Weathering With You, Tokyo Ghoul ‘S’, 5 Million Dollar Life, Walking Meat, Under Your Bed, Moonless Dawn, Nerima Zombie Night, I Don’t Want to Run Anymore, Robinson’s Garden Japanese Film Trailers

Welcome to the weekend.

I hope you are all well.

I want to start this trailer post by offering my condolences to the people at Kyoto Animation studio for the terrible tragedy they suffered with the arson attack.

It sounds so awful. I’ve used artwork from series made by them on this blog since it started and I work for an animation festival so I’ve come to watch and appreciate their works. One of the best screenings we had was for A Silent Voice where the audience was profoundly moved by the human drama on screen. Near all of us were in tears at the end. I think back on that screening and want to thank the folks at Kyoto Animation for making films and shows that help people connect with their shared humanity and I hope they can recover as best they can.

At the start of the week I posted about a series of special screenings orchestrated by the Tanabe Benkei Film Festival in Shinjuku. I then posted my review for the Nobuhiro Yamashita film Hard-Core, a tragi-comedy about outsiders and then a review for the super-excellent NDJC short film Last Judgement which plays in a free screening at the Japan Cuts festival of Japanese film in New York. I’ve been busy writing reviews for Japan Cuts. Three have been published on VCinema: The Kamagasaki Cauldron War, The Miracle of Crybaby Shottan, and the 2019 NDJC shorts. One of today’s Japan Cuts screenings is for the film Whole which I saw at the Osaka Asian Film Festival.

What is released in Japan this weekend?

What A Wonderful World, Banzai! Here is Lover Road and Other Tanabe Benkei Film Festival 2019 Screenings

Over the past month, a number of indie films have been played at Theatre Shinjuku. I have placed them in various trailer posts and have now rounded them up into this one because they all look interesting and will hopefully turn up at other festivals. They are part of the Tanabe Benkei Film Festival 2019 screenings where notable titles have been selected for more screenings and there are two films left for screening and they are the first two in this post:

Tourism, Tokyo Higata, Crab Planet, Mewtwo Strikes Back Evolution, Karappo tokubetsu zoho-ban, Caniba, Okazu-kun in the Ad Agency’s Men’s Dorm: The Movie, 17-year-old Cinderella Tokyo Boys Collection Episode 2, Kofuku no Me, Shianosu Japanese Film Trailers

Happy weekend, people!

I hope we are all good!

I have reached the end of another 12-day work run and I’m finally catching up on my rest. In that time, I am watching Japanese films!

My review for Lying to Mom (2018) was published over at V-Cinema which wraps up my coverage of the New York Asian Film Festival there, however, it continues on this blog. I posted reviews for the Sabu film Jam (2018) and the Japanese drama 5 Million Dollar Life (2019). Expect more film reviews soon as I catch up with other titles.

What is released this weekend?

Itsu no ma ni ka, koko ni iru Documentary of Nogizaka 46, Gekijouban Free! Road to the World Yume, Despair of the Monster, GOZEN junren no ken, Saitan kyori wa mawarikudokute, Fukansho ni natte iku korekara no bokura ni tsuite, Mongol800 Message, Diner, Strawberry Song, Amber Light, Me Singing, Me Fall in Love, Entoko no uta netakiri kajin endou shigeru, Overtime Kawasaki Brave Thunders 2018-19 Season Official Documentary Film, Brave Boxer Hikari Kankei, Hentai Metamorphose Woman Woman Woman Japanese Film Trailers

Happy weekend, everyone.

I hope you are all well.

I am writing that at 2:20 on Saturday morning because I have woken up super-early. I think it was drinking at a friend’s leaving party. I have chocolate, a slight headache and writing to keep me company in the dark.

Three out of four of my reviews for the New York Asian Film Festival have gone live over at VCinema – Samurai Marathon, Mr. Long, The Fable – and there’s one more to go. I’ll be reviewing more from the fest over the next couple of months on this blog. I’ll also be reviewing titles from Japan Cuts so please stay tuned for that. For this blog I posted about the Dreaming Korea Animation Festival and the Japan Foundation UK’s screenings of live-action films at the British Museum and the Japanese films at the Fantasia International Film Festival.

What is released this weekend? Lots. The best-looking titles for me are Fukansho ni natte iku korekara no bokura ni tsuite, Me Singing, Me Fall in Love because I like indie films and they look the most interesting. How about you?

Japan Foundation’s Film Screenings: “Summer Explorers!” 2019

The Japan Foundation and British Library are working together to put on a series of film screenings for Japan Foundation’s annual Summer Explorers season in London. I posted about the fantastic line-up for Pre-Summer Explorers! last month and now audiences can enjoy another series of over the top, offbeat narratives featuring psychic shenanigans and epic high school politics in a collection called:

Summer Explorers 2019 : Manga Comes To Life – Live Action Japanese Film Based on Manga

These films are taken from manga and brought to life in highly cinematic ways – apart from Setoutsumi which looks like one extended conversation but I have been informed that it is absolutely hilarious.

Presented and Curated by the Japan Foundation, in collaboration with the British Library (website for the event), here are the location and date details:

Date: 27 July 2019 – 28 July 2019
Venue: British Library, Knowledge Centre Theatre, 96 Euston Road, St Pancras, London NW1

The cost to view the films is around £8.

