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There’s just something about a cursed doll movie.

Japanese writer/director Shinobu Yaguchi’s entry in the sub genre, Dollhouse (2025), doesn’t reinvent the wheel so much as play around with the conventions and audience expectations. Yaguchi, who is best known for his comedies, manages to integrate funny moments into the film, which is mostly successful at balancing its diverse tones. If anything the infusion of comedy and the sly wink-wink, nudge-nudge moments are what help the film stand out from its contemporaries.

When Yoshie Suzuki (Masami Nagasawa) is left minding daughter Mei’s (Totoka Honda) pre-teen friends, she leaves the girls alone to quickly bike to the store for snacks. Not unlike a Final Destination film, the red flags immediately begin to pop up: there’s a strange man she spots walking down the street and other women are gossiping about whether he’s dangerous at the store.

Though Shinobu Yaguchi is much loved today by fans and critics of Japanese cinema alike for some of the best contemporary slice-of-life comedy films the country has to offer, he has in the past also dabbled with the horror genre for TV. After the longest break of his career thus far, with his last work coming six years ago with 2019’s “Dance With Me”, and as fans waited with bated breath for his next output, he surprised everyone by returning not with another comedy in the ilk that he is known and loved for, but with a new production in the horror genre.

Dollhouse is screening at New York Asian Film Festival

Yoshie Suzuki leaves her five-year-old daughter, who is playing hide-and-seek with her friends, alone at home as she runs to the supermarket. Upon her return, she finds her daughter suffocated to death, having tried to hide in the washing machine.

Koki Mitani is one of Japan’s most celebrated screenwriters, playwrights, and film directors, renowned for his sharp wit, ensemble storytelling, and deep affection for both Japanese and Western comedic traditions. A graduate of Nihon University College of Art, he began his career in theater by founding the Tokyo Sunshine Boys (named after the play ‘The Sunshine Boys’ by Neil Simon) in 1983, where he made a name for himself as a screenwriter and stage director with fast-paced, character-driven comedies like ‘12 Gentle Japanese’ and ‘University of Laughs’, a good number of which have been later made into movies. Expanding into film in the late 1990s, Mitani wrote and directed numerous critically acclaimed works such as ‘Welcome Back, Mr. McDonald’, ‘Our House‘, ‘The Uchoten Hotel‘, ‘The Magic Hour‘, ‘A Ghost of a Chance’, and ‘The Kiyosu Conference’, blending tightly constructed plots with sharp humor and a humanistic tone.

His latest comedy film...

Exclusive: Japanese studio Nikkatsu has boarded Hokusai’s Daughter (working title), an upcoming historical drama from director Tatsushi Omori, and will officially launch international sales at the Cannes market.

The film stars Masami Nagasawa as Katsushika Oi (also known as O-Ei), the real-life daughter of renowned Japanese artist Katsushika Hokusai, whose The Great Wave Off Kanagawa is one of Japan’s most recognisable works of art. Oi followed in her father’s footsteps as an artist and is thought to have finished most of his later paintings. As there are few historical documents remaining, much of her life remains a mystery.

Quick LinksMakoto Shinkai's Your Name is a Modern Masterpiece of AnimeJJ Abrams' Planned Your Name Remake Has Already Gone Through 3 Different DirectorsMovies Like Your Name Are Probably Better Off Not Getting Remade

Although Hayao Miyazaki may be the world's leading figure in Japanese anime films, thanks to his widely recognized and beloved work from Studio Ghibli, other anime directors such as Makoto Shinkai have gained more and more recognition from Western audiences within the last decade. Despite being unfairly overlooked by the Academy, Shinkai’s 2016 film Your Name has been considered to be one of the best animated films of the century, ranking at number 83 on IMDb’s Top 250. It's a visual and thematic masterpiece of animation, which is why it’s so shocking that J.J. Abrams is currently feeling the need to remake it in live-action for American audiences. Abrams has accomplished quite a bit throughout his career as a producer and director,...

The 67th edition of the Blue Ribbon Awards, presented by the Association of Tokyo Film Journalists, has announced its winners on January 28, 2025. The nominees and winners are selected from movies released in 2024 by members of the Association who are film reporters from seven sports newspapers in Tokyo. Indie movie “A Samurai in Time” was the surprise hit last year and has picked up a double win for Best Film and Best Actor. Likewise for Yu Irie‘s “A Girl Named Ann” bagging the Best Director and Best Actress awards.

Best Film

A Girl Named Ann

Abudeka Is Back

Let’s Go Karaoke!

52-Hertz Whales

A Samurai in Time

11 Rebels

Faceless

All the Long Nights

Last Mile

Look Back

Best Director

Yu Irie – A Girl Named Ann

Kazuya Shiraishi – 11 Rebels, Bushido

Ayuko Tsukahara – Last Mile, La Grande Maison Paris

Michihito Fujii – Faceless, 18×2 Beyond Youthful Days

Junichi Yasuda – A Samurai in Time

Best...

