I started off this week with some nice news when Goregirl nominated me for an award (which I’ll respond to tomorrow) and I worked on a few reviews for some J-horror films and posted two trailers for films I’m eager to watch plus there was news of the Terracotta Film Festival. As far as what’s happening next week I had such fun writing my Sion Sono Season posts that I want to start a new season soon so I’ll break out my DVD’s in preparation. Anyway, I read a book about the making of Alien named Alien Vault which was fascinating and featured a replica of this Japanese ad which was amusing and not a patch on the US poster which has the egg and legendary tag-line: In space no one can hear you scream.
How does the Japanese box-office chart look?
- 01. Doraemon – Animal Adventure
- 02. We Were There: Part 1
- 03. Sherlock Holmes
- 04. Puss In Boots
- 05. Pretty Cure All Stars
Well the top ten are choked full of adaptations of books/manga/anime which is a familiar state of affairs. Doreamon holds on to the top spot with over thirty-five million dollars grossed so far. I knew he was popular but wow. We Were Here, Liar Game: Reborn and Precure are still doing good business too and Arakawa Under the Bridge is still in the top twenty. Interestingly Drive has entered at number fourteen. I hope it hangs in there and performs well since it was one of the best films of last year.
All of the films released today look entertaining but Kotoko and SPEC look the most exciting and if I had to lay down my money for cinematic goodness it would go to those two. Here are the trailers!
Kotoko
Release Date: 07th April 2012 (Japan)
Running Time: 91 mins.
Director: Shinya Tsukamoto
Writer: Shinya Tsukamoto
Starring: Cocco, Shinya Tsukamoto
Kotoko is from Shinya Tsukamoto the director of Tetsuo, Vital and Nightmare Detective. It has recieved excellent reviews and will get a UK release via Third Window Films later this year.
A single mother (Cocco) begins to see doubles and becomes paranoid which makes taking care of her baby a nightmare. Her only relief from the double vision is singing and cutting herself but she soon suffers a nervous breakdown and her baby is taken away. One day, while riding a bus, she sings to herself and this catches the attention of a man (Shinya Tsukamoto) who falls in love with her. The man is a novelist and he begins stalking her until they engage in a volatile relationship which seems to ease her visions and paranoia. Then her baby returns and her condition worsens.
SPEC: The Movie
Release Date: 07th April 2012 (Japan)
Running Time: N/A
Director: Yukihiko Tsutsumi
Writer: Yuie Nishiogi
Starring: Erika Toda, Ryo Kase, Chiaki Kuriyama, Denden, Saki Fukuda
The director of 20th Century Boys and dark comedy/thriller 2LDK brings us the cinematic sequel to a long-running drama series that started out on TBS.
Detective Saya Toma (Erika Toda) has an IQ of 201 and works together with veteran detective Takeru Sebumi (Ryo Kase) in the Unsolved Crimes Unit taking on and cracking mysterious cases that others have given up on.
Totechiita Chikichiita
Release Date: 07th April 2012 (Japan)
Running Time: N/A
Director: Atsushi Kokatsu
Writer: N/A
Starring: Kosuke Toyohara, Chieko Matsubara, jurina, Shono Hayama, gitan Otsuru, Hitomi Sato
When preproduction of the film was finished in early 2011 and funding secured from the Fukushima government the Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunami struck. After initially suspending the film the filmmakers continued with production and plan to donate some of the profits to charity. There looks to be some heartfelt drama mixed with light comedy that comes with the role-swapping like finding out a girl younger than you used to be your mother in a past life.
A family who are separated from their loved ones are cast into different lives and struggle to find each other while still having to overcome their own problems.
Atsuhime Number 1
Release Date: 07th April 2012 (Japan)
Running Time: N/A.
Director: Kazuya Konaka?
Writer: Junya Kato
Starring: Rika Ishikawa, Yuko Nakazawa,Daisuke Kikuta, Yuta Yamazaki, Hitomi Sato
Ignore the J-pop and focus on the comedy and the announcer and this could be the greatest film ever. Secretly.
Atsuhime (Rika Ishikawa) is the beautiful wife of the 13th Shogun of the Tokugawa Shogunate. She travels forward in time and sets out to become the best hostess in a club in Ginza.
Genkinahito 
Is Atsuhime Number 1 a Hello!Project movie seeing that a number of Dream Morning Musume girls and their producer Tsunku appear in it? It looks quite funny.
Tsunku is the executive producer of the film and stars in it by the looks of things. There are a couple of Morning Musume girls too – I thought I recognised one of them. I have a Morning Musume CD with Yuuko Nakazawa on the cover. In my defence I was in high school and experimenting with J-pop. It does look amusing.
Totechiita Chikichiita is new to me but it looks interesting, hopefully an opportunity to check it out will happen at some point.
I watched the Keizoku TV shows back to front, apart from both being about unsolved cases there really isn’t much of a connection between the two, what they do share are creators, some side characters i.e Kotaro Nonomura and his mistress Miyabi-chan (expanded role) the similarities end there really. Keizoku 2: Spec is mainly about supernaturals so it could almost be considered a new show, Keizoku 1 has no supernatural elements whatsoever and feels more like the TV show Trick with a darker edge.
When I was tracing Yumie Nishiogi’s works from Keizoku to SPEC I saw that Miki Nakatani (Loft) was in the lead. It looks like a great TV show that I’d actually watch if I had the time. The fact that Chiaki Kuriyama is in the latest movie is another incentive.
The father from Love Exposure Atsuro Watabe is really good as the main male lead in it, he’s seriously tormented by an incident that occurred involving his younger sister years before……worth checking out.