AFL: Year of Release 2019 ~ 2010

2020/3/11

Year of Release: 2018

Every Day a Good Day (日日是好日)

Depicts the protagonist learning important life lessons through the tea ceremony, based on essayist Morishita Noriko's longselling book. Directed by Omori Tatsushi of The Ravine of Goodbye and starring Kuroki Haru of The Little House with costar Kiki Kilin of Shoplifters.
At the recommendation of her mother, 20-year-old Noriko (Kuroki) and her cousin Michiko (Tabe Mikako) start taking tea ceremony lessons with Takeda, who has a reputation for being an extraordinary teacher. At first, Noriko is confused by the intricate rules, but after two years she comes to realize the profundity of the tea ceremony.
Duration: 100mins Genre: Drama, Feature
Director: Omori Tatsushi (大森立嗣)
Cast: KUROKI Haru, KIKI Kilin and TABE Mikako

Year of Release: 2017

Dad's Lunch Box (パパのお弁当は世界一)

The film adaptation of a true story which was re-Tweeted by 80,000 people and liked by 260,000 people on Twitter. At the helm is Fukatsu Masakazu, who have worked on music videos of andymori, ONE OK ROCK, among others.
Throughout the three years of high school, Midori (Takeda Rena) ate the bento lunch her dad (Watanabe Toshimi) made for her every single day. And in the very last bento of high school, Midori finds a photo of "the first high school bento" along with a hand written letter from her Dad.
Duration: 76mins Genre: Drama, Feature
Director: Fukatsu Masakazu (フカツマサカズ)
Cast: WATANABE Toshimi and TAKEDA Rena

Year of Release: 2016

Pop in Q (ポッピンQ)

Young girls stand up to face a global crisis in this fantasy anime commemorating the sixteenth anniversary of Toei Animation. Miyahara Naoki, who has worked on the "Pretty Cure" series among others, directs.
Third year middle-schooler, Isumi (voice: Seto Asami) finds a "fragment of time" at the ocean. Upon picking it up, she sees an unknown world stretching out before her and encounters a strange life-form calling itself a Pokon. The Pokon tells her the world's time is in danger of breaking down, and so with four other girls, attempts to circumvent the crisis.
Duration: 95mins Genre: Animation
Director: Miyahara Naoki (宮原直樹)
Cast: SETO Asami, IZAWA Shiori, TANEZAKI Atsumi, OZAWA Ari and KUROSAWA Tomoyo

Year of Release: 2013

A Tale of Samurai Cooking: A True Love Story (武士の献立)

Funaki Dennai laid the foundations for Kaga clan cuisine in the Edo Period as a "kitchen samurai" who prepared food for the nobility. This heartwarming drama depicts the internal affairs of the Kaga clan from the perspective of a woman who marries Funaki's son. It features meals made according to the Funaki family's recipe collection "Ryori Mugonsho" and recreates the workings of samurai family kitchens at the time.
Maid Haru (Ueto Aya) is a talented cook but stubborn, which leads her to divorce her husband after a year. However, she is asked by Kaga clan "kitchen samurai" Dennai (Nishida Toshiyuki) to marry his son and heir Yasunobu (Kora Kengo), and works to remedy his lack of culinary skills.
Duration: 121mins Genre: Drama, Historical, Feature
Director: Asahara Yuzo (朝原雄三)
Cast: UETO Aya, KORA Kengo, YO Kimiko and NISHIDA Toshiyuki

Year of Release: 2011
Hankyu Railway: A 15-Minute Miracle (阪急電車片道15分の奇跡) © 2011 "Hankyu Railway" Film Partners	A heart-warming ensemble drama based on the short story collections of Arikawa Hiro. Set around the Hankyu Imazu train line in Hyogo that takes only fifteen minutes to travel from start to finish, it warmly captures vignettes from the lives of the people who depend on it. Office worker Shoko (Nakatani Miki), who has lost her fiancé to a senior staff member at work, attends their wedding in a pure white dress to rival that of the bride. While taking the train home, an elderly woman named Tokie (Miyamoto Nobuko) asks her about her situation. Meanwhile, university student Misa (Toda Erika) is troubled by her boyfriend, who is violent toward her even in the presence of other people. Duration: 119mins Genre: Drama, Feature Director: Yoshishige Miyake (三宅喜重) Cast: NAKATANI Miki, TODA Erika, MIYAMOTO Nobuko
Children Who Chase Lost Voices (星を追う子ども) © Makoto Shinkai/CMMMY	Ever since his debut film Voices of a Distant Star, director Shinkai Makoto has won a huge following among young audiences for his painstaking depictions of emotional distance. Four years after 5 Centimeters per Second, he has once again assembled an astute team of collaborators to take on this tale of adventure that epitomizes the 2010s. One day, a young girl named Asuna hears a mysterious song coming from a crystal radio that belonged to her late father, and is unable to forget it. Then she meets a boy named Shun who says he has come from the underground land of Agartha, and although they develop a rapport, he suddenly disappears. Duration: 116mins Genre: Drama, Fantasy , Animation Director: Makoto Shinkai (新海誠) Cast: KANEMOTO Hisako, IRINO Miyu and INOUE Kazuhiko