A lesser-known (at least on this side of the globe) martial arts epic has surged to success on streaming worldwide. The action sequel, 2024’s Kingdom 4: Return of the Great General, has now powered its way into the top 10 on Netflix, with audiences all over the globe tuning in to discover what happens next in this saga of warring factions in ancient China. Here’s a spoiler, what happens is epic in a way that few movies are.

Directed by Shinsuke Sato and led by Alice in Borderland star Kento Yamazaki, the rest of the cast includes Ryo Yoshizawa, Kanna Hashimoto, Nana Seino, Shinnosuke Mitsushima, Amane Okayama, Takahiro Miura, Takayuki Hamatsu, Riku Hagiwara, Koji Kikkawa, Masami Nagasawa, Shun Oguri, Takao Osawa, Koichi Sato, and Hiroshi Tamaki, Kingdom 4: Return of the Great General is the latest installment in the Kingdom franchise, which is based on the manga by Yasuhisa Hara.

There's a reason why Studio Ghibli's beloved character designs are memorabe, and it has to do with the fact that they're always carefully integrated into the character's personality. Some of the best character designs include Haku, whose human-form greatly encompasses dragon-like features, and Howl's ever-changing design, which reflects how no one truly knows what kind of person he is.

Studio Ghibli also has some of the prettiest character designs that remain iconic and timeless. Although Studio Ghibli characters aren't overly elaborate in their designs, their simplicity is what makes them shine.

Related 10 Saddest Studio Ghibli Movies (So Far)

Studio Ghibli is one of the most famous animation studios in the world, and some of their films are heartbreaking masterpieces.

Umi’s Simple School-Girl Design Gives Her a Charming, Youthful Look Movie: From Up On Poppy Hill

Umi is the main character in the movie From Up On Poppy Hill.

South Korean comedy drama Victory is to world premiere as the opening film of this year’s New York Asian Film Festival (Nyaff) where lead actress Lee Hye-ri will be honoured with the Screen International Rising Star Asia Award.

The performer, better known as Hyeri, will attend the festival to receive the honour on July 12 ahead of the premiere of Victory at New York’s Lincoln Center.

Hye-ri will introduce the film alongside director Park Beom-soo and co-star Park Se-wan. All three will also attend a post-screening Q&a.

The Rising Star Asia Award recognises emerging talent from Asian cinema...

Michihito Fujii has been working like a factory lately for Netflix, with the majority of his latest works featuring in the streaming service, including “Ghost in the Shell: SAC_2045”, and the more recent “Hard Days” and “Village” among others. His latest work, however, signals a change to a “tamer” narrative, as “The Parades” is a drama about the afterlife, inspired by the Fukushima disaster.

Click the image below to follow our Tribute to Netflix

Minako, a TV reporter and single mother, finds herself roaming the area she lived in after the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake, in search of her lost boy. Soon she realizes though, that she is dead and that the living cannot see or hear her. While getting totally lost about her new reality, she is discovered by Akira, a writer who is in the same situation, who takes her under his wing and introduces her to his...

The Parades is a movie written and directed by Michihito Fujii starring Masami Nagasawa, Kentaro Sakaguchi, Ryusei Yokohama, and Nana Mori.

From Japan comes “The Parades”, a lovely film that, we warn you, goes straight to the heart and speaks from the deepest human emotion and the most profound concern of human beings: death.

A film that starts precisely from there, and gradually contrasts it with life, creating a whole ode to life itself in death.

A film, as you may have imagined, full of sentiment and nostalgia, but also of life and hope.

Synopsis:

After an earthquake, a woman feels confused and disoriented as she tries in vain to find her son. A stranger takes her to a camp where he tells her the truth: she is dead, and she still has unfinished business to take care of before she can move on to the other side.

About the film:

This Thursday,...

Based on the novel “Lost Care” by Aki Hamamaka, which won the 16th Japan Mystery Literature Award for Best Newcomer. “Do Unto Others” is a crime movie with a very interesting premise, which eventually becomes a pondering on the concept of euthanasia.

Do Unto Others is screening at Japan Foundation Touring Film Programme

Munenori Shiba works for a caretaking company and seems to be the most diligent employee, always going out of his way to help the elderly, and never actually complaining, in an overall attitude that has earned him respect from his colleagues, and even something more from a newcomer in the company, Yuki. The latter is also the one who discovers one day two dead bodies in a house the company is working at, one being the head of the company, Haru and the other the elderly man living there. Prosecutor Hidemi Otomo starts investigating the case with the help of her assistant,...

Shin Ultraman Watch The Trailer: youtu.be/U6AphAYe4WU Distributor Cleopatra Entertainment Directed by Shinji Higuchi Starring Takumi Saitoh, Masami Nagasawa, Daiki Arioka, Akari Hayami, Tetsushi Tanaka, Hidetoshi Nishijima, with Anno and Bin Furuya as Ultraman As Shin Ultraman begins, we learn the appearance of giant unidentified life forms known as “S-Class Species (Kaiju)” has become commonplace …

The post Shin Ultraman: On VOD July 4, On Blu-ray & DVD July 11 appeared first on Horror News | Hnn.

Cleopatra Entertainment have announced the US home entertainment release of Shin Ultraman, directed by Shinji Higuchi, next month.

