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Kiyoshi Kurosawa is a master of genre cinema, crafting terrifying films like Pulse and Cure. While his films often transcend genre, the modern master is back in the thriller space with his latest film, Cloud. While more grounded than his previous thrillers, it’s still a dream-like look at a criminal and the hole he just can’t seem to dig himself out of.

In Kurosawa’s new film:

Yoshii is an ambitious, yet directionless, young factory worker from Tokyo who side hustles in the murky realm of black market reselling, cheating buyers and sellers alike. After swindling his way into loads of cash, Yoshii gradually attempts to disconnect from humanity, moving out of the city, shunning his girlfriend, and entrusting duties to his new, devoted assistant. Before long, his life is plagued by a series of mysterious, sinister incidents that threaten to upend his success and bring about a most violent demise.

"You don't sell anything dubious, do you?" Janus Films has debuted their own final official US trailer for Cloud, the unconventional Japanese thriller from acclaimed filmmaker Kiyoshi Kurosawa - set for a US release this summer. We also posted two Japanese trailers for this last year during its premiere at the 2024 Venice Film Festival (one of my favorites of the fest). The title Cloud is a reference to the digital space known as the cloud, as it's a peculiar horror story about how hatred spreads online. Yoshii, a young man who resells goods online by flipping cheap products for high prices, finds himself at the center of a series of mysterious events that put his life at risk. Online threats against him start to become real. The film stars Masaki Suda as Ryôsuke Yoshii, Kotone Furukawa, Daikan Okudaira, Okayama Amane, Yoshiyoshi Arakawa, & Masataka Kubota. The film is less of a horror,...

The official website for the upcoming stage play adaptation of Uoto's Orb: On the Movements of the Earth manga has revealed the seven main cast members and their solo visuals . Masataka Kubota is cast as fighter Oczy, while Mirai Moriyama (Kamen Rider No. 0 in Shin Kamen Rider ) plays inquisitor Nowak. Oczy played by Masataka Kubota Nowak played by Mirai Moriyama Jolenta played by Toko Miura Gras played by Yusuke Oonuki Draka played by Sakura Kiryu Antoni played by Mitsuru Fukikoshi Badeni played by Songha Avshalom Pollak , known for his works on The Cat That Lived a Million Times musical, serves as the director, and Keishi Nagatsuka writes the script. Kaitaro Abe provides music and Ella Rothschild works on choreography. The stage play will perform at the New National Theatre's Playhouse in Tokyo from October 8 to 26, 2025, then will also run in Aichi, Hiroshima, Osaka, and Fukuoka. After pre-sales from June...

Kiyoshi Kurosawa is known for his notable contributions to Japanese and psychological horror. The veteran director, screenwriter, and author's plots rarely fall short of clear storytelling, leading audiences directly to the meaning of his productions. Kurosawa's 2024 psychological thriller Cloudwas added to his list of hits, and now the film is finally on its way to U.S. theaters. According to Deadline, the critically acclaimed film is set to open in theaters on Jul. 18.

Cloud was released by Sideshow and Janus Films. It will first open in New York City and then in Los Angeles on July 25 before rolling out nationwide. The plot focuses on a young factory worker (Yoshii) who finds success as a reseller. He's ambitious yet directionless, and eventually becomes greedy, cheating both buyers and sellers in the black market and gaining a lot of money in the process. Yoshii gets too deep into his side hustle and begins isolating himself from humanity.

Exclusive: Cloud, written and directed by Japanese veteran director Kiyoshi Kurosawa, will open in U.S. theaters on July 18.

Released by Sideshow and Janus Films, the film will open in New York on July 18, followed by Los Angeles on July 25, before kicking off a nationwide rollout.

The film stars Masaki Suda (The Boy and the Heron), Kotone Furukawa (Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy), Daiken Okudaira, Amane Okayama, Yoshiyoshi Arakawa and Masataka Kubota.

Cloud premiered at the Venice Film Festival, played at the Toronto International Film Festival, and was also Japan’s selection for the Oscars.

After releasing Kurosawa’s Cloud, Janus Films is also set to release Ira Sachs’ Peter Hujar’s Day in the fall.

Produced by Japan’s Nikkatsu, the thriller follows Yoshii, an ambitious, yet directionless, young factory worker from Tokyo, who side-hustles in black market reselling, cheating both buyers and sellers. After swindling his way into loads of cash,...

Japan’s Toei is to handle international sales of Keishi Otomo’s mystery thriller Hero’s Island and will launch the film at the upcoming Cannes market.

The three-hour-plus epic traces the lives of a group of outlaws and outsiders in Okinawa over a period of 20 years, from the post-war era to the 1970s, when the island chain was finally returned to Japan by the US in 1972.

