Happy weekend, part two!
I hope you are all still feeling good.
In the time between this post and the last, I have watched Memories of Murder as prep for another instalment of the Heroic Purgatory podcast.
What else is released this weekend?
The Man Who Was There 
そこにいた男 「Soko ni Ita Otoko」
Release Date: November 13th, 2020
Duration: 33 mins.
Director: Shinzo Katayama
Writer: Yukiko Sode (Script),
Starring: Yaeko Kiyose, Hidekazu Yasui, Eriko Nakamura, Sawaka Minaguchi, Yuuya Matsuura,
A short film directed by Shinzo Katayama, whose debut feature film Siblings of the Cape attracted and was screened in different countries. He also has a credit as an AD on Bong Joon-Ho’s mystery-thriller film Mother and Nobuhiro Yamatshita’s The Drudgery Train. The script is by Yukiko Sode who is responsible for Good Stripes and Aristocrats.
Synopsis: A woman named Saki is discovered covered in blood and sat next to the body of an actor in the elevator hall of a condominium. She smokes a cigarette and seems stunned. The film takes audiences back two years in the past, a time when Saki, a staff member on a film, met the actor, Sho, on set and fell in love. He used her badly and had another woman on the side and so Saki reveals how strong her love is and the event occurs that night we first meet her.
Tane wa Dare no Mono 
タネは誰のもの「Tane wa Dare no Mono」
Release Date: November 13th, 2020
Duration: 65 mins.
Director: Masaki Haramura
Writer: N/A
Starring: N/A
Synopsis: A documentary that explores the amendment to the Seed and Seedling Law which is being deliberated in the Diet. The pros and cons are weighed up in numerous interviews with farmers, scientists and others involved in various agricultural sites from Hokkaido to Okinawa. The producer is Masahiko Yamada, a lawyer and former Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. The director is Masaki Haramura, who handles many agricultural-themed documentaries.
Tabun 
たぶん「Tabun」
Release Date: November 13th, 2020
Duration: 50 mins.
Director: Yuki Saito
Writer: Sinano (Script), YOASOBI (Original Story)
Starring: Rui Kihara, Rina Ono, Uta Yorikawa, Mizuki Shida, Haruka Kurosawa, Megane, Yoshijiro Itokawa,
YOASOBI is a “unit that makes novels into music” which is composed of composer Ayase and vocalist ikura. This is an original story based on a novel of the same name by Shinano, which was the original story of their song “Maybe”.
Synopsis: Kanon and Sasano broke up after they began to feel a gap in their relationship which they thought would be rock solid. Sasano is more optimistic but Kanon begins to close up…
The Werewolf Game: Death Game’s Operator 
人狼ゲーム デスゲームの運営人「Jinro Gemu: Death Game no Uneinin」
Release Date: November 13th, 2020
Duration: 103 mins.
Director: Ryo Kawakami
Writer: Ryo Kawakami (Novel/Script), YOASOBI (Original Story)
Starring: Yuuki Ogoe, Momoka, Akane Sakanoue, Ken Nakajima, Nozomi Hanayagi, Uchikuri Uchikura, Fuyuna Asakura, Reira Hoshi,
Ryo Kawakami, the original author of the series, directs this entry in the franchise.
Synopsis: Another round of the Werewolf Game is about to tale place and while wealthy people wager on the winners and losers of the game, Masamune (Yuuki Ogoe), an operator of the game, tries to rescue a contender, a female high school student named Yuzuki Natsume who has been brought in to play.
Hotel Royal 
ホテルローヤル 「Hoteru Ro-yaru」
Release Date: November 13th, 2020
Duration: 104 mins.
Director: Masaharu Take
Writer: Yukako Shimizu (Script), Shino Sakuragi (Original Novel)
Starring: Haru, Kenichi Matsuyama, Ken Yasuda, Kimiko Yo, Fukiko Hara, Yui Natsukawa, Sairi Itoh, Amane Okayama, Chika Uchida, Ami Tomite,
Shino Sakuragi’s autobiographical novel gets adapted into a film by director Masaharu Take (100 Yen Love, The Gun). A great set of actors like Yui Natsukawa (Still Walking), Ken Yasuda (The Actor), Sairi Itoh (Love and Other Cults) and Amane Okayama (Poetry Angel).
