Discoveries from Japan World Cinema

A man on a mission to investigate a "self-defense force members only" gambling den in Yokosuka begins to uncover the past of its owner.

Upon reaching the train station to death, a dejected soul is informed that he is lucky and will have another chance at life. He is placed in the body of a 14-year-old boy named Kobayashi Makoto, who has just committed suicide. Watched over by a neutral spirit named Purapura, the soul must figure out what his greatest sin and mistake in his former life was, before his time limit in Makoto's body runs out. He also has a number of other lesser duties he must complete, such as understanding what led Makoto to commit suicide in the first place and learning how to enjoy his second chance at life.

While combing through the belongings of his recently deceased aunt, Matsuko, nephew Sho pieces together the crucial events that sank Matsuko's life into a despairing tragedy.

When the brutal Boshin War breaks out in Japan, a group of inmates on death row unite to defend a fortress against the Imperial army.

A mysterious female spy is recruited to infiltrate the Japanese underworld and gather evidence for a clandestine secretive branch of the Tokyo Police Department.

Bent on revenge, a traumatized ex-police officer must infiltrate a yakuza organization by befriending one of the group's most unhinged members.

A cursed dancer and a blind musician — both ostracized by society — become business partners and inseparable friends as their larger-than-life concerts propel them to stardom in 14th century Japan.

A lonely otaku is fired from his job. He is rescued in a ruined building by a strange girl in a sailor suit. When he wakes up, the girl becomes a figure. The young man and the pretty figure begin to live together.

BABYMETAL became the first Japanese group to hold a solo concert. The release of the live video work "BABYMETAL - LIVE AT THE O2 ARENA" from London's O2 Arena has been decided! Their fourth album, "METAL FORTH," released in August this year, reached number 9 on the US Billboard charts, making them the first Japanese group to enter the top 10. BABYMETAL, who have become a globally acclaimed artist in both name and reality, have announced that they will be releasing the Blu-ray and DVD "BABYMETAL - LIVE AT THE O2 ARENA" on Friday, December 19th.

When the Ministry of Education goes back on its promise to keep Ooarai Girls Academy open, the task of saving the five-mile-long Academy Ship from the wreckers falls to Miho and her barely-seasoned tankery team. However, things go off track almost immediately. While the Oorai tank crew may have won the high school tournament, they’re now facing a larger and more experienced university team, and if they fail, their armored vehicles will be forfeit! Will they be swapping their tanks for the memories? It’s possible, but winning a tank battle is all about tactics and teamwork, and the fledgling Ooarai students have more friends and allies than anyone suspects.

Satou Ichirou once called himself 'Maryuuin Kouga' and behaved as if he were a hero in a fantasy world. His strange behavior caused his classmates to bully him and he left the school. At his new school, he tries to behave like a normal boy, but one day he meets a girl who cosplays with a blue cape. She calls herself "a researcher traveling from the outer world to search for the 'Dragon Terminal'". At first, Ichirou rejects the girl, Satou Ryouko, because her behavior reminds him of his embarrassing past, but he changes his mind after seeing her getting bullied. In order to bring Ryouko back to real life, Ichirou accepts her and his past and begins the final battle as Maryuuin Kouga.

After the Japanese defeat to the Russians, Kaji leads the last remaining men through Manchuria. Intent on returning to his old life, he faces great odds in a variety of different harrowing circumstances as he and his men sneak behind enemy lines.

Kiyoha rises from the lowly courtesan ranks to the high class position of Oiran in the steamy red-light district of Yoshiwara. She is determined to stand on her own two feet and live life as she pleased.

Members of SWORD win against Wangan Rengogun, which is led by Kohaku. The city becomes peaceful again. Nevertheless, the most brutal gangs, Doubt and Prison Gang, appear. They try to dominate the area controlled by SWORD.

Manga artist Gengo Odaka lands a job with the World Children's Land amusement park only to become suspicious of the organization when a garbled message is discovered on tapes. As Gengo and his team investigate, Godzilla and Anguirus quickly decipher the message and begin their own plan of action.

A Japanese Yakuza gangster's deadly existence in his homeland gets him exiled to Los Angeles, where he is taken in by his little brother and his brother's gang.

A special agent of the Tokyo Police has been given the assignment of assassinating a group of crime bosses. Soon afterwards, she encounters the hitman the crime bosses have sent to kill her. After talking together, they discover that they are equally reluctant to carry out their assignments. They are pushed onward by their respective bosses, however, until they must both decide where their loyalties truly lie.