The cast is led by Satoshi Tsumabuki, who won best actor at the Japan Academy Awards in 2023 for Kei Ishikawa’s A Man, and also features Suzu Hirose, who stars in Ishikawa’s...

Japan’s Toei is to handle international sales of Keishi Otomo’s mystery thriller Hero’s Island and will launch the film at the upcoming Cannes market.

The three-hour-plus epic traces the lives of a group of outlaws and outsiders in Okinawa over a period of 20 years, from the post-war era to the 1970s, when the island chain was finally returned to Japan by the US in 1972.

The cast is led by Satoshi Tsumabuki, who won best actor at the Japan Academy Awards in 2023 for Kei Ishikawa’s A Man, and also features Suzu Hirose, who stars in Ishikawa’s...

Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s “Cloud” offers a harrowing social critique through a keenly observed character study of a young man bored by his life. He hates employment and seeks freedom. So, he pursues a path with the easiest and the finest returns. Although this sounds like a bulk of youth, Kursoawa’s script paints his portrait with an undeniable specificity. While being a taut psychological thriller, it offers a lot to unpack within its two hours of runtime. Let’s break down these themes and get the ending explained.

Spoilers ahead.

Cloud Plot Summary & Movie Synopsis

“Cloud” is a Japanese psychological thriller, written and directed by Kiyoshi Kurosawa, who’s widely known for his work on the crime horror classic, “Cure.”

What happens in Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s Cloud?

Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s “Cloud” follows Ryosuke Yoshii (Masaki Suda), who is stuck in a dead-end blue-collar job at a factory. One day, his...

A stage adaptation of Orb: On The Movements Of The Earth (Chi: Chikyu No Undo Ni Tsuite), based on Uoto’s manga, has been announced.

The production will premiere in October at Tokyo’s New National Theatre, with a tour scheduled for November.

The play will be directed by Avshalom Pollak, with a script by Keishi Nagatsuka. The music is composed by Umitaro Abe, while Ella Rothschild will handle the choreography.

A visual was revealed to commemorate the announcement.

While the cast members have also been revealed, the roles they will play are yet to be revealed. The cast can be viewed below:

Masataka Kubota Toko Miura Yusuke Onuki Mitsuru Fukikoshi Songha Mirai Moriyama

Commenting on the adaptation, original author Uoto expressed excitement about seeing the manga’s panels transformed for the stage.

“I am truly honored. I’m simply looking forward to seeing how the ‘panels’ of the manga transform into a ‘stage’ production!

The Orb: On the Movements of the Earth manga ran from 2020 to 2022 and was compiled in just eight volumes; a much smaller number than most major titles. Still, the manga became a proper cult classic with a loyal and devoted following, which was increased thanks to the anime adaptation.

And while the anime never reached the level of popularity of major mainstream titles, it drew solid numbers and while the anime ended on March 15, 2025, the franchise will continue, as a stage play has been confirmed for October.

Related: ‘Orb: On the Movements of the Earth’ Anime Adds Shōya Ishige

The stage play, titled Butai Chi -Chikyū no Undō ni Tsuite- (Stage Orb: On the Movements of the Earth), will have its premiere in October at the New National Theatre in Tokyo. The official poster has been revealed:

The cast will consist of Masataka Kubota, Tōko Miura, Yūsuke Ōnuki, Mitsuru Fukikoshi,...

As if the upcoming edition of the Overlook Film Festival , taking place April 3 – April 6 in New Orleans, Louisiana, wasn’t stacked enough, the festival announced today the full schedule, including some surprise new films and live events.

The full festival schedule can be found at overlookfilmfest.com/schedule.

The new additions to the lineup bring the festival total to 56 films (34 features and 22 shorts) from 15 countries, as well as twelve live events and four immersive experiences, making this the largest Overlook lineup in the festival’s nine year history.

“This year’s giant lineup brings into focus all of the ways we love to be scared, regardless of what flavor of spooky is your jam” said Sheryl Santacruz, festival director of The Overlook Film Festival. “We can’t wait to join with the greatest, most dedicated genre fans in the world to celebrate this sensation that we all love in ways that we never imagined possible,...

"People like us billow up around Ratel... like clouds."...

“Cloud,” the action thriller from director Kiyoshi Kurosawa that was Japan’s official submission for the 97th Oscars, has been acquired for North American release by Sideshow and Janus Films, IndieWire has learned exclusively.

“Cloud” made its world premiere out of competition at Venice in 2024 and also played Toronto, Fantastic Fest, Beyond Fest, the Busan International Film Festival, and many more. The film failed to make the cut for the Best International Feature shortlist at the Oscars this year, but the title was widely acclaimed and will now be released theatrically in summer 2025. In fact, IndieWire listed it among the year’s Best Undistributed Films.

