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South Korea’s Lyd is to handle international sales of upcoming Japanese drama On Summer Sand as it continues to expand its slate of non-Korean films.

The company, known for handling hit K-drama series including Mr. Queen and My Love From The Star, has also invested in the production and will handle non-theatrical distribution in Japan.

Prolific actor Joe Odagiri stars in the adaptation of an award-winning play of the same name by Masataka Matsuda.

Set in Nagasaki, Odagiri plays an unemployed man named Koura who is dealing with the loss of his four-year-old son and separation from his wife.

South Korea’s Lyd is to handle international sales of upcoming Japanese drama On Summer Sand as it continues to expand its slate of non-Korean films.

The company, known for handling hit K-drama series including Mr. Queen and My Love From The Star, has also invested in the production and will handle non-theatrical distribution in Japan.

Prolific actor Joe Odagiri stars in the adaptation of an award-winning play of the same name by Masataka Matsuda.

Set in Nagasaki, Odagiri plays an unemployed man named Koura who is dealing with the loss of his four-year-old son and separation from his wife.

At its heart, the very medium of cinema is about the relationship between light and sound – together, the right combination of wavelengths and frequencies can produce pure emotion. The Colors Within is a film that understands that symbiosis perfectly; a cine-synaesthetic coming-of-age anime that plays constantly with what is seen, heard and felt. It’s another evolution of filmmaker Naoko Yamada, whose previous works – including A Silent Voice and Liz And The Blue Bird – have also been school-set tales of teen drama with an aural fixation.

It’s another win, too, for Science Saru – previously behind Night Is Short, Walk On Girl and the Scott Pilgrim animated series – an anime studio with no house style, but a reputation for raising the bar. In its best and most daring moments, The Colors Within is gasp-worthy to look at – its central character, introverted Catholic school-girl Totsuko (Sayu Suzukawa), has the ability to see people’s auras,...

In much of today’s filmmaking, from superhero movies to TikTok videos, time is compressed, speeding the action along much faster than it could ever go in reality. In the animated worlds meticulously crafted by Japanese director Naoko Yamada, however, life moves gloriously, realistically slow. Schoolchildren walk at a measured pace, pausing outside their classrooms to remove shoes. A grandmother pushes the bridge of her glasses up her nose. A tram stops to let a single passenger off before slinking away again. It’s all in the service of expressing,...

Of all of the phrases that could begin a light-hearted animated film, the Serenity Prayer popularized by Alcoholics Anonymous is surely among the least likely. But “The Colors Within,” which opens with that plea for God to grant “the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,” is no ordinary animated film. It is directed by Naoko Yamada, whose work in anime series (“K-On!”) and films has established her as one of the medium’s most distinctive current voices. Fitting snugly into her oeuvre’s focus on youthful hopes and desires, the film follows a trio of teenagers as they form an ad hoc rock band, delving into their personal lives with a refreshingly low-key and compassionate touch.

The prayer in question is made by Totsuko (Sayu Suzukawa), a student at an all-girls Catholic high school in Japan. Since her early childhood, she has possessed a unique form of synesthesia...

If there is one thing that director Naoko Yamada and writer Reiko Yoshida understand about teenagers, it’s that their inner lives are much more nuanced than outward appearances might suggest. Following their superb anime films A Silent Voice and Liz And The Blue Bird, The Colors Within is perhaps...

The Apollo's Song science fiction manga by Osamu Tezuka will now be adapted into a live-action TV drama beginning on February 18, 2025, premiering on Mainichi Broadcasting System and Tokyo Broadcasting System in Japan. Ken Ninomiya will write and direct the series, starring Shori Sato as Shogo Chikaishi and Akari Takaishi as Hiromi Watari . Apollo's Song Teaser Trailer Shonen Gahosha serialized the original Apollo's Song manga in their Weekly Shonen King manga magazine in 1970. Vertical, Inc. originally published an English language version of the series, and describes the story as follows: Apollo’s Song follows the tragic journey of Shogo, a young man whose abusive childhood has instilled in him a loathing for love so profound he finds himself compelled to acts of violence when he is witness to any act of intimacy or affection whether by human or beast. His hate is such that the gods intervene, cursing Shogo to experience...

For director Naoko Yamada, creating a project from scratch for The Colors Within presented a big challenge but also the realization of a lifelong dream. “I love music and I’ve always wanted to form a band,” says Yamada. “In this way, I was able to form a band and present it to the whole world and that makes me really happy. My dream came true.”

