Joe Odagiri

A large monster attacks Japan, but dies suddenly. It's only a matter of time that a gas explosion will take place from the carcass of the monster, which could cause the country to collapse. Arata Tatewaki is assigned to lead a special force team into the critical area. Yukino Amane appears in front of Arata Tatewaki . She is the secretary to the environment minister and also the ex-fiancee of Arata Tatewaki.

Nayuta is a young genius video game developer who works independently. His anonymity had gained him the moniker “the Banksy of video games,” until a certain incident caused him to shy away from games and live quietly. Meanwhile, the long-standing toy company Atom decides to delve into the video game industry in order to overcome their financial crisis. With no funds or experience, the people at Atom make a desperate attempt to contact Nayuta, the Banksy of video games, but will they succeed? Can they write a new chapter in the cut-throat world of video games

8.4/10

Shigure makes a living as a transporter with his young buddy, Haruki. One day, Haruki disappears with the counterfeit bills they bring. Shigure makes every effort to find them, trying to assume ignorance of his BOSS. As all his efforts are getting in vain, he gets a call. It is from Haruki and he says “these bills are genuine.”

A human drama about the strange fate of the three brothers, played by Masatoshi Nagase, Joe Odagiri, and Nobuaki Kaneko, set in Nagoya.

Takeshi Aoki (Sosuke Ikematsu) lives with his 8 years old son Manabu. His wife died from an illness. He has an older brother (Joe Odagiri), but they became estranged. Takeshi Aoki and his son Manabu travel to Seoul, South Korea where his older brother lives. His older brother is not doing well at all, unlike Takeshi's expectation. His older brother practically lives from hand to mouth. Even though Takeshi is unable to speak Korean, he needs to help his brother's work, which is to import and sell cosmetics of dubious quality. Meanwhile, Choi Seol (Choi Hee-Seo) sings a song on the stage at a traditional market, which nobody listens to. Due to the CEO of her management agency, she is unable to sing her own song. She also has problems with her older brother and younger sister. Takeshi and his older brother get involved with Choi Seol. --asianwiki

A man who investigates a case that became aging with a “hobby”, Shuichiro Kiriyama (Odagiri Joe) -One day after the legendary man was dispatched to the FBI, he suddenly entered the aging management section of the Sobu police station Came back. Moreover, Kiriyama became interested in the “Urashima Gas Station Fire Case” that occurred 24 years ago. In this incident, a gas station in a lonely port town, Urashima Town, burned down, and then a big explosion occurred, and a severely burned dead body was found in the burnt mark. The police decided at the time that the corpse was holding the buttons and physique of the uniform, and the victim decided with former high school student Koji Sawamura and investigated the possibility of accident, murder, suicide, but the truth was dark It remains covered. At least nine years ago, the murder was aged just a day before it was abolished.

Toichi is a boatman who ferries the villagers to a town on the other side of the river. Besides rowing a boat for the villagers all day long, he barely have a communication with others except Genzo, a young neighbor. In the upstream of the river, a large bridge is being constructed. Everyone is excited, but Toichi has mixed feelings about it. One day, Toichi meets a mysterious young girl. Having no family and no place to go, Toichi let her stay with him, but this encounter starts to bring about changes to Toichi's life.

6.2/10

An actress working undercover for the Allies in 1941 Shanghai discovers the Japanese plan to attack Pearl Harbor.

5.9/10
5.4%

Seiji Hirokawa works as a university professor. One day, his sick wife dies. Several days later, the intercom bell rings at his home and he sees a strange woman's face on the intercom screen. The woman asks "Is your wife at home?" Seiji Hirokawa opens the front door, but nobody is there. The president of the university where Seiji Hirokawa works suddenly dies. An election to select his replacement takes place. The election even involves the students and Seiji Hirokawa also participates. The professors are cautious with each other and a mysterious document spreads across the university. Meanwhile, Seiji Hirokawa carries guilt over his past behavior. Before his wife passed away, he had an affair with his sister-in-law Rei Mizushima. She works as an instructor at the same university. An unidentified body is found nearby at a garbage dump

7.2/10

Story is set after the movie "Room Laundering." Miko Yakumo (Elaiza Ikeda) continues her work "room laundering." She struggles to solve the worries of ghosts staying in the rooms. Meanwhile, the relationship of Miko Yakumo and Akito Nijikawa (Kentaro Ito) develop romantically.

