Messengers

Aspiring to an easy job as personal physician to a wealthy family, Noboru Yasumoto is disappointed when his first post after medical school takes him to a small country clinic under the gruff doctor Red Beard. Yasumoto rebels in numerous ways, but Red Beard proves a wise and patient teacher. He gradually introduces his student to the unglamorous side of the profession, ultimately assigning him to care for a prostitute rescued from a local brothel.

When panic erupts on a Tokyo-bound bullet train that will explode if it slows below 100 kph, authorities race against time to save everyone on board.

In this companion piece and sequel to "Yojimbo," jaded samurai Sanjuro helps an idealistic group of young warriors weed out their clan's evil influences, and in the process turns their image of a proper samurai on its ear.

A spell of time in the life of the five-piece Haruno family in rural Tochigi Prefecture. Yoshiko is not an ordinary housewife, instead working on an animated film project. Uncle Ayano, a successful music producer, is looking to get his head together after living in Tokyo. Meanwhile, Sachiko is concerned with why she seems to be followed by a giant version of herself. As the lazy days pass by, each member of the family is followed in a series of episodic vignettes.

After their lord is tricked into committing ritual suicide, forty-seven samurai warriors await the chance to avenge their master and reclaim their honor.

In order to conceal past corruption by the government, the Kyuryu group proceeds on a plan to destroy a street and build a casino. To stop the Kyuryu group, members of SWORD begin to move.

Ryunosuke, a gifted swordsman plying his trade during the turbulent final days of Shogunate rule, has no moral code and kills without remorse. It’s a way of life that leads to madness.

A dramatisation of the 24-hour period in which the Japanese government was deadlocked over the decision to accept or reject the Allies' demand for an unconditional surrender following the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Tomiko falls in love with Niitaka, even though she also suspects him of being the Tokyo bus driver serial killer, who killed his female conductors after tiring of them.

Kakunoshin, renowned for his skills with a sword and in the game of go, embodies the samurai code. Falsely accused of a theft, he is forced to become a lowly ronin. Years later, when a case of missing gold pulls him into a new web of intrigue, Kakunoshin uncovers the truth behind his downfall. With the real culprit exposed, the go board flips, and a hellstorm of righteous vengeance follows.

Set in the late 60s in a small seaside town, this coming of age drama centres on a young girl named Nagisa. She spends her summer holidays working in a local seaside bar, searching for her lost cat, dancing to rock’n’roll and discovering first love.

Beat Takeshi lives the busy and sometimes surreal life of a showbiz celebrity. One day he meets his blond lookalike named Kitano, a shy convenience store cashier, who, still an unknown actor, is waiting for his big break. After their paths cross, Kitano seems to begin hallucinating about becoming Beat.

When dead people starts returning to the small Japanese town of Aso, government official Kawada is dispatched to uncover the “truth”.

In the aftermath of a major earthquake, scientists predict that Japan will sink into the sea. As further disasters follow, politicians plead with other countries to take refugees, while scientists struggle to save Japan itself.

Defence lawyer Emi is assigned to a particularly unusual case: a man is suspected of murdering his wealthy wife, and his only alibi is a 421-year old ghost, Rokubei. At first Emi is hesitant, but when she pursues her lead she is visited by the ghost herself. And so the fun begins in the courtroom when Prosecutor Osano starts to cross examine.

War widow Reiko rebuilds and runs the grocery shop in the house of her husband's family. Many years later, their business is threatened by a newly built supermarket and Reiko's in-laws plan to convert their small shop into a supermarket, to her detriment.

Nagisa is transgender. She grew up in Hiroshima as a man, but now lives in Shinjuku, Tokyo as a woman. Due to an incident, she begins to live with middle school student Ichika, who is a distant relative. Ichika has been neglected by her mother Saori. From living in solitude by herself, to now living with Ichika, Nagisa develops maternal instincts for the first time.

A chubby high school student participatee in a sports competition to win a cash prize for sex change surgery.

In the middle of a riverside park stands a single bench. One evening, a couple of childhood friends who hadn’t seen each other in a while meet up at this bench. Although awkward at times, they sit there exchanging gentle words of affection.