As Shin Ultraman begins, we learn the appearance of giant unidentified life forms known as “S-Class Species (Kaiju)” has become commonplace in Japan. The Japanese Government formed a Kaiju defense taskforce known as the Sssp, led by Kimio Tamura (played by Drive My Car’s Hidetoshi Nishijima). After a particularly challenging encounter, a silver giant descends from the sky to rescue the country. Dubbed Ultraman, this giant’s identity and purpose are a mystery. Shin Ultraman is a delightful reimagining of one of Japan’s classic superheroes, full of cosmic twists, charismatic villains, and giant Kaiju, leading Variety to declare that “the mix of styles and moods works wonderfully, raising Shin ‘Ultraman’ into the top rank of superhero movies!”

Starring Takumi Saitoh, Masami Nagasawa, Daiki Arioka, Akari Hayami, Tetsushi Tanaka, Hidetoshi Nishijima,...

The live-action comic book reboot of Ultraman, titled Shin Ultraman will be released on Blu-ray and DVD this July!

Synopsis: As Shin Ultraman begins, we learn the appearance of giant unidentified life forms known as “S-Class Species (Kaiju)” has become commonplace in Japan. The Japanese Government formed a Kaiju defense taskforce known as the Sssp, led by Kimio Tamura (Hidetoshi Nishijima). After a particularly challenging encounter, a silver giant descends from the sky to rescue the country. Dubbed Ultraman, this giant’s identity and purpose are a mystery. Shin Ultraman is a delightful reimagining of one of Japan’s classic superheroes, full of cosmic twists, charismatic villains, and giant Kaiju, leading Variety to declare that “the mix of styles and moods works wonderfully, raising Shin Ultraman into the top rank of superhero movies!”

About The Film

Starring: Takumi Saitoh, Masami Nagasawa, Daiki Arioka, Akari Hayami, Tetsushi Tanaka, Hidetoshi Nishijima, with...

"As Shin Ultraman begins, we learn the appearance of giant unidentified life forms known as “S-Class Species (Kaiju)” has become commonplace in Japan. The Japanese Government formed a Kaiju defense taskforce known as the Sssp, led by Kimio Tamura (played by Drive My Car’s Hidetoshi Nishijima). After a particularly challenging encounter, a silver giant descends from the sky to rescue the country. Dubbed Ultraman, this giant’s identity and purpose are a mystery. Shin Ultraman is a delightful reimagining of one of Japan’s classic superheroes, full of cosmic twists, charismatic villains, and giant Kaiju"

Distributor Cleopatra Entertainment

Directed by Shinji Higuchi

Starring Takumi Saitoh, Masami Nagasawa, Daiki Arioka, Akari Hayami, Tetsushi Tanaka, Hidetoshi Nishijima, with Anno and Bin Furuya as Ultraman

On VOD July 4, On Blu-ray & DVD July 11

The post Shin Ultraman Arrives on VOD July 4th, Blu-ray & DVD July 11th appeared first on Daily Dead.

Shin Ultraman, from Shin Godzilla filmmaking duo Hideaki Anno and Shinji Higuchi, finally dates a home release after a limited theatrical release earlier this year.

Look for the live-action comic book reboot to arrive on Digital on July 4 before heading to Blu-ray and DVD on July 11. No box art or special features have been revealed at this time.

In Shin Ultraman, “we learn the appearance of giant unidentified life forms known as ‘S-Class Species (Kaiju)’ has become commonplace in Japan. The Japanese Government formed a Kaiju defense taskforce known as the Sssp, led by Kimio Tamura (played by Drive My Car’s Hidetoshi Nishijima). After a particularly challenging encounter, a silver giant descends from the sky to rescue the country. Dubbed Ultraman, this giant’s identity and purpose are a mystery.”

Takumi Saitoh is playing the main character. In addition, Masami Nagasawa, Daiki Arioka, Akari Hayami, and Tetsushi Tanaka star in Shin Ultraman.

Toronto-based genre specialist plans summer release.

Toronto-based genre specialist Raven Banner has acquired Canadian rights to Japanese box office smash Shin Ultraman, the latest incarnation of the Japanese superhero franchise from Tsuburaya Productions.

The latest Ultraman adventure grossed more than $30m at the Japanese box office and opened theatrically in the US through Fathom Events in January.

Raven Banner plans a summer release on Shin Ultraman, which takes place as Japanese authorities respond to the appearance around the country of giant unidentified life forms known as S-Class Species (Kaiju), when a silver giant descends from the sky to save the country.

Early one morning, the bodies of an elderly man and the manager of a home-visit nursing center are found at the man’s home. A police investigation finds the prime suspect to be Munenori Shiba (Kenichi Matsuyama), a caregiver who works for the center, and is treasured by the families of his clients because of his dedication to their wellbeing. Prosecutor Hidemi Otomo (Masami Nagasawa) notices that the death rate for the center’s nursing care recipients is abnormally high, and discovers that over 40 of them have passed away at their homes since Shiba began working there. To uncover the truth, Otomo subjects Shiba to intense questioning. Eventually, he insists that he was not committing murders; on the contrary, he was actually “saving” people. This confession shakes Otomo to the core of her being.