A group of very different people set sail on an old warship. The passengers include a senator with his son, a newly-wed couple, a mysterious old man, a group of sex workers and a gang of violent criminals. At first the aggressive behaviour of the thugs and their leader is directed at the first class passengers, but then more and more indiscriminately against the rest of those on board. Rape is followed by murder and it’s not long before the first of numerous and increasingly brutal mutinies takes place.

5.6/10
2%

From director Hiromasa Yonebayashi: “Kanini & Kanino”; “Life Ain’t Gonna Lose” directed by Yoshiyuki Momose; and “Invisible” directed by Akihiko Yamashita. These leaders of animation draw tales of modest heroes of our times.

6.6/10

A salaryman is not only invisible but also needs to hold on to a heavy weight to stay on the ground. Throughout one day, he is always ignored by everyone else, and he nearly floats away when he loses the fire extinguisher he uses to hold himself down. But then a blind man speaks to him, making him feel better about himself. The invisible man then suddenly has an opportunity to be a hero.

Moved by a performance by Fukui Chuo High School's JETS cheerleading team which she saw as a child, Fujitani Wakaba came to idolize Tomonaga Hikari and dreamed of joining the same team in the future. But at some point, she comes to think of it as impossible and enrolls in a neighboring town's Fukui Nishi High School which is mediocre in both studies and sports. Even so, Wakaba cannot completely cut off her feelings for cheerleading. One day, Kiryu Shiori, a pretty student transfers from Tokyo to Fukui Nishi High School. The assertive Shiori is fired up to defeat the JETS after her mistake caused her team to lose the Tokyo cheerleading championship. She unexpectedly says to Wakaba, “Do the cheerleading dance with me!”. These words rekindle Wakaba's feelings. They take set up a cheerleading team and pursue the impossible dream to “Defeat JETS. Conquer Japan!”

Yakumo Miko's father died when she was 5 years old. The next year, Miko mother went missing. Miko then moved in with her grandmother, but, at the age of 18, Miko's grandmother passes away. She shuts herself away from others. One day, her uncle from her mother's side, Ikazuzi Goro appears. He sets up a place for Miko to live and also a place for her to do part-time work. Her part-time job is "room laundering." After starting her job, Miko sees ghosts. She struggles to solve the worries of the ghosts who are staying in rooms. Ikazuzi Goro tells Miko that her mother was able to see ghosts which affected her. Miko asks him to find her mother.

6.3/10

A noir fairytale revolving around three outsiders: a mysterious artist on the run from the real world, a street kid who dreams of getting rich and a girl who is allergic to the sun.

5.5/10

Freddy Maemura Hurtado, a second-generation Japanese-Bolivian, heads to Cuba to study medicine. He meets revolutionist Che Guevara. When civil war breaks out in Bolivia, he decides to join Guevara’s revolutionary army under the name of “Ernesto Medico”.

6.1/10

Tsuchida works at a host club in secret to support her live-in boyfriend Seiichi, in order to fulfill his dream of becoming a musician. Seiichi is unemployed and falls into a slump, unable to write any songs. However, when Seiichi learns that Tsuchida became a mistress of a customer at the host club and that it was how she is earning their living expenses, he changes his mind and decides to find a job. Meanwhile,Tsuchida had an accidental reunion with Hagio, an old lover who she has been unable to forget.

6/10

In a restaurant opening from midnight to 7AM, there is no menu but the chef cooks anything the customer wants. Each episode is about a different customer.

8.4/10

When people finish their day and hurry home, his day starts. His diner is open from midnight to seven in the morning. Pork, miso soup combo, beer, sake and shochu is all that he has on his menu. Nevertheless, he makes whatever his customers request as long as he has the ingredients for it.