“Cloud” stars Masaki Suda as a sleazy online reseller of junk and fake goods who is obsessed with making a profit and the thrill of making money in real time. But after turning down a promotion at his day job, he’s approached with a...

The 2024 Venice Film Festival kicked off August 28 with the long-awaited Tim Burton-Michael Keaton sequel Beetlejuice Beetlejuice opening the 81th edition, which runs through September 7 on the Lido. Deadline is on the ground to watch all the key films.

The lineup for the world’s oldest fest also includes world premieres of Todd Phillips’ Joaquin Phoenix-Lady Gaga pic Joker: Folie à Deux, Pedro Almodóvar’s The Room Next Door, Luca Guadagnino’s Queer, Pablo Larrain’s Maria Callas biopic Maria starring Angelina Jolie and new works from the likes of Alfonso Cuarón, Walter Salles, Harmony Korine, Thomas Vinterberg, Brady Corbet, Takeshi Kitano, Claude Lelouch, Errol Morris and others.

Below is a compilation of our reviews from the fest, which last year awarded its Golden Lion for best film to Yorgos Lanthimos’ Poor Things, starring Emma Stone, who went on the win the Best Actress Oscar. Isabelle Huppert heads the competition jury this year.

Yoshii (Masaki Suda) sells stuff. Any stuff, as long as it’s piled high — in a digital sense — and selling cheap, but not nearly as cheap as what he paid for it. The first thing we see him buy is a pile of “miracle therapy machines” at a knockdown price casually extorted from the people who claim to make them. Who buys this garbage? Who cares? Yoshii is full of the bravado of a gambler on a winning streak. He has no idea whether he is buying fake designer goods, he tells another “reseller,” which is the name of his game. The point is to move things on before you find out.

Except that some people do find out they have been cheated. Among them, there are even people as web-smart as Yoshii himself. They will find out who he really is, behind his internet handle Ratel. And when they find out,...

"You sneaky bastard." "Let's kill him." Another sneaky look at this. Tokyo Theater Nikkatsu has debuted a "full" 60-second official trailer for the Japanese film titled Cloud, which is getting a grand premiere at the 2024 Venice Film Fesitval in a week. It's one of three (!!) brand new films from prolific Japanese filmmaker Kiyoshi Kurosawa due out in 2024. He also has another one Chime and yet another French one called Le chemin du serpent (or Path of the Snake) in post already. The tile Cloud is a reference to the digital space known as the cloud, as it's a peculiar horror story about how hatred spreads online. Yoshii, a young man who resells goods online by flipping cheap products for high prices, finds himself at the center of a series of mysterious events that put his life at risk. Online threats against him start to become real. The film stars Masaki Suda,...

I am not sure why, but it seems films about boxing have been coming in abundance from Japan during the last few years, with titles like “100 Yen Love” and “Blue” being the first that come to mind. It seems that the recipe of either “Million Dollar Baby” or “Rocky”, or both on occasion, still has an impact on the audience, and that is exactly the path “Last Bloom” follows.

Last Bloom is screening at Toronto Japanese Film Festival

The story is based on the novel “Haru ni Chiru” by Kotaro Sawaki and revolves mostly around two men. Jin is an elderly former boxer who has just returned to Japan after a forty year subpar boxing career in the US, following an unfair decision in the beginning of his career in Japan. Shogo is a struggling young boxer from a poor family, who has also experienced something similar. One night in a bar,...

You know how it is: you wait 4 years for a new Kiyoshi Kurosawa film to follow “Wife of a Spy” and then three come along in quick succession int he same year. After his remake to his own “Serpent's Path” and a short film, we now gear up for the release of his new work, “Cloud”, starring Masaki Suda.

Synopsis

Ryosuke Yoshii is an ordinary person, who supports himself by reselling things on the internet. He carelessly earns grudges by people around him and, in the end, he is dragged into a desperate struggle that risks his life.

in addition to Suda, “Cloud” stars Kotone Furukawa, Daiken Okudaira, Amane Okayama, YosiYosi Arakawa and Masataka Kubota. It is scheduled to release in Japan on September 27th, 2024.

Who's at the door? Tokyo Theater Nikkatsu has revealed a chilling 30-second teaser trailer for a new horror film titled Cloud, set for release in September in Japan later this year. It's one of three (!!) brand new films from prolific Japanese filmmaker Kiyoshi Kurosawa due out in 2024. He also has another one Chime and yet another French one called Le chemin du serpent (or Path of the Snake) in post already. The tile Cloud is a reference to the digital space known as the cloud, as it's a peculiar horror story about how hatred spreads online. Yoshii suddenly becomes a "target" when he hears a voice saying "I'll kill this guy" while looking at an online screen. A man wearing a mask then appears at his door. What happens next? This stars Masaki Suda, Kotone Furukawa, Daikan Okudaira, Okayama Amane, Yoshiyoshi Arakawa, Masataka Kubota. Even with only 30 seconds so far,...

