RV: RESURRECTED VICTIMS will become available excusively on digital on February 6th

Well Go USA

Entertainment

presents

RV: Resurrected Victims / Heesaeng boohwalja

Directed by Kyung-taek Kwak

Starring KIM Rae-Won & KIM Hae-Sook

South Korea, 2017, 92 minutes

Based on the novel It Is Over by Park Ha-ik., the fast-paced, nail-biting thriller RV: RESURRECTED VICTIMS debuts on digital February 6 from Well Go USA Entertainment. Directed by Kyung-taek Kwak (Eye for an Eye), RV: RESURRECTED VICTIMS stars KIM Rae-Won (Gangnam Blues) and KIM Hae-Sook (The Handmaiden) the taunt terrifying tale of the Resurrected Victims Phenomenon, where murder victims come back to life to avenge their murderer and a prosecutor is suspected of his mother’s murder when she returns from the dead ...

Synopsis:
In the near future, murder victims have begun coming back to life with the sole purpose of avenging their deaths. Jin-hong (KIM Rae-won) is a cold-hearted prosecutor who’s obsessed with catching the man that killed his mother- but when she returns home, intent on killing him, he quickly becomes the lead suspect.

GINTAMA debuts on Digital, Blu-ray™ Combo Pack & DVD on March 6

Well Go USA

Entertainment

Presents

Gintama

Written and directed by Yûichi Fukuda

Japan, 2017, 132 minutes

GINTAMA, the visually spectacular feature film based on the long-running manga, debuts on digital, Blu-ray™ and DVD March 6 from Well Go USA Entertainment. The live-action film adaptation of the blockbuster manga is set in an era where aliens have invaded and taken over feudal Tokyo, and a young samurai finds work however he can. Written and directed by Yûichi Fukuda (Psychic Kusuo), GINTAMA stars Masaki Suda, Kanna Hashimoto, Yuya Yagira, Hirofumi Arai, Ryo Yoshizawa, Akari Hayami, Murotsuyoshi, Masami Nagasawa, Masaki Okada, Jiro Sato, Nanao Ken Yasuda, with Kankuro Nakamura, and Tsuyoshi Domoto.

Synopsis:
Based on the best-selling action comedy manga by Hideaki Sorachi, GINTAMA takes place in an alternate Edo-period Japan, where an Alien race has taken control, forcing Samurai to lay down their swords. Once feared as the "White Demon," former samurai Gintoki Sakata now works as an everyday handyman--until a master swordsman tasks Gintoki and his friends with finding the cursed sword Benizakura to keep it from falling into the wrong hands. Packed with the sword-swinging sci-fi action and offbeat humor that have made the manga a classic, GINTAMA is bound to delight both fans and anyone looking for a journey to a visually-stunning universe where fantastical action lurks just around every corner.

All-new digitally restored special edition of ICHI THE KILLER will debut on Blu-ray™ March 20

Well Go USA

Entertainment

presents

Ichi the Killer / Koroshiya 1

Directed by Takashi Miike

Japan,  2001, 130 minutes

The Definitive Remastered Edition of the Cult Horror Classic

Kills It on Blu-ray™ March 20th

Takashi Miike’s ICHI THE KILLER has endured as one of the most influential pieces of genre filmmaking of the last two decades, and now it returns in a stunning all-new digitally restored special edition approved by Miike himself. It will be debuting on Blu-ray™ March 20 from Well Go USA Entertainment. ICHI THE KILLER will also be on big screens in select cities across the country. Visit http://wellgousa.com/theatrical/ichi-the-killer for the nearest theater and ticket information.

Based on Hideo Yamamoto’s manga series of the same name, the controversial and graphic tale of feuding yakuza gangs is seen primarily through the actions of a scarred and psychologically damaged man, who is manipulated into killing rival faction members.

Digitally remastered in 4k and approved by director Takashi Miike (13 Assassins), ICHI THE KILLER stars Tadanobu Asano, Nao Omori, Shinya Tsukamoto, Alien Sun and SABU.

Bonus content includes Audio Commentary with Director Takashi Miike & Manga Artist/Writer Hideo Yamamoto and a still gallery.

Synopsis:
This visceral, bloody, and often hilarious film follows Kakihara (Tadanobu Asano), a notoriously sadistic yakuza enforcer whose search for his boss’ killer brings him into the orbit of a demented costumed assassin known as Ichi (Nao Ohmori).