7.4/10

Kokoro Kurosawa used to be a contender for the Olympic Judo Team, but she had to give up on her dream due to an injury. In the end, she ends up working at weekly manga magazine "Vibes." The publishing industry is going through a turbulent time due to ebooks. Members of the editorial department struggle to come up with ways to sell more manga books. She learns about editing from her senior editors and becomes fascinated with the edition world, interacting with manga writers, and discovering new manga artists. But what surprises her the most is that in a competitive world such as manga publishing, not all dreams come true, and even when they do, they come with a price...

8.1/10

A terminally ill single mother is determined to reconcile her splintered family.

7.5/10
10%

A recently divorced and traumatized man moves to Hakodate, Hokkaido and attends a vocational college to learn carpentry along with several other students who are in the same boat as he. When a couple of the guys go to a hostess club the man meets an unconventional girl who likes him and a relationship is born.

6.7/10

A biopic of seminal 20th century artist Leonard Foujita, a contemporary of Picasso and Modigliani, who was famous for mixing up European and Japanese styles.

6/10

Sakurai Taro’s parents died young. His grandmother, Akiko, has been making great effort to protect her struggling candy store, Sakuraya, in the old part of Tokyo, but it's not easy. Taro eats candy with regular customers such as chilhood friend Saegusa Hiroki who aspires to be a scriptwriter, and talk nonsense, like in their youth. However, they realize this unfettered, comfortable existence will end some day with the passage of time. Then Taro’s ex-classmate, Kimura Reiko, comes back home with her son after a divorce. He and his friends start to notice what is truly important to them as they face up to their pasts, dreams and pains.

7.7/10

13 years ago, the Abe family moved to a town in the suburbs, surrounded by nature. The Abe family consists of their French father Toma (De Lencquesaing Nozomi), his Japanese wife Mikiko (Rinko Kikuchi) and their beautiful daughter Yuko (Kanon Tani). They appear like the perfect family. Mikiko managed to get her daughter Yuko to take part in a CM audition and she was picked by Murano (Joe Odagiri), director of the advertising agency. Yuko is now in show business. Several years later, Yuko (Nana Komatsu) transfers to a large entertainment company. As her mother wishes, Yuko is now popular and appears on the cover of magazines, variety shows and drama series. Yuko, though, feels an uncomfortable imbalance between her public image and her real self. During this time, she meets a dancer, Seiko (Mackenyu), who marches to the beat of his own drum, and falls in love with him. The nightmare begins.

6.5/10

A 3-part series of biographical dramas to commemorate the 90th anniversary of the establishment of NHK.

The NPS (National Police Safety Rescue), whose purpose is to catch extreme criminals alive, becomes the center of attention. A sit-in demonstration takes place. Members of the NPS, including Ichigo Kamikura (Osamu Mukai) go to the protest site. Meanwhile, a transport ship is hijacked in the Pacific Ocean.

4.9/10

In the year 1868, three young men join the elite Shogitai division of the Shogunate. The Shogitai fights to the end and opposes the dismantling of the feudal military dictatorship known as the Bakufu system.

5.5/10

When Kanzaki Kaoru was young, her mother operated an Okonomiyaki restaurant. However, in just a day, her entire life as she knew it turned upside down. Her mother was declared a bankrupt, and they were plunged into a life of poverty. Moving from place to place, Kaoru started working the minute she graduated from middle high school. By scrimping and saving, today, Kaoru finally has 1 million yen in her savings account. Since she understood fully what it felt like to be poor, Kaoru lends her money to her colleague who is in financial trouble. She finds herself moneyless again, and under strange circumstances, she comes to know of someone who works for the company "Koshimizu Consultant"... and thus begins her journey into a world where betrayals are the norm, and everyone is trying to outwit the other; a world full of sly and cunning people. With her indomitable spirit, Kaoru claws her way.

7.2/10

Muraki works for a small detective office situated in downtown Tokyo. He takes frequent naps in between cases, during which he often have dreams with premonitions of his next client's case. Their clients come up with strange requests that sometimes seem impossible to solve.

