Interview with Helen McCarthy

Recently I came across the knowledgeable writer and public figure Helen McCarthy, she had a talk about Hyper Japan 2014 Christmas market about her latest book - A Brief History Of Manga, the most concise and detailed book to educate the biggest of noobs.

She gave a brief introduction about anthology anime before the screening of Short Peace at the ICA as part of the touring film festival by the Japan Foundation UK and how this was a chance for directors to do something creative and with a large budget as long as they incorporated a theme or product. this also meant you could have a selection of artists and animators collaborating. She speaks in more depth below in an interview.

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It Only Happens in the Movies? Japanese Cinema and Encounters: A Bolt from the Blue

A time travelling magician? A great addition to the Japan foundation's touring film festival at the ICA London.

A Bolt from the Blue also known as Seiten no hekireki was a hit in Japan from 2014 due to being directed by a famous comedian, Hitori Gekidan. Based on Hitori’s own novel, it was a huge box office success in Japan. However there us more to the movie than meets the eye.

A movie following a dead beat magician with the skill but nothing to motivate him. Begrudging his parents for all his failures he lives by himself after leaving his dad after college. Resentful about his mother leaving him, he watches younger magicians get fame for his tricks.

One day after his flat is flooded he receives a call that his father is dead. He goes to the place where his body is found and discovers he had been homeless and living in a cardboard hut. In the hut he finds a photo of his father holding him as a baby, then like magic a both of lightening hits him and he is taken back in time to the year 1973.

Asakusa is the a place to launch stage performers and with help from a kid he is accepted as a trainee magician. It is here where he crosses paths with his young father to be.

With all the indications of his fathers faults and his birth nearing - will he find out the truth about his mother? Will he carry on to live life so bitterly. A great film to take inspiration from. Shape your life as you want do not run away and make excuses.

Buy tickets to the next showing (Jan 30-March 2015): https://www.ica.org.uk/whats-on/seasons/japan-foundation-touring-film-programme

It Only Happens in the Movies? Japanese Cinema and Encounters: Nobody to Watch Over Me

My favourite genre in Japanese film is Horror/thriller so I was excited to see 'Nobody to Watch over me' part of the Japan Foundation's touring film festival at London ICA.

Nobody to Watch Over Me (also known as Dare mo mamotte kurenai in Japanese) was a particularly interesting film directed and written by Ryoichi Kimizuka. It looks at crime through a different perspective. After watching Lady Vengeance you get an insight into the police force and how they humiliate the perpetrators on TV and seek out revenge. Nobody to watch over me follows the sister of an alleged killer. 

A police officer part of the case is sent to protect her from the media, stalkers and committing suicide. Whilst he does so and out of sympathy goes back to the family home to retrieve her mobile her mother has had enough of the allegations and hangs herself. The case is now point towards the police force for neglecting to save the public and protecting the 'killers' family.

Strange thing is we are never really sure if the boy killed the sisters or not, seeing as the only possible person to have interacted with him on the day was the sister and she refuses to talk.


Sadly the 15year old is hounded by friends, Internet and general weirdos. At the same  time you do start to question the police officer who chooses to hide her at a former victims hotel by the sea.

Needless to say this is a dark psychological movie with some action scenes to compare driving to the fast and furious Tokyo drift. Loving how versatile Ryuhei Matsuda (actor from Otakus in Love) is playing partner Misima giving the odd comedy moments.

A film to make to think of your family and appreciate all those precious moments before they are gone.

To buy tickets to the next screening as part of the touring film festival (30th Jan-March) use this link:
http://www.jpf-film.org.uk/venues/ica

It Only Happens in the Movies? Japanese Cinema and Encounters: My Little Sweet Pea

 I began to see the genre Japan Foundation chosen for this years film festival at ICA London- loss of family and had a great sadness watching the protagonist fight her emotions on whether to accept her estranged mother or not.

Catch another showing of this film:

Filmhouse
26 February 2015

Tyneside Cinema
2 March 2015

mac birmingham
3 March 2015

My little Sweetpea

A contemporary film set in current Kapan where Meguka lives a life of struggle with her brother ( Ryûhei Matsuda also starred in Otaku's in Love). Their father dies 3 years ago and lives on her Brothers wages or so she thinks.

