Bungo: Stories of Desire

Bungo Japanese Literature Cinema

Six riveting short episodes that have been adapted from original literary short novel classics from famed authors.

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.

The Volatile Woman

A awkward burglar believes that he has taken control of a small roadside stand and the woman who runs it. She is in control most of the time, in love and making plans for the future.

All of Tokyo!

Groups of high school students embark on an eagerly-anticipated school trip to Tokyo. An enthusiastic group leader, Yurika, has planned a packed itinerary to cover every must-see sight such as Skytree in Asakusa, the Shibuya Scramble Crossing, and the Tokyo Tower. However, the rest of the group secretly has different plans to achieve their true purpose… 11 girls scatter and scramble across Tokyo creating the best memories!

60 JUSTICE PROJECT

Eiji Arima is a veteran detective who is about to retire. Shoichi Sera is a young lawyer and Misuzu Haruna is a prosecutor. These three people belong to the Gohan Taisakushitsu ("Misjudgment Countermeasure Office’". Their job is to re-examine death-row convictions and check to see if anyone was falsely convicted.

Love's Twisting Path

Set in Kyoto in the last days of the Edo Period, the bloody conflict continues between local feudal domains, which aim to overthrow the Tokugawa Shogunate, and the Shogun's police and city patrol. Tajuro Kiyokawa, once the master of the sword but now a depraved samurai who left his domain putting aside his past ambition, barely makes ends meet. Toyo, a woman who runs a tavern next door, feels affection for Tajuro who guards her place against nasty customers, but he never realizes Toyo's feelings.

Mukoku

Kengo was gifted in Kendo (Japanese martial art) but he quits after a tragic incident. He works as a security guard and spends his days drinking. One day, he encounters a high school student Toru, who has a natural ability in Kendo. Toru revives the spirit of the sport in Kengo and he resumes practice again.

Green Mind, Metal Bats

The film follows Nanba, a shunned outcast who doesn’t have a girlfriend, any money or prospects, a turnaround from his glory days in high school when he played on the baseball team; his former teammate Ishioka, who is now a policeman because of an elbow injury; and baseball fanatic Eiko, a hopeless alcoholic who spends more of her time drunk than sober. The three share an intense love of baseball — and their destinies are forever intertwined.

Hazard

Shin is a Japanese university student living a boring and meaningless life. One day, he spots a book titled Dangerous Ways to Walk the World, in which he finds a page written about hazards in New-York. Eager to get out, he jets off to New-York to find this inspiration.

Late Bloomer

Late Bloomer is the story of Sumida-san, a severely handicapped man, and his downward spiral into hell.

The End of Summer

The story, set in the heady post-war 50s into the early 60s , revolves around a love triangle between Tomoko, long playing the mistress to married older writer Shitto and the new stud who comes into her life, Ryota Kinoshita. Tomoko is sick and tired of her relationship with writer Shingo, who is married and has children. Shingo is a talented writer, but has yet to be recognized by the public. Tomoko then enters into a sexual relationship with younger man Ryota Kinoshita, but Tomoko is not satisfied.

#Manhole

Kawamura is a promising young man with everything going for him. On the eve of his wedding, he falls into a deep manhole. Despite sustaining a debilitating injury, he is determined to attend his wedding as planned, and resorts to social networks for help.

Non-ko

Nobuko tried to be successful as an actress in Tokyo (stage name ‘Nonko’), but wasn’t popular. She married her manager and soon divorced. Now a once-divorced woman in her mid-30s, she returns home to the Shinto shrine that her family runs, to help out with domestic chores. Her father is always in a stubborn rage, her mother is always trying to calm things down. However, Nonko’s married sister, who already has a daughter, scathingly says of Nonko, “It’s all over for her.”

Yoko

A road movie about Yoko, a frustrated part-time worker who hitchhikes to her hometown of Hirosaki, Aomori, where she has not returned for 24 years, after hearing the news of her father's death.

My Man

As a young child, Hana loses her family to a devastating tsunami that wipes out her town. At a shelter, distant relative Jungo sees her wandering and adopts her as his daughter.

Antenna

Yuichiro is a college student whose sister went missing 15 years ago. That traumatic event hangs over him like a pall as he wanders Japan's S&M clubs. But his younger brother claims to be able to sense their sister with his "antenna".