Discoveries from Japan World Cinema

A juvenile delinquent gets out of the pen and immediately embarks on a rampage of untethered anger, most of it directed at the girlfriend of the journalist who helped send him up.

It had been a year and four months since Mitsuo was last on a movie set. Welcomed back by director Ishizaki and his film crew, Mitsuo is excited to star as the lead in "My Sweetheart". One day, half way through production, he meets his friends from a popular rock group, "The Spiders". Through their discussion regarding the climax scene, they criticize that the script is too grim. In a notion to protect their friend's career, they decide to pay the scriptwriter a little visit.

Takatou Masaki is the second youngest of four sons, and seemingly a delinquent by nature. His hot temper has put a wedge between himself and his strict father, gotten him kicked out of one school, and tossed him at a school notoriously horrible for the one thing he's truly good at, basketball. A chance encounter with the willful Yuuki Kanako may serve as a catalyst for change, as the indefinable connection she feels with him draws them together...

It is the job of the press to cover corporate crime, government plots and society. It is in this context that young female reporter on the beat Erika rolls up her sleeves and goes to work regarding what seems to be a government cover up. She is dealing with a government bureaucrat called Sugihara. It seems as if a clash is inevitable.

A wealthy playboy sets out to sleep with Japan's foremost recording artist, Mari Yamasaki, despite her wishes to the contrary. Will he succeed in adding her to his list of famous conquests?

Risa Onodera, played by Miyazaki, had a groom runaway on the wedding day four years ago. Her father, Shusaku (Matsushige) and her mother, Machiko (Matsuzaka), built a large two-family house to live with their daughter and her new family. One day, Risa says that she has been proposed to, Shusaku is surprised to see that face. This is because Kotaro (Nagayama) was a former subordinate of his workplace and was now his boss. Although he wants to congratulate his daughter's marriage, Shusaku wonders if he can live with his boss. Where is the love between Risa and Kotaro? Can the two get married? Can Risa and Kotaro, Shusaku and Machiko become a family?

A karate master played by Sonny Chiba is attacked and left crippled and blinded in one eye. He trains his daughter with the intention of her avenging not only himself but a murdered friend.

In Asia, a mysterious assassin organization operates under the guise of a noodle shop hidden in a bustling city, serving as a haven for killers. Assassin No. 4, orphaned at a young age and raised in the noodle shop, is sent to Japan to eliminate a yakuza boss. However, he is unexpectedly ambushed by his client, a Japanese girl seeking revenge. To exact her vengeance, she spares no expense in hiring the assassin and attempts to enlist No. 4 in her grand revenge plan, only for their actions to inadvertently provoke a relentless pursuit by the yakuza, putting both their lives in danger...

A girl goes exploring to find a new house. Along the way, she encounters many of Japan's guardian spirits.

Girl Boss Ruriko and her cellmates escape from a greedy corrupt reform school that's more interested in cheating the government out of money than reformation. Each having their own reasons for escaping, they go their separate ways. With the help of a young mechanic, who's also on the lam, Ruriko tries to realize her dream of leaving the island of Japan behind. But the authorities are always one step behind her...

Detective Ryoko Kozuki receives a demotion after having an affair with a superior. She succeeds in arresting a rapist in an undercover operation that puts her at risk. Her achievement immediately becomes the talk of the precinct, but no one approaches her because of her past. Ryoko is determined to bring criminals to justice. She takes on “The Prime Ministerial Candidate Snipe Case” which took place 15 years earlier.

Yoko is upset when her father remarries and begins rebelling against her new stepmother. First, this is accomplished by promiscuity and partying but eventually her schemes take a much darker turn...

Ippei Akabane (Takaya Kamikawa) is an unpopular novelist. He barely makes ends meet writing serials novels under different pen names. Daigo Kurei (Shinji Takeda) is on death row. He killed four women twelve years ago. During his murdering spree, he sent pictures of his decapitated victims with flower decoration to the police. The murders and photos caused widespread panic in Japan. One day, Ippei is contacted by Daigo from prison. He asks Ippei if he wants to interview him and write his memoirs. Soon, more women are killed in the same grisly manner as the serial murders from twelve years ago. Now, Ippei becomes the prime suspect of the police and Ippei must quickly find the real murderer. Based on the novel "The Serialist" by David Gordon (published by Simon & Schuster; Original edition on March 9, 2010).

In pre-war Japan, a government censor tries to make the writer for a theater troupe alter his comedic script. As they work with and against each other, the script ends up developing in unexpected ways.