After discovering a hole in their crowded cell, nine prisoners escape their confinement to track down the key of the universe, which a fellow prisoner known as the Counterfeit King said he had hidden.

A psychic housewife and her husband accidentally find a kidnapped girl. Instead of informing the police, they hatch a scheme to get famous by working with the police as a psychic consultant to 'find' the girl. Just when it all seems to go right, everything goes horribly wrong.

Jonko runs a group of high school girls involved in paid dating. Raku is a street dancer. Togo was brought up in the US, and after being back in Japan for one year, wants to escape to New York. Their contact with the world of talent scouts and yakuza places them in danger over the span of one day and night in the Shibuya district of Tokyo.

There are three kinds of swindler. One, called the "WHITE SWINDLER", finds a mark and steals money. The "RED SWINDLER" preys on the other sex and steals a mark's body and soul. Then there is the "BLACK SWINDLER". Ignoring ordinary marks, targeting only the white and red swindlers, and preying on their flesh grown fat and corrupt with the money they have stolen, he is the worst of them all. There is a boy who once became a victim of a swindler and lost his family. Later, he turns into the most hideous "black swindler" to deceive only other swindlers. His name is Kurosaki. This time, he is requested by Reiko, whose daughter is sick, to hunt down a swindler named Ishigaki, who has defrauded her of money. But, behind Ishigaki, there is actually a bigger swindle which has even destabilized the Japanese economy…

A famous businessman's links with organized crime are looked into by the Zero Division of the Tokyo Police, with the investigation being headed by a highly trained, extremely violent and very beautiful female officer. When not having shoot-outs with the crime syndicate thugs trying to kill her, she spends most of her time in her apartment, wearing lingerie and taking showers. A sub-plot involves the businessman's S&M-obsessed daughter.

From the late 1950s through the '70s, more than 90,000 of the ethnic Koreans in Japan emigrated to North Korea, a country that promised them affluence, justice, and an end to discrimination. KAZOKU NO KUNI tells the story of one of their number, who returns for just a short period. For the first time in 25 years, Sonho is reunited with his family in Tokyo after being allowed to undergo an operation there. Sonho’s younger sister Rie is at the centre of the film, and is not hard to recognise as the director’s alter-ego. In her documentaries DEAR PYONGYANG and SONA, THE OTHER MYSELF, Yang Yonghi told the story of her own life, and how, at age six, she experienced the departure of her three older brothers, who left their family for Pyongyang.

Tsutsumi Takeru is a 4th year university student. He worries about finding a job after graduation. He currently works part-time at a bar called Double at night. He begins to write down his thoughts in a notebook that is used for work at the bar. During the day, the bar turns into the Cafe Double. Murakoshi Miyu works part-time at Double during the day. She is studying to become a nurse, which has been her dream. She communicates with Takeru through the notebook that is used at Double. While conversing about their hobbies and worries, they become closer and fall in love.

Kimura wins a trip to Hong Kong, but once he arrives, he is mistaken as a hitman and is assigned to kill Yumiko, the female successor to the Ota Group conglomerate. When Kimura falls for his target instead, he must learn kung-fu from a local (Yuen) to fight off the yakuza assassin "Invincible" assigned to finish the job.

A body found in the mountains of Tohoku, where Muroi has moved, is linked to the Rainbow Bridge incident. Muroi is asked to return to work, and he ponders whether he can keep his promise to his former colleagues. As the investigation progresses, each of the children Muroi has taken in grows up.

Chunba and Kotetsu, grows up in the working class neighborhood of Kishiwada in Osaka in the mid-seventies. Their life in school is a never-ending series of fights and reprisals against rival gangs landing them in trouble with organised crime and in the juvenile court.

Shiwasu's mother left their home when Shiwasu was a little girl. Shiwasu does not understand why. She is a woman now and working at a Shinto shrine as a shrine maiden under her father who is a priest. She is listless until she finds a little boy alone on the shrine's grounds. The boy's mother shows up and retrieves her son a couple of days later. That is not the end of it however. The boy is back soon and has marks and bruises on his body. In the meantime, there was petty theft going on.

