This will mark the first time I’ve ever bothered posting anything about a DVD release without English subtitles or an English-language audio track—but after being asked literally hundreds of times if I know when the first “Boys Over Flowers” movie will be available on DVD since posting about it here back in June, I guess it’s an important thing to announce.

TC Entertainment will be releasing a Standard Edition and Premium Edition on December 19, 2008. Both versions are region 2, NTSC, 16:9 letterboxed, DVD9 with Japanese Dolby 5.1 and stereo audio. Includes Japanese subtitles only.

Standard Edition
Retail price: 3,990 yen
Pre-order at CDJapan

1 disc. Includes 131 min. theatrical version of the movie and trailers.

Premium Edition
Retail price: 9,975 yen
Pre-order at CDJapan

3 discs. Comes in a collector’s travel case and the first pressing includes 5 postcards. The main disc includes the 131 min. theatrical cut of the movie and trailers. Bonus discs include the 160 min. director’s cut version, 32 min. of unreleased scenes, making-of footage, event footage, cast interview, special TV program for the movie, and more.

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On a peaceful day in Japan, a barber named Toyomatsu Shimizu (Masahiro Nakai) is suddenly arrested by police and charged with the attempted murder of a US prisoner during the war. This charge is based on a situation where he was following an order by a superior, but in truth he was too weak to actually kill anyone. Shocked and confused by his quick trial and subsequent harsh sentence, he writes a letter to his wife (Yukie Nakama) and son stating that if he is to be reincarnated he would rather not be a human. Instead, he’d prefer to be a shellfish living at the bottom of the sea. Slated for release in Japan on November 22, 2008.

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There hasn’t been much news about Sion Sono‘s Love Exposure (Ai no Mukidashi) floating around since it was first announced around this time last year. But now comes word that it will be one of the 12 special screenings featured at this year’s Tokyo FILMeX taking place between the 22nd and 30th of November. In fact, it will be the only one of the 12 by a Japanese director. Of course this means next to nothing for people outside of Japan, but there is an English-language info page up at the FILMeX website with a shiny new synopsis and a few tiny pictures of Sono, Takahiro Nishijima, and Hikari Mitsushima.

Plot: Forced to confess his sins by his priest father, Yu devotes himself to wrongdoing and becomes a legend of sneak photography. Then he meets Yoko, and becomes involved with a mysterious religious cult… Takahiro Nishijima, Hikari Mitsushima, and Sakura Ando make a splendid ensemble in this epic love story.

You’ll also notice that the runtime of the film clocks in at just under four hours. Has Sono finally lost it? I, for one, am fascinated to find out. No word on a public release date yet, other than 2009.

Tokyo FILMeX Special Screenings
Love Exposure official website

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Admittedly, I’ve been holding off on posting anything about Kazunori Kitasaki’s Triangle Connection (Tora Kone) for about two months now—mostly because I’ve had a hard time making any sense of the plot (in any language). But it’s getting close to release now and I’m not going to just let this one go completely unnoticed.

Plot: 16 years ago a popular television show was on the air called “Space Ninja: Starshadow”. It was very popular with children, but when a stuntman was injured during the filming, the star (Kenji Ohba) felt so guilty about it he abruptly left the show.

Three high school girls; Eruna (Minami Tsukui), Yuika (Yui Sawada), and Maria (Yui Iwata) hang out in the Tennoji district of Osaka. The centerpiece of their group, Maria, is a popular teen idol. One day during one of Maria’s fan gatherings, she meets a math genius named Takehiko from Keihanna university who just managed to escape from a group of terrorists with the program needed to stop several bombs planted throughout Osaka from detonating. As Maria and her friends get caught up in Takehiko’s frantic attempt to save Osaka, Starshadow suddenly appears to help fight the terrorists.

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Second teaser for Takashi Miike‘s upcoming live-action adaptation of the 1970s cartoon, Yatterman. Not much to see in this one, but we do get a glimpse of Doronjo’s room—minus Doronjo (Kyoko Fukada). :(

For the first teaser, see this link.

Official website

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