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It's been an exciting year so far with all the new and returning Netflix shows, but things are about to get even better with the release of this upcoming Japanese series on the streaming platform. It's being described as a mix of these two hit shows, Squid Game and Shōgun. I don't know about you, but that sounds like something I definitely don't want to miss!

It's a period drama titled Last Samurai Standing, and it's based on the highly regarded Japanese manga series Ikusagami by Shogo Imamura. Michihito Fujii, Kento Yamaguchi, and Toru Yamamoto directed the episodes. In addition, Fujii, Yamaguchi, and Risa Yashiro wrote the scripts. While the exact episode count for the first season remains unknown, it's likely to fall between eight and 10 episodes, which is the typical range for a Netflix series.

An official release date has not been announced yet. However, Netflix has already set a November 2025 release.

Junichi Okada, who enters this dangerous game with one goal: to save his ailing wife and child.”

Who is in the cast for Last Samurai Standing?

For a long time, Junichi Okada was the only confirmed cast member. Some Netflix subscribers would be familiar with Junichi Okada if they streamed the Japanese crime-thriller Hard Days. Others may recognize him for his voice work on animated titles Tales from Earthsea and From Up on Poppy Hill. Outside of Netflix, the actor has starred in several historical dramas.

Junichi Okada shared his excitement with Netflix about the project;

“When Netflix executive producer Mr. Takahashi reached out to me, I was still acting in historical dramas. Back then, I was already thinking of ways to make this genre a hit, not just in Japan, but all over the world. I saw their potential for action, drama, social commentary, and entertainment, but I knew they could be taken further.

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2024 is nearly over, and while this year saw the release of many brilliant movies, in this article, we are only discussing the best fantasy movies that came out. Fantasy is one of those genres that invokes something magical in all of us, from the heroic journey in The Lord of the Rings films to the coming-of-age fantastical story in Harry Potter, and maybe that’s why this genre has one of the most loyal fan bases. So, let’s find out which fantasy movies released in 2024 were the absolute best.

If Credit – Paramount Pictures

If is a fantasy comedy film written and directed by John Krasinski. The 2024 film follows Bea, a young girl who discovers she can see imaginary friends of other people. She soon sets out on a magical adventure to find human kids to pair them with forgotten imaginary friends.

A decades-old unproduced screenplay set during Japan’s 1868-’69 civil war has been dusted off and given thoroughly modern action-movie treatment in Kazuya Shiraishi’s “11 Rebels.” A highly entertaining and highly blood-drenched take on the trusty old tale of crooks and miscreants embarking on a military suicide mission on the promise of being pardoned should they happen to survive, “11 Rebels” has just the right balance of spectacular swordplay, revenge-fueled drama and double-crossing political intrigue.

After opening the Tokyo Film Festival, Shiraishi’s lusty samurai slash-’em-up will march into Japanese cinemas on Nov. 1. A slightly different version of the film has been acquired for North America by specialty distributor Well Go USA. Fans of FX’s smash-hit “Shogun” series should find plenty to like about this handsomely produced tale set in the dying days of feudal Japan. In the broader scope of samurai cinema, it combines the chamber...

Kazuya Shiraishi has emerged as one of the most ‘fun to watch’ Japanese filmmakers in the last decade, with films like “The Blood of Wolves” “Dare to Stop Us” and “Lesson in Murder” taking up a number of the most popular genres of local cinema and reinvigorating them in the most entertaining fashion. “11 Rebels”, which is based on a script written by Kazuo Kasahara in 1964 that got shelved due to Toei Kyoto’s studio head Shigeru Okada not liking the ending, is an attempt to do the same with the jidai-geki.

11 Rebels is screening at Tokyo International Film Festival

The script is based on a historical event that took place during the Boshin war, when the Shibata domain of Niigata betrayed the forces of the shogunate in order to support the Emperor’s army. The instigator of the whole thing in the case of the film is Retainer Mizoguchi,...

As the biggest festival in one of the world’s biggest film markets, the Tokyo International Film Festival has always been held under the glare of painfully high expectations. But taking place towards the end of Asia’s crowded autumn festival season, then struggling through the brutal years of the pandemic, it hasn’t been easy for the event to create a global footprint.

Ando Hiroyasu, who came on board as chairman in 2019, was determined to change all that and started to restructure the festival during the pandemic. In 2021, Shozo Ichiyama, a veteran producer (Caught By the Tides) and former Tokyo Filmex director, joined TIFF as Programming Director and helped to reorganize and streamline the program. Under Ando’s management, the festival also moved from Roppongi to the Ginza-Hibiya district, which has more cinemas, leisure and cultural venues, and introduced a series of high-profile filmmaker talks, known as the TIFF Lounge Talk Sessions.

Kazuya Shiraichi’s 11 Rebels has been acquired by Well Go USA for North America and Splendid Film for German-speaking territories from Japan’s Toei Company, ahead of its world premiere at Tokyo International Film Festival (TIFF).

