V-Cinema Essentials: Bullets & Betrayal

Unable to live or die due to certain circumstances, Koda Sumomo visits Auberge Gilda which is a five-minute walk from Cape Shide, a famous suicide spot. She listens to its owner Shiraishi Yuko and ends up working with the employee Koreeda Ibuki and chef Omori Zen for three months. Guests with all sorts of circumstances come to this auberge at the farthest reaches, including an actress being criticized for reports of an affair, and a man faced with divorce on the day he reached the mandatory retirement age. Through their stay at Auberge Gilda, they become aware of life and are revitalized. Seeing this with her own eyes, Sumomo also has a change of heart. However, she learns about Yuko’s secret.

Hitotsubashi Kiriko is sinking into a pit of sorrow when her one and only best friend whom she lived with for three years, dies of illness. Living on a pension and working part-time is not easy, and the thought of having solitary death terrifies her. One day, she was fascinated by the statement of an arrested person she saw on TV which inspires her to commit crime so she could live in prison. And so, Kiriko's "Life in Prison" plan began. As Kiriko proceeds with her crime plan, she finds new experiences and encounters.

Old apartment complexes, rented houses in the suburbs, and cabs running through the cities. These scenes may look ordinary but each has a different story to tell. A daughter who works part-time to support her disabled mother; a woman who has been cut off from her family and continues to work as a cab driver; a granddaughter who lives in a rented house and works at a factory with her grandmother. This is the story of three women, who live far apart from each other and do not know each other's existence until a fateful encounter through a radio program.

A quirky romance blossoms between a dashing meat-eating man and a culinary-minded woman who has sworn off love.

春になったら

After her ex-cop father is murdered on Christmas Eve, Komugi finds a letter hinting at a dark conspiracy and teams up with a lawyer to uncover the truth.

“Who is the last person you would like to see？” When junior high school teacher Sakuraba Ayako wakes up, she sees a man standing there. Calling himself a guide of this mysterious place that extends in front of them, he tells her that this is “goodbye’s other side”. As his words sink in, Ayako recalls that she has died. She lets slip that she had never thought she would die in this manner. Visitors to this other side can meet people of this world one last time within a 24-hour time period. Ayako immediately thinks of her son Yuta and husband Hirotaka. However, the guide says the ones she can meet are only those who still do not know about her death. Ayako goes to the house of her former teacher Ishibashi Nobuyoshi. She is greeted by his daughter Megumi, but Nobuyoshi passed away about two years ago…

The drama is a family story with a lot of black humor about the tragedy and joy of three sisters who gave their mother a trip to a hot spring for her birthday.

When Aihara Ame was a high school student in Nagasaki, she wasn’t confident in herself due to her past. Asano Taiyo was a student attending the same school as Aihara Ame. He was the only person who talked to her brightly. With him, she was able to see her life positively for the first time in her life. She had feelings for him. After her graduation, she went to Tokyo to fulfill her dream of becoming a patissier without telling Asano Taiyo about her feelings for him. After 8 years, she returns to Nagasaki. One day, she meets Asano Taiyo, whom she has never forgotten, and is elated to see him again. An accident soon occurs, and Aihara Ame falls into deep despair. A man appears in front of her and introduces himself as a guide from the afterlife. He tells her that if she gives her heart to him, he will make a miracle for her.

The story follows the growth of Yamazaki Otome, a young girl lacking experience in love, who utilizes her hobby of making sweets to work at Patisserie MON, a french pastry shop.

This seven-episode anthology features a cast of leading actors and depicts various forms of "love," such as love almost forgotten, love between sons and mothers, and love that transcends borders.

つまらない住宅地のすべての家

When feisty college student Yuri is attacked at a party, she's saved by Oya Toshiomi, the underboss of a yakuza syndicate. Despite her obvious attraction to him, she convinces herself that she's not in the market for a bad boy type. But when they meet again, she finds herself irresistibly drawn to him—kicking off a steamy and dangerous love affair that threatens to consume her, body and soul. Adapted from a manga by the same title.

Ritsuka Uenoyama is bored with it all—with school, with his basketball club, and even with his one true passion: playing guitar. That is, until the day he finds his favorite hidden napping spot occupied by a strange boy cradling a broken-stringed guitar. At first, Uenoyama is nonplussed by Mafuyu Satō and his slightly odd behavior, but when, on a whim, he asks Mafuyu to sing, the power of that song pierces him to the core.

Keiichi is due to marry his girlfriend in 48 days when she returns from her business trip to China. However, before that happens, Keiichi ends up sharing his apartment with 3 other women and tries to hide this from Kano who happens to return home earlier than expected.

Daishi Morimiya is a high school student whose dream is to become a wheelchair, track-and-field athlete. In addition to that, Miyako Fukai, a former wheelchair athlete, becomes Daishi’s coach. One day, a handsome alien falls from the sky when Daishi was practicing with Miyako, surrounded by his friends and father (who is employed at an old factory). The handsome alien named Goo, after escaping a mass genocide somewhere in Earth’s binary star, warns Daishi and his friends that Earth is in danger. Then, a giant lizard-like monster who is after Goo, attacks Daishi’s household. That’s when Goo’s Mode Shifter begins to emit light, radiating Daishi. His body is completely transformed by a special protector. The transformed Daishi charges at the monster while still in his wheelchair.

あれからどうした

Takumi Amase, an aspiring chef, becomes homeless after his restaurant closes. While job hunting, he reunites with Ryoji Sakiyama, a photographer he once liked, at a coffee shop. Ryoji doesn’t remember him, but Takumi moves in with Ryoji and his friend Daiya, who are seeking a third roommate. As they live together, Takumi grapples with his feelings for Ryoji, who is hesitant about love, while Daiya keeps his own secrets.

The newest installment in Fuji TV's "Ooku" series is about the women linked to the Tokugawa shogun line. This time, the focus is on Isonomiya Tomoko and her political marriage to the 10th shogun, Tokugawa Ieharu.

This is a non-stop crisis suspense drama about a couple who are swept away by temporary emotions and end up having an affair with each other and are cornered by their respective partners. The main character, Kosaka Machiko, is a good wife who supports her husband and is passionate about her work, but when she discovers that her husband is having an affair, she also ends up having an affair with her junior colleague at the company.