7.4/10

When Kanako, a model daughter and a brilliant student, disappears, her mother asks her ex-husband, a violent former policeman, to find her. As his investigation progresses, his idealized image of Kanako cracks: the girl hides a dark life that her father can not even imagine.

6.6/10
6.8%

Every night, Master (Kaoru Kobayashi) is busy with customers at the restaurant he runs. He has a worried face, looking at the funerary urn which someone left at his restaurant. His customers also talk about the funerary urn.

7.5/10

Mizuno Asumi is a doctor at the University Hospital. Her only objective in life is to avenge the death of her father, a death caused by immoral and negligent doctors.

7.2/10

Yae no Sakura is a 2013 Japanese television series. It is the 52nd NHK taiga drama. The story focuses on Niijima Yae, who is portrayed by Haruka Ayase.

6.9/10

An airplane lands due to bad weather. A family, who rode on that airplane, goes through various troubles and it gets worse.

7.5/10

Shigeru Kajiwara (Joe Odagiri) works part-time at a company that sells mysterious health food. One day, the other employees run off with the company's money.

6.6/10

A 15-year-old circus ringmaster Wei-wei is left all alone with gorilla Ling-ling after grandfather passes away. Thanks to her grandfather's love for baseball, Ling-ling was trained to play baseball and has developed remarkable hitting skills. The materialistic sports agent Sung Chung-Su hears of this remarkable gorilla, and signs Ling-ling to play in the professional South Korean baseball league. Dreaming of success, World's first gorilla pinch hitter and his 15-year old trainer begin on their run in the Korean Baseball League.

6/10

A professional scammer is hired by a wealthy young businessman to find a hidden treasure looted from the Bank of Japan and supposedly stashed away by a group of men after WWII in various locations around the globe. Eventually an assassin is put on their trail.

5.4/10

Koichi and Atsumi are lovers who have known each other all their lives. A year ago, however, a suicide attempt by Atsumi left her in a coma. Through 'sensing', a type of neurosurgical procedure allowing contact with the intentional aspect of a comatose patient's mind, Koishi tries to find out why Atsumi tried to kill herself, and to bring her back to consciousness. He enters her subconscious, and is told to find a picture of a plesiosaur she drew when she was a child. It turns out that a childhood incident buried in their past will bring their minds together.

5.7/10
5.7%

Majime, an eccentric man in publishing company, who has unique ability of words, joins the team that will compile a new dictionary, ‘The Great Passage.’ In the eclectic team, he becomes immersed in the world of dictionaries. But the team is overwhelmed with problems. Will ‘The Great Passage’ ever be completed?

7.2/10

Kazoku no Uta is a 2012 Japanese television series. It features actor Joe Odagiri as a father of three children and a musician who was once very famous, though his popularity has since waned. Before its debut, Kazoku no Uta was hit by accusations of plagiarism. The script was said to be extremely similar to the storyline of the 1987 television series Papa wa Newscaster. The script of Kazoku no Uta was subsequently changed due to this accusation. Kazoku no Uta was aired from 15 April 2012 to 6 June 2012 as part of Fuji Television's Dramatic Sunday time slot, which airs every Sunday from 9pm to 9:54pm. The number of episode was cut from the usual 10 to 8 after this series received continuously low viewership ratings. The two remaining episodes were replaced by special episodes of the drama Hayami-san to Yobareru Hi.

7.2/10

Twelve-year-old Koichi, who has been separated from his brother Ryunosuke due to his parents' divorce, hears a rumor that the new bullet trains will precipitate a wish-granting miracle when they pass each other at top speed.

7.4/10
9.3%

Jun-shik, who works for Tatsuo’s grandfather’s farm while Korea is colonized by Japan, dreams about participating in the Tokyo Olympics as a marathon runner. Tatsuo also aims to become a marathon runner, so the two become rivals. But the war breaks out and they both are forced to enlist in the army. Tatsuo becomes the head of defense in Jun-shik’s unit and he devises a scheme but fails. Jun-shik and Tatsuo are held captive by the Soviets. They run away but soon are captured by the Germans and forced to separate. In 1944, they meet again on the shores of Normandy.

