Winners of the 26th Nihon Eiga Professional Taisho

The award ceremony was held at Theatre Shinjuku on 13 April and here is the list of winners:

Best Movie: Distraction Babies

Best Actress: Kuroki Haru (Rip van Winkle no Hanayome)

Best Actor: Suda Masaki (Setoutsumi / Oboreru Knife)

Best Director: Mori Tatsuya (FAKE)

Best New Director: Shoji Hiroshi (Ken to Kazu)

Best New Actress: Kamishiraishi Mone (Oboreru Knife / Chihayafuru Kami no Ku / Chihayafuru Shimo no Ku) / Mamiya Yuki (Kaze ni oboreta onna)

Special Award: Sano Kazuhiro (But Only Love)

Special Achievement Award: the late Arato Genjiro

Best Ten Movies
1) Distraction Babies
2) Fuchi ni Tatsu
3) Rip van Winkle no Hanayome
4) SHARING
5) FAKE
6) Over Fence
7) Himeanole
8) Nagai Iiwake
9) Danchi
10) Setoutsumi

Sources: Eiga.com / Oricon

Winners of the 90th Kinema Junpo Best Ten Awards (2016)

Best Japanese Movie: Kono sekai no katasumi ni

Best Foreign Movie: Sully

Best Cultural Movie: Futari no Tougenkyou

Best Leading Actor: Yagira Yuuya (Distraction Babies)

Best Leading Actress: Miyazawa Rie (Yu wo wakasu hodo no atsui ai)

Best Supporting Actor: Takehara Pistol (Nagai Iiwake)

Best Supporting Actress: Sugisaki Hana (Yu wo wakasu hodo no atsui ai)

Best Male Newcomer: Murakami Nijiro (Distraction Babies)

Best Female Newcomer: Komatsu Nana (Oboreru Knife / Distraction Babies)

Best Director: Katabuchi Sunao (Kono sekai no katasumi ni)

Best Script: Anno Hideaki (Shin Godzilla)

Best Foreign Movie Director: Clint Eastwood (Sully)

Best Japanese Movie Director as voted by readers: Katabuchi Sunao (Kono sekai no katasumi ni)

Best Foreign Movie Director as voted by readers: Clint Eastwood (Sully)

Kinema Junpo Readers Award: Kawamoto Saburo (Eiga wo mireba wakaru koto)

Source: Oricon

Top 10 movies box office ranking for the weekend of 10th & 11th December 2016

Numbers in brackets indicate the number of cinemas where the movie is shown at:

1) Monster Strike THE MOVIE Hajimari no Basho e (314)

2) Fantastic Beasts and where to find them (350)

3) Kamen Rider Heisei Generations Dr. Bakkuman tai Eguzeido & Ghost with Legend Rider (314)

4) Kaizoku to yobareta otoko (359)

5) Kimi no na wa (296)

6) Museum (331)

7) Kono sekai no katasumi ni (68)

8) Gekijouban Kancolle (61)

9) Shippu Rondo (286)

10) Oboreru Knife (153)

Source: Eiga.com

Top 10 movies box office ranking for the weekend of 19th & 20th Nov

Numbers in brackets indicate the number of cinemas showing the movie:

1) Kimi no na wa (296)

2) Museum (331)

3) Jack Reacher NEVER GO BACK (343)

4) Death Note Light up the NEW world (342)

5) Satoshi no Seishun (159)

6) Inferno (346)

7) Oboreru Knife (153)

8) Eiga Mahou Tsukai Puri Kyua! Kiseki no Henshin! Kyua Morufun! (212)

9) Kido Senshi Gundam THE ORIGIN IV Unmei no Zenya (15)

10) Kono sekai no katasumi ni (68)

Source: Eiga.com

Top 10 movies box office ranking for the weekend of 12th & 13th Nov

Numbers in brackets indicate the number of cinemas where the movie was shown at:

1) Kimi no na wa (296)

2) Museum (331)

3) Jack Reacher NEVER GO BACK (343)

4) Death Note Light up the NEW world (342)

5) Inferno (346)

6) Oboreru Knife (153)

7) Eiga Mahou Tsukai Puri Kyua! Kiseki no Henshin! Kyua Mofurun! (212)

8) Boku no tsuma to kekkon shite kudasai (313)

9) Oke Roujin! (155)

10) Kono sekai no katasumi ni (63)

Source: Eiga.com

Top 10 movies box office ranking for the weekend of 5th & 6th Nov

Numbers in brackets indicate the number of cinemas showing the movie:

1) Kimi no na wa (296)

2) Death Note Light up the NEW world (342)

3) Inferno (346)

4) Oboreru Knife (153)

5) Eiga Mahou Tsukai Puri Kyua! Kiseki no Henshin! Kyua Morphine! (212)

6) Boku no tsuma to kekkon shite kudasai (313)

7) Bridget Jones' Baby (194)

8) Nanimono (296)

9) Yamikin Ushijima-kun The Final (184)

10) HiGH&LOW THE RED RAIN

Source: Eiga.com

First-day-screening event of new movie "Oboreru Knife"

The first-day-screening event of new movie "Oboreru Knife" was held at TOHO Cinemas Shinjuku on 5 November which was attended by the director Yamato Yuuki and cast members Komatsu Nana, Suda Masaki, Kamishiraishi Mone, Johnny's WEST's Shigeoka Daiki and Shima Ryohei. The movie which is based on the manga by George Asakura, features Komatsu as Natsume, a teen model who moves from Tokyo to the countryside and meets an mysterious and charming young man Yuu (Suda) who she falls in love with.

