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A decade-long love story of two young men is the subject of Netflix’s latest Asian series, Soul Mate.

The drama stars Japanese actor Hayato Isomura and Korean singer-actor Ok Taec-yeon from boyband 2Pm, and will follow their enduring relationship despite the distance. It begins when Rye Narutaki (Isomura), who left everything in Japan, is saved by a boxer named Johan Hwang (Ok) in a foreign land.

Filming has taken place in Berlin, Seoul and Tokyo, with Shunki Hashizume the writer and director. The series was developed following a conversation between Hashizume and executive producer Dai Ota.

“We arrived at the ultimate destiny story, where people from different cultures and backgrounds meet in a foreign land and their lives intersect,” said Ota. “The story, filled with life’s joys and pains, combined with the exceptional performances from Isomura and Taec-yeon, will warm the hearts of viewers.

Exclusive: Netflix’s latest original is a Japanese series adaptation of 2011 French film Les Émotifs Anonymes (Romantics Anonymous).

The project, going under the working title of Romantics Anonymous, will feature talent from Japan and Korea — two of the core countries at the center of Netflix’s strategy in Asia. Shun Oguri (Godzilla vs. Kong), Han Hyo-Joo (Moving), Yuri Nakamura and Jin Akanishi have been cast in the series, with Sho Tsukikawa (Yu Yu Hakusho), who’s also known for numerous romantic films, attached to direct.

Yong Film — the Korean producer behind the likes of Believer 2, The Call, 20th Century Girl and My Name is Loh Kiwan — has developed the project as its first Japanese series.

Lee Ha Jun (Parasite) will lead the production design, including the central chocolate boutique set. Yang Jin Mo (Parasite) will serve as editor, and Dalpalan will work on the music. Production has begun ahead of a 2025 debut,...

The themes of Rikiya Imaizumi’s films are en vogue right now, tackling slow-developing love stories, and indeed their fallout, in a dialogue-heavy approach. With slick, stylish coffee shop and urbane apartment settings, “By the Window” has a lot in common with many modern Japanese novels, as well as the films of fellow director Ryusuke Hamaguchi, a director whose career his has paralleled.

Shigemi (Goro Inagaki) is a freelance literary critic, married to editor Sae (Yuri Nakamura). From early on, we can see that their relationship has become more about sharing opinions on work than listening to each other. As such, Sae is having an affair with a novelist, and Shigemi knows it. Attending the press conference for her prize-winning new novel, he befriends young writer Rua (Tina Tamashiro), and the pair regularly meet to discuss the inspiration for her characters. Their age difference means nothing can happen, though it...

Shigemi Ichikawa (Goro Inagaki) works as a freelance writer. He is married to Sae (Yuri Nakamura), who works as an editor. His wife is involved in an affair with a popular novelist that she works with. Shigemi Ichikawa is aware of his wife’s infidelity, but he is unable to tell her that he knows. One day, Shigemi Ichikawa reads a novel written by female high school student Rua Kubo (Tina Tamashiro), whom he met at a literature award ceremony. He is fascinated by her novel. He asks her if the novel is based on a real person and if so, he would like to meet that person.

This Japanese docudrama is an excellent primer on the scary near- meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in 2011. After the earthquake, a tsunami triggered a ‘major nuclear event.’ A group of dedicated engineers struggle against odds to regain control. It’s another 21st Century disaster writ large — we applaud the camaraderie and commitment of the response teams while bureaucratic and political Bs threatens to doom half of Japan. As with last week’s Spacewalker I’m betting that most negative reviews were written by people who saw the English language dub job … in the original Japanese, star Ken Watanabe’s performance is terrific.

Fukushima 50

Blu-ray

Capelight

2020 / Color / 2:39 widescreen / 121 min. / Street Date April 13, 2021 / Available from Amazon / 29.98

Starring: Ken Watanabe, Takumi Saitoh, Kôichi Satô, Tomorô Taguchi, Mark Chinnery, Yuri Nakamura, Justin Leeper, Yasuko Tomita, Hidetaka Yoshioka, Riho Yoshioka, Masane Tsukayama, Masato Hagiwara, Shirô Sano.

