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Comedian Yuichi Kimura (48) is done filming his third project as a movie director, a comedy called Omurice (omelette rice). The film also marks Kimura’s first lead role as an actor, playing a man who finds himself experiencing a series of bizarre delusions.

Kimura’s previous directorial efforts include “Nisesatsu” in 2009 and “Wararaifu!!” in 2010, both of which premiered at the Yoshimoto Kogyo-organized Okinawa International Movie Festival.

“Omurice” will feature a cast of roughly 100 people, including about 70 comedians from Yoshimoto Kogyo. However, it also includes experienced actors such as Takanori Jinnai (52) and Yoko Minamino (43).

In the film, Kimura’s character goes out to buy ingredients to make omurice, but becomes involved in various bizarre scenes along the way. During these “delusion scenes”, he comes across many characters played by popular comedians in rapid succession, including Sanma Akashiya as a manga artist, Koji Higashino as a company president, Takashi Okamura as a part-time worker,...

The Japanese film site Cinema Today has released a new trailer for Gisaburo Sugii’s 3D animated film Tofu Kozo (literally “tofu boy”) via their channel on YouTube.

Based on the novel “Tofu Kozo Sugoroku-dochu Furidashi” by Natsuhiko Kyogoku, the story is set in Edo period Japan and revolves around the young son of the leader of all yokai (fictional spirits and monsters from Japanese folklore). Unlike his fellow yokai, Tofu Kozo (voiced by actress Kyoko Fukada) is unable to scare even the most timid of humans due to his silly appearance and his completely unintimidating calling card of carrying a plate of tofu around. Constantly made a fool of by his colleagues and scolded by his father, Tofu Kozo is joined by a Dharma doll chaperone as he embarks on a trip to find his mother. He’s involved in various adventures on his journey and experiences personal growth along the way.

Director: Tetsuya Nakashima. Review: Adam Wing. Based on the hit Japanese novel Shimotsuma Story by Novala Takemoto, Kamikaze Girls stars Kyoko Fukada as leading lady Momoko. All bonnets, frilly dresses and fancy parasols, Kyoko makes for an adorable presence with personality and performance to match. After her mother (Ryoko Shinohara) leaves, and her would-be yakuza father (Hiroyuki Miyasako) gets kicked out of the big city for selling the wrong kind of designer knock-offs, Momoko and her dad move to the country. They move in with her grandmother (Kirin Kiki) who displays lightning fast reflexes when it comes to ridden the house of unwanted bugs. Desperate for money, Momoko starts selling the remainder of her father's counterfeit clothing, but her only customer is a tough-talking young biker chick called Ichigo (a husky Anna Tsuchiya), who belongs to an all-girl gang. Soon enough they become the best of friends, even if they wont admit it,...