When Koichi Takahasi (Miutani) is transferred from Tokyo to a small village in Iwate Prefecture, they set up hoe in a two-hundred year-old farmhouse. The family is split between those who hate the move and those who are happy. Fumiko (Yasuda), the wife, is unhappy at the change and doesn’t get on with her elderly neighbours, Azumi (Hashimoto) is sad about having to transfer to a new school. Koichi’s mother, Sumiyo (Kusabue), rather likes the new community while young Tomoya Takahashi (Hamada) really enjoys the new move because he can play outdoors. Koichi takes note of the split in the family but finds himself struggling at his new job. Thankfully the house has Zashiki Warashi (yokai) living there who will unite them with their antics. Judging by the poster these antics won’t be terrifying.

Remake of a hit film from 1990, "The Cherry Orchard" which Nakahara himself directed, based on a popular comic book from Akimi Yoshida. The story takes place at a prestigious girls high school where everyone is oppressed with rules. One girl who just transferred to this school finds a long lost script of Anton Chekhov's "The Cherry Orchard" which was banned from school 11 years ago. Breaking strict school rules and boundaries, she and her friends decide to perform the play. With sentiment, love and passion, the girls cherish the moment of their life before taking the next step towards adulthood.

Police coroner Kuraishi Yoshio (Masaaki Uchino) and the crime lab team attempt to solve a serial murder case with a killer who seems to kill indiscriminately.

Jun, a Japanese freelance reporter, discovers hidden gem of Korean traditional bakery "Moran-dang" by chance in the middle of the city of Seoul, while covering stories of the city. Moran-dang takes him back to his memory of childhood and urges him to stay there for more stories. One day, Moran-dang is vandalized by construction villains in town who maliciously try to take the spot of the bakery and the owner and chef, Sang-woo, gets his hands injured. When Moran-dang is in danger of closing, little brother Sang-hyuk returns home after drifting apart. As Jun inspires Sang-hyuk to restore his family tie and the secret recipes, Sang-hyuk and Jun are connected in friendship to save Moran-dang.

This TV special takes place one year after the events depicted in the 1996 series Hakusen Nagashi, following the same group of friends.

When his internet business fails and leaves him in heavy debt, Ryota takes a position on a tuna fishing boat set to sail on New Year's Day 2000. In the meantime, he lives indifferently.

In order to release his kidnapped sisters, sports car mechanic, Chan Foh To, has to defeat a super-criminal street racer.

Young Guy graduates from University.

A group of Japanese spies with extrasensory powers travel across the world to stop a global agenda of assassinations.

One day, the brutally murdered body of his colleague, Detective Utsumi, was discovered. Maruyoshi immediately visits Xu Fang, the Taiwanese hostess Utsumi had been seeing, but finds himself in the crosshairs of a mysterious gun… A few days later, Utsumi’s police ID was found at a murder scene. Xu Fang had manipulated Utsumi into plotting to steal a large quantity of methamphetamine from the Jaō-kai. Furthermore, there is Zhang, a serial killer who pulls the strings behind the scenes, manipulating Xu Fang whilst being pursued by the mafia in his home country. Betrayal begets further betrayal, and as the search for the missing methamphetamine unfolds, a complex web of conflicting interests and power struggles unfolds.

After years without seeing each other, Tsumugi goes camping with her former track and field teammates. Their excitement at the reunion fades when a conflict they were never able to resolve resurfaces. What no one can imagine is that they're sleeping on the site of an ancient execution ground, where centuries ago villagers were crucified naked. At night, their spirits emerge to hunt down the campers. And then Tsumugi discovers the only way to survive: by undressing.

Members go on a Field Trip to fulfill their dreams as part of Okamura Girl's High School.

Members participate in Sports Day to find out who is the 'Kusojo' in the group, as part of Okamura Girl's High School.

Members undertake a pop-quiz to find out who is the 'Bakajo' in the group, as part of Okamura Girl's High School.