A ghost mage that can manipulate the soul of any monster appears, with the intent of ruling the universe. With a new enemy that can manipulate a monster's soul, Ultraman Orb and Ultraman Zero emerge to stand in his way. Orb will fight a ghostly villain with ghost monster army corps through various fusion ups including Lightning Attacker with the power of Ginga and X! Orb will fulfill new fusion ups while the mighty warriors of the lights appear to assist Ultraman Orb. Even with Ultraman Orb's new forms, will he be able to overcome the threat of Reibatos?

Leo, a young Japanese college student, travels to Hawaii and eventually falls in love with Maray, an older Japanese-Caucasion woman.

Asako is determined to live her life with her own will after witnessing her best friend’s divorce and former manager’s death.

Baikinman and Dokin-chan crash the annual mushroom festival and kidnap Kamameshidon’s sweetheart, Kinoko. Kamameshidon is powered up by a lake fairy and turned into Super Gold Kamameshidon. Then he and the rest of the Donburiman-Trio try to rescue Kinoko, but they end up in Mushroom Valley, under the influence of dangerous mushrooms, and Sushi-roll Maki-chan shows up to help save the day.

During a battle against Destron's forces, Shiro Kazami helps a priest who has been attacked by the evil organization's kaijin Hasami-Jaguar. Little does he know that the church where the priest resides is a front for a Destron hideout. After finding out the organization's latest motive, Kamen Rider V3, along with the Double Riders, must stop Destron from detonating a nuclear bomb in Tokyo.

Experienced shipyard worker Shimazaki gets an offer of free lodging from his employer in the company seaside rest house if he agrees to see to its running. After moving in, Shimazaki finds out that this will also mean taking care of a flock of youngsters, and he soon becomes their none-too-successful warden. At work the boys are disciplined, as soon as they return to their dormitory however they turn into an unmanageable mob.

Set in the late Edo period. Ohatsu, who is the signboard girl for a diner in Nihonbashi Torichō, awakens to a mysterious power – the spiritual ability to see and hear things that ordinary people cannot. Southern Edo magistrate Negishi Hizen-no-kami Yasumori approached her to request assistance in gathering strange tales for a collection called Mimibukuro, and introduces her to Furusawa Ukyonosuke, a trainee yoriki. Thus, the two of them encounter some bizarre events...

Part one of The Masterless 47.

Special OVA inluded in Girls und Panzer das Finale: Part 3 release.

Somewhere on the coast of Taiwan is Hotel Iris, a mouldering seaside establishment run by a cold and thrifty Japanese woman (Nahana) and her lonely half-Taiwanese daughter Mari (Lucia). One night, Mari hears the cries of a woman from the upper floors. Heading up to investigate, she witnesses a distraught woman in a red camisole dress escape an impeccably dressed but violent man (NAGASE Masatoshi) whose cold voice is entrancing. Mari’s initial shock turns into a strange fascination which drives her to follow the man to discover more about him. He is a translator who lives on an isolated island one can only reach by boat and rumours swirl around him and recent murders. The closer she gets to the man, the more a hidden layer of Mari’s personality awakens as she allows herself to be engulfed by his strange passions…

A few days after Kagato is defeated everything returns to normal. Ryouko finds Mihoshi and Sasami reading shoujo manga, which Sasami mistakes as guides on how to win a boy's heart... Earth style. So Ryouko decides to try out the ideas from the manga to win over Tenchi. But Aeka finds out what her rival Ryouko is doing and tries to take advantage of the same method. Naturally, the results are less than satisfactory for all involved...

After the death of their father, a older brother and his younger sister return to their family home on a secluded island. They are accompanied by the brother's girlfriend. Problems arise when one sibling begins to exhibit carnal desires for the other.

Mikami, a Japanese soldier, is captured by Chinese forces. Although able to escape, he is treated with contempt by his peers. After falling in love with a prostitute named Harumi, she convinces him to desert the army and live with her.

One theory is that Sabao is a dull middle-aged man who works at a factory that smells like scent, which is rumored to be making parts for military equipment. I have no friends, and of course no lover. My only reason to live is my sister, Miku, who waits for him to come home every day. A gentle and cute, perfect sister, Miku. Sabao feels great happiness in living with her. However, the feelings for Miku, who was growing at the same time as happiness, were never forgiven by his brother and sister.

Set within the devastated city of Eight City, the Eight Rangers protect the city and go against the evil Dark Kuruseido.

