Welcome to the weekend.
I hope you are all well.
I want to start this trailer post by offering my condolences to the people at Kyoto Animation studio for the terrible tragedy they suffered with the arson attack.
It sounds so awful. I’ve used artwork from series made by them on this blog since it started and I work for an animation festival so I’ve come to watch and appreciate their works. One of the best screenings we had was for A Silent Voice where the audience was profoundly moved by the human drama on screen. Near all of us were in tears at the end. I think back on that screening and want to thank the folks at Kyoto Animation for making films and shows that help people connect with their shared humanity and I hope they can recover as best they can.
At the start of the week I posted about a series of special screenings orchestrated by the Tanabe Benkei Film Festival in Shinjuku. I then posted my review for the Nobuhiro Yamashita film Hard-Core, a tragi-comedy about outsiders and then a review for the super-excellent NDJC short film Last Judgement which plays in a free screening at the Japan Cuts festival of Japanese film in New York. I’ve been busy writing reviews for Japan Cuts. Three have been published on VCinema: The Kamagasaki Cauldron War, The Miracle of Crybaby Shottan, and the 2019 NDJC shorts. One of today’s Japan Cuts screenings is for the film Whole which I saw at the Osaka Asian Film Festival.
What is released in Japan this weekend?
Weathering With You 
天気の子 「Tenki no ko」
Release Date: July 19th, 2019
Duration: 116 mins.
Director: Makoto Shinkai
Writer: Makoto Shinkai (Screenplay/Original Creator), Kyoko Nakajima (Novel)
Starring: Nana Mori (Hina Amano), Kotaro Daigo (Hodaka Morishima),
Animation Production: CoMix Wave Films
Synopsis: “This is a story about the world’s biggest secret. The secret that only she and I know.” The story centers around a boy and a girl choosing their own way to live through the twist and turns of fate in the world where the climate is losing its balance.
Tokyo Ghoul ‘S’ 
東京喰種 トーキョーグール S 「Toukyou Kueshu To-kyo- Gu-ru S」
Release Date: July 19th, 2019
Duration: 97 mins.
Director: Takuya Kawasaki, Kazuhiko Hiramaki
Writer: Chuji Mikasono (Screenplay), Sui Ishida (Original Manga)
Starring: Masataka Kubota, Maika Yamamoto, Nobuyuki Suzuki, Kai Ogasawara, Mai Kiryu, Nana Mori, Shota Matsuda,
Synopsis: In a world where ghouls live amongst humans, a university student named Ken Kaneki (Masataka Kubota) finds himself caught between two worlds because he is half-ghoul and half-human. While he looks human, he must eat flesh. He shelters himself at Anteiku Cafe, a place run by friendly ghouls including Toka Kirishima (Maika Yamamoto). One day, a frightening new ghoul named Shu Tsukiyama (Shota Matsuda) appears at Anteiku Cafe. He is called the “Gourmet” and has plans for Kaneki.
Under Your Bed 
アンダー・ユア・ベッド 「Anda- Yua Beddo」
Release Date: July 19th, 2019
Duration: 98 mins.
Director: Mari Asato
Writer: Tatsuya Ishii (Screenplay), Kei Ohishi (Novel)
Starring: Kengo Kora, Kanako Nishikawa, Kenichi Abe, Ryosuke Miyake, Yugo Mikawa,
Kengo Kora takes on a daring role that in this film directed by Mari Asato, someone who specialised in horror films like Bilocation prior to this. My favourite Kora roles are in The Drudgery Train and The Story of Yonosuke.
Synopsis: Naoto (Kengo Kora) was ignored by other people growing up. Whether at home or at school, he was ignored. The first person to call his name was a classmate named Chihiro (Kanako Nishikawa) and that sealed her fate as his dream girl. Naoto becomes obsessed with her and spends 11 years searching with nothing but her sweet memory during his school days as a reference until he finds her and discovers she is a different person. Naoto discovers how different by sneaking into her house and staying under her bed and tracking her every move…
Walking Meat 
Release Date: July 19th, 2019
Duration: 20 mins.
Director: Shinya Sugai
Writer: Daishiro Tanimura (Screenplay),
Starring: Fukushi Ochiai (Masaru), Kenjiro Tsuda (Hasegawa), Maaya Uchida (Marin), Minami Tsuda (Kaori),
Animation Production: Sublimation
An original CG short animation that was directed by Shinya Sugai and was shown at various festivals.
