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NanabyAi Yazawawon the 48th Shogakukan Manga Award for shōjo category in 2003 and has over 50 million copies in circulation, making it one of the best-selling manga series of all time. And it’s no wonder why this particular work by Yazawa-senseibecame so popular. Its rich and complicated characters, each just a little bit broken like most people, make their interactions and choices, both good and terrible, feel like they could originate from the reader’s own life.

Nana Osaki | Credits:Viz Media

This manga about relationships may easily descend into a soap opera-like melodrama, but its realistic portrayal of characters saves it from being labeled so. Nana tells the story of two girls who share the same name and how their lives are joined by fate, starting from a coincidental meeting on a train to Tokyo.Nana Komatsu,a young woman who’s had endless boyfriend troubles,...

Nana, the fan-favorite Shojo manga, has provided readers with equal amounts of joy and pain. Why so? Because not a single new chapter had been published since the manga went into hiatus in 2009.

If you are aHunter x Hunterfan, this is the perfect time to touch grass and regain composure.Yoshihiro Togashimight be chronically ill, but he still manages to return from the hiatus and unexpectedly release a few chapters before diving back into a break again.

NanaIllustration byAi Yazawa|Viz Media/ Cookie

Nana fans, on the other hand, have accepted that the chance of the manga’s continuation is next to impossible.

Nana‘s Hiatus and the Author’s Health Issues

Nana first debuted in May 2000 and was published byShueishain the monthly magazine, Cookie. It serialized for nine years and received a total of 84 chapters before going on a hiatus in May...

The Japanese romantic fantasy film Who Were We?, which recently competed at the Tokyo International Film Festival, has locked down several key sales in East Asia.Happinet Phantom Studiosand Tetsuya To Mina Film will co-distribute the title at home in Japan, while Seoul-based Andamiro Films has taken all rights for South Korea and mainland China rights have gone to Beijing Jungle Jim Culture Media.

The second feature from rising Japanese indie directorTetsuya Tomina,Who Were We? is a metaphysical love story that follows a man and a woman — played by the in-demand Japanese starsRyuhei MatsudaandNana Komatsu,respectively — who find themselves on the premises of an ancient gold mine on Japan’s remote Sado Island with no memory of how they got there or who they are.

Komatsu, also a popular fashion model in Japan, is best known internationally for her performance inMartin Scorsese’sSilence,...

Japan’sTetsuya Tominais a director preoccupied with presence — a beguiling sense of place or striking actors simply existing on screen.

His second feature, Who Were We?, which premiered in competition this week at the Tokyo International Film Festival, is a metaphysical love story that follows a man and a woman — played by young starsNana KomatsuandRyuhei Matsuda— who find themselves on the premises of an ancient gold mine on Japan’s remote Sado Island with no memory of how they got there or who they are.

The premise for the film came to Tomina as he was finishing his debut feature Blue Wind Blows (2018), which was also shot on Sado Island (and later premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival in the Generation Kplus section). Walking the island, the director was struck by the sight of a landform known as” Split Mountain” in Japanese, a towering...

One of the prestigious national cinema awards in Japan presented by the Association of Tokyo Film Journalists, the 65th edition of the Blue Ribbon Awards announced its winners on February 24, 2023. The nominees are selected from movies released in 2022 within the Tokyo Metropolitan Area. Leading with 6 nominations,A ManbyKei Ishikawa,wins Best Film whilePlan 75byChie Hayakawapicks up Best Director and Best Actress forChieko Baisho.The full list of winners is described below.

Best Film

A Man

Kingdom 2: To Distant Lands

Small, Slow But Steady

Missing

Silent Parade

Dr Coto’s Clinic

Plan 75

Motherhood

Fragments of the Last Will

Wandering

A ManBest Director

Kei Ishikawa – A Man

Shinzo Katayama– Missing

Takahisa Zeze– Tombi: Father and Son; Fragments of the Last Will

Chie Hayakawa – Plan 75

Ryuichi Hiroki– 2 Women, Motherhood;Phases of the Moon

Best Actor

Sadao Abe– Lesson in Murder; I am...

Hong Kong’s Haf adds 15 Wip projects ahead of first in-person edition since 2019.

The Hong Kong International Film Festival Society has announced 15 work-in-progress projects, completing the full line-up of the 21st Hong Kong-Asia Film Financing Forum (HAF21).

A total of 43 projects will be presented at Haf, including 28 in-development projects announced last month, which is set to run from March 13-15 alongside the 27th Hong Kong Film & TV Market (Filmart). It will mark the first in-person edition for both events since pre-Covid 2019.

Scroll down for full list of projects

Emerging and established actors who lead the cast of the 15 Wip projects includeFish Liew,...

