After a series of earthquakes causes the largest typhoon in history a former rescue worker (Hideaki Ito) gets trapped in a mall with his daughter. He sends out the distress code “252” (survivors in need of assistance) which is picked up by the rescue team led by his older brother (Masaaki Uchino). 252 will be released in Japan on December 6, 2008. For the teaser, see this link. For the 16-second TV spot, see this link.

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No offense intended to the governor of Alaska, as she seems to be especially sensitive about these things, but Tetsu Maeda‘s School Days with a Pig (Buta ga Ita Kyoshitsu) now has a teaser trailer. You can find it at the film’s Yahoo! channel or right here, after the break.

The film stars Satoshi Tsumabuki as a rookie elementary school teacher who brings a pig into class one day for his students to raise throughout the year. However, he makes it clear that at the end of the year the pig will be slaughtered and eaten. It’s based on an award-winning 1993 TV documentary and was very loosely scripted in an attempt to catch realistic reactions from the 26 children that play students. Some other notable co-stars (at least to me) are Ren Osugi and Tomoko Tabata.

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Fangirls rejoice! Last Quarter is an angsty, brooding supernatural romance drama starring Hyde and Chiaki Kuriyama. I could pretty much stop the review right here and know that for many 14-15 year old girls, that’s enough. However, I’ve got nothing better to do right now, so I might as well keep writing.

By the way, please don’t mistake “supernatural” for anything even remotely horrific, eerie, or even mildly unsettling. In this case the ghosts in question are ultimately consumed with thoughts of romance and eternal love, so don’t expect any shrieks of terror when they show up.  This particular brand of haunting is more about heartfelt serenading and hugs.

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Back in July I posted an article on Gachi-ban, a V-cinema spoof of Takashi Miike’s “Crows Zero”. Well, I guess it was at least moderately successful, because 3 weeks after the first movie hit DVD a sequel entitled Gachi-ban II: Saikyo Kessen is already in the works.

Not much info is available yet, but this one will be directed by Takahumi Motoki and Kazuma Sano has been added to the existing cast. Also, a website for the movie recently popped up which spoofs the “Crows Zero II” website:

Crows Zero II website
Gachi-ban II website

“Gachi-ban II: Saikyo Kessen” will hit Japanese DVD on December 26, 2008.

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Kankuro Kudo‘s upcoming punk rock comedy, Shonen Merikensack (lit. “brass knuckle boys") is now officially slated for release on Valentine’s Day, 2009. For those of you who haven’t been keeping tabs on this one, it’s basically the story of a record company office worker (Aoi Miyazaki) who ends up managing an aging punk rock band. The actors playing members of the band are Koichi Sato, Tomorowo Taguchi, Yuichi Kimura, and Hiroki Miyake.

For the past few months behind-the-scenes clips have been uploaded to the film’s official website every other Saturday. They’re currently up to part 8 which is footage of Miyazaki driving the band’s tiny, tiny touring van. Watch out for a teaser within the next few weeks—it’s on the way.

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