21st Century Japan: Films from 2001-2020

Talented violinist Chiaki Shinichi really wants to become an orchestral conductor. In the final year at his Tokyo conservatory he finds himself living next door to a brilliant but undisciplined pianist named Noda Megumi, nicknamed "Nodame." Nodame soon declares herself in love with Chiaki. Though he demurs at first he finds himself attracted by both her talent and her quirky personality.

Yuri Kashiwagi was once known as a genius pianist. One day, she returns to her hometown in Goto Islands from Tokyo. There, she begins to work as a temporary teacher at a middle school and an adviser of the school chorus. The chorus aims to take part at a competition. Yuri gives the chorus members an assignment - to write a letter with the title of "To myself 15 years later" upon a song that they will sing at the competition.

Haru and Reo perform as musical duo Haru-Reo. With their indie music, they suddenly get popular. Even with their newfound success, they decide to disband the duo. Haru-Reo go on one last tour together. Their roadie Shima goes with the girls on the tour. Reo has feelings for Shima, but Shima has feelings for Haru. And Haru has feelings for Reo.

Soichi Negishi moved to Tokyo to chase his dream of becoming a musician playing stylish, Swedish-style pop. Instead, he finds himself leading the death metal band Detroit Metal City, or DMC, as the costumed and grotesquely made-up "demon emperor" Johannes Krauser II. Although he hates the role and the things he has to do as a member of the band, he has a definite talent for it. Adapted from the hit Japanese comic book by Kiminori Wakasugi, the movie follows Negishi's antics as he tries to reconcile the two very different sides of his life and find out what it really means to achieve his dream.

The rise, fall, and rise again of a Hong Kong street dance crew.

A friendship is born when two twenty-year-old girls named Nana meet on the night train to Tokyo. Yet, they could not be any more different in appearance, experience or demeanour. One is a pop rock singer with an ambition to conquer the stage. The other wants to be with, and serve, her boyfriend.

A record company office worker named Kanna Kurita discovers a punk rock band called Shonen Meriken Sakku / Brass Knuckle Boys through the internet and subsequently decides to represent them on behalf of her company. What Kanna did not know was that the Brass Knuckle Boys consists of all middle aged men.

Against the protestation of his strict father, Jin leaves home to pursue his dream of becoming a musician. Meanwhile, his little brother Hide accepts his father's wishes and aims to become a dentist. But none of them can escape the attraction of music. When Jin's music career hits a snag, he discovers that it is his brother, Hide, and his fellow dental students who exhibit a great natural talent for music, and he pins his hopes on them. But Hide wants to become a dentist...and still sing while fear of his draconian father looms large. So they strike out on a bold plan? To make their CD debut without ever showing their faces to the public.

Kaoru dreamily gazes from her bedroom window each morning just before dawn. She can see a stretch of the beach in front of her parent's house on a hill in Kamakura, but focuses upon the activity at the bus stop where Koji and his two best friends meet before going surfing. The appearance of the sun causes her to lowers the blinds and go to sleep for she suffers from Xeroderma Pigmentosum (XP) and exposure to the sun's rays has had the potential to kill her. At night she walks to the train station, plays her guitar and sings songs she has written, commonly returning home just a few minutes before it starts getting light. One morning she is at the bus stop singing when Koji arrives. Liking the song she was singing, he promises to go and listen to her perform as a street musician the first day of summer vacation but finds a loud and off-key man has occupied her spot. Koji improvises and takes her to Yokahama on his motor bike where her singing immediately draws a crowd. Koji marvels at her extraordinary future, whereas he muses at his ordinary nature as he asks to be her boyfriend. But she breaks up almost immediately as the rising sun reminds her that she cannot live a normal life. Koji tries and make amends after being sought out by her father, and starts to earn the 200,000 yen needed to pay for a studio session and production of a CD of Kaoru's songs. As she practices on her guitar, she finds her fingers becoming immobilized, the first sign that neurological damage from the disease is progressing.

There is a bond formed when four orphans meet at a crematorium where their parents are being turned to ash and the respective funerals are being held. Soon they decide to turn their anger, grief or loss into expression by forming a band. The group soon has fans, reviews, criticism and a social media reputation. However, seeing that they are left alone in life they push to forge their own path and not be followers.

Nodame (Juri Ueno) is still pining for the affections of Chiaki (Hiroshi Tamaki), but Chiaki wants them to concentrate on their musical careers and moves out. Chiaki then gets the opportunity to perform with Song Rui (Yu Yamada) and the Wiltord Orchestra of Vienna. Meanwhile, Nodame remains at the conservatory in Paris, but Professor AuClair refuses to let her compete in musical competitions that could kickstart her career. When Nodame goes to a concert with her friends, she hears Ravel's Piano Concerto in G major and decides that is the song that she will one day perform with Chiaki. Unknown to Nodame, Chiaki is about to perform the song in front of her with Rui ...

A piano prodigy who lost his ability to play after suffering a traumatic event in his childhood is forced back into the spotlight by an eccentric girl with a secret of her own.

Aki Miyata was a musician and died one year ago. He had bright and positive personality. Sota Kubota is a university student, who is not good at socializing with people. One day, Sota picks up a cassette tape, which was left by Aki. If Sota plays the cassette tape, Aki's spirit takes over hiss body for only 30 minutes. With Aki's spirit in his body, Sota goes to see Aki's former girlfriend Kana Murase and his other bandmates.

A dying old lady reminisces about her happier moments. Her daughter, Hui Ying, decides to move her father's grave from his hometown to beside her mother's grave. However, his first wife, who has looked after the grave for years, doesn't approve, and their disagreement ends up becoming a problem for the whole town. Hui Yang's daughter, Weiwei, works at a broadcasting company. After showing a video clip of a scuffle between her mother and step-grandmother to her colleagues, it becomes local news, and much gossip ensues.

A bunch of lazy and unmotivated schoolgirls are thrown into the extracurricular music club of their school and not exactly voluntarily. They are trying to cut out the hard stuff - yes, mathematics - and become the replacement crew for the actual musicians in the school club, but slowly come into their own as they learn to handle the instruments and themselves better. Craziness and zaniness ensues, but how is the swing music delivery at the end?

It is the job of the press to cover corporate crime, government plots and society. It is in this context that young female reporter on the beat Erika rolls up her sleeves and goes to work regarding what seems to be a government cover up. She is dealing with a government bureaucrat called Sugihara. It seems as if a clash is inevitable.

A youth inspirational film, about how a group of high school students try to revive Chinese orchestra ensemble. They face many challenges along the way to compete nationally, including a rivalry with the more popular Western orchestra club.

Girls are friends, girls are not friends, girls come and go, but the band plays on in this film about a high school quartet with only three days to find a stable line-up, choose songs, rehearse and climb the stage at the rock music show of their annual festival. A foreign exchange student as a singer, a sullen guitarist, a shy bassist and a tom girl are a soaking wet band in a high school auditorium.