7.7/10
2.1%

Poongsan has the unenviable - and death-defying - job of delivering messages across the North and South Korean border to separated families. When South Korean government agents ask him to smuggle in In-ok, the lover of a high-ranking North Korean defector, into the South, the damsel and rescuer fall in love instead.

6.6/10

"A School Behind Bars" centers around Asahi Junior High School, which is located within Nagano Matsumoto Boy's prison in Matsumoto City, Nagano Prefecture - the only public school in Japan that is located inside a prison. The school's students are all prisoners ranging in age from 20-70. The students are carefully selected after taking an entrance exam and being selected by the school's admission board.

7.2/10

The story begins with the disappearance of a school bus and four high school girls. Still unsolved three years later, the case gets revived when one of the girls reappears. Odagiri plays a sharp national investigator searching for the truth behind the incident, which leads back to a seemingly peaceful town.

7.8/10

Set during China's the Warring States Period (476-221 BC), benevolent warrior Chenkang Lu (Joe Odagiri) enters into a torrid love affair with a woman (Maggie Q) from the nomadic Harran tribe. Their relationship sends the warrior to a place where humans were once wolves...

3.9/10

An "air doll" suddenly come to life one day. Without her owner knowing, she goes for a walk around town and falls in love with Junichi. She starts to date Junichi and gets a job at the same store where he works. Everything seems to be going perfect for her until something unexpected happens.

6.9/10
4.6%

Three strangers gather in search of an elusive cherry blossom. The tree hardly matters after a while, though, as they stumble into one funny and revealing episode after another.

4.8/10

In the aftermath of a car crash, a man discovers his dreams are tied to a stranger's sleepwalking.

6.6/10

A humorous wedding story fueled by a rather no-good father and son, disguised as the old and new “good guys.” The father Nobuo, and his son Tamio, are unable to mature, unable to break the parent-child roles, have no sense of responsibility, and keep holding on to the past. The pair is overwhelmed by all the colorful characters around them telling them what to do. They go to strenuous and humorous efforts to make Tamio’s wedding an event to remember.

6.2/10

Yuda, a Chinese immigrant, and his adopted son Kirin, who he saved being eaten by a tiger in the jungle, stand at the head of a massive pirated goods operation that brings in both money and influence. But their empire is crumbling, as corrupt politicians and rival gangs seek to end their power in the city. Yuda is soon got arrested and his dedicated son tries his best to save not just the family business, but his father's reputation.

4.6/10

Kenji, abandoned by his mother, scrapes out a meager existence doing odd jobs including driving bar hostesses and their customers home. Besides this he takes care of the sister of an old friend in jail and a young illegal immigrant. But his life reaches a turning point when he happens to meet Chiyoko, his long lost mother. She is now married to Mamiya, the owner of an express package delivery service. They also have a teenage son, Yusuke. Subdued feelings of alarm, discomfort and resentment between Chiyoko, Kenji, and his half brother Yusuke hide underneath and are seemingly caused by the inseparable blood ties that seem to wield control over everyone's destiny. Is blood that powerful? What exactly defines a mother or a father? While Kenji struggles with these questions and attempts to escape his fate, Chiyoko seems content to let these issues unfold and find a solution. Where will it ultimately lead them?

6.9/10

Adapted from the bestselling Japanese autobiography of the same title, this gentle coming-of-age drama concerns an adolescent boy, Boku - Masaya, torn between the inherited recklessness of his father Oton and the inherited responsibility, wisdom and emotional strength of his mother Okan. Following a period of intensely rebellious behavior, Boku learns that his mom has contracted cancer; suddenly, his mother comes to live with him in Tokyo the entire emotional landscape of his life is altered.

7.4/10

Leading a lazy life, Fumiya has been a university student for 8 years and owes money to loan sharks. One day, a man named Fukuhara comes to collect the loan, which Fumiya cannot pay. So Fukuhara makes a proposition: He will cancel the debt as long as Fumiya agrees to walk with him across Tokyo to the police station of Kasumigaseki, where he intends to turn himself in for a crime he deeply regrets. Not having much choice, Fumiya accepts the deal. Thus begins their journey which will lead them to various unusual encounters, most of all with themselves.

