Lily Franky
Call Me Chihiro tells the story of a former sex worker named Chihiro who works at a small bento shop in a seaside town. There, she interacts with people whose mental scars and struggles leave them unable to live happily, and her words and actions influence each person’s way of living.
A human drama based on the true story of Satoshi Fukushima, a professor at the University of Tokyo's Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology, who became the world's first deafblind university professor, and his mother, Reiko. Reiko lives with her teacher husband and three sons in a town in the Kansai region. The youngest son, Satoshi, who lost his sight when he was a child, grew up with a naivete surrounded by the love of his family and went to high school at a school for the blind in Tokyo, but at the age of 18 he also lost his hearing. Wracked by loneliness in a world of darkness and silence, Satoshi was given hope by Reiko's new means of communication, "finger Braille," which she devised based on her daily life with him. Mother and son courageously overcome difficulties one by one and open up new possibilities in their lives.
The story takes place in a world where men can conceive and give birth. Kentaro Hiyama, an elite ad man, suddenly finds out one day that he is pregnant. His partner, Aki Seto, never thought she would become a parent, so the two are at first confused by this unexpected event. As a pregnant man, Kentaro will face the scrutiny of the company and society, and will shed light on the hardships experienced by "pregnant women". Challenged by many problems associated with modern pregnancy and childbirth, the two will have to face reality and make the ultimate decision: to have a baby or not.
On a rainy day, a tired man is standing in the kitchen. He is preparing a special curry to eat on his wife's birthday three days later. It is an important dish that has become an annual event. The radio program he loves to listen to is encouraging listeners to send in their "secret recipes." The man picks up his phone and starts writing an email him about his special home cooking. (Source: sonocurry.com)
Toko grew up unloved by her mother Mizuho who continues to adore her deceased son. She lives alone in an apartment the electricity has been cut off and the trash is piling up. One late night, Toko enters a gloomy building in order to escape from a threatening stalker, Tomita. There she finds a handgun. She brings it back home and confirms it is loaded with four bullets. One day, the family living next door who have already been enduring poverty and violence end up murdering a man. Toko helps them bury the man's body, shooting it with the handgun. Toko becomes captivated by the gun itself. She is further entangled in the true circumstances of the incident due to the detective searching for the handgun and a suspicious man Kazunari who knows a secret about the handgun. Toko tries to throw herself into the whirlpool but then the lid is blown off her "past."
It is a youth film about the boys in their late teens spend before they become adults. Sho and Tiaga, who grew up in the same neighborhood since they were little, are in their last year of high school. They are also the duo who beat the drums at town festivals. However, Taiga announces that he will not play drums this year to prepare to go to college. Sho, who has no plan of his future, cannot think straight. Like The Blue Bird by Maurice MAETERLINCK, the film tells the story of the youth realizing that happiness is not far away.
After Nanase's father drops death due to a drug that causes temporal death for 2 days. She is named the president of her dad's Pharmaceutical company. Nanase endeavors to prevent her father's enemies from prematurely cremating his body before the drug can wear off and allow him to revive.
Shiro runs the pension "Love Is Pink" ("Koi wa Momoiro") with the help of his daughter Haru.
Hayami Teruya is a dedicated salaryman who does a workman like job as the chief editor for a magazine. He has personal charm, get along with both the publisher and subordinates and runs the ship well. Chatting with his direct boss he picks up a certain vibe. Did he misunderstand that the magazine is doomed and will be terminated? If so, he is not going down without a fight. He will fight to make it through and keep his, and the others', jobs.
Kanto, 14, a descendant of Japan's indigenous Ainu people, decides to visit a hole in the forest -- a path to the other side of the world where dead people live, hoping to see his deceased father.
Noda Ryusuke is a popular scriptwriter specialising in stories about the perfect married couple but is shocked when his wife of 23 years suddenly wants to get a divorce.
After a man gets fired from his work at a printing plant, he moves with his couple to her hometown in Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture. There, the woman opens up a beauty salon. They enjoy peaceful days, but small problems occur which leads to an irrevocable situation.
Thirteen years after abandoning his wife and two sons by stepping out for a pack of cigarettes and never returning, deadbeat gambler Masato dies of stomach cancer. At his funeral, a motley crew of fellow mahjong players, pachinko parlor employees and former drinking buddies gather to pay their respects and tell stories, revealing aspects of Masato’s life that complicate his sons’ resentment towards him.
After one of their shoplifting sessions, Osamu and his son come across a little girl in the freezing cold. At first reluctant to shelter the girl, Osamu’s wife agrees to take care of her after learning of the hardships she faces. Although the family is poor, barely making enough money to survive through petty crime, they seem to live happily together until an unforeseen incident reveals hidden secrets, testing the bonds that unite them.