SECTION23 FILMS has announced its MARCH 2018 slate of releases

Home video distributor Section23 Films has announced its March slate of releases, which includes Sentai Filmworks’ popular shoujo anime series, CHIHAYAFURU SEASON 2. The Complete Collection will be available on Blu-ray, DVD and a Limited Edition Premium Box Set

Product details follow, in order of release.

Title: GIRLISH NUMBER BLU-RAY
Published by: Sentai Filmworks
Distributed by: Section23 Films
Run Time: 300 min.
Street Date: 3/6/2018
Format: BD
Language: Japanese with English Subtitles
SRP: $59.98

SYNOPSIS: Chitose Karasuma wants to make it big as a voice actor, but while she looks and sounds adorable, she's also self-absorbed, inattentive, selfish, and lazy. However, since her manager is also her big brother, she's still getting bit parts and dreaming of landing the big role that will make her famous. Unfortunately, karma bites Chitose in the worst way possible when her big chance finally arrives, because the producers who've hired her are even more clueless than she is! Now, she's trapped in a nightmare production where nothing goes right, the ratings are in the toilet, and swimsuit photos and live stage shows take priority over making quality programming! Can Chitose and her fellow trapped actresses turn things around and save their careers? Or will they all go down with the sinking ship in GIRLISH NUMBER?


Title: INITIAL D LEGEND 2: RACER
Published by: Sentai Filmworks
Distributed by: Section23 Films
Run Time: 60 min.
Street Date: 3/13/2018
Format: COMBO
Language: English & Japanese with English Subtitles
SRP: $39.98

SYNOPSIS: Sometimes the only thing that beating a champion accomplishes is making you the next target for a long line of challengers, which is why Takumi Fujiwara's defeat of the RedSuns' Keisuke hasn't ended anything. In fact, it's only served to draw the reluctant delivery driver even further into the dangerous world of drift racing. Takumi's fate is sealed when his friend Itsuki accidentally accepts a challenge from Takeshi Nakazato, leader of the Myogi NightKids. Now it's a matter of honor, and Takumi will have to pit his gutter technique against the 4WD skills of a much more experienced driver! The race is on as the legendary street racing series returns in a second explosive new motion picture: NEW THEATRICAL MOVIE INITIAL D LEGEND 2: RACER!


Title: MY TEEN ROMANTIC COMEDY ~ SNAFU COMPLETE BLU-RAY
Published by: Sentai Filmworks
Distributed by: Section23 Films
Run Time: 650 min.
Street Date: 3/13/2018
Format: BD
Language: Japanese with English Subtitles
SRP: $79.98

SYNOPSIS: When Hachiman Hikigaya, who has no friends and believes that anyone who likes high school is either deluded or a liar, is coerced into joining the "Services Club" run by Yukino Yukinoshita, who's smart, attractive and considers everyone to be her complete inferior, it's a catastrophe just waiting to happen. But it's not until the THIRD ingredient… Yui Yuigahama, who's cute, bright, cheerful, and needs help baking cookies… is added to the combustible mix that the sparks really start to fly. Is this a recipe for romance or a prelude to a nuclear meltdown? Get ready for rom-com gone totally wrong as the barrage a trois of the Service Club is unleashed on an unsuspecting student body in MY TEEN ROMANTIC COMEDY ~ SNAFU and MY TEEN ROMANTIC COMEDY ~ SNAFU TOO!


Title: CHIHAYAFURU SEASON 2
Published by: Sentai Filmworks
Distributed by: Section23 Films
Run Time: 625 min.
Street Date: 3/20/2018
Format: BD, DVD, COMBO
Language: English & Japanese with English Subtitles
SRP: $99.98, $79.98, $149.98

SYNOPSIS: Chihaya's determination to become a master karuta player hasn't changed, but as a new semester begins, the team's focus switches to recruiting new members for the club in order to keep their meeting space. Unfortunately, while a number of students initially express interest, few are willing to put forth the effort it takes to play on the level of the existing members. Enter Sumire Hanano, who split with her boyfriend on the first day of school. Now seeking a replacement, she thinks that Taichi might just fill the role nicely… even if it means jumping into a pool with a shark like Chihaya! Now all the cards are on the table… or, in this case, the floor… and the games are really about to start in CHIHAYAFURU season 2!