The 66th edition of the Blue Ribbon Awards, presented by the Association of Tokyo Film Journalists, has announced its winners on January 24, 2024. The nominees are selected from movies released in 2023. The trifecta wins for “Godzilla Minus One” come as no surprise, sweeping the Best Film, Best Actor and Best Supporting Actress categories. Yuya Ishii picks up the Best Director award for both his movies “The Moon” and “Masked Hearts”.

Best Film

Masked Hearts

Ichiko

Egoist

Monster

The Dry Spell

Godzilla Minus One

Mom, Is That You?!

(Ab)normal Desire

The Moon

One Last Bloom

Perfect Days

Bad Lands

September 1923

Do Unto Others

As Long as We Both Shall Live

Best Director

Yuya Ishii – The Moon, Masked Hearts

Hirokazu Koreeda – Monster

Daishi Matsunaga – Egoist

Takashi Yamazaki – Godzilla Minus One

Yoji Yamada – Mom, Is That You?!

Best Actor

Goro Inagaki – (Ab)normal Desire

Ryunosuke Kamiki – Godzilla Minus One, We're Broke, My Lord!

Takumi Matsumoto is an actor and up-and-coming artist. Growing up, he loved musicals like “Peter Pan” and began acting at three. The early days of his career included commercials and eventually J-Dramas like “My Girl.” As he got older, his motivation grew, and he landed a supporting part in Takashi Murakami's “Jellyfish Eyes” and the role of John in the Japanese Broadway production of “Peter Pan.” Since then, Matsumoto has continued to work in theater, film, and television. Recently, he starred alongside Myuri in Yoko Higuchi's sci-fi drama short film “Synthetic Love.”

Recently, we spoke with Matsumoto about acting, the filming process in Japan, filmmaking relationships, and other topics.

What motivated you to pursue an acting career?

When I was three years old, I started acting. One of the reasons I studied acting was because when I watched the musical “Peter Pan,” I wanted to fly through the sky.

Takumi Saitoh is a truly unique talent, who, after proving his prowess as an actor (he now has 165 credits to his name) continued in the same level as a director, with his segments in “Folklore” and “Food Lore”, and the features “Blank 13” and “Comply+-ance” being truly top notch. As such, his latest work, “Home Sweet Home”, based on the homonymous 2019 novel by Rinko Kamizu was one of the most anticipated films of the year. Let us see how he fared.

Home Sweet Home is screening at New York Asian Film Festival

Living in the harsh winter of Nagano, Kenji Kiyosawa, a sports instructor, is tired of being cold along with his wife, Hitomi, and newborn. As such, when he stumbles upon a company that manufactures pre-built houses that implement a technology that can warm the whole establishment with a single air-conditioner, his enthusiasm is unprecedented, as much as for his wife.

The Japan Academy Film Prize Association held the 46th edition of its awards ceremony on March 10, 2023. The nominees are selected by industry professionals from the pool of film releases between January 1 and December 31, 2022 which must have screened in Tokyo cinemas. Award categories are modelled after Hollywood's Academy Awards®.

Following its success at the recent Blue Ribbon Awards, and leading with 13 nominations in 12 categories, Kei Ishikawa's “A Man” walks away with 8 Japan Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor and Best Supporting Actress. The full list of winners is described below.

Picture of the Year

A Man

Shin Ultraman

Phases of the Moon

Anime Supremacy!

Wandering

Team from A Man Animation of the Year

Inu-Oh

Lonely Castle in the Mirror

Suzume

One Piece Film Red

The First Slam Dunk

Director of the Year

Kei Ishikawa – A Man

Takashi Koizumi – The Pass: Last...

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

Best Film

A Man

Kingdom 2: To Distant Lands

Small, Slow But Steady

Missing

Silent Parade

Dr Coto’s Clinic

Plan 75

Motherhood

Fragments of the Last Will

Wandering

A Man Best Director

Kei Ishikawa – A Man

Shinzo Katayama – Missing

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

Chie Hayakawa – Plan 75

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

Best Actor

Sadao Abe – Lesson in Murder; I am...

Chicago, Il – Asian Pop-Up Cinema today announced a lineup of films showcasing Japanese cinema opening weekend March 18-19 for its 16th Season running March 18- April 16. While many films released theatrically have not been themed Covid-19, opening weekend explores Japanese life, loneliness, and people’s desire for connection during and after the pandemic, Japanese Americans living here during WWII, and new indie films recently released in Japan.

Since its inception, Asian Pop-Up Cinema has hosted an impressive lineup of film directors, producers, and major talent. This season brings Japanese guests to Chicago for the first time since the pandemic. They will present their latest work, share their stories, and showcase their society and how it has adapted to change in recent years.

