Japanese Cinema

A new trailer has been released for Hiroyuki Nakao’s upcoming science fiction/historical drama film Time Scoop Hunter. Time Scoop Hunter is a TV drama which has aired on NHK since 2009. The program uses the theme of time travel to present fictionalized documentaries on lesser-know historical figures. In this film version, “space-time journalist” Yuichi Sawajima (Jun Kaname) is sent back through time to unravel the mystery of Azuchi Castle, which was built by famous shogun Oda Nobunaga and...

Artwork not final – mock-up. Photo courtesy of Section23 Films. Source: Section23 Films press release Special Thanks to Mike Bailiff Home video distributor Section23 Films has announced that one of their upcoming anime titles will be postponed for a few months. The QUEEN'S BLADE REBELLION DVD and Blu-ray, originally scheduled for July, has been delayed to a September 24 street date. Continued...

VIZ Media’s Haikasoru Imprint Releases Exciting Novel by Famed Horror/Sci-fi Author Hideyuki Kikuchi Source: VIZ Media, MediaLab press releases Official Site: haikasoru.com Special Thanks to Jane Lui and Erik Jansen The new Vampire Hunter D novel Noble V: Greylancer is now available in stores. Image courtesy of VIZ Media. Cover art © 2013 Vincent Chong VIZ Media’s Haikasoru literary imprint delivers a bloodthirsty new chapter of the legendary Vampire Hunter D saga with the North American release of Noble V: Greylancer, now available in stores. The new fantasy novel by Hideyuki Kikuchi, carries an MSRP of $14.99 U.S. / $16.99 CAN. The release also includes a bonus novelette titled, An Irreplaceable Existence. An eBook edition is also available for the Amazon Kindle, Apple’s iBooks Store, and the Barnes & Noble’s Nook Books Store. Haikasoru publishes some of the most compelling contemporary Japanese science fiction and fantasy stories for English-speaking audiences, and is the first imprint based in the U.S. dedicated to Japanese science fiction and fantasy in translation. Internationally acclaimed writer, Hideyuki Kikuchi, author and creator of the famed novel series, Vampire Hunter D, delves into the past with his latest addition, Noble V: Greylancer. It is the year 7000 by Noble reckoning, and the vampire rulers of the world have grown complacent. When the Outer Space Beings (OSBs) invade, the Noble warrior Greylancer must pit his skills and magic against the technology of the OSBs, quash an anti-Noble rebellion, and, when he is critically injured, turn to mere humans for help. The Three Thousand Year War of Vampire Hunter D begins here! Continued...

A new “Lie” teaser has been released for Nobuo Mizuta’s upcoming comedy Shazai no Ohsama (lit. king of apologies). The film reunites the so-called “golden trio” that worked together on 2007’s Maiko Haaaan!!! - director Mizuta, screenwriter Kankuro Kudo, and star Sadao Abe. Inspired by the seemingly absurd number of public apologies that have been delivered by Japanese public figures in recent years, the film revolves around an apology instructor named Mamoru Kuroshima (Abe) who teaches a...

Today it was revealed that actor Kengo Kora will appear in Kazuyoshi Kumakiri’s My Man, an upcoming film adaptation of Kazuki Sakuraba’s Naoki Prize-winning novel Watashi no Otoko. Kora first met Kumakiri at the age of 18 when they both attended the the Rotterdam International Film Festival, but the two have never worked together before now. He was reportedly a fan of Kumakiri’s work from the start, and particularly liked his recent films Sketches of Kaitan City and Blazing Famiglia. The new...

