Movies by Shirō Sano

Godzilla 2000: Millennium

Godzilla 2000: Millennium

An independent group of researchers called the Godzilla Prediction Network (GPN) actively track Godzilla as he makes landfall in Nemuro. Matters are further complicated when a giant meteor is discovered in the Ibaragi Prefecture. The mysterious rock begins to levitate as it's true intentions for the world and Godzilla are revealed.

The Great Yokai War

The Great Yokai War

A young boy with a troubled home life becomes "chosen," and he stumbles into the middle of a great war of yōkai (a class of mythological creatures), where he meets a group of friendly yōkai who become his companions through his journey. Now he must fight to protect his friends and free the world of the yōkai from oppression. The yōkai originate in Japanese folklore and range from the cute and silly to the disturbing.

I Will Never Forgive

I Will Never Forgive

A psychological drama about the consequences of a 15 year old girl's gang rape.

Miyoko

Miyoko

Based on the life of pioneering manga artist Shinichi Abe, "Miyoko asagaya kibun" starts from the 1970's in Asagaya District of Tokyo where Shinichi Abe began his career with then model girlfriend Miyoko.

I Alone

I Alone

A common horoscope brings a timid middle-aged salaryman and high school delinquent to the center of a political scandal, in which a corrupt incumbent mayor seeks to crush the candidacy of his reformer opponent. This anti-establishment tale blends a punk ethos with absurdist comedy as the unlikely pair finds their existence given new meaning when they work to return a kidnapped baby. Along the way they must fight not only the assault of the mayor’s neoliberal redevelopment of the town, but his bribed police force and yakuza. Under director Sh...

The Great Buddha: Arrival

The Great Buddha: Arrival

An all-star reboot of the lost classic 1934 film, The Giant Buddha Statue's Travel Through The Country, made with the cooperation of director Yoshiro Edamasa's grandson. From Japan, a modern kaiju story based on what may be the first kaiju film.

The Mystery of Rampo

The Mystery of Rampo

Edogawa Rampo is a writer whose latest work is censored by the government, deemed too disturbing and injurious to the public to be allowed to be published. However, after burning his drafts, his publisher shows him a newspaper with an account of events just like his forbidden story. As the film progresses, fantasy and reality intermingle in a tale that draws heavily on influences from Poe and Stoker's Dracula. The film's strongly Expressionistic direction skillfully combines a variety of media (animation, computer-generated imagery, grainy b...

The Millennial Rapture

The Millennial Rapture

Sennen no yuraku is set in a small community called “Roji” where Kenji Nakagami—one of the most famous novelists in Japan—drew the absurdity and passion of life since its inhabitants have been living and dying. There were beautiful men in “Roji” who struggled to live with the blood of the Nakamato Clan, blood called “noble yet unholy.” Oryu, a midwife, has watched all those men growing up, living and dying... She is now aging old and starts to talk with the dead men souls of the Nakamoto Clan...

Arthouse Ultraman

Arthouse Ultraman

In the 21st century, multiple mysterious phenomenon began to occur as monsters who were initially thought to be a part of mythology had come to life. These phenomenons had also resulted from human activities that disrupted the nature of the ecosystem. Ultraman Max is the titular giant of his series. Originally a civilization observer sent from Nebula M78, the sacrifice of Kaito Touma changed his mind into bonding with with the youth and actively defending Earth from monsters and alien attacks. Arthouse Ultraman is a movie with four episodes...

Kinki

Kinki

A teacher is sexually involved with an underage student. She visits her father's home and discovers a boy who's been kept as a sex slave. The teacher continues harboring the boy out of fear and begins to feel sexually attracted to him.

The Passed Scene

The Passed Scene

At the end of October, Sueko Yamane, a widow living alone, is strangled to death in her home in the Togura district on the outskirts of Matsuyama City, Ehime Prefecture. Money had been stolen, and it appeared to be a robbery and murder. Kaharu Ginsaku (Tomokazu Miura), head of the First Investigative Division at the Ehime Prefectural Police Headquarters, who was in charge of the investigation, did not anticipate that this case would turn out to be an unexpectedly difficult case. At the end of that year, in a forest overlooking the Genkai Sea...

Bikuu: The Movie

Bikuu: The Movie

Bikuu is a Dark Slasher that receives an order from the Senate to take out a rogue priest that has fallen to the darkness, claiming souls using the Soul Insertion technique.

Parks

Parks

Jun is a university student. She meets high school student Haru. Haru is looking for Sachiko, the ex-girlfriend of her now deceased father. Jun and Haru meet Tokio. Tokio is the grandson of Sachiko and they learn that Sachiko is now deceased. They find an open-reel tape from Sachiko's articles.

Brush of the God

Brush of the God

His story follows a schoolgirl named Akari Tokimiya and the fantastical adventure which occurs when she visits the memorial service of her grandfather Kenzo, a master special effects man. She has unhappy memories of the old man and his passion projects, the last of which he died during the making of. At the memorial service, she meets classmate Takuya, a tokusatsu superfan, and a strange person named Hozumi, the star of the movie Kenzo was making when he died. Hozumi has with him a prop from the film, the titular “Brush of the God,” which tr...

Persona

Persona

Physician Koichiro Kiby loses interest in work and begins drinking in a local park after the death of his wife. One day he encounters a girl who knows intimate details about his life. Now, he must unlock her mystery in this fantasy drama.

Endless Waltz

Endless Waltz

Biopic about jazz saxophonist Kaoru Abe and his wife, noted writer Izumi Suzuki.

Tales of the Bizarre: 2018 Fall Special

Tales of the Bizarre: 2018 Fall Special

TVO

TVO

Satsuki, a high school student living in the countryside, travels to Tokyo to find out the truth about the death of her sister Kiyomi, who has apparently been murdered by her own boyfriend.

Oh! Father

Oh! Father

Yukio is a typical high school student in every way except that he's an only child in a family of five. This is because he has four fathers, each with their own unique personalities and interests. The only thing they share in common is their love of their son. When Yukio witnesses a robbery, he becomes involved in a bizarre string of incidents involving his fathers.

Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger vs. Space Sheriff Gavan: The Movie

Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger vs. Space Sheriff Gavan: The Movie

The legendary Space Sheriff Gavan is hired to capture the Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger. However, Gavan himself is captured by Ashurada, a Zangyack prison chief and descendant of his old enemy Don Horror, and jailed in the worst prison in the universe. The Gokaigers resolve to rescue the sheriff from the prison and join forces with him to fight Ashurada.