Happy weekend, everyone!
I hope you are all doing fine!
The Kotatsu Festival is underway and there will be two free film streaming sessions later today. My review for Yuya Ishii’s All the Things We Never Said went lives yesterday on V-Cinema. This is the follow-up post to yesterday‘s which details what was released in cinemas in Japan this weekend.
GOZE 
瞽女 GOZE 「GOZE」
Release Date: October 23rd, 2020
Duration: 109 mins.
Director: Masaharu Takizawa
Writer: Isao Shiina, Sunao Sakagami, Masaharu Takizawa (Script),
Starring: Non Kawakita, Miyu Yoshimoto, Hiroko Nakajima, Makoto Togashi, Seeina Suzuki, Junko Miyashita,
Synopsis: Blind female travelling entertainers who played the shamisen and sang stories were known as Goze. This film depicts half of the life of the late Haru Kobayashi, the last Goze, someone who was deemed an intangible cultural property holder of the country. Haru lost her eyesight at the age of three months and her father died when she reached the age of two. She became a Goze at the age of seven due to her blindness. During this time, her mother, Tome, pushed Haru hard so that she would excel in the art. However, what seemed like cruelty was really the depth of affection for a mother preparing her child for a tough life. Haru embarks on her first tour with her master at the age of eight and it is a struggle to survive but survive she does and she flourishes.
We Are Oh! & Yeah!! 
オレたち応援屋!! 「Oretachi Oenya!!」
Release Date: October 23rd, 2020
Duration: 90 mins.
Director: Satoshi Takemoto
Writer: Koji Tokuo (Script),
Starring: Ryosuke Hashimoto, Shota Totsuka, Fumito Kawai, Koichi Gozaki, Ryoichi Tsukada, Fujiko Kojima,
A youth comedy in which five members of the popular idol group “ABC-Z” star in a movie for the first time. This seems to be based on a stageplay, “ABC座2016 株式会社応援屋!!～OH＆YEAH!!～”
Synopsis: The film imagines the ABC-Z boys as “cheerleaders”, whose livelihood is to support people. Just as they enter an existential crisis about their purpose, a request arrives from a teacher at Raijin High School on the remote Raijin Island. They are asked to help the students of the school, which had been closed down, to help revive the island’s traditional event, the Raijin Festival. To revive the festival, they must deal with a curse and convince the reluctant students to help.
Dancing in Her Dreams 
彼女は夢で踊る 「Kanojo wa yume de odoru」
Release Date: October 23rd, 2020
Duration: 95 mins.
Director: Hideyuki Tokigawa
Writer: Hideyuki Tokigawa (Script),
Starring: Masaya Kato, Takafumi Inukai, Izumi Okamura, Yuji Yokoyama, Atsuhiro Inukai,
This stars Izumi Okamura from Shady and Aroused by Gymnopedies
Little Subculture Wars – Villevan! Counterattack 
リトル・サブカル・ウォーズ ヴィレヴァン！の逆襲 「Ritoru sabukaru uo-zu vuirevuan! no gyakushuu」
Release Date: October 23rd, 2020
Duration: 102 mins.
Director: Yosuke Goto
Writer: Kiyotaka Inagaki (Script),
Starring: Amane Okayama, Aoi Morikawa, Moga Mogami, Chikara Honda, Hinata Kashiwagi (Private Ebisu Junior High School), Masato Hagiwara, Mina Oba, Yumi Adachi,
This is a continuation of a TV show set in a real book store.
Synopsis: Keizo Sugishita is a college student who calls himself “empty” but he finds excitement working a part-time job at Village Vanguard, a book store that contains all sorts of niche content and characters who visit and work there. One year after starting his part-time job, Sugishita realises that something is definitely missing in his daily life, nay, the world – Japanese subculture. His battle ro reclaim subculture begins here!
Saitan kyori wa mawarikudokute Ame to Soda Nizu
最短距離は回りくどくて、 雨とソーダ水 「Saitan kyori wa mawarikudokute, ame to sōda mizu」
Release Date: October 23rd, 2020
Duration: 102 mins.
Director: Daisuke Yamanouchi
Writer: Daisuke Yamanouchi (Script),
Starring: Riku Mukai, CIMA, Ami Kasai,Takashi Kunogi, Muo Hattori, Taishi Takeemoto, Kouheei Watanabe, Masamitsu Kani,
A sequel to the boy’s love movie Roundabout, the Shortest Distance Is Round (IMDB), produced by OP PICTURES (see the festival they recently held).
Synopsis: Yuuto and Aoyama were together as a couple after overcoming many obstacles, but the day after they confirmed their love, Aoyama disappeared. Yuuto is then visited by a man who knows everything about Aoyama and old rivals in love who are being chased by criminals appear.
Just By My Side 
ただ傍にいるだけで 「Tada hata ni iru dake de」
Release Date: October 23rd, 2020
Duration: 159 mins.
Director: Tokitaka Ueda
Writer: Happo Neko (Script), Happo Neko (Original Novel)
Starring: Song Min-Kyung, Hiroshi Ono, Tomoko Nonaka, Yuji Okayama,
A Japanese-Korean co-production produced by the Kansai-based film production company “Studio Theater Cafe Nyan”. It was made with Japanese and Korean staff and cast members.
Synopsis: Mamoru (Hiroshi Ono) dreamed of becoming a movie director and so he started shooting independent films by teaming up with a producer named Akiko but something unexpected happened and he was forced to stop shooting. He gave up his dream and now spends his days working at a watch shop downtown. Then, as if this wasn’t enough heartache, one day, he finds out that he is suffering from a disease. Mamoru, who was at a loss, visits Korea, where he once studied abroad, and meets Jay Park, who aims to become an actor and finds some inspiration again.
Happy-Go-Lucky Days 
どうにかなる日々 「Dounika Naru Hibi」
Release Date: October 23rd, 2020
Duration: 54 mins.
Director: Takuya Sato
Writer: Takuya Sato, Yasunori Ide, Yoriko Tomita (Script), Takako Shimura (Original Creator)
Starring: Ai Fairouz (Sayoko), Ibuki Kido (Shin-chan), Kana Hanazawa (Ecchan), Kaori Ishihara (Mika-chan), Mikako Komatsu (Aya-san), Seiichiro Yamashita (Yagasaki-kun), Takahiro Sakurai (Sawa-sensei), Mutsumi Tamura (Yoriko San),
Animation Production: LIDEN FILMS Kyoto Studio
Synopsis from My Anime List and Anime News Network: Love is love. Someday, the pain of being in love will be an endearing memory. No matter who the feelings are towards, no matter what form it takes, all love and lifestyles have the same value. An omnibus anime that tells the stories of various people feeling love:
Kana Hanazawa plays Ecchan, and Mikako Komatsu plays Aya-san in the “Ecchan to Ayasa” segment about the feelings of two women who once met at a wedding of a former sweetheart. Takahiro Sakurai voices Sawa-sensei, and Seiichirō Yamashita voices Yagasaki-kun in the “Sawa-sensei to Yagasaki-kun” segment, which focuses on a teacher in a boys’ school who is put on the spot by a student’s sudden confession. Ibuki Kido plays Shin-chan in both the “Shin-chan to Sayoko” and “Mika-chan and Shin-chan” segments, while Kaori Ishihara plays Mika-chan, and Ai Fairouz plays Sayoko. These last two segments both follow two childhood friends and their growing sense of distance as they reach adolescence.
