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Netflix has unveiled the first trailer for its latest live-action original series from Japan, Burn the House Down, set to launch globally on July 13.

A domestic revenge thriller, the show stars Mei Nagano (My Love Story!, Hanbun, Aoi) as Anzu Murata, a young woman whose childhood was torn apart when her family’s home burned down, prompting her parents to divorce. Convinced that her ailing mother was wrongly accused of the conflagration, Anzu goes undercover to work as a housekeeper for the suspicious woman who married her father in the wake of the blaze — convinced that she can gather evidence and discover the truth of what really happened.

The show is an adaptation of the popular manga Burn the House Down (Mitarai-ke Enjō Suru), which ran in Japan from 2017 to 2021. Kodansha USA Publishing began releasing the manga in English in June 2022.

‘Burn the House Down’

The lead cast includes: Asuka Kudo,...

Movies that stem from series are actually quite a normal phenomenon in the Japanese entertainment industry, with both anime and TV series franchises frequently indulging in the practice. “Signal The Movie” comes as a continuation of the Fuji TV series “Signal” itself a remake of the South Korean drama of the same name, written by Kim Eun-hee

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Movies that stem from series are actually quite a normal phenomenon in the Japanese entertainment industry, with both anime and TV series franchises frequently indulging in the practice. “Signal The Movie” comes as a continuation of the three seasons of “Cold Case”, which is actually a remake of the homonymous US title.

This last part allows Hajime Hashimoto to make a comment about corruption, which actually takes place in both arcs, adding more contextual depth but also analyzing further the protagonists, with their will to fight against authority highlighting their character but...

Movies that stem from series are actually quite a normal phenomenon in the Japanese entertainment industry, with both anime and TV series franchises frequently indulging in the practice. “Signal The Movie” comes as a continuation of the three seasons of “Cold Case”, which is actually a remake of the homonymous US title.

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The title’s basis and the one that sets it apart (to a point at least), is that two present-day detectives, Kento Saegusa and his superior, Misaki Sakurai, are in communication with a policeman from 2009, Takeshi Oyama, via walkie-talkies that actually work without batteries. In the movie, the case Saegusa and Sakurai get involved in, concerns the death of a high-ranking government official who is killed when his chauffeur loses control on an expressway. Saegusa suspects it was far from accidental, while it is soon revealed that a neurotoxin and the remaining members of a cult that...

Plot72% Acting70% Directing65%Interesting story with some fun elementsHas a lot more potentialHiroshi Abe is a bit on automatic pilot mode 69%Overall Score Reader Rating: (1 Vote)55%

Elevator to the gallows, original title Shikeidai no erebêtâ, is a remake of the noirish French film Ascenseur pour l’échafaud from 1958. As with most remakes, it is almost inevitable to compare it with the original film. The original is a pretty well known classic from 3-time Oscar nominated director Louis Malle. 52 years later, it was up to Japanese director Akira Ogata to take on the assignment to direct this Japanese remake.

Hiroshi Abe is Takahiko Tokito, a doctor at a big medical corporation. He has decided to run away with his lover, Meiko (played by Michiko Kichise), the wife of the president of his company. But before he is able to leave the country with Meiko, she has one request: he has to...