The third film in the series has redneck teen Sean Boswell (Lucas Black) being sent to Tokyo to live with his father. Once there he gets mixed up with another high school punk who just happens to be the nephew of a powerful gangster (Sonny Chiba). The first film in this series was good and the follow-up wasn’t too bad when you considered everything that it was. This third film, however, is a complete disaster from the word go and it’s rather shocking that this here didn’t put an end to the entire series. Even more predictably Sean’s forbidden romance puts him in the middle of rival Yakuza drift racing gangs. Moving the story to Japan is reasonable because it will change many aspects of the previous films, but sadly isn’t enough to make the movie good. Too bad the only things that I really enjoyed about this experimentation project are the soundtrack and the racing scenes, since the cheesy dialogs and the campy characters ruined many minutes of this movie. The most important part of The Fast and the Furious is inarguably the racing sequences and their overall effectiveness. I will admit that the sequences themselves are well-filmed and eye catching, highlighting the cars, as they should. However, except in a few fleeting moments, they are not as enthralling as they should be and this is one of the most disappointing aspects of The Fast and The Furious: Tokyo Drift. The final confrontation, for me, is pretty good to watch, but only arouses the senses once in a while. The fact that you see confident Asian characters portrayed by talented Asian American actors, while smoothly giving the audience the feel of what it is like for an outsider to visit Japan. I would also like to add that it was actually Lin himself who volunteered to take on this project when he realized that it was the only major Hollywood theatrical film to predominantly feature an Asian American cast in 2006. Lin read the script, realized it was riddled with stereotypes. Lin just could not bare to see the fact that a film with this much exposure around the world was going to misrepresent Asians and Asian Americans, so he bit the bullet and took one for the team, and decided to take this on as his next Hollywood directorial assignment. Although Lin could not get his way in casting Sung Kang as the lead for “Tokyo Drift,” because the studio specifically wanted a white actor for the lead role, Kang was still given a prominent role as the non-stereotypical Asian American mentor for the male lead. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-EheX9m-dE Also, the big “final race” occurs, and the hero’s dad has the body of a classic 60s Mustang in his garage (a somewhat unlikely situation in Japan — not just the car, but the idea that he has a entire garage for this purpose in one of the world’s most expensive and crowded cities). So Sean and his friends take the engine out of one of the Japanese cars he has wrecked earlier in the film, and in a few hours they manage to install this into the 60s muscle car. I admit I am not a mechanic or specialist, but it does not seem logical that you could retrofit a Japanese front wheel drive engine into a vintage 60s American rear wheel drive car….if it could be done AT ALL, it seems to me that it would take a long time and involve a lot of custom parts. That’s not even considering that they drive on the opposite side of the road in Japan, or that a 60s era car would be much heavier than a current model Japanese car. There are too many other absurdities to list, along with the inclusion of the Yakuza (Japanese mafia). I wish I could say that “Toyko Drift” was campy, or that you could have a good time just laughing at the many absurdities, but actually its fatal flaw is that it is extremely dull.

Since the beginning of time, women have always been competitive creatures. Female drama begins at early stages in life, and only get worse with age. It seems they will do just about anything to get what they want, and bullying happens to be the solution. Men, fashion statements, money and a proper title are the main targets when it comes down to it. In the strange world of woman, its all about competition and being the best of the best. Many women may deny this until they’re among trusted friends sipping on their tea, but what happens when keeping quiet is no longer an option. Yukihiko Tsutsumi’s 2LDK is the story of Nozomi (Eiko Koike) and Rana (Maho Nonami) who are competing for the same movie role. While waiting to see who gets to be a Yakuza wife, they’re fixed in the same apartment over night. Nozomi is a quiet yet determined girl from a little town, who’s striving to make something big of herself, while also proving she’s not as timid as she looks. Rana is a high maintenance-pageant girl with a dark secret, hoping to win the role to fix her reputation and damaged self esteem. While one believes she has what it takes, and the other feels that she deserves her big break, you’ll begin to wreck your own brains wondering who’s gonna get the part. Other then the obvious food labeling and marking territories, it starts with simple eye rolling, mind gossip and sarcastic comments. But when one is overcoming their own personal battles, keeping sane becomes a difficult task when your competition is in the next room. It doesn’t take long before the girls really start to push each others buttons, but when they realize they’re both fighting for the same boy’s affection, all hell breaks loose. Simple poking, prodding and hair pulling is now the stuff of child’s play. Only one can get the role. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IUXUkb34Dms Along with Ryuhei Kitamura’s “Aragami”, 2LDK became apart of the Duel Project and was filmed within an astounding eight days. There’s even a supposed American remake in post-production staring the cute Alexa Vega; but as we all know, nothing tops an original. Winner of the Jury Award’s best director, 2LDK is a mesmerizing tale that can make the simplest everyday girl question who’s friend and frienemy material. No doubt, it’s the perfect flick for a girls night in, you’ll surely laugh and rekindle old memories. Just hope when you’re hugging it out, your bestie doesn’t chop off your ponytail.