An environmental analyst is asked by the police to determine if two deaths by hydrogen sulfide poisoning are an accident - or a murder. But when he meets a young woman at both sites, a scientific mystery begins.
Shiwasu's mother left their home when Shiwasu was a little girl. Shiwasu does not understand why. She is a woman now and working at a Shinto shrine as a shrine maiden under her father who is a priest. She is listless until she finds a little boy alone on the shrine's grounds. The boy's mother shows up and retrieves her son a couple of days later. That is not the end of it however. The boy is back soon and has marks and bruises on his body. In the meantime, there was petty theft going on.
It has been 14 years since the murder of an elementary school student by a classmate. At the time, Akari was deified by the name Sunny, "the cutest murderer in criminal history". Two men, abduct Akari. Holding her captive, they upload pictures and video of her on the internet. Meanwhile, Akari makes every effort to escape from her prison.
A group of friends from high school days reunite for once more time before one of them dies from cancer.
Morita, a man who never succeeds in anything, takes his anger out in gambling. He meets an underworld fixer named Ginji Hirai, who introduces him to the underworld trade, where billions of yen changes hands every moment, and speculators and other influential people bet their lives for greed.
Koroki is a 35-year old man who admires Japanese singer-songwriter Tamio Okuda and aspires to live like him. He works as an editor at the lifestyle magazine "Mare," where he meets Akari Amami, a mischievous fashion press writer, and falls in love with her at first sight.
Five beautiful but mysterious women move in with unsuccessful novelist Shin, who manages their odd household in exchange for a tidy monthly sum.
Takada (Ryuhei Matsuda) receives a request to find a missing woman. The missing woman is university student Reiko (Atsuko Maeda). While tracking Reiko down, Private Detective (Yo Oizumi) and Takada (Ryuhei Matsuda) meet Mari (Keiko Kitagawa), the owner of a model agency. They get involved in a big incident.
Detective Goro Nanase and his colleagues of "Akatsuka Detective Office" are based in Shimo-Akazuka of Itabashi-ku, Tokyo. The detectives take on a string of challenging cases that no one else wants to take on.
A family believes they are aliens from other planets and tries to save Earth from impending calamity.
Kuma is an author, a sex obsessive and a wheelchair user. Beautiful and volatile Ryoko is unlike anybody he’s ever met before. She barrages into one of his lectures, demanding to know why he only talks of sex, not love, before declaring her own affection. It’s the first of many inappropriate acts by Ryoko and the start of a relationship that is by turns sweet, strange and toxic. Ryoko hopes that she and Kuma’s love can change the world. What she fails to realise is that sometimes it’s the small gestures, not the grand ones, that feel most revolutionary.
Tama is a graduate student. She lives with her boyfriend Takuya. She becomes influenced by lectures about French writer Sophie Calle and begins to follow her neighbor Ishizaka. Tama soon discovers that her neighbor Ishizaka is having an affair. She becomes excited about discovering his secret. Her relationship with her boyfriend Takuya and her professor Shinohara changes.
Ryota is an unpopular writer although he won a literary award 15 years ago. Now, Ryota works as a private detective. He is divorced from his ex-wife Kyoko and he has an 11-year-old son Shingo. His mother Yoshiko lives alone at her apartment. One day, Ryota, his ex-wife Kyoko, and son Shingo gather at Yoshiko's apartment. A typhoon passes and the family must stay there all night long.
He is rejected by his sister when the brother floats the idea that their father move from his house to her apartment. The father has other ideas however and shows up unannounced at her doorstep with his belongings. She has little space, a boyfriend she lives with it and does not need a cranky father.
If actresses Hirosue Ryoko, Igawa Haruka and Saito Yuki chose different paths at the turning point in their lives, what kind of life would they be leading?
Satoshi Murayama, the shogi (Japanese chess) master known as the arch-rival of Yoshiharu Habu, the shogi genius of the century, died of an intractable disease at age 29. Satoshi devoted his life to fighting not only the disease but also his rivals, feverishly pursuing the highest title, at risk to his life. Director Yoshitaka Mori (Hyakuhachi (2008), Space Brothers (2012)) depicts Murayama's true struggling life, full of love from his parents and teacher, based on the non-fiction novel written by Yoshio Osaki. Kenichi Matsuyama intensely portrays Satoshi and physically embodies the character.
Kenji and Aya spend their summer days in a Hotel. While she is doing her own thing, he tries to work on his novel. But then a few strange hotel guest arouse the curiosity of the couple...
The latest discovery by a blind shell collector puts the relationship between man and nature on edge: a rare mollusc that is extremely poisonous, but has a healing and hallucinogenic effect on some people. Can people resist the creature’s temptation, or will they put their lives at risk for a heavenly trip?