7.4/10

Mushi are beings in touch with the essence of life, far more basic and pure than normal living things. Most humans are incapable of perceiving Mushi and are oblivious to their existence, but there are a few who possess the ability to see and interact with Mushi. One such person is Ginko who travels from place to place to research Mushi and aid people suffering from problems caused by them.

6.1/10

A murder investigation reveals a deep-rooted sibling rivalry in director Miwa Nishikawa's brooding family drama. On the one-year anniversary of his mother's death, Tokyo art and fashion photographer Takeru (Joe Odagiri) returns to his small hometown in order to pay his respects. But all is not well back home, and when Takeru's authoritative father questions his sincerity, the frustrated son strikes back with accusations of violent conduct. Though the situation is initially diffused by Takeru's older brother Moniru (Teruyuki Kagawa), who stayed behind to run the family business, tensions once again start to run high when Tekeru, Moniru, and pretty childhood friend Cheiko (Yoko Maki) decide to celebrate their reunion by taking a hike in the wilderness.

7.2/10

Soon after he lands in America, Ali, a Muslim man from Pakistan, begins his search for his estranged wife, Nadia. On his journey, Ali meets with Teppei, a Japanese traveller hitchhiking his way across America, and Sarah, a local trailer park girl, who help him in his search. The three travellers succeed in finding Nadia, who, to Ali’s dismay, is living a new life in Phoenix with another man. Ali spends the rest of his stay in America with Teppei and Sarah, anxiously wondering where his life is leading. In the brief time they are together, the three companions commit to helping one another. Ali, Teppei and Sarah begin a new journey, to find their own individual identities and in the process they find each other. Big River is a road movie, a tale about the borderless realm of friendship and its ability to transcend culture.

6.1/10

Set in a five star Tokyo hotel on New Year's Eve, the film follows the misadventures of various hotel staff and guests in the run-up to midnight. The plot involves numerous characters, the different problems or situations they face in the run-up to midnight, and the ways that these different storylines interact and are resolved. The film is reminiscent of the Hollywood screwball comedies of 1930s and 1940s, and explicitly references the 1932 film Grand Hotel, whose plot also followed the interlinked lives of various characters in a fictional hotel over a short period.

7.1/10

Four beautiful sisters are entrusted with taking care of Kinjiro, a giant salamander and national treasure. Rumors spread that Kinjiro is an impostor, so a genius x-ray technician is sent to run some tests.

5.5/10

A detective investigates a series of murders. A possible serial killer might be on a rampage, since they all are in the same vicinity and by the same method, but as the evidence points toward the detective as the prime suspect, a ghost in red follows him, and he begins to question his identity. His realization of what seems to have really happened results in something much more sinister and larger in scope, and it leaves his psyche scarred.

6.4/10

Kiriyama Suichiro works at the Limitation Task Force, the place where the cases which have reached the statute of limitations are destroyed. Getting bored of his job, he decides to find a hobby, because it seems important to him to have a hobby. So he decides to puzzle out the unsolved cases on his free time, helped by his coworker Mikazuki, who seems to have a crush on him.

7.9/10

Saori is a young woman struggling to make her way in life. Her gay father, Himiko, had abandoned Saori and her mother years before. Now her father's young lover Haruhiko shows up to tell Saori that her father is dying of cancer. Still angry with her father but in need of money, Saori travels to the House of Himiko, a nursing home established by her father for gay men. Over time, a tenuous relationship begins to develop between Saori, her father, and Haruhiko.

7/10

Suzume Katagura is an bored housewife, she spends her days doing chores and taking care of her husbands pet turtle. One day she sees an wanted ad for spies, hoping for some excitement she decides to give them a call.

6.6/10

Romeo, A.K.A. Kosuke Matsuyama (Shun Shioya), is a second-year high school student. A nice, normal, nonviolent type, he suddenly finds himself in the middle of a rampaging crowd of Korean boys, outraged by insults perpetrated by several of his idiotic class-mates on two Korean girls. He makes a narrow escape, but soon after, he and his best bud Yoshio (Keisuke Koide) are sent by their home-room teacher to invite the Korean students to a friendly soccer game as a way of restoring the peace.

