Category: Fantasy

Sinking of Japan - Nihon chinbotsu

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Sinking of Japan (Standard Edition) DVD (buy from Amazon)

Type, Country, Year: Fantasy, Adventures, Japan, 2006

Director: Shinji Higuchi

My rating: 3
Key actors/actresses:
Tsuyoshi Kusanagi ... Toshio Onodera
Kou Shibasaki ... Reiko Abe
Etsushi Toyokawa ... Yusuke Tadokoro
Mao Daichi ... Saori Takamori

Story:
Volcanoes are erupting, earth is shaking, Japan is sinking. What can the government do?

My review:
Interesting plot, an idea that has been hanging at the back of the mind of many Japanese. Long overdue earthquake, Fuji volcanoes eruption. Sinking country.

The question of staying or leaving, survival, and love.

Dororo

DororoType, Country, Year: Action / Fantasy, Japan, 2007

Director: Akihiko Shiota

My rating: 3

Key actors/actresses:
Satoshi Tsumabuki ... Hyakkimaru
Kou Shibasaki ... Dororo

Story:
Hyakkimaru is a young man who has 48 body parts missing since he was born, because his father Kagemitsu Daigo made a deal with 48 demons, the demons take the body parts and materialize on earth and Kagemitsu gets to win his war and tries to conquer the whole of Japan. When Hyakkimaru was born, his parents were horrified and throw him to the river, he was raised by a wizard who made fake body parts for him. When he grows up, he wants to kill these demons to reclaim his body parts. Along the adventure he met a thief, Dororo.

My review:
I have always like Japanese fantasy movies, this one is pretty interesting. It is based on a comic book by the Japanese master Osamu Tezuka in the late 1960s.

Howl's Moving Castle (Hauru no ugoku shiro)

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Howl's Moving Castle (buy from Amazon)

Type, Country, Year: Cartoon drama, Japan, 2004

Director: Hayao Miyazaki, Rick Dempsey (English version)

My rating: 4
Key actors/actresses:

Story:
A young lady was cursed by a witch and was turned into an old woman. Her hope of breaking the spell rests on a young wizard called Howl (Hauru) who lives in a home in the format of a moving castle. Together they fought the bad guys and developed an deep relationship that would save them both

My review:
Very interesting cartoon movie and very creative. You wouldn't expect anything less from the cartoon master Hayao Miyazaki!

Death Note 2 - The last name

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Death Note: The Last Name (The Live Action Movie) DVD (buy from Amazon)

Type, Country, Year: Fantasy, Japan, 2006

Director: Shusuke Kaneko

My rating: 3
Key actors/actresses:
Tatsuya Fujiwara ... Light Yagami
Takeshi Kaga ... Soichiro Yagami
Shido Nakamura ... Ryuuk (voice)
Erika Toda ... Misa Amane

Story:
This is the sequel of Death Note. Genius Detective L is trying to find proofs that Light is Kara. At the same time, a second kara appears which complicates the matter. Would L be able to catch them all or would he fail and pay the ultimate price for going against Kara?

My review:
I have read the comic book and the story is a lot more complicated. But the adopted movie version is not bad but a bit rush and the plot is less cunning. Nonetheless, it is a interesting story.

Azumi 2

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Azumi Uncut 2 Disc Limited Edition (buy from Amazon)
Type, Country, Year: Adventure / Drama / Fantasy / Thriller, Japanese, 2005

Director: Shusuke Kaneko

My rating: 3

Key actors/actresses:
Aya Ueto ... Azumi
Yuma Ishigaki ... Nagara

Chiaki Kuriyama ... Kozue
Shun Oguri ... Ginkaku
Kenichi Endo ... Kinkaku (as Kenichi Endou)

Kai Shishido ... Hanzou

Story:
Continuing the story from Azumi 1, having killed 2 out of 3 of the warlords, Azumi and one remaining assassin must complete their mission to kill the last warlord but he is not going to sit and wait for their attack, in fact he has his own protection and attack team in the form of ninjas. He proactively launch attack on the buddest monk and on Azumi and her friends...

My review:
Yet more killing scenes and Azumi struggles on whether she should continue her mission and to understand the meaning of mission.

Though a bit repeatative, nonetheless the movie is pretty entertaining, especially if you like assassins vs ninja type of movie.

Azumi

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Azumi (buy from Amazon)

Type, Country, Year: Adventure/ Drama/ Fantasy/ Thriller, Japanese, 2003

Director: Ryuhei Kitamura

My rating: 3

Key actors/actresses:
Aya Ueto ... Azumi
Shun Oguri ... Nachi
Hiroki Narimiya ... Ukiha
Kenji Kohashi ... Hyuga
Takatoshi Kaneko ... Amagi
Yuma Ishigaki ... Nagara

Story:
At the end of the war, the Buddist monk of the country fears that in order to have long lasting peace, he must eliminate all the warlords, he asks the General to hide and secretly trains 10 kids to become assassins. Years later these assassins are ready to take on their mission to kill the three warlords who threaten peace. But their first mission to test their readiness is to kill their best friends who they have known and trained together since childhood. Azumi the only girl in the group (and the strongest) has to kill her boyfriend to prove her loyalty. The remaining 5 follow their master and try to accomplish their mission, but they soon find out that it is not as easy as they think...

My review:
I must say I find the master of the assassins very stupid, I mean halving your resource before you start and inducing doubts and questions in the surviving assassins as a result is hardly a smart move. This also contribute to the difficulty they have later. Too much repeatitive and senseless killing in the movie. Azumi's much exaggerated killing ability is hardly convincing.