Romantic drama is directed by Akiko Oku, whose last film won the audience award at Tiff 2017.
Japan’s Free Stone Productions has sold romantic comedy Marriage Hunting Beauty to China’s Lemon Tree Media and CatchPlay for Taiwan.
Based on a popular web comic, the film is directed by Akiko Oku whose last film, Tremble All You Want, won the audience award at last year’s Tokyo International Film Festival (Tiff).
Mei Kurokawa heads the cast of the film, playing a web designer in her 30s, who tries online dating to find a husband, but finds herself torn between an...
Japan’s Free Stone Productions has sold romantic comedy Marriage Hunting Beauty to China’s Lemon Tree Media and CatchPlay for Taiwan.
Based on a popular web comic, the film is directed by Akiko Oku whose last film, Tremble All You Want, won the audience award at last year’s Tokyo International Film Festival (Tiff).
Mei Kurokawa heads the cast of the film, playing a web designer in her 30s, who tries online dating to find a husband, but finds herself torn between an...
- 10/23/2018
- by Liz Shackleton
- ScreenDaily
Ever heard of “Konkatsu”? No? Congratulations, because that means that you have not (yet) been part of the very popular trend of spouse hunting. An uncompromising way for women to find marriageable men. Akiko Ohku adds with “Marriage Hunting Beauty” another quirky romantic comedy to her oeuvre. After her success hit “Tremble All You Want” (2017), Ohku presents now the wild dating carnival of a desperate woman called Takako (Mei Kurokawa).
Marriage Hunting Beauty is screening at Japannual Festival
Online-Dating and single cafès configure the playground for the manga-based plot. Being only attracted by married men, Takako is frustrated of being a mistress. Together with the help of her best friend Keiko, played by Asami Usuda, she chooses two guys with different backgrounds. Sonoki (Tomoya Nakamura), a nerdy salaryman, whose character took inspiration from TV-Dramas like “Densha Otoko”, is dumbstruck by Takako’s presence and feels like he doesn’t deserve to be around her.
Marriage Hunting Beauty is screening at Japannual Festival
Online-Dating and single cafès configure the playground for the manga-based plot. Being only attracted by married men, Takako is frustrated of being a mistress. Together with the help of her best friend Keiko, played by Asami Usuda, she chooses two guys with different backgrounds. Sonoki (Tomoya Nakamura), a nerdy salaryman, whose character took inspiration from TV-Dramas like “Densha Otoko”, is dumbstruck by Takako’s presence and feels like he doesn’t deserve to be around her.
- 10/8/2018
- by Alexander Knoth
- AsianMoviePulse
Told from the perspective of the main female protagonist as she deals with work and relationships, “Pumpkin and Mayonnaise” is a fantastic drama about what happens when couples find their lives pulled in different directions. Director Masanori Tominaga crafts a simple yet believable story that deals with a number of social issues affecting modern people, with the pressures of money, time, and even love, being a constant theme.
Pumpkin and Mayonnaise is screening at Nippon Connection
Tsuchida (Asami Usuda) is living with her long-term boyfriend Seiichi (Taiga) who is struggling to make ends meet as a singer-songwriter. In order to help him, Tsuchida begins work as a hostess, a job where she can earn good money by drinking with men in a somewhat sexualized environment. When one of the men tells her she can make even more money by coming with him to his hotel, she decides to take the risk.
Pumpkin and Mayonnaise is screening at Nippon Connection
Tsuchida (Asami Usuda) is living with her long-term boyfriend Seiichi (Taiga) who is struggling to make ends meet as a singer-songwriter. In order to help him, Tsuchida begins work as a hostess, a job where she can earn good money by drinking with men in a somewhat sexualized environment. When one of the men tells her she can make even more money by coming with him to his hotel, she decides to take the risk.
- 6/2/2018
- by Matthew Cooper
- AsianMoviePulse
On March 11, 2011, Japan was struck by a tsunami and the worst earthquake in its recorded history.
Filmmaker Atsushi Funahashi soon made two feature-length works dealing with survival and renewal in their wake. The documentary Nuclear Nation offers intimate portraits of residents of an area contaminated by nuclear waste as a result of the disaster. Its follow-up, the fictional Cold Bloom, uses sensitive melodrama to convey the emotional weight of a nationwide rebuilding effort.
