Hana no Utame Gothicmade, The Floating Castle, A Chorus of Angels, Be My Slave, Fly with the Gold Trailers and the Japanese Movie Charts

This week began with my excitement over some of Manga Entertainment’s 2013 releases which includes The Wolf Children and Blood-C: The Last Dark, then I watched The Pact (2012) and Zombie Apocalypse (2011). Then I posted Genkinahito and It Came From Japan, which saw me submit five Japanese horror movie reviews for a Halloween special run by The LAMB.  I then posted a review of  Sion Sono’s excellent ero-guro title Strange Circus for my Halloween review (it is proving most popular, not least a certain picture…) and another trailer for the forthcoming Evangelion movie. Still no word on Premiere Japan, which I have Googled every day this week…

What does the Japanese movie box office chart look like this week? 

1. Smile Precure! Everyone is all Mixed Up in the Picture Book
2. The Expendables 2
3. Tsunagu
4. Bayside Shakedown 4: The Final New Hope
5. 009 Re:Cyborg
6. Outrage Beyond
7. Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax
8. The Terminal Trust
9. The Mystical Law
10. Resident Evil: Retribution

Well colour me unsurprised that the mega phenomena that is Precure dominates the charts. The three anime films released last week make an impressive splash. Despite opening on less than 200 screens, Precure has posted impressive figures. Also impressive is 009 Re:Cyborg, Production I.G’s 3D film. Resident Evil: Retribution sneaks in at ten. Also entering the chart is The Terminal Trust at eight (KOJI YAKUSHO!).

What films are released today (yesterday in the case of one and the day before in the case of another)?

Hana no Utame Gothicmade                                   

Japanese Title: ゴテイック　メード　花　の　詩女

Romaji: Goteikku Me-do　Hana no Uta Me

Release Date: 01st November 2012 (Japan)

Running Time: N/A

Director: Mamoru Nagano

Writer: Mamoru Nagano

Starring: Maria Kawamura, Nozomu Sasaki, Akio Ohtsuka, Yoshiko Sakakibara, Ikue Ohtani

Kadokawa initiated this anime movie to celebrate 65 years since the founding of their business. It looks like a slice of great old school anime. Gothicmade is the directorial debut of designer and manga creator Mamoru Nagano. On top of directing he also takes on other major roles such as screenwriting, storyboarding and character design. If the anime looks old school then it reflects the fact that he has been in the animation industry for quite some time, his biggest project being the manga/anime franchise Five Star Stories (1986!!!) which is also handled by Kadokawa and is still being released today. Every time I post this here it is met with indifference but on AUKN it has been a very popular news article.

Carmine is a tiny colony world under the harsh control of the ruling interplanetary league. It would be unremarkable except that this planet special is that it has a special tradition: young women known as songstresses inherit and pass down the memories of the generations that came before them. They then use this knowledge to help the people of their planet.

A 16-year-old named Berin Ajelli has been reborn as a songstress and must set out on a holy pilgrimage across the planet to the capital. After hearing rumours of a possible terrorist attack the militant Donau Empire send Prince Toriharon to protect her but he is the antithesis of everything Bellin believes in. The two are stuck together on their journey to the capital of Carmine.

The Floating Castle                                 

Japanese Title: のぼう　の　城

Romaji: Nobo no Shiro

Release Date:  02^nd November 2012 (Japan)

Running Time: 144 mins.

Director: Shinji Higuchi, Isshin Inudo

Writer:  Ryo Wada (Original Novel)

Starring: Mansai Nomura, Nana Eikura, Hiroki Narimiya, Koichi Sato, Masachika Ichimura, Takehiro Hira, Takayuki Yamada, Yusuke Kamiji, Tomomitsu Yamaguchi

This film was delayed from release last year due to the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami. It looks like a complete blast and it stars Nana Eikura who will be in next year’s live-action adaptation of library war, Koichi Sato (Infection, Sukiyaki Western Django) and Takayuki Yamada (Thirteen Assassins).