Her world is turned upside down when a woman turns up on there  doorstep claiming to be her mother. Abandoning them as children due to their fathers infidelity Megu and her brother find it hard to forgive her.

However out of greed then agree yo her living with them as she had been sending them rent money regularly but was now unable to afford it. Megu is forced to lice with her mother Saiko as the brother decides to move out out of irritation.

She cannot tolerate the molly codelling and invasion of privacy, after her manga is thrown out and her application to voice acting school opened she lashes out at Saiko. Soon after she passes away from advanced liver cancer.

The story takes a strange detour where Megu travels to her mothers home town to bury her. Here us stared at and treated like a celebrity as she is the spitting image of her mum. Saiko was the high flyer and beauty queen of town.

Megu begins to learn more about her mother and the hardships of divorce. Did she come to stay with her knowing these were the last moments of her life? She didn't become the rich singer she dreamed of being but she was happy to have her kids. Through meeting the people in the village especially Saiko's friend Micheru she forgives her mother.

This film covered a lot of life's hardships, people are complex and not always clear. Also it was great to see hard working adults indulging in past times such as manga. Parents overall shape our behavior and way of living. Also was nice to see the curators choose a film looking at Otaku culture and having the actor Matsuda re appear after being show in Otaku's in Love at the last years touring film festival.

It Only Happens in the Movies? Japanese Cinema and Encounters:Wood Job

The end of January marks the start of the Japan Foundations acclaimed touring film festival. There is normally a theme and a collect of movies to match and depict contemporary and past of Japan. After the introduction an an anime called 'Colourful' featuring the famous director in attendance, Keiichi Hara, (directed, Shin Chan, Doremon). They have returned with two more anime's for there line up.

Wood Job! directed by Shinobu Yaguchi (directed Waterboys) brought a stir to the ICA London last night. With a sold out screening of the movie which held promise of comedy and foresting. Looking at the preview photos it is apparent the film is about nature and country life. We follow protagonist the city kid Hirano Yuki falling in love with a photo of a girl in a lumberjack magazine.

Unlike most boys, he decides to become a lumberjack in hope of meeting this beautiful girl - he has no idea what he is in for.  He has to learn the physics of trees and why people become forresters. This deters him from the start and before running away he actually encounters the girl from the advertisement and finds out which area she is from. Skip a intensive learning course and he has graduated and now embarks a year placement at a village to learn the physical ins and outs of felling trees. This again wouldn't be too bad if the region he chose (to find the love of his life) wasn't in the most treacherous mountain with the supervisor who hates his guts.

Yoki takes to the village introduces him to the people and tells him not to think of running away and Yuki tries but when he figures it's a 2 hour drive to the only bus stop he begins to realise he is needs to suck it up. For eating snakes to being munched on by leeches he grows up fast in the village and this becomes his way of living for a year. He appreciates the smell of the freshly cut trees, the money made for a finely kept log and even  gets to meet the girl of his dreams - a maid since she was dumped by the last trainee forester - ouch.

This film integrates so much comedy between Yuki and villagers from the culture clash and does so subtly as compared to Waterboys. The film strengthens the notion of looking after mother earth and making do with what you have. A group of Yuki's town friends come to spectate his new life and disrespect his lifestyle which makes him question going back home. Without spoiling the ending he has a lot to prove to the village before being considered a true mountain man.

Watch it on 3rd Feb at the ICA buy tickets here:

https://www.ica.org.uk/whats-on/japan-foundation-touring-film-programme-wood-job-qa-0

Eastside stories: Love Strikes

Where: ICA London/ Belfast/Bristol/Dundee/Edinburgh/Newcastle upon Tyne/Nottingham/Sheffield
When: 31 January to 27 March 2014

Set one year after the drama series 'Moteki'. Hitoshi Ohne's romantic comedy, based on a hugely popular manga and TV series, became a massive hit in Japan and was selected for the Top Films of 2011 by The Japan Times, Kinema Jumpo and Eiga Geijutsu. The Japan Foundation chose this film to be part of their East side stories: Youth culture touring film festival.