The samurai action thriller will open the 37th TIFF on October 28 ahead of a theatrical release in Japan through Toei on November 1. Dates have yet to be revealed for its US and German releases.

The film is based on a script by Kazuo Kasahara, the late screenwriter of popular yakuza features such as Battles Without Honor and Humanity who died in 2002, and went unproduced for decades.

The Tokyo International Film Festival has selected the samurai action thriller 11 Rebels as the opening movie of its upcoming 37th edition. The film is directed by Shiraishi Kazuya from a decades-old screenplay by the late, great scriptwriter Kasahara Kazuo (Japanese Yakuza, Battles Without Honor and Humanity). The festival will close with a screening of the French-Italian comedy Marcello Mio, directed by Christophe Honoré and starring European screen royalty Chiara Mastroianni, also serving on Tokyo’s main competition jury this year.

Produced by Japanese studio heavyweight Toei, 11 Rebels has already secured theatrical distribution in North America, where it will look to tap into the resurgent interest in samurai action cinema following the smash success of FX’s Shogun. It stars popular local actors Takayuki Yamada and Taiga Nakano.

“We expect this powerful film to mark a spectacular opening to the festival,” the event’s organizers said in a statement released Thursday.

The official website for Saint☆Oniisan The Movie ~Holy Men Vs Akuma Gundan (translated to Saint Young Men The Movie ~Holy Men vs Devil's Army ) released a new trailer today. The clip introduces the film's main cast members, including the new cast members Takayuki Yamada and Tsuyoshi Muro (however their roles have not yet been revealed). Yamada, who also serves as the producer for the film, says, "I am very happy to be able to make a film adaptation of Saint Young Men . The film's story is a 'typical' one that will be enjoyed not only by fans of the original manga, but also by those who are new to Jesus and Buddah's vacation. The cast is superb, and the two are as relaxed as ever. Watch the gods of the universe take the command!" Related: Saint Young Men Live-Action Feature Film Releases First Teaser Trailer, Visual Key visual Saint...

One of the coolest and most beloved sub-genres for thriller, action, and drama fans is the spy genre and there’s a good reason. In a spy film or series, we get complicated and cool characters who put their lives on the line by going against numerous people and instead of always letting their guns talk they use more covert tactics, which are always thrilling to watch. So, Netflix being what it is, it has a large library of content and also some of the best spy shows you can find and that’s what inspired us to compile a list of the best spy shows you can watch on Netflix right now.

Fubar Credit – Netflix

Fubar is an action thriller and comedy-drama series created by Nick Santora. The Netflix series follows the story of Luke Brunner, a recently retired CIA agent who finds out that his daughter is also...

Studio Ponoc’s latest animated feature, “The Imaginary,” is set to release on Netflix on Friday, July 5, 2024. This fantasy-adventure film, directed by Yoshiyuki Momose of “Spirited Away” fame, promises to bring a fresh perspective to the concept of imaginary friends.

Based on A.F. Harrold’s children’s novel of the same name, “The Imaginary” follows the story of Rudger, an imaginary friend created by a young girl named Amanda. The film explores their adventures together until Rudger finds himself separated from Amanda and in the Town of Imaginaries, a place where forgotten imaginary friends reside.

In a recent interview, writer and producer Yoshiaki Nishimura revealed intriguing details about the film’s creative process. One standout scene features a space opera fantasy where characters navigate a rocket seemingly built from cardboard. Nishimura explained, “That cardboard world [with] Cruncher of Bones, that character coming to the story really starts developing that cardboard board world even more.

Supersex is here to tell the story behind one of the biggest male pornstars this world has ever seen. The Netflix series follows the life story of popular pornstar Rocco Siffredi, from his childhood in Ortona, Italy to becoming a sexual sensation. Alessandro Borghi stars in the leading role of Siffredi, and he puts everything into his performance to portray a complex and damaged character. If you loved the character-based drama, themes of deep-seated psychological issues, and sex in Supersex then you should check out these similar shows next.

The Naked Director (Netflix) Credit – Netflix

It’s Supersex but Japanese and much more comedic and raunchy. Yes, we are talking about The Naked Director. Based on a novel titled Zenra Kantoku Muranishi Toru Den by Nobuhiro Motohashi, the semi-biographical Netflix series follows the life of Toru Muranishi, a very important figure in the Japanese porn industry. The series delves into...

House of Ninjas Review (Photo Credit – Netflix/YouTube)

House of Ninjas Review: Star Rating:

Cast: Kento Kaku, Yosuke Eguchi, Tae Kimura, Kengo Kora, Aju Makita, Nobuko Miyamoto, Riho Yoshioka, and Takayuki Yamada.

Creator: Dave Boyle

Director: Dave Boyle

Streaming On: Netflix

Language: Japanese (with subtitles)

Runtime: 8 episodes, around 1 hour each.