Teenagers locked in their rooms, chained to the desks, drawing frantically, ignoring personal hygiene and feeding on instant noodles, only to be able to appear – even just once – in a comic magazine, is undoubtedly difficult material to forge and transform into an exciting action story, but somehow,Hitoshi Onesucceeds in such a task. The director is rather familiar with manga adaptations and his 2015 film “Bakuman”is a good live action film from a well-known manga, which, despite its two-hour duration, amuses and engages.

on YesAsia

Japanese comics (manga) are very popular and “consumed” also in the West. In the last decades they wormed their way through all the European countries with their own strong tradition of comics, like Italy, France, Belgium, Spain. However, it is worth mentioning that, in Japan, the mangakas (comic book artists) are real stars, on a par with their characters. Becoming an...

With many narratives becoming more or less predictable due to the plethora of stereotypes and clichés attached to them, the tendency to mend their formula or connect them with other concepts is certainly understandable. Since the idea of the love story itself can be altered in any direction and has proven its flexibility in that context time and time again, readers and movie audiences alike have seen (or read) their fair share of these new kinds. In that context, “Parasite in Love”,the new film by Japanese directorKensaku Kakimoto,definitely fits this description as it combines elements of love drama with a comment on social anxieties and even a hint of post-apocalyptic drama. In interviews, the director goes one step further explaining his choice of characters in “Parasite in Love”with the lack of diversity in the society of his home country, with “the opinions of the majority” being...

Matsuri (Nana Komatsu) is 20 years old but learns she has only ten years to live due to an incurable illness. With this knowledge of her life expectancy, she vows not to fall in love. That is, until she meets Kazuto (Kentaro Sakaguchi), a man who has lost the will to live.

This tear-jerker is directed by Fujii Michihito (Yakuza and The Family) and adapted from a 2007 novel by Kosaka Ruka. The novel is inspired by the life story of its author, who was also ill and passed away in 2017. The film’s theatrical release in Japan is scheduled for March 4, 2022.

Japanese rock band, Radwimps, sing the theme song “Uruubito” and also provide music for the official soundtrack. This marks the third time for Radwimps to be involved in music for films, following Your Name and Weathering With You.

The first entirely Japanese-language feature ofEdmund Yeois based on a 1988 short story byBanana Yoshimoto,with the idea seeming brilliant in theory, since the style of the two is a rather good fit. Yoshimoto actually praised the movie on herInstagramaccount, mentioning that it “is a masterpiece of elegance”, and that “the director painstakingly portrayed beautiful parts of Japan’s landscape that even few Japanese can find”. Let us take a more thorough look at the whole endeavor however.

Hitoshi meets Satsuki at night on the banks of a river, after hearing the sound of a small bell. It is love at first sight, and the two fall for each other heads-on. Soon, he introduces her to his brother, Hiiragi, a rather quirky young man who seems to suffer from some kind of narcolepsy and likes to cook for people since he can understand everything about them by the way they eat,...

Satsuki’s (Nana Komatsu) lover Hitoshi (Hio Miyazawa) dies suddenly. She is unable to get over his death and is mired in deep sadness. Satsuki keeps thinking about the moon shadow phenomenon, which she heard about in the past. The moon shadow phenomenon is a mysterious event that allows a person to meet the dead at the end of a full moon.

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Have you ever spent an entire day worrying over some benign thing that you said? Have you ever gotten exactly what you wanted and still felt incomplete? Have you ever fundamentally questioned who you are? Have you ever been in your twenties?

Anime often gets generalized as a genre that showcases exaggerated characters with unbelievable powers who engage in fantastical flights of fancy. But sometimes an anime will stare right into your soul and help you realize things about yourself that you could never previously articulate.Nanais one such anime. It’s arguably the best series for 20-somethings and millennials to watch–an anime that hits harder and probes deeper than some of this generation’s most staggering animated efforts.

There’s an overwhelming amount of anime and manga to explore, butAi Yazawa’s prolificNanahas become even more of an obscure and lost relic.

The refined playbook of Japanese family drama allocates a close-meshed set of rules that many directors go by. At first sight,Hitoshi Yazaki’s “Sakura” is just another chapter. Based on a popular novel, teenage drama in a high school setting, food scenes at the dinner table, and a dog that the film is named after. But the renowned director, who started as Sogo Ishii’s assistant, lays out a false trail.

“Sakura” is screening on Japannual Film Festival

Hajime (Ryo Yoshizawa), Kaoru (Takumi Kitamura), and Miki (Nana Komatsu) live a happy life together with their parents at home. Hajime is the oldest good-looking baseball star of the family. He is the contrast to Kaoru, who has good grates but no luck with girls. Miki is the youngest sister, who mistrusts all the girls that the boys bring home. Sakura is the name of the family dog. Everything seems fine...

The original is a novel of the same name by the Naoki Prize writer,Kanako Nishi,who has surpassed 550,000 copies in total. One dog named Sakura and a family of five appear. And the people who are important to them.

