Yoshinori Okada

Welcome to the weird and wonderful world of Kamikaze Girls, where two girls from utterly different fashion universes -- one a "Lolita," the other a "Yankee" -- cross paths and discover they have far more in common than at first sight. Kamikaze Girls is the latest pop-culture phenomenon to take Japan by storm. (Viz Media)

Based on a true story that has become an internet phenomenon in Japan, Train Man is about an otaku (Japanese for geek) who saves a young woman from a drunken assailant on a commuter train, and instantly falls in love with her. (Imaginasian)

In Treasure Town, life can be both peaceful and violent. This is never truer than for our heroes, Black and White - two street kids who claim to traverse the urban city as if it were their own. But in this town, an undercurrent of evil exists and has its sights set on the pair of brothers, forcing them to engage in battle with an array of old-world Yakuza as well as dangerous assassins vying to rule the decaying metropolis, Treasure Town. (imdb)

This flick is almost impossible to describe. On the surface it charts a lazy love triangle between three losers who are hitting 30 and haven't gone anywhere in life. But that leaves out the ghost, the quest to create the world's best haunted house, how not to open a box of Kleenex, the worst way to sell a porno magazine, the joys of used bookstores and the world's biggest, child-crushing chewing gum bubble. (youtube.com)

Seven characters, introduced at the start of the film, get thrown together into the same hotel room: a thief who's stolen a suitcase of money from the mob, his ex-girlfriend, her obsessive boyfriend, the mob soldier sent to retrieve the briefcase, another mobster sent to kill them, master voyeur Captain Banana and his new apprentice, The Mister Yellow. (imdb)

Shuji Ito is a gay high school senior in love with his best friend, the naïve and straight-laced Hiroyuki Yoshida. Yet Ito is too afraid of messing up his friendship with Yoshida and destroying his persona as a "normal" high school student to tell him. Meanwhile, Yoshida as fallen for the new transfer student Kasane Aihara, who harbors her own dark secret (allmovie.com)

On the outset, the Okunos seem like a normal happy family with father Tadashi (Kohinata Fumiyo), mother Rieko (Suzuki Kyoka), and their two bright sons, genetics researcher Izumi (Kase Ryo) and artsy Haru (Okada Masaki). When a series of arson attacks strike the neighborhood, clues left at the crime scenes all seem to be somehow related to the Okunos. Izumi tries to get to the bottom of mystery, slowly unveiling a tragic family secret that has come back to haunt them. (www.yesasia.com)

A collection of dark shorts from Japan.

Love begins with sound in Rainbow Song director Kumazawa Naoto's latest film Oto, Na, Ri. V6's Okada Junichi (Hana) and popular actress Aso Kumiko (Instant Swamp) play next-door neighbors who become a part of each other's lives without even realizing it. This charming romantic drama also co-stars Tanimura Mitsuki (God's Puzzle), Okada Yoshinori (Kisarazu Cat's Eye), and Ikeuchi Hiroyuki (Ip Man). (yesasia.com)

Komaki is a thirty-something woman that has had it with her perpetually unemployed aspiring writer husband. Following the divorce, she moves back to her Tokyo-area hometown of Kyojima along with her young daughter, Non-chan. However, she has a difficult time making ends meet in big city Tokyo. Her solution? Take a chance and try opening her very own bento (lunch box) shop. (Dr. Jay Trotter)

High school student Kyosuke is the most talented member of the school's martial arts club. He also likes to wear female underwear, which grants him superhuman powers and transforms him into the alter ego Hentai Kamen, or Pervert Mask. By chance, Kyosuke obtains the underwear of female high school student Aiko Himeno. With her underwear, he gains various perverted techniques and strives to protect Aiko from a dirty and heinous teacher. (imdb)

Despite being diagnosed with a terminal brain-tumor, a young musician is determined to live life to its absolute fullest during his final year by partying with his friends, playing with his band, and solving a perplexing crime. Bussan has been given less than a year to live, but he's not the type to simply lie down and die. On the contrary, Bussan is about to squeeze a lifetime of fun and experience into just a few short months. As the day of his death draws near, Bussan spends quality time... (Amazon)

Bussan refuses to accept his death and returns to Kisarazu as a ghost to make peace with his friends. Unfortunately his reappearance brings unforeseen consequences. (imdb)

One day, after returning from work late in the evening, Hideo witnesses a traffic accident in which a car crashes into a nearby pedestrian, killing the victim instantly. However, despite severe injuries including a broken neck, the victim's body stands up and walks away. Hideo questions whether this is another one of his hallucinations, but strange events begin happening around him. (imdb)

The story revolves around Asakusa-born-and-raised Gen, who helps out at his family's strip club. With his friends Makoto, Jimmy, and Mattsun, the four get into fights together, as well as help out with watching out for Gen's family. (animenewsnetwork.com)

Ayane, Nanami, and Mayuko are members of a new 3-member idol group called "Jersey Girl". One day they're invited to appear on a television show about the paranormal where they'll visit an abandoned nursing home in the mountains to see which one of them is the bravest and document their experiences. However, as soon as the girls arrive, they begin to to have strange paranormal experiences. Before long, they begin to turn on each other as the stress of the situation overtakes them. (imdb)

***Replay ***Inochibi (Life Force) ***Ame no Houmonsha (The Visitor in the Rain) ***Okusanya-san (The Wife Seller) ***Imakiyo-san (Mr. Imakiyo)

Warlord Oda Nobunaga lost the battle in sixteenth-century Japan and is currently being pursued by Ujinori Kanbara, Yoshimoto Imagawa's vassal. Yoshimoto was slain by Nobunaga and the former vassal is burning with the fires of revenge. Yet, success is seemingly tripled when he captures not one but three Nobunaga. Each prisoner claims to be the warlord.

Chisato is homeless and on the run from debt collectors, when a wealthy man offers to pay off her debt if she marries him for one month. However, Chisato discovers that there are clauses to the contract after he dies, which includes being the mother of his six sons. (imdb)