Yoshimatsu lusts after Mikiko. He attempts to get closer to her by seducing Mikiko's mother.

The Elric brothers meet their toughest opponent yet — a lone serial killer with a large scar on his forehead.

The movie consists of 4 stories each telling how people survive on life-death choice. The story titles are: Cheering Girls, Boy? meets girl., Claim Night! and The House Full Of 'Abandoned' Businessmen.

The second recap film of season 1 of the anime TV series Overlord, covering episodes 8 to 13.

A film adaptation of the Holy Emperor story arc, which primarily depicted the conflict between Kenshiro and Souther. New characters Reina, one of Raoh's army officers who falls in love with him, and her brother Soga, Raoh's advisor, play an important part with much of the plot involving Raoh's relationship with Reina as he conquers the land; most of this portion is new content exclusive to this film. The other side of the story is the retelling of Ken's attempt to save and protect the villagers from Souther's army with the help of Shū. There is also a small subplot of Bart returning to his home.

A small, lone Kappa miraculously survives over 200 years into modern day Japan, when he is found by young Koichi. Coo, who is secretly adopted by Koichi's family, searches with his new human friend for unpopulated places in hopes of finding any remaining of his kind.

12-year-old Oriko Seki, who lost her parents in a car accident, ended up living in her grandmother's Onsen Ryokan "Haru no Ya." With the ghost "Uribou" cohabitating with her and all the other odds, she ended up training to be a young female innkeeper. At first, she didn't like the training, but gradually felt her admiration for her title and began to train seriously. Thus, the growth of the young warrior Oriko begins.

People mysteriously start receiving voicemail messages from their future selves, in the form of the sound of them reacting to their own violent deaths, along with the exact date and time of their future death, listed on the message log. The plot thickens as the surviving characters pursue the answers to this mystery which could save their lives.

When Honey's uncle gets kidnapped by the evil criminal gang known as "Panther Claw," she must use her magical powers of transformation to save him. Meanwhile the same crime group has been responsible for a number of other crime sprees across Tokyo. In the process, Honey teams up with the seemingly cold police woman Natsuko Aki and hot shot journalist Seiji Hayami as well as battle the four "claws" of the Panther Claw gang to save her uncle and the rest of the city.

With high school graduation right around the corner, Takumi Fujiwara has a lot on his mind and a lot to prepare for. Everything becomes even more complicated when Takumi is offered a spot on Ryosuke Takahashi's elite Kengai Racing Team, which seeks to assemble the greatest racers in the Gunma area for a tour of Japan's mountain passes. Before he can accept however, Takumi feels the need to settle the score with the Lancer Evo driving Emperor team, defend his downhill-racer crown against the son of his father's greatest rival, and finally settle things with his unfaithful girlfriend Natsuki.

This unique work depicts in a thrilling way the fear of being isolated in a locked room in the urban jungle, through a man's abnormal sexual urges and a woman who is his target.

The target of hitgirl Mikura is a wealthy baseball team owner, but he turns out to be a powerful underworld boss. Mikura and her team are beset by countless heavily armed bodyguards and the boss' vicious daughter.

In 2199, five years after the Gamilons began an invasion of Earth, the planet has been ravaged by the aliens' bombs. The remnants of humanity have fled underground to escape the irradiated surface. One day, former pilot Susumu Kodai discovers a capsule sent from the planet Iscandar that tells of a device that can remove the radiation from the Earth's surface. The Earth Defense Force rebuilds the battleship Yamato with a new type of propulsion system to make the 148,000 light year trip to Iscandar in hopes of saving the Earth. Within one year, the radiation will drive the rest of humanity to extinction.

A spell of time in the life of the five-piece Haruno family in rural Tochigi Prefecture. Yoshiko is not an ordinary housewife, instead working on an animated film project. Uncle Ayano, a successful music producer, is looking to get his head together after living in Tokyo. Meanwhile, Sachiko is concerned with why she seems to be followed by a giant version of herself. As the lazy days pass by, each member of the family is followed in a series of episodic vignettes.

A Tokyo college student is attacked by a ghoul, a super-powered human who feeds on human flesh. He survives, but has become part ghoul and becomes a fugitive on the run.