Logo for the Japan Film Festival of San Francisco. Image courtesy of NEW PEOPLE. 14 Live-Action and Anime Films at NEW PEOPLE Cinema from July 27-August 4 Source: MediaLab press release Official Site: jffsf.org Special Thanks to Erik Jansen The 2013 J-POP Summit Festival, the popular yearly San Francisco summertime Japanese Pop Culture celebration, has announced the launch of the Japan Film Festival of San Francisco, the first fully-dedicated annual Japanese film event for Northern California and the S.F. Bay Area. SPACE BATTLESHIP YAMATO is among nine live-action films screening at the festival. Photo courtesy of NEW PEOPLE. © 2010 SPACE BATTLESHIP YAMATO Production Committee The week-long Japan Film Festival of San Francisco will take place at the NEW PEOPLE Cinema beginning Saturday, July 27th through Sunday August 4th. The festival will also be a prominent feature of the 2013 J-POP Summit Festival, taking place across Japantown on Saturday and Sunday, July 27th and 28th. A complete schedule and advance ticket information is available on jffsf.org. Nine live-action films representing a vivid cross-section of the best in recent Japanese cinema will have their exclusive U.S. and/or San Francisco premiere at NEW PEOPLE. Live-action films include director Miwa Nishikawa’s DREAMS FOR SALE, Sakuran director Mika Ninagawa's HELTER SKELTER, Sion Sono's award-winning masterpiece, HIMIZU, architect/author Kyohei Sakaguchi’s documentary, HOW TO BUILD A MOBILE HOUSE, director Takashi Miike’s LESSON OF THE EVIL, director Shinsuke Sato’s LIBRARY WARS, actor Kazunari Ninomiya’s PLATINUM DATA, the samurai adventure of RUROUNI KENSHIN, and SPACE BATTLESHIP YAMATO, based on one of Japan’s greatest anime properties (known in the U.S. as STAR BLAZERS) and a must-see for any sci-fi aficionado. Films will be presented with their original Japanese dialogue with English subtitles. Continued...