House of Ninjas Review (Photo Credit – Netflix/YouTube) House of Ninjas Review: What’s It About

House of Ninjas is a new Netflix series developed by Dave Boyle and follows the adventures of the Tawara family, who from the outside look like a fairly normal family, with a working father, a housewife mother, cute kids, and a charming grandmother. However, in reality, the family belongs to a secret clan of Ninjas, also known as Shinobi, and they must go back into action once the threat of another murderous clan returns to make the lives of everyone living in Tokyo hell.

A Netflix Japanese thriller, House of Ninjas is a gripping story revolving around the last of the Shinobi families, the Tawaras. The Tawara patriarch, Souichi Tawara, decided to leave their original identity as ninjas behind and lead a normal life, but the reemergence of their rival clan, the Fumas, became a reason for the Tawaras to change their decision. To protect their country from an evil entity like the Fuma leader, Yosuke, the Tawaras took up their responsibility as Shinobis and fought against their enemies. Let’s talk about this cast of interesting characters in the series and learn about their journey.

Souichi

Played by Yosuke Eguchi, Souichi Tawara is the family patriarch of the Tawaras. Souichi and his family had suffered a tragic loss six years ago when, in a fight against the Fumas, he lost his elder son, Gaku. Ever since, Souichi decided to retire from their old...

"Humans forget us. There's no getting around that. There is but little time for you." Studio Ponoc in Japan has unveiled an official trailer for their latest fantasy adventure movie called The Imaginary, their second feature after Mary and the Witch's Flower previously (and the anthology project Modest Heroes). Based on the novel "The Imaginary" by A.F. Harrold, this was originally set to release in 2022 - we featured the first teaser trailer back in 2021. After being delayed for a few years, it's now set for open in Japan in December 2023, and sometime in 2024 for the rest of the world. An imaginary friend must return to his creator before he is forgotten or captured by an evil man who can see imaginary friends. "Can a boy who isn't there survive without a friend to dream him up?" The main Japanese voice cast includes Kokoro Terada, Rio Suzuki, Sakura Ando, Riisa Naka,...

Japan Latest To Remake Simon Cowell’s ‘Got Talent’

Japan’s Abema TV has become the latest to order a version of Simon Cowell’s Got Talent franchise. Airing next year, Yoshimito Kyogo will produce the local version of the hit format, which has been remade in 72 territories and sees performers of all varieties attempt to impress a panel of celebrity judges and global audience with their talent. Judges will be comedian and actor Masatoshi Hamada, actress Alice Hirose, musician Gackt and producer Takayuki Yamada. The show has been a huge hit over many years for ITV in the UK, where it was created by Cowell’s Fremantle-backed Syco Entertainment and is licensed by Fremantle. The deal was brokered by Fremantle’s Katsuhiko Waza, who is Senior Vice President, Distribution, Japan; Paul Ridley, Senior Executive Vice President, International Distribution; and Stephen Flint, Director of Operations, Global Entertainment Production.

Prime...

Based on the homonymous manga by Ken Wakui, “Shinjuku Swan” is another testament to Sion Sono’s prowess in adapting, with the many and colorful characters, the extreme violence and the overall sleaziness being just down his alley.

on Amazon

The labyrinth story begins with Tatsuhiko, an unemployed young man who does not have even the fare to return home (although he wears a Supreme hoodie that costs upwards than 400), getting into a fight with a gang, and getting rescued by Mako, a scout who recruits girls to work for the Burst scouting agency run by Yamashiro in Kabukicho. Tatsuhiko learns the “tricks” of wooing women to work in massage parlors, and although he feels uncomfortable when he realizes that they are exploited, the sense of belonging, success and comradeship soon take over with him becoming quite successful. However, Burst is not the only company working in the area,...

Three siblings live on a secluded island known as “brothel island” and run the family business with four prostitutes. The oldest brother Tetsuo (Jiro Sato) manages the brothel but has a brutal and violent personality. The younger brother Tokuta (Takayuki Yamada) acts as Tetsuo’s subordinate, while the younger sister Ibuki (Riisa Naka) lives in the brothel dealing with a chronic illness. The family hides a cruel past.

The film is written and directed by Jiro Sato, an adaptation from his own 2009 stage play. It has been released in Japan in 2020-21.

Film review: https://asianmoviepulse.com/2019/11/transcendental-story-of-prostitution-jiro-sato-draws-a-family-portrait-in-a-brothel/...

The London East Asia Film Festival (Leaff) celebrates its sixth edition in 2021 with a commitment to diverse, culturally impactful cinema entertainment. After a year of shut cinema doors, Leaff is returning home to London’s big screens with an expanded catalogue to help stimulate the renaissance of cinema and promote cultural empathy.

