masato harada

Sakura Ando And Ryosuke Yamada Must Hatch A Way Out Of Masato Harada’s BAD LANDS. Catch The Trailer!

Naoki Prize-winning author Hiroyuki Kurokawa’s “Keisou/Weeds” serves as the current basis for Bad Lands, the latest to come from Hell Dogs helmer Masato Harada. Toei is releasing the pic in Japan cinemas on September 29, but not before a sneak preview screening of the film before an audience at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan on September 7. Bad Lands joins Harada for the first time with celebrated actress Sakura Ando (A Man), and reunites the director with actor Ryosuke Yamada (Baragaki: Unbroken Samurai) for a script of Harada’s writing. The story centers on Neri (Ando), a beleagured ruthless con woman who reunites with her incorrigible ex-con half-brother, Joe (Yamada), in time to get him employed in her intricate and profitable phone scam operation in Osaka. When he hatches a scheme of his own to pay off his mounting debts, the millions of yen in rewards fall short of the […]

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HELL DOGS: Don’t Miss The Latest Promos For The Yakuza Crime Thriller Adaptation Starring Junichi Okada

Lee B. Golden III

Less than a month away from its Japan release is the long-awaited gangster crime thriller, Hell Dogs, starring Junichi Okada and Kentarô Sakaguchi. Toei and Sony Pictures Japan are handling its distribution, which means we should see the film’s release outside the region at some point. Based on Akio Fukamachi’s 2017 novel, Okada stars as Shogo, a cop who, while still recovering from the trauma of his girlfriend’s murder, is assigned to go undercover and investigate the Yakuza, using a loose-cannon gangster named Hideki with whom he apparently shares a 98% match in his personality profile. Harada also adapted the novel marking his third and latest film with Okada following Sekigahara and Baragaki: Unbroken Samurai, and with featured action sequences by Okada himself. Also starring are Mayu Matsuoka, Miyavi, Kazuki Kitamura, Shinobu Otake, Satoshi Kanada, Mai Kiryu, Arisa Nakajima, Kyoko, Yasumasa Ohba, Mitsuo Yoshihara, Ukon Onoe, Mio Tanaka, Jun Murakami […]

HELL DOGS Take A Bite Out Of The Yakuza Underworld In The First Teaser

Lee B. Golden III

I haven’t seen Sekigahara or Baragaki: Unbroken Samurai yet, or any of director Masato Harada’s films safe for his screen appearances in The Last Samurai and Jet Li’s Fearless. To that end, it’s no easy thing to mull over how he’s been discussed in recent local Japanese media reports regarding his on-set demeanor, and for better understanding, you’re invited to catch up with actor Yuki Matsuzaki’s own tweet threads discussing it and forging your own opinions from there. It’s a bit brutal given all else that’s been reported. So to say the least, the better focus here lies on how fond I am of actor Junichi Okada who’s done nothing but deliver the goods in recent memory, with the addition of the aforementioned films and lately with Kan Eguchi’s lean and mean action comedy manga adaptations of The Fable which are currently on Netflix. Okada’s return to the screen now […]

New BARAGAKI: UNBROKEN SAMURAI Trailers Unsheathe Online Ahead Of October Release

Lee B. Golden III

It’s taken two years and a global pandemic since the earliest promos began making the rounds for Masato Harada’s Baragaki: Unbroken Samurai, though now the period sword drama has an October 15 date set for its release in Japan from Toho and Asmik Ace. Harada, best known for playing the loathesome villain role in films such as The Last Samurai and Jet Li starrer, Fearless, reunites at the helm with The Fable star Junichi Okada since wrapping 17th century war epic, Sekigahara (2017), which scored 2.4 billion yen at the box office. Baragaki: Unbroken Samurai takes its cues from Shiba Ryotaro’s 1964 Shukan Bunshun publication, centered on the wartime chronicles of Hijikata Toshizo, the Shinsengumi vice-commander who led the shogunate forces against the imperialist Meiji government during the Boshin War. Epic period drama based on Shiba Ryotaro’s historical novel, helmed and scripted by Harada Masato of Sekigahara and KAKEKOMI. Vividly depicts Shinsengumi vice commander Hijikata Toshizo’s life spanning […]

BARAGAKI: UNBROKEN SAMURAI Trailer Teases A Dauntless Sword Epic

Lee B. Golden III

There’s loads of love and fondness from fans keen on actor Junichi Okada, even some who share a preference to see him in serious action roles. His most recent festival delight, manga adaptation The Fable, was a grand feast of action and comedy during 2019 hitherto its release in Japan, and you’re welcome to read my thoughts about it here, at my NYAFF review for the film. For now, we have Baragaki: Unbroken Samurai to continue onward with as we approach the new year. Masato Harada, best known for playing the loathesome villain role in films such as The Last Samurai and Jet Li’s Fearless, adds to his prominent, decades-long career at the helm, reuniting with Okada since wrapping 17th century war epic, Sekigahara, which scored 2.4 billion yen at the box office. Opening on May 22, Baragaki: Unbroken Samurai takes its cues from Shiba Ryotaro’s 1964 Shukan Bunshun publication, […]