Cinematography: Shoji Ehara

Visual Effects...

The official website for Hiroshi Takahashi‘s Kyofu (terror, horror, fear, fright - take your pick) has been updated with a trailer for the film.

Takahashi was the screenwriter for Hideo Nakata‘s “Ring”, the 1998 film which launched the J-horror wave that had Japanese teenagers biting their fingernails and routinely screaming “yada yada!” for several years afterward. Most would agree that particular wave has been pretty much kaput for a good while now, but don’t tell that to producer Takashige Ichise, who keeps finding ways to get worldwide distribution for the “J-Horror Theater” series of horror films he’s been involved with from the beginning. As the trailer shows, the series includes Masayuki Ochiai’s “Infection”, Norio Tsuruta’s “Premonition”, Takashi Shimizu’s “Reincarnation”, Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s “Retribution”, and Hideo Nakata’s “Kaidan”. Kyofu is intended to be the sixth entry in the series.

The theme of the film...

Completion of Hiroshi Takahashi‘s upcoming horror film Kyofu was just announced yesterday, but distributor Tokyo Theaters Co., Inc. has already hit a bit of a snag trying to promote it. The current poster art has been rejected by Japan’s train stations for being “too extreme” for public display.

The project reunites Takahashi with producer Takashige Ichise. The pair most notably worked together on Hideo Nakata’s smash hit 1998 film Ring, which was largely responsible for the seemingly relentless “J-horror wave” that continued in earnest for about 5 or 6 years and spawned several Hollywood remakes.

Kyofu’s poster features a character named Miyuki who’s appearance is very reminiscent of Sadako, the pale, long-haired ghost in Ring who murdered her victims 7 days after they watched a cursed videotape. The section of the poster in question is the apparent hole in Miyuki’s head exposing her brain, which looks like it’s about to spill out.

Completion of Hiroshi Takahashi‘s upcoming horror film Kyofu was just announced yesterday, but distributor Tokyo Theaters Co., Inc. has already hit a bit of a snag trying to promote it. The current poster art has been rejected by Japan’s train stations for being “too extreme” for public display.

The project reunites Takahashi with producer Takashige Ichise. The pair most notably worked together on Hideo Nakata’s smash hit 1998 film Ring, which was largely responsible for the seemingly relentless “J-horror wave” that continued in earnest for about 5 or 6 years and spawned several Hollywood remakes.

Kyofu’s poster features a character named Miyuki who’s appearance is very reminiscent of Sadako, the pale, long-haired ghost in Ring who murdered her victims 7 days after they watched a cursed videotape. The section of the poster in question is the apparent hole in Miyuki’s head exposing her brain, which looks like it’s about to spill out.

Director: Masayuki Miyano. Review: Adam Wing. Based on Hideo Okuda’s collection of short stories, Lala Pipo (taken from the English phrase "a lot of people") is the debut feature from Masayuki Miyano, who worked on Tetsuya Nakashima’s Kamikaze Girls and Paco and the Magical Picture Book. Hiroki Narimiya headlines, alongside Yuri Nakamura, Mari Hamada, Tomoko Murakami, Takashi Yoshimura and Sarutoki Minagawa. Six characters, six stories, ninety minutes of comedy heaven. If you’re a fan of Nakashima’s quirky cinematic offerings, Lala Pipo should be right up your street. It bares all the hallmarks of a Tetsuya Nakashima picture, no great surprise really, he did write the screenplay after all. Colourful, comical, hypnotic and bizarre, you’d be forgiven for thinking that Nakashima directed it himself. Never a bad thing in my book, Masayuki Miyano has certainly chosen wisely, imitating one of the most exciting directors in the world today.