With cinematic offerings from eight regions – China, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Philippines, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam – this year’s programme is an ode to the quiet and independent voices from East Asia. Two international premieres, five European premieres and 18 UK premieres will take place at our state-art-of-the-art venues, Odeon Luxe Leicester Square, The Cinema at Selfridges, as well as the newly opened Odeon Luxe West End and The Chiswick Cinema. The festival is divided into five strands: Official Selection, Competition, Hong Kong Focus, Documentary, and Retrospective.

Opening Gala

The festival opens with a memorial to the late Benny Chan...

Japanese humor is rather unique, occasionally moving towards intelligent, quirky and deadpan paths, occasionally towards absurd, slapstick or even appalling and “blasphemous” ones. “Zokki”, the collective effort of Naoto Takenaka, Takayuki Yamada and Takumi Saitoh, thankfully lingers mostly towards the first two categories, in five intermingling episodes written by Yutaka Kuramochi, based on short stories by manga artist Hiroyuki Ohashi.

“Zokki” is screening at New York Asian Film Festival

The omnibus begins with a story of a kidnapping that ends up with a grandfather talking about secrets with his granddaughter, who eventually throws out of her mouth the milk she was drinking, which sets up the tone, to a point at least, for the rest of the movie. Another story focuses on Fujimura, a loner who decides to go for a road trip with his bike, eventually arriving at a seaside town, where he is taken in by a friendly...

As with the previous film, the story revolves around a number of characters. Rei Kanzaki is male host at a club, where each person’s rank is measured according to the number and price of bottles their clients order. Rei has the ambition to be number 1, and is willing to go to extremes to succeed. Ayaka, a teenager who is desperately in love with him decides to help him, and is willing to go to even further extremes just to do that. Koji Aizawa is a father whose wife is constantly nagging him to get money, and also the leader of a gang comprised of underage kids dressed in military-style jackets. When Takada, a lowlife, and his friends steal his bike and destroy it, in a series of events that ends up with Koji stabbed by him, he decides to visit Ushijima, and ask him to loan money to Koji,...

The film is part of a very successful franchise that includes an ongoing manga (from 2004), a TV series, and three movies that follow the series’ story, although one does not have to be a follower of the franchise in order to watch this movie.

The story, surprisingly, does not revolve around Ushijima, but around Jun Ogawa, the leader of a group that organizes party events. In Tokyo, however, this means that he is a man with thousands of contacts in his three cell phones, who promotes a boy band whose members draw girls in the events, and the girls, in turn, draw more men. Jun is very ambitious and his next show, which is the largest he has ever organized, is to be the turning point of his career. However, he has two major problems to solve: He needs to find a lot of money very soon,...

Review by Zack Zacho

“13 Assassins” was, with little-to-no surprise, (given the director) a commercial success globally back in 2010. The movie was made for around $6 million and grossed somewhere in the region of $17.5 million. (worldwide) I think I can safely say, given it’s a period piece created primarily for adults, that “13 Assassins” was a triumph at the box office. In Japan, the film managed to win four of it’s ten nominations at the 34th Japan Academy Awards, including `Picture of the Year` and `Director of the Year`.

The movie has had an impact all over the globe artistically, (a modern-day cult classic) from it’s day of release until now Miike delivers a slice of Japanese history (however fantastical it may be) and folklore straight into our living rooms. History is to be taught and learnt, if not always understood. And what better way to study bygone days,...

Another Decade with Takashi Miike is a series of essays on the 2010 films of the Japanese maverick, following Notebook's earlier survey of Miike's first decade of the 21st century.Jim Emerson once wrote that Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom tells you how to watch it in its first shot. By a similar token, JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Diamond Is Unbreakable - Chapter 1 (2017) tells you how to watch it with its very title. Making sense of its three parts requires either familiarity with the manga series JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure (or its anime adaptation) or a willingness to do some work as a spectator. Diamond Is Unbreakable is the name of the fourth story arc of the JoJo manga; it was originally serialized from 1992 to 1995. It speaks to Miike’s love of—and entrenchment in—cartoon media that he’d choose not to adapt the first story of this long-running...

Mixing genres through a barely coherent narrative and a visual presentation that borders on the epileptic through its use of intense coloring and frequency of cuts has been one of the traits of contemporary Japanese cinema for many years. This kind of productions usually end up in seemingly silly, but also quite rich in context and entertaining films, that also seem to “loan” from other, older movies. Probably the main representative of the style is Tetsuya Nakashima, but other directors, like Mika Ninagawa, have also adopted the approach, while Obayashi’s last works also moved towards the same direction. Yoshimasha Ishibashi tries his hand in the style.

“Milocrorze: A Love Story” is screening at Fantasia Festival

The story unfolds in four different axes. The first one is set like a children’s movie and revolves around a rather colorful boy (literally) named Ovreneli Vreneligare who eventually meets Milocrorze in a...

Netflix released lists of its most popular content in Japan, Korea, India and Malaysia on Monday, showing that a mix of American shows and local language content best captured hearts and eyeballs in Asia this year — with Michael Bay’s “6 Underground” the only title that proved a top hit in all territories.