Why did Shiba take the lives of so many elderly people, and what was the true...

Whoa!! This looks awesome. Toei Studios in Japan recently released another live-action take on a classic tokusatsu franchise - an update on Kamen Rider. The great Hideaki Anno (also of Shin Godzilla) directed Shin Kamen Rider, which is now playing in cinemas in Japan. We still don't know when it will play in the US, hopefully later this year. A man who was given unwanted power & became a non-human. A woman who questions the theory of happiness she was given. Takeru Hongo, transformed into an Augment with killing power by the hands of the Shocker, escapes under the guidance of Ruriko Midorikawa, who was born to the organization but rebelled against it. He is drawn into an epic battle with the assassins who are closing in. What is justice? What is evil? Is there an end to the exchange of violence? Starring Sôsuke Ikematsu as Hongo, with Minami Hamabe, Masami Nagasawa,...

Back in November, Fathom Events and Toho International teamed up to bring the 2002 Godzilla franchise entry Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla to U.S. theatres for the first time… and now they’re set to do the same thing for the 2003 Godzilla movie Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S.! The film will be reaching 600 theatres across the United States on March 22nd.

Tickets are now available on FathomEvents.com, so check and see if Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S. is going to be playing at a theatre near you. For this screening, the film will be presented with English subtitles. The one-day event will also include a special showing of Godzilla vs. Gigan Rex, a short that debuted at the 2022 Japan Godzilla Festival as a sequel to the short G vs. G (2019) – never before seen on the big screen!

Directed by Masaaki Tezuka, who wrote the screenplay with Masahiro Yokotani, Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S. has the following synopsis:...

Dementia seems to be the name of the game in cinema over the course of recent years. After Richard Glatzer’s and Wash Westmoreland’s effort “Still Alice” (2014) that took Julianne Moore to her first and so far only Oscar for playing the titular character, an academic who has to deal with the illness that will rapidly take her greatest asset, and even more impressive Florian Zeller’s stage play adaptation “The Father” (2020) that brought Anthony Hopkins his second Academy Award for the role, the Japanese novelist and producer Genki Kawamura took his own novel on the same topic as a source for his feature-length directorial debut. After the premiere at San Sebastian and the tour of festivals in East and Southeast Asia, “A Hundred Flowers” was screened at Belgrade International Film Festival.

On New Year’s Eve, and just before her birthday, retired piano teacher Yuriko Kasai (Mieko Harada...

Four decades ago—before he worked with Hayao Miyazaki, before the young artists’ collective he co-founded changed their name from “Daicon Films” to “Studio Gainax,” before Neon Genesis Evangelion shook the medium of anime to its foundations, and before Shin Godzilla affirmed his worldwide recognition as a major figure of contemporary Japanese cinema—a brilliant and unapologetically geeky college student helmed one of the most striking fan films in history. Return of Ultraman, Hideaki Anno’s 1983 directorial debut, is on its surface nothing more or less than a painstakingly exact tribute to the early-70s tokusatsu superhero TV series of the same name: a half-hour “lost episode” indulging the show’s standard dramatic plotline of a Japanese paramilitary group battling monstrous kaiju invaders, with one of their members concealing and frequently angsting over his secret identity as a part-man, part-alien super-savior. Despite its amateur production and shoestring resources, the film...

The wait for “Shin Ultraman’s” U.S. release is finally over, but for now, you’ve got a very limited window to catch it in theaters. Following a blockbuster May 2022 debut in Japan, the reimagining of the iconic “Ultraman” franchise is getting a special engagement release in limited theaters, for two days only.

If you weren’t able to catch the film during its festival run, this might be the last chance to see it in theaters. And If you’re an “Ultraman” fan, you’ll definitely want to catch the Kaiju-packed, crowd-pleasing film on the big screen, so we’ve put together all the need-to-know details so you don’t miss your shot.

When Is “Shin Ultraman” Getting a U.S. Release?

“Shin Ultraman” will finally arrive in U.S. theaters on Wednesday, Jan. 11 and Thursday, Jan. 12, via Fathom Events.

Screenings on Jan. 11 will have subtitles, while the Jan.

Shinji Higuchi’s fantastic new film “Shin Ultraman” elicits a sensation that other blockbusters, huge and popular blockbusters, have often neglected: In these worlds where larger-than-life, godlike beings traipse around like they own the place, people wouldn’t just feel small — we’d be completely confused. How inconsequential are we? How oblivious have we been to the rest of this incredible universe? What is our purpose? What’s the freakin’ point?

“Shin Ultraman,” an adaptation of an immensely popular and long-running tokusatsu/kaiju multimedia franchise that began way back in 1966, captures all the ecstatic joy of giant monsters fighting a giant alien and breaking buildings and blowing up mountains. But the screenplay (by “Neon Genesis Evangelion” creator Hideaki Anno) also captures the episodic quality of the “Ultraman” series, leaving audiences overwhelmed by how multifaceted this fantasy truly is and how existentially challenging it would be simply to live in a world that’s this weird.