The 16th Season of Asian Pop-Up Cinema opens at AMC Evanston 12 with Variety and The Japan Times film critic and Apuc’s Advisory Board Member, Mark Schilling hosting...

A question we all sometimes ask ourselves is if we truly know the people we are surrounded with, especially those we are intimately connected to. Occasionally, a secret of greater magnitude shakes our confidence in those we love, but what is the limit? Is there a betrayal of greater proportions we can forgive and continue loving the person, once we are given a palpable reason for it? Is there a reason good enough? Kei Ishikawa gives us such a scenario in his slow-burning, but nevertheless attention-grabbing adaptation of the eponymous novel by Japanese writer Keiichiro Hirano, in his third feature film that has just had its world premiere in Venice film festival’s Orizzonti program.

A Man is screening at Venice International Film Festival

If there is an initial excitement about an almost obvious crime element, it is soon replaced by the realization that there is something much more...

Click here to read the full article.

The existential drift of Japan’s post-bubble “lost generation” gets the mystery thriller treatment in Kei Ishikawa’s Venice Horizons entry, A Man.

Based on the novel of the same name by Japanese author Keiichiro Hirano, A Man follows a troubled lawyer (Satoshi Tsumabuki) who is drawn into a web of mystery when a former client (played by a soulful Sakura Ando, star of Hirokazu Kore-eda’s Palme d’Or winner Shoplifters) asks him to investigate the mysterious past of her deceased husband (a beguiling Masataka Kubota). The attorney encounters an array of colorful characters in his pursuit of the identify of this man who lived his life as a different person — but as he comes closer to the shocking truth, mixed feelings about the nature of his own place in the world steadily creep up on him.

“Shochiku came to me with...

Click here to read the full article.

Japanese mystery drama A Man, the second feature of rising Japanese director Kei Ishikawa, inked a batch of sales heading into its world premiere in Venice’s Horizons section.

Art House Films picked up the film for France, Pigeon Co. took it for Taiwan and Golden Scene snatched Hong Kong and Macau rights.

Based on the novel of the same name by Japanese author Keiichiro Hirano, A Man follows a troubled lawyer (Satoshi Tsumabuki) who is drawn into a web of mystery when a former client asks him to investigate the mysterious past of her deceased husband (a beguiling Masataka Kubota). The attorney encounters an array of people in his pursuit of the identify of a man who lived his life as a different person — but as he comes closer to the shocking truth, mixed feelings about the nature of his own place...

Click here to read the full article.

For the 79th Venice Film Festival, artistic director Alberto Barbera has put together one of the most well-curated lineups of his career. Both studios and streamers are well represented.

Netflix scored an opening-night coup with Noah Baumbach’s White Noise, with buzz promising that it’ll wow the Lido, alongside Andrew Dominik’s Marilyn Monroe biopic, Blonde, with Ana de Armas; Alejandro G. Iñárritu’s Mexican epic Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths; and Romain Gavras’ French action thriller Athena.

Studio fare is well represented by Warner Bros.’ Don’t Worry Darling from director Olivia Wilde; Focus has Todd Field’s Tár with Cate Blanchett and Mark Strong; MGM will debut Luca Guadagnino’s Timothée Chalamet-Taylor Russell starrer Bones and All; Searchlight presents The Banshees of Inisherin from Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri director Martin McDonagh; and Sony Pictures Classics will be...

"Why become a different man?" The Match Factory has revealed an official trailer for A Man, a Japanese mystery drama premiering at the 2022 Venice Film Festival next week. It's premiering in the "Orizzonti" section and looks like something to keep an eye on, not worth writing off. Akira works as a lawyer. One day, he meets with his former client Rie, who asks Akira to perform a background check on her late husband Daisuke. She discovers after a life spent with this man that he wasn't who he said he was. So… who exactly is he? "This film's themes, genre, and principal characters all keep transforming," the director explains. "I took care to maintain balance so that viewers wouldn't lose their way, but when you watch the film, you get the sense you're stumbling into a vast maze, and I personally love that kind of sensation." A Man stars Satoshi Tsumabuki,...

Click here to read the full article.

A warmhearted widower discovers the man she loved had a hidden past in Japanese mystery thriller A Man, directed by Kei Ishikawa and world premiering at the Venice Film Festival next week.

In the first international trailer for the film (see below), a troubled lawyer (Satoshi Tsumabuki) is drawn into a web of mystery and a search for identity when a former client (played by Shoplifters star Sakura Ando) asks him to investigate the shady past of her deceased husband (a beguiling Masataka Kubota). The attorney encounters an array of people in his pursuit of the identify of a man who had lived his life as a different person — but as he comes closer to the shocking truth, mixed feelings about the nature of love and his own place in the world steadily creep up on him.