Synopsis: In an alternate world, humanity solves starvation by farming zombies. In Japan the corporation Flesh Inc. kicked the industry off in the Sixties using voodoo techniques imported from Africa, and has dominated the market by diversifying the zombie products it sells. Things go awry when three young workers get trapped inside a fully automated zombie farm with their supervisor and a horde of undead break free which forces the kids and their elder to work together…
Moonless Dawn 
暁闇 「Gyouan」
Release Date: July 19th, 2019
Duration: 57 mins.
Director: Harika Abe
Writer: Harika Abe (Screenplay),
Starring: Yuuka Nakao, Yuzu Aoki, Haruka Echigo, Kogarashi Wakasugi, Sakiko Kato, Saki Koizumi, Hideyuki Arai,
Synopsis: Three teens experiencing loneliness find themselves connected by music posted online. There is lethargic junior high schooler Kou, whose father is a teacher at the same school. There is Tomoko whose love life is not going smoothly. Then there is Yuuka, who spends time with the strange men in the city when after school.
5 Million Dollar Life 
五億円のじんせい 「Gooku Yen no Jinsei」
Release Date: July 20th, 2019
Duration: 112 mins.
Director: Moon Sung-Ho
Writer: Naomi Hiruta (Screenplay),
Starring: Ayumu Mochizuki, Anna Yamada, Ryu Morioka, Satoru Matsuo, Sumire Ashina, Junko Emoto, Naomi Nishida, Taro Suwa,
This is actually a pretty good film, one I reviewed as part of coverage for the New York Asian Film Festival. Here’s my review.
Synopsis: Mirai Takatsuki (Ayumu Mochizuki) had a life threatening disease as a child but he was saved thanks to public donations totalling five hundred million yen. This made him something of a celebrity and as he has grown up he has struggled to “repay” the life-saving moment given to him by the public. As an alienated high school student he decides to commit suicide and writes down his intentions on SNS which is how he receives a message from a stranger which states “if you want to die, you need to return the five hundred million yen first.” This challenge changes Mirai’s perspective on life.
The next two films are getting screened at Ikebukuro’s Cinema Rosa.
Nerima Zombie Night 
練馬ゾンビナイト 「Nerima Zonbi Naito」
Release Date: July 20th, 2019
Duration: 52 mins.
Director: Rei Takara
Writer: Rei Takara (Screenplay),
Starring: Teruki Hirayama, Erika Yasumoto, Koto Kumukawa,
Synopsis: An offbeat youth zombie movie set in Nerima Ward, just north of Ikebukuro in Tokyo. The story centres on three game-loving college students who find themselves caught in the middle of a zombie pandemic when one of their number is out at a convenience store looking for the girl he likes…
I Don’t Want to Run Anymore
もう走りたくない 「Mou Hashiritakunai」
Release Date: July 20th, 2019
Duration: 30 mins.
Director: Ryo Hirai
Writer: Ryo Hirai (Screenplay),
Starring: Toshi, Yosuke Tanimura, Ayane Mikami, Ayumi Saotomi, Makoto Nishimura,
Synopsis: A youth road movie depicting the journey of two men who cycle from Tokyo to the Sea of Japan, a distance of 260 kilometres. This work was produced as a graduation production of the Nihon University College of the Arts department by Kei Hirai, who shot it on 16 mm film. It is based on his own bicycle trips.
Robinson’s Garden 
ロビンソンの庭 「Robinson no Niwa」
Release Date: 1987
Duration: 119 mins.
Director: Masashi Yamamoto
Writer: Masashi Yamamoto, Mikio Yamazaki (Screenplay),
Starring: Kumiko Ohta, Kou Machida, Tuko Ueno, Cheebo, Oto, Kanji Okumura, Sakevi Yokoyama, Ryoji Nomura, Marino Chiku,
Synopsis: This 1987 film follows an outsider named Kumi (Kumiko Ota) who lives in a dormitory with a bohemian bunch of punk rockers and artists. When she discovers a patch of land and with an abandoned factory surrounded by flourishing flora, she moves there and begins to tend to the place in an effort to create paradise but things don’t end well…