Blue An, Film.UA & Zdf Team On Zelenskyy Doc ‘Citizens At War’

Canada’s Blue Ant International has struck a distribution and co-production financing deal for six-part doc series Citizens at War: A Year in Ukraine. The doc will include exclusive, personal interviews with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his wife, Olena, and details how the lives of people in Ukraine were turned upside down by the Russian invasion. Stories include intervies with a Ukrainian beauty queen turned sniper, a Russian soldier terrified by unexpected resistance to his convoy and the sole survivor of a mass execution in Bucha. Blue Ant’s Global Head of Acquisitions and Partnerships Lilla Hurst struck the deal for the series with leading Ukrainian studio Film.UA, Australia’s Tilt Media and Gtv Docs in London. Germany’s Zdf is attached as the commissioning broadcaster and the show is expected to debut on the one-year anniversary...

Tongue-in-cheek but never campy, “Shin Ultraman” is an object lesson in how to reboot a superhero franchise for modern times. Cannily making its CGI resemble the aesthetic of Japanese monster movies from yesteryear, this all-new Ultraman adventure has been lovingly assembled to enthrall viewers with no prior knowledge and satisfy fans who’ve been cheering for the giant red-and-silver humanoid since he first saved Japan and the world in a 1966-67 children’s television series. The sixth-highest grossing Japanese feature of 2022, “Shin Ultraman” will fly into U.S. cinemas for an initial two-days-only release on January 11 and 12.

Reuniting after their hit 2016 reboot “Shin Godzilla” (shin translates as “new”), director Shinji Higuchi (“Attack on Titan” Parts 1 and 2) and writer-producer-editor Hideaki Anno (the “Evangelion” anime series) have again woven smart political commentary and meaningful ruminations on human existence into a screenplay otherwise dedicated to delivering marvelously entertaining silliness with an immaculately straight face.

The best sports movies explore characters whose lives revolve around athletics, highlight their dedication to training for big games, and capture the thrill of victory and agony of defeat.

Check out this website if you are a football fanatic. Whether you are a football fanatic or just love an underdog story, we’ve got something for you.

There has been an explosion in movies about sports from various cultures in the past decade or so. So if you want to dive into this exciting world again, here are the top best Asian sports films of all time:

The Last Game

The Last Game is a Japanese drama film directed by Hiroshi Hasebe. The film follows a Japanese baseball team, which is trying to overcome the effects of the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami. The team is preparing for the championship game in the national high school baseball tournament.

The team is...

Click here to read the full article.

Japan is still waiting for its Squid Game.

Despite having more than twice the population, and boasting a much larger economy than Asian neighbor South Korea, the Japanese TV industry has yet to produce a high-end TV drama that travels far beyond its borders. While Japanese cinema continues to be admired — see the Oscar success of Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s Drive My Car — few small-screen shows make it off the island.

“We’re a pretty big country, economically, and we have a relatively big internal market, so most producers don’t need to go outside the country,” says Ayumi Sano, producer of such local hits as My Dear Exes and Quartet, speaking to The Hollywood Reporter through a translator. “The consequence is: most Japanese shows are only made with the local audience in mind.”

‘Elpis’

To a degree, that goes for Sano’s latest drama,...

Marks the latest titles from Daishi Matsunaga and Tetsu Maeda.

Japan’s Nikkatsu is set to launch sales on director Daishi Matsunaga’s gay romance drama Egoist and Tetsu Maeda’s suspense film Do Unto Others at the Asian Contents & Film Market (Acfm).

Set to play in competition at the upcoming Tokyo International Film Festival, Egoist is from the director of 2015 drama Pieta In The Toilet and documentary Pyuupiru 2001-2008.

Starring Ryohei Suzuki and Hio Miyazawa, it follows a fashion magazine editor who starts working with a young personal trainer, who has dopped out of school to support his ailing mother.

Click here to read the full article.

Toko Miura, the breakout star of Oscar winner Drive My Car, will attend next month’s MIPCOM television conference in Cannes to present the world premiere of her new event series Elpis.

Miura and Elpis producer Ayumi Sano (My Dear Exes, Quartet) will introduce the premiere at the Cannes Grand Auditorium on Tuesday, Oct. 18, and take part in a post-screening Q&a.

In the series, Miura plays Cherry, a television market-up artist who gets involved in an investigation into false death row convictions that exposes a state-wide conspiracy and cover-up. Inspired by real events, the series also stars Masami Nagasawa, Gordon Maeda and Ryohei Suzuki.

Masami Nagasawa in ‘Elpis’

Commercial network Kansai TV produced Elpis and will present the series at MIPCOM together with organizers MIPCOM Rx France. The series will be the first Asian World Premiere at MIPCOM since the coronavirus pandemic.

The Exchange has acquired the sales rights for North America, Europe, Latin America, Australia, New Zealand and other remaining territories for superhero movie “Shin Ultraman,” a blockbuster hit in Japan when it was released on May 13. The Exchange is introducing the movie to buyers at the Toronto Film Festival.