The music industry becomes a battlefield when ancient strategist Kongming is transported from historical China to modern Japan. He'll use military tactics to turn his new friend Eiko into a music star, and together they'll take the party hotspot of Shibuya by storm!

Documentary filmmaker Kenjiro Fujii takes a look at the history of a distinctly Japanese brand of softcore pornography in this extensive examination of the "pinku eiga" genre (ピンク映画 Pinku eiga or Pinkeiga). For more than 40 years, so-called "pink" films have served as both a key source of revenue for the Japanese film industry as well as a launching pad for the careers of such mainstream filmmakers as Kiyoshi Kurosawa. After providing a detailed history of the still-profitable and popular genre through interviews with a variety of behind-the-scenes players and clips from such classic pink films as Fish Bait Boobies, director Fujii shifts his focus to the production of an upcoming pink film to offer a glimpse into the creative and stylistic evolution of the genre.

The chronology of Super Sentai may, at last, be at an end. A boy has arrived from the future to save the earth from catastrophe. Yamato and his team are not aware that they are part of the enemy's plans. The Ninningers, who once protected Earth, have returned! And this time, they believe the Zyuohger are Yokai monsters! This battle will be the end of both teams. Will the message of the future boy get to Yamato in time? An unbelievable roll call that brings together all the Rangers of the Super Sentai! In 2017 the battle of all battles begins!

Mametchi and his friends must save Tamagotchi world from a book that is beginning to destroy reality, entitled "The World's Happiest Story".

Political fixer Homei Yamaoka's misdeeds come to light, throwing Japanese politics into deadly confusion. But he's not going down without a fight.

Duke Freed is an alien who has escaped to Earth after his home planet was invaded by the armies of Great King Yarban. Five years have passed and now Yarban's daughter, Princess Teronna, is on a mission to find both Duke and his spaceship Grendizer by invading our planet with their fleet of flying saucers. The pilot movie of Grendizer. It is about Duke Fleed, a fugitive of the planet fleed, who was kicked out of his planet by the Armies of Vega. Fleed and the daughter of the king of Vega we in love before the war between their planets. The armies of Vega continue their fight with Duke Fleed.

Inspired by his tennis champion father, Ryoma is determined to take his game to the next level and train in the US. But in the middle of an intense tennis battle to save his classmate Sakuno from dangerous villains, they somehow find themselves transported back to the past, just as Ryoma’s father is about to undertake his final championship match at the US Open – when he was mysteriously forced to retire.

Teenager Kazuki Miyaichi has always felt unloved by her mother due the circumstances surrounding her birth. Because she harbors anxiety and perceives herself as being worthless to others, she engages in acts of juvenile delinquency. One day, a transfer student from Yokohama named Eri introduces her to Hiroshi Haruyama, a reckless youth who’s a member of the “Nights” motorcycle gang. Kazuki finds herself increasingly drawn to Hiroshi over time, but he soon becomes leader of the Nights and gets caught up in a conflict with a rival gang.

A sly prep school thug uses his girlfriend to lure Hiroshi and Toru to a fight, but the scheme escalates to an all-out war between everyone involved.

The classic tale of the shogun's illegitimate son Aoi Shingo is told in three parts as he strives to become the greatest fencer in Japan, while his father Shogun Tokugawa Yoshimune seeks to reunite with his lost son. When the secrets of Shingo's birth are revealed to him, it sets off a series of events that bring him to cross swords with members of the shogun's inner circle in a series of duels that could change the destiny of Japan.

Two women are ferried to a small prison colony on the remote and barren prison island, where they and their fellow inmates are forced to perform perilous slave labor along the island’s treacherous cliffs, overseen by both an unforgiving sun and a crew of abusive male wardens. Meanwhile, the arrival of a newcomer among the island’s administrators, a disgraced policeman who is also the son of Nagasaki’s governor, creates dissension between the officials that, along with an untimely outbreak of bubonic plague on the island, ultimately sets the stage for a daring escape attempt on the part of the prisoners.

Professional killer Ken is trying to break away from the yakuza. Taking up work at a local motorcycle shop, he forges a new life under the motherly eye of Yoko, an older woman who owns the shop. However, Ken's dark past isn't letting him go that easily. Akira, Ken's ruthless mentor and himself an assassin, has been coming around and pressuring Ken to return to the family. Together with orphaned teenager Tsuyoshi, Ken decides to take to the road and settle matters in the only way he knows - by the trigger of his gun.

