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Welcome to Global Breakouts, Deadline’s fortnightly strand in which we shine a spotlight on the TV shows and films killing it in their local territories. The industry is as globalized as it’s ever been, but breakout hits are appearing in pockets of the world all the time and it can be hard to keep track… So, we’re going to do the hard work for you.

We enter 2024 by heading to Japan, where we have spotlighted the annual taiga drama, Nhk’s all-year-round historical series that has been a mainstay on Japanese screens for more than six decades. What Will You Do, Ieyasu? has just wrapped and the next is preparing to air. While the taiga drama has a distinctly Japanese feel, there is no reason why it cannot travel way beyond the nation’s shores and expose the world to this traditional but unknown format.

Name: What Will You Do,...

As we also mentioned in the “To Me, The One Who Loved You” review, the two movies, along “To Every You I've Loved Before” are part of a duology which is supposed to be watched subsequently, with the order not being an issue. Supposedly. Because in principle, watching “To Me” first actually makes a lot more sense. Nevertheless, let us see what the movie is all about, while making a slight comparison between the two movies.

on Crunchyroll

by clicking on the image below

This time, Koyomi Takasaki is living with his mother instead of his father after their divorce, and is struggling to make friends in the university prep school he attends as the movie begins. One day, he is approached by his classmate Kazune, who informs him that in a parallel word, number 85, they are a couple, which is actually true as we know from the other movie.

Crunchyroll is continuing to expand its cinematic offerings on its streaming service with the addition of more titles it has recently released theatrically, including That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime The Movie: Scarlet Bond, The Quintessential Quintuplets Movie, and Mobile Suit Gundam Cucuruz Doan’s Island. Additionally, a few titles that have never been available to stream outside of Japan will also be available on Crunchyroll, including Free! -the Final Stroke- Part 1 and 2, To Every You I’ve Loved Before, and To Me, The One Who Loved You.

That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime the Movie: Scarlet Bond is a stand-alone story that takes place after the second season of the popular fantasy adventure anime series it is based on, That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime, which is adapted from the best-selling light novel of the same name. The Quintessential Quintuplets Movie...

Picturehouse is set to release the pre-hiatus final concert film of the Japanese boyband pop sensation Arashi exclusively in AMC Theatres for one night only on March 22.

The Arashi Anniversary Tour 5×20 Film Record of Memories was released by Shochiku on Nov. 26, 2021, and grossed $39.5M, making it the highest grossing live-action film in Japan in 2021.

Arashi has consistently been a top performing act since their debut in 1999, and are composed of five members: Masaki Aiba, Jun Matsumoto, Kazunari Ninomiya, Satoshi Ohno and Sho Sakurai. In 2019, their compilation studio album 5×20 All the Best!! 1999-2019 was named the best-selling album of the year worldwide, and most of their singles and albums have ranked as top sellers on the Oricon music charts.

In addition to music, the band are actors with Ninomiya having appeared in Clint Eastwood’s Oscar-winning film, Letters From Iwo Jima.

Record of Memories showcases the group’s 20th anniversary tour...

An epic samurai period adventure tale of hidden gold bullion and a princess on the run, Akira Kurosawa's 1958 Hidden Fortress got a blockbuster reboot (a fact which no doubt had some Kurosawa purists foaming at the mouth) in 2008, and the epic remake, The Hidden Fortress: The Last Princess hits UK DVD this month. Directed by Higuchi Shinji (‘The Sinking of Japan’) and starring J-pop star Jun Matsumoto, Last Princess could best be described as action heavy, light on plot. High drama its not, but its pure escapist, FX laden, bubble gum fun none the less. Hidden Fortress goes on sale June 28th, via 4digital Asia.

TOKYO -- Japanese film studio Toho is remaking Akira Kurosawa's The Hidden Fortress, famous for having large chunks of its story used by George Lucas in the original Star Wars.

The new version, first reported Monday in the Japanese media, will be directed by Shinji Higuchi, responsible for last year's hit The Sinking of Japan but best known for his special effects work.

The 1958 film -- known as Kakushi Toride no San Akunin in Japanese, or "The three villains of the hidden fortress" -- is an action comedy starring Toshiro Mifune. Taking the Mifune role will be romantic comedy star Hiroshi Abe. Masami Nagasawa will take the role of princess Uehara.

In a move guaranteed to raise the eyebrows of Kurosawa fans, the parts of the two peasant refugees, the inspiration for R2-D2 and C-3PO, will be combined into a single character, Takezo, from whose perspective the story will be told. Jun Matsumoto of the boy band Arashi will take that key role.