The Colors Within follows Totsuko (Sayu Suzukawa), a young girl with the ability to see the color of someone’s heart. After being enthralled by the colors she sees in her new friends Kimi (Akari Takaishi) and Rui (Taisei Kido), the three decide to start a band. Yamada’s choice of colors for the three main characters was based on the primary colors that make up light – Totsuko as red, Kimi as blue and Rui as green.

Deadline: Where did the idea come from...

While the new anime of every year get plenty of attention, the new anime movies of every year are just as deserving of such. Whether they’re spinoffs or adaptations of popular anime or manga or original stories from celebrated directors, there are always great new anime movies to watch, and in many cases, they end up among the best pieces of animation a person can watch in their respective year.

Anime movies are almost always fun, and 2024 was no different. Dozens of incredible anime films were released worldwide in 2024, and according to major anime site Anime!Anime!, Japanese fans have officially chosen the 10 anime films they consider to be the best films of 2024. In most cases, the top 10 films are all among the most critically and financially successful anime films of 2024, and they’re all films any anime fan should watch as soon as they become available.

The Colors...

Japanese rock band Macaroni Empitsu released their latest digital single song "Saraba" ("If So") on January 3, 2025, and also posted the song's music video on their official YouTube channel . The song is now featured as the opening theme for the TV anime Blue Box 's ongoing second cour. Macaroni Empitsu "Saraba" Music Video The music video is directed by Motherfucko , known for her Mv works for popular J-pop artists such as Daichi Miura, Generation from Exile Tribe, CreepHyp, and Scandal. She said on the band's official website about this music video: "I created a story with two time lines: the members in their student days and the members who have grown older. I hope you enjoy the sad love story of their student days and the cool performance scenes. Please take a look at the many wonderful photos of their memories." "Saraba" digital jacket featuring actor Akari Takaishi Macaroni Empitsu artist...

"I want to express Kimi's 'color'. Kimi's color is very beautiful. And exciting." GKids has revealed another official US trailer for the beloved Japanese anime film called The Colors Within, the latest creation from filmmaker Naoko Yamada. She is one of the few female Japanese anime filmmakers and her last two films were A Silent Voice and Liz and the Blue Bird. In this new film, a girl who can see colors in people's hearts joins a band with two other people. The synesthete Totsuko can see others as colors. Honor student Kimi has dropped out of school but still pretends to attend for her grandmother's sake. They reunite and form a small band with Rui, who dreams of composing on analog synthesizers but whose mother expects him to become a doctor. Together, they find freedom, joy, and love. This first premiered at the 2024 Annecy Film Festival to rave reviews...

"Try to write a song about how you feel." GKids has revealed the main official US trailer for an acclaimed Japanese anime film titled The Colors Within, the latest creation from filmmaker Naoko Yamada. She is one of the few female Japanese anime filmmakers and her last two films were A Silent Voice and Liz and the Blue Bird. In this new film, a girl who can see colors in people's hearts joins a band with two other people. The synesthete Totsuko can see others as colors. Honor student Kimi has dropped out of school but still pretends to attend for her grandmother's sake. They reunite and form a small band with Rui, who dreams of composing on analog synthesizers but whose mother expects him to become a doctor. Together, they find freedom, joy, and love. This first premiered at the 2024 Annecy Film Festival to rave reviews and it opens...

Yugo Sakamoto's Baby Assassins franchise has carved a unique legacy as a bubbly-cute take on rough-and-tumble mercenary stories. No, it's not about literal newborn assassins (sigh). Chisato Sugimoto (Akari Takaishi) and Mahiro Fukagawa (Saori Izawa) are young adults living snack-hungry Japanese lifestyles who also happen to be budding contract killers, and their first two endeavors are a riot. Baby Assassins Nice Days marks entry number three, and while Kensuke Sonomura's action choreography still packs a punch, the trilogy finisher shows weakness regarding the affable slacker goofs in between kick-ass showdowns.

Demon Slayer's live-action stage adaptation, titled Demon Slayer - Kimetsu no Yaiba - The Stage, has now finally become available to streamers internationally following its release on Crunchyroll. The musical initially ran in Japan from January-February 2020.

Per a press release, the live-action stage performance has become available for streaming with English subtitles in the U.S., Canada, United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand as of June 21, 2024. The stage adaptation sits at just under 2 hours and 40 minutes, starring Ryota Kobayashi as Tanjiro Kamado, Akari Takaishi as Nezuko Kamado, Keisuke Ueda as Zenitsu Agatsuma and Yugo Sato as Inosuke Hashibira.

