This is the first of two trailer posts. There seem to be fewer films released this weekend but I’ll still go ahead with things. I’ll mix the big films with the little ones because there is an odd little indie title with a naked dude crawling along pavements, and an anime with a fox bandit that hasn’t got an entry in ANN or MAL or Wikipedia.
While looking for info on anime I saw this funny/weird Attack on Titan porn project. As much as I like looking at beautiful women it was also horrific due to the large number of middle-aged grizzled-looking dudes rampaging around the set chewing on figurines and the awful special effects. To be fair, the actress is a pretty good match for the female Titan. Here’s a comparison picture:
If I were in the Survey Corps and a Titan like the fine lady above showed up I wouldn’t mind dying in her hands… jaws… getting swatted like a fly… or crushed against a tree. On second thought… Here are some of the movies released this weekend!
A Band Rabbit and a Boy 
Japanese: 楽隊 の うさぎ
Romaji: Gakutai no Usagi
Running Time: 97 mins.
Release Date: December 14th, 2013
Director: Takuji Suzuki
Writer: Michiko Onisihi (Screenplay), Kei Nakazawa (Novel)
Starring: Kosei Kawasaki, Maho Yamada, Arata, Shian Ide, Masaru Miyazaki, Satoru Jitsunashi, Koume, Yu Tokui, Sawa Suzuki
Katsuhisa (Kawasaki) is an introspective junior high school student who prefers to spend time at home until he encounters a mysterious rabbit who leads him to the school’s wind band club and he falls in love with it. He soon joins the band and spends more time in school so he can practice for a national competition.
The Liar and His Lover 
Japanese: カノジョは嘘を愛しすぎてる
Romaji: Kanojo wa Uso o Aishisugiteru
Running Time: 117 mins.
Release Date: December 14th, 2013
Director: Norihiro Koizumi
Writer: Michiko Onisihi (Screenplay), Kotomi Aoki (Manga)
Starring: Takeru Sato, Sakurako Ohara, Shohei Miura, Mitsuki Tanimura, Masataka Kubota, Saki Aibu, Ryo Yoshizawa, Yuki Morinaga, Takashi Sorimachi
Aki (Sato) is a 25-year-old man who works as a sound engineer and is a member of a popular band called “Crude Play.” Just after they make their major record debut, Aki quits the band but continues to provide music through the band’s producer Soichiro. He begins to date Riko (Ohara), a sixteen-year-old girl who sings in a band and whose father runs a grocery store, who is scouted by Soichiro…
No Beginning, No End 
Japanese: 始まり も おわり も ない
Romaji: Hajimari mo Owari mo nai
Running Time: 95 mins.
Release Date: December 14th, 2013
Director: Shunya Ito
Writer: Shunya Ito, Min Tanaka (Screenplay),
Starring: Min Tanaa, Daisuke Iijima, Taijiro Tamura, Mizuki Doki, Ken Furusawa, Motomi Makiguchi, Shiho Ishihara
The prize for most disturbing poster this week goes to this title co-written and starring Min Tanaka, a chap who is appearing in the forthcoming 47 Ronin and Rurouni Kenshin chanbara films and one of the stars of The Twilight Samurai. The write-up for this kept describing it as avant-garde which is a term that makes me want to flee to the hills because it’s also synonymous with pretentious if you ask a cynical gallery worker like myself. Apparently there is no dialogue and it portrays the poetic and philosophical aspects of the birth, life and death of a man in order to capture human existence. I shouldn’t dismiss it without seeing the full film but I doubt I’d enjoy something like this. Still, it’s brave of all involved to take on a project like this.
Kamen Rider Gaim & Wizard: The Fateful Sengoku Movie Battle 
Japanese: 仮面ライダー×仮面ライダー 鎧武（ガイム）＆ウィザード 天下分け目の戦国MOVIE大合戦
Romaji: Kamen Rider X Kamen Rider Gaim & Wizard: Tenkawakeme no Sengoku Movie Daigassen
Running Time: 93 mins.
