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Oppai Volleyball (DVD) (English Subtitled) (Hong Kong Version)
Ayase Haruka (Actor)
| Nakamura Toru (Actor)
| Aoki Munetaka (Actor)
| Hasumi Eichiro (Director)
All that most male viewers probably need to know is that Oppai Volleyball translates as "Breast volleyball" and that it stars the gorgeous swimsuit model turned actress Haruka Ayase as a teacher who tries to inspire a young school boy volleyball team by promising she will show them her breasts if they manage to win. Adapted from a novel by Mizuno Munenori and supposedly based upon a true story, the film was directed by Hasumi Eiichiro, previously responsible for Umizaru and ski comedy Season of Snow. Surprisingly, despite its potentially sleazy premise, the film is actually a light hearted mixture of underdog sports story and coming of age journey - albeit with probably more mentions of the... [read more]
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Honokaa Boy (DVD) (English Subtitled) (Japan Version)
Matsuzaka Keiko
| Baisho Chieko
| Fukatsu Eri
| Aoi Yu
Taking inspiration from Leo Noshida’s autobiographical novel, Honoka‘a Boy falls into that ever-enduring category of movies known as the coming-of-age-story. This 2009 iteration of the genre comes from Japanese filmmaker Atsushi Sanada, whose previous directorial effort was the 2005 omnibus film, All About My Dog. With a languorous and unassuming narrative, Honoka‘a Boy weaves an intriguing tale of friendship, love, and the power of things left unspoken. Honoka‘a Boy begins with the disintegration of a relationship and ends with a reaffirmation of another. The film's opening introduces us to a young Japanese couple on the verge of a breakup. In the midst of a Hawaiian vacation gone awry,... [read more]
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Cafe Seoul (DVD) (Special Box) (Japan Version)
Saitoh Takumi
| Kyono Kotomi
| Kim Dong Wook
| Take Masaharu (Director)
Korean star Kim Jung Hoon from Princess Hours and Japanese actor Saitoh Takumi from Boys Love team up for the delicious Korean-Japanese co-production Cafe Seoul. Directed by Take Masaharu (Cafe Daikanyama 2), Cafe Seoul complements its ikemen cast with a heartwarming story about pulling together and holding on to the warmth of the past amid the fast-changing trends of modern-day Seoul. Saitoh Takumi plays a Japanese journalist who travels to different countries to write about traditional desserts. In Korea, he comes across a traditional cafe run by three brothers of very different personalities - Kim Jung Hoon, Choi Sung Min (Bad Love), and Kim Dong Wook (Antique). Kim melts hearts as an... [read more]
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Love Exposure (DVD) (Japan Version)
Watabe Atsuro
| Watanabe Makiko
| Sono Sion (Director)
| Mitsushima Hikari
Love Exposure defies description, and that's a compliment. Director Sion Sono's action-comedy-drama-satire-whatever is a loopy masterpiece of unexpected power, using modest production values to shock, surprise, amaze, delight and even disgust. The film touches on religion, family, sex, love, lust, guilt and more, while also cleverly dabbling in the unique otaku culture that makes Japanese entertainment so seductive to some and repulsive to others. The whole is outlandish, surprisingly touching, compulsively watchable and unbelievably entertaining, but what does Love Exposure ultimately mean? Maybe not a lot, but the film's ability to affect cannot be denied. Told through copious voiceover... [read more]
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Yatterman (Live-action Movie) (DVD) (Tenkomori DVD Edition) (Japan Version)
Sakurai Sho
| Fukada Kyoko
| Ikuse Katsuhisa
| Kendo Kobayashi
Based on the seventies Tatsunoko television anime, director Takashi Miike's Yatterman tells the completely ridiculous story of Yatterman No. 1 and Yatterman No. 2, a couple of teen superheroes who battle the same completely moronic bad guys on a weekly basis. Their tools: marketable toys/weapons and a large and sometimes horny mechanical dog. Called Yatterwoof, the big metal canine will save the day after he eats an energy bone and releases miniature mechas designed to attack the weak point of the bad guys' large mecha, which come in varieties ranging from a pile of Japanese cooking items to a big breasted iron maiden in a wedding dress. At one point, Yatterwoof's tiny mechas tease her metal... [read more]