Here are the films:

The Journalist, Bento Harassment, Sea of Revival, Hot Gimmick: Girl Meets Boy, Banzai! Koko wa ai no michi, Let’s go! Anpanman: Sparkle! Princess Vanilla of the Land of Ice Cream, Gekijouban Patalliro!, Anata ga koko ni iro dake de munekata Sanshimai Monogatari, Yee-chan no shiroi tsue, Chontycha – at the end of summer, Delivery, Nashi-kun Tamako to kiba no yukue, Retro Love, Frame Arms Girl: Kyakkyau Fufu na Wonderland, Cencoroll Connect Japanese Film Trailers

Happy weekend, everyone!

I hope you are all well!

Welcome to another weekend of badly translated trailers. I’m at the end of another 12-day work period so this weekend is going to be savoured. My spare time has been spent watching films and writing about them while listening to podcasts.

I started this week on a high with a post about the Kanazawa Film Festival and I ended it with the last of my Osaka Asian Film Festival coverage for this year – a review for Demolition Girl and an interview with that film’s director Genta Matsugami. I may do a round-up post and a comment on the awards ceremony but the New York Asian Film Festival has started and I have material to release for that, specifically reviews for Samurai Marathon and The Fable which have already been published. That written, I have a couple of posts about different festivals to release next week… Also, I got some Japanese beer from a friend in work so that helped me survive an evening of the heatwave that has struck Britain…

What is released this weekend?   

The Fable, Ride Your Wave, Meiji Tokyo Renka, Final Fantasy XIV: Dad of Light, Philosopher King Lee Teng-Hui’s Dialogue, Tribe Called Discord: Documentary of GEZAN, Twilight, Aru machi no takai entotsu, Ai ga soi de koi, One Letter First Introduction The Strongest Kung Fu Boy vs Hell’s Murder Karate, Okinawan Blue, Kasuriko, Gekieiga Okinawa, Cinema Kabuki Bando Tamasaburo Sagi Musume, JUNG YONG HWA: FILM CONCERT 2015-2018 “Feel the Voice”, Women’s Baseball Three out! Play Ball Whistle, Cinema Kabuki hidakagawa iriai zakura Japanese Film Trailers

Happy weekend!

I hope you are all well.

I posted about the New York Asian Film Festival 2019’s selection of Japanese films, the interview I conducted with Takashi Nishihara and Manami Usamaru from the film Sisterhood and an interview I conducted with Akiyoshi Koba, director of Nunchaku and Soul. This weekend’s trailer post has been bananas in terms of the number of films released.

What is released this weekend?

We Are Little Zombies, To the Ends of the Earth, Don’t Cry, Mr. Ogre, For Whom the Alchemist Exists, Shiba Park, Junichi, Love Drives You Crazy, Uta no☆Prince-sama♪ Maji Love Kingdom Movie, Fate/kaleid liner Prisma Illya: Prisma Phantasm, Handling Method for Grumpy Woman, Rascal Does Not Dream of Dreaming Girl the Movie, Girlz und Panzer das Finale Part 2, Aitachi no Gakko, Toureppu “Kaiju no Kodomo” wo sagashite, Dance! Horror Restaurant, Moeyo! Shippai Joshi Japanese Film Trailers

Happy weekend!

I hope you are all well.

This weekend’s trailer post is an epic one as lots of titles are released on Friday and Saturday. My week in blog posts started with a review of the Korean film The Gangster, The Cop, The Devil (2019) and then a review of Whole (2019) which I wrote back in March and then a preview of the films that have been programmed for Japan Cuts 2019 – a great selection!

What is released this weekend?

Children of the Sea, The Garden Apartment, Almost a Miracle, Erica 38, Rent A Friend, Saint Young Men Second Century, Voice Actor Bowling Grand Prix 3, 99-sai haha to kuraseba, Mangetsu no yoru ni wa omoidashite, Bad Women Good Job Japanese Film Trailers

Happy weekend!

We made it to another one!

I’m starting the post with a great AMV. I used to make those, once upon a time.

We had big news at the start of the week with the marriage of Yu Aoi to the comedian Ryota Yamasato. It caught everyone off-guard because their dates went under the radar but they’ve known each other for a long time. Her smiles say a lot so let’s hope they continue to be happy.

In terms of this blog, I wrote about the Japanese films at this year’s Annecy International Animation Festival and the Edinburgh International Film Festival. I also wrote about the Japan Foundation’s Pre-Summer Explorer’s film event where a selection of great titles including The Night is Short, Walk on Girl, Getting Any? and Fuku-chan of Fukufuku Flats are going to be screened.

What is released this weekend?

Orphan’s Blues, Jesus, Parallel World Love Story, Farewell Song, A Long Goodbye, Black Maiden: Chapter Q, Lupin the IIIrd: Mine Fujiko no Uso, Life on the Longboard 2nd Wave, Zubu nurete inukoro, Ninomiya Kinjirou Japanese Film Trailers

Happy weekend, everyone!

I hope you are all well!

I have just completed a 12-day work week and have two days off so I’m going to spend this weekend watching films. I went out with work colleagues/friends to a Chinese restaurant and a bar, the first time I’ve done that in months, and it felt good. I’ll be going out more now that proofing work has died down and film work has gone back to various things I have watched although I still have reviews and interviews from the Osaka Asian Film Festival to go. No films watched this week, just a review for Shinjuku Tiger and an interview with its director, Yoshinori Sato.

Here’s what’s released this weekend.