A Man is based on a...

Tsutomu Tanimura (Masataka Kubota) is a 30-year-old man, living in a provincial city. He works as a private secretary for Shohei Kawashima, who is a member of the House of Representatives and he has strong support from his constituents. One day, Shohei Kawashima collapses. Around this time, the House of Representatives is dissolved. For the next House of Representatives election, Shohei Kawashima’s 45-year-old daughter, Yumi Kawashima (Rie Miyazawa), decides to run for office.

Four years after the first live action Tokyo Ghoul film, a new story based on Sui Ishida's manga comes to screens. This time around, gastronomically restrained half-ghoul hero Ken Kaneki (Masataka Kubota) is no longer wrestling with his conscience, having found a way to live without doing harm, but risks ending up on the menu himself after attracting the attention of the vicious and charismatic Gourmet (Shota Matsuda). Meanwhile, his mentor Tôka (Maika Yamamoto) is trying to persuade him to make more use of his ghoul-based fighting skills, and their friend Shun'ya Shiraishi is caught up in a romance with a human girl (Mai Kiryû). The result is a slice of cannibal horror with a distinctly soapy aftertaste.

If you've left high school and the teen drama that makes up the bulk of this film doesn't do much to hold your interest, what else does it have to offer?...

Enjoy a members-only fine dining experience worth dying for with the bloody sequel to one of the best live-action manga adaptations in years. It’s ghoul vs ghoul as Kaneki must confront a gruesome gourmand who hungers for a certain flesh in this new take on the best-selling manga.

Growing accustomed to his new life as a half-ghoul, Ken Kaneki (Masataka Kubota) is determined to protect his new allies at Antiku from the anti-ghoul forces that seek to eradicate them. However, when the infamous gourmet Shu Tsukiyama (Shoto Matsuda) wishes to savour his unique flavour, it’s ghoul vs ghoul as Kaneki must fight his way out of the already-grim ghoul society’s twisted underbelly.

In a world where anime and manga fans are increasingly skeptical about live-action adaptations, the first “Tokyo Ghoul” was a terrific surprise, faithfully bringing one of the most popular manga series of our time to life as an exciting,...

Sink Your Teeth Into Tokyo Ghoul On Screen Anime

Live-action adaptation of hit manga heads line-up that challenges limits of animation.

Expand the realms of possibility for animation this month with the Screen Anime channel’s latest line-up that celebrates experimental techniques, and anime’s rising influence in other mediums. Leading this latest curated roster of films is Tokyo Ghoul, the Japanese live-action adaptation of Sui Ishida’s internationally bestselling horror manga, that previously inspired the beloved anime franchise.

Screen Anime also invites you to experience new techniques and ideas in anime with The Case of Hana & Alice, a coming-of-age mystery celebrated for its use of rotoscoping, a technique of tracing live-action footage to create realistic motion seen in later films like 2017’s Loving Vincent. Director Masaaki Yuasa has proven himself to be a favourite among Screen Anime fans, and there’s no better showcase of why that is than...

With Valentine’s Day only a few days away, if you’re still looking for some gift ideas to win the affection of the horror fan in your life, then perhaps this latest batch of Blu-rays and DVD releases might give you some inspiration. And speaking of amore, Scream Factory has put together a brilliant Collector’s Edition for the original My Bloody Valentine that is a must-own for genre fans, and keeping with the theme, Takashi Miike’s First Love is coming home on both Blu and DVD this Tuesday as well.

We also have other romantic genre offerings coming out this week, too, including Transylvania 6-5000, Cupid, and Peter Strickland’s In Fabric, which is about obsessive love, but love nonetheless.

Other notable Blu-ray and DVD releases for February 11th include Get Gone, Inmate Zero, Rust, Omnivores, and a retro-style Blu-ray for the original When A Stranger Calls by Fred Walton.

Production I.G. and Wiz wanted to shoot an impressive TV science fiction tokusatsu action drama (and to introduce a toy line) and in order to draw more attention to it, decided to let Takashi Miike direct the first episode, and to give him a rather big budget for a TV production. The crossover nature of the series that involves crime, science fiction, school drama and comedy among others suited Miike perfectly, and the result is impressive.

The film starts with the president of a large company being trapped in an elevator by a hacker who threatens to kill him by letting the elevator fall to the basement in top speed. The police seem unable to deal with the situation and Under Anchor, a major cellular telephone service provider that carries out investigative field missions related to data and technology crimes, takes over. Sosuke, a cocky agent and his Phone Braver,...

