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YAMAZAKURA ～The Cherry Tree in the Hills～ (2008)

Director: SHINOHARA Tetsuo

Cast: HIGASHIYAMA Noriyuki, TANAKA Rena

Film adaptation of a period drama about a woman written by Fujisawa Shuhei who is known as the original story writer of The Twilight Samurai which was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. Shinohara Tetsuo of First Love recr...

Pokémon: GIRATINA & THE SKY WARRIOR (2008)

Director: YUYAMA Kunihiko

Cast: OTANI Ikue, INUYAMA Inuko

The second theatrical version in the "Pokémon Diamond & Pearl" series which has been broadcasted on TV since 2006. Directed by Yuyama Kunihiko who has undertaken all the theatrical versions in the Pokémon series, the box office sales in Japan have re...

Shadow of Sand (2008)

Director: KAIDA Yusuke

Cast: EGUCHI Noriko, ARATA, YONEMURA Ryotaro

Officially entered in the Rotterdam International Film Festival in 2008. It was all shot in 8mm by the director of photography, Tamra Masaki. As simultaneous recording was not an option, Kikuchi Nobuyuki, who is in charge of sound, created the entire...

Tokyo Sonata (2008)

Director: KUROSAWA Kiyoshi

Cast: KAGAWA Teruyuki, KOIZUMI Kyoko, YAKUSHO Koji

Winner of the Jury Prize in ‘Un Certain Regard' section at the 2008 Cannes International Film Festival. Kurosawa Kiyoshi, well known at film festivals across the globe, has created a family drama which exposes modern society in Japan based on a scree...

SWEET BEAT (2008)

Director: KUSAKA Shigehiro

Cast: RED HOTS

Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea (2008)

Director: MIYAZAKI Hayao

Cast: YAMAGUCHI Tomoko, NAGASHIMA Kazushige, AMAMI Yuki

The latest animated film by Miyazaki Hayao of Spirited Away from Studio Ghibli after four years since Howl's Moving Castle. It was created without using CG, valuing expressions achieved through drawing by hand. A fantasy based on Andersen's The Littl...

Tea Fight (2008)

Director: WANG Yeming

Cast: KAGAWA Teruyuki, TODA Erika, Vic CHOU

Cafe ISOBE (2008)

Director: YOSHIDA Keisuke

Cast: MIYASAKO Hiroyuki, NAKA Riisa, ASO Kumiko

Nightmare Detective 2 (2008)

Director: TSUKAMOTO Shinya

Cast: MATSUDA Ryuhei, MIURA Yui, KAN Hanae

The sequel to a psyco-suspense movie featuring a detective who has the ability to enter into other people's nightmares. Written, directed and edited by globally recognized Tsukamoto Shinya, whose A Snake of June won the Special Jury Prize in the Upst...

Accuracy of Death (2008)

Director: KAKEHI Masaya

Cast: KANESHIRO Takeshi, KONISHI Manami, FUJI Sumiko

252：Signal of Life (2008)

Director: MIZUTA Nobuo

Cast: ITO Hideaki, UCHINO Seiyo

An epic spectacle which portrays people in an unprecedented disaster. A large quantity of water was actually used, in addition to CG and VFX, to achieve realistic images. Mizuta Nobuo of Maiko Haaaan!!!, in-house director of Nippon Television Network...

The Sky Crawlers (2008)

Director: OSHII Mamoru

Cast: KIKUCHI Rinko, KASE Ryo

An animation by Oshii Mamoru of Ghost in the Shell, four years since his last animation, Innocence

L change the WorLd (2008)

Director: NAKATA Hideo

Cast: MATSUYAMA Kenichi, KUDOH Youki, FUKUDA Mayuko

A spin-off film of the Death Note diptych which was hugely successful not just in Japan but in the whole of Asia including Hong Kong, Korea and Thailand. Directed by Nakata Hideo, a leading figure in Japanese horror movies which have stormed the worl...

K-20: Legend of the Mask (2008)

Director: SATO Shimako

Cast: KANESHIRO Takeshi, MATSU Takako, NAKAMURA Toru

An epic action film, adapted and directed by Sato Shimako of Tale of a Vampire, an Anglo-Japanese collaboration in 1992 which won the Avoriaz Award at the Tokyo International Fantastic Film Festival. Starring Kaneshiro Takeshi, a leading Asian actor ...

20th Century Boys -Chapter 1- (2008)

Director: TSUTSUMI Yukihiko

Cast: KARASAWA Toshiaki, TOYOKAWA Etsushi, TOKIWA Takako

Film adaptation of a bestselling comic by a globally well-recognized manga artist, Urasawa Naoki. This film is the first part of a trilogy with a production cost of 6 billion yen. It also attracted media attention as the film features a cast of 300 p...

Where the Legend Lives (2008)

Director: TSUTSUMI Yukihiko

Cast: YOSHINAGA Sayuri, TAKENAKA Naoto

The film portrays the love and bond between a real-life historian, Miyazaki Kohei, and his wife, Kazuko, in their life-long quest for the location of the ancient country of Yamataikoku, which is said to be the origin of Japan. Directed by Tsutsumi Yu...

SHAOLIN GIRL (2008)

Director: MOTOHIRO Katsuyuki

Cast: SHIBASAKI Ko, NAKAMURA Toru, Kitty ZHANG

108 (2008)

Director: MORI Yoshitaka

Cast: SAITOU Yoshiki, NAKAMURA Aoi, KORA Kengo

An adolescent drama centering on high school students who settle for being reserves in a baseball club aiming to make the national high school baseball tournament, a staple Japanese summer event. Based on a novel of the same title by Hayami Kazumasa....