Cold Bloom takes place in the Pacific Coast's industrial Hitachi City, where Shiori (played by Asami Usuda) and her husband, Kenji (Yo Takahashi), work together in a small pressing factory. They dream about building a family, a dream disrupted when Shiori receives news of Ke...
Filmmaker Atsushi Funahashi soon made two feature-length works dealing with survival and renewal in their wake. The documentary Nuclear Nation offers intimate portraits of residents of an area contaminated by nuclear waste as a result of the disaster. Its follow-up, the fictional Cold Bloom, uses sensitive melodrama to convey the emotional weight of a nationwide rebuilding effort.
Cold Bloom takes place in the Pacific Coast's industrial Hitachi City, where Shiori (played by Asami Usuda) and her husband, Kenji (Yo Takahashi), work together in a small pressing factory. They dream about building a family, a dream disrupted when Shiori receives news of Ke...
- 5/14/2014
- Village Voice
The Woodsman And The Rain
Stars: Kôji Yakusho, Shun Oguri, Masatô Ibu, Tsutomu Yamazaki, Kengo Kôra, Asami Usuda | Written by Shûichi Okita, Fumio Moriya | Directed by Shûichi Okita
It’s not often that a feel good movie is set in a village that appears to be overrun by zombies, or that the film itself features a film being made about said zombies but then again I’m sure there are not many films like The Woodsman and the Rain. I may have exaggerated about the zombies, but they are integral to the storyline and important to the tale of a Woodsman and a shy film director.
Katsuhiko is the Woodsman, spending his day cutting down trees in a small village in the Japanese mountains. He’s happy with his life and appears to like the serenity that the job provides. When a film crew invade the mountains though to film...
Stars: Kôji Yakusho, Shun Oguri, Masatô Ibu, Tsutomu Yamazaki, Kengo Kôra, Asami Usuda | Written by Shûichi Okita, Fumio Moriya | Directed by Shûichi Okita
It’s not often that a feel good movie is set in a village that appears to be overrun by zombies, or that the film itself features a film being made about said zombies but then again I’m sure there are not many films like The Woodsman and the Rain. I may have exaggerated about the zombies, but they are integral to the storyline and important to the tale of a Woodsman and a shy film director.
Katsuhiko is the Woodsman, spending his day cutting down trees in a small village in the Japanese mountains. He’s happy with his life and appears to like the serenity that the job provides. When a film crew invade the mountains though to film...
- 1/31/2013
- by Pzomb
- Nerdly
Writer/director Yosuke Okuda’s “Tokyo Playboy Club” strongly resembles something cult legend Takashi Miike would have crafted during his hungrier days. It’s filled with peculiar characters, graphic violence, and plenty of yakuza-related tomfoolery. And while these elements aren’t exclusive to Miike’s body of work, it’s hard to see them in a low-budget J-cinema setting without being immediately reminded of his work. No offense to Okuda, of course, as “Tokyo Playboy Club” looks to be a fine film. I’m extremely anxious to check it out. Here’s what the film is all about: Set within the Tokyo underworld, Katsutoshi (Nao Omori) finds trouble at work and hides out at his friend Sekichi’s (Ken Mitsuishi) night club “Tokyo Playboy Club.” Kasutoshi’s run in with a waiter (Yasushi Fuchikami) at the club and the waiter’s girlfriend Eriko (Asami Usuda) leads to far bigger troubles & then unexpected consequences.
- 1/5/2012
- by Todd Rigney
- Beyond Hollywood
24-year-old Yosuke Okuda is set to make his commercial film debut with Tokyo Playboy Club, starring Asami Usuda and Nao Omori.
Okuda won the Grand Prix of last year’s Yubari International Fantastic Film Festival with his independently-produced feature-length debut Hot as Hell: The Deadbeat March, which he dedicated to his personal hero, Quentin Tarantino.
The Fukushima-born director admitted this is a particularly tough time to start shooting a movie. His house is located inland, so his family was safe from the recent tsunami. However, his parents’ tofu business and various other locations were severely damaged by last month’s disaster. He was convinced to go ahead with the film by his father, who bluntly told him, “You concentrate on your movie.”
The new film is set in the Tokyo underworld, with pacing, violence, and humor that’s being compared to Battles Without Honor and Humanity.