Shizuoka Miyakonojo is a middle-aged paparazzi photographer. His skills as a cameraman are good, but he gambles and is in debt. When he worked in the editorial department for weekly picture magazine 'Scoop!,' he landed numerous scoops. He now works as a freelance photographer and chases after celebrity scandals. Shizuoka Miyakonojo works with Nobi Namekawa. She is a rookie reporter for 'Scoop!' and they land a scoop.
High school student Jinta (Nijiro Murakami) is a hikikomori and lives in Chichibu, Saitama Prefecture, Japan. One summer day, when Jinta is absorbed in a video game, a girl suddenly appears in front of him. The girl is Jinta's childhood friend Meiko (Minami Hamabe), but it seems impossible because Meiko died on a summer day. Meiko wears the same white dress when she died, but she looks a little taller. She tells Jinta that she has a wish and that's why she came back as a ghost, but Meiko can't remember what her wish was. To grant Meiko's wish, Jinta along with his friends Atsumu (Jun Shison), Naruko (Airi Matsui), Chiriko (Marie Iitoyo), Tetsudo (Yuta Takahata) and Meiko gather together for the first time in 7 years. Jinta soon realizes that he is the only one able to see Meiko.
Akira (Hayato Ichihara) admires Genyo Kamiura, the most powerful yakuza. Genyo Kamiura has been targeted numerous times, but he has never been killed. He is called the invincible person. Because of Genyo Kamiura, Akira enters the world of the yakuza. His yakuza colleagues treat him like an idiot, and Akira can't even get tattoos because of his sensitive skin. An assassin is sent to take out Genyo Kamiura. The killers know that Genyo Kamiura is a vampire. Thus begins the apocalypse.
A depressed widower, a bored housewife, and a gay lawyer all intersect in this triptych of love lost.
A story that revolves around three sisters who live in their grandmother's home and the arrival of their 13-year-old half sister.
Moritaka Mashiro (Takeru Satoh) doesn't want to follow in the path of his uncle who worked as a manga artist, but ultimately died because of exhaustion. Moritaka Mashiro figures he will graduate from school and work at an office. Things change though when falls in love with a girl at school. The girl, who hopes to become a voice actress, tells Moritaka they can marry, but only after they both achieve their dreams. Moritaka then teams up with fellow classmate Akito Takagi (Ryunosuke Kamiki) to publish their first manga.
In a farming village in 1959 (Showa 34), Kayama Kazuma (Tomita Kaito) grew up in a poor family. He left home at 13 because he could not tolerate ill-treatment from his parents and lived hidden in a cave deep in the mountains. He became proficient at survival skills such as making bows and arrows, and catching rabbits and wild boars on his own. His beloved dog supported him through this lonely life. Several years later, a kind farming couple Sunagawa Yoshio (Inoue Jun) and Masayo (Kiuchi Midori) discover a man clad in animal fur living in a cave. He is the grown-up Kazuma (Nakamura Aoi). Kazuma starts to make contact with the world despite his confusion … --JDramas Weblog
Hiroshi (Yojiro Noda) has given up on his dreams of becoming a painter and works part-time cleaning office windows. He learns that he has only 3 months left to live. During his last summer, high school student Mai (Hana Sugisaki) appears. Hiroshi becomes attracted to her.
Takahata Shun's day at high school begins just as boring as ever, but it doesn't end that way. He and his classmates find themselves forced to play children's games with deadly stakes. With no idea who is behind, the only thing Shun and other students can do is keep trying to win.
Yoshisuke grew up in a small town and his father ran a paper lantern shop. The town itself has beautiful scenery, but Yoshisuke is bored. One day, he goes to a prostitution shop and meets Mizusa. She tells him that she is an alien. They meet each other continually and Yoshisuke asks Mizusa why she works as a prostitute. Mizusa tells him that she stops working as a prostitute, the world will go out of existence.
In the final days of World War II, occupying Japanese forces in the Philippines face resistance from the local population and the American offensive. The dwindling Japanese soldiers attempt to survive through the horrors of war.
A major advertising festival is held each year to determine the best television commercial in the world. A rookie ad man at a big advertising company named Otan is selected as a judge on the festival jury. Meanwhile, a coworker also named Ota (although the Japanese characters are slightly different) poses as his wife so that he can attend an open party which is held nightly. Knowing that he’ll get fired if his company doesn’t win the Grand Prix, he’s forced to resort to a variety of desperate tactics.
Ryota Nonomiya is a successful businessman driven by money. He learns that his biological son was switched with another child after birth. He must make a life-changing decision and choose his true son or the boy he raised as his own.
