Japan has a long history of heroic fictional characters who subdue bad guys by hurling objects at them, such as Zenigata Heiji: the cop who catches criminals by throwing coins and Ultra 7: the henshin hero who temporarily detaches his “Eye Slugger” to hurl at evildoers. To pay homage to that idea, as well as to spoof Japanese detective shows, director Minoru Kawasaki set out to create his own take on the genre. Of course, being the guy that brought us movies like Executive Koala and “Crab Goalkeeper”, plenty of absurdity was in order—but for the first time in his career, he didn’t resort to putting an animal in a typically human a situation.

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The second full trailer for Shimako Sato‘s “K-20: Legend of the Mask” features a few more money shots than the first one that came out back in august (link). In the movie, a circus acrobat named Heikichi Endo (Takeshi Kaneshiro) is framed for a crime he didn’t commit and is forced to hunt down the real criminal—a man with the unique ability to change his appearance at will.

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The new trailer for goofball comedy guru Minoru Kawasaki‘s Neko Rahmen Taisho is out now, and it definitely looks in keeping with his past work. The movie is a live-action adaptation of a four-panel comic and anime series about a former cat-model named Taisho that runs away from home and gets taken in by a ramen shop owner. The man later becomes his mentor as he trains to become a ramen chef himself. Kazuki Kato plays a customer named Tanaka who quickly becomes straight man to Taisho’s shenanigans.

Particularly amusing is the cameo appearance of Tama, the cat that was appointed official station master at Kinokawa railway station when the Kishigawa Line went to an unmanned system (yes, in real life). Looks like Taisho trys to initiate a makeout session with her at one point in the film. Scandalous! Check it out after the break.

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The official website for Time Lost, Time Found (Yomei) recently added a new teaser trailer to its front page, but you can find a longer trailer at the website for the Tokyo International Film Festival. The description on the festival page goes something like this:

Shiho Tanimura’s novel “Yomei” has been turned into a movie of the same name. Megaphone master of “Tegami”, Jiro Shono directs. Yasuko Matsuyuki enthusiastically took on the difficult role of a woman forced into making the ultimate choice. Mind, heart, and spirit will be affected by this first-rate production.

According to Tokyograph, the “ultimate choice” involved is the woman’s decision to forgo treatment for her recently-diagnosed breast cancer for the sake of her unborn baby. Kippei Shiina and Kento Hayashi also star.

“Time Lost, Time Found” will screen at TIFF tonight and on Friday and will get a theatrical release on February 7, 2009 in Japan.

Official website with teaser trailer
TIFF sub-site with full trailer

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An ordinary salaryman (Arata Furuta) gets fed up with people walking all over him and becomes a deadly vigilante only to have a group of fans start to follow his work. For the first teaser, see this link.

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