamabe, Mahiro Takasugi, Ruka Matsuda, Natsumi Okamoto, Miki Yanagi, Elaiza Ikeda,
Synopsis: Hyakkaou Private Academy is the battleground for the sons and daughters of the elite to gamble. Money and fame await the winners as does dominance over the losers so it’s all high-stakes but then a mysterious transfer student named Yumeko Jabami (Minami Hamabe) arrives at the place and the bets increase to astronomical levels as she reveals that, under her pretty facade, she’s a gambling maniac.
Rose and Tulip 
薔薇とチューリップ 「Bara to Chu-rippu」
Running Time: 90 mins.
Release Date: May 03rd, 2019
Director: Teruo Noguchi
Writer: Saeki Nejime (Screenplay), Akiko Higashimura (Manga)
Starring: Mitsuki Tanimura, Lee Joon-Ho, Hyunri, Eri Fuse, Chansung,
Synopsis: Nero (Lee Joon-Ho) is a world famous young painterwho meets someone who looks a lot like himself at a hot spring inn run by a woman named Kaori (Mitsuki Tanimura). That double is De-Won (Lee Joon-Ho) and while he has a different personality, Nero asks him to pretend to be him. Kaori gets caught in the middle as Nero works through personal issues.
Cyclops 
キュクロプス 「Kyukuropusu」
Running Time: 108 mins.
Release Date: May 03rd, 2019
Director: Norichika Oba
Writer: Norichika Oba (Screenplay),
Starring: Mansaku Ikeuchi, Yu Saito, Kozo Sato, Hikohiko Sugiyama, AKO,
Synopsis: Shinohara is fresh out of the slammer after serving 14 years for the murder of his wife and he’s mad because he was innocent. Now at liberty, he is seeking the real killer so he can get his revenge and has the help of a policeman involved in his arrest.
Lupinranger VS Patranger VS Kyuranger 
ルパンレンジャーVSパトレンジャーVSキュウレンジャー 「Rupanrenja- vs Patorenja- vs Kyuurenja-」
Running Time: 55 mins.
Release Date: May 03rd, 2019
Director: Hiroyuki Kato
Writer: Naruhisa Arakawa (Screenplay),
Starring: Asahi Itou, Shogou Hama, Haruka Kudo, Kousei Yuuki, Hiroshi Kamiya, Kazusa Okuyama, Seiya Motoki, Rie Kugimiuya, Akuio Otsuka,
Website IMDB Power Rangers Fandom
Synopsis: The Patrangers investigate a mysterious abduction by Minato and that brings them into a confrontation with a member of the Uchuu Sentai Kyuranger. The Lupinrangers are in danger as they become caught up in with the guy doing the abducting. What they don’t know is that the Earth is in danger from an evil organisation and these three teams will have to unite.
Nakajima miyuki `yakai koujou VOL. 2′ Gekijouban 
中島みゆき「夜会工場VOL.2」劇場版 「Nakajima miyuki `yakai koujou VOL. 2′ Gekijouban」
Running Time: 130 mins.
Release Date: May 03rd, 2019
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
Starring: Miyuki Nakajima
Synopsis: The singer Miyuki Nakajima has created a show which was held in Tokyo, Osaka, Aichi and Fukuoka and recorded for this documentary.
Living with Cancer Prescription of Words 
がんと生きる 言葉の処方箋 「Gan to ikiru kotoba no shohousen」
Running Time: 55 mins.
Release Date: May 03rd, 2019
Director: Kazuyuki Nozawa
Writer: N/A
Starring: Okio Hino, Yoshinori Munemoto, Itsuko Haruhi, Chiemi Saito,
Synopsis: Professor Okio Hino of Juntendo University School of Medicine has developed a way for outpatients of dealing with the rigours of cancer and that’s a “prescription of words”. A “cancer philosophy outpatient medical cafe” is a place of interaction where patients interact and share their troubles and face the disease together so they can find the courage to live with hope. Hino goes around Japan and talks with others and starts conversations to inspire people to keep going and this documentary tries to highlight his work.
King of Prism: Shiny Seven Stars Ruwi × Shin ×Unknown
KING OF PRISM Shiny Seven Stars IV ルヰ×シン×Unknown 「King of Prism: Shiny Seven Stars Ruwi × Shin ×Unknown 」
Release Date: May 04th, 2019
Running Time: 69 mins.
Director: Masakazu Hishida
Writer: Jou Aoba (Screenplay), Mai Matsuura (Original Concept)
Starring: Junta Terashima (Shin Ichijo), Soma Saito (Yukinojo Tachibana), Daisuke Namikawa (Ryo Yamada), Koutarou Hashimoto (Tsurugi Okachimachi)
Animation Production: Tatsunoko Production
Synopsis from ANN: After appearing in the Prism King Cup representing Edel Rose, and getting a glimpse of what it was like to a be a future Prism Star, Ichijo Shin entered Kakyoin Academy’s High School division in spring and became a first-year high school student. Koji, Hiro, and Kazuki from Over The Rainbow left Edel Rose and established a new agency. They were all keeping quite busy. Meanwhile, after having the title of Prism King stolen by Hiro, the leader of Schwarz Rose, Norizuki Jin, proposes PRISM.1, which would decide a new king other than Prism King. He then announces that Schwarz Rose and Edel Rose will be competing with each other. While everyone is preparing for PRISM.1, Yukinojo is torn between being in kabuki and the Prism Show. He doesn’t feel like he’s living up to his potential in either and doesn’t know what to do. His father sees him like this and tells him to leave the world of Prism Shows.