You are here: Home / Archives for Japanese Movies

Our Homeland (2012) – Japan

April 12, 2013 by Leave a Comment

Year: 2012
Country: Japan
Director: Yang Yong-Hi
Writer: Yang Yong-Hi
Genre: Drama
Runtime: 100 min
Language: Japanese
Release Date: August 4, 2012

Cast:
Arata – Seung-Ho
Sakura Ando – Rie
Yang Ik-June – Mr. Yang
Kotomi Kyono – Soon-Yi
Tatsushi Omori – Hong-Gi
Jun Murakami – Joon-Ho
Shogo – Cheol-Yi
Taro Suwa – Te-Jo
Yoshiko Miyazaki – mother
Masane Tsukayama – father

Synopsis/ Plot:
Sung-Ho (Arata) arrives in Japan, but his stay is only temporary. 25 years earlier, as a 16-year-old boy, he left Japan for North Korea with only a one way ticket. His father is an ethnic Korean living in Japan and sympathetic to the North Korea cause. Believing in the North Korean government’s promises, Sung-Ho’s father sent Sung-Ho to live in North Korea.

Filed Under: Drama, Japanese Movies

Ougon wo Daite Tobe (2012) – Japan

April 12, 2013 by Leave a Comment

Year: 2012
Country: Japan
Director: Kazuyuki Izutsu
Genre: Crime, Suspense
Runtime: 129mins
Language: Japanese
Cast: Satoshi Tsumabuki, Tadanobu Asano, Chang-Min, Kenta Kiritani, Junpei Mizobata, Toshiyuki Nishida

Plot:
Kota (Satoshi Tsumabuki) hears about an impending 1.5 billion yen gold bar heist from his friend Kitagawa (Tadanobu Asano), a former college classmate, and decides to take part. The gold bar sits in the basement of the HQ of Sumita Bank.
Helping Kota and Kitagawa are bank security employee Noda (Kenta Kiritani), a North Korean spy pretending to be a college student (Shim Chang-Min), Kitagawa’s younger brother Haruki (Junpei Mizobata) and a former elevator engineer (Toshiyuki Nishida). These 6 men are about to carry the boldest of schemes to bypass the bank’s high-tech defense system.

Filed Under: Crime, Japanese Movies, Thriller

Musashinosen no Shimai (2012) – Japan

April 8, 2013 by Leave a Comment

Year: 2012
Country: Japan
Director: Yamamoto Junnichi
Writer: Yukiwo (manga)
Genre: Comedy / Romance
Runtime: 92 min
Language: Japanese
Release Date: Novenber 17, 2012
Cast:
Kato Natsuki – Ran
Nakata Chisato (AKB48) – Pandora
Nakaya Sayaka (AKB48) – Hikaru

Synopsis/ Plot:
The film tells the story of two sisters named Ran and Pandora – Ran is depicted as the internet-addicted older sister, while Pandora is the adorable younger sibling.
The sisters adore gothic lolita fashion and reside in a luxurious apartment, despite maintaining NEET (“Not in education, employment or training“) lives.  Yet tension is introduced when Pandora lands a job in one of Akihabara’s maid cafe, making Ran very hostile against her.

Filed Under: Comedy, Japanese Movies, Romance

Drudgery Train 2011 – Japan

March 28, 2013 by Leave a Comment

Also known as: Kueki Ressha
Year: 2011
Country: Japanese
Directed by: Nobuhiro Yamashita
Duration: 1 hr, 53 min
Language: Japanese
Cast:
Mirai Moriyama
Kengo Kora
Atsuko Maeda
Makita Sports
Tomorowo Taguchi

Plot:
Kitamichi (Mirai Moriyama) is a 19-year-old labor worker who only went far as middle school. He’s now hooked on alcohol while playing around. Kitamichi develops feelings for Yasuko (Atsuko Maeda), who works in a used used bookstore, but he has never had a girlfriend or, currently, any friends. Kitamichi also meets Kusakabe (Kengo Kora) who he becomes friends with. Jealousy soon threatens their friendship.

Filed Under: Drama, Japanese Movies

Kyou (Magamagashi) Ni Hyou Rei (2012) – Japan

March 28, 2013 by Leave a Comment

Year:2012
Genre:Horror
Runtime:51 min
Country:Japan
Language:Japanese
Cast:Fukuda Yumi, Nishino shou, Saeki Megumi, Sayama Ai, Tanaka Yuka, Amagasa Chihiro

Synopsis:
The second volume of real horror footage collected by the leading staff in the industry. Among the re-enacted videos of spiritism submitted by the public are young starlets like Megumi Saeki, Chihiro Amagasa, Yumi Fukuda et al. They are confronted with psychic phenomena and the experience of possession, that actually occurred in haunted places.

Filed Under: Horror, Japanese Movies

Hankyu Railways A 15 Minute Miracle (2011) – Japan

March 26, 2013 by Leave a Comment

Also known as: Hankyu Train, Hankyu Densha
Year: 2011
Country: Japanese
Directed by: Yoshishige Miyake
Duration: 1 hr, 58 min
Language: Japanese

Cast:
Miki Kiritani
Erika Toda
Nobuko Miyamoto
Kaho Minami
Tetsuji Tamayama
Ryo Katsuji
Mitsuki Tanimura
Kasumi Arimura
Mana Ashida
Yu Koyangi

Plot:
“Hankyu Densha” follows the lives of various people who commute on Hankyu Railway’s Imazu Line – connecting the cities of Nishinomiya and Takarazuka in Hyogo prefecture. One of the commuters is Shoko (Miki Nakatani), an office worker in her 30s who lost her boyfriend to a younger colleague. There’s also a college student (Erika Toda) who is so easily persuaded by her no good boyfriend. Other commuters include a grandmother & granddaughter, a house wife, a female high school student, and a female otaku college student.

Filed Under: Drama, Japanese Movies