Ah, I started the week with a first-impression post on xxxHOLiC. I followed it up by watching the anime Level E and engaging on a new simulwatch over at Anime UK News with Serial Experiment’s Lain. I am hooked on these two anime already, the former because it is very funny and the latter because it’s a rigorous and intelligent and mysterious series which reminds me of the control and intelligence to be found in Kiyoshi Kurosawa films.
I am so psyched for next week because Film4 are going to start screening lots of Ghibli films which made up my second post. There will be 19 films shown in total and they run from The Little Norse Prince all the way through to Arrietty. I love Ghibli films and I’ll do my best to watch some of them with Spirited Away, Kiki’s Delivery Service, Ocean Waves and The Cat Returns being priority.
I am also psyched about next week because I get paid which means a shipment of films will be ordered! Tonight I watch Vulgaria.
What does the Japanese movie chart look like this week (March 16th-17th)?
- Doraemon Nobita’s Dinosaur
- Platina Data
- Precure All Stars New Stage 2
- Oz the Great and Powerful
- Himawari and Her Puppies
- Flight
- Ted
- A Good Day to Die Hard
- Cloud Atlas
- Les Miserables
- Toaru Majutsu no Index
- Django Unchained
- The Brain Man
- Reunion
Doraemon continues his reign over the chart for a third week but there are a few of last week’s releases piping in with detective thriller Platina Data hitting second, the Precure anime movie grabbing third and Himawari and Her Puppies taking fifth.
What Japanese films are released this week?
Child Police 
Japanese Title: コドモ警察
Romaji: Kodomo Keisatsu
Release Date: March 20th, 2013 (Japan)
Running Time: 100 mins.
Director: Yuichi Fukuda
Writer: Yuichi Fukuda (Screenplay),
Starring: Mikako Komatsu, Fuku Suzuki, Miyu Honda, Michiko Kichise, Keito Aoki, Kaichi Kaburagi, Yuga Aizawa
This film was released on Wednesday and is based on a ten episode TBS show directed by Yuichi Fukuda who has another film released this year called HK Hentai Kamen (adapted for the screen by Shun Oguri) which looks funny. Unlike this.
Hmm. Part of me dislikes it based on the poster and concept alone – elementary school kids as police… I’m not engaged with the concept and the kid holding the shotgun looks to be in bad taste to my western eyes (too many shootings in the US – I know it’s a weak excuse but my first reaction was to shudder). BUT! The trailer made me chuckle because of lead actor Fuku Suzuki’s outrage behind his desk. なに！！？ and the 70’s vibe which reminded me of older Yakuza films I have seen.
Detective Dekachou (Suzuki) is the leader of the special investigation team in Kanagawa who are locked in an investigation of a criminal organisation called Red Venius. While pursuing the gang they are turned into children due to exposure to a special gas but they remain on the case because Red Venius threaten to assassinate the President of Tadhikistan in Japan.
Miffy the Movie
Japanese Title: 劇場版ミッフィー どうぶつえん で たからさがし
Romaji: Gekijouban Miffi- Doubutsuende Sagashi
Release Date: March 23rd, 2013 (Japan)
Running Time: N/A
Director: Hans Perk
Voice Actors: Ikumi Nakagami, Noriko Hidaka, Hidemistu Shimizu, Masayo Hosono
Miffy… Hello Kitty… I thought they were connected but they are not. To be honest the only Hello Kitty thing I ever read was a parody called Hello Cthulhu. Miffy isn’t even Japanese. She’s Dutch! She’s the creation of a chap named Dick Bruna who has appeared in 30 books which have sold over 35 million copies around the world since her debut in 1955. So she’s not to be sniffed at. Furthermore she’s popular in Japan where she’s known as Usako-chan. Anyway in this children’s animation, Miffy and her friends go treasure hunting!
Yasuko Nagamine Barefoot Flamenco 
Japanese Title: 長嶺ヤス子 裸足のフラメンコ
Romaji: Nagamine Yasuko Hidashi no Furamenko
Release Date: March 23rd, 2013 (Japan)
Running Time: 85 mins.
Director: Koichi Omiya
Starring: Yasuko Nagamine
Yasuko Nagamine is an internationally famous dancer who studied flamenco in Spain, pioneering the dance in Japan and combining it with other dance forms and music. This is a documentary from her birth in Fukushima in 1936 to her recent years beating cancer. The director is Koichi Omiya, the documentarian behind Sketch of Mujo, the first film that captured the affected areas after the Great East Japan Earthquake and one of many I put in a list last week.
BOOWY 1224 The Movie 
Japanese Title: BOOWY 1224 The Movie
Release Date: March 23rd, 2013 (Japan)
Running Time: N/A
Director: N/A
Starring: Kyosuke Himuro, Tomoyasu Hotei, Tsunematsu Matsui, Makoto Takahashi
This is a documentary about the rock band BOOWY which records performances at Shibuya Public Hall in Tokyo where they announced their break up.
