The full trailer for Tomoyuki Takimoto’s Ikigami: The Ultimate Limit is out, and you can check it out below the break. I wrote about it a little more in-depth when i posted the teaser here back in May, but basically the story involves a government-implemented system in which people under the age of 24 are eligible to be picked at random for death. Having reached the age of 24, Kengo Fujimoto (Shota Matsuda—Soujiroh Nishikado from the Hana Yori Dango series) is appointed as one of the people responsible for handing out these ikigami informing people that they have 24 hours to live. This is just a courtesy, however—the method of death is actually a lethal nanocapsule injected in children at an early age which lays dormant in their pulmonary artery until it’s activated by the government. Fujimoto vehemently opposes the law but isn’t in a position to speak out against it. Instead he continues doing his job as expected while having to deal with the various emotional responses of his victims. Also judging from the trailer I take it there’s a sappy song that brings everyone together. Aww…

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A massive redesign of the Paco and the Magical Picture Book official website went live today, and aside from the news box showing up mojibake on my PC it looks pretty good. They also uploaded a 2nd teaser, which you can get to by going to the site and clicking the button above the “9.13”. I’ve highlighted it in the screencap below:

I’ll probably post something more substantial on this one closer to its September 13 release date, but there’s already a ton of info over at pymmik’s site.

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When I wrote up this wiki article on Takanori Tsujimoto’s Hard Revenge, Milly last month it seemed odd that it had a run-time of only 44 minutes. Well, it all makes sense now, because it’s actually being packaged with Isao Kaneko’s The Masked Girl as part of the Neo Action double bill premiering at Q-AX on Saturday August 9, 2008. It’s pretty good timing, considering The Machine Girl will be going public in Japan on the previous Saturday and they might be able to piggyback on whatever new found interest in senseless violence that generates.

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If you read my article on Shiori to Shimiko no Kaiki Jikenbo, then you know I really think highly of actress Nao Minamisawa and I’m totally convinced she’s going to be a big deal. So needless to say I was excited when the news broke earlier today that she’s been cast in the lead role of Threads of Destiny (Akai Ito), an upcoming movie based on a popular mobile phone novel. As Tokyograph reported back in April, the story will be split between a Fuji TV television drama and a Shochiku-produced movie with both being directed by Fuji TV’s Shosuke Murakami and featuring the same cast.

Minamisawa will play the lead role of Mei. She says she’s nervous about the prospect of starring in a movie, but really excited at the same time and she’ll give it her all with reckless abandon. Mei’s love interest Atsushi will be played by Junpei Mizobata (Dive!!). Also added to the cast were relative newcomers Ryo Kimura, Rei Okamoto, Tomo Yanagishita, Anna Oshibashi, and Nanami Sakuraba. The film’s theme song will be handled by the band HY, who take their name from the initials of their hometown Higashi Yakena.

Coinciding with cast announcements, the official website for the film posted some behind-the-scenes footage of Minamisawa which you can check out here. I posted the teaser below the break, but since it was made before they announced the cast publicly you can imagine how generic it is.

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Ai Ryutsu Center (roughly “love distribution center") will be released in Japan on July 19, 2008 and the first trailer recently surfaced. Directed by Tetsuhiko Tsuchiya, the film stars 2007 Horipro Talent Scout Caravan Grand Prix winner Rika Adachi as Chikako, an ordinary high school girl without a boyfriend. In an attempt to spark her love life she wishes for true love at a Shinto shrine. Afterward, she receives a strange email on her cell phone with a sign-up page for “Ai Ryutsu Center”. She thinks it’s just junk mail, but in her attempt to delete it she mistakenly registers herself for the service. Later, a clumsy but likable salesman (Kenji Mizuhashi) shows up to assist her in finding love. As a result of his bumbling efforts Chikako ends up in a love triangle with ex-boyfriend Kenta (Goki Maeda) and her best friend Haruka (Mari Iriki). Also appearing in the film will be actress Aya Hirayama (Waterboys, The Backdancers!) and AKB48 “Team A” member Tomomi Itano.

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