ACF 1768: Sentai Filmworks licenses TAMAKO MARKET

Welcome to a place where the unexpected happens every day in Sentai Filmworks’ newest acquisition: Tamako Market. Join mochi expert Tamako as she tries to make life a little sweeter in this 12 episode series directed by Naoko Yamada (K-ON!) and featuring series composition by Reiko Yoshida (La Corda D’Oro), character designs by Yukiko Horiguchi (K-ON!), sound direction by Yota Tsuruoka (Clannad) and music by Tomoko Kataoka.

Tamako Market will be available soon through select digital outlets with a home video release later this year.

Synopsis: Tamako knows just about everything there is to know about mochi, the traditional Japanese dessert treats. When she’s not attending her first year of high school, she even invents new flavors and varieties for Tama-ya, her family’s mochi shop. School and growing up, on the other hand, are some things that she’s still trying to find the right recipe for. But with the help of her best friends Kanna and Midori, two girls whose parents run businesses in the same shopping district, Tamako’s determined to make the best of things.

It’s complicated though, especially when it comes to emotions and her relationship with her best boy friend Mochizo, whose family runs a rival mochi shop. And lately, Kanna’s been feeling a little odd about her feelings towards Tamako as well. And what’s with up with that strange bird fluttering around, the one that speaks fluent Japanese? It’s all very mysterious and overwhelming, but at least Tamako always has one thing she can count on: No matter if your day’s been good or bad, there’s certain to be something sugary and delicious waiting at the end of every adventure whenever you take a walk through Tamako Market.

ACF 1767: THE TOWER opens in several North American cities today

Poster for The Tower with KIM Sang-kyung as LEE Dae-ho

THE TOWER, director KIM Ji-hoon's blockbuster hit that scored the second best opening in Korean Cinema history this past December, opens today, Friday, January 11, 2013, in several cities in North America. The film, which has been playing in Los Angeles since December 25th, can now be seen in Las Vegas, San Diego, Seattle, Dallas, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Chicago, New York, New Jersey, Vancouver, Toronto, Honolulu, and Irvine. Info about specific theaters and links to buy tickets can be found at the film’s official website, http://www.thetowermovie2013.com/. All screenings are in Korean with English subtitles.

Though I never saw THE TOWERING INFERNO (1974), I know enough about it to be confident in saying that THE TOWER is a variation on that film, with an element of the 9-11 attacks on the Twin Towers of New York’s World Trade Center thrown in. Here, however, the conflagration is not the result of faulty wiring or a terrorist attack, but rather due to a design flaw by, and the hubris and connections of, the Chairman of Tower Sky. This 108 story skyscraper consists of twin towers, one with a River View and the other with a City View, that are conjoined by a Sky Bridge at level 70, roughly 2/3rds of way to the top of the buildings. Tower Sky is the most luxurious apartment complex in Korea, with shops, restaurants and all the other amenities needed to satisfy the extremely wealthy people who live there.

LEE's daughter Ha-na with SEO Yoon-hee (actress SON Ye-jin)

The film has three primary characters. LEE Dae-ho (KIM Sang-kyung) is Tower Sky’s conscientious facility manager, the widowed father of a precocious young daughter, Ha-na. Though he has difficulty expressing them, he has strong feelings for SEO Yoon-hee (SON Ye-jin), the facility’s restaurant manager, who has similar feelings for him. When tragedy strikes during Christmas Eve festivities, Dae-ho fights his way to rejoin Yoon-hee and Ha-na in order to save them. Also joining the rescue efforts is KANG Young-kee (SUL Kyung-gu), an experienced firefighter from the Yeoudio Fire Station. Young-kee was to have had the night off to be with his wife, but he can’t neglect the call of duty.

The disaster film genre calls for a sizeable cast consisting of a wide variety of people, and THE TOWER fulfills that requirement most admirably. There’s the fire fighter sergeant, the Fire Chief, and the Fire Commissioner; a kitchen worker and the receptionist he’s in love with; two elderly residents who are just beginning a relationship in their golden years; a devout Christian who has won a lottery contest; a politician and his arrogant wife; and so forth.

Firefighter KANG Young-kee (actor SUL Kyung-gu)

While it’s a given that certain particular characters must survive, the film did a terrific job confounding this viewer’s expectations. Let’s just say that some “good” people make it, some don’t, and the same is true for “bad” characters. The great thing is that with a few strokes, director KIM fleshes out these supporting roles so well that what happens to them, for good or for ill and regardless of their personal character, matters. I found myself so glad when “good” people made it and “bad” ones didn’t, and saddened when the opposite occurred.

Unfortunately I haven’t found who deserves the credit for the editing, which is top-drawer. According to director KIM, there are 3,000 cuts in the film, 1,700 of which use CGI either in full or in part. The quality of the special effects, whether real, physical, or computer generated, is as good as any you’ll find in any film. Quite frankly, I’m already looking forward to the inevitable DVD. Hopefully, CJ Entertainment, the film’s distributor, will be coming out with a two-disc special edition. I can’t wait to see lots of special features about how this film was made.

