Ah, I have just arrived home after my commute from work where I encountered two Japanese people by chance and had a good old chat with them. The pluses of public transport! This week I received Skyfall, the 2LDK/Aragami double release, the Blue Exorcist anime and I Come with the Rain and I am expecting Detroit Metal City soon. As far as movies watched goes I watched Heat After Dark a further two times despite my review giving the impression that I did not rate it that much… I also wrote about Makoto Shinkai’s forthcoming film The Garden of Words and the anime Mysterious Girlfriend X. The former has the potential to be great while the latter wasted its potential to become just another fan-service show.
What do the Japanese charts look like this week (Feb 23/24 2013)?
- A Good Day to Die Hard
- Ted
- The Brain Man
- Les Miserables
- Strrawberry Night
- Life of Pi
- Zero Dark Thirty
- Chair of the Grasslands
- Story of Yonosuke
- Reunion
Well three of the Japanese films released last week (A Story of Yonosuke, Reunion and Chair of the Grasslands) break into the top ten but it is US/UK films that are dominating the charts.
Ah, this week sees the release of Flight and Django Unchained so I guess distributors are holding back big titles and resorting to counter-programming with a real mixed bag of titles… there are quite a few short films released and they have a whole gamut of rising stars of Japan’s directorial world. There are three documentaries, a loot of short films and two indie films while the one big-budget flick issssss now:
Suu, Mai and Sawa – Righting the Girl Ship 
Japanese Title: すーちゃん まいちゃんさわ子さん
Romaji: Su-chan, Mai-chan, Sawako-san
Release Date: March 02nd, 2013 (Japan)
Running Time: 106 mins.
Director: Osamu Minorikawa
Writer: Miri Masuda (Original Manga), Sachiko Tanaka (Screenplay)
Starring: Kou Shibasaki, Yoko Maki, Shinobu Terajima, Hana Kino, Akiko Kazami, Megumi Sato, Aoi Yoshikura, Ai Takabe, Shota Sometani, Arata
Osamu Minorikawa released Jinsei Irodori last year and is back with an adaptation of Miri Masuda’s manga. It stars Kou Shibasaki (One Missed Call, Battle Royale), Yoko Maki (Infection, Battle Royale II, and The Grudge), Shinobu Terajima(Vibrator, The Millennial Rapture) and Megumi Sato (Exte: Hair Extension). The males of the cast are Arata (After Life, Ping Pong) and Shota Sometani (Himizu, Lesson of the Evil). The film is a slice-of-life tale for adult women based on a four-panel gag manga and the trailer starts with a woman crying and not a gunfight or anything that would catch my attention but Rebirth had a trailer that made me uncertain and then I was blown away by it. Plus the review over at the Japan Times is intriguing… If The Japan Foundation screens it I will watch it! And then watch Heat After Dark for a dose of testosterone.
Sue (Shibasaki), Mai (Maki) and Sawako (Terajima) are three former companions who have remained friends. Sue works at a coffee shop and likes her manager. Mai works at an OA machine maker and is in a relationship with a married man and Sawako is a web designer who takes care of her grandmother.
Bad Communication 
Japanese Title: Bad コミュニケーション
Romaji: Bad Comyunike-shon
Release Date: March 02nd, 2013 (Japan)
Running Time: 30 mins.
Director: Haruhi Oguri
Writer: Haruhi Oguri (Screenplay)
Starring: Daiki Shiomi, Yoshino Motoyama, Yūta Hashimoto, Yūya Inechū, Ryūto Tanaka, Iemori Nagata,
Haruhi Oguri follows up Toilet and Women (that’s the actual title of a film released last year) with a youth movie depicting a group of friends in a seaside town as they leave school, enter college in Tokyo and experience the death of one of their number. The five leads are new to the acting game. Bad Communication is the title of a song by the cool J-rock group B’z and it reminds me of Ill Communication by the Beastie Boys which was cool. Random thoughts ended. the trailer doesn’t really interest me as much as the one for Toilet and Women.
The Dark System Full Version 
Japanese Title: Bad ダークシステム 完全版
Romaji: Da-ku Shisutemu Kanzenhan
Release Date: March 02nd, 2013 (Japan)
Running Time: 113 mins.
Director: Shūji Yuki
Writer: Shūji Yuki (Screenplay)
Starring: Makoto Takunomasaki, Katsumi Furuya, Yuko Kamata, Takehiro Kamibaba
Shūji Yuki’s two Dark System short films have been re-edited and re-constructed to make a feature-length film about two friends who split over a girl and soon turn to wire-tapping their homes and even violence. I would watch this if this were a DVD extra. I’m not sure I would go to a cinema to see this.
Here is where the short-films begin:
Winter Day 
Japanese Title: 冬の日
Romaji: Fuyu no Hi
Release Date: March 02nd, 2013 (Japan)
Running Time: 28 mins.
Director: Hiroshi Kurosaki
Writer: N/A
Starring: Masami Nagasawa, Jun Fubuki, Kenta Uchino, Masayo Umezawa
Movie PAO have produced a second volume of shorts directed by three young directors 
with the aim of nurturing talent and allowing them to work with industry vets. The directors have got the chance to make whatever they want. The first title is Winter Day which stars Masami Nagasawa (Kiseki) and the great actress Jun Fubuki (Séance, Rebirth). Here’s a funny advert that I found after looking for a trailer. It could be a parody trailer of a dorama what with its music and slice-of-life setting. All Yuko wanted to do was eat oranges but when her father came home something emotional happened 😛
Lisa (Nagasawa) gives up on her dreams of becoming a photographer and heads back to her parent’s photo studio. It is snowing and in the snow she meets a woman (Fubuki) who will reveal a secret about her family.
Tofu Fa 
Japanese Title: ファの豆腐
Romaji: Fa no Toufu
Release Date: March 02nd, 2013 (Japan)
Running Time: 40 mins.
Director: Shinji Kuma
Writer: Yuka Honchō (Screenplay)
Starring: Akiko Kikuchi, Sansei Shiomi, Yuki Makoto Miura, Reiko Seno
Another Movie PAO title. The very foxy Akiko Kikuchi who co-starred with Koji Yakusho in last year’s Chronicle of My Mother, takes the lead role of a chef named Asako who runs a tofu shop with her father, who is reunited with a childhood friend which sparks subtle changes in her life. The trailer has segments from other Movie PAO titles but the first one is Tofu Fa like in the trailer above.
Genkinahito 