Synopsis: Hotel Royal is a small family-run love hotel located in Kushiro Marsh, Hokkaido, Japan. Masayo Tanaka (Haru) is the only child of the family and has failed to enter an art school so she has now returned home and works at the hotel. She does not show her emotions to anyone but carries a faint love for Miyagawa, a salesperson of an adult goods company. The film follows her and a collection of guests as Masayo’s family deals with various incidents just as her father falls ill.
The Legacy of Dr. Death: Black File 
ドクター・デスの遺産 BLACK FILE 「Doctor Death no Isan: Black File」
Release Date: November 13th, 2020
Duration: 120 mins.
Director: Yoshihiro Fukagawa
Writer: Izumi Kawasaki (Script), Shinchiri Nakayama (Original Novel)
Starring: Gou Ayano, Keiko Kitagawa, Kenshi Okada, Tomoya Maeno, Misato Aoyama, Ken Ishiguro,
Synopsis: Detective Hayato Inukai (Gou Ayano) and Detective Asuka Takachiho (Keiko Kitagawa) investigate a series of suspicious deaths of terminally ill people. Their search for answers turns up a person known as “Dr. Death” who performs euthanasia by request. Meanwhile, Detective Hayato Inukai’s daughter Sayaka asks Dr. Death to be her a visit due to her severe kidney disease.
Sakura 
さくら 「Sakura」
Release Date: November 13th, 2020
Duration: 119 mins.
Director: Hitoshi Yazaki
Writer: Masa Asanishi (Script), Kanako Nishi (Original Novel)
Starring: Takumi Kitamura, Nana Komatsu, Ryo Yoshizawa, Shinobu Terajima, Masatoshi Nagase, Kaho Mizutani, Yui Kobayashi, Kasumi Yamaya, Masaya Kato,
Hitoshi Yazaki (Afternoon Breezes) has a great cast of actors such as Nana Komatsu (The World of Kanako) and Shinobu Terajima (Vibrator) in this family drama.
Synopsis: The Hasegawa family consists of parents and their 3 children, eldest son Hajime (Ryo Yoshizawa), middle child Kaoru (Takumi Kitamura), a university student, and the daughter Miki (Nana Komatsu), a high schooler and their dog Sakura. Hajime is handsome and everyone adores him but when he dies in a car accident his family fall apart. Then, a miracle-like event occurs that connects the broken family again.
The Believers 
the believers ビリーバーズ 「the believers biri-ba-zu」
Release Date: November 14th, 2020
Duration: 110 mins.
Director: Wataru Hiranami
Writer: Wataru Hiranami (Script),
Starring: Ayaka Horii, Kiyoshiro Ishida, Ayako Ishikawa, Haruna Matsukawa, Miyu, Kazuya Okada, Midori Suiren, Soichiro Tanaka, Reika Akuzawa, Aya Fumino, Ryoka Neya, Ryutaro Ninomiya, Nozomi Suda, Satsuki Maue,
Synopsis: A series of stories about different people living in Tokyo. A woman living with a lover who is a musician, women who love each other, a man who looks for a the person he believes is his fated lover and a woman who lives freely every day and wander the city. Each of these are told differently, some realistically, some humorously, and some lyrically.
Nana Komatsu is 24 and still playing school girls. I hope she doesn’t end up like Mary Pickford and plays them for so long into her career that she ends up thinking she is still a school girl when she is in her 50s! 😮
I trust that with more experience directors will allow her the chance to portray different characters and she will be able to broaden her roles. Otherwise, let’s enjoy her appearances 😀
I suppose she, like a lot of Asian women, is blessed with perpetual youthful looks she can get away with it. However, she doesn’t want to end up like Charlene Choi and still stuck in the same role well into her 30s…
Charlene Choi? Where have I heard that name from…
Looks her up… sees 77 Heartbreaks… breaks into a cold sweat…
Remembers trauma-inducing movie and has Vietnam war-style flashback to being on cinema’s frontlines…
The horror… the horror…
Not seen that one but have sat through a few other duds of hers, but she is too cute which makes it easier to endure… 🙂
To me it was a vapid and glossy relationship drama with a cast of characters it was hard to feel sympathy for. However, it was a film that worked for other people but not for me so don’t let me put you off it. Maybe I was being too pretentious.
Yeah, probably…. 😉 😛