6.8/10

Amechiyo (the banished prince) falls in love with Tanukihime (a princess of raccoon dog disguised as human). This is an operetta which includes comedy, singing and dancing, and a love story.

6.5/10

The lives of three people intersect on a late bus ride that's hijacked by a suicidal political flunky. Shingo is a miserable young desk cop bucking for homicide division. Tetsu is a restroom cleaning attendant who has a mentally ill father and a penchant for mischief. And Saki is a petulant druggist/chemist who was born without an eye and keeps her disfigurement hidden behind shades. Months after the hijacking, the trio lives re-intertwine as they playfully seek revenge for their unhappy lives, until the games become deadly serious.

6.9/10
5%

A free-spirited psychiatrist exudes a magnetic attraction for patients with out-of-the-ordinary neuroses and odd conditions brought about by stress.

6.8/10

Shin is a Japanese university student living a boring and meaningless life. One day, he spots a book titled Dangerous Ways to Walk the World, in which he finds a page written about hazards in New-York. Eager to get out, he jets off to New-York to find this inspiration.

6.9/10

Even though Gennosuke and Oboro are from rival ninja villages, they are secretly in love. At an annual conference with the Lord, it is dictated that a competition--a fight to the death--will take place between the five best shinobi from each village. Gennosuke and Oboro's love is made even more impossible when they each got picked as the leader of the five to represent their respective villages.

6.9/10

The Making of Hazard

Low-profile theater troop actor Mutsugoro Suzuki begins an oneiric journey back to his hometown, marked by his quest to find the one responsible of infecting him with a STD.

6.5/10

Asuka is an aspiring model who moves to Tokyo to pursue her career. She moves into a small apartment with a friend of a friend, Kasumi. A bizarre murder occurs in the hotel across the street. The body was mutilated and repositioned into a lurid work of art. After this, a string of murders start happening all around the two girls, as if some crazed serial killer was following them. At the scene of each crime, the perpetrator leaves a black lip print, and is subsequently dubbed "The Black Kiss.

6.1/10

Five young musicians, each harboring painful memories, are assembled to entertain American soldiers at an Enlisted Men's Club. Tensions emerge between the tenor saxophonist, a disillusioned ex-soldier, and a bitter GI whose brother was killed in the war. And when the band plays the prohibited "Danny Boy" during a birthday bash for a sergeant whose son Danny had died a year ago, everyone must confront a past they'd rather forget.

6.9/10

Shinsengumi! is a Taiga drama television series produced by Japanese broadcaster NHK. It was a popular drama about the Shinsengumi, a Japanese special police force from the Bakumatsu period. Actors include Koji Yamamoto, Tatsuya Fujiwara, Joe Odagiri, and Shingo Katori of the pop idol group SMAP. It was written by Japanese director and playwright, Kōki Mitani.

8/10

In 1923, the young Kim Shun-Pei moves from Cheju Island (South Korea), to Osaka (Japan). Through the years, he becomes a cruel, greedy and violent man and builds a factory of kamaboko (processed seafood products) in his poor Korean-Japanese community exploiting his employees. He makes a fortune, abuses and destroys the lives of his wife and family, has many mistresses and children and shows no respect to anyone. Later he closes the factory, lending out the money with high interest and becomes a loan shark. His hateful behavior remains unchanged to his last breath, alone in North Korea. The film is told from the perspective of Masao, his legitimate son by his abused and degraded wife, who knows nothing about his father other than to fear him.

7.1/10

In war-torn Japan, the Tokugawa Shogun, desperate to restore peace to his people, orders the assassination of the hostile warlords. A beautiful young woman is raised from birth with nine other orphans, to become an assassin. Her name is Azumi, the ultimate assassin.

6.8/10
4.7%

Two friends who work together at a Tokyo laundry are increasingly alienated from everyday life. They become fascinated with a deadly jellyfish.