Under the direction ofHitoshi Yazaki,the Hasegawa family’s brothers and sisters areTakumi Kitamura,Nana Komatsu,and Ryo Yoshizawa, who are popular actors. Shinobu Terashima played the three mothers andMasatoshi Nagaseplayed the father, and the female characters that they met wereYui Kobayashi(Keyakizaka46),Kaho Mizutani,and Kazumi Yamatani.

World-renowned pianist Adam George is in charge of the songs in the play, and the theme song “Blue ID” written by the Tokyo Incident that “reproduced” this year decorates the ending.

Synopsis:

There is a happy family that consists of parents and their 3 children: Hajime (Ryo Yoshizawa), Kaoru (Takumi Kitamura) and Miki (Nana Komatsu). Hajime is the...

”This also offers the occasion to find new creativity, not only in content but how it is delivered.”

New York Asian Film Festival (Nyaff) organisers have set a virtual edition from August 28-September 12 after they cancelled the physical event due to the pandemic.

The acclaimed festival typically runs from late June for roughly two weeks and presents world premieres of new work and acclaimed festival and commercial hits.

Nyaff executive directorSamuel Jamiersaid, “We held out for a physical, real festival as long as we could. At the core of what we do, there’s always the idea(l...

The famous tune “Ito” byMiyuki Nakajimais made into a movie.Masaki SudaxNana Komatsustarred in W, and a co-starring team ofNana Eikura,Taku Saitoand others appear in this new movie, scheduled to open August 21.

Synopsis

Takahashi Ren and Sonoda Aoi, both born in 1989, will weave an 18-year tapestry of love going through each other’s lives with repeated encounters and partings.

Akihiko Shiota– attended Rikkyo University, where he was in a film club with other students such asMakoto ShinozakiandShinji Aoyamaand began making 8mm films in the tradition of other Rikkyo students likeKiyoshi Kurosawa.His independent films were recognized at Pia Film Festival and he began writing film criticism and working as an assistant for Kurosawa and other filmmakers. He also studied scriptwriting underAtsushi Yamatoyaand worked as the cinematographer for films byTakayoshi Yamaguchi.His films ‘Moonlight Whispers’ and ‘Don’t Look Back’, both released in 1999 earned Shiota the Directors Guild of Japan New Directors Award. ‘Don’t Look Back’ won also the Jury Prize at the Three Continents Festival. ‘Harmful Insect‘ (2002) was screened at the Venice Film Festival and earned two more awards at the Three Continents Festival. His first major commercial film ‘Yomigaeri’ was the fourth biggest grossing Japanese film in 2003. ‘Canary’ (2005) inspired by the...

Classroom dynamics in the wake of a tragedy are ably explored in director Yuho Ishibashi’s “Sayounara”. It is based on a Sns manga of the same name by the artist Gomen and retains some of the original characters while expanding the world of the manga to suit the feature length format.

In a quiet coastal town lives Yuki, an ordinary high-school girl who likes doing what most girls her age like to do. She is not completely reserved but likes to mingle only with the people she gets along with. Her best friend is Aya, who she’s known for years and who one day, while on their after-school stroll on the beach, announces that she is moving to a different town and school and instinctively kisses Yuki. Yuki has still not collected her thoughts over the incident when she gets the news that Aya has passed away in...

Adapted from the best-selling novel byTakafumi Nanatsuki,this movie shares a similar thematic concern as the 2016 hit anime movie “Your Name”.However, unlike the anime movie, “My Tomorrow, Your Yesterday”felt long-drawn, rendering the effect of its potential ending sequence to be less than climactic.

The movie features reputable starsNana Komatsuin the role of a 20 years old student, Emi Fukuju and Sota Fukushi in the role of Minamiyama Takatoshi, a visual arts undergraduate who falls in love at first sight with the former. The premise of the movie may seem slightly oversaturated or melodramatic, considering the couple’s mutual attraction and interest in each other. It may even seem a bit too automatic for both of them to be so interested, just as the movie portrays them to be. However, the clairvoyant or sceptical audience would have had a hunch that something is not right and surely,...

"Whoever wins this race... I shall grant them a wish." Signature Ent. UK has debuted an official trailer for the indie action thriller Samurai Marathon, also known asSamurai Marathon 1855.Inspired by a real-life race that is still held annually in Japan, Samurai Marathon is an epic thriller from the team behind 13AssassinsandThe Last Emperor.It is actually directed by a British filmmaker namedBernard Rose,best known for directingCandymanandImmortal Beloved.Set in the late feudal era of Japan, a young ninja is operating undercover in the court of an aging Lord during a peaceful era of Japan. His loyalties are put to the test as he competes in the Samurai Marathon event. StarringTakeru Satoh,Nana Komatsu,Mirai Moriyama,Shôta Sometani,Munetaka Aoki,Ryu Kohata,Yuta Koseki,Motoki Fukami,Junko Abe,andDanny Huston.Featuring aPhilip Glassscore, which is also a...