The movie, produced by Tsuburaya Productions, Toho and Khara, grossed 31.2 million in Japan, building on the fanbase of the “Ultraman” TV series, which was first broadcast in 1966.

The movie was directed by Shinji Higuchi and was written by director and screenwriter Hideaki Anno, who also acted as producer alongside Takayuki Tsukagoshi and Minami Ichikawa.

“Shin Ultraman” stars Hidetoshi Nishijima, who was in the Academy Award winning movie “Drive My Car,” Takumi Saitoh, and Masami Nagasawa. The cast also includes Daiki Arioka (“Innocent Curse”), Akari Hayami (“Forget Me Not”), and Tetsushi Tanaka.

In the movie, the appearance of giant unidentified life forms,...

Translation by Koichi Mori

Shinji Higuchi is a filmmaker and storyboard artist. At a young age, he was taken on a tour by his aunt to Toho Studios, where he saw the making of tokusatsu in action, which greatly inspired him. He would get his big start as an assistant modeler for the production of “The Return of Godzilla” and further advance career-wise with his collaborations with the studio Daicon. During that period, he would meet fellow filmmaker Hideaki Anno, who would become a close friend and frequent collaborator. Higuchi’s recognition would peak for his phenomenal work directing the special effects for the “Heisei Gamera Trilogy” directed by Shusuke Kaneko. Since then, he has been hailed both natively and internationally for his exceptional work as a special effects director and his movie directorial career. Higuchi’s latest film is “Shin Ultraman” the newest entry in the long-running “Ultra” franchise...

Stars: Takumi Saitoh, Masami Nagasawa, Kenjirô Tsuda, Kôji Yamamoto | Written by Hideaki Anno | Directed by Shinji Higuchi

Shin Ultraman is, for those unaware of it, a reboot of the original 1966 TV show Ultraman. That show launched a massively popular franchise in its native Japan and, reruns of the dubbed American version helped launch my love of kaiju films and eventually science fiction and horror in general. So you can understand I sat down to watch the film with both anticipation and worry about how well it would live up to my memories.

The film opens with a fast explanation of how the Sssp came to be as we see several rampaging creatures in the background. And when I say a fast explanation I mean fast, by ten minutes into the film Ultraman is on Earth and battling an energy-eating kaiju. One of the Sssp team Shinji Kaminaga is caught in...

37th film in the Ultraman franchise and the second reboot of a tokusatsu series to be adapted by script writer Hideaki Anno and director Shinji Higuchi after “Shin Godzilla”, “Shin Ultraman” proves that the team behind the two movies (including Toho and Cine Bazar) have found the perfect recipe (and the money) for these relaunches.

Shin Ultraman is screening at Neuchatel International Fantastic Film Festival

In a style very similar to “Shin Godzilla”, the movie jumps right into the action, as a number of giant creatures, classified as “S-Class Species” have appeared throughout Japan, with the government establishing the S-Class Species Suppression Protocol to eliminate further threats. Shortly thereafter, the Sssp addresses Neronga’s attack, when a silver extraterrestrial giant dubbed “Ultraman” appears to defeat the monster and save humanity. However, he inadvertently kills Sssp member Shinji Kaminaga during his battle with the monster. He subsequently takes Shinji’s appearance and place,...

Just like “Masquerade Hotel”, its prequel, “Masquerade Night” is based on a Keigo Higashino novel and brings together hotelier Naomi Yamagishi and undercover Detective Kosuke Nitta at Hotel Cortesia Tokyo, in an effort to catch a killer.

“Masquerade Night” is screening at Toronto Japanese Film Festival

This time, the case begins with an anonymous letter delivered to the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department, stating that the criminal of a murder case will appear at the countdown party Masquerade Night that will be held at Hotel Cortesia Tokyo. This brings NItta once again working undercover with Yamagishi, with their respective goals, of catching the criminal and meeting all demands of the guests of the hotel, clashing once more, almost constantly. The fact that the hotel is hosting more than 500 guests, most of which will be in costume for the Night, makes things for everyone, even more tedious. Lastly, Yamagishi has one more thing to deal with,...

While those stateside are getting served up the latest product from the Marvel assembly line as their sole blockbuster offering to kick off the summer (all respect to Sam Raimi), Japan will be getting Shin Ultraman, a new film directed by Shin Godzilla VFX lead and Evangelion co-writer Shinji Higuchi and written and produced by Hideaki Anno.

A reimagination of the Japanese series Ultraman, first originating back in the 1960s, this 2022 iteration stars Takumi Saitoh, Masami Nagasawa, and Drive My Car lead Hidetoshi Nishijima. Set for a May 13, 2022 release in Japan, this new international trailer shows all sorts of kaiju mayhem as our lead powers up.

Watch below.

The post First Trailer for Shin Ultraman Brings Kaiju Mayhem first appeared on The Film Stage.

Shin Ultraman Trailer — Hideaki Anno and Shinji Higuchi‘s Shin Ultraman (2022) movie trailer has been released by Toho Pictures. The Shin Ultraman trailer stars Takumi Saitoh, Masami Nagasawa, Hidetoshi Nishijima, Koji Yamamoto, and Akari Hayami. Crew Hideaki Anno wrote the screenplay for Shin Ultraman. Shiro Sagisu created the music for the film. Kazuhiro Nakagawa crafted [...]