Set one year after the conclusion of the Japanese drama series 'Moteki', the film Love Strikes! continues to follow 31-year-old Yukiyo Fujimoto. Following Yukiyo’s feelings remaining somewhat unresolved after the mini series. Love Strikes! retains the elements of comedy and honesty that were present in both the manga and drama series, all the while delving deeper into the emotional obstacles faced by the protagonist Yukiyo.

Yukiyo, a man with no aim in life starts a new chapter in his life by working as a writer for a news site. Suddenly, Yukiyo experiences 'moteki' – a period when a man becomes suddenly popular with woman. Magazine editor Miyuki, who he talks to on twitter, one day initaites a meet up. Miyuki turn's out to a be woman rather than a geeky bloke. Then Miyuki's friend Rumiko, beautiful shop assistant Ai and beautiful, but tough co-worker named Motoko all become interested in Yukiyo. He tries to calm down, but is shaken by the interests of these women.  So many women but who is the one for Yukiyo?

The idea of one man simply attempting to lose his virginity is hilarious. Director Hitoshi Ohne brings the same charm as he did from the series. Using elements of musical sequences, slapstick moments, and some tense scenes of Yukiyo’s interaction with women. The film pokes fun at Yukiyo’s circumstances as well as showing his gradual growth as an individual, with each womanly encounter he begins to understand people better.

Mirai Moriyama holds the film together, without his exceptional acting as well as flamboyant dancing to rival or better that of guest star's Perfume. he encompasses the sexually frustrated Yukiyo perfectly. His execution of internal dialogues really make the film brilliant. Considering the length of the film you get a glimpse into the love affairs he has. Nagasawa’s character of Miyuki is cute, and mysterious giving Yukiyo mixed signals constantly. Whereas Aso’s character of Rumiko is shy and confident at the same time.

Love Strikes! presents a hysterical look into one man’s journey to find that special someone whilst dabbling in moteki. The Japan Foundation did a great job with the selection and getting q&a's with the directors and actors.

Colourful Review & Interview with director

This year’s Japan Foundation UK annual touring film programme used a variety of enlightening movies as an introduction to Japanese cinema through the framework of ‘youth’. Showcasing one anime in the mix showing how the adults of tomorrow have been portrayed in Japanese cinema

Colorful was released originally in Japan  2010, this animated feature film is directed by Keiichi Hara. Hara-san was famous for directing hit anime from our childhood such as Doraemon and was the longest running director for Shin-Chan, the anime are important as they were the first to hit the West in Japanese and English dub and make a bridge for more to become recognised worldwide.

This anime is based on a novel of the same title by Eto Mori. Hara-San tells us (in the Q&A) that he saw the script and liked the story and decided to make it into the anime alongside animation studio Ascension. For the beautiful soundtrack he tells us he commissioned a few music producers to come up with a soundtrack that was simple but not boring and chose Kow Otan. Otan was famous for working on lot of big titles in the anime and game world such as Gundam Wing (1995), Outlaw Star (1998), Gundam Wing: Endless Waltz  Cross Fire (1998), Cross Fire (2000), The SoulTaker (2001) to9 name a few.

The story revolves around a newly dead soul reaching a train station representing limbo, an Angel named Purapura approaches the soul and explains that he is 'lucky' and will have another chance at life. He is placed in the body of a 14-year-old boy, Makoto Kobayashi, who recently committed suicide. Purapura watches 'Makoto' and advises him with hints to figure out the big sin 'Makoto' did.  The soul must figure out what his greatest sin in his former life within a time limit or else the soul will be ejected from the body and Makoto will die forever. Whilst trying to complete this task he is faced with making friends, understanding his family and their dark secrets. His crush at school isn't the cheery and happy go lucky person she makes out to be while creepy a classmate stalks him and he can't figure out why. Will this journey motivate him to want to live again?

This anime is not a typical slice of life, it holds deeper meaning, searching for ones identity and place in life. Also dealing with challenging situations and reacting within ones restraints. A movie with lot a of social behaviors explored, the nice and the grim.

Watch this interview with Hara-San and his take on Colourful, how he felt about the reception it received, how it felt to make popular anime that entered the West. Special thanks to the Japan Foundation for Showing this amazing animation and bringing Hara-San to answer the audiences questions.

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Aisha Anime ^_^