Samurai’s Promise, Gekijouban Linked Horizon Live Tour “Shingeki no Kiseki” Souin Shuuketsu Gaisen Kouen, DTC Yukemuri Junjo Hen from HiGH & LOW, Fooly Cooly Progressive, Girls Und Panzer 63rd National High School Sensha-dō Tournament Compilation, Natsume Yujin-cho the Movie: Ephemeral Bond, Please Be My Slave Chapter 2 Please Call Me Master., At the Children’s Restaurant, Tarinae, Tower of the Sun, Ai to, sakaba to, ongaku to (Love and a Bar and Music), Seven Girls Japanese Film Trailers

Happy weekend, people!

I hope you are well!

This trailer post is a rush job because I have been working this weekend at an anime film festival. The 2018 Kotatsu Japanese Animation Festival seemed to go well. Everyone was happy. Everyone had fun. I spoke to the two Japanese animators, Tsuneo Goda and Hirokazu Minegishi, almost entirely in Japanese. We all watched great films. In truth, the work went on for most of the year. I posted info about two film festivals this week, Japannual in Austria and the London East Asian Film Festival.

What are the films on display this weekend?

Japanese Films at the London East Asian Film Festival 2018

Film fans who love Japanese cinema are spoiled for choice over the next month as Raindance will launch today and we have the BFI London Film Festival with a smattering of Japanese titles and then we have the London East Asian Film Festival.

The organisers announced their programme last week and there will be a lot of films to see from October 25th to November 04th and they have assembled an impressive line-up of titles from over 12 countries including Singapore, South Korea, and more. There are familiar titles from the international festival circuit plus a surprise collaboration with the Nara International Film Festival providing some indies. On a side note, I’ve seen a couple of the non-Japanese films and have even reviewed The Thieves (2012). There is a lot to watch!

Here is the festival’s trailer:

Here are the details:

Highlights of Japannual Japanese Film Festival Vienna 2018 (October 01st – 07th)

This is the year when I try and give a little boost to smaller film festivals and the Japannual Japanese Film Festival in Vienna deserves one. The Austrian-Japanese Society is trying to bring some great films to the nation’s capital.

This could turn into a laborious cut-and-paste job from previous festival’s I’ve covered because I have information on all but four films but I’ll spare you by giving the highlights.

The program has a mix of classic titles restored to new and shiny life, to contemporary films still being talked about in film groups. Some of these have been on the festival circuit for a while there are others that pop up rarely. There are indies that need a push and anime that are too good to miss. I’m going to highlight independent cinema and hard to see classics as well as an anime that is guaranteed to put a smile on everyone’s face.

Eating Women, Okko’s Inn, Café Funiculi Funicula, My Dad is a Heel Wrestler, Think Again, Junpei, Double Drive: Ryuu no Kizuna, Takaramono no daki kata, Seido no Kirisuto, Konya Shinjuku de Kanojo wa Japanese Film Trailers

Happy weekend, everyone!

I hope everyone is feeling great.

Overtime at work is going to calm down for a bit and I’ve just finished a big otome game project so I can breathe a little easier. I managed to watch over 130 films over the last month or so but mostly for fun. I am still doing all sorts of things such as the on-going social media/writing for the Kotatsu Japanese Animation Festival which starts next weekend. I’ll be able to meet two animators who are jetting in from Tokyo to the UK so that will be cool. I posted a review for The Hungry Lion (2017) and I’m going to get back to reviewing live-action films soon and watching let’s plays of survival horror games as October approaches.

What is released in Japan this weekend?

A Preview of the Kotatsu Japanese Animation Film Festival 2018

Kotatsu Japanese Animation Film Festival 2018

Cardiff                                                                                         Aberystwyth

Chapter 28th – 30th September      Aberystwyth Arts Centre 20th – 21st October

So I work as a writer for the Kotatsu Japanese Animation Festival and it’s going to launch soon. More than 10 feature films have been programmed to present the wide variety of stories and styles in Japanese animation. This year, we welcome two guests from Japan who will treat audiences to special events.

The festival gets off to a start on September 28 at 14:00 at Chapter Arts, Cardiff, with a screening of the Masaaki Yuasa’s latest film Lu Over the Wall.

The Hungry Lion 飢えたライオン Dir: Takaomi Ogata (2017)

The Hungry Lion       

飢えたライオン 「Ueta Raion」

Running Time: 78 mins.