Beginning 2000s, directorAkihiko Shiotaemerged as part of a new wave of Japanese filmmakers portraying teenage alienation in postmodern Japan. Like many other famous directors of his generation, Shiota was a student ofShigehiko Hasumiat Tokyo Film School. Though less prolific than his former classmatesShinji Aoyama( “Eureka”2000) andKiyoshi Kurosawa( “Cure”1997), Shiota produced impressive movies such as “Moonlight Whispers” (1999), “Harmful Insect” (2001) and “Canary” (2004), which all deal with young outcasts and a lack of parental presence. In the course of his career, Shiota shifted his focus from serious indie dramas to sentimental commercial productions and effect-filled entertainment ( “Dororo”2007). He finally ended up in the genre of medical drama with theTBStearjerker “I Just Wanna Hug You” (2014). What may look like a decline of artistic demand, is proven wrong by Shiota’s newest film “Farewell Song”(2019).

“Farewell Song”was screened on Japannual Film Festival in Vienna.

Although Shiota...

Exclusive:HanWay Filmshas grown its sales team with the hire of former Protagonist and TF1 exec Marta Ravani who joins as director, HanWay Select.

Ravani will overseeHanWay’s extensive library and upcoming slate of documentaries. The UK firm’s catalog includes classics from the likes ofBernardo Bertolucci,David Cronenberg,Clint Eastwood,Martin Scorsese,Bob RafelsonandJohn Dower.

Long-time HanWay Select director of salesMark Lanecontinues at the company as director of sales to focus on the company’s expanding slate.

Ravani worked in production in Paris before moving into international sales and acquisitions forFunny Balloonswhere she was responsible for the acquisition of Tony Manero by Pablo Larrain.

In 2014, she joinedTF1 Studioas international sales manager and the following year she moved to London to joinProtagonist Picturesas director of digital, video and TV sales. Recently she has spearheaded the international sales...

Creating an amalgamate movie from other movies is occasionally a very hard job, but the result can be great, as Tarantino has proven time and time again, particularly with “Kill Bill”.Ken Ninomiyatook the concept a step even further, by usingKyoko Okazaki’s manga as its base in order to shoot a film that loans elements from “Helter Skelter”and “River’s Edge (also based on Okazaki’s works), “The World of Kanako”,but most surprisingly, “Spring Breakers”and even a bit of “Velvet Goldmine”.Let us see how he fared.

“Chiwawa”is screening at Fantasia International Film Festival

The story unfolds in a number of different timelines. Immediately as the film begins, we hear one of the protagonists, Miki, talking about the titular character,Chiwawa,just before we learn that her body was found mutilated. In the next scene, the timeline switches to the past, when Miki...

Going on a date with your significant other is a fantastic way to keep the romance alive, but that doesn’t mean you have to spend a boat load of cash. The key to making the most of Asian dating and keeping the romance alive is spending quality time together! One of the easiest ways to do that is by planning a romantic evening right there at home.

If you need a little inspiration or want to create a romantic vibe, check out our top 5 Asian movies that’ll amp up the romance factor.

5. My Sassy Girl (2001)

For those who loves a good rom-com with a dramatic twist, you’re going to appreciate this flick. Gyeon-woo (played by Cha Tae-Hyun) is a college student who doesn’t have much with love, despite his efforts. The young man’s mother and aunt tries to help him out and they urge Gyeon-woo...

Inspired by the origin of the Japanese marathon “Samurai Marathon” tells a story set at the end of the Edo period when American troops have arrived on Japanese shore. Afraid of an attack, the shogun and many of the warlords from the other prefectures try to find responses to the potential threat. In the Annaka domain, the hanshu of the region feels the need to train his samurai who have become weak, as he tells them in a speech, and therefore a marathon will not only be the first step to bring them into shape, it will also show if they are fit for battle. The winner of the run will be granted a wish.

Alerted by what he considers first a plan for rebellion against the shogunate, Jinnai Karaswa (Takeruh Sato), who has been a spy for the shogun for many years, informs his superiors about the events by asking for military support.

For many film fans the nameBernard Roseis usually connected to perhaps his most famous film “Candyman”.However, the English director has also made a name for himself directing many period films, for example, about the life of musician Niccolo Paganini ( “The Devil’s Violinist” ), Ludvig van Beethoven ( “Immortal Beloved”) as well as an adaptation ofLeo Tolstoy’s “Anna Karenina”. His new film “Samurai Marathon” takes place during the time and age of the samurai.

Tokyo nativeNana Komatsuwas born in 1996 and began her career starring in a short film, called Tadaima, before immediately graduating to movies likeClose Range LoveandThe World Of Kanako.Prior to these, however, she was a popular account holder onInstagramand a model. By 2015 she had already won the 38th Japan Academy Prize: Newcomers Of The Year award. She has since added several awards to her roster. Her credits...