The year is 1590 and the daimyo Hideyoshi Toyotomi (Ichimura) is going to unify Japan… until he comes across a floating fortress known as Oshi Castle. Well he isn’t going to let that stop him and so he sends an army of 20,000 men to lay siege to it. The only thing standing between the castle and capitulation is Nagachika Narita (Nomura) and his army of 500 men. Let battle commence.

 

A Chorus of Angels                                           

Japanese Title: 北　の　かなりあたち

Romaji: Kita no Kanariatachi

Release Date:  03^rd November 2012 (Japan)

Running Time: 130 mins.

Director: Junji Sakamoto

Writer:  Yusuke Kishi

Starring: Sayuri Yoshinaga, Mirai Moriyama, Hikari Mitsushima, Ryo Katsuji, Aoi Miyazaki, Eiko Koike, Ryuhei Matsuda, Toru Nakamura,

A Chorus of Angels has quite the cast what with Sayuri Yoshinaga, a veteran of more than a hundred films, leading a battery of young talent like Hikari Mitsushima (Sawako Decides, Love Exposure), Aoi Miyazaki (The Wolf Children, Eureka) and Ryuhei Matsuda (Gohatto, Nightmare Detective). The film is based on a novel written by Yusuke Kishi who has had a few of his novels turned into films (Black House for one).

Haru (Yoshinaga) was once a dedicated teacher working in Hokkaido with various problems and disabilities but since retiring she has worked in a library in Tokyo. Then the police question her about a murder committed by a former student named Nobuto (Moriyama). Spurred on by her curiosity, she decides to investigate what happened to her former students like Manami (Mitsushima) a park worker, Yuka (Miyazaki) a kindergarten teacher and Isamu (Matsuda) a policeman.

Be My Slave                                          

Japanese Title: のぼう　の　城

Romaji: Watashi no Dorei ni Narinasai

Release Date:  03^rd November 2012 (Japan)

Running Time: N/A

Director: Toru Kamei

Writer:  Takehiko Minato,Shu Satami (Original Novel)

Starring: Mitsu Dan, Akihiro Mayama, Itsuji Itao

Despite the sexy poster, this film seems to be more in the vein of a psychological piece which reveals the sexual hang-ups of three characters. There are shades of Shame and A Snake of June. Toru Kamei is the director. He is familiar from a film named Black Cat Lucy which was released a few weeks ago. This is the big-screen debut of Mitsu Dan. She is supported by Akihiro Mayama (Carved 2) and Itsuki Itao (Love Exposure, One Missed Call Final).

 

Fly with the Gold               

Japanese Title: 黄金　を　抱いて　翔べ

Romaji: Ougon O Daite Tobe

Release Date:  03^rd November 2012 (Japan)

Running Time: N/A

Director: Kazuyuki Izutsu

Writer:  Kaoru Takamura (Original Novel)

Starring:  Tadanobu Asano, Satoshi Tsumabuki, Kenta Kiritani, Shim Chang-Min, Toshiyuki Nishida, Junpei Mizobata, Munetaka Aoki, Yuri Nakamura, Tomorowo Taguchi, Shingo Tsurumi

Wow, just when I’m stock-piling crime thrillers from Japan and Korea, this comes along. Kazuyuki Izutsu makes his first film since Swing Man (2000) with this cool looking heist thriller. The cast is particularly strong what with Satoshi Tsumabuki (For Loves Sake) and Tadanobu Asano (Vital, Bright Future), taking the lead roles with support from the ever reliable Tomorowo Taguchi (Tetsuo: The Iron Man) and Toshiyuki Nishida (Outrage Beyond, The Magic Hour). Yuri Nakamura (The Grudge: Girl in Black) provides some femininity to balance things out.

Sumita Bank has a lot of gold sitting in its basement. When Kota (Tsumabuki) runs into his former college classmate Kitagawa (Asano) he hears about a heist which will take place. Helping them beat the bank’s security is a North Korean spy pretending to be a college student (Shim Chang-Min), Kitagawa’s brother Haruki (Mizobata), an elevator engineer known as Zii-chan (Nishida) and a bank employee known as Noda (Kiritani) Can they do it?