Release Date: December 14th, 2013
Director: Ryuta Tasaki
Writer: Nobuhiro Mouri, Junko Komura (Screenplay), Shotaro Ishinomori (Original Creator)
Starring: Gaku Sano, Yutaka Kobayashi, Mahiro Takasugi, Shunya Shiraishi, Makoto Okunaka, Tasuku Nagase, JOY, Atsushi
According to Wikipedia this movie is split into three parts. In the first part some bad dude steals a ring of hope from Kamen Wizard and that guy plunges into despair. Whoa.
The second part has Kamen Rider Gaim take part in battle games in Zawame City where Armoured Riders are in competition for something and while fighting a crack opens in the sky and monsters pour out of it and kidnap a girl.
In the Sengoku movie part Kamen Riders Wizard and Beast join Gaim to stop an evil guy named Kamen Rider Bujin Gaim from acquiring some “ultimate power” he seeks.
Genkinahito 
Not sure what – if anything – I want to see of these. The Rabbit/Boy one could be okay or it could just be a lame kiddie film. The Liar and His Lover… well, I read some chapters of the manga which weren’t particularly good. Like a recycled shoujo plot. Takeru Sato is in it, but I’m not sure that’s enough to convince me. I think he’s pretty good and has potential, but he isn’t outstanding and his acting choices aren’t always that inspiring. The trailer (you didn’t link it) doesn’t compel me either – it will be a typical shoujo, with no real depth but a lot of clichés. It’ll get the fangirls watching and make Takeru even more popular but…. uhhhh…. I’m going to hold out for a more solid film. (Plus, I have issues with the 25/16 year old relationship.)
I’ve updated the post with the trailer for The Liar and His Lover and the Japanese title. Takeru is a decent actor. Likeable in what I’ve seen him in so far. I was a bit leery of the gap in ages for the film but girls in Japan can marry at 16 so I guess that may play a factor. I haven’t read the manga so I don’t know.
If none of this takes your fancy – not even the Attack on Titan porn? 😉 – there are more trailers tomorrow.
Yes, Takeru is decent and likeable, but he isn’t exactly pushing himself. He is choosing roles that don’t require stretching himself (or not all that much) and that come with a pre-made fanbase (popular manga, big budget production value, etc.).
They can marry at 16? So they can get married before they can legally have a drink? Doesn’t change my mind about anything, they are not full legal adults and a 16 year old with a 25 year old is creepy.
Seeing his name on a billboard doesn’t inspire me either – he was one of the disastrous parts of Kurosawa’s film Real, apparently. To be fair to Takeru he seems to be following the orders of his rather high profile talent agency and since productions with in-built audiences are common place in the movie industry and a great way to generate viewers/money he has no reason to deviate. What I’m trying to say is that we’ll have to wait to see if it’s a matter of him establishing himself a bit more as an actor so he’ll want to try different things.
I have similar reservations about the age difference but perhaps there’s something in the manga about it, some drama the writer wanted to create. According to the manga he’s 23 but according to Asian Media Wiki he’s 25.
I honestly don’t know how it works out but I’d wager the reality of the ages in Japan is probably pretty different from the headline especially with the changes in gender relations. I can’t imagine many girls would sell their future away that early and the majority of parents in a first world country in this day and age would be against that sort of thing even if it’s an option presented by the law. There was that bit in Yonosuke where the father was looking out for his daughter and denying her wish to get married to the 18-year-old gas sales attendant if I remember correctly.
There are laws in the UK that are on the statute books because they are so archaic, unknown and uncommon and never used it’s a bit of fun/history.
Girls (well, boys too! Obviously) can marry at 16 in England & Wales with parental consent – I doubt it happens very often now, except in very religious communities maybe. Tbh, I find this king of thing very uncomfortable too, especially when it’s very clear that the girl in still in school. Generally, the other characters in the story don’t have that much of a problem with it, so perhaps it is just a cultural difference but it sits very uncomfortably with me.
(actually, I have a vague recollection of someone at college being already married which must have been at 17? I’m sure there was a joke about not being allowed a drink at the wedding).
It’s probably best to chalk this up to cultural differences.