Movies
355 Results
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Oppai Volleyball (2008)
- Director
- HASUMI Eiichiro
- Cast
- AYASE Haruka, AOKI Munetaka, NAKAMURA Toru
An adolescent era sports drama based on a true story directed by Hasumi Eiichiro of the UMIZARU series. Terajima Mikako (Ayase Haruka) became a boys volleyball team coach at a junior high school she has been assigned to. As an incentive for the team ...
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KURONEKO (2008)
- Director
- OKU Shutaro
- Cast
- FUJITANI Ayako, TODA Masahiro, TEZUKA Toru
This is the first time the highly praised stage play "The Black Cat," which was shown at the New National Theatre The Pit in December 2008, has appeared on screen. This is a bold retelling of Edgar Allan Poe's masterful short story, and the director ...
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SHIROIHANAWA-NAZESHIROI ‐ TECHAN・EIZOUSAKKA ‐ (2008)
- Director
- ISE Shinichi
- Cast
- WATANABE Tetsuya
Director Ise Shinichi, known for his heart-grabbing documentary films, uses some valuable footage to reflect on the footsteps of his old friend Watanabe Tetsuya who passed away in 2007. Watanabe, born in 1947 in Gifu Prefecture, set foot in the film ...
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YUME-MITAKA ～ AIWAUTA TAGAWA RITSU ～ (2008)
- Director
- ISE Shinichi
- Cast
- TAGAWA Tadasu, OTSUKA Masaji, YOSHIMURA Amiko
A human drama documentary depicting the unique personality and life of Tagawa Ritsu, a man of many faces ranging from editor of a music magazine to director, critic, stage director, theatrical troupe cook and school teacher. He even started singing p...
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HANANO-ASUKAGUMI NEO! (2008)
- Director
- TSURITA Yutaka
- Cast
- TAKAYAMA Yuko, SATO Hiroko, Shoei
An action film featuring a high school beauty with her own code of justice trying to prevent the spread of drugs. The original comic series was made into a film by Director Sai Yoichi in 1988. A pink candy called "ultra fruit" popular among youths i...
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Kenka koko gundan : Tokko! Kokushi gijuku vs Asako (2008)
- Director
- KANEMARU Yuichi
- Cast
- NAMIOKA Kazuki, KOJI, KOGA Mitsuki
An adolescent action film set in Jujo, Tokyo in the late 1970s depicting the battle between two imaginary high schools, Kokushi Gijuku High School and Asakawa High School. New students Yamashita (KOJI) and Hoshiyama (Koga Mitsuki) join the Kokushi G...
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Girl with frigidity in Tokyo (2008)
- Director
- MATSUDA Ayato
- Cast
- MAEDA Ayaka, OURA Ryuichi, HOSAKA Naoki
A film depicting the drama of an adolescent played by Maeda Ayaka who started her career as a model. This work includes her dazzling full nude scene. Having been called frigid by all her past boyfriends, Ako (Maeda Ayaka) has closed herself off from ...
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NIGHT☆KING (2008)
- Director
- FUJIWARA Kenichi
- Cast
- ISHIDA Issei, YOSHII Rei, TSUDA Kanji
A humor-packed dramatic film about the success story of a new host (male escort) based on the real life story of President Aida Takashi of the Aidakanko Group, the "host king" of Kabukicho in Shinjuku. The film takes place in Tokyo during the period...
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Pride (2008)
- Director
- KANEKO Shusuke
- Cast
- Stephanie, MITSUSHIMA Hikari, WATANABE Dai
A film adaptation of the comic series of the same title by Ichijo Yukari, a charismatic author of comic books for girls. Midorikawa Moe (Mitsushima Hikari) and Asami Shio (Stephanie) are music school classmates and rivals aspiring to become opera sin...
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TOCHKA (2008)
- Director
- MATSUMURA Hiroyuki
- Cast
- FUJITA Yoko, SUGATA Shun, UENO Ryusei
A film set at the Tochka war ruins which still remain in Nemuro City, Hokkaido. This work with minimal features, shot almost entirely at one location with two main characters and no music, tells a story about the location and people's memories behind...
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Silent Color Silent Voice (2008)
- Director
- MOGI Ayako
- Cast
- ISHIGAKI Akiko, ISHIGAKI Kinsei, People at Ku-ru Kobo
A documentary film featuring a married couple living together with the vast nature of Iriomotejima Island in Okinawa. Ishigaki Akiko, a fabric-dyeing artist who spins her own threads, dyes them into brilliant colors using native plants and weaves bea...
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From Hand to Hand (2008)
- Director
- HAYASE Kentaro
- Cast
- SHOZAKI Takashi, IMAI Eriko, FUKUSHIMA Issei
A human drama film in commemoration of the 60th anniversary of the Japanese Federation of the Deaf. Directed and written by Hayase Kentaro, who himself has hearing difficulties, the work depicts a warm exchange between people with hearing impairment ...