Every summer, just when it starts to feel like you’d rather give up on movies forever than trek to the multiplex for yet another blockbuster sequel or remake, the New York Asian Film Festival shows up out of nowhere and saves the day — for New Yorkers, anyway. Unquestionably the country’s best (and most demented) annual showcase of new Asian cinema, Nyaff has established itself as a perennial godsend for cinephiles whose appetites are a bit too adventurous for Hollywood to satisfy, and the festival’s 18th edition — dubbed “Eighteen: Still Too Young to Die” in a cheeky reference to the Kudo Kankuro movie that blew the roof off in 2016 — might be its most promising lineup to date.

This year’s Nyaff kicks off withBernard Rose’s “Samurai Marathon,” which is an 1850s-set jidaigeki about a bunch of samurai running a marathon. Not that anyone could possibly need more reason to see it,...

Vietnamese starVeronica Ngoto receive Daniel A. Craft Award for Excellence in Action Cinema.

Kim Yoon-seok’s Another Child from South Korea and Huang Chao-liang’sHan Danfrom Taiwan are among seven entries that will vie for the Uncaged Award for best feature film in the 2019 New York Asian Film Festival main competition.

Rounding out the competition entries are: Moon Sungho’s 5 Million Dollar Life (Japan),Katsumi Nojiri’s Lying To Mom (Japan),Kenneth Lim Dagatan’sMa(Philippines), Yi Ok-seop’sMaggie(South Korea), and Wu Nan’s Push And Shove (China). The festival runs from June...

Festival to screen Iron Monkey, Master Z: Ip Man Legacy, The Miracle Fighters.

Hong Kong fight choreographer and director Yuen Woo-ping will receive New York Asian Film Festival’s (Nyaff) lifetime achievement award on July 1.

The prolific Yuen’s credits includeThe Matrixfranchise, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, and Kill Bill. He embarked on his film career as an actor in the 1960s and in 1978 made his directorial debut with Snake In The Eagle’s Shadow followed byDrunken Master,the two films that madeJackie Chanan international star and pioneered the kung fu comedy genre.

Nyaff will screen...

Korean actor Ryu Jun-yeol and Japanese actressNana Komatsuwill both be awarded the Rising Star Asia Award at this year’s New York Asian Film Festival, which will run from June 28th to July 14th, 2019.

Ryu Jun-yeol in Lee Hae-young’s “Believer

Ryu, who got his break in theKorean Academy of Film Artsfeature graduation project “Socialphobia”, exploded as a film star in 2017, with star-making turns in “The King”,“Heart Blackened”and the year’s biggest hit “A Taxi Driver“.He followed it up in 2018 with equally impressive roles in “Little Forest”and “Believer”and has already featured in “Hit-and-Run Squad”and the financial drama “Money”already this year.

Tokyo-born Nana Komatsu, meanwhile, started her cinematic journey in 2015 with “Close Range Love”and suspense thriller “The World of Kanako“.Her impressive filmography includes “Destruction Babies “,Martin Scorsese’s “Silence”,hit romantic drama “My Tomorrow, Your Yesterday”as well...

Nana Komatsu,Ryu Jun-yeol to receive honours.

Japan’s Nana Komatsu and Ryu Jun-yeol from South Korea will receive this year Screen International Rising Star Asia Award at the 18th New York Asian Film Festival (Nyaff), which runs from June 28-July 14.

Komatsu will receive her honour before the festival’s opening night screening ofBernard Rose’s action epic Samurai Marathon on June 28, and Ryu will receive his award on July 6.

Komatsu is in demand not only as an actor but is known as an influencer and fashion icon. She made her feature debut five years ago as Koji Yakusho...

Directed byEmiko Hiramatsuand starringErika Toda,the feature is based on a true story.

Japan’s Gaga is launching international sales atFilmarton Organ, the second feature from Emiko Hiramatsu (Seven Days Of Sunflower And Puppy) who worked with Yoji Yamada as co-screenwriter and assistant director on films including What A Wonderful Family!.

Starring Erika Toda (Code Blue) andSakurako Ohara(The Liar And His Lover), the film is based on a true story from the Second World War when young nursery school teachers evacuated dozens of children from Tokyo to save their lives. Under the threat of bombing,...

“Candyman”directorBernard Rosehas helmed a new Japanese film, “Samurai Marathon,” whichHanWay Filmswill introduce to buyers in Berlin. The picture has an original score byPhilip Glassand is produced byHanWay’sJeremy Thomas.

Thomas has a pedigree in Japanese cinema, making films including “13 Assassins”and “Hara-Kiri.” He has again teamed withToshiaki Nakazawa,who produced the Academy Award-winning “Departures,”on “Samurai Marathon.”

Having an English director on the Japanese-language project is an unusual twist for a samurai movie. Thomas told Variety that Rose gives a subtly adjusted take on the genre but remains true to the form.

“I suggested why don’t we try and make a samurai film with an English director, or one not so entrenched in the tradition of samurai, which is a very traditional form of Japanese cinema,” Thomas said, adding that Rose “was fascinated by the challenge.”

The story...

