Happy New Year 2011! / Akemashite Omedetou Gozaimasu!

A very happy New Year to family and friends in Japan and beyond.
皆様、明けましておめでとうございます。本年も宜しくお願いします！

My first oshôgatsu in Japan was New Year's 1999, meaning I've made one cycle of the Chinese zodiac (jûnishi), returning once again to Year of the Rabbit (usagidoshi, 卯年).

2010 was a decent 12 months for my film life in Japan.

Some translation highlights last year: did subtitles for Lee Toshio's BOX! (and treatment for Lee's PPP project Miracle); Sabu's 12-episode TV series Troubleman (you'll be able to see the latter half of it as part of the Run, Salaryman, Run! series screening Jan 26-Feb 5 at Japan Society in NYC); subtitles for Sori Fumihiko's upcoming Tomorrow's Joe (Ashita no Joe, 『あしたのジョー』). Some potential jobs lined up for this year but nothing set in stone.

As a journalist I continue to write for Screen International though less than in previous years. In 2011 I wrote 38 articles for screendaily.com vs. 64 last year, but my print pieces (the monthly magazine and special festival issues) remained on par. Wrote a couple interesting things for sites such as CNNGo and Japan Subculture. Also did my first radio interview as Screen correspondent, speaking about The Cove (though never got paid by the bumbling berks at the BBC). Making my first contribution to a film book in 2011 -- should be an interesting volume.

Got into a little production work with some co-ordination for a Canal+ documentary on Tokyo (see my Nov. 28 entry) and a popular Canadian kids television show filming its first segment in Japan. Best set visit was to Imaoka Shinji and Christopher Doyle's pinku eiga extravaganza. I saw various scenes from the film at the end of October and it's a doozy. Other set visits included Furyô Banchô director Naitô Makoto's return to feature films Cry Tomorrow (Asu Naku, 『明日泣く』) and an NHK drama directed by Ochiai Masayuki for which I took off my shirt and pants... Aiming to be part of shoots both small and big in 2011.

Being so busy, I saw less films than I usually do meaning I'll have to bow out of my annual Midnight Eye best of list participation but a few of the homegrown titles that impressed me were:

- Wakamatsu Kôji's Caterpillar (see my April 14 entry)
- Nakashima Tetsuya's Confessions (Kokuhaku, 『告白』)
- Miike Takashi's 13 Assassins (Jûsannin no Shikaku, 『十三人の刺客』)
- Nakamura Yoshihiro's Golden Slumber
- Sono Shion's Cold Fish (Tsumetai Nettaigyô, 『冷たい熱帯魚』)
- Miura Daisuke's Boys on the Run
- Ôgata Atsushi's Cast Me if you Can (Wakiyaku Monogatari, 『脇役物語』) was a cute indie film.
- Ôtake Makoto's Dark on Dark (see my July 21 entry) was my favourite short of the year (biased as I am being that I translated it).
- Not a movie, but seeing Kaji Meiko's first ever concert at a hotel ballroom in Shinjuku was a memorably surreal experience.


As I stated in my Christmas post the year ahead will be more about my own screenwriting and creative pursuits, which began in earnest in the fall. I prayed for my success on that front at the local shrine last night but ultimately you have to create your own luck...

Merry Christmas / The Blog 10 Years On...

A Merry Christmas to all of my family members, friends and acquaintances, here in Japan and around the blue marble.

People in Japan are mad for Christmas illuminations -- the bigger the better. The above display I snapped in Shiodome is not the largest in Tokyo. That claim might belong to the sprawling electric forest at Tokyo Midtown. Nonetheless, it's quite impressive in an over-the-top way.

On another note this blog has reached its 10 year mark, which is fairly ancient in tech years. Things have obviously slowed down in recent times, for a number of reasons, not least of which is blogging becoming like the croquet of the internet. It's also due to focusing much more on my own (screen)writing. I think over the past decade I've done my part to bring attention to other people's films and creativity. I still like sharing inside skinny on J-films and the industry but prefer to do it one-on-one with people I know.　However, I do tweet bits & pieces now and then so keep an eye on that. And I will continue to post semi-regular updates on here but will be more selfish with my time for the foreseeable future.

以上です！

GANTZ Movie Tweets

Attended a press screening of upcoming moving GANTZ the other day and tweeted some thoughts on it. I don't do the review thing anymore but if you cobble the below tweets together you'll have some of the first impressions of the film in English (potential spoilers).

The first installment of GANTZ will be released on Jan 29 2011 while GANTZ: Part II is slated for April 23. However, cities around the US will get a dubbed, one-night-only world premiere of part one on January 20 (see here).


