Japanese Cinema

The S.H.Figuarts Toei hero lineup for September/October 2013. Photos courtesy of Bluefin. © Ishimori Pro ? Toei/ © Toei Articulated Bandai Figures to be Sold in Japan and America Source: Bluefin Corp. S.H.Figuarts Official Site: tamashii.jp/shfiguarts (Japan) Special Thanks to Xavier Lim Distributor Bluefin Corp. has provided product specs and high-res photos for three S.H.Figuarts releases coming from Bandai's Tamashii Nations in September and October 2013. Fans of Toei's Kamen Rider franchise will soon be able to purchase Masked Rider Blade and Masked Rider No. 1's Cyclone motorcycle, while Super Sentai fans can look forward to an exclusive Mighty Morphin White Ranger figure. All three items will be released both in Japan and North America. Fans and collectors can purchase S.H.Figuarts figures from authorized Bluefin dealers, including SciFi Japan's sponsors Anime Jungle and Toy Freakz. Continued...

Former Momoiro Clover member Akari Hayami, who has recently been active in TV dramas and commercials, will get her first starring film role in Momose, Kocchi wo Muite. Hayami will play a high school girl named Momose who becomes involved in a pseudo-romance with an emotionally awkward classmate. Showing her commitment to the role, Hayami cut off about 18 inches of hair, which she had been growing out over the past two years, in order to achieve Momose’s cropped look. The film is based on a...

The official website for Toshiyuki Morioka’s Jyokyo Monogatari has been updated with a YouTube embed of the movie’s new trailer. In yet another live-action adaptation of Rieko Saibara’s autobiographical manga, the film stars Kie Kitano as an aspiring artist named Natsumi Takahara who arrives in Tokyo to attend art school and starts living with a young man named Ryosuke (Sosuke Ikematsu). Although Ryosuke is kind-hearted, Natsumi gradually gets fed up with his inability to hold down a steady...

What do you do with a half-dozen mail-order ninja suits, some black eye-liner, a few friends willing to tumble around a public park like idiots and a heap of public domain films? Well, in the 80s if you were Godfrey Ho, you made two million movies comprised of newly filmed ninja-frosted kung-fu fights cut into older [...]

Jon Lee Brody is an actor and Martial Artist (he is a second degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do) with a dual degree in Accounting and Finance. Jon was accepted for admissions to prestigious law schools like Harvard and Northwestern, but he instead chose to go against the grain and pursue his other childhood dream: acting. He didn’t wait long to buy a one way ticket to Los Angeles, and since then he hasn’t looked back. You can see him TODAY in the giant summer blockbuster sequel to Star Trek – Into Darkness. We talk about his various projects and what lies ahead in his career in this exclusive interview. Read below for the full Q&A… You have done work on TV series, films, wrote, directed, the list goes on. What was your journey like to become so multi disciplined in so many areas? JLB: Well, when I first started, I was focused on acting. I definitely had a passion for all aspects of filmmaking but I knew that I had to take things one step at a time. Sometimes people try to learn everything at once and that very seldom works out.  I knew that I had to make sure my acting was on point, and I am still a perfectionist when it comes down to it. Then as my career progressed, I started to explore editing. The editing started when I was cutting together demo reels. And then I started applying what I learned on various movie sets to directing. That entire time, I was learning how to write screenplays. I was always a pretty creative writer, but screenplays are a different animal.  But like I said, all of these things came to me one step at a time. The journey has been great. I’m still learning and when it comes down it, I’ll always be learning. I think as my career goes on, I want to keep improving and keep learning new things. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z2WIeH7vbcs You stated you were a big fan of Good Will Hunting and Titanic. It seems dramas and well written films initially motivated you to get into the business. How has your body of work thus far correlated to the types of projects that inspired you years ago? JLB: You’ve certainly done your homework! I’m impressed [laughs]!  I saw both of those movies when I was in junior high. And that is when I truly fell in love with cinema as an art. Up until then, movies were just a fun thing to do with friends. But it was after seeing those movies that I started to appreciate the art of filmmaking. I’m not sure if my being a fan dictates the kind of projects I take on, but they are definitely two movies that I look to for inspiration. As an multi-racial actor, do you find it a struggle to interact with casting directors based on your Korean ethnicity? Has this situation decreased due to your resume building over the years? JLB: Casting has actually been pretty good to me and I’ve had a chance to play a variety of roles. I’m very grateful for that. You’re very tall and you are passionate about sports. Down the line, could we possibly see you take the leading role in a Jeremy Lin bio pic? Would that be of interest to you? JLB: I do love basketball. Jeremy is a guy who I admire. He had an uphill battle just getting to the NBA. And then another uphill battle to stay in the NBA. And those battles will continue. As far as playing him in a movie, that’s a tough one to answer. Ultimately, it’s not up to me. But if the director and producers thought I was the right fit then sure. But the most important thing is that his story would be told right. Of course you are in the big summer blockbuster Star Trek Into Darkness. What could you tell us about your character? JLB: I play a Star Fleet Security Officer. Not much I can say other than I am a redshirt. I’m sure any Trekkie knows what that means…[laughs]! Interestingly enough, the producers’ background on the film is in TV, which means there’s always a last-minute possibility of changing story, dialogue, character points, action beats, etc. Having worked in TV as

