A chance encounter between former best friends who were once both aspiring photographers that went on to take very different paths in life leads to reminiscing and stirring of old feelings.

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“Gegege no Kitaro” is a long-running series in Japan, appearing first in manga form and then in many different incarnations of anime at sporadic intervals since the 1960s. Usually once a decade or so a new Gegege animated series comes out in Japan and recaptures the imaginations of children with its oddball cast of yokai (monster) characters and somewhat scary moral lessons about things like protecting nature and not disturbing ancient shrines. Humans that act like jerks in the manga and cartoons usually meet a pretty horrendous fate at the hands of the yokai that aren’t as sympathetic as the title character. In contrast, the 2007 live-action movie version, now going by the shortened international title of Kitaro, is not nearly as graphic or even mildly scary. It’s a fun movie geared toward kids, with none of the plot elements really seeming particularly consequential. Fans of the original series usually hate it with a passion for that very reason, but people who have no predetermined ideas of what it should be may be able to find some enjoyment in the special effects and silly comedic elements laced throughout.

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Hana Yori Dango: Final opened in Japanese theaters yesterday and wrapped up one of the most successful dramas in recent years. The series, based on a Yoko Kamio manga, had two runs of 11 episodes; “Hana Yori Dango” in 2005 and “Hana Yori Dango 2” in 2007, both of which got a consistent 20 share in the ratings. It’s really not hard to figure out why it was such a hit. Take a funny, likable actress like Mao Inoue, stick her in a winning formula (spunky average girl gets accepted by the super rich cool kids), and voila! Cash in. Now I’m going to briefly spoil the TV show so I can talk about the movie. Avert your eyes if you haven’t seen it and care.

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A man named Kenji and his group of friends try to save the world from destruction by a mysterious conspiracy. The story spans parts of 6 decades, and the live-action version will be filmed as a trilogy with hundreds of actors involved. For the second trailer, see this link. For the teaser, see this link.

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A man named Kenji and his group of friends try to save the world from destruction by a mysterious conspiracy. The story spans parts of 6 decades, and the live-action version will be filmed as a trilogy with hundreds of actors involved. For the first trailer, see this link. For the second trailer, see this link.

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