Related Demon Slayer Serves Up Incredible Eats at Official Swordsmith Village-Inspired Restaurant

A full-out Demon Slayer dining experience based on the franchise's Swordsmith Village arc has been revealed with first-look food and drink images.

Demon Slayer - Kimetsu no Yaiba - The Stage Covers the First Half of the Anime's...

The live-action stage adaptation of the Shonen Jump hit Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba is coming to Crunchyroll! Starting June 21, fans in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa can watch Demon Slayer -Kimetsu No Yaiba- the stage, which showcases Tanjiro and Nezuko’s story in a whole new way. Read on for everything you need to know about the premiere! Watch Demon Slayer -Kimetsu No Yaiba- the stage right here ! Demon Slayer -Kimetsu No Yaiba- the stage Release Date: June 21 at 11:30 a.m. Pt Territories: United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa Synopsis: One day in Japan during the Taisho era, Tanjiro, a kind young man who sells coal, finds his family slaughtered by a demon. Worse yet, the only survivor, his younger sister Nezuko, is turned into a demon. Tanjiro makes up...

Critically acclaimed anime director Naoko Yamada, whose filmography includes the Sound! Euphonium series, Clannad, and K-On!, has us excited for her next work, which is set to come out this year. Kimi no Iro (Your Color) was initially set to be released in 2023, but the title has been delayed to 2024. Now, with the release of the film’s first trailer, we have also confirmed the premiere date for the movie, which is going to be August 30, 2024.

Kimi no Iro‘s fall 2023-to-summer 2024 delay upset some fans, but the movie is now on track to release in several months’ time, so fans can rejoice. The movie will follow high school student Totsuko, who has the ability to perceive the emotions of other people as colors. Because of this ability, she has to tread very lightly and tell white lies to other people to avoid darkening their colors, which is important to her.

A new trailer and key visual was revealed on March 18, 2024 for A Silent Voice director Naoko Yamada’s latest anime film, Kimi No Iro, which tells the story of a high school girl who can see people’s emotions as colors.

The movie, animated by Science Saru, will release in theatres in Japan on Aug 30, 2024. It was originally set to release in 2023, but then got delayed.

Check out the trailer and the key visual below.

Director Yamada, emphasizing the importance of the audience’s cinematic experience, elaborated on Kimi no Iro‘s core concept of “seeing people’s hearts through colors,” explaining, “It’s a very sensory concept, and to bring it to life as a visual experience, I consciously avoided verbalizing it. I wanted to express the protagonist Totsuko’s perception of the world through colors.”

Yamada mentioned the focus on effectively communicating the film’s worldview and core themes to the staff,...

Following a delay from its original Fall 2023 window, upcoming anime film Kimi no Iro ( Your Colors ) today announced a new premiere date of August 30, 2024 in Japan with the release of a special trailer and visual. A cast list stacked with newcomers was also revealed, including Sayu Suzukawa as Totsuko Higurashi, Akari Takaishi as Kimi Sakunaga, Taisei Kido as Louis Kagehira and Yui Aragaki as Sister Hiyoko, who are all introduced in the trailer below. 'Color' Visual Naoko Yamada helms the film as director and original creator at studio Science Saru, with a script by Reiko Yoshida ( Liz and the Blue Bird ), soundtrack by Kensuke Ushio ( The Heike Story ) and daisukerichard's original character designs adapted for animation by Takashi Kojima ( Ride Your Wave ), who also serves as animation director. Story inc., which has worked with Makoto Shinkai since Weathering With You , is planning and producing the film with Toho distributing the film in Japan.

Yugo Sakamoto’s Baby Assassins, which screened at the Glasgow Film Festival in 2022, told the story of two highly skilled but nevertheless adorable young assassins whose lives fall apart when their agency forces them to share a flat. The moment that we see Chisato (Akari Takaishi) and Mahiro (Saori Izawa) again in this film, which screened as part of the 2024 festival, it’s obvious that the bond they formed back then has really blossomed. They are living in a gloriously untidy, candy-coloured paradise whose tables are piled high with sweets and desserts in which they indulge at every opportunity – but they’re still in good shape, of course, because they still work as contract killers.

They need to. Outside of their work, their disorganisation extends beyond the domestic sphere. An unpaid gym membership results in massive penalties from accrued fines and interest, landing them in hot water, and...