The war between Euro Britannia and the European Union continues. New orders are given to the W-0 Unit. To land in the middle of the enemy territory as a diversion. The pilots of the W-0 Unit consist only of the commanding officer, Leila, the only surviving Japanese from their last battle, Akito, and the three that escaped from the Eleven ghettos and lived in the underworld, Ryou, Yukiya, and Ayano. With everyone holding their respective expectations, the operation moves forward. On the other side in Euro Britannia, Shin, who made his benefactor commit suicide with the mysterious power of “Geass”, is appointed the leader of the Knights of St. Michael. As Shin steadily advances for the sake of his own ambition, he and his subordinates in the Ashura squad are given orders to deploy. The one that lives in order to fight, and the one that fights in order to live.

After losing the titanic match against Kainan High, Team Shohoku and a newly shaven Hanamichi Sakuragi are challenged to an exhibition match by virtual basketball unknowns Ryoukufu High. Coach Anzai sees this as an opportunity for Shohoku to regain their confidence, but Ryoukufu are revealed to have a newly assembled championship calibre lineup and may give Sakuragi & Co their toughest test yet.

The world has begun to collapse. The rampaging Meicoomon absorbs Tailmon, who underwent a dark evolution, and changes form into the immensely powerful Ordinemon. In accordance with Yggdrasil's expectation, the real world is about to be engulfed by the Digital World. Meanwhile, Homeostasis considers Ordinemon to be out of control and puts into motion its final plan that will entangle the real world. Then the time comes for the DigiDestined to arrive at a final decision. What future do they choose for themselves?

Space Pirate Captain Harlock and his fearless crew face off against the space invaders who seek to conquer the planet Earth.

Only three days before the school festival, a newly formed high school band rushes to put together a set for their big show — including a hit single by '80s by the Japanese punk rock band The Blue Hearts.

It's the year of destiny, and 15 year old Kamui Shiro, a powerful psychic, has returned to Toyko after a 6 year absence, having left when he was very young. He wants to be with his childhood friends, Fuma (his best friend) and Kotori, Fuma's little sister (and Kamui's possible girlfriend). He wants to protect them from all dangers, but destiny and fate are haunting Kamui and pulling in himself and his beloved childhood friends. It is his destiny and his sole decision to decide the fate of the world, no matter if he wants the role or not. Now it is a matter of if he will join the side of the Seven Seals and become the Dragon of Heaven to save mankind or join the Seven Angels and become the Dragon of Earth to destroy all civilization so the earth can heal itself from man's destruction.

When a wealthy woman and her son die in a hunting accident, it's up to Conan Edogawa to solve the case. Meanwhile, Lupin the Third is after the Queen Crown, owned by the Vesparand royal family. When these two legendary characters meet, who will win the day?! Followed by “Lupin the Third vs. Detective Conan: The Movie” (2013).

Riho and Shinichi had broken up by the time they returned from their honeymoon. The cause was sex. Riho says that sex isn't like that, it's more of a gentle, careful caress. Shinichi is criticized for his lack of technique and suffers psychological damage, but at the same time, he senses that Riho longs for another, and cannot forgive Riho for such a thing.

Tai is now a university student, living alone, working hard at school, and working every day, but with his future still undecided. Meanwhile, Matt and others continue to work on Digimon incidents and activities that help people with their partner Digimon. When an unprecedented phenomenon occurs, the DigiDestined discover that when they grow up, their relationship with their partner Digimon will come closer to an end.

A shy high schooler in Kyoto meets a man claiming to be his future self, who tells him he’s hacked into the past to save their first love.

Afro Samurai avenged his father and found a life of peace. But the legendary master is forced back into the game by a beautiful and deadly woman from his past. The sparks of violence dropped along Afro’s bloody path now burn out of control – and nowhere are the flames of hatred more intense than in the eyes of Sio.

A saga of class relations and changing times in an Edwardian England on the brink of modernity, the film centers on liberal Margaret Schlegel, who, along with her sister Helen, becomes involved with two couples: wealthy, conservative industrialist Henry Wilcox and his wife Ruth, and the downwardly mobile working-class Leonard Bast and his mistress Jackie.

