The Singapore Japanese Film Festival 2018 lineup & schedule

The Singapore Japanese Film Festival is back this year after a hiatus of more than one year and it seems like the absence is well-justified probably because the organisers managed to assemble such an interesting line-up of films, some of them being as new as shown in Japan just last year. One major change this year is the removal of free screenings i.e. all screenings need tickets (SGD 13 each). In addition, there seems to be no discounts even for multiple ticket purchases. The venue for all screenings will be at the National Museum's Gallery Theatre which I quite like because of its central location and fine condition of the theatre. If you like Japanese movies and are in Singapore or happen to be here next month, do support this film festival so that it can continue to be held in future. Moreover, some of these films will probably never make it to a commercial release in our cinemas here so you definitely shouldn't miss the chance to catch them.

For more information on the films such as the storyline, you may wish to click on the tabs of the movies' titles at the bottom of this post as I had covered some of them before on this blog or the links to the titles in this post which will bring you to the film festival's site. All movies have English subtitles and are uncut but some of them have restricted ratings (NC16, M18 or R21) so unless indicated otherwise, the movie's rating is PG. Please check this before purchasing tickets especially if you happen to be underage.

Top 10 movies box office ranking for the weekend of 15th & 16th April 2017

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

1) Meitantei Conan Karakurenai no Love Letter (352)

2) Eiga Crayon Shin-chan Shuurai!! Uchujin Shiriri (347)

3) SING (359)

4) Moana (359)

5) Ghost In The Shell (327)

6) Eiga Doraemon Nobita no Nankyoku Kachi Kochi Daibouken (362)

7) Kong: Skull Island (336)

8) ReLIFE (203)

9) The Great Wall (188)

10) Hirunaka no Ryuusei (272)

Source: Eiga.com

First-day-screening event of new movie "ReLIFE"

The first-day-screening event of new movie "ReLIFE" was held at Shinjuku Picadilly on 15 April which was attended by the director Furusawa Takeshi and cast members Nakagawa Taishi, Taira Yuna, Chiba Yuudai, Takasugi Mahiro, Ikeda Elaiza and Okazaki Sae. The movie which is based on the manga by Yayoiso published on comico, features Nakagawa as the lead character Kaizaki Arata who is a 27-year-old NEET approached by a mysterious man Yoake Ryo (Chiba) from the ReLife Research Institute who offers him the opportunity to go back to his high school days 10 years ago for a limited period of one year as their test subject. During the period, he gradually falls in love with his classmate Hishiro Chizuru (Taira).

Before the event, the official Twitter page asked for questions from the fans to the cast so that they could answer them today. When asked who they would like to swap characters with, Nakagawa said that he would be keen to play Chiba's role Yoake which received a lot of praise from the director. In response, Chiba teased Nakagawa that he could take up the role since he is a national treasure-level handsome guy which made the latter embarrassed. On the other hand, Taira was keen to take on Nakagawa's role because she wanted to experience how it is like to be a national-treasure-level handsome guy.

At the end of the event, director Furusawa read aloud a letter addressed to Nakagawa which thanked him for supporting his co-stars, helping the staff in their work and taking on the leading role. Upon hearing this, Nakagawa's eyes were brimming with tears and said that he was slightly embarrassed by the director's gesture before thanking him with a deep bow.

Source: Eiga.com

Premiere screening event & completion press conference of new movie "ReLIFE"

The premiere screening event and completion press conference of new movie "ReLIFE" was held on 8 March which was attended by the director Furusawa Takeshi and cast members Nakagawa Taishi, Taira Yuna, Chiba Yuudai, Ikeda Elaiza and Okazaki Sae. The movie will be shown in cinemas from 15 April and is based on the manga by Yayoiso published on comico. Nakagawa plays the lead character Kaizaki Arata who is a 27-year-old NEET approached by a mysterious man Yoake Ryo (Chiba) from the ReLife Research Institute who offers him the opportunity to go back to his high school days 10 years ago for a limited period of one year as their test subject. During the period, he gradually falls in love with his classmate Hishiro Chizuru (Taira).

When Nakagawa first heard about the movie's offer, he was shocked to be playing a 27-year-old man even though he is only 18 and had played senior high school or university students most of the time todate. As such, he had to ditch his past experience and do a lot of research and imagine how he should behave as an adult in order to play his character. On the other hand, Taira who plays Chizuru having problems interacting with others, also revealed her worry about playing someone who is entirely different from her own personality. As such, she was feeling the pressure so much that she felt the stress and fatigue in her shoulders at the beginning of the filming.

