Hula Girls / Hura gâru (2006)
Comedy | Drama
Young women in a small Japanese town look to revive their home's declining fortunes by building a Hawaiian village tourist attraction.
Starring: Yasuko Matsuyuki, Etsushi Toyokawa, Yû Aoi, Shizuyo Yamasaki, Ittoku Kishibe, Sumiko Fuji
Director: Sang-il Lee
Rurouni Kenshin: The Final / Rurouni Kenshin: Final Chapter Part I – The Final / Rurôni Kenshin: Sai shûshô – The Final (2021)
Action | Adventure | Drama
Kenshin's past catches up to him causing the destruction of Akabeko Restaurant, which was Kenshin's favorite place to eat. There, he finds a note with the word "Junchu" on it.
Starring: Takeru Satoh, Mackenyu, Emi Takei, Yôsuke Eguchi, Munetaka Aoki, Yû Aoi
Director: Keishi Ohtomo
I Shall Live by Myself / Ora, Ora Be Goin' Alone / Ora Ora de Hitori Igumo (2020)
Family
Momoko is a woman who is seventy-five-years old and lives alone. She lives in Tokyo, but was not born there having arrived there over fifty years ago. She had met a nice man, been proposed to and accepted. She gave birth to two children before her husband had died. She was alone again until finding her way into a library one day. She soon found solace and companionship in the books and her life was changed. This is her journey.
Starring: Yûko Tanaka, Yû Aoi, Masahiro Higashide, Gaku Hamada, Munetaka Aoki, Kankurô Kudô
Director: Shûichi Okita
Wife of a Spy / Spy no Tsuma (2020)
Drama
A Japanese merchant who leaves his wife behind in order to travel to Manchuria, where he witnesses an act of barbarism. His subsequent actions cause misunderstanding, jealousy and legal problems for his wife.
Starring: Yû Aoi, Issey Takahashi, Masahiro Higashide, Ryôta Bandô, Yuri Tsunematsu, Minosuke, Hyunri, Takashi Sasano
Director: Kiyoshi Kurosawa
Romance Doll / Romansu dôru (2020)
Romance
It was a pre-destined love and marriage for Sonoko and Tetsuo. They tied the knot and became husband and wife no questions asked. All is well then. Well, perhaps not. Each holds a secret that even the binds of matrimony cannot untie. Sonoko does not know that Tetsuo makes sex dolls or Dutch wives. Sonoko has a secret too. She is about to tell Tetsuo what she has been hiding. Their marriage is already sexless. Will they make it?
Starring: Issey Takahashi, Yû Aoi, Kitarô, Eri Watanabe, Pierre Taki, Kenta Hamano, Tôko Miura, Kôji Ohkura
Director: Yuki Tanada
From Miyamoto to You / Miyamoto kara Kimi e (2019)
Romance
Following the manga series and the subsequent television serial of the same name, and featuring the same cast, a young and relatively inexperienced man comes across a woman during his working day and sparks fly.
Starring: Sôsuke Ikematsu, Yû Aoi, Arata Iura, Wataru Ichinose, Jirô Satô, Ken'ichi Matsuyama, Tokio Emoto, Hidetoshi Hoshida, Kanji Furutachi, Pierre Taki
Director: Tetsuya Mariko
A Long Goodbye / Nagai owakare (2019)
Family
A seventy-year-old retired school headmaster informs his wife and daughters that he has Alzheimer's disease. They are all concerned, but react differently due to their individual situations. The family watches as the husband and father regresses due to the disease and loses his memory. Interestingly, there are sparkling moments of his life of which the man will not let go.
Starring: Yû Aoi, Yûko Takeuchi, Chieko Matsubara, Tsutomu Yamazaki, Yuito Kamata
Director: Ryôta Nakano
Killing / Zan (2018)
Action | Drama
Set during the tumultuous mid-19th century Edo period of Japan, Killing is the story of a masterless samurai or ronin named Ikematsu Sosuke. As the prevalent peace and tranquility are sure to be replaced by war and conflict across the land the swordsman feels restlessness creep upon him.
Starring: Sôsuke Ikematsu, Yû Aoi, Tatsuya Nakamura, Ryûsei Maeda, Shin'ya Tsukamoto
Director: Shin'ya Tsukamoto
Penguin Highway (2018)
Adventure | Animation | Family | Fantasy | Mystery
A fourth-grader, Aoyama-kun, investigates the mysterious reason behind the sudden appearance of penguins in his village, which is somehow related to a power from a young woman working at a dental clinic.
Starring: Kana Kita, Yû Aoi, Rie Kugimiya, Megumi Han, Hidetoshi Nishijima, Naoto Takenaka
Director: Hiroyasu Ishida
What a Wonderful Family! III: My Wife, My Life / Tsuma yo bara no yô ni: Kazoku wa tsuraiyo III (2018)
Comedy | Drama
At the Hirata home, three generations of their family live together. A crisis ensues when one afternoon, housewife Fumie falls asleep and wakes up to find a thief has stolen her secret money she kept hidden in the refrigerator.
Starring: Isao Hashizume, Kazuko Yoshiyuki, Masahiko Nishimura, Yui Natsukawa, Tomoko Nakajima, Shôzô Hayashiya, Satoshi Tsumabuki, Yû Aoi
Director: Yôji Yamada
Birds Without Names / Kanojo ga sono na wo shiranai toritachi (2017)
Drama | Mystery
Tawako's boyfriend is not her kind, but she puts up with it in exchange for shelter. Her old boyfriend of almost a decade ago is long gone, and was also not nice, but like most girls she still reminisces about him and is attracted to his bad ways. Enter Mizushima who reminds Tawako of her old boyfriend, but soon more transpires to remind the girl of her old relationship.