Netflix said the most-watched lists had been made by tallying the number of accounts that had streamed at least two minutes of the content in question during its first 28 days on the platform in 2019.

In Japan, five out of ten of the top ten works of the year are Netflix originals. Three are animated, while a fourth is a live-action adaptation of an anime. The top-viewed content was the semi-biographical live-action Japanese-language series “The Naked Director,” which chronicles Japan’s porn industry in the 1980s through the story of real-life, controversial adult video director Toru Muranishi, played by Takayuki Yamada.

review by Levan Tskhovrebadze

Japanese director Jiro Sato regains traditions of Japanese cinema in his second feature “Brothers in Brothel” narrating a hapless story of being trapped in the patriarchal entropy of prostitution. The story and atmosphere are as mystic and unusual as in Kenji Mizoguchi, and at the same time, the director manages to draw the portrait of disaffection in a dysfunctional family in Yasujiro Ozu’s style. The allegory of being isolated and exploited is everlasting so the brothel is a metaphor that can be customized on each hopelessly vulnerable group… still, the screen is shedding hope all over the audience.

Six people are living in a brothel located in an isolated island – Tokuta (Takayuki Yamada) and Ibuki (Riisa Naka) who are also siblings of the owner Tetsuo (characterized by the director himself) and four prostitutes. Because these people have never been out of the island, their beliefs...

After being almost caught by the police in the apartment of a family he held hostage, serial-killer Anjuro Katagiri (Takayuki Yamada) is bow-arrowed in the throat by a young fellow who looks like he sprang out of a Duran Duran video. Pulling out the arrow from Katagiri’s flesh, the youth says something about the gravity bringing them together, about love and comradeship, before informing him he has been chosen. The killer is not only alive, but also rewarded with the ability to turn into a water demon after his blood has drenched the nearby pond. The angelic face with a strawberry blond mullet who made this possible is the actual supervillain of the story, a high-school student Keicho Nijimura (Masaki Okada), one of the superpower-bearers, who is choosing the army of foes for reasons revealed only in the film’s final five minutes.

A couple of days later,...

Revenge might be said to be a dish best served cold, but Michihito Fujii’s new film “Day and Night” questions if it needs to be served at all. The film, produced and co-written by Japanese superstar Takayuki Yamada, will be screening at Fantasia International Film Festival 2019.

“Day and Night” is screening at Fantasia International Film Festival

Koji Akashi returns home from Tokyo following the suicide of his father, a whistleblower for a large automobile company. As his father’s extreme step has left the family debt-ridden and hounded by debtors as well as workers of the automobile company, Akashi decides to stay back to help his mother and young sister and to find the truth about the mystery that surrounds his father’s death. In his search for truth, he meets Kenichi Kitamura, a suave man who alleges that he has a debt of gratitude towards Akashi’s father...

Stars: Takayuki Yamada, Takeru Satoh, Yoshiyoshi Arakawa, Takuzo Kubikukuri, Kei Ishibashi | Written by Kousuke Mukai | Directed by Nobuhiro Yamashita

I definitely do have a love for films are not only original but very strange as well. From the killer tyre movie Rubber, to the one-off brilliance of Swiss Army Man, to food that will murder you in Dead Sushi and there’s so many more I love. And Hard-Core, like those, is indeed a bit strange…

For about the first thirty minutes, Hard-Core doesn’t seem that odd. We see a guy, Ukon and his friend Ushiyama (who has a a learning disability) working in a derelict mine for a guy who believes there is gold there. These two then discover a robot in an abandoned factory and along with Ukon’s brother Sakon, their world changes forever.

Ukon is such a fascinating and brilliant character. I always felt like...

Exclusive: Jade Albany, who starred in Amazon original American Playboy: The Hugh Hefner Story, is to star in Netflix’s Japanese drama The Naked Director. She becomes the first non-Asian actor in a major series role for a Netflix original in the region.

The Italian born actor, who was raised in Australia, plays porn star Allison Mandy in the drama, which explores the concept of eroticism in Japan. Mandy was formerly a top porn star who is attempting a comeback. She acts like a diva but her back is against the wall. Receiving an offer to star in a crazy, daring Japanese adult video, she reluctantly takes the job, but things don’t turn out as she expects.

The Naked Director is set in Japan in the 1980s and follows director Toru Muranishi, a director and determined entrepreuner who was developing adult videos at the beginning of the industry and...

Netflix unveiled its lineup of original programming from Japan. It includes major local and international names.

Among the most highly anticipated entries is “Ai-naki Mori de Sakebe” (literal translation: Shout in the Loveless Forest), a three-part series inspired by a real multiple murder case set to stream this summer. The director is international cult favorite Sion Sono who suffered a heart attack and underwent an operation in February. “It was all my fault,” Sono told media at an event in Tokyo on Tuesday. “I was really busy with editing. I feel I should pay Netflix compensation.”