Japanese directorTetsuya Nakashima( “Confessions”“World of Kanako “) has completed production on his most recent film “It Comes”.The horror film is based off the novel “Bogiwan ga Kuru” byIchi Sawamura.The film features a familiar cast withSatoshi Tsumabuki,Takako Matsu(Confessions) andNana Komatsu(The World of Kanako) all returning to work with Nakashima on this latest production.

The film is set to be released on December 7th, 2018, a trailer for the film, originally titled “kuru”, has been released

Synopsis

Hideki Tahara (Satoshi Tsumabuki) and Kana Tahara (Haru Kuroki) are newlyweds. Hideki is excited about his future with Kana. One day, a mysterious person visits the company where Hideki works. Hideki’s colleague conveys the visitor’s message to Hideki “about Chisa-san case.” As soon as Hideki hears the name Chisa, he becomes stunned. His wife is pregnant and they have picked the name Chisa for their baby.

Akira Tachibana(Nana Komatsu) is a 17-year-old high school student. She was once a promising athlete, but an injury has prevented her from taking part in track and field. One day, Akira Tachibana goes to a family restaurant and the manager talks to her in a tender voice. This makes Akira Tachibana begin working part-time at the restaurant. The manager is 45-year-old Masami Kondo (Yo Oizumi) and he is divorced with a child. Akira Tachibana falls in love with him.

‘After the Rain’ is based on manga series “Koi wa Ameagari no You ni” byJun Mayuzuki.DirectorAkira Nakai’s previous film ‘Teiichi: Battle of Supreme High’ is a manga adaptation, too.

IfSion Sonodirected the “Pick a fight with a stranger” sequence fromFight Clubwithout any fantastical flourish, it’d come out something like Destruction Babies. That one sentence might be enough to turn certain people off ever watching this film – and fair enough, since there’s a minimal chance they’d even remotely like it. Hell, even if that description intrigues you, this movie might still not be for you. It is willfully, aggressively unpleasant, a domino string of violent scenes that are deliberately anti-entertaining.

Think about the usual mechanics of cinematic fight scenes, and Destruction Babies does the opposite. The camera spectates from a cold, steady remove. There’s zero feeling of choreography, as combatants flail about messily, missing their punches and kicks as often as they hit. There are few fancy moves – men dance around one another until one of them pins the other and then proceeds to pummel him mercilessly,...

Exclusive: Japanese coming-of-age film goes to Thailand, Hong Kong, and South Korea, among other deals.

Japan’s TBS has sold coming-of-age cheerleading film Let’s Go, Jets! to Thailand (Sahamongkol Film International), Hong Kong and Macau (UA Films), South Korea (Earlybird Films) and Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei, Indonesia and Vietnam (Encore Films).

Based on a true story of how a small-town Japanese high school’s cheerleading club won the Us’s Nda National Championship, Let’s Go, Jets! follows a group of girls as they go from absolute beginners in the countryside to champions in the Us in the space of three years.

Directed byHayato Kawai,the film starsSuzu Hirose(Our Little Sister,Rage) as the spirited main character, Ayami Nakajo as a determined teammate and Yuki Amami as their harsh, no-nonsense coach.Tamio Hayashi(Shield Of Straw, The Eternal Zero, Prophecy) wrote the screenplay.

The film was released locally by Toho on March 11.

TBS is also...

Exclusive: Japanese high school comedy goes to Thailand, Hong Kong, and South Korea, among other deals.

Japan’s TBS has sold coming-of-age cheerleading film Let’s Go, Jets! to Thailand (Sahamongkol Film International), Hong Kong and Macau (UA Films), South Korea (Earlybird Films) and Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei, Indonesia and Vietnam (Encore Films).

Based on a true story of how a small-town Japanese high school’s cheerleading club won the Us’s Nda National Championship, Let’s Go, Jets! follows a group of girls as they go from absolute beginners in the countryside to champions in the Us in the space of three years.

Directed byHayato Kawai,the film starsSuzu Hirose(Our Little Sister,Rage) as the spirited main character, Ayami Nakajo as a determined teammate and Yuki Amami as their harsh, no-nonsense coach.Tamio Hayashi(Shield Of Straw, The Eternal Zero, Prophecy) wrote the screenplay.

The film was released locally by Toho on March 11.

TBS...

Stars:Yuya Yagira,Nijoro Murakami,Masaki Suda,Nana Komatsu| Written byTetsuya Mariko,Kôhei Kiyasu| Directed by Tetsuya Marko

When you watch a film you often look for some meaning behind the images you are seeing. Whether it be horror, action, love, or any other genre there is an aim to the story. This is what makes Tetsuya Marko’s Destruction Babies (Disutorakushon beibîzu) so hard to pin down, because it doesn’t care about the rules, it just wants to cause chaos!

The film starts with Taira (Yuya Yagira) deciding to leave town before a coming of age festival. Nobody seems to care but for his younger brother Shota (Nijoro Murakami) who witnesses Taira being attacked by a group of young thugs. Wandering to a nearby city, he starts fighting with anybody in his path, which catches the interest of Yuya Kitahara (Masaki Suda) who soon joins Taira in his need for destruction.

