For this particular review I thought I would do something a little different and review two movies in one post. I suppose there are two reasons for doing this because even though they are not sequels I watched them back to back at the Japanese Film Festival and well because I can.

Director Shinsuke Sato
Staring Junichi Okada, Nana Eikura, Kei Tanaka, Sota Fukushi, Tao Tsuchiya, Tori Matsuzaka, Chiaki Kuriyama, Aoi Nakamura, Naomi Nishida, Jun Hashimoto, Koji Ishizaka
Rated Unclassified 15+
Score 4.5/6

The Library Defence Force exists to protect books, a symbol of freedom in a dystopian society where censorship is tightly, and sometimes violently, enforced. Tasked with protecting the sole remaining copy of The Handbook of Library Law, the Library Defence Force are drawn into an elaborate trap as they confront the greatest battle they have ever faced: The Last Mission.

Library Wars: The Last Mission is a sequel of the 2013 movie directed by Shinsuke Sato Toshokan Sensō while both films based on the light novel series Toshokan Sensō written by Hiro Arikawa and illustrated by Sukumo Adabana. I’m kind of familiar with Shinsuke Sato’s work having previously watched his 2010 and 2011 Gantz movies. In retrospect it might of been a good idea to do the smallest amount of homework heading into The Last Mission because I wasn’t completely lost while watching the movie, it’s just more of the matter that when there is a series of movies it’s a good idea to start at the beginning. Library Wars raises a few interesting questions about Freedom of expression and censorship, though even with this question there is a strong action movie that hits some very familiar emotional notes. Personally I think that censorship works and doesn’t all at the same time.

Director Yoshihiro Nishimura
Staring Saitoh Takumi, Haga Yuria, Shiina Eihi, Ishikawa Tatsuki, Torii Miyuki, Mimoto Masanori, Seino Nana, Murasugi Seminosuke, Tsuda Kanji
Rated Unclassified 18+
Score 4/6

Retired ninjas Torakage and Tsukikage live peacefully in the country with their son. However, their former master takes their son hostage and forces them to steal a revered treasure. When their plans go awry, how will Torakage take on two ninja armies and save his family?

Torakage and the Ninja War is probably one of the weirdest Japanese movies that I have seen in recent memory. Torakage is very much in a similar vain to the live action Asterix and Obelix movies, though I can’t shake the sneaking suspicion that some sort of strong pharmaceutical substance might have been used during the writing for the movie, there was a creature with five eyes and wings made of hands and a potted female singing group who sung what sounded like Japanese lounge. A notable song of theirs was a song about pachinko. I was completely unfamiliar with director Yoshihiro Nishimura’s work, though after looking at his filmography its clear that Torakage’s unique visual style is due to Nishimura’s strong background as a special makeup effects supervisor.