Aki Kajiwara

Night of the Shooting Stars

Working long hours in the emergency room, nurse Kana Aoshima befriends musician and frequent hospital patient Shogo Amami. Shogo's therapy visits for his muteness and blindness happen to frequently coincide with Kana's shift, which enables the nurse to get to know the handsome artist well enough to start falling in love with him. Fate intercedes, however, when Shogo is killed after being hit by a car - a development that utterly crushes Kana's will to live. Shogo's spirit is transported to heaven, where it is given the chance to return to Earth to assist Kana through her grieving and to renew her sense of faith in the world - with the only caveat being he cannot reveal his identity to Kana.

The Rocking Horsemen

It is 1965. High-school student Takeyoshi Fujiwara hears "Pipeline" by the Ventures, and is mesmerized by their unique sound. With three friends, he forms a band called "The Rocking Horsemen." A warm and comic glimpse into high-school and small-town life in Japan in the 60's.

The Cowards Who Looked to the Sky

Based on the award-winning novel of the same name, this portrait of a group of vulnerable, variously wounded people — a depressed housewife, her high-school-aged lover, and his best friend, who is struggling to provide for himself and his senile grandmother — whose intersecting lives yield both sorrow and a fragile, yet enduring, hope for a brighter future.

The Cherry Orchard

At an all-girls school, a group of girls prepare for a stage performance of Anton Chekhov's "The Cherry Orchard".

Humanoid Puppet

A student girl, derided and continually persecuted by her classmates, is preparing a mannequin with a suit of her own creation for a fashion contest; her classmates are envious because the girl is really good and so they decides to damage both suit and mannequin.

Déracine

A mysterious street-painter, Jouji, wanders aimlessly, homeless. Together with his homeless pals, he makes his living by selling his paintings on the street. His paintings, dynamically exploding on pieces of cardboard, catch the eyes of Kyoko, an art dealer. He can feel alive only if he keeps painting, but unable to find something to fill his void inside, he tries to drown himself in alcohol. Drawn to Jouji, Kyoko commissions him to paint for her. The two travel to a secluded mountain-side, and there Jouji becomes inspired both by the natural surroundings and Kyoko herself.

Barber's Sorrow

A S&M comedy about a masochist barber.

No Place to Go

Michiko used to work as a live-in part-timer at an izakaya, but suddenly lost her job and her house at the same time due to COVID-19 pandemic. There are no new jobs because of the COVID-19 pandemic, and diners and internet cafes are closed. Michiko is at her wits' end, but there in front of her is a bus stop that stands slightly brightly in the darkness, illuminated only by the streetlights.

Walking Man

Atomu (Shuhei Nomura) was raised by his mother in a poor environment. He is now a young adult, but he stutters and has timid personality. To support himself, Atomu works part-time for a used junk collecting company. Atomu finds inspiration in rap music and his life changes.

Ichigo Chips

Ichigo no kakera deals with a female manga artist Ichigo Nekoda (Miyazawa), whose career is heading into a downward spiral as she can't reinvent the success of her 12 year old hit the Cherry Road. Now in her early 30's she's become quite fond of alcohol and egoism to some annoyance of her loyal manager Tomoko (Kajiwara), who isn't willing to leave her side even though the financial strains of her client are also becoming her personal burdens. Ichigo still gets greeted by her female fans and willingly signs autographs, but getting praised for work that she's done over a decade ago doesn't digest as smoothly as one would assume. Her on and off man, who happens to also be her editor steers toward the off days more than usual as he also grows tired of Ichigo's uninspired ways. But when the going gets tough, Ichigo heads down to a transvestite bar where she's more than welcomed with words of wisdom and a few hard drinks.

Nostradamus Metsuboroku: Idenshi no Shinseiki

In 1999, the human race had reached the time of the end. Military balance is lost in the wake of the nuclear test of a certain country, the threat of nuclear war had been swept.

Break in the Clouds

Maika, a pregnant woman, is running along a farm road at night with nothing but her clothes on her back. Her beaten face is discolored, one eye is swollen, and she is bleeding from the edge of her mouth. The headlights of a car approaching from behind frightens Maika, and she loses her balance and falls. Just as she is about to get up, her cell phone rings. It's a call from Masayoshi, her abusive husband. Out of fear, Maika knocks the phone to the ground and breaks it. Slowly, she picks herself up and continues walking down the street at night. She arrives at a love hotel hidden in the suburbs of a provincial city.

OLDK

The story revolves around Keiko, an ordinary office worker, and the extreme situations of the tenants living in various apartments. Their lives become intricately entangled, leading to a series of highly unusual coincidences that eventually culminate in a chaotic uproar.

My Easygoing Sister

A young man writes a novel about his forbidden love with his sister, who works overtime in the office on a holiday. Based on the manga of the same name by Naoki Yamamoto, and covering the manga's inspiration source, Juro Kara's "Anjuko's Shoes" and Ogai Mori's "Sansho Dayu".

Midnight Diner

Set in a small restaurant in the corner of a shopping district. The unusual eatery is only open after midnight, and its standard menu consists of just a single choice. However, the customers still come for the amusing chatter and the proprietor's willingness to cook any dish that they request. This drama depicts the lives of the restaurant's patrons, including a yakuza, an unsuccessful actor, a group of office ladies, a newspaper delivery boy, and a stripper.