The award ceremony for the oldest Japanese cinema competition took place on February 5 at the Bunkyo Civic Center, and the list of winners is:

Best Actor:Yuya Yagira(Destruction Babies)

Best Actress:Rie Miyazawa(Her Love Boils Bath Water)

Best Supporting Actor:Pistol Takehara(The Long Excuse)

Best Supporting Actress:Hana Sugisaki(Her Love Boils Bath Water)

Best Director:Sunao Katabuchi(In This Corner of the World)

Best Director (Foreign):Clint Eastwood(Sully)

Best Screenplay:Hideaki Anno(Shin Godzilla)

Best New Actor: Nijiro Murakami (Destruction Babies, Natsumi no Hotaru)

Best New Actress:Nana Komatsu(Oboreru Knife, Destruction Babies)

Best Ten Japanese Feature Films

In This Corner of the World(Sunao Katabuchi)

Shin Godzilla(Shinji Higuchi/Hideaki Anno)

Harmonium (Koji Fukada)

Destruction Babies (Mariko Tetsuya)

Long Excuse (Miwa Nishikawa)

The Bride ofRip Van Winkle(Shunji Iwai)

Her Love Boils Bath Water (Ryota Nakano)

Creepy (Kiyoshi Kurosawa)

Over the Fence...

Winner of the Best New Director prize at the Locarno Film Festival, and one of the greatest recent Japanese films, alongside “Hime-Anole “, “Destruction Babies” is a combination of Miike’s “Izo”, Tsukamoto’s “Tokyo Fist”and Toyoda’s “Pornostar “.

The film starts in Mitsuhama, a small port in the west of Ehime prefecture where two brothers are living, abandoned by their parents. The younger is named Shota and seems like a regular high-school boy, and the second is Taira, a delinquent who is introduced through a fight with the local gang, he against half a dozen that is. Almost immediately after the fight, and a little before the mikoshi (portable shrine) festival, Taira leaves and embarks on a trip of blind violence through the streets of the city, where he picks fights with anyone that comes across his way, including the members of the local gang who run a hostess club.

SilenceParamount PicturesReviewed by: Harvey Karten, Shockya Grade: A- Director:Martin ScorseseWritten by:Jay Cocks,Martin Scorsese,from Sh?saku End?’s novel Cast:Andrew Garfield,Liam Neeson,Adam Driver,Ciarán Hinds,Tadanobu Asano,Ryô Kase,Sin’ya Tsukamoto,Nana Komatsu,MichiéScreened at: Paramount, NYC, 12/19/16 Opens: December 23, 2016 If you’re “up” with trends […]

The postSilenceMovie Review appeared first on Shockya.

Martin Scorseseleaps right into this year's Oscar race withSilence,his epic new adaptation ofShûsaku Endô's novel.Andrew GarfieldandAdam Driverstar as Portuguese Jesuit missionaries sent to Japan in the 17th Century. Their mission is to track down their former mentor, Father Ferreira (Liam Neeson), and help re-establish the Catholic Church's foothold in the country, following a violent crackdown by the ruthless magistrate. Scorsese penned the screenplay withJay Cocks(The Age of Innocence,Gangs of New York), and there's more than a passing whiff of Conrad'sHeart of Darkness- and by extensionApocalypse Now- to the plot. Scorsese has also recruited some formidable Japanese talent, includingShinya Tsukamoto,Tadanobu Asano,Ryo Kase andNana Komatsu,to fill out his international...

[Read the whole post on screenanarchy...]...

Toho and Warner Brothers announced at a press conference on Wednesday that both companies are collaborating for the first time to produce and distribute a live-action film adaptation ofHirohiko Araki’s JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Diamond Is Unbreakable manga. Prolific filmmakerTakashi Miikeis directing the movie, which will open in Japan in summer 2017.

The cast includes:

Kento Yamazaki

Kento Yamazakias Josuke Higashikata

Ryunosuke KamikiasKoichi Hirose

Nana Komatsuas Yukako Yamagishi

Masaki Okadaas Keicho Nijimura

Mackenryu as Okuyasu Nijimura

Takayuki Yamadaas Anjuro Katagiri

Yusuke Iseya as Jotaro Kūjo

Arisa Mizukias Tomoko Higashikata

Jun Kunimuraas Ryōhei Higashikata

JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Diamond Is Unbreakable is the fourth part of Araki’s JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure manga. The story is set in Morioh, located in S City in M Prefecture of Japan, and it follows the misadventures of Josuke Higashikata and his companions, as...

Tetsuya Nakashima,one of the greatest contemporary Japanese filmmakers takes up, once more, the subject of bullying in the school environment, although in a much different fashion than “Confessions,” adapting Akio Fukamatsi’s novel,” HateshinakiKawaki(Kawaki is the original title of the film).