Omori plays a man...
Okuda won the Grand Prix of last year’s Yubari International Fantastic Film Festival with his independently-produced feature-length debut Hot as Hell: The Deadbeat March, which he dedicated to his personal hero, Quentin Tarantino.
The Fukushima-born director admitted this is a particularly tough time to start shooting a movie. His house is located inland, so his family was safe from the recent tsunami. However, his parents’ tofu business and various other locations were severely damaged by last month’s disaster. He was convinced to go ahead with the film by his father, who bluntly told him, “You concentrate on your movie.”
The new film is set in the Tokyo underworld, with pacing, violence, and humor that’s being compared to Battles Without Honor and Humanity.
Omori plays a man...
- 4/15/2011
- Nippon Cinema
[Our thanks go out to Chris MaGee and Marc Saint-Cyr at the Toronto J-Film Pow-Wow for sharing their coverage of the 2010 Nippon Connection Film Festival.]
On my first day of film viewing at the 10th Nippon Connection film festival, I had the great pleasure of seeing what might turn out to be one of it's strongest entries: "Oh, My Buddha!," the second film directed by Tomorowo Taguchi, who is best known for his acting work in films as diverse as "Dead or Alive: Hanzaisha," "Gohatto," "The Eel" and "Tetsuo: the Iron Man," in which he plays the title character. Though I haven't yet seen his 2003 directorial debut "Iden & Tity," it is clear from "Oh, My Buddha!" alone that he has developed a very confident and mature understanding of filmmaking, maintaining a sharp control over his style and drawing you into a well-told and compulsively watchable story.
The film follows young Jun, a first-year student at an all-boys Buddhist high school in Kyoto. The year is 1974, and Jun is an aspiring musician who lovingly worships...
On my first day of film viewing at the 10th Nippon Connection film festival, I had the great pleasure of seeing what might turn out to be one of it's strongest entries: "Oh, My Buddha!," the second film directed by Tomorowo Taguchi, who is best known for his acting work in films as diverse as "Dead or Alive: Hanzaisha," "Gohatto," "The Eel" and "Tetsuo: the Iron Man," in which he plays the title character. Though I haven't yet seen his 2003 directorial debut "Iden & Tity," it is clear from "Oh, My Buddha!" alone that he has developed a very confident and mature understanding of filmmaking, maintaining a sharp control over his style and drawing you into a well-told and compulsively watchable story.
The film follows young Jun, a first-year student at an all-boys Buddhist high school in Kyoto. The year is 1974, and Jun is an aspiring musician who lovingly worships...
- 4/16/2010
- Screen Anarchy
Last week we reported on the commencement of filming the adaptation of Jun Miura’s semi-autobiographical novel Shikisoku Zenereishon by director and friend Tomorowo Taguchi. Yesterday the production company Stylejam held a press conference announcing the main cast.
The lead character Jun is to be played by punk band Kuroneko Chelsea vocalist Watanabe Daichi. Joining him will be Kishida Shigeru of the band Quruli and Mineta Kazunobu of Gingnang Boyz. Mineta starred in the previous Tomorowo/Jun collaboration Iden & Tity. According to Don’s report over at Ryuganji the site Cinematopic also lists actress Ishibashi Anna but there has been no other mention of her anywhere. At least with accomplished musicians in lead roles and also behind this production I would expect there to be really good music in this film.
back row - Asami Usuda, Lily Franky, Hori Chiemi, Kishida Shigeru, Mineta Kazunobu
front row - Miura Jun, Watanabe Daichi,...
The lead character Jun is to be played by punk band Kuroneko Chelsea vocalist Watanabe Daichi. Joining him will be Kishida Shigeru of the band Quruli and Mineta Kazunobu of Gingnang Boyz. Mineta starred in the previous Tomorowo/Jun collaboration Iden & Tity. According to Don’s report over at Ryuganji the site Cinematopic also lists actress Ishibashi Anna but there has been no other mention of her anywhere. At least with accomplished musicians in lead roles and also behind this production I would expect there to be really good music in this film.
back row - Asami Usuda, Lily Franky, Hori Chiemi, Kishida Shigeru, Mineta Kazunobu
front row - Miura Jun, Watanabe Daichi,...
- 7/30/2008
- by Mack
- Screen Anarchy
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