Continue reading: Shin Ultraman (2022) Movie Trailer: An Alien Gives Takumi Saitoh its Powers to Protect Earth from Extraterrestrial Criminals...

"I felt a different reality than a monster when I was a giant." Toho Pictures has debuted a new 30-second main trailer for the iconic monsterverse movie Shin Ultraman, a modern update on the beloved '60s TV character from Japan. Toho convinced filmmakers Hideaki Anno & Shinji Higuchi to re-team again after making Shin Godzilla in 2016, updating the classic Ultraman character for these times. The new Ultraman design is is based on an Ultraman painting by the late Tohl Narita in 1983 called “Incarnation of Truth, Justice, and Beauty”. Shin Ultraman stars Takumi Saitoh, who becomes the human host of "Ultraman", with Masami Nagasawa and Hidetoshi Nishijima. Almost every shot in this new trailer is totally epic! Plus there's some glimpses at Ultraman foes including Gabora, Neronga, and some kind of evil robot. Why does this seem like it's going to be absolutely amazing?! Feast your eyes on this monsterverse trailer below.

There is no denying the appeal of “The Confidence Man Jp” to its domestic audience. A successful TV series, in addition to three films, have all been undeniable hits, leading the box office and entering homes since 2018. The first of these big-screen showings, “The Confidence Man Jp: The Movie” shows why, but also allowed room for future instalments, ones which subsequently came.

“The Confidence Man Jp: The Movie” is screening as part of the Japan Foundation Touring Film Programme

At its core, there are a group of con-artists, both ambitious and reckless, yet at the same time somewhat grounded and tactful. They are Dako (Masami Nagasawa), Boku-chan (Masahiro Higashide), Richard (Fumiyo Kohinata), Igarashi (Shinya Kote), and newcomer Monako (Lisa Oda), who team up to try and take down “Ice Princess,” a Hong-Kong based triad boss and prominent corporate figure who possesses an item the gang are desperate to get their hands on.

Hayao Miyazaki — easily the most recognizable face behind Studio Ghibli — has long said that he would retire. Since then, all eyes have turned to his first son and heir, Goro Miyazaki. Goro Miyazaki seems to chafe under his father’s strictly traditional ways; his most recent release, “Earwig and the Witch” (2020) made a splash along Cannes headlines for being the first CGI film produced by the mostly paper-and-paint-based studio. In turn, his earlier work “From up on Poppy Hill” feels like an externalization of Goro’s internal struggle. Modernity and tradition collide again in this postwar port city, where a single executive move might tear down a historic building. It takes the entirety of a school to salvage what might otherwise be erased forever.

As per every other Ghibli film, “From Up on Poppy Hill” follows a young female protagonist. In 1963 Yokohama, Umi Matsuzaki (Masami Nagasawa) is...

The “Detective Team” that swept the world rampages in Tokyo! Chinatown detective duo Tan Len (Wang Baoqiang) and Chin Fung (Liu Haoran), who have settled the case internationally, are from Japanese detective Noda Hiroshi (Satoshi Tsumabuki). He was asked to cooperate in solving a difficult case and flew to Tokyo. This mission is a false accusation of Yakuza leader Masaru Watanabe (Tomokazu Miura), who was charged as a criminal in a closed-room murder case of the Mafia chairman in Southeast Asia. Thai detective and former detective Jack Jar (Tony Jaa) also participates and tries to solve it, but an incident occurs in which Anna Kobayashi (Masami Nagasawa), the secretary of the murdered chairman, is kidnapped. The case is complicated by the involvement of an elite detective, Naoki Tanaka (Tadanobu Asano), who boasts a 100% case resolution rate, and a mysterious wanted criminal, Akira Murata (Sota Sometani). In addition, detectives who are...

The mega-successful Chinese franchise about a mismatched detective duo tackling baffling crimes in foreign destinations continues with a wildly uneven caper set in Tokyo. With performances, plotting and visuals amped up to 11 as per usual, this hyperactive combination of Sherlock Holmes-type sleuthing and Three Stooges-style slapstick comedy offers plenty of zany fun, but the central murder-mystery contains so many convoluted diversions, digressions and detours it makes the whole enterprise play like a long stream-of-consciousness sketch with a glaringly hollow core.

A smash hit domestically after opening on Feb. 12 in the Chinese New Year season, “Detective Chinatown 3” has grossed $667 million in the three weeks since. U.S. distributor Warner Bros. Pictures has yet to announce specific release details following the Covid-19 enforced postponement of the film’s planned global rollout on January 24, 2020. Earning its place in history with the highest opening-day gross of any film in a single market ($163 million...

China’s box office is primed for a sparkling Lunar New Year frame as new titles start rollout on Friday. As we noted this past Sunday, pre-sales had alread begun to pop, with threequel Detective Chinatown 3 in the lead. The film from Chen Sicheng as of 11:30Pm local time on Thursday had hit over Rmb 673M ($104M) in advance tickets for opening day Friday and more than Rmb 950M ($147M) for the first week, according to Maoyan.