Scheduled to begin streaming on Aug. 8 to 190 countries and territories is “The Naked Director,” a series based on the career of real-life porn director Toru Muranishi. Playing Muranishi, who pioneered the adult video genre in the 1980s, is Takayuki Yamada, a favorite of Takashi Miike and the star of the popular “Uchijima the Loan Shark” series.

Japanese director Masaharu Take has completed work on his new drama series “The Naked Director”. The production is based off of the career of director and actor Toru Muranishi (Takayuki Yamada), and his experiences within the Japanese adult video industry.

All episodes will become available on Netflix on August 8th, 2019. A trailer for the series has been released and can be viewed below.

Synopsis

This biopic follows the tumultuous life of director Toru Muranishi, who revolutionized the porn industry during the economic boom of 1980s Japan. (Netflix)...

Ever since his debut feature “Hazy Life” Japanese director Nobuhiro Yamashita has been a regular at many film festivals, including Nippon Connection. Many of his films are concerned with outsiders within Japanese society starting, from youths to the unemployed, so essentially people who feel left behind in Japan. His film “Hard-Core”, an adaptation of the manga series by Caribu Marley and Takashi Imashiro, is screened at this year’s Nippon Connection.

We sat down with the director to discuss his feature, his inspirations and his opinion on Japan’s relationship to robots.

“Hard-Core” is screening at Nippon Connection

This year’s Nippon Connection deals with the topic of outlaws and outsiders in the Japanese society. Considering this background, do you think of yourself as an outsider or outlaw director?

(laughs) No, I am quite a normal person. However, within the Japanese film industry I am indeed a bit of an outsider.

Takashi Miike has recently turned towards manga/anime adaptations, with, mostly, impressive results, as his aesthetics seem to fit perfectly to these mediums. This time, he adapts Yu Sasuga’s homonymous, shounen manga, which has sold more than 14 million copies since 2011.

During the 21st century, scientists decided to make Mars a planet that could be inhabited in the future. The solution they came up with was to terraform its ground by spreading special algae with the help of cockroaches that would spread the substance all over the planet. Now, in 2577, they realize that the cockroaches have mutated into anthropomorphous, extremely strong and fast monsters. The government decides to send an exterminating team, which fails miserably (the script does not refer much to them). Due to this, they assign a half-crazy scientist named Ko Honda, to assemble a team that can carry the task, and to give them a chance of success,...

Whoa! Toho Co. in Japan has debuted the first official trailer for a new Japanese 3D animated feature film titled Dragon Quest: Your Story, based on the popular video game series of the same name. For those in America, this game was released under the title Dragon Warrior, and the first version of it was released for the Nes back in the 1980s. Maybe you remember playing it? The series has since continued and is currently up to Dragon Quest XI. This film pulls its story from Dragon Quest V: Hand of the Heavenly Bride - the fifth instalment in the series, released on the Super Famicom in 1992 and re-released on the Nintendo DS in 2008. Featuring the voices of Kasumi Arimura, Kentaro Sakaguchi, Takeru Satoh, and Takayuki Yamada. Looks action-packed and wildly entertaining. As a fan of the old game, I can't help but be curious. Here's the first Japanese...

Takayuki Yamada, who has starred in everything from commercial actioners (“Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure”) and arthouse dramas (“The Devil’s Path”) to the popular “Ushijima the Loan Shark” series, is to star in a new Netflix original show, “Naked Director.” The drama series focuses on notorious 1980s porn director, Toru Muranishi.

The series is based on Nobuhiro Motohashi’s book of reportage about Muranishi’s life and career in bubble-era Japan “Zenra Kantoku Muranishi Toru Den.” The series features Yamada as the scapegrace hero, a seven-time convicted criminal and self-described “king of porn.” Masaharu Take, whose credits include the 2014 festival-favorite boxing drama “100 Yen Love,” will serve as the director.

“For years people have been asking me if I’d like to direct, but my reply was always ‘only if I find the right project,” Yamada said. “Now I’ve found a nicer answer: ‘Yamada will be a porn director’.” The...

Let me start by stating a few things. The anime “Gantz” is one of my favorite anime of all times. I have not read the manga by Hiroya Oku. When I review an anime/manga adaptation, I try to focus, as little as possible, on how close to the original it remained; instead, I make an effort of watching it as a stand-alone work. The above considering, I think Shinsuke Sato’s two-part movie is one of the best films based on anime/manga.

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Two classmates, Kurono and Kato, are killed while trying to save a homeless person who had fallen on the subway rails. After their death, they find themselves in an apartment, where a man cabled inside a black sphere forces them to participate in a death game, along with a number of other people experiencing the same fate, where they have to kill particular...