Title: THE LIFE OF BUDORI GUSUKO BLU-RAY
Published by: Sentai Filmworks
Distributed by: Section23 Films
Run Time: 105 min.
Street Date: 3/27/2018
Format: BD
Language: English & Japanese with English Subtitles
SRP: $29.98

SYNOPSIS: Budori Gusuko's life was wonderful, living in the forest with his father, mother and younger sister. Then, the weather changed, the villagers he knew moved away, and tragedy stole his sister and parents from him. Forced to wander until he found another place to live, he again settled into a peaceful existence… until the weather changed, and it was all taken from him once again. Now, as he's grown older, Budori has found a job with people who study volcanoes, and when the weather starts to change again, Budori must make the biggest decision of his life. From the classic story by Kenji Miyazawa (NIGHT ON THE GALACTIC RAILROAD) comes an all-new animated masterpiece: THE LIFE OF BUDORI GUSUKO!

BEFORE WE VANISH arriving in theaters on February 2nd

Super LTD

presents

Before We Vanish / Sanpo suru shinryakusha

Directed by Kiyoshi Kurosawa

Starring Masami Nagasawa (Godzilla: Final Wars), Ryuhei Matsuda (The Raid 2),

Mahiro Takasugi, Yuri Tsunematsu, and Hiroki Hasegawa (Shin Godzilla)

Japan, 2017, 127 minutes

Japanese Language with English Subtitles 

The Acclaimed Cannes Selection Arrives in Cinemas February 2nd From Super LTD

In his twentieth film, acclaimed horror director Kiyoshi Kurosawa (Cure, Pulse) reinvents the alien movie as a unique and profoundly human tale of love and mystery. Three aliens travel to Earth on a reconnaissance mission in preparation for a mass invasion. Having taken possession of human bodies, the visitors rob the hosts of their essence – good, evil, property, family, belonging – leaving only hollow shells, which are all but unrecognizable to their loved ones. Equally hilarious, thrilling, and profound, BEFORE WE VANISH reminds audiences of the continued strength of one of Japanese cinema's most unique auteurs – and the value of the human spirit.

CITY OF ROCK will be available exclusively on Digital January 23rd

Well Go USA

Entertainment

presents

City of Rock

Directed by Da Peng

Starring Da Peng, Gulnazar & QIAO Shan

China, 2017, 140 minutes

Available Exclusively on Digital January 23

Acclaimed auteur Da Peng (Pancake Man aka Jiang Bing Man) directs and stars in the zany musical comedy CITY OF ROCK, debuting exclusively on digital on January 23rd from Well Go USA Entertainment. Peng plays a small-town musician who plans a benefit concert to save his town’s beloved Rock Park from redevelopment by a corporate real estate agent. CITY OF ROCK also stars Gulnazar (The Game Changer) and QIAO Shan (Some Like It Hot).

Synopsis:
Da Peng’s highly anticipated sophomore film, CITY OF ROCK, follows Hu Liang, a young man from a small town in China, who wants to protect the town’s treasured Rock Park from redevelopment by a corporate real estate agent. Hoping to save the park by organizing a charity rock concert, he partners with music agent Cheng Gong. But when he’s offered a large payout to cancel the concert, will Hu Liang choose money or will he save the beloved town park?

KICKBOXER RETALIATION is coming to theaters and On Demand starting January 26th, 2018

Well Go USA

Entertainment

presents

Kickboxer Retaliation

Directed by Dimitri Logothetis

USA, 2018, 110 minutes

Starring Alain Moussi, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Christopher Lambert,

Mike Tyson, Sara Malakul Lane, Jessica Jann, Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson,

Steven Swadling, and Sam Medina 

In Theaters & On Demand January 26th 

Okay, this film is not specifically Asian, but it is a martial arts action flick, and so it's probably of interest to many AsianCineFest readers. It's a sequel to Kickboxer Vengeance (2016), which was directed by John Stockwell. (Sorry, but I'm not familiar with that film, so have nothing further to say about it.)

Synopsis:
One year after finding vengeance for his murdered brother, MMA champion Kurt Sloane finds himself back in Thailand kidnapped and imprisoned there by a powerful gangster (Christopher Lambert). His only shot at freedom is to win an underground death match against a 400lb killer enhanced with state - of the -art drugs (Game of Thrones' Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson). To make it out alive, he seeks training unlike anything he’s ever endured, with the help of the legendary Master Durand (Jean-Claude Van Damme) and fellow prisoner Briggs (Mike Tyson).