Those figures exceed the advance sales performance of Disney/Marvel’s Avengers: Endgame which itself was a record-breaker in April 2019. Endgame debuted on a Wednesday in China and its ultimate day-one gross, including midnights, was Rmb 725M ($107.8M at historical rates/$112.3M today) — the biggest opening day ever in the market. Stripping out the midnights on Endgame, its first day was Rmb 538M. For reference, Monster Hunt 2 kicked off the Lunar...

Guess who's back?! Toho Pictures has unveiled the first teaser trailer for the monsterverse adventure Shin Ultraman, an update on the beloved '60s TV character from Japan. Toho convinced filmmakers Hideaki Anno & Shinji Higuchi to re-team again after making Shin Godzilla in 2016, updating the classic Ultraman character for modern times. The new Ultraman design is is based on an Ultraman painting by the late Tohl Narita in 1983 called “Incarnation of Truth, Justice, and Beauty”. This first trailer includes glimpses of the monsters Neronga and Gabora. Shin Ultraman stars Takumi Saitoh, who eventually becomes the human host of Ultraman, with Masami Nagasawa and Hidetoshi Nishijima. There's quite a bit of footage in the teaser - the two monsters look a bit fake (much like Shin Godzilla), but the rest of it seems like good fun. Here's the Japanese teaser (+ poster) for Hideaki Anno & Shinji Higuchi's Shin Ultraman, from YouTube:...

The plethora of indie family dramas in the Japanese industry have a number of motifs in common. The accusation of the current generation towards the previous ones, the overall lack of parenting, that not all women are fit to become mothers and bullying are the most central ones. Tatsushi Omori, in his latest work, which is now streaming on Netflix, seems to have managed to include every one of them, in a film whose pragmatism is quite shocking even more so since it is based on an actual incident that took place in 2014.

The film shows its colors from the initial scene, where we see Akiko, a single mother, trying to get money from her parents and her hard-working sister, first by yelling and becoming violent and then by begging. However, they will not have none of it, since their patience is obviously exhausted, and a frustrated Akiko leaves along with her little son,...

“Prison is the only place that won’t kick you out no matter how badly you behave,” remarks the ex-con protagonist, who gets no second chances in Japanese society. Directed with piercing insight, emotional depth and true compassion by Miwa Nishikawa, “Under the Open Skies” tells the heartbreaking tale of a pariah whose soul is crushed by systemic discrimination and a world of hypocritical conformity. while likely collecting awards at home and abroad.

Ever since her sophomore feature “Sway” premiered at Cannes’ Director’s Fortnight in 2006, Nishikawa has been a name to watch for riveting, wickedly cynical works. She also excels in drawing morally ambiguous characters: liars and swindlers hiding secrets behind their social standing. Though her technique is no less rigorous, her sixth film treads a new path by rooting for a career criminal from the lower depths who suffers for his honest values. This puts the film in...

Huayi Brothers war epic has a cumulative gross of $276.8m after 10 days.

Huayi Brothers’ war epic The Eight Hundred grossed $69m on its second weekend (August 28-30), according to figures from Artisan Gateway, for a cumulative box office of $276.8m after 10 days.

Underscoring the rate of box office recovery in China, where cinemas were shuttered for six months until July 20 due to the Covid-19 coronavirus, The Eight Hundred’s second weekend was down just 13% from its opening weekend haul of $79.6m. Chinese cinemas are continuing to operate at 50% capacity to comply with social distancing requirements.

Filmed entirely with IMAX digital cameras,...

The classic whodunit genre is seeing a revival of sorts, with tentpole Hollywood blockbusters like “Murder on the Orient Express” and “Knives Out” leading the way and recently even Netflix jumping on the bandwagon with the Adam Sandler and Jennifer Aniston starring “Murder Mystery” and the Hindi-language film “Raat Akeli Hai” proving to be hits for the streaming platform. Yet another project in the same genre which saw a fair amount of success was 2019’s “Masquerade Hotel” by Masayuki Suzuki, which is based on a Keigo Higashino book and was produced and released, like many Higashino adaptations, after a long drawn-out bidding battle over the book’s rights.

A serial killer is on the loose in Tokyo, three seemingly random murders only having a code left at the scene being the connecting factor between them. The code, when decoded, tells of the location of the next murder...

Hirokazu Koreeda once more proved his prowess in the family drama genre, directing a film that is genuinely Japanese in its themes, motifs, pace and characters.

Three sisters, Sachi, Yoshino and Chika live in a large house in Kamakura. When their estranged father dies, they travel to the country to attend his funeral. While there, they meet their adolescent half-sister, Suzu. A bond quickly forms and the three sisters invite her to live with them in Kamakura. She accepts immediately and gladly and the sisters begin their life together.

Koreeda focuses on the very different characters of the four sisters and the interaction between them, portraying their everyday lives, feelings and thoughts, and all the little moments that define the human nature. Sachi has the role of the mother and boss of the trio. However, her position is often contested by Yoshino, a white-collar bank worker, who...