東宝本社なう。『GANTZ』マスコミ試写。Checking out GANTZ at Toho. 128m! ...
12:41 PM Dec 7th via TweetDeck

GANTZ (potential spoilers) 1: As a movie somewhat episodic but entertaining enough action romp with some memorable sequences and decent cast 5:08 PM Dec 7th via web

GANTZ (potential spoilers) 2: Ninomiya and Matsuyama share screen time but it's Ninomiya's film character-wise. 5:09 PM Dec 7th via web

GANTZ (potential spoilers) 3: Ninomiya is believable / naturalistic, with nerd->power tripper->using-power-for-good character arc 5:11 PM Dec 7th via web

GANTZ (potential spoilers) 4: Ninomiya is so slight in the battle suit that it gives his furious action scenes a fun(ny) quality 5:13 PM Dec 7th via web

GANTZ (potential spoilers) 5: Matsuyama is fine but mostly plays upset through the film. But that should contrast nicely with GANTZ: Part II 5:18 PM Dec 7th via web

GANTZ (potential spoilers) 6: You see Lots of relative newcomer Natsuna - her intro recalls Schwarzenegger in original Terminator. Mmm. 5:21 PM Dec 7th via web

GANTZ (potential spoilers) 7: I'm always a little bit in love with Yuriko Yoshitaka. Here she plays an awkward wannabe mangaka. Too pretty! 5:25 PM Dec 7th via web

GANTZ (potential spoilers) 8: Structure is repetitive but action scenes are all different, and quite cool. First one is a freakish bloodbath 5:26 PM Dec 7th via web

GANTZ (potential spoilers) 8.5: (though red is hued very dark). Another scene is robot assassin frenzy. 5:27 PM Dec 7th via web

GANTZ (potential spoilers) 9: Best is Japan's answer to Night Museum with guardian Deva kings, 1000-arm Kannon and Daibutsu mega-battle 5:28 PM Dec 7th via web

GANTZ (potential spoilers) 10: It's all CG but very well done -- recalling Daimajin and Harryhausen goodness. Genre fans should dig it. 5:30 PM Dec 7th via web

GANTZ (potential spoilers) 11: Trailer for part II shown after but Toho asked to keep it secret so I'll respect that. Different stuff in it 5:32 PM Dec 7th via web

Battle Royale's "Battle" for a US Release

Back on November 25 I wrote a piece for Screen on the ongoing sales of the Battle Royale franchise: "Toei continues strong sales on Battle Royale 3D ". If you click the link you'll quickly find out that it's subscription-only content, as is most of what's on the site. I believe you can still read newly posted articles through Google News but those links only stay alive a matter of days (as far as screendaily.com content in any case).

I thought I would reproduce the piece below as the discussion and debate on why Battle Royale had never sold to the US until now has dragged on for years and was often filled with assumptions and plain wrong info. This is not the be all and end all of the story (and I couldn't include everything) but it reveals some facts that people didn't previously have access to -- I have a long working relationship with Toei, for what it's worth.

Commenting on blogs has pretty much gone the way of the dodo but happy to hear any thoughts!

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Toei continues strong sales on Battle Royale 3D

25 November, 2010 | By Jason Gray

Japanese studio Toei continues to close deals for the 3D reworking of Kinji Fukasaku’s Battle Royale following its market debut at the AFM.

In addition to a major US deal struck with Anchor Bay Films during the market, rights have also been sold to Arrow Films in the UK, Russian Report for Russia, Intercontinental in Hong Kong, and Taiwan’s Catchplay. Negotiations are ongoing with Germany, Australia, Korea, Thailand and Indonesia.

European sales for territories such as France, Spain, Italy and Scandinavia will take longer as Toei must evaluate whether current 2D rights holders are willing to give the 3D version a release.

Arrow Films is planning a small theatrical release of Battle Royale 3D in London. Arrow already held UK rights to the 2D version and will release deluxe DVD and Blu-ray box sets next month.

Toei sold the 3D version on the basis of a five-minute 3D promo reel at AFM. Presales of Japanese films are nearly unheard of in the current climate, but the controversial film’s reputation has only grown over the decade since its original release in 2000 as Fukasaku’s final film.

Until the Anchor Bay deal, the lack of a sale to the US had been a regular topic of discussion among fans and the industry alike. Despite major studios such as 20th Century Fox and Warner Brothers withdrawing offers in post-Columbine America, demand from other distributors was strong in the early 2000s and since.

It was in fact Toei’s executives that were concerned about potential legal troubles of the kind that troubled Natural Born Killers, with Battle Royale’s child-on-child gun violence.

Current Toei international sales manager Tadayuki Okubo was also involved in sales at the time: “I really wanted to sell the film in 2001 but Japanese insurance companies rejected coverage of any potential lawsuits in the US. Perhaps Toei itself overestimated the film’s potential negative influence in the US market after Columbine.”

The absence of similar lawsuits, the advent of 3D and new, more aggressive international leadership at Toei under ex-Walt Disney Japan rep Hideo Suzuki accelerated the recent sale. “Toei’s concerns began to decrease over the ten years. Of course the 3D release was a good chance to make it happen,” Okubo explained.

Anchor Bay also picked up rights to the 2D version and 2003 sequel Battle Royale II: Requiem, directed by Fukasaku’s son Kenta. According to Okubo, Anchor Bay Films EVP Kevin Kasha had been longing for the chance to pick up Battle Royale and its remake rights since his stints at Miramax Home Entertainment and New Line.

In addition to sales of dog movie Wasao, Strangers In The City and Zebraman 2, AFM 2010 became Toei’s most successful market in the company’s history.

Battle Royale 3D hit Japanese cinemas this past weekend on 124 screens.