Starring: Yû Aoi, Sadao Abe, Tôri Matsuzaka, Yutaka Takenouchi, Eri Murakawa, Masaaki Akahori, Mukku Akazawa, Shû Nakajima
Director: Kazuya Shiraishi
Tokyo Ghoul / Tôkyô gûru (2017)
Action | Drama | Horror | Sci-Fi | Thriller
A Tokyo college student is attacked by a ghoul, a superpowered human who feeds on human flesh. He survives, but has become part ghoul and becomes a fugitive on the run.
Starring: Masataka Kubota, Fumika Shimizu, Nobuyuki Suzuki, Hiyori Sakurada, Yû Aoi
Director: Kentarô Hagiwara
Haruko Azumi Is Missing / Japanese Girls Never Die / Azumi Haruko wa yukue fumei (2016)
Comedy | Drama
Haruko Azumi is a 28-years-old woman. She is a single and works at an office. One day, she suddenly disappears on a typical street with retail stores lined up. After her disappearance, her missing person poster is spread across the city.
Starring: Yû Aoi, Mitsuki Takahata, Shôno Hayama, Taiga
Director: Daigo Matsui
Over the Fence / Ôbâ fensu (2016)
Drama
Yoshio Shiraiwa is dumped by his wife and goes back to his hometown of Hakodate. He then enrolls at a vocational school, while receiving unemployment payments. At the vocational school, he meets Kazuhisa Daishima. One day, Kazuhisa Daishima takes him to a cabaret. There, Yoshio Shiraiwa meets a hostess, Satoshi Tamura. She possesses something different from other people. Satoshi Tamura and Yoshio Shiraiwa become close.
Starring: Joe Odagiri, Yû Aoi, Shôta Matsuda, Yukiya Kitamura, Shin'nosuke Mitsushima
Director: Nobuhiro Yamashita
About Her Brother / Otôto (2010)
Drama | Family
Set in 1926 when Japanese tradition was much stronger, this standard drama looks at the inner workings of a small family, especially the relationship between a sister and brother. The father (Masayuki Mori) and stepmother (Kinuyo Tanaka) are not exactly an expressive, demonstrative couple, and so the brother Hekiro (Hiroshi Kawaguchi) depends on his sister Gen (Keiko Kishi) for companionship and care. The situation turns much more serious when Hekiro becomes terminally ill, yet his sister continues to provide the support he needs – leading him to reach some valuable insights.
Starring: Sayuri Yoshinaga, Tsurube Shôfukutei, Yû Aoi, Ryô Kase, Nenji Kobayashi
Director: Yôji Yamada
Flowers (2010)
Drama
A story of six women from three different generations. In the 1930s, Rin is worried about her arranged marriage that her parents set up. Rin has three daughters: Kaoru – who tragically loses her husband in a car accident, Midori – a career woman who becomes shaken by a marriage proposal, and youngest child Sato. In the 1960s, Sato gives birth to Kana and Kei. In the present day, Kana is worried about becoming a single mother.
Starring: Yû Aoi, Kyôka Suzuki, Yûko Takeuchi, Rena Tanaka, Yukie Nakama, Ryôko Hirosue
Director: Norihiro Koizumi
Journey to the Shore / Kishibe no tabi (2015)
Drama | Fantasy | Romance
Mizuki's husband (Yusuke) drowned at sea three years ago. When he suddenly comes back home, she is not that surprised. Instead, Mizuki is wondering what took him so long. She agrees to let Yusuke take her on a journey.
Starring: Eri Fukatsu, Tadanobu Asano, Yû Aoi, Masao Komatsu, Akira Emoto
Director: Kiyoshi Kurosawa
Don't Laugh at My Romance / Hito no sekkusu o warauna (2007)
Comedy | Romance
Mirume is a 19 year old college student who falls in love with Yuri, an almost 40 year old art teacher at his university. Yuri isn't your typical college professor, having a quirky sense of humor and unpredictable personality. When Yuri invites Murume to her studio, she playfully seduces the still naive 19 year old student. Things become more complicated when Murume discovers that Yuri is married to a much older man.
Starring: Hiromi Nagasaku, Ken'ichi Matsuyama, Yû Aoi, Shûgo Oshinari, Morio Agata, Yôichi Nukumizu, Harudanji Katsura
Director: Nami Iguchi
The Murder Case of Hana & Alice / Hana to Alice Satsujin Jiken (2015)
Animation
Alice is a transfer student in the 3rd grade of middle school. She meets Hana (Anne Suzuki) who is her classmate and lives next door to her. Hana refuses to go to school.
Starring: Yû Aoi, Anne Suzuki, Ryô Katsuji, Haru Kuroki, Tae Kimura, Sei Hiraizumi, Shôko Aida, Ranran Suzuki, Tomohiro Kaku, Midoriko Kimura
Director: Shunji Iwai
Rurouni Kenshin: The Legend Ends / Rurôni Kenshin: Densetsu no saigo-hen (2014)
Action | Adventure | Drama
Rurouni Kenshin: The Legend Ends is the second of two 2014 live-action Japanese movies directed by Keishi Otomo and based on a manga by Nobuhiro Watsuki. It’s preceded by Rurouni Kenshin: Kyoto Taika-hen. The new films are based on the Kyoto arc from the original manga and revolve around former government assassin Shishio Makoto’s desperate struggle to overthrow the government of Japan.
Starring: Takeru Satô, Emi Takei, Tatsuya Fujiwara, Yû Aoi, Munetaka Aoki, Yôsuke Eguchi
Director: Keishi Ohtomo