Despite the screening event being held in the morning, the cinema saw a full house which led Komatsu to thank the audience for coming to support them. Suda commented that he was glad to see that the movie can finally be shown to the public after they had worked so hard for this film. He also expressed admiration and respect for his friend Yamazaki Kento for being to handle acting in so many romance stories to date and said that it was tough to manage looking cool and beautiful and the raw emotions featured in the movie. There was a scene where the director instructed Suda to spit onto Komatsu's face and kiss her which was really challenging for him but the director praised him for doing well.

Kamishiraishi commented that this is the first time she had to play such a calculative character and she had to engage in repeated discussions with the director in order to help her play the role. As for Shima, this was the first time that he acted so he thought that he wouldn't have been able to do it if not for the director's film. As for Shigeoka who played a character devoted to Natsume, he commented that he didn't think that he was someone like this but the director chipped in to stress that he's definitely a guy who can give his all to the woman he loves.

Sources: Oricon / Eiga.com

High school girls-only screening event for new movie "Oboreru Knife"

The screening event of new movie "Oboreru Knife" for junior and senior school girls was held on 3 November which was attended by the leads Komatsu Nana and Suda Masaki who were met with loud cheers once they appeared after the screening. Suda saw the fans with their names and asked the students if they prepared these with the expectation to see them at the event even though it was not announced in advance. When he introduced himself, he said that he is an ojisan (middle-aged man) since there were students in the audience who were at least 10 years younger than him.

During the event, the cast were asked questions by the students including whether it would be better to pursue their dream first instead of love during their teenage years. Komatsu said that there is also to learn a lot from love so there's no need to give up on love to pursue dreams. Likewise, Suda echoed the same view although he acknowledged that the teenage years is a volatile and insecure period for most people and that chasing your dreams is also very important. As for the question on what was it that they did recently which made them happy, Komatsu asked the students who replied that they enjoyed watching the people who dressed up for Halloween. This led Suda to comment that he wanted to go out to see that too but eventually gave up on the idea.

As this is the first time that Suda is appearing as the lead in a romance movie, he said that he had practised actions such as the kabedon and agogui but there were no such scenes in this film. This led the audience to laugh but Suda followed up with the comment that he thinks that the film turned out to be a love story which he's proud of despite the absence of such scenes. On the other hand, Komatsu commented that when she saw her name being mentioned first on the script, she felt a sense of pressure and wanted to do well so as to match up to her co-stars. Reflecting on the intimate scene she had filmed with Suda in the sea, they actually practised it at a swimming pool before the filming but she could not sink to the bottom of the pool due to the weight of her wet uniform. As such, they had to attach weights for her to sink in the water. However, this created another problem as she found it difficult to float to the surface afterwards.

The movie will be shown in cinemas from 5 November.

Sources: Nikkansports / Sanspo / Yomiuri Hochi / Oricon / Eiga.com

Completion screening event of new movie "Oboreru Knife"

The completion screening event of new movie "Oboreru Knife" was held at Yurakucho Asahi Hall on 18 October which was attended by the director Yamato Yuki and cast members Komatsu Nana, Suda Masaki, Shigeoka Daiki, Kamishiraishi Mone and Shima Ryohei. The movie which is based on the shoujo manga by George Asakura, will be shown in cinemas from 5 November.

The film features Komatsu as teen model Mochizuki Natsume who moves from Tokyo to a countryside town and meets a mysterious and charming guy Hasegawa Koichiro (Suda) there where they fall in love with each other. Filming took place in Wakayama over 17 days from September to October last year.

The actors recounted the scene where they had to dive into the sea and look at each other after surfacing from the water. As the day of the filming was just before a typhoon's approach, Suda revealed that the sea was rather rough and it was very cold then but they had divers on standby to ensure their safety. Komatsu also commented that she felt as if she was about to sink as her wet school uniform was weighing her down and there were weights attached to her so that she wouldn't float but Suda joked that Komatsu is the type who won't sink into the sea no matter what happens.

Shigeoka revealed that when he first met Suda, he thought that the latter was a quiet person but the two of them became close friends after chatting with each other. However, Suda "complained" that Shigeoka spoke too much and tried to stop him from rambling on during the event. Shigeoka also commented how impressed he was with Suda who knew where his hometown is even though it is a place which most people from Kansai might not even know. Suda then pretended to forget about it which made Shigeoka complain about his "memory loss".

As for Kamishiraishi, she recounted how she had to put on weight then lose it during the filming in a span of just four days which led Suda to comment that she's like a boxer who can control her weight. In response, Kamishiraishi commented that Suda also put in a lot of effort to lose weight for the filming of his character's junior high days by not eating but he said that he couldn't remember much of those dieting days since he didn't get enough nutrition during the process.

Sources: Oricon 1 / Oricon 2 / Eiga.com

Komatsu Nana & Suda Masaki to star in new movie "Oboreru Knife"

Komatsu Nana who won the Best Newcomer award in Nippon Academy Award last year, will be starring in her leading role in a movie when she appears as co-leads with Suda Masaki in the new movie "Oboreru Knife" (The drowning knife). The movie which is based on the same-titled manga by Asakura George and directed by Yamato Yuki, will be shown in autumn this year. Filming was completed in September last year at places such as Wakayama. This will be the second time which Komatsu and Suda are working together after the movie "Distraction Babies" which is due to be shown from 21 May.

Komatsu plays the heroine Natsume who used to be a teen model enjoying immense popularity but is forced to move to the countryside which causes her to be despondent about her life. On the other hand, Suda plays her schoolmate Kou who is the heir of a Shinto priest heir and appears unapproachable to everyone in school due to his whimsical attitude. The two of them form an unlikely bond which helps them to overcome their own issues.

Co-stars include Johnny's WEST member Shigeoka Daiki who likes Natsume while Kamishiraishi Mone plays Kou's childhood friend who has feelings for him.

Source: Nikkansports / Sanspo