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The Foreign Duck, The Native Duck and God in a Coin Locker (DVD) (English Subtitled) (Hong Kong Version)
Otsuka Nene
| Hamada Gaku
| Nakamura Yoshihiro (Director)
| Matsuda Ryuhei
Yoshihiro Nakamura seems to relish a good narrative twist, recently employing a drawn-out but very satisfying reveal in his 2009 film Fish Story. Nakamura's 2007 effort The Foreign Duck, the Native Duck and God in a Coin Locker also possesses a sizable twist, but it's one in the service of a darker story than the witty optimism found in Fish Story. The reveal is a bit forced, and in retrospect is not as convincing as it should be. However, the emotions and characters work, making the whole package of Foreign Duck, Native Duck an entertaining and solid one. Gaku Hamada (also in Fish Story) stars as Shiina, a nebbish who arrives in Sendai to attend university. The locals seem unfriendly, but... [read more]
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Twentieth Century Boys Chapter 2 (DVD) (English Subtitled) (Hong Kong Version)
Tokiwa Takako (Actor)
| Fujiki Naohito
| Toyokawa Etsushi (Actor)
| Taira Airi
The epic Japanese 20th Century Boys trilogy, based upon the hugely popular manga by Urasawa Naoki, continues with its second instalment, The Last Hope. Director Tsutsumi Yukihiko (previously responsible for cult hits such as 5LDK and Forbidden Siren) returns to continue the sprawling tale, with the action again leaping around between different decades and generations, following the characters as they try to prevent the impending self prophesised apocalypse. With the original cast reprising their roles and with even more special effects and grand narrative adventure, the film was unsurprisingly another box office hit on its domestic release, leaving fans even more excited for the final... [read more]
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Grotesque (DVD) (Unrated Edition) (Japan Version)
Shiraishi Koji (Director)
| Nagasawa Tsugumi
| Kawatsure Hiroaki
In these post-Hostel days, with the so called torture porn genre having largely taken over the horror field, viewers have consistently been let down by cheap rip-offs and anaemic pretenders which fail to deliver the gore goods. As such, it is no small relief to report that Grotesque not only lives up to its title, but also to its billing as "the cruellest Japanese splatter movie ever" - a bold claim indeed, considering that the country was churning out the likes of Guinea Pig, Red Room and others long before Eli Roth's American Pie gone bad style antics ever painted screens red. The film was directed by Shiraishi Koji, somewhat of a veteran in Japanese horror, having previously been... [read more]
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Gu Gu The Cat (DVD) (English Subtitled) (Hong Kong Version)
Koizumi Kyoko (Actor)
| Kase Ryo (Actor)
| Ueno Juri (Actor)
| Inudo Isshin (Director)
On the surface, Gu Gu the Cat seems like just another Japanese animal film with a lovable cat and likable humans like Kyoko Koizumi and Juri Ueno. However, writer-director Isshin Inudou has concocted something a little different from your usual animal film, inserting observations about Tokyoites’ favorite neighborhood Kichijoji, some silly physical comedy, and even an appearance by Megadeth guitarist Marty Friedman. The result is a strange hybrid of different genre elements that never quite gels as a coherent whole, but has enough to at least charm lovers of cats and/or Tokyo. Based on the pseudo-autobiographical comic by Yumiko Oshima, Gu Gu the Cat tells the tale of Asako Kojima (Koizumi),... [read more]
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Tokyo Gore Police (DVD) (Gore Edition) (First Press Limited Edition) (English Dubbed & Subtitled) (Japan Version)
Shiina Eihi (Actor)
| Nishimura Yoshihiro (Director)
| Sakaguchi Taku
| Itao Itsuji
In many ways, Tokyo Gore Police represents a culmination of the recent trend of Japanese ultra violent splatter sci-fi cinema. The film was directed by Nishimura Yoshihiro, whose pedigree in the field is impeccable, having worked on the special effects for other recent genre cult hits such as The Machine Girl and Meatball Machine as well as on Sono Sion's haunted hair thriller Exte. Here, he extends his own 1995 short film Anatomia Extinction to feature length, resulting in one of the wildest and bloodiest cinematic experiences of all time. The film is set in a futuristic Japan, where the fascist paramilitary Tokyo Police Corporation is locked in battle with the mysterious Key Man and his... [read more]