But that’s getting ahead of myself and of the point of this review, which is to tell you that this film is terrific entertainment, an action-packed drama packed with heartfelt human emotion. Don’t think about just waiting for the DVD; see THE TOWER now if you can. While the screener I watched on my computer was totally engrossing, I can’t imagine the film being anything less than a total knockout at a theatrical screening.

[Note: This review originally appeared, in slightly different form, at 24Framespersecond.]

ACF 1766: Sentai Filmworks acquires PSYCHIC DETECTIVE YAKUMO

Sentai Filmworks has announced its acquisition of Psychic Detective Yakumo. Get ready for 13 episodes of mystery and death, based on the novel of the same name by Manabu Kaminaga,. Directed by Tomoyuki Kurokawa (Murder Princess), with series composition by Hiroyuki Kawasaki (Blade of the Immortal), sound direction by Takeshi Takadera (Kamisama Dolls) and music by R●O●N (Kurenai).

Psychic Detective Yakumo will be available later this year on subtitled DVD and through digital outlets.

Synopsis: Haruka Ozawa’s sophomore year is getting seriously scary. One of her friends is possessed, another has committed suicide and Haruka could be the next one to flunk the still-breathing test. Her only way out of this potentially lethal dead end? Yakumo Saito, an enigmatic student born with a mysterious red eye that allows him to see and communicate with the dead. But the deceased don’t always desist and some killers are more than ready to kill again to keep dead men from telling any more tales.

That doesn’t stop Haruka’s knack for digging up buried secrets, and there’s even more evidence of bodies being exhumed by both Yakumo’s police contact and an investigative journalist with a newly made corpse in her closet! Can this pair of anything but normal paranormal detectives solve the ultimate dead case files or will they end up in cold storage themselves? If the spirits are willing, they may just have a few ghosts of a chance in PSYCHIC DETECTIVE YAKUMO.

ACf 1765: Sasami-san@Ganbaranai coming soon to Anime Network Online

Anime Network has announced the upcoming online release of Sasami-san@Ganbaranai on Anime Network Online. The latest work from Director Akiyuki Shinbo (Hidamari Sketch, Maria Holic) and character designer Hiroki Harada (Romeo X Juiliet), Sasami-san@Ganbaranai's show-within-a-show puts a whole new spin on the term "reality TV"!

Episode 1will premiere on Anime Network Online on Friday, January 18 @ 10:30 AM CST. New episodes will air Fridays @ 10:30 AM CST

Series Synopsis: The Japanese call them hikikomori - people who’ve become so socially withdrawn that they refuse to leave their homes for weeks and even months at a time. Sasami Tsukuyomi has been attempting to pass her first year of high school despite being a shut in. Fortunately, her older brother Kamiomi happens to be a teacher at the school she is supposed to attend. With the use of the “Brother Surveillance Tool” she can view the outside world via her computer.

Theoretically it should be helping her adjust to interfacing with people again... Instead, it's giving her an up close and personal view of the very odd Yagami sisters who have various types of “interest” in Kamiomi. It looks like Sasami will have to take off her pajamas and go out into the “real” world to set things straight in Sasami-san@Ganabaranai.

ACF 1764: Sentai Filmworks acquires TEGAMI BACHI: REVERSE

Return to the Bee Hive with Sentai Filmworks and their newest acquisition: Tegami Bachi: Reverse. Director Akira Iwanaga returns to the helm for this 25 episode sequel to the popular Tegami Bachi: Letter Bee. Series composition is by Masanao Akahoshi (La storia della Arcana Famiglia) with character designs by Minako Shiba (Black Butlet), sound direction by Katsunori Shimizu (Nadia, Secret of Blue Water) and music by Kunihiko Ryo (Emma: A Victorian Romance).

Tegami Bachi: Reverse will be available later this year on subtitled DVD and through digital outlets.

Synopsis: After Niche carries the wounded and stunned Lag back to the Bee Hive, the Letter Bee finally begins to piece the puzzle together. Now he knows what’s happened to Gauche, why the Marauders are so focused on stealing mail and the actual intent of the group controlling both, Reverse. However, when he’s forbidden to reveal the truth, Lag is soon forced out of the artificial sunlight and back into the world of perpetual night. And soon Reverse’s plot to take down the Letter Bees and overthrow the Amberground government begins to accelerate.

If things weren’t already bad enough, the giant insect creatures called gaichuu are apparently evolving into something new; there may be traitors working within the Hive; and Niche’s sister, who’s definitely not human friendly, shows up to turn family drama into a full-scale siege! It all spells serious trouble for the Letter Bees, but if anyone can weather the storms and gloom of night, Lag and his team are the ones who’ll deliver. The excitement continues as the man of letters who’s also the ultimate man of action carries on fighting in TEGAMI BACHI: REVERSE.