Movies: Atsuro Watabe

A Westerner finds refuge with a group of women in a church during Japan's rape of Nanking in 1937. Posing as a priest, he attempts to lead the women to safety....

The story of a teenage boy named Yu, who falls for Yoko, a girl he runs into while working as an "up-skirt" photographer in an offshoot of the porn industry. His attempts to woo her are complicated by a spot of cross-dressing – which convinces Yoko t...

Archeologist and avid puzzle solver Professor Layton and his assistant Luke are caught up in an adventure when a masked figure steals an entire opera house and forces those in attendance to play a high-stakes game. The winner will receive eternal lif...

An Asian cross-cultural trilogy of horror films from accomplished indie directors: "Dumplings", directed by Fruit Chan of Hong Kong; "Cut", directed by Park Chan-Wook of Korea; "Box", directed by Miike Takashi of Japan. The first film "Dumplings" was...

Ruthless dominatrixes pursue a mild-mannered salesman who wants to get out of his unbreakable contract with a secret bondage club....

The struggles of a group of outcasts living in "Yentown", in an alternate-future Japan....

A down-and-out schoolteacher receives the calling to become the real life personification of an old television superhero, Zebraman....

Three murder cases take place in Tokyo. Numbers are left at the murder scenes, possibly hinting at where the next murder will take place. An investigation begins of the serial killer and Detective Kosuke Nitta works on the case. He believes the next ...

Akira, a teacher from Tokyo, has just arrived in a small rural town to begin his new job. Soon after arriving, he meets, and begins to fall for, Miki, a papermaker and part of a large and unusual family. When he learns of an ancient legend that the f...

Adapted from the successful play, the film takes place in 19th-century Japan, where a war between demons and their slayers is fought. Izumo, a kabuki actor with a demon-slaying past, meets and falls in love with Tsubaki. However, something is not ri...

Diving to save a camera from a fall down a flight of stairs, high school junior Naomi Sukuse wakes with no memory of the last four years. Naomi must remember who she was and figure out who she wants to be in this story of love and second chances....

Graduating at the top of her class, elite detective candidate Jun Shibata is transferred to the section that handles cases deemed "unsolvable" by the department. Her partner, though a well-respected and experienced detective, has grown complacent aft...

An anonymous letter is delivered to the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department. The letter states that a criminal of a murder case will appear at the countdown party Masquerade Night that will be held at Hotel Cortesia Tokyo. Detective Kosuke Nitta mus...

The ST team at the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department consists of eccentric members. Some members do not cooperate with others and others do not reveal themselves in front of others. With Samon as the leader of the ST team and young Inspector Tomoh...

A friend of the detective has been is murdered. During the investigation, he comes across a source which tells him that his friend was murdered for involvement with the dark side of the political world. On top of that, a woman approaches the detectiv...

Futakotamagawa High School had a Baseball Club, but because of a fight during one of their games, they were suspended for a year from all games. Composed of student delinquents, Futakotamagawa High's new Literature teacher Kawato Koichi inspires the ...

On the outset, the Okunos seem like a normal happy family with father Tadashi and his two bright sons, genetics researcher Izumi and artsy Haru. When a series of arson attacks strike the neighborhood, clues left at the crime scenes seem to be somehow...

A melodrama about the life of a mentally disabled young man and his devoted sister after their famous novelist father and housewife mother go to Australia on a business trip....

Heat After Dark is director Ryuhei Kitamura's first theatrical release. This 50 minute film is predominantly a character study within an intense action drama. Those familiar with Kitamura's later works, perhaps especially Versus will realize this is ...

Newspaper correspondent Kyoko Togakure visits a nursing home in the outskirts of Tokyo. She finds the dead body of a resident. It was an apparent suicide. He's holding a piece of paper with the mystifying word "Death Water" written on it. Nearby are ...