This is a great Anime that is more unexpected then typical fantasy comedy romance ones. The story starts with Ririchyo a Girl who comes from a very wealthy family whom is sent to live in a special Hotel with other special wealthy people who each get their own Personal Body Guard. This one starts very typical with a few silly moments put in here and there. Until it gets to a point where some would be thieves decide to rob the residents. Its then revealed that the reason for the tight security and the Body Guards is not to Protect the Residents from the outside, but actually to protect the outside from the Residents. Every Resident and Body Guard are not what they seam and are actually quite powerful and dangerous if they want to be. In addition to this revelation, the viewers are also introduced to a budding love story between Ririchyo and her would be Body Guard. What makes this an excellent series is how it introduces the Audience to all the characters. Their personalities couldn’t be more different; she hides her shyness by being harsh with everybody and he is so desperate to please her that he is almost obsequious. Over the course of the series it becomes clear that she has feelings for him but it seems impossible that she will find away of expressing them. The other characters are an entertaining bunch which includes a self-styled delinquent who turns into a cute tanuki (Japanese raccoon dog) Ririchiyo’s ‘fiancé’ Kagero who believes everything is either sadistic or masochistic and Zange, a character who doesn’t appear to take anything too seriously. I rather enjoyed this series; at only twelve episodes it did not outstay its welcome; in fact I wouldn’t have minded if it had been longer. The characters are an entertaining bunch that provided plenty of chuckles. While it was fairly obvious that by the end Ririchiyo and Soshi would end up together there were some twists and turns along the way that made it seem possible that they wouldn’t. A background is given for all of them to give them all depth. This allows a viewer to understand the point of view of each character no matter who they are. Also an excellent attention to detail from one episode to the next is kept. What i mean by this is that if there is damage or something happens in a previous episode, this is recalled later which has an effect on the later episodes. Each episode is mostly encapsulated story wise so that the viewer doesn’t have to recall every single episode to keep up. And the comedy is superb with its flare of making fun of differing character types. It should be noted though that this series has a story that does not follow the Comic/Manga exactly. In essence its a retelling of the story in a differing way. With superb Animations and dialogue this is a definite must watch for anyone who is interested Fantasy/Comedy/Romance genre animes. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=krjnRF7esOc This DVD collection offers all 12 episodes from the series along with another “episode” that appears to be three shorts that I had never seen before. The shorts do require that you see the series to fully understand but no one in the client-agent class of residents from this apartment complex is left out. These shorts also touch upon later issues of the first manga series. Personally I found the English voice actors to be good but there were a few awkward moments when they spoke over each other and a voice seemed out of place; that’s an issue for the English version director. The subtitled version does not seem to have these issues. A very unusual romance with absurdity and a touch of kink makes this not for children but perhaps also not for every adult. The comedy is fairly gentle with little to offend and there isn’t too much fan service… although some viewers may think Nobara, the large chested blonde girl crosses the line a few times! Overall this is a fun series which is well worth watching if

Running Out Of Time was a box office success. Johnnie To decided to create a sequel to the film with Lau Ching-Wan coming back to reprise his role as Inspector Ho but something was missing. Andy Lau is nowhere in sight to cause havoc for Inspector Ho. Instead, Ekin Cheng replaces Andy Lau and plays the thief who will give Inspector Ho fits. How would their chemistry compare to the irreplaceable chemistry between Andy Lau and Lau Ching-Wan’s characters? How would Inspector Ho deal with this new adversary? Is Ekin Cheng a magician? Sorry, that last question isn’t really relevant. Or is it? Ekin Cheng plays a nameless thief (cause what’s cooler than a character with no name?) who brings Inspector Ho back into his comfort zone: a cat and mouse game with thieves. Inspector Ho is puzzled by this nameless thief and tries to figure out why this nameless thief is doing the wrong that he is doing. Later on, he teams up with a businesswoman played by Kelly Lin who is involved with the nameless thief because he has three priceless artifacts insured by Lin’s business. There is something about 20 million Hong Kong dollars in fake money and an eagle because the nameless thief trains birds. Unlike the first film, which gave Andy Lau’s character a reason for doing his cat and mouse game with Inspector Ho, the reason that there is a cat and mouse game in this film is not given. The character just smiles for the camera and acts like a complete clown. To put it lightly, their chemistry is nowhere near as relevant as Andy Lau and Lau Ching-Wan’s. The acting is okay with Lau Ching-Wan being the only real reason to smile but everyone else is just there to get a paycheck. Assistant Commissioner Wong Kai-Fat becomes even more of an idiot in this film and he almost destroys Inspector Ho’s case in the process which begs the question; why is he still a police officer? Shouldn’t he be fired? Did he get his brain removed? Does he owe Inspector Ho a favor or something? Kelly Lin’s acting is also unreliable and while she looks good, her acting is anything but. Ekin Cheng had to resort to using smoke bombs and magic tricks while Andy Lau just left without making a sound. Either Ekin Cheng’s character was a super genius or the cops in this movie were very, very stupid. While the film is mildly enjoyable, there is nothing here to truly recommend for people to watch. If anything, check out the first film because that film is a film that showcases Johnnie To’s directing abilities. The humor usually falls flat and the drama does not add any tension at all and it feels like everyone was trying WAY too hard to top the first film. If this film was in any other person’s hands, this film may have been a much worse film but regardless; this is a miss in Johnnie To’s resume.