A live action version of the popular manga and anime Gantz has been made and stars some of Japanese most popular young actors – Kazunori Ninomiya and Kennichi Matsuyama (known as Matsu-Ken). Fans of Japanese films may know Kennichi Matsuyama best for his portrayal of L in the Death Note series. Here is a comprehensive…
UPDATE: Sadly Confessions was not nominated, but I still hope it finds a U.S. distributor. It looks like a really interesting film. The only Japanese movie that made the short list for an Academy Award (Oscar) this year is the film “Confessions”. I haven’t seen it yet so if anyone has, please feel free to…
The excellent film site /Film (Slash Film) reports that Anchor Bay has picked up the rites to release Battle Royale and Battle Royale II films. Even thought the films were fine campy additions to films, I’m not sure if the campy, over the top, (kind of low tech) effects are going to lend themselves to…
I was writing an article for this blog about the new live action version of Tomorrow’s Joe (Ashita no Joe) one of Japan’s most popular manga ever. While visiting the official website of the movie, I noticed a large and pronounced button marked “Warning”. Hoping it was maybe some advance release scenes or some other…
Fresh off the heels of making a live version of Space Battleship Yamato, TBS is going to work on one of the most beloved manga and anime works in history. Ashita no Joe (Tomorrow’s Joe) is the timeless story of the life of a boxer named Joe Yabuta. Many anime fans are concerned again about…
I previously wrote about the cast of the new Space Battleship Yamato (Star Blazers) movie. Well, the trailer is now available and you can judge for yourself whether to see this one or wait for the inevitable Hollywood remake. This trailer doesn’t show how the story will change with Reiko Takashima as the ship’s doctor,…
The Japanese movie industry is about to lay a big egg, but the egg my hatch into an American live action version of the Star Blazers anime series from tv. I think an egg will be laid because they’ve decided that the role of “Wildstar” in the Star Blazers action movie should be played by…
UPDATE: Video replaced with more recent video of Misaki Omukai (including an interview) Iwate Prefecture, Kuji City Japanese online bulletin boards are alive after a Japanese Ama Diver (the women and very rarely men who dive for abalone (called “awabi” in Japanese) with virtually no equipment. It is one of the old traditional occupations in…
If you are in Japan and want to take your mind off all this crazy H1N1, you might want to rent a movie to relax. People have lots to choose from, starting with “Outbreak”, or the miniseries made from Stephen King’s “The Stand”. If you’re feeling a little science-fictiony, you might even try Attack of…
OK, I know the title of this post is a little wacky, but have you ever lived here? If you live here or do business here you might be looking at that title and nodding your head slowly with a sad-but-true look on your face. Check out this interview with Sean McAllister, the director of…
In my previous post I showed the Mecha Ike Japanese Comedy Egashira 2:50 version of the Ponyo on a Cliff song. The song is big and was featured on the Red and White Song Battle this year. It features a little girl singing a bit out of tune and later an older guy in a…