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The Handsome Suit (DVD) (Special Edition) (English Subtitled) (Japan Version)
Kitagawa Keiko
| Tsukaji Muga
| Yahara Shosuke
| Oshima Miyuki
Handsome Suit is a hybrid of Japanese pop culture and Hong Kong-style low-brow comedy; with a killer concept – a suit that turns a fat, unattractive cook into a handsome man – that has probably been done before by a “feces-urine-fart” comedy auteur like Wong Jing. And if it hasn't been done yet, the producers of Handsome Suit should get ready to either sell those remake rights (they have apparently made their money back selling distribution rights) or get their lawyers ready in case someone else makes an overseas knock-off. However, maybe the producers should get ready to defend themselves as well, since a similar concept has indeed been done before. In the hit Korean comedy 200 Pounds... [read more]
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The Triumphant General Rouge (DVD) (English Subtitled) (Japan Version)
Takeuchi Yuko
| Abe Hiroshi
| Omi Toshinori
| Yamamoto Taro
If you couldn't get enough of smarmy health ministry official Keisuke Shiratori (Hiroshi Abe) and endearing hospital therapist Kimiko Taguchi (Yuko Takeuchi), then The Triumphant General Rouge is for you. The investigative duo from the hit medical thriller The Glorious Team Batista returns for yet another medical thriller. However, this time the mystery is a rather slight one, and is merely a hook for larger issues concerning medical funding and hospital politicking in Japan. Whereas Team Batista dealt with numerous murders in the operating room, General Rouge concerns malfeasance in the purchasing department - plus another possible murder. An anonymous tip fingers maverick emergency room... [read more]
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Hyakuman Yen to Nigamushi Onna (One Million Yen Girl) (DVD) (Japan Version)
Aoi Yu
| Sasaki Sumie
| Pierre Taki
| Morooka Moro
Director Yuki Tanada's One Million Yen Girl charms, in no small part due to its star, the wonderful Yu Aoi. As unlikely ex-con Suzuko, Aoi is reserved yet emotionally strong, and possesses a forthright determination - even if what she's determined to do is keep running away. Suzuko's stint in the big house comes after a series of bad circumstances lands her with an awful roommate, their dislike escalating to bad blood before she inadvertently does something that gets her arrested. The letter of the law dictates Suzuko's sentence, but is she really deserving of a criminal record? Not at all, but that's what she receives. Life is not known for being fair. Suzuko was also unlucky at the family... [read more]
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Tokyo Sonata (DVD) (English Subtitled) (Hong Kong Version)
Koizumi Kyoko (Actor)
| Kagawa Teruyuki (Actor)
| Yakusho Koji (Actor)
| Igawa Haruka
The latest from hugely acclaimed Japanese director Kiyoshi Kurosawa has been hailed as a major departure for the man behind existential horror gems such as Cure and Kairo (Pulse). And in most ways it is, Kurosawa seeming to have wrapped up the horror phase of his career with Sakebi (Retribution). Tokyo Sonata leaves the genre trappings behind entirely, operating instead as a low key family drama but if you leave the genre issue aside it is pure, one hundred percent recognizable Kurosawa and a sort of spiritual successor to Bright Future - a more mature, farther down the road of life look at the same issues of identity and purpose (or lack thereof) that drove his earlier hit film. The Sasaki... [read more]
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Sex Is No Laughing Matter (DVD) (English Subtitled) (Hong Kong Version)
Aoi Yu (Actor)
| Nagasaku Hiromi (Actor)
| Oshinari Shugo (Actor)
| Matsuyama Kenichi (Actor)
Thanks to the success of the Death Note movies, Kenichi Matsuyama had one of his biggest years in 2007, when he had the chance to headline his first television drama. However, like other breakout young Japanese actors before him, Matsuyama manages to balance a successful career between commercial blockbusters and small independent projects. Nami Iguchi's Don't Laugh at My Romance is a successful example of one of the latter. A light yet non-comedic look at an affair between an older woman and a younger man, Don't Laugh at My Romance is a film too subtle and too anti-climatic for most Death Note fans. It will, however, likely find a following amongst mature urbanites looking for a quieter... [read more]