One late night in June 1942, Sakuma Seitaro dangles from the frame of a skylight in an isolation cell in Akita Prison. He forces open the glass window and breaks out of jail. This crime even reaches the ears of Urata Susumu, the chief warden of Kosuge Prison in Tokyo. Urata had been in charge of those sentenced to life in the prison until last year. Although Sakuma is a dangerous person who had also broken out of jail in Aomori, he submits to Urata who is the only person who had treated him kindly in the past. However, three months after escaping from jail, Sakuma shows up at Urata’s house. He has come to complain about the inhumane Akita prison officers. But he is locked up again after Urata notifies the police during an unguarded moment. A year later, Sakuma is sent to Abashiri Prison and Urata is also ordered to transfer as the prison’s chief warden.

Hyoga is missing somewhere in Asgard... When Seiya and the others are looking for him, Athena is kidnapped and they have to rescue her from Dolvar and some mysterious warriors.

Ever since coming across the world of boy’s rhythmic gymnastics during the last summer of junior-high, Shotaro Futaba has become fascinated with the sport. So when he enters Soshokuan Private High School, known as Ao High for short, he heads to the boy’s rhythmic gymnastics club, where he meets unique seniors and the ace of the team, Ryoya Misato. The members of the club each have their own passions, but they’ve put it all on the line with a single goal in mind. Now the next stage in their journey has arrived: the inter-high competition!

Inspector Kei Mikhail Ignatov finds himself involved with an organization named Bifrost with the possibility of freeing his wife if he betrays Unit One. Koichi Azusawa coordinates an assault on the Public Safety Bureau tower using his hacker Obata, locking down the building and kidnapping Inspector Arata Shindo. Azusawa demands that governor Karina Komiya resign from her position.

Meicoomon rampages after witnessing Meiko Mochizuki being injured by the man bearing Gennai's likeness. "It would have been better if you hadn't been born..." Meicoomon disappears into the Real World, which has since become distorted. Possessing overwhelming power, she's the key to the world's destruction.

Fuka, a little witch, is training to be a better witch like her mother, a queen of Silver Castle. She is a lively girl and cares about her friends, but she gets into trouble sometimes. Karin, a princess of Green Castle, is Fuka's best friend; and Chitose, a prince of Blue Castle, is her friend from childhood.

Shuhei Amamiya transfers to Moriwaki Elementary filled with hope and ambition. But it doesn't take long before he gets picked on by the class bullies, and gets involved in a dare to play the mysterious piano in the forest. Igniting his meeting with an equally enigmatic child, Kai Ichinose, who seems to be the only one capable getting sound out of the thought to be broken piano.

On the day Touma Kamijou and Index see Academy City's space elevator, Endymion in the distance, they meet a Level 0 girl with an amazing singing voice, Arisa Meigo. As the three enjoy their time together after school, magic-user Stiyl Magnus suddenly attacks them. His target: Arisa. Why would a girl from the science side be targeted by someone from the magic side, Touma wonders. In the chaos of Stiyl's attack, he tells Touma, Index and Arisa that she might cause a war between the magic side and the science side.

July 1998 - After a group of delinquents is found dead in their hangout place with all their limbs twisted and torn off, Aozaki Touko receives a request to find the murderer and asks Shiki for help. The main suspect is Asagami Fujino; a girl who was the boys' plaything until recently, who Shiki believes to be "one of her kind".

Denichi (Den Hajime) can transform into a 2,000-meter-tall giant, Den-Ace, fights against the suddenly appearing monster, Drydon!!!

Ryunosuke, a gifted swordsman plying his trade during the turbulent final days of Shogunate rule, has no moral code and kills without remorse. It’s a way of life that leads to madness.

It's yakiniku night for the Noharas! But before they can dig in, they get wrapped up in a sizzling conspiracy and are forced to go on the run.

One Piece Film: Gold Episode 0 is a special that is a prequel to One Piece Film: Gold. On their way to Gran Tesoro, the Straw Hat Pirates have a barbecue and play various sports: Nami, Robin, Chopper, and Franky play volleyball, and Luffy, Usopp, and Franky have sumo wrestling matches.

Dragon Cry is a magical artifact of deadly power, formed into a staff by the fury and despair of dragons long gone. Now, this power has been stolen from the hands of the Fiore kingdom by the nefarious traitor Zash Caine, who flees with it to the small island nation of Stella. Frightened that the power has fallen into the wrong hands, the King of Fiore hastily sends Fairy Tail to retrieve the staff. But this task proves frightening as a shadowy secret lies in the heart of the kingdom of Stella. Dragon Cry follows their story as they muster up all their strength to recover the stolen staff and save both kingdoms.