Shimizu, Yamaguchi, Sakaguchi, and Kawano all get together for "Hijoshi Zukan"

by Chris MaGee

Even though they can often be wildly uneven I have to say that I'm a big fan of omnibus films. I guess it's because it not only gives filmmakers a chance to experiment with story ideas that aren't normally suited to the feature film format, so the two "Jam Films" projects, "Rampo Noir", "Ten Nights of Dreams", all of them get a big round of applause from me. Now Nippon Cinema has got word of an upcoming omnibus film that's got some pretty impressive talent involved.

"Ju-On" director Takashi Shimizu has produced and directed the introduction to a six-film omnibus titled "Hijoshi Zukan" with the common thread running through each film being a female lead and an odd our unexpected situation.

Of the six directors involved a couple stand out, namely Yudai Yamaguchi (Battlefield Baseball, Meatball Machine) and Koji Kawano (Love My Life, Attack Girls’ Swim Team Versus The Undead). The latter's contribution, "Otoko no Shoumei", captures an argument at an open casting call as to why a woman never gets to play the lead role in a "chivalry film", while the former helms "Sakigake!! Micchan", about a woman who must battle the owners of a yakisoba stand for free samples of their food. One of those yakisoba owners is played by none other than Tak Sakaguchi (above right).

You can check out the full details of all six of the films included in "Hijoshi Zukan" as well as the full English trailer, by visiting Nippon Cinema here.