As Nakagawa and Taira are graduating from senior high school this year, their co-stars and the director presented them with a cake with the image of a graduation certificate during the surprise celebration. Nakagawa thanked everyone for their gesture and pledged to work harder in future. For Taira, the filming of the movie coincided with the university entrance exams so she was glad to have made it to the university of her choice and thanked everyone for their support.

Meanwhile, Chiba who was the oldest among the cast to appear at the event (he is 27 now), was teased by his co-stars and the audience for being an ojisan (middle-aged man) but he didn't mind it and said that he is at the age where he hopes to be able to carry himself with dignity.

Sources: Oricon 1 / Oricon 2

Murakami Nijiro & Ikeda Elaiza deny dating rumours from "Shuukan Bunshun" report

Murakami Nijiro and Ikeda Elaiza have denied rumours of them being an item after "Shuukan Bunshun" published a report of them alleging that they had spent the night together. In the article from the 16 December issue, Murakami was said to have stayed at Ikeda's home frequently and photos of them being together were also published. With regard to the dating rumours, the agencies of Murakami and Ikeda both denied the news and stated that they are good friends who would go to each other's homes at times.

Ikeda began working as a model for "Nicola" before she became an official model for "CanCam". She took on her first leading role in a drama through the FujiTV OnDemand drama "SHIBUYA Reichome" and will be seen in the upcoming movie "ReLIFE". Murakami is the son of actor Murakami Jun and singer UA and got his first leading role in a movie through "Futatsume no Mado" which won him the best leading award in Takasaki Film Festival.

Source: Oricon

Chiba Yuudai to play a 17-year-old and 27-year-old in new movie "ReLIFE"

Chiba Yuudai will be playing the 17-year-old and 27-year-old versions of his character in the new movie "ReLIFE" starring Nakagawa Taishi and Taira Yuna. The movie which is based on the manga by Yayoiso published on comico, has released 6 volumes to date and achieved sales of more than 1.4 million copies. Nakagawa plays the lead character Kaizaki Arata who is a 27-year-old NEET approached by a mysterious man Yoake Ryo from the ReLife Research Institute who offers him the opportunity to go back to his high school days 10 years ago for a limited period of one year as their test subject. During the period, he gradually falls in love with his classmate Hishiro Chizuru (Taira). Chiba will be playing the character Yoake who invites Kaizaki to take part in the ReLife programme. After drinking the medicine which transforms him back to 10 years younger, Yoake observes Kaizaki up close as a senior high school student and supports him during the test period while pointing out things to the latter in a rather sarcastic way.

Chiba commented that the relationship between Yoake and Kaizaki is very interesting because they would behave as if they are same-age friends as times while Yoake would sometimes treat Kaizaki as a younger person. As for playing the 17-year-old version of his character, Chiba said that he would try hard to look convincing in that aspect.

Other co-stars in this movie include Takasugi Mahiro, Ikeda Elaiza and Okazaki Sae. The movie will be shown in cinemas from 15 April 2017.

Sources: Sanspo / Eiga.com

Nakagawa Taishi & Taira Yuna to star in new movie "ReLIFE"

Nakagawa Taishi and Taira Yuna will be starring in the new movie 'ReLIFE" which is due to be shown in cinemas from 15 April 2017. The movie which is based on the manga by Yayoiso published on comico, has released 6 volumes to date and achieved sales of more than 1.4 million copies. Nakagawa plays the lead character Kaizaki Arata who is a 27-year-old NEET approached by a mysterious man Yoake Ryo from the ReLife Research Institute who offers him the opportunity to go back to his high school days 10 years ago for a limited period of one year as their test subject. During the period, he gradually falls in love with his classmate Hishiro Chizuru (Taira).

Nakagawa commented that he was surprised to be getting a role for 27 years old even though he is only 18 now. However, he saw this a new challenge for himself and was glad to be given the chance to give it a shot. As for how to show the 10-year age gap, Nakagawa revealed that the staff had helped him to look the part by making adjustments to his appearance. As for Taira, she had to cut her fringe to match the image of her character and has started to develop an interest in cats since Hishiro is a cat lover.

Filming begins in early November.

Source: Oricon