Death-row inmate Sudo (Pierre Taki) sends a letter to magazine reporter Fujii (Takayuki Yamada). In his letter, he states that a man named Kimura (Lily Franky), also known as "teacher," committed numerous murders for insurance money. While checking out the story, based on Sudo's tip, Fuji becomes convinced that the letter is correct. But, a lot of time has passed from the incidents and Sudo's testimony isn't clear. Due to the persistance of Sudo, who is a former yakuza, and Fuji, the police begin to move.
Married couple Aiko Tsumari and Ayumu Muko live a happy and peaceful life. Aiko is bit naive, while Ayumu works as a not so popular novelist. One day, a letter arrives for Ayumu. Because of this letter, the couple become estranged...
Hiroshi Tanaka (Shota Matsuda) sports an intense perm which looks like the afro hairstyle favored by some African-Americans back in the 1970's. He doesn't get his hair done at a hair shop, he was actually born with his hair like that. For freedom, Hiroshi moves to Tokyo. He works hard there and, even though he turns 24, he still doesn't have a girlfriend. Meanwhile, a school friend informs Hiroshi that he is going to get married. Hiroshi remembers a promise that they made. Hiroshi is even more impatient to find a girlfriend. A beautiful woman named Aya Kato (Nozomi Sasaki) then moves into the neighborhood.
Omnibus film "Bungo Sasayakana Yokubo" features 6 different short stories set under 2 different themes ("Mitsumerareru Shukujotachi" & "Kokuhaku Suru Shinshitachi").
It’s not often that a coming-of-age story revolves around a 29-year-old chronic masturbator who still lives with his mom, but that’s just one example of the many ways Daisuke Miura's Boys on the Run is refreshingly atypical. The film is based on a manga by Kengo Hanazawa which was originally serialized in Shogakukan’s Big Comic Spirits from 2005-2008, and although the adaptation is fairly loyal visually, the overall tone has been changed both in how the characters behave and how the story arc is presented.
Chiaki Yoshino is a TV producer. She is 45-years-old and single. Chiaki Yoshino worries about her health and her later years rather than dating. She hopes to buy an old house and live there with a friend when she gets older. Chiaki then goes to Kamakura, Japan to look for a house. There, she meets a 50-year-old single man Wahei Nagakura. Wahei's first wife died and he has one child. Their love story begins ...
A young Japanese man named Kota Tanaka (Osamu Mukai) works to raise money and then build an elementary school in Cambodia.
Set one year after the drama series "Moteki." 31-year-old Yukiyo Fujimoto (Mirai Moriyama) doesn't have money, dreams or a girlfriend. He has left his job at a staffing firm and is attempting to start a new life by working as a writer for a news site. Suddenly, Yukiyo experiences "moteki" - a period when a man becomes suddenly popular with woman. Cute magazine editor Miyuki (Masami Nagasawa), pure and naive office worker Rumiko (Kumiko Aso), beautiful shop assistant Ai (Riisa Naka) and beautiful, but tough co-worker named Motoko (Yoko Maki) all become interested in Yukiyo. He tries to calm down, but is shaken by the interests of these women.
Moriyama plays a temp worker who has never had any luck with women. One day, he suddenly starts getting invitations from several beautiful women, and he finds himself confused about how to deal with this new experience of having a "moteki" (a period when one is very popular and attractive to others).
Based on the semibiographical novel by Jun Miura, Oh My Buddha is the classic summer coming-of-age story that is burned to a crisp with teenage angst, youthful dreams and that warm sense of folk zeitgeist of the 70s. The narrator is a first-year student at an all-boys Buddhist school. Jaded by his dull, ordinary life, he longs for the type of creative, liberal and forward life his idol Bob Dylan leads, writing rock songs alone in his room, imitating his hero's signature croon, until one day he got invited on an island trip of sexual liberation with his fellow liberal friend.
Kanao, a courtroom portrait artist, observes crimes, scandals and the decline of Japanese values without passing judgement. As he and his wife endure the tragedy of their first child’s death, hope slowly unfolds and their love story flickers to life once again.
When heads of state gather at the G8 summit in Japan, Guilala -- the intergalactic monster that had been banished from the earth in The X from Outer Space -- returns to ravage the Japanese countryside and threaten the world leaders. Military strikes prove futile against the beast, but a reporter learns that one rural community possesses a strange ritual that might influence the creature. Minoru Kawasaki directs this campy satire.
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.
A story about a young man named Masaya, whose lifelong dream is to go build a life in Tokyo. Masaya thinks his life in his hometown is uncool. A few years later, he manages to move to Tokyo but not without any consequences. In Tokyo, he learns the hard way about the meaning of life, survival, love, insecurities, desperation and hope. He also learns the struggles of living in a big city and trying to fix his relationship with his parents, especially his mom.
A blind masseur kidnaps young women and kills them and then make sculptures of them, while a mysterious dwarf spreading severed body parts around. Detective Akechi Kogorô investigating crimes.
