Shunichiro Miki
2021茶の味
Katsuhito Ishii
Maya Banno, Takahiro Sato
A spell of time in the life of a family in rural Tochigi prefecture. Yoshiko is not an ordinary housewife, instead working on an animated film project. Uncle Ayano, a successful music producer, is looking to get his head together after living in Tokyo. Meanwhile, Sachiko is concerned with why she seems to be followed by a giant version of herself. As the lazy days pass by, each member of the family is followed in a series of episodic vignettes.
The Taste of Tea
Redline
Takeshi Koike
Takuya Kimura, Yu Aoi
The most dangerous and exciting car race in the universe is held only once every five years. And that's tonight. The competitors are lined up at the starting block. In his vehicle, JP, the most daredevil driver on the circuit, is ready for the green light. Female driver Sonoshee, with whom he is secretly in love, is also on the starting line. She will stop at nothing to get on to that podium. In this race, not only is anything possible, but also anything is allowed. In fact, their adversaries have modified their vehicles to equip them with highly destructive weapons; with such participants, it is hardly surprising that Redline is forbidden by the authorities, who will try anything to halt the proceedings.
Redline
ナイスの森 The First Contact
Shunichiro Miki, Hajime Ishimine
Susumu Terajima, Tadanobu Asano
An outrageous collection of surreal, short attention span non-sequiturs largely revolving around Guitar Brother, his randy older sibling, and the pair's portly Caucasian brother.
Funky Forest: The First Contact
山のあなた 徳市の恋
Katsuhito Ishii
Tsuyoshi Kusanagi, Ryô Kase
In the mountain hot springs of Izu, Japan, a love triangle is waiting to happen. It is the late 1930s when the paths of a stunning woman fleeing Tokyo, a handsome bachelor and a blind masseur cross.
My Darling of the Mountains
あさっての森
Shunichiro Miki
Fumi Nikaido, Yoji Tanaka
Settle into your chair and be transported to a place both familiar and alien; where a giant shop-girl can barely fit in her store, there's a weird green pod in every bedroom, and terrifying wood nymphs provide a heartbroken woman with the anatomically correct fruit everyone seems to covet. In the end we are left, like Alice, with the Red King's conundrum: are we dreaming them or are they dreaming us?
The Warped Forest
Hokuro Kyodai Full Throttle!!!!
Katsuhito Ishii
Shunichiro Miki, Kazuki Todoroki
One of the most wildly creative filmmakers working in Japan today, Ishii Katsuhito seems to take joy in dropping whimsical, unpredictable works onto unsuspecting audiences. His last film Nice no Mori (a.k.a. Funky Forest), an omnibus offering co-directed with Ishimine Hajime and Miki Shinichiro, was an ode to pure, unadulterated insanity. The Mole Brothers and their Beatles hairdos serve up plenty of chaos and laughter in this riotous seven-episode series that is just about required viewing for fans of the film. Ishii returns once again to his animation roots, and the results are as head-scratchingly brilliant as ever. This release comes with the seven animated shorts, Nice no Mori trailer, and Hokuro Brothers Full Throttle!!!! making of and filmography.
Hokuro Kyodai Full Throttle!!!!