Part of your viewing repertoire should at some point include at least one or two Takashi Yamazaki films. I’ve been a fan of his since 2002’s Returner and it’s been great seeing him still get around with the Parasyte adaptations and going to bat with Masaki Suda for pre-WWII epic, The Great War Of Archimedes, and now he’s back and breathing life once more with family adventure, Ghostbook, based on a 2013 children’s novel from Kodansha.
Sixth grade elementary school students Kazuki, Taichi, and Sunny have a “wish” they really want to make it come true. The boys pray earnestly with their hands at the shrine. Then, suddenly, the wish-granting “Ghost Book” resonates with them and gives them a test. Guided by the magic of the Ghost Book, the boys and their homeroom teacher, Ms. Yohko, wander into a different world where ghosts live. The five try to escape from the world through trial and error. It seems that by catching the ghosts and completing the Ghost Book, their wishes will come true and they will be able to escape from this world. Thus, the five work together to challenge the scary ghosts. What are the boys’ wish that they really want to make it come true?
Ghostbook stars Kairi Jyo, Fuga Shibazaki, Sonny Mcclendon and Fumika Yoshimura along with Ryunosuke Kamiki and Yui Aragaki. The film will open in Japan on July 22 from Toho.
