Guilty - a Woman who made a Pact with the Devil

Guilty has an impressive premise – gentle-faced but cold-hearted Kanno Miho (aka Nogami Meiko) takes her revenge on men, who put her in jail 15 years ago on the charge of poisoning her brother-in-law and nephew. There’s no need to explain any further that this incident ruined the lives of her and...

Ren'ai Shashin

A renown photographer, man going by nom de plume Shizuru Satonaka, tells the story behind him adopting a woman's name. They met a few years back, while Makoto Segawa (Matsuda Ryuhei) was still a student, aspiring to become a professional photographer. From the first sight, he fell for the eccentric...

Liar Game: Reborn

When a fresh graduate Shinomiya Yu (Tabe Mikako) recieves a box full of banknotes and a black envelope, we don’t need any further explanation. The Liar Game starts again. Along with her, the notorious swindler and psychology prodigy Akiyama Shinichi Matsuda Shota), now a university professor, is pulled...

Nankyoku Tairiku

56 years ago, in November 1956, the first Japanese expedition set off to Antarctica. The crew, consisting of explorers, scientists as well as Karafuto-ken, Sakhalin Husky breed dogs, stayed there cross-winter. Next spring, due to bad conditions the crew was forced to leave the dogs behind and head...

Smuggler

Wannabe actor, Kinuta (Tsumabuki Satoshi) takes on a job as a mover - one who gets rid of inconvenient corpses - after his debt is bought out by an underground banker. He joins Joe (Masatoshi Nagase), a hard-boiled, laconic veteran of the trade, and an older chatterbox of a man who goes only by the...

Suteki na Kakushidori

Written and directed by Mitani Kouki, Suteki na Kakushidori (Lovely Candid Shot) is a 1 hour 30 minutes TV Special made to promote the upcoming movie Suteki na Kanashibari – Once in a blue moon. The story has no connection whatsoever, but we can see the same group of actors that appear in the movie...

Kuruma-isu de Boku wa Sora wo Tobu

Recently, I have seen Kuruma-isu de boku wa sora wo tobu, a TV special broadcasted during NTV 24 Hours Television. For those, who encounter the term for the first time, let me break it for you: 24 Hours Television is an annual charity event, a live marathon programme that actually runs for 24 hours...

Kourei (Séance)

Some time ago I have reviewed Kurosawa Kiyoshi's Shokuzai. While writing the article I have realized, much to my surprise, that I have yet to see any of the director's movies. Since then, I was looking for a chance to see one of his movies. And it's hard to find a better occasion to watch a ghost movie...

Don Quixote

Shirota, a terribly wishy-washy fellow, works at a Child Care Consultation Centre. Apparently, he’s doing it of a calling, although his results do not show. One day, he happens to be in the same block of flats as a bunch of Sabashima group yakuza led by boss Sabashima himself and thanks to some evil...

Shokuzai

A primary school girl, Adachi Emiri, is raped and murdered. Four of her friends, who were playing with her on the schoolyard that day, saw the murderer face-to-face, yet cannot do anything to identify him. Emiri's mother, Asako, invites the girls to a birthday party held in Emiri's memory. Sitting opposite...

Haru - Unforgettable day in Korea

"Haru – Unforgettable day in Korea" is a interesting mixture of genres. It’s a drama special, no doubt, but above all it’s a clever commercial, a promotional video of Korea with everything we might find attractive in the country. We can see action, breathtaking backgrounds, tradition and contemporary....

Saikou no jinsei no owarikata - Ending Planner

Japanese popculture deals with the topic of death and final partings (be it sudden or not) in various ways. We have, one could say, a whole genre of dealing-with-terminal-ilnesses melodramas with better and worse examples inside.Usually though the story ends when the character passes away and...