My favourite: Japanese Films

I was going to do one long blog on Japan and why I love it, then I realised it would be too long so I am cutting it down to component parts and doing each bit separately. This first blog covers some of my favourite Japanese films. This is by no means the full list of films I have seen, but they are some of my favourites and I would thoroughly recommend them to anyone.

Kaiji: The Ultimate Gambler/Kaiji 2 (2009/2011)

Starring one of my favourite actors from Japan, Tatsuya Fujiwara, this is based on the manga/anime of Kaiji who is a loser gambling addict. After losing a huge bet, Kaiji must work under ground for a tyrannical business group to pay off the debt. The other option is to walk between two beams between the company towers hundreds of feet in the air with no support and, to make it more interesting, the beams are electrified so they cannot be touched. Fujiwara's real life friend, Ken'ichi Matsuyama has a small part in the first film and the moment on the beam for both of them is really intense. Kaiji then has to defeat a business man at an ultimate card game that should be impossible for him to win to obtain his freedom. In the second film (spoiler alert for the first film) he is back underground but is given a week to try and buy his freedom and that of the others. He must beat a huge panchinko machine (kind of like a pinball machine) to win a jackpot and avoid eternity underground. Using some new friends, and a familiar face from the first film, he must over come some trials and betrayals to win. Does he make it? Watch and see.

Infection - 2004

A struggling hospital takes in an infectious patient who dies. Worried they could lose funding if word got out, and already facing job cuts, the staff on duty that night agree to a cover up. Slowly, each member of the staff goes mad and it is uncertain who will survive the night.

• This film is fun, gory and downright brilliant. Not many moments to make you jump but a great trashy horror.

Dark Water - 2002

A newly divorced woman moves into a flat with her young daughter. Struggling with the pressure of the custody battle with her ex-husband, strange things begin happening. Is this a case of projection from the mother due to stress or are they victims of a haunting by a young girl who disappeared from the flats years before?

• Way better than the Hollywood remake. This film is full of twists and turns that keep you watching as well as moments to make you jump.

Rurouni Kenshin - 2012

Based on the manga and anime, the name translates as 'Kenshin the Wanderer'. During the civil war in Japan in the late 19th century, Battosai was a top Samurai assassin who was known for his skill, speed and fearless nature. At the coming of the new age he renounces killing and obtains a back bladed sword so he can defend those he cares for but not kill. After taking up with a fencing dojo (and changing his name) 10 years later, Kenshin Himura (Takeru Sato) is forced to defend his new friends and neighbours against a tyrannical business man looking to flood Japan (and the world) with a new and more potent type of opium. On top of that, another assassin, calling himself Battosai, has appeared. Can Kenshin keep his vow not to kill and still protect those close to him?

• The part was basically written with Sato in mind and he more than lives up to the task. It is clear he has put a lot of time into training for the role and this part propelled him into a more international consciousness. One minute he looks the sweet and kind wanderer and in a moment becomes a ruthless fighter. His range is spot on for the part. The film is fun and gripping so that two hours fly by. The other cast are strong and so the whole things works well. The style of shooting makes the film look crisp and the fight scenes are so well choreographed too. There is the right amount of sweat and blood to give the film a realistic feel too. Sato's mannerisms and the use of "oro" throughout should keep the manga/anime fans happy too.

Rurouni Kenshin: Kyoto Inferno/The Legend Ends - 2014

Filmed back-to-back to complete the trilogy, this covers the Kyoto fire arc from the manga. Makoto Shishio (Tatsuya Fujiwara) is also an ex-assassin who was stabbed, burnt and left for dead at the end of the civil war. Somehow he survives and terrorises the new government in an attempt for revenge and to rule Japan. Kenshin is roped in to fight the heavily bandaged Makoto and he also has to deal with Lord Aoshi who wants to claim the title 'Manslayer' for himself by defeating Kenshin. The climax is a fantastic almost hour long battle on the warship Makoto uses.

• The case are strong and the whole returning cast and crew have really upped the ante. The fights are better and Sato is even better at Kenshin this time. Thoroughly enjoyable and well worth a watch.

Death Note - 2006

A two part live action telling of the manga/anime starring Tatsuya Fujiwara as Light Yagami and Ken'ichi Matsuyama as L. A Shinigami, called Ryuk, drops a death note in the human world and Light finds it. Light decides to use it to create a new world free of crime and where he would rule as a god called 'Kira'. L, the world famous detective, is called in to stop him.

• The ending differs from the manga/anime but the basic story is still there. To fit the whole original story and characters in you'd need around 6-8 films so this is fine.The relationship between L and Light is intense enough and this is helped by the strength of the real life friendship between Fujiwara and Matsuyama. The only complaint really coming from fans is that the character of Misa doesn't have blonde hair!

L: Change the World - 2008

Following on from the Death Note story is a totally new arc for the live action films. L has 23 days to save the world from a deadly virus about to be released by a terrorist group.

• Ken'ichi Matsuyama returns as L. This film feels like they were just trying to squeeze more out of the franchise at times but Matsuyama does such a good job of playing L that the fans don't mind. Still fun and interesting to watch.

Battle Royale - 2000

A class of 42 students are taken to an island, placed in explosive collars and given 72 hours to kill each other. Only one student can survive under the government programme, but Shuya Nanahara (Tatsuya Fujiwara) is determined to survive with his friends.

• This film is based on a novel released in 1999 and is a fairly faithful representation. It shocked audiences when it first came out and quickly became a cult classic around the world and made Fujiwara a household name even outside his native Japan. Avoid the 2003 sequel unless you're a hardcore Fujiwara fan like me. Sadly the director died and his son finished the project...it isn't something that should necessarily have been finished and last minute Fujiwara was called in to save it. Good job he did.

Ju-on: The Grudge - 2002

This is a brilliant horror where angry spirits of a murdered mother and son hunt down all those who are connected to the house they lived in. Hollywood remade this and it was not so great. The Japanese one has a great plot and cast and the right amount of thrills, suspense and moments to make you jump.

Ringu/Ringu 2/Ringu 0 (Birthday) 

Between the late 1990's and early 00's these three films were made. A journalist is researching strange deaths with connections to a cursed video and finds that it is the spirit of a murdered psychic child called Sadako. The first two films look at this one story line and the last film travels back to the events leading up to her death before the curse came to be.

• These films were my first introduction to Japanese horror films and what dragged me in to looking at all aspects of Japan. These films still scare me 14 years on from when I first saw them. The acting is spot on and there is terrific use of the old horror element of the woman in white with long dark hair over the face that pervades Asian horror. The jerky movements of Sadako as she climbs out of the TV are horrifying. My best memory is watching the second film for the first time and having the phone ring straight after. Me and my first boyfriend crept downstairs in the dark and answered, we were terrified we'd hear a voice say: "seven days". All it was on the phone was his older brother. Phew.

Films I am looking forward to this year are Bakuman, which is a story pre-dating Death Note but by the same mangakas and starring Takeru Sato and the live action Attack on Titan starring Sato's real life best friend (and fantastic young actor) Haruma Miura (we'll return to him in my TV blog) as Eren Jaeger.