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KickboxerRetaliationOfficial

Official Site & Theaters: http://wellgousa.com/tw/theatrical/kickboxer-retaliation

SECTION23 FILMS announces its FEBRUARY 2018 slate of releases

Home video distributor Section23 Films has announced its February slate of releases, which includes Sentai Filmworks’ otherworldly adventure series, FLIP FLAPPERS! The Complete Collection will be available on Blu-ray and a Limited Edition Premium Box Set.

Product details follow, in order of release.

Title: FOOD WARS! ~ THE SECOND PLATE
Published by: Sentai Filmworks
Distributed by: Section23 Films
Run Time: 325 min.
Street Date: 2/13/2018
Format: BD, DVD, COMBO
Language: English & Japanese with English Subtitles
SRP: $99.98, $79.98, $199.98

SYNOPSIS: At the Tohtsuki Culinary Academy, the first rule is survival of the fittest, and if you don't have what it takes to become a master chef, you need to get out of the kitchen before you get burned. With the wheat of first-year students separated from the chaff, cocky former diner cook Yukihira Soma is one of the handful of kitchen whizzes still standing. As the next round of the Autumn Elections gets underway, can he survive a brutal bento boxing match with the chemistry-obsessed granddaughter of the Academy's director? And which of the other contenders; Megumi, Ryo, Akira, Hisako, Takumi or sinister dark-horse Subaru; will advance to fight for the gold medal? Get ready for another cut-throat season of eat, beat, and defeat in FOOD WARS! THE SECOND PLATE!


Title: GARO: KIBA - THE DARK KNIGHT! BLU-RAY
Published by: Kraken Releasing
Distributed by: Section23 Films
Run Time: 50 min.
Street Date: 2/20/2018
Format: BD
Language: Japanese with English Subtitles
SRP: $19.98

SYNOPSIS: He was born the child of a Makai Knight and a Makai Priestess. He trained to become a Makai Knight and fight the nightmarish creatures known as Horrors. Everything changed when the forces of evil intervened and stole everything he loved, the man who was once named Barago turned to a darker path. Learning to hate everything he once cherished, and twisting his oaths and armor to a new, sinister purpose, he makes a monstrous bargain with the ultimate Horror and betrays the Makai Knights! Now, in a spectacular stand-alone side adventure, the dark Genesis of one of GARO's most formidable villains is revealed in GARO: KIBA - THE DARK KNIGHT!


Title: NON NON BIYORI COMPLETE BLU-RAY
Published by: Sentai Filmworks
Distributed by: Section23 Films
Run Time: 600 min.
Street Date: 2/20/2018
Format: BD
Language: Japanese with English Subtitles
SRP: $79.98

SYNOPSIS: When Hotaru moves from Tokyo to a tiny town in the rural countryside, she's in for some serious culture shock: the nearest place that sells comics is 20 minutes away, the nearest video store is ten train stations down the line, and there are only three other girls and one boy in her entire school! Even though everything's so different, there's something about the laid-back atmosphere that makes her feel strangely comfortable. While she'll certainly miss parts of her old life, there's a whole lifetime of experiences waiting to be enjoyed with her new friends Renge, Komari, Natsumi, and Suguru! In the end, it's who you're with, not where you are, that makes a place your home in NON NON BIYORI and NON NON BIYORI REPEAT!


Title: FLIP FLAPPERS! COMPLETE COLLECTION
Published by: Sentai Filmworks
Distributed by: Section23 Films
Run Time: 325 min.
Street Date: 2/27/2018
Format: BD, PBS
Language: English & Japanese with English Subtitles
SRP: $69.98, $149.98

SYNOPSIS: As a middle school student, Cocona has been trying to decide what to do with her life. Magical Girl, however, wasn't a career path that she'd ever considered. When suddenly a strange girl named Papika thrusts her into a secret organization called Flip Flap, Cocona's outlook does a radical flip-flop. Her views start to change when she is dragged into an alternate dimension called Pure Illusion where she's charged with gathering crystal shards and fighting strange creatures. Now, between running missions and facing off against a rival organization, Cocona doesn't have much time to consider alternate career choices. What are these shards, and why is gathering them so important? There's a mystery to be solved and multiple worlds to be saved in FLIP FLAPPERS!