"You can bet on me." Well Go USA has revealed an official trailer for an action comedy sequel from Japan titled Baby Assassins 2, once again written and directed by Japanese action filmmaker Yugo Sakamoto. This is a follow-up to the 2021 film Baby Assassins, about two high school girls who also just so happen to be highly trained assassins. Apparently it was enough of a success they had to come back and make a sequel - with everyone returning for more. After the agency suspends its top assassins, aspiring hitmen decide to eliminate them—leading to a lightning-fast showdown between trained killers. Baby Assassins 2 brings back Akari Takaishi and the rising star and Snake Eyes and Rurouni Kenshin franchise stuntwoman Saori Izawa as the two leads - who try to stay alive. With Atomu Mizuishi, Tomo Nakai, Tsubasa Tobinaga, Tetsu Watanabe, Joey Tee, Oto Abe, and Tatsuomi Hamada. This played at...

Stars: Saori Izawa, Akari Takaishi, Tatsuomi Hamada, Iwanaga Joey, Junpei Hashino, Atom Mizuishi, Tsubasa Tobinaga | Written and Directed by Yugo Sakamoto

Two years ago, Yugo Sakamoto’s quirky action comedy Baby Assassins came out of nowhere and blew me away with its story of Mahiro and Chisato two high school girls who live secret lives as assassins.

Now the girls are back in Baby Assassins 2 Babies, and they haven’t gotten any better at dealing with day-to-day things like paying their bills. A gym membership that’s been collecting late fees for five years and their insurance needs to be paid immediately. But when robbers strike the bank as they’re trying to, they intervene and get suspended from the Assassin’s Guild for using their skills off the clock.

But finding another job to pay the bills is the least of their problems. Makoto and Yuri are looking...

Before being widely known through his two “Baby Assassins” movies, Yugo Sakamoto has also shot a grittier, somewhat darker movie, “The Janitor”, who still implements, though, the chaotic narrative approach his later movies included.

on Hi-Yah!

The titular character is actually Akira Fukami, a man whose father was murdered and was taken in by his sworn blood brother, Majima, a yakuza leader who trained Fukami into becoming his most formidable assassin. As the movie begins, and as a side job, the young man poses as a janitor in a high school where Majima’s daughter, Yui is attending, secretly functioning as her bodyguard. Despite some issues here and there, his life proceeds smoothly, until Majima announces that he wants to take his business to Hong Kong. This enrages one of the underbosses, Nishimori, who immediately starts plotting to have him killed, using Fukami, to whom he reveals...

Hot off the Japanese action-comedy hijinks of 2021's "Baby Assassins" is writer and director Yugo Sakamoto's "Baby Assassins 2" (alternately titled "Baby Assassins: 2 Babies"). No, this isn't about toddlers with katanas accepting mercenary contracts. Sakamoto continues his story about an odd couple of trained assassins who'd rather be gorging on ice cream sundaes than pulverizing gangsters with a very slacker-humor vibe. Action can feel like an "afterthought" earlier on, but that's not a forever choice nor a detriment. "Baby Assassins 2" is as much a commentary about Japanese youths struggling to find work and nonsense bureaucracy as a flurry of furious fists, both of which find their place in this offbeat, uptempo, and quite funny sequel.

Returning as Sakamoto's "Babies" are Chisato (Akari Takaishi) and Mahiro (Saori Izawa), roommates with contradictory personalities shaped into expert killers. The excessively cutesy and squee Chisato discovers they haven't paid their gym membership in roughly four years,...

Highly skilled assassins lying in wait and trying to live a normal life have recently been portrayed to commercial success in cinema of late. When it comes to Japanese cinema, two such recent productions that immediately come spring to mind are “The Fable” and “Baby Assassins”. Since the former did get a sequel, which was also well received by the audience, it was only a matter of time that Yugo Sakamoto's action comedy about two young female assassins also got a sequel of its own. Two years since the release of the first and we are back in the world of our awkward but highly skilled pair of killing machines.

Tokyo Uber Blues is screening at Nippon Connection

Since we last saw them fighting and winning against the Yakuza, Mahiro and Chisato have become elite, high-ranking killers within the Guild but most importantly, they have learnt to live with...