Release Date: N/A

Director:  Takaomi Ogata

Writer: Takaomi Ogata, Fujio Ikeda (Screenplay)

Starring: Urara Matsubayashi, Atomu Mizuishi, Mariko Tsutsui,

This was at the Tokyo International Film Festival last year and Rotterdam and the New York Asian Film Festival this year.

The Hungry Lion is the fourth feature from Fukuoka-born indie filmmaker Takaomi Ogata. Each of his films address pressing social issues faced by modern Japan. Never Ending Blue (2011) shows a teenage girl enduring child abuse and self-abuse and was potent enough to win the Runner-up Grand Prix at the 2010 Okinawa Motion Picture Festival. Body Temperature (2011) featured the story of an intensely lonely man too focussed on a life-sized doll to make a connection with other humans. Sunk Into the Womb (2013) features a Nobody Knows type of story about a single-mother who abandons her children. The Hungry Lion has the harrowing story of an innocent person having their reputation murdered by liars, gossip-mongers, and the media.

North North West, The Hungry Lion, Hibiki, 3D Kanojo Real Girl, Aura Aurora, Itoshi no Airi-n, NETSTAR Saisei Kaisu no muko-gawa, Voice Actor Bowling Grand Prix, Urufuna Shissi, Lenses on Her Heart Japanese Film Trailers

Happy weekend, people!

I hope everyone is fine!

I took two days off work and had a special day on Friday and then a nice relaxing start to the weekend where I watched films on Donation Theater and visited people. I posted information about the Japanese Films at the Vancouver International Film Festival 2018 and a review of the wonderful documentary Of Love and Law which will play at next month’s BFI London Film Festival.

What is released this weekend in Japan?

Of Love and Law 愛と法 (2017) Dir: Hikaru Toda

Of Love & Law     

愛と法　「Ai to hou」    

Running Time: 94 mins.

Release Date: September 2018

Director:  Hikaru Toda

Writer: N/A

Starring: Kazuyuki Minami, Masafumi Yoshida, Yae Minami, Kazumi Tsujitani, Rokudenashiko, Hiroko Tsujitani, Masae Ido, Natsuo Yamamoto,

Website     IMDB    JFDB

Documentarian and visual anthropologist Hikaru Toda is based in London and Osaka and has worked on many films to explore the differences between people and society. Love Hotel, a 2014 film she co-directed, was a look at the lives of the customers of a love hotel in Osaka. It eschewed going down the cheap route of titillating and alternative sex to look at the pressures, inner-desires, and memories that drive the people who escape to such a private place. The film also offered a look at the creeping draconian politics of Japan’s government which is shutting down love hotels whilst also taking away personal freedoms as it re-militarises the country. Two of the customers were gay lawyers Kazu and Fumi who lived out their love behind closed doors and reappear in this documentary out in the open.

Japanese Films at the Vancouver International Film Festival 2018

The Vancouver International Film Festival 2018 runs from September 27th to October 12th and it has a selection of Japanese films seen at festivals such as Cannes and Udine but there is one new title which hasn’t been picked up by any festival that I have seen thus far. Just like last year, it has a film starring Ai Hashimoto and one directed by Daihachi Yoshida. It’s a good line-up so if you cannot attend Toronto or Fantasia, go see the films here.

The Miracle of Crybaby Shottan, Kasane, Fooly Cooly Alternative, The Departure, Itsumo Tsukiyo ni Kome no Meshi, Hatsukoi Sukecchi: Maitchingu Machiko Sensei, Endoka isan sensou, Crying Free Sex, Gekijouban Hontou ni atta kowai hanashi 2018, Eiga Okaasan to Issho Hajimete no Dai Bouken Japanese Film Trailers

Happy weekend, people!

I hope everyone is doing good!

This week has been spent doing overtime in work and overcoming exhaustion and illness at the same time. I had help from relaxing at home with lots of films, a yakuza film from 1958 and lots of shorts on Donation Theater. The campaign period is up and there’s just a week left to watch the remaining films so I’ve got my work cut out but I will do it! I also have work on an otome game and I have to get back into regular reviews again. I have started Japanese practice again, which is good. Prep for going back to the course at the end of the month. I have also done press work for the Kotatsu Japanese Animation Festival which launches at the same time. It’s all happening but I will make it!

I posted about the Japanese films at the BFI London Film Festival and a review of The Scythian Lamb.

What is released in Japan this weekend?