Brazilian-Japanese gangster Mario rescues his Chinese girlfriend Kei as she's about to be deported from Japan. Desperate to escape, he hides in Tokyo's booming Japanese-Portuguese community and seeks passage from the country from a Russian mobster. To meet his price, they hold up a bigtime drug deal between the Chinese Mafia and the local Yakuza.

Theatrical release of episodes 7-10 of Yamato 2202.

Momo is very unlucky. All the guys she dates are only after her money, and she discovers she has only six months left to live. Momo meets Ms. Devil Girl Succubus, who proposes to grant her one wish. In return, the succubus wants her soul for eternity.

First film of a trilogy following the dramatic life of Rika, a half-Japanese/half-American woman who becomes the tough-as-nails leader of an all-girl crime gang.

Dai-ni-bu: Aijô ruten: Kiyoshi Saeki directed movie

The story depicts how an intelligent, beautiful, and chaste female teacher becomes a woman who writhes in lust after being humiliated by the lecherous vice principal and students.

Loyal samurai Samanosuke is attacked, mutilated, and left for dead while carrying out a mission for his clan. He recovers but has lost an eye and an arm. Taking a new identity as Tange Sazen, he searches for a stolen urn which has hidden significance to his clan. But Tange Sazen has his own reasons for seeking the urn.

In a future world where all cars are controlled by artificial intelligence, which often breaks down, one elite group of kids has been selected to drive gasoline-powered non-AI controlled sports cars to prevent accidents. Lorna Endou and Lisa Sakakino are two high school girls chosen for the duty, along with a 12 year old newcomer named Souichi Sugano in this six-episode series

A geisha in the Gion district of Kyoto feels obliged to help her lover when he asks to stay with her after going bankrupt and leaving his wife. However, her younger sister opposes this, thinking that they should both find wealthy patrons to support them.

"GS Wonderland" is about the 1960's Group Sounds bands - A Japanese pop movement inspired by the Beatles and other mid-1960's Brit Pop. Three young men set out to start their own band "The Diamonds" when they are signed to a recording contract during their very first rehearsal. Things turn for the unexpected when their agent brings Mick (Chiaki Kuriyama) into the group as their keyboardist.

Three siblings share a home with their parents living a happy life. The oldest one is good-looking guy, which is something of a contrast from his younger brother who is at school. The youngest one is the girl and has two brothers to protect her. And then there is Sakura, the family's dog who is always by their side. The fate of this quirky but happy family changes drastically after Hajime, the family's hero-like figure, encounters a tragic accident...

Mitsuko Kuroda is 31 years old and single. She enjoys her life as a single woman. A big reason why she enjoys her single life is that she has counsellor "A" in her mind, which is her other self. Whenever she does not know what to do, "A" gives her the right answers. She believes her happy and peaceful single life with "A" will continue, but she falls in love with Tada-kun. He is a salesperson and younger than her.

With the great success of "Maji LOVE LIVE Kingdom", the members of ST☆RISH have been busy with their idol activities. However, while their success has brought a sense of fulfillment, they began to have feelings they never felt before. "What do we do from now on..." At that time, a call comes in from the Shining Office summoning everyone to receive a "reward.” What is it...? This is the behind-the-scenes story of ST☆RISH, connecting "Maji LOVE Kingdom" to the "Maji LOVE ST☆RISH Tours".

The son of an assassinated feudal lord, in the Muromachi period, attempts to avenge his father's death and meets Kagemaru, a renegade ninja helping peasants and farmers rebel against Oda Nobunaga's regime, all depicted through an experimental form of filming pages from the original manga set to sound.

As the nations of the world begin to merge, world peace is threatened by the private armies of individual corporations. The Kuryu Group has just discovered a weapon that will tip world power in their favor. The Genocyber: a nightmarish combination of cybernetics and psychic potential. Many desire to control this monstrosity, but can its hatred be contained... Battle erupts, and the cyberpunk world of the future is about to explode with violence.

A hard-hearted old woman in a bombed-out Tokyo neighborhood reluctantly takes in an abandoned boy, leading to a heartwarming bond between them.

The story of an airport and its air traffic control crew in a remote and northern Japanese town. Three of the air traffic controllers are female with one of them working with her dead fiancé's sister. The engaged man had gone to war and never returned.

A Japanese assassin stranded in Taiwan must take work from a local crime boss to make ends meet when suddenly a woman from his past delivers a son to him.