In her 5-star Fantastic Fest review, Heather Wixson wrote that Takashi Miike's First Love "...delivered up everything I could possibly want from the Maestro and more." Following its successful film circuit run, the yakuza film from one of the most prolific directors working today is coming to Blu-ray, DVD, and Digital on February 11th from Well Go USA Entertainment, and we have the release details and a look at the cover art:

From the Press Release: Plano, Texas – Prolific auteur Takashi Miike is at his most fun and anarchic with the noir-tinged violent yakuza film First Love, debuting on Digital, Blu-ray™ Combo Pack and DVD February 11 from Well Go USA Entertainment. The wild, genre-blending story follows a young boxer and a call girl who fall passionately in love while getting innocently caught up in a drug-smuggling scheme over the course of one night in Tokyo. First Love stars Masataka Kubota...

Set for release on February 7, 2020, a trailer for the production was previously made available and can be viewed below.

Synopsis

Set in a spa town, Akira Takasu (Masatoshi Nagase) is a carver and a mailman. He keeps in touch with poet Penguin (Masataka Kubota). Penguin has a female fan with the name of Moonlit Night’s Star (Sakurako Konishi). She sends letters to Penguin. One day, the female fan appears in front of Akira Takasu and Penguin. These three somehow get involved in a battle between the yakuza. (AsianWiki)...

Even though Fantastic Fest has been over for about a month now, there were a few films that this writer saw that have really stuck with me and I felt like I needed to take a moment to write about them here. And as the saying goes, better late than never. So, here’s a look at three very different films that I really enjoyed for very different reasons: Takashi Miike’s First Love, the old-school sci-fi stylings of The Vast of Night, and The True Adventures of Wolfboy, which stars It’s Jaeden Martell.

First Love: As someone who has been a longtime fan of Takashi Miike’s work, First Love delivered up everything I could possibly want from the Maestro and more, as it is a proverbial buffet of brutality that also leans into Miike’s sly sense of humor and manages to strike a few heartfelt chords along the way.

Miike’s energy and playfulness seems to know no end. His latest effort “First Love” has nothing that might betray its ordinal number (103!), on the contrary, it feels rather fresh as a “feel good” plot – yes, you’ve heard right – emerges under the familiar Yakuza antics.

“First Love” is screening at the BFI London Film Festival 2019

Before throwing them in complete chaos, the main characters are introduced in their separate microcosms. Leo (Masataka Kubota) is a talented boxer who cannot do much else than boxing. “I am just a boxer” he likes to say but his skills are as good as his enthusiasm is low. Abandoned near a rubbish skip as a baby, Leo has a clear lack of drive; as a fortune-teller warns him, he should find a purpose for his fights, something or someone to fight for. But he will not have much time for it as he...

Following the success of the first “Tokyo Ghoul,” a new chapter of the live-action adaptation of the celebrated manga was sure to follow, resulting in this sequel arriving two years later. With Masataka Kubota reprising his role as half-human/half-ghoul Ken Kaneki and new directors Kazuhiko Hiramaki and Takuya Kawasaki on-board, Funimation is proud to present a special three-day theatrical release across North America and Canada of this new effort.

Still adjusting to his destiny, half-human/half-ghoul Ken Kaneki (Matsukata Kubota) tries to balance his personal life as a high-school student and his private one feeding on the flesh of humans. Trying to get his mind on track with fellow ghoul Tôka Kirshima (Maika Yamamoto) who’s training him to realize his new powers, they run into the main fear of ghouls being that the humans they need to feed on will not be able to see their human sides...

The films of Takashi Miike don’t always get U.S. distribution, but thankfully after a strong response at Cannes, his latest feature First Love will arrive this month. First stopping by Tiff and Fantastic Fest, Well Go USA have now unveiled the U.S. trailer and poster for the yakuza thriller, which follows a low-level yakuza, a terminally ill boxer, and a drug-addicted call girl who get caught up in a gang war.

Rory O’Connor said in his review, “The last film legendary Japanese ultra-violence auteur Takashi Miike brought to Cannes’ Directors’ Fortnight featured a character that was essentially a person in a felt frog costume that looked like it’d gone through the wash a few too many times. The being had a knack for martial arts and, like some acid-trip Sesame Street version of the four horsemen, was said to signal the coming apocalypse. So to note that First Love,...

"I'm just a boxer." Well Go USA has released the full-length official Us trailer for Takashi Miike's latest film, titled First Love - originally known as Hatsukoi. This first premiered at the Cannes Film Festival earlier this year, and it's playing at Tiff next in the Midnight Madness category before hitting theaters later this month. This is Miike at "his most fun and anarchic, a noir-tinged yakuza film blending genres in the story of a young boxer and a call girl, who fall passionately in love while getting innocently caught up in a drug-smuggling scheme over the course of one night in Tokyo." The film stars Masataka Kubota, Nao Omori, Shota Sometani, and Sakurako Konishi. Reviews describe it as a "hard-boiled and soft-hearted" action film. Tiff says it captures "the yearning that blooms with one's first brush with" love and the "instant when a person resolves to live for...