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A Story of Manchurian Settler Communities (2008)
- Director
- HANEDA Sumiko
- Cast
Following a reckless state policy imposed after the Manchurian Incident in 1931, the Japanese government dispatched Japanese civilian settlers to the then Manchuria and Inner Mongolia of mainland China. Approximately 270,000 Japanese citizens crossed...
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OCCULT (2008)
- Director
- SHIRAISHI Koji
- Cast
- UNO Shohei, NOMURA Takashi, HIGASHI Mika
Horror film director Shiraishi Koji, whose works to date have included The Slit-Mouthed Woman and TEKETEKE, has taken on the challenge of a fake documentary flavored by poltergeists, UFOs, and other-dimensional phenomena that are normally the stuff o...
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Mental (2008)
- Director
- SODA Kazuhiro
- Cast
- Friends at Chorale Okayama
The second film from Soda Kazuhiro, who ushered in a new style of documentary filmmaking with Campaign, which followed a stamp and coin seller who ends up running for city council. In Mental, Soda's "observational style," which eschews music, narrati...
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Toad's Oil (2008)
- Director
- YAKUSHO Koji
- Cast
- YAKUSHO Koji, Eita, SAWAYASHIKI Junichi
The directorial debut of actor Yakusho Koji, known for his roles in Hollywood films such as Memoirs of a Geisha and Babel. A fantastical drama employing an abundance of brilliant colors in the imagery, it takes up the theme of the toad oil peddling, ...
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Love Exposure (2008)
- Director
- SONO Sion
- Cast
- NISHIJIMA Takahiro, MITSUSHIMA Hikari, ANDO Sakura
A 4-hour entertainment epic by director Sono Sion, who has established a distinctive position in the Japanese film world. It won the Caligari Film Award and the FIPRESCI Prize in the Forum section of the 59th Berlin International Film Festival. Yu ...
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Naked of Defenses (2008)
- Director
- ICHII Masahide
- Cast
- MORIYA Ayako, KONNO Sanae, NISHIMOTO Ryuki
The story of an ordinary housewife which drew attention for the inclusion of an actual birth scene. The lonely agony of the heroine, who succumbs to envy over the happiness of a workmate, is sculpted with layers of psychological realism. Ichii Masahi...
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The Dark Harbor (2008)
- Director
- NAITO Takatsugu
- Cast
- KOTE Shinya, MIYAMOTO Yuko, HIROOKA Kazuki
Produced with a scholarship from the PiaFilm Festival, the showcase for young directors in Japan, this is Naito Takatsugu's first feature-length film. With exquisite offbeat timing, it depicts the trials in love of a taciturn, lackluster middle-aged ...
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THE SHONEN MERIKENSACK (2008)
- Director
- KUDO Kankuro
- Cast
- MIYAZAKI Aoi, SATO Koichi, Yusuke SANTAMARIA
Director Kudo Kankuro's second film, following Yaji and Kita: The Midnight Pilgrims . With an original screenplay by the director, who is also a member of the rock band Group Tamashii, this is a nonsensical, slapstick comedy about a middle-aged punk ...
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(2008)
- Director
- ICHIKAWA Jun
- Cast
- SUNAHARA Yukiko, Sabakichi, YAMAZAKI Takaaki
Ichikawa Jun, a highly regarded commercial director whose feature films including Tony Takitani were praised internationally, passed away in September 2009. His last title is a personal film with an experimental style. Told from the point of view of...
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ZEN (2008)
- Director
- TAKAHASHI Banmei
- Cast
- NAKAMURA Kantaro, UCHIDA Yuki, FUJIWARA Tatsuya
Based on Komazawa University president Otani Tetsuo's historical novel which chronicled Zen monk Dogen's achievements in spreading the Soto school of Zen Buddhism across Japan. Engaged solely in zazen, Dogen sacrifices himself to attaining a spiritua...
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Crime or Punishment ?!? (2008)
- Director
- KERA (Keralino SANDOROVICH)
- Cast
- NARUMI Rico, NAGAYAMA Kento, DANTA Yasunori
An offbeat comedy starring the young actress Narumi Riko (Ikigami; Calling You; the TV drama 'Honey and Clover'). An unsuccessful girl celebrity serves as Police Chief for a Day and gets caught up in incidents caused by a strange web of human relatio...
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Osaka Hamlet (2008)
- Director
- MITSUISHI Fujiro
- Cast
- MATSUZAKA Keiko, KISHIBE Ittoku, MORITA Naoyuki
A collection of stories by the popular manga artist Morishita Hiromi, known for her ‘Shonen Ashibe' and other strips, has been transformed into an affecting live-action human comedy. Director Mitsuishi Fujio (Ogya) took the helm to hportray the life...
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PANDEMIC (2008)
- Director
- ZEZE Takahisa
- Cast
- TSUMABUKI Satoshi, DAN Rei, FUJI Tatsuya
Panic disaster entertainment film Pandemic seemed to foresee the real-life world epidemic of the new flu virus. The story, based on a simulation of factual events, depicts the breakout of a highly contagious unknown virus that sets off immediate pani...