When gorgeous and excellent student Kanako disappears, her mother, Kiriko, asks her ex-husband, Akikazu, to locate her. However, things take a turn for the worse since Akikazu is an ex-cop, who has actually been an irresponsible delinquent all of his life, is now determined to search relentlessly for his daughter. And the word relentlessly, to Akikazu, means that he is willing to act violently towards her classmates, her psychiatrist and the professor in charge of her classroom, all of which are women. During his, filled with alcohol and psychiatric pills, research, he discovers that his daughter has nothing to do with the angelic creature he and...

Exclusive: Film is an adaptation of popular Japanese manga Oboreru Kaifu.

Japan’s Gaga Corp is launching sales on Ū-ki Yamato’s Drowning Love, an adaptation of popular manga Oboreru Kaifu, created by female manga artistGeorge Asakura.

StarringNana KomatsuandMasaki Suda,the film revolves around a successful Tokyo teenage model who moves to the countryside and falls in love with a member of a prominent family of Shinto priests.

The film, which is in post-production, is Yamato’s second feature followingCount FiveTo Dream Of You (2014), a high school drama starring the five members of J-pop groupTokyo GirlsStyle.

Gaga, which is ramping up local production, is also launching sales on romantic dramaItazura Na Kiss- The Movie, directed byMinoru Mizoguchi,and stop-motion animation Chieri And Cherry.

Starring Kanta Sato and Reina Visa,Itazura Na Kissis based on a best-selling manga that has been adapted into TV series in Japan...

To commemorate the film’s recent arrival across Amazon, iTunes, Vimeo, We Got This Covered has an exclusive clip to share for The World of Kanako,Tetsuya Nakashima’s (Confessions) visceral cinematic treat that premiered across VOD services on December 4.

Picked up for distribution by Drafthouse Films, Nakashima’s thriller made its bow in Japan back in 2014, where it was met with rave reviews for its arresting story and barnstorming sense of style, which you daren’t take your eye off. Harkening back to the more extreme cinema coming out of Asia, The World of Kanako follows the titular Kanako Fujishima (Nana Komatsu), a young teenage girl who suddenly disappears, calling her haunted father (Kōji Yakusho) out of retirement in order to search for her himself.

What follows is a spiralling descent into the grimy underbelly of the city, and Kanako’s father finds himself exposed to the lurid world of drugs,...

Anti-hero is too light a word for the lead of The World of Kanako. A hard-drinking, tortured, virulent ex-cop thrown into an underworld of sociopathy and systematic abuse in order to find his daughter, he evokes a long line of lead archetypes in detective stories. DirectorTetsuya Nakashima’s style and narrative flourishes may draw comparisons to countrymen likeJohnnie Toand Sion Sono, or the South Korean revenge thriller boom anchored by directors like Kim Ji-Woon andPark Chan-Wook,but The World of Kanako differs in one singular way. Akikazu Fujishima (a completely unhingedKôji Yakusho) hasn’t sold his soul to the devil for revenge. He never had one in the first place.

Presented in a jumbled chronological style reminiscent of Memento, and filled with hallucinogenic episodes into both the mind of the lead, and animated tangents giving context into the life of one child who is transformed...

The World of Kanako

Written byAkio Fukamachi,Tetsuya Nakashima,Miako Tadano&Nobuhiro Monma

Directed byTetsuya Nakashima

Japan, 2014

Tetsuya Nakashima’s The World of Kanako is a blood-soaked detective story about an unstable father’s quest to track down his missing daughter. While falling within the broad boundaries of a detective story, The World of Kanako plays out as an ultra-violent, psychotropic dive into the brittle mind of a damaged protagonist. While the squeamish will definitely want to sit this one out, those up for a hyper-kinetic, genre-bending revenge flick are in for a treat.

Akikazu Fujishima (Kôji Yakusho) is a flat out mess: he’s lost his job, lost his family, and self-medicates his mental illness with alcohol and drugs. Akikazu floats through his life without meaning until his ex-wife (Asuka Kurosawa) calls to inform him that his teenage daughter Kanako (Nana Komatsu) is missing. Whether fueled by...

"Where did you hide Kanako?" Drafthouse Films recently put out a funky full theatrical trailer forTetsuya Nakashima's The World of Kanako, the crazy bloody, high-energy Japanese action thriller described as a "non-stop visual and emotional assault to the senses".Nana Komatsustars as Kanako Fujishima, the daughter of an ex-detective named Akikazu, played byKôji Yakusho.She goes missing and he goes after her, ending up in some twisted, trippy violent (under)world. I really like the music choice in this, something unique and fresh, and it goes a long way to make us ignore the extreme violence we're otherwise witnessing. If you're into ultra violent Japanese thrillers about a father looking for his missing daughter, here you go. The full theatrical trailer forTetsuya Nakashima's The World of Kanako, from Drafthouse's YouTube: An uncompromising revenge thriller of operatic scope, The World of Kanako is a non-stop...