The makers of Shonen Merikensack, the rock ‘n’ roll comedy which I wrote more in-depth about here recently released a clip of Aoi Miyazaki filming some scenes. It’s not very long but you can definitely tell she’s fitting right in with the comedic pacing of director Kankuro Kudo, screenwriter of “Ping Pong” and “Maiko Haaaan!!!”.

Miyazaki first caught everyone’s attention by playing hard-luck kids from dysfunctional families in films like Eureka and Harmful Insect, but has since expanded her repertoire considerably and continues to show off her acting chops. Earlier this year she even played 2 roles in the same movie. Now with Kudo’s help she’ll be adding spaz-out comedy to her resume. Check out the clip below and see how she’s doing so far.

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With the recent release of The Machine Girl and the name Noboru Iguchi being thrown around on mainstream sites like Cinematical, I think it’s a good time to write about one of his projects that didn’t get nearly enough attention when it should have. Based on a Daijiro Morohoshi manga, Shiori to Shimiko no Kaiki Jikenbo (roughly “The bizarre case files of Shiori and Shimiko") is a horror/comedy series which aired Saturday nights at 12:50 AM - 1:20 AM on NTV from January 5, 2008 - March 29, 2008. During its 13-episode run I watched it religiously via torrents (sorry, don’t sue me) and it was always the undisputed highlight of my week.

The show stars Atsuko Maeda of the 48-member Jpop group AKB48 as Shimiko and current Victor Koshien poster girl Nao Minamisawa as Shiori. Shimiko is a quiet, shy girl who moves to a new town to live with an uncle. One of the first people she meets is Shiori, a tomboyish, self-confident girl who never seems to be phased by any dangerous or strange situation she gets herself into. The show was fairly formulaic; normally something odd or supernatural would happen in the town and Shiori would gather her group of friends for a meeting about it in the school bathroom. Then Shiori and Shimiko would venture out to investigate the situation and interview people. Something would usually place Shimiko in mortal danger until Shiori popped back in at the last minute to solve the entire mystery, giving an enthusiastic speech and finishing off with her customary thumb + index finger point of success. There were obviously many exceptions to the formula, but that’s the basic idea.

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After being repeatedly foiled by overcompressed DVD5, incomprehensible subtitles, and general low quality a few too many times myself I decided to stop mentioning anything but R1 and Japanese R2 DVD releases on Nippon Cinema. But I have it on good authority that aside from one small error in the subtitles, the new region 3 release of Takashi Miike’s Crows Zero from Singapore is pretty good quality. It includes DTS audio, anamorphic widescreen, an interview with Miike + male cast at a press event (not fully subbed), and a trailer (not subbed either). The audio is all in Japanese but the main movie includes both English and Chinese subtitles. You can find it for sale here, currently priced at $19.90.

It’s important to note that Media Blasters has owned the distribution rights for Crows Zero since early in 2007, so all you patient people out there may want to wait until they come out with their R1 release which will probably have more features and cost less. Unfortunately, there’s been no word yet on when that may be (hint: sooner would be better than later).

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As I posted here yesterday, this year’s New York Asian Film Festival features an impressive lineup of Japanese films - many of which will be screened for the first time in the US. Ryo Iwamatsu’s Then Summer Came will be screened for the first time anywhere, so I figured it’s as good a time as any to write about it. We first heard about this one last summer around this time when it was going by its working title “Soshite Natsu ga Kita” which actually does mean “Then Summer Came”. The Japanese title was then changed to “Tamio no Shiawase” which means “Happiness of Tamio”. The film is Iwamatsu’s first as a director since 1993’s “Ohaka to Rikon”. He’s more widely known as an actor, with roles in films like “In the Pool” and “Adrift in Tokyo”, but his work as a playwright and director has earned him a lot of respect within the industry.

The story revolves around a father named Nobuo (Yoshio Harada) and his son Tamio (Joe Odagiri). Both of them are kind of irresponsible - stuck in the trappings of their past, with neither seeming to be able to shed their respective roles as father and son. With Tamio’s marriage to his girlfriend (Kumiko Aso) rapidly approaching, both men are overwhelmed by everyone telling them what to do. The pair go to extraordinary and occasionally ridiculous lengths to make sure the wedding is memorable.

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The schedule for Subway Cinema‘s 2008 New York Asian Film Festival (NYAFF) will include 43 movies to be screened at two venues in New York City from June 20th to July 6th, with 27 of them originating from Japan. Of particular note is the world premiere of Ryo Iwamatsu’s much-anticipated Then Summer Came, starring Joe Odagiri, Yoshio Harada, and Kumiko Aso. I’m personally excited to see Arch Angels getting some love, since it was one of the funner movies of 2006 and deserves to finally get some attention. Delcea Mihaela Gabriela will be a household name soon, mark it down. I also predict Chanbara Beauty, aka Onechanbara will change lives and eventually bring about world peace. Okay, enough blabbering! Check out the schedule and trailer for the event below. I patiently, lovingly highlighted the Japanese movies and added Subway Cinema links where available.

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