The eclectic characters in Takashi Miike’s new gangster movie include a low-level punk yakuza, a sullen prizefghter with nothing to lose, an oblivious sex worker who is being haunted by half naked ghosts, and an unhinged femme fatale on a mission to avenge the death of her pimp boyfriend. Those are just the main players in “First Love,” an absurdist gonzo comedy and wild goose chase that is never short on memorable characters. “First Love” premiered earlier this year at the Cannes Film Festival, and it will go on to play Fantastic Fest, but its next bow will be in the Toronto International Film Festival’s highly vetted Midnight Madness program.

The newly released first trailer offers a colorful and musical glimpse of the latest work from the prolific Japanese auteur. Though Miike’s work ranges wildly in genre, he is best known for films such as “Audition” (1999), “Ichi the Killer...

Revered Japanese director Takashi Miike has completed production on his most recent film “First Love”. The movie follows down and out boxer Reo, who after an unexpected loss, finds his life spiraling out of control.

Here at Asian Movie Pulse we have been striving to review the directors entire filmography. You can check out our Takashi Miike project here.

“First Love” has previously made its debut at the Cannes Film Festival in May of 2019, the films is still pending a domestic release. A trailer for the production has been made available and can be viewed below.

Synopsis

Reo Katsuragi (Masataka Kubota) is a boxer. He has a fight with an opponent, who he believes would never beat him, but Reo Katsuragi is knocked down by his opponent. His life becomes messy. (AsianWiki)...

If you don't know the name Takashi Miike, then perhaps you're not a true film fan. The auteur made a name for himself in the 2000s pumping out one crazy movie after the next, continually raising the insanity level in each one. Now, he is back with the high-energy blast of shock and awe, tenderly called First Love. But make no mistake, this is not a romantic comedy.

Well Go USA Entertainment is proud to unveil the teaser trailer for Takashi Miike's crowd pleasing action crime drama First Love. The first look footage actually made its debut this past weekend at Comic-Con during the big 'Superhero Kung Fu Extravaganza'. The Japanese title for the movie is Hatsukoi, and it made its world premiere during the Director's Fortnight during Cannes 2019.&#160

Critics are praising First Love with an intensity usually reserved for the most insane pieces of cinematic art. Jessica Kiang of Variety called it,...

"The smell of war is in the air." Well Go USA has debuted the first teaser trailer for Takashi Miike's latest film, titled First Love - originally known as Hatsukoi. This premiered at the Cannes Film Festival earlier this year in the Directors' Fortnight sidebar, and is opening in Us theaters this September - not too much of a wait for those interested. This is Miike at "his most fun and anarchic, a noir-tinged yakuza film blending genres in the story of a young boxer and a call girl, who fall passionately in love while getting innocently caught up in a drug-smuggling scheme over the course of one night in Tokyo." The film's main cast features Masataka Kubota, Nao Omori, Shota Sometani, and Sakurako Konishi. Early reviews describe this as "feral and full of life" and also "hard-boiled and soft-hearted", comparing it to Tarantino's style. It looks damn good from this teaser.

Japanese director Keisuke Yoshida was born in 1975 in Saitama in the Saitama Prefecture. While he was still studying at Tokyo Visual Arts he started making his own independent films. Ever since his debut feature “Raw Summer” (2005) he has directed a total of nine films, with his new film “I Love Irene” being released this fall. He has also written the screenplays for the majority of his movies.

On the occasion of his last film “Thicker Than Water“ screening at Japan Cuts 2018, we speak with him about his film and other things

First of all, thanks for agreeing to have this interview about a very interesting film, “Thicker Than Water”, which combines comedy and drama. It touches upon the subject of sibling rivalry and sibling competition. What was your inspiration for the project?

I have an older sister myself, but my experience might have been similar to an only child, though.

WellGo USA Entertainment has acquired the North American rights to acclaimed cult director Takashi Miike’s First Love following the world premiere in Director’s Fortnight at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival. The deal was negotiated by Doris Pfardrescher on behalf of WellGo USA and HanWay Films with ICM Partners on behalf of the filmmakers. It will be released in select theaters later this year, with the digital and home entertainment release scheduled for first quarter 2020.

HanWay Films has also closed deals with Haut et Court (France), Eurovideo, Nonstop (Scandinavia), Odeon (Greece), Mars (Turkey), Discovery (Former-Yugoslavia), Paradise and Frontrow (Middle East).

First Love marks the fourth collaboration between Academy Award® winning producer Jeremy Thomas (The Last Emperor) and Takashi Miike. The film is the prolific auteur at his most fun and anarchic, a noir-tinged yakuza film blending genres in the story of a young boxer and a call girl, who fall...