Rainbow-Colored Fireflies: The Eternal Summer Vacation Trailer, Japanese Movie Box Office Charts

This week I posted some trailers for Another, and Helter Skelter and went to my final Japanese class until September – silly film related story at the bottom of this post. Anyway… The films released last week looked awesome soooo…

What is happening in the Japanese movie box office charts?

1. Thermae Romae
2.  Sadako 3D
3.  Space Brothers
4.  Detective Conan: The Mystery of the Eleventh Striker
5.  Larry Crowne

Sadako 3D is not number 1. I am genuinely surprised. Japan must really need a comedy because Thermae Romae is at number 1 for a third week in a row with Sadako 3D entering at number 2. While I was not convinced about the latest Ringu film’s ability to scare I thought it would “dominate the Japanese charts for the next few weeks” because Sadako is such an icon and the film looked like fun. The only other new entry is Larry Crowne which has entered at number 5 which Curiosity Kitty recently reviewed and pretty much dismissed. Unfortunately Rent a Cat didn’t chart in the top ten. What’s released today?

Rainbow-Coloured Fireflies – The Eternal Summer Vacation

Japanese Title: Niji-Iro Hotaru: Eien no Natsu Yasumi

Release Date: 19^th May 2012 (Japan)

Running Time: N/A

Director: Konosuke Uda

Writer: Kei Kunii (Script), Masayuki Kawaguchi (manga)  

Starring: Akashi Takei, Ayumi Kimura, Kairo Nitta, Taro Ishida, Takahiro Sakurai, Kazuya Nakai, Chikao Otsuka

Rainbow-Colored Fireflies: The Eternal Summer Vacation (Niji-iro Hotaru Eien no Natsu Yasumi) is released today by Toei Animation. The film is based on Masayuki Kawaguchi’s 2007 novel of the same name. It is directed by Konosuke Uda who helmed Galaxy Express 999: Eternal Fantasy and the recent TV anime Ginga e Kickoff!!. Other big names involved include Hisashi Mori who has worked on classic movies The Girl Who Leapt Through Time and Tokyo Godfathers. Takaaki Yamashita (Summer Wars) is adding visual art, and Seiki Tamura (K-ON!, The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya) is performing duties as art director. Yumi Matsutōya, the artist responsible for the themes to the classic Ghibli movie Kiki’s Delivery Service is providing the theme song for this film while her husband provides music.

 Synopsis

The story follows a young boy named Yuuta, who lost his father in a car accident a year ago. One day, all alone, he goes to catch a beetle at a dam deep in the mountains he used to visit with his father. On his journey he meets a strange old man and it starts raining. Yuuta slips, falls off a bridge and passes out. When he wakes up he finds himself in a village that should be under water but he has travelled back 30 years in the past. With children named Saeko and Kenjo he experiences summer activities like collecting fireworks, catching a rare beetle and discovering his first love. These experiences will be part of his precious summer memories.

Red Seas Under Red Skies Read Along Part 4

Week 4 of our Red Seas Under Red Skies read along saw the guys finally reach the Ghost Wind islands and encounter some strange – dare I say WEIRD? – things! I get the feeling that this will be the last tie that the Jean and Locke will play at being pirates so I had better start packing in One Piece images in.

Move Over Poison Orchids! The Straw Hat Pirates Rock!

This week’s questions come from nrlymrtl who writes at Dark Cargo. Check in with our #lynchmob leader, The Little Red Reviewer, for more blogs that are participating.

1) I was much relieved when Jean and Locke made up, which started with Locke’s gesture of a cup full of honesty with Cpt. Drakasha. Do you think that was hard for Locke? Or was he using this bit of honesty like any other weapon in his arsenal to get what he wants in the end?

Locke has grown as a character. The heat of battle made him react badly to the fact that Jean might love someone more than him but when he cooled off he saw that Jean really loves Ezri, they’re made for each other, pirates are thieves too, (yadda yadda) but, most importantly, he saw the usefulness of having the Orchids on his side and the best way to do that is to play the empathy/trust/honesty card with Zamira. It was a bit of a con that was inspired by Jean and his suggestion that they work with the pirates. Out of all the choices available it was the easiest choice for him to make that would drag him from his awful position into one that gives him a range of better choices.

2) The Parlor Passage: We still don’t know Locke’s true name, but whatever was in that mist does. What do you think it is?

I think that there’s a mage in that mist! We got a hint that there was a “Figure” in the Parlour Passage.

“Something was there, for the briefest instant – a dark shape visible through the curtains of mist. Man-sized. Tall, thin and motionless. Waiting there atop the reef.”

There is a mage that has some insanely powerful magic at his fingertips and is able to pry into the minds of those who sail past. We know that the Bondsmagi tried to ensure they have a monopoly on magic by forcing people to join them or die but what if one or more got away? If I were a mage then I would flee to the farthest reaches of civilisation’s influence (Ghostwind Islands) and set up shop in a place the Bondsmagi would deign to unimportant or too risky to search. Locke and Jean will probably recruit this guy who will be out of shape, old, grouchy and probably swears a lot. If Locke wanted to recruit a powerful old man then he should recruit the truly epic pirate Whitebeard.