Year of Release: 2010
About Her Brother (おとうと) © 2010 "About Her Brother" Film Partners	Master filmmaker Yamada Yoji, known for his humanistic films, directs his first contemporary feature in ten years. Paying homage to Ichikawa Kon's film of the same title, this film presents a heartwarming depiction of the bond between a hard-working older sister and her younger brother, a failed performer. Widowed young, Ginko (Yoshinaga Sayuri) runs a pharmacy and lives with her daughter, Koharu (Aoi Yu), and her mother-in-law, Kinuyo (Kato Haruko). Koharu has plans to marry a distinguished doctor, but out of the blue, Ginko's long lost brother, Tetsuro (Shofukutei Tsurube), shows up drunk at the wedding, ruining the occasion. Duration: 126mins Genre: Drama, Family, Feature Director: Yoji Yamada (山田洋次) Cast: YOSHINAGA Sayuri, SHOFUKUTEI Tsurube, AOI Yu, KASE Ryo and KOBAYASHI Nenji
Bushido Sixteen (武士道シックスティーン) © 2010 "Bushido Sixteen" Film Partners	This coming-of-age film in which he presented a vivid portrayal of a boy who runs on a marathon team. Furuyama takes on another sports-themed film, this time, about two 'kendo' girls. With rigorous kendo training, the two teen stars give very true-to-life performances of impressionable teenagers. Kaori (Narumi Riko) is an elite kendo fencer. She hails legendary samurai Miyamoto Musashi as her master. But one day, she is defeated by an unheralded fencer named Sanae (Kitano Kie). Kaori wants to find out why she lost to the girl so she joins Sanae's kendo club but is shocked by her happy-go-lucky personality. Duration: 109mins Genre: Drama, Feature Director: Tomoyuki Furuyama (古厩智之) Cast: NARUMI Rico, KITANO Kie
The Wife of Gegege (ゲゲゲの女房) © 2010 MIZUKI production "Gegege no Nyobo" Production Committee	A love story depicting the younger days of Mizuma Shigeru, author of "Gegege no Kitaro," the well-known comic on 'yokai' (supernatural beings), and his wife Mura Nunoe, who supported him through the years. Like the hit TV drama version, the film is based on Nunoe's autobiography, but it focuses mainly on their days as newlyweds when they lived through extreme poverty, and provides a heart-warming account of their struggles as they start a life together. In Shimane prefecture, 1961, 29 year-old Nunoe (Fukiishi Kazue) and Shigeru (Kudo Kankuro), a manga artist who lost his left arm in the war, get married, just five days after being introduced at a matchmaking meeting. They move to Tokyo and endure a life of abysmal poverty. Duration: 119mins Genre: Drama Director: Takuji Suzuki (鈴木卓爾) Cast: FUKIISHI Kazue, KUDO Kankuro, SAKAI Maki, MINAMI Kaho, MURAKAMI Jun
Shodo Girls!! (書道ガールズ!! わたしたちの甲子園) © NTV	A girls' coming-of-age film, based on a true story about high school girls in Ehime who stage a 'shodo' (calligraphy) performance tournament to revitalize their town. The film gives an uplifting portrayal of these high school girls as they pour their heart and soul into their calligraphy. Ehime's Shikokuchuo City is Japan's leading region in paper production but the recession hits hard and the town's shopping arcades are no longer bustling with customers. This troubles Satoko (Narumi Riko), captain of the calligraphy club at her high school. But one day, she spots substitute teacher Ikezawa (Kaneko Nobuaki) working on a huge piece of calligraphy, wielding his brush around to the music, and is caught in complete awe. Duration: 120mins Genre: Drama, Feature Director: Ryuuichi Inomata (猪股隆一) Cast: NARUMI Rico, YAMASHITA Rio, SAKURABA Nanami and KANEKO Nobuaki

AFL: Year of Release 2019 ~ 2010

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