Strip away the politics and the grander discourses resonating from their collective cerebral cortex, movies engross and enchant; molding and inspiring younger impressionable minds, the cinematic audiovisual experience is an exhilarating tour-de-force of mind-bending effects and inimitable panache. Sat in a movie theatre with eyes glued to the screen awash in pure wonderment is the future, a myriad of potential creatives who will never forget their first time of becoming speechless at the big screen. It is a fertile time when untamed and unfiltered bewilderment possesses those hearts and minds in lieu of the irrational realities that will one day take its place for so many. For Kazuya Konaka, nothing would ever be the same again once he would emerge from a movie theater in 1978 after witnessing a groundbreaking achievement in the arts, filled with hopes of one day fulfilling his own; with ‘Single8' Konaka relives a time of...

"May the syrup be tasty!" Well Go USA is releasing this Japanese action comedy on VOD & DVD starting tomorrow - this trailer dropped a few weeks ago but we're only catching up with it now. Baby Assassins is a hitwoman action comedy from Japan directed by filmmaker Yugo Sakamoto. Chisato and Mahilo are two high school girls who are about to graduate. They also happen to both be highly skilled assassins. When the organization they work for orders them to share a room, the relationship between them turns sour. This "badass new martial arts action-comedy" is directed by Hugo Sakamoto and it stars the inimitable Akari Takaishi, the rising star and Snake Eyes and Rurouni Kenshin franchise stuntwoman Saori Izawa, and the lightning-fast Masanori Mimoto—now available to watch early, exclusively on Hi-yah! - if you prefer streaming. This definitely looks like fun, but it really does have a direct-to-video vibe about it.

What do assassins do in their downtime when they are not taking contract hits? This is a question that has often perplexed viewers and now, director Yugo Sakamoto attempts to answer it in “Baby Assassins”, surprisingly one of his three directing credits from last year.

on Amazon

Mahiro and Chisato are two high school graduates who, like every other girl their age, are on the lookout of securing and surviving at a part-time job. Unlike most girls their age though, they’re both assassins for hire, working as a team for an organisation that insists that they share an apartment with each other till they turn twenty. The two work well as a duo on assignments but living together is a different game altogether, as Mahiro is a self-confessed sociopath whereas Chisato is a bubbly, cheery extrovert. While the two try to work their differences out and make their living situation work,...

(l-r) Akari Takaishi and Saori Izawa take down a target in Baby Assassins. Courtesy of Well Go USA Entertainment

Due to a recent Supreme Court decision, one might be oriented towards assuming the Baby Assassins title denotes a right-to-life documentary. Not even close. This is a subtitled Japanese dramedy about two teenaged girls who moonlight as hit persons. Upon graduation from high school, their bosses make them share an apartment and find regular jobs to appear like normal members of society, deflecting suspicions about how they really make a living. That sets up a Felix-and-Oscar type of pairing for sharing quarters. Awkward, with a mild touch of humor.

Akari Takaishi plays an upbeat brunette with enough charm to work at a themed restaurant that requires its waitresses to exude all the giggly girlish energy one could generate for the patrons. It makes the pressure on Jennifer Aniston to display “flair...

The independent circuit is always a unique area of the entertainment industry to explore, as many amazing movies come from indie filmmaking. It is also appealing, considering many experimental projects are created and have satisfactory results. Yet, not all these features are hits; some are misses. There can be appreciation for a film with the effort attempted onscreen but being left cold with the flick as a whole. Sadly, this is the case with beautifully shot but heavily flawed “Distant Thunder,”

“Distant Thunder” is screening at Skip City International D-Cinema Festival

The fear of the end of the world looms over society, particularly because of the writings of astrologer Nostradamus. It seems the end is approaching with a meteorite expected to hit Japan soon. Following the death of their father, three sisters named Ayane, Kanon, and Oto, reunite to reconnect with one another. This turns out to be more awkward than expected,...

Working the cash register at a convenience store? Cooking food at a nondescript diner? Serving up sweets and smiles at a maid café? For cheerful Chisato and mopey Mahiro, two teenage girls with opposing personalities, the options for the part-time work they seek aren’t all that appealing. After all, they’re already making good money as a pair of ruthlessly efficient killers for hire. The policy of their shadowy employer, however, requires that upon graduation from high school, they each develop a cover story. That means sharing an apartment and finding menial jobs. At the same time, they’ve run afoul of a psychopathic yakuza boss and his bratty son and daughter. As the conflict escalates and the blood starts to flow, will Chisato and Mahiro get the job done?

As startling and ferocious as it is hilarious and endearing, the second feature film from writer/director Hugo Sakamoto...