Hotaru Amemiya (Haruka Ayase) and Seiichi Takano (Naohito Fujiki) visit Italy in the manga adaptation, HOTARU THE MOVIE: IT'S ONLY A LITTLE LIGHT IN MY LIFE. Photo courtesy of NTV. © 2012 HOTARUNOHIKARI FILM PARTNERS Source: NTV (Nippon Television Network) Official Movie Site: himono-movie.jp (Japan) In June 2012, HOTARU THE MOVIE: IT'S ONLY A LITTLE LIGHT IN MY LIFE (?? ???????, Eiga Hotaru no Hikari), the big screen spinoff from the manga-inspired television series, was released to theaters across Japan by Toho. NTV is now offering the film for international sales. The following production notes and movie images are courtesy of NTV... English language international promo art for HOTARU THE MOVIE: IT'S ONLY A LITTLE LIGHT IN MY LIFE. Photo courtesy of NTV. © 2012 HOTARUNOHIKARI FILM PARTNERS Hotaru no Hikari is a popular Japanese women's romance comic written and illustrated by Satoru Hiura. It was serialized in Kodansha's Kiss magazine from 2004 to 2009 and was collected in 15 volumes with a total of 3.8 million copies in circulation. The live-action HOTARUNOHIKARI: IT'S ONLY A LITTLE LIGHT IN MY LIFE (???????, Hotaru no Hikari) television series was aired from July 2007, starring Haruka Ayase and Naohito Fujiki, it marked high viewership ratings and instantly became all the rage among mostly female viewers. It depicts the love life of Hotaru Amemiya, who is like a "dried fish" in that she has basically given up on love and would rather be lounging around at home, even though most other women her age are actively seeking love and building their careers in the ocean of their twenties. But Hotaru's personality and way of life gained the support of many women who felt the same way as her but couldn't really come out and admit it. The work created quite a stir and the expression "dried fish woman" (himono-onna) was even nominated as one of the most popular words of the year. The second season was aired three years later in July 2010 and the work's popularity proved to be long-lived, inspiring the production of the much-awaited movie spinoff. Continued...

A killer just released from prison (Nick Cheung) is suspected of a new murder in NIGHTFALL. Win the Blu-ray from Well GO USA and SciFi Japan. © 2012 Irresistible Delta Ltd., Edko Films, Ltd., SL-Metropole Organization, Ltd. Source: Well Go USA, MPRM Communications Special Thanks to Leif Helland A SCIFI JAPAN EXCLUSIVE Blu-ray cover art for NIGHTFALL. Image courtesy of Well Go USA. © 2012 Irresistible Delta Ltd., Edko Films, Ltd., SL-Metropole Organization, Ltd. Well Go USA Entertainment is offering SciFi Japan readers a chance to win the HK action thriller NIGHTFALL (???, Dai Chui Bo, 2012) on Blu-ray. Directed by Chow Hin Yeung Roy (MURDERER), the film features two of Hong Kong’s most exciting action stars Simon Yam (IP MAN, THE THIEVES) and Nick Cheung (THE STOOL PIGEON, ELECTION) in a gritty, brutal story of love, hate and vengeance. From the violent opening prison fight scene to its twist-laden finale, this grisly thriller pits bitter, aging detective George Lam (Simon Yam) ag

Back in February, it was announced that veteran actress Kaoru Yachigusa will star in Kujikenaide, an adaptation of late poet Toyo Shibata’s best-selling anthology of the same name. Today it was revealed that her supporting cast will include Ran Ito, Rei Dan, Mana Ashida, Mizuho Suzuki, Yusuke Kamiji, and Pierre Taki. Yachigusa hasn’t had a lead film role since starring in Carmine Gallone’s 1954 film adaptation of Madame Butterfly. In the new film, she’ll play Shibata from 77-92 years old...

A teaser trailer has been released for Hirokazu Kore-eda’s Like Father, Like Son, which is in competition at this year’s Cannes Film Festival. The film stars Masaharu Fukuyama as a successful family man named Ryota who discovers that his 6-year-old son was actually switched at birth with the son of another couple. Ryota, his wife Midori (Machiko Ono), and the other couple involved (Lily Franky and Yoko Maki) are forced to consider what it really means to be parents and which bonds are most...Watch »

On Thursday it was revealed that actress and fashion model Mizuki Yamamoto (21) has been cast in Kentaro Otani and Keiichi Sato’s upcoming live-action movie adaptation of Black Butler. She’ll play an original character in the film, a maid named Rin. The role will require Yamamoto to be involved in intense action scenes (involving guns, etc.) for the first time in her career. She reportedly spent two months training before filming began. Yamamoto, a model for fashion magazine “CanCam”, has...