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K-20 (DVD) (English Subtitled) (Hong Kong Version)
Takeshi Kaneshiro (Actor)
| Matsu Takako (Actor)
| Nakamura Toru (Actor)
| Kaname Jun
Takeshi Kaneshiro is a star, no doubt about that. There are few actors that could take a preposterous, slight action-adventure like K-20: Legend of the Mask and make it so watchable, and Kaneshiro is one of them. Directed and written by Shimako Sato, K-20 takes place in 1949 in an alternate Japan where World War II never happened. Japan has continued beneath Imperial Japanese rule, with the upper and lower classes strictly separated, and tension existing between the haves and have-nots. Springing from the bubbling unrest is K-20 a.k.a. Kaijin Niju Menso or "The Fiend with 20 Faces", a cloaked thief who steals from the rich ostensibly to benefit the poor. Opposing K-20 is Kogoro Akechi (Toru... [read more]
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Casshern (DVD) (DTS) (Hong Kong Version)
Terao Akira
| Toshiaki Karasawa
| Iseya Yusuke
| Oikawa Mitsuhiro
Put your eyeballs back in their sockets; Casshern is just a movie. An adaptation of the early-seventies anime Robot Hunter Casshan, Casshern is a gonzo, balls-to-the-wall tech demo that overshadows - or perhaps sidesteps - the usual requirements of narrative filmmaking. While that might seem like a fatal transgression, forgiveness will likely be easy, or simply a fleeting afterthought. When you're subjected to visual crack, little things like logic, character, and coherent storytelling understandably fall by the wayside. A fifty-year war has left Mother Earth a beaten-up wasteland. Mankind and its vast arsenal of weapons are to blame, and there's a price: many suffer from synthetic diseases.... [read more]
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Rampo Noir (Hong Kong Version)
Asano Tadanobu (Actor)
| Narimiya Hiroki (Actor)
| Matsuda Ryuhei (Actor)
Edogawa Rampo (real name: Taro Hirai) is widely considered to be the father of the Japanese detective story. In crafting his own horrific tales, he is said to have been inspired by the famous mystery stories written by Sherlock Holmes' creator, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and also those by the originator of the detective genre itself, Edgar Allan Poe (the penname "Edogawa" is a play on Poe's name). Now, some forty years after his death, four Japanese filmmakers have teamed up to adapt his work for the silver screen in Rampo Noir, a bizarre, often disturbing omnibus film from directors Suguru Takeuchi, Akio Jissoji, Hisayasu Sato, Atsushi Kaneko. All four of these chilling tales star Asano... [read more]
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The Princess Blade (Hong Kong Version)
Shaku Yumiko (Actor)
| Ito Hideaki (Actor)
The Princess Blade takes place in a lost world existing in a future 500 years from now. Yuki is originally a clan princess but the death of her parents brings her into the hands of an organization of assassins. From that moment on Yuki is trained as one of the best killing machines in this group which is employed by the government to eradicate rebels. One day, Yuki however is told that her mother was actually murdered by her leader Byakurai. She starts her revenge by trying to kill him but in vain. In her escape she meets one member of the rebel forces Takashi and receives the love and care that she has never had. It turns out that these two young people share the same fate of being betrayed... [read more]
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Ikigami : The Ultimate Limit (DVD) (English Subtitled) (Hong Kong Version)
Yamada Takayuki
| Fubuki Jun
| Tsukamoto Takashi
| Matsuda Shota (Actor)
Woohoo! Another based-on-a-manga movie! This trend is getting so extreme that movies based on manga should get their own dedicated cinemas, if not half of the "New Release" shelf at Japanese video rental stores. Created by Motoro Mase, Ikigami features a promising concept about a dystopian Japan where innocents must die to serve the greater good. However, Ikigami is less flamboyant than similar-seeming fanboy favorites like Death Note and Battle Royale, and features TV drama-like pathos and pronounced sentimentality instead of heady nihilism or over-the-top violence. Ikigami is somewhat sedate for a manga-to-film adaptation, but the intriguing concept and the occasional suspense are enough... [read more]
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