The 19th edition of Short Shorts Film Festival & Asia will take place across Tokyo and Yokohama from 1 - 25 June 2017, featuring 250 short films from around the world. The largest short film festival anywhere in Asia, as well as a qualifying festival for the Academy Awards, Ssff & Asia will premiere Crime Fighters, a 6-part collaborative effort between the festival and Exile Tribe, a group of prominent artists from across the Japanese entertainment industry. Most notable among them is Parallel World, a new short feature from Naomi Kawase, the Cannes Grand Prix winning director of The Mourning Forest and An. Her new short stars Anna Ishii and Takayuki Yamada in a nostalgic tale of lost love and teenage innocence. The festival includes...

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

The film is based on a true story that was first published in Shinchosha’s “Shincho 45” monthly magazine and was later republished as a nonfiction novel, written by the editorial staff of the magazine.

True crime

Shuichi Fuji is a journalist who works in a magazine. He is somewhat frustrated regarding his job, because his editor turns down his articles. Furthermore, he has some troubles at home, because his senile mother gives a lot of trouble to his wife, who has to put up with her all day, since he is constantly at work.

One day, he receives a letter from a death-row inmate named Junji Sudo, who asks to talk to someone from the magazine. Upon his visit, Sudo informs Fuji that apart from all the crimes he has been convicted for, he has committed more, not known to the police. Furthermore, he seems to blame an individual nicknamed “Doc” for them,...

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 of Hirohiko Araki’s JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Diamond Is Unbreakable manga. Prolific filmmaker Takashi Miike is directing the movie, which will open in Japan in summer 2017.

The cast includes:

Kento Yamazaki

Kento Yamazaki as Josuke Higashikata

Ryunosuke Kamiki as Koichi Hirose

Nana Komatsu as Yukako Yamagishi

Masaki Okada as Keicho Nijimura

Mackenryu as Okuyasu Nijimura

Takayuki Yamada as Anjuro Katagiri

Yusuke Iseya as Jotaro Kūjo

Arisa Mizuki as Tomoko Higashikata

Jun Kunimura as 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...

It’s the tail end of the twenty-first century and Earth has nearly overstayed its welcome with dwindling resources and over-population. Scientists believe they can release the CO2 pockets underneath Mars’ surface and move the Red Planet from -50 degrees Celsius into a human-friendly temperature and atmosphere. So mankind sends rockets of moss and cockroaches to commence the process, a half-century passing before a team of colonists can finally journey forth. Everything should be ready for this hand-selected group under Ko Honda’s (Shun Oguri) supervision: go to Mars, kill the cockroaches, and return home with stories of our salvation via a new frontier. It sounds so simple and yet no one is prepared for what they’ll find because no one but Honda and the Japanese government know the truth.

That itself is a wild premise ripe for science fiction fun, but manga creators Yû Sasuga and Kenichi Tachibana are hardly finished.

Takashi Miike's Terra Formars screening on Fantasia International Film FestivalSTORY68%DIRECTION70%ACTING65%VISUALS75%POSITIVESStays close to the originalGreat castimpressive actionNEGATIVESActually a sci-fi, action flick addressing only fans of the category2016-08-0470%Overall ScoreReader Rating: (1 Vote)91%

Takashi Miike has recently turned towards manga/anime adaptations, with, mostly, impressive results, as his aesthetics seem to fit perfectly to these mediums. This time, he adapts Yu Sasuga’s homonymous, shounen manga, which has sold more than 14 million copies since 2011.

During the 21st century, scientists decided to make Mars a planet that could be inhabited in the future. The solution they came up with was to terraform its ground by spreading special algae with the help of cockroaches that would spread the substance all over the planet. Now, in 2577, they realize that the cockroaches have mutated into anthropomorphous, extremely strong and fast monsters. The government decides to send an exterminating team, which...

The original manga series that has sold over 14 million copies and has inspired TV anime, OVAs and manga spinoffs has already finished production and will open in Japan on April 29, during the Golden Week holidays.

Having secured a rather large budget, the film entails an ensemble cast including Hideaki Itō (Princess Blade, Lesson of the Evil) in the lead role of Shōkichi Komachi, Emi Takei (Rurouni Kenshin) as Nanao Akita, Takayuki Yamada, Shun Oguri, Rinko Kikuchi and Eiko Koike.

The pre-production for the film took two years, and filming began in mid-May. Filming then moved in August to Iceland. It was the first time that a Japanese film is shot on location there.

The non-Japanese team members in the original manga have had their names and part of their characters changed. For example, the Thai character Thien is now Jin Mutō, as played by former News band member Tomohisa Yamashita (a.

Exclusive: Sci-fi action film set for release by Warner Bros in Japan in April.

Japan’s Gaga Corporation is handling international sales on Takashi Miike’s sci-fi action title Terraformars, produced by a film committee headed by Warner Bros Pictures Japan.

Based on a best-selling manga, the film follows a crew who are sent to Mars to eradicate the cockroaches that were sent up first to make the planet’s atmosphere habitable for humankind. But when they arrive, they discover the ‘roaches have evolved into giant creatures that mercilessly attack humans.

