Japanese films are endearingly quirky, especially when they’re adaptations of popular manga series. As wacky and over the top as they might be, Japanese movies always manage to ground the story in solid character development. Think about it — which protagonist doesn’t have a sad, lonely childhood from which his burning desire for justice was born?
So here are five Japanese movies that we’re looking forward to! Horror, sequels, manga adaptations, superheroes and monster attacks — there’s something for everyone.
Note that the release dates are for Japan, so give it a month or two before it hits our shores!
1)Assassination Classroom 2: Graduation (March)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xGNSMiWvknw
The first “Assassination Classroom” movie struck a chord with all of us because it was about the underdog class in school that nobody wanted to teach. But Koro-Sensei still managed to reach out to the students and find the potential in them, even if it was the potential to assassinate him. Now he’s back for a sequel, and we can finally solve the mystery of how he came to be!
Unless you’ve Wiki-ed his origins already, of which then, sssshhhh!
2)HK Forbidden Super Hero 2 (May)
The “HK” in the title doesn’t stand for “Hong Kong,” if you’re wondering, but rather “Hentai Kamen.” The sequel also has the subtitle “The Abnormal Crisis,” which seems like an apt crisis for a superhero who runs around wearing thongs as a mask. The fact that the trailer takes itself so seriously makes you question — just how many women will Hentai Kamen obliviously terrorise this time around?
And yes, it’s a sequel! Which means that his antics were popular enough the first time round to warrant another movie, which is bewildering.
3)Sadako vs Kayako (June)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NlZ9OdvoxO8
In a battle of horrific proportions, Sadako from “The Ring” fights Kayako from “Ju-On” with innocent mortal Yūri Kurahashi caught in the middle! While I’m questioning why Yūri has a video tape (since that’s how Sadako’s curse passes on from person to person) in this day and age, the premise is exciting enough that I’m willing to overlook that just to see which demoness will reign supreme. But since they both look pretty much the same, with long hair covering their faces, will we be able to tell them apart?
Kayako would probably win though — she’s also got Toshio on her side.
4)Godzilla Resurgence (July)
Rumour has it that this time around, Godzilla will go through two upgrades for a total of three forms! Apart from all that merchandising (we get three Godzilla toys this time), this film serves as a reboot for the Japanese series and the first film in over ten years. The last time we saw a Japanese Godzilla was in 2004’s “Godzilla: Final Wars.”
I’m more interested in learning who Godzilla will be battling in this film. Please let it be a massive creature like King Ghidorah instead of same lame insect like Mothra or the MUTO.
5)Death Note 2016 (September)
Sadako
Remember how one Death Note was enough to cause so much chaos and Machiavellian scheming? In this fourth installment, there are six Death Notes flying around. That’s going to be a lot of death with potentially world-ending consequences! It takes place ten years later, which is fitting seeing how the first “Death Note” came out in 2006.
Will we get to see more Shinigami eating apples?
So what are you looking forward to this year?
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