6.8/10
7.1%

Initially, Ambivalent Future was intended as a film about the production of Kiyoshi Kurosawa's "Bright Future". But director Fujii has taken the "behind the scenes"-concept to unprecedented heights with this unique documentary offering a close look into the world of Kiyoshi Kurosawa, the auteur. Scenes from the surprisingly low key and relaxed production of "Bright Future" are of course sprinkled liberally throughout the documentary, but between these we are treated to interesting and revealing interviews with actors, producers and Kurosawa's many other collaborators. And perhaps the most surprising thing of all is how much of Kurosawa there is, talking candidly about his working methods and the philosophy behind it all.

7.3/10

Japanese film directed by Jinsei Tsuji

A young, good-hearted doctor Kenichi suffers from a rare syndrome whereby his feelings cannot be hidden such people are known as "satorare" and their well-being come under special government protection. As all the young doctor's thoughts/feelings are always heard by hospital colleagues, this creates much inconvenience to them and they try to drive him away. In steps a beautiful female doctor who tries to shield him from the cruel reality of his uniqueness.

6.3/10

Zaion: I Wish You Were Here is a four-episode Japanese science fiction original video animation released by Gonzo in 2001. The story is set in the near future, when a spaceborne virus threatens Earth by turning humans into violent creatures. Enhanced soldiers fight a losing war against these creatures to ensure the survival of the human race. The series was directed by Seiji Mizushima and written by Natsuko Takahashi. Music for the series was composed by Kenji Kawai. Zaion has been licensed for English-language release in North America, the United Kingdom, and Australia.

5.2/10

It begins with Yusuke making a sign to hang on the door handle of the Pore-Pore Tea Cafe, wishing customers a Happy New Year. As he begins preparing the Cafe, he turns to and regards the camera as a would-be customer, saying that they aren't open yet and to watch a summary of what's happened so far while waiting. This special, also referred to as episode 46.5, serves as a summary of the previous few battles against the Gurongi as they get stronger and stronger, as well as a build-up to the last three episodes and Kuuga's battle with Daguva. It is a clip show of past episodes (specifically 32-46) which features very little new footage, most of which is revealed to simply be a dream.

When Aoi is gang-raped by her classmates and kicked out of her home by her own parents she sees no reason to continue living. Before she commits suicide, however, she receives an email on her cellphone from a man named Toshi addressed to a girl named Ai. The message simply thanks the girl for being alive, but this specific message has an effect on Aoi and she decides to keep on living. Without many options, Aoi resorts to everything from paid dating to porn to earn money and meets a lot of less than reputable characters. Throughout it all though she looks toward Toshi as her hope for happiness and the two form a relationship.

5.9/10

A group of archaeologists open a tomb that awakens horrible monsters, while journeyman Yusuke Godai is compelled to access a strange belt from the tomb to fight back against them. Also, a drunkard witnesses a murder by an unidentified lifeform near a church. Meanwhile, Yusuke is bothered by the idea of fighting and is unsure if it was right until he saw the daughter of one of the slain archeologists crying, making his reason to fight "to protect the smiles of people". This is the director's cut version of the first two episodes of the Kamen Rider Kuuga TV series.

Kamen Rider Kuuga final TV special. Jokingly labelled as the "50th episode" of the series.

Kamen Rider Kuuga (Japanese: 仮面ライダークウガ, Hepburn: Kamen Raidā Kūga, stylized in English as Masked Rider Kuuga) is a Japanese tokusatsu television series. It is the tenth installment of the popular Kamen Rider Series of tokusatsu shows and the first of the series to air entirely in the Heisei period, as well as the first standalone Kamen Rider TV series since Kamen Rider Black RX and the first series of the revived run of Kamen Rider, bringing Kamen Rider into the 21st century.

8.2/10

Yusuke Godai awakens from a nap at the Pore Pore Tea Cafe and finds a scrapbook with newspaper clippings about his battles as Kuuga. As he reminisces about each fight, gaining each of his forms and the Gouram attachment for the TryChaser, Godai gets a call about a new Gurongi. Godai heads over and transforms into Kuuga to face off against the beast who introduces himself as Go-Jiino-Da!

4.9/10