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Shoichi Honda

Shoichi Honda

Acting

Known For

Heart, Beating in the Dark
5.5

This new version of Nagasaki's Yami utsu shinzô (1982) is neither a remake nor a sequel. It is both those things, and at the same time it is also a documentary, a portrait of the consequences of passing time, and an occasionally very funny reflection on what the hell the point is of all this filmmaking business anyway. Shigeru Muroi and Takashi Naito, back then young hopefuls willing to take chances, now among the most established and recognisable actors in Japan, return to play the roles they assumed in the 1982 film, each of their characters having gone their own way. Alongside, another young couple (Honda and the ever-brilliant Eguchi) find themselves in the exact same situation as their older counterparts 25 years earlier. Their paths cross, an opportunity arises: for the elder two to redeem part of their own lives, for the younger couple to find a helping hand in their darkest hour.

Heart, Beating in the Dark

2005Movie
Robo Rock
5.0

Masaru, a 23-year-old who has a passive attitude toward life in general, professes himself as a “genius odd-job-man” but is screwing up all of the time. He is freeloading off his girlfriend Kiriko, who works as a tattoo artist. One day, he is offered to do a rather eccentric job from an otaku-looking public employee named Nirasawa, who claims that Masaru’s voice is necessary in activating a giant robot named Land Zeppelin. He goes on straight-faced that the Earth is about to be attacked by Saturnians, and the robot is necessary in the fight against them. At first, Masaru ignores this far-fetched story, but one day he is framed in a dangerous job he takes on together with his friend Kou, and is driven into a tight squeeze. What will happen to Masaru? Does this robot Land Zeppelin really exist?

Robo Rock

2007Movie
Sanchû Uprising: Voices at Dawn
5.0

1726, Sanchu, Okayama Prefecture: farmers negotiate with the feudal domain in order to seek exemption from rising taxes. Infighting leads to suppression by the samurai class, and the farmers band together for battle. It’s a moment of injustice, setting the stage for bravery and sacrifice. However those daring characters remain largely offscreen in Juichiro Yamasaki’s brilliant film. Instead, the cowardly protagonist Jihei (Naohisa Nakagaki) faces a crisis of the risks of rebellion and its aftermath that resonates with our contemporary moment. In this rare independent jidaigeki, Kenta Tawara’s beautiful digital B&W photography channels and refigures luminaries of classical Japanese cinema, boasting rapturous animated sequences by Tomomichi Nakamura and experimental score by Ayako Sasaki.

Sanchû Uprising: Voices at Dawn

2015Movie