Asian Drama

Tateo, young and neurotic, wishes to leave the village his mother has raised him in.

This 1992 Japanese film tells the story of a scientist who sets out to create the new "super Adam and Eve", humans who cannot be controlled by their emotions. Of course, the end result it not exactly what the good doctor expects.

Jiro Kanzaki is an F3000 test driver blessed with acute sensitivity and breathtaking driving techniques. He's a daredevil who feels no fear driving at speeds that even top racers dare not attempt. But unexpected trouble forces this world-famous racer to leave his team and return to Japan for the first time in years. Until he finds a new job as a racer, Jiro decides to stay with his parents. What awaits Jiro there is his hardheaded father, his nagging sister, the 12 children of the foster home his father runs, a snobbish male nurse, and a stubborn female nurse who likes to daydream about her life. Jiro's return home brings a breath of fresh air that influences the people around him. However, he is still unaware that he too will eventually be influenced to change the way he thinks and lives. -- Fuji TV

It begins with Mitsue (Rie Miyazawa), a young librarian, rushing home in a thunderstorm, frightened out of her wits. Her terror, we soon see, is a product of the war, particularly the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, which she barely survived. She lives with her father, Takezo (Yoshio Harada), in their bombed-out house, now partly repaired. Dad is her confessor, adviser and friend, the only one she can tell about her fears, dreams and past. Most of her friends and family died in the bombing - including Dad. That Dad is with her only in spirit doesn't faze her. He looks, acts and talks like one of the living. But, as befits a ghost no longer bound by selfish earthly concerns, he is interested only in her problems. Particularly her budding relationship with the shy, bespectacled Kinoshita (Tadanobu Asano), who is researching the bombing and wants Mitsue's help - and possibly slightly more than that.

Ichi has given up his cane sword and his former life as a traveler in order to settle down with his loving wife Tane in his home village. However, his plan to live the quiet life is interrupted when he learns that the Tendo clan has taken over the village and is constantly harassing locals. Soon, a group of farmers come to Ichi and beg him to help his own village like he’s helped countless other villages in travels.

Kenta, a young pianist who has just lost his job, is drowning his woes at a bar when he meets a man in a Hawaiian shirt named Yamaki. He invites Kenta to work with him, and the next thing he knows, Kenta wakes up to find himself in a room he has never been in before. It is a strange room that seems to have no connection to life. He descends a staircase to find many shelves of books. Yamaki appears once again and tells him that this is Heaven's Book Service, and Kenta is going to start working a short-term, part-time job here. In addition to selling books, this bookstore, owned by Yamaki, provides a service of reading aloud to customers. Although he is unsure of his new surroundings, Kenta follows their actions and starts to work in his new part-time job.