Takao Handa

Madan Senki Ryukendo

Akebono City is a peaceful community overflowing with humanity. Since there was a Power Spot that released the magical power in the community, the people were distressed by the threat of the demon army Jamanga who are gathering Minus Energy from the frightened masses for a sinister purpose. The secret organization S.H.O.T. was formed to protect the people of the community from the Jamanga, concealing their existence as ordinary members of the Akebono Police Station, which considers demons beyond their jurisdiction. Kenji Narukami, a student of the Narukami Dragon God Style for fighting demons, arrives at Akebono to fight the demons, eventually getting his wish when he is transformed to RyuKenDo and faces off against Jamanga's forces together with his friends to restore peace in the community.

The Choice of Hercules

When radicals from Japan's Red Army took a woman hostage in the resort town of Karuizawa, Nagano in 1972, Officer Atsuyuki Sassa was put in charge of diffusing the situation. But the task had its challenges. Upon arriving in mountainous Nagano, Sassa had to compete with freezing winter temperatures, conflicting opinions between the Tokyo Metropolitan Police and the Nagano Prefectural Police, as well as public opinion to gain entrance to the lodge that held the single woman captive.

Dumbeast

How hard is it to kill an idiot? Just ask Kudo Kankuro! The acclaimed screenwriter brings his 2004 Kunio Kishida-winning stage play Donju (a.k.a. Dumb Animal) to the big screen in all its wacky tragicomedic glory. The one and only Asano Tadanobu sports a seriously nerdy bowl haircut to play the leading role of simple-minded novelist Dekogawa who has mysteriously disappeared. Dekogawa wrote an autobiography about his youth that reveals not only his past, but also some of his childhood friends’ best-forgotten secrets. In order to keep the skeletons in the closet, these buddies of yesteryear try to silence him permanently. But no matter how hard they try to kill Dekogawa, he just keeps coming back – because he’s simply too thickheaded to die!

The Lightning Tree

Set during the Edo Period, a young man from a noble family meets a young woman under a special tree called "Raiou" (the tree was struck by lightning at one time with the broken part eventually sprouting out cherry blossoms). The young woman lived freely in the mountains after she was abducted as a young child. The couple soon fall in love under the Raiou tree, but become acutely aware of their different social positions & the ramifications it has on their relationship.

Norwegian Wood

Toru recalls his life in the 1960s, when his friend Kizuki killed himself and he grew close to Naoko, Kizuki's girlfriend, and another woman, the outgoing, lively Midori.

Invisible War

Kitahara Shuji, an ordinary business man turns into a spy for his town's war against a neighboring town in a Dystopian society.

Cain's Descendant

Munakata has an unrelenting guilt from killing his mother when he was 15 years old. After being imprisoned for 10 years, he is released and heads to Yako, a small industrial town, to work as a machinist. Living in a tiny apartment, he is tasked with secretly creating a gun out of an old TV remote control and unknowingly destroys the fragile balance of the town.

The Handsome Suit

An overweight cook is given the opportunity to woo the girl of his dreams when he is given a "handsome suit" that transforms him into an idealized human being in this absurd Japanese comedy.

Aogeba Tôtoshi

Mortality and death seen through the eyes of a lonely student who has an morbid and albeit naive fascination with death. His teacher, Koichi is also grappling with the issue of mortality as he deals with the impending death of his ailing father, who has decided to spend his final days in the family home. As the story progresses, Koichi finds unexpected solace from his grief by letting his troubled student visit and meet with his father in the hopes that he will understand the meaning of life and death.

OL sei-hakusho kusare-en