The unsuspecting crew are played by Hideaki Ito, who worked with Miike on Lesson Of The Evil, Emi Takei (Rurouni Kenshin series), Tomohisa Yamashita (Tomorrow’s Joe) and Takayuki Yamada (Miike’s 13 Assassins). Shun Oguri, who appeared in Miike’s Crows series, stars as a mad scientist.

Warner Bros is releasing the film in Japanese theatres on April 29, 2016. Gaga has all international rights outside of Japan...

Terra Formars

Director: Takashi Miike

Writer: Kazuki Nakashima

Given his mindboggling output, it would be strange not to have a most anticipated list not featuring Japanese auteur Takashi Miike, who usually has several projects premiering during any given year. As far as we can tell, he only has one title scheduled for release in 2016, the intriguing Terra Formers, a live action manga adaptation which sounds an awful lot like Paul Verhoeven’s Starship Troopers (1997). Humans deposit some moss and cockroaches on Mars in hopes of fostering an inhabitale environment for later use on the Red Planet. In the year 2599, they return to find a species of dangerous humanoid cockroaches. The production is the first Japanese film to shoot in Iceland. A cast headlined by Rinko Kikuchi (Babel; Pacific Rim) has us even more excited for what sounds like one of Miike’s most extravagantly gonzo creations yet.

Cast: Rinko Kikuchi,...

Japanese filmmaker Takashi Miike has quickly become one of the more recognised names among genre fans around the world, with films such as Audition, Ichi the Killer, and Sukiyaki Western Django only some of the features he’s known for in his extensive filmography. While his last feature, Yakuza Apocalypse, made its premiere at the Cannes Film Festival, Miike is already in the midst of production on his next film.

Titled Terra Formars, Miike takes solely on directing duties this time around, working from a screenplay by Kazuki Nakashima. The film itself is an adaptation of a manga by Ken’ichi Tachibana and Yû Sasuga, and stars Pacific Rim‘s Rinko Kikuchi and Arrow‘s Rila Fukushima alongside 13 Assassins‘ Takayuki Yamada and Emi Takei. While festival premiere dates or theatrical release dates have yet to be announced, the first trailer for the film has already been released. The trailer can be seen below.

The 19th Annual Fantasia Film Festival is only a week away, beginning July 14 and running through August 4. And as promised for today, they’ve revealed their full line-up of films screening at 2015’s festival in Montreal.

This year’s line-up boasts 22 World Premieres, 13 International Premieres, and 21 North American Premieres. Both Marvel’s Ant-Man and the animated Miss Hokusai were previously announced, but now they’ve added the much anticipated Attack on Titan movie as their closing night film. Other highlights include the Sundance darlings Cooties, starring Elijah Wood and Rainn Wilson, Cop Car, starring Kevin Bacon and directed by the upcoming Spider-man director Jon Watts, and a trio of films from horror auteur Sion Sono.

See the full line-up announcement of films below via Fantasia’s Facebook page, and be sure to check out their website at fantasiafestival.com for additional information.

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Fantasia 2015:

36 Countries, 135 Features, and Nearly 300 Short Films

- Including 22 World Premieres,...

Sion Sono doesn't sleep. Or least that's what it seems like as the cult Japanese director is working at a remarkably prolific rate. It was only last fall that he was premiering "Tokyo Tribe" at the Toronto International Film Festival, and not only does he already have "Shinjuku Swan" in the can and ready for release this spring, he's got "Love & Peace" in post-production. And that's not all. According to Variety, Sono will release six movies this year. Watch your back Takashi Miike. Anyway, the first teaser for "Shinjuku Swan" is here, and yes, it looks like your typically wild Sono joint. Starring Go Ayano, Erika Sawajiri, Takayuki Yamada and Yusuke Iseya, and based on the manga series by Ken Wakui, the story follows an unemployed man who winds up recruiting women for the sex industry in Tokyo's red light district. And as you'll see in the trailer below, rival...

Stars: Takayuki Yamada, Howard Harris, Fumi Nikaidô, Shôta Sometani, Hideaki Itô, Ruth Sundell, Mitsuru Fukikoshi, Rio Kanno, Yukito Nishii, Ken’ichi Takitô, Daniel Genalo, Noriko Nakagoshi, Erina Mizuno, Fujiko Kojima, Kento Hayashi | Written and Directed by Takashi Miike

I learnt from watching Audition that you never take Takashi Miike movies at face value, he won’t let you. That movie was my introduction into the twisted world of the director, and this is the reason he has quickly become one of my favourites. From horror to gangsters, historical and even school movies like Crows Zero he shows a flexibility and an ability to bring fun to his work, while also masterfully handling the extremes. Lesson of Evil is a movie that risks coming across as boring especially in the first half when it is setting the scene for the violence to come. Whether you find it dull or the characters interest you,...