WOWOW Actors Short Films Season 3
A young boy takes interest in piano while his family begins to disintegrate around him after his father loses his job.
The Fable is a legendary yakuza hitman equal to none—but his boss orders him and his sultry associate to lay low and learn how to live a "normal life" in Osaka.
A couple who are about to divorce argue over who should take custody over their pet cat. The cat flees and disappears due to the human commotions, causing connections and revelations to be revealed.
Devastated at the death of her four-year-old daughter, a grieving middle school teacher is horrified to discover that her students aren't as innocent as she thinks.
Based on webcomic “Musicophilia” by Akira Saso published in 2011, this is a film about Saku Urushibara, a young man with a special ability to understand sounds in nature. His father is a prominent composer, and his younger half-brother is a genius music composer. Due to the success achieved by his father and half-brother, Saku Urushibara has an inferiority complex. He tries to stay away from music because of this, but he ends up enrolling at the University of Arts in Kyoto where his special ability helps him find his own voice in the world of contemporary classical music.
Tsuda Umeko was born in December 31, 1864 and became a pioneer in women's eductation. In 1871, Tsuda Umeko, with her father's recommendation, went to the United States to study at the age of 6. She was the youngest of the group of females to travel there. They were the first Japanese female students to study overseas at their government's expense. 11 years after studying in the United States, Tsuda Umeko returns to Japan. She wants to become a woman who is helpful to her culture, but she is shocked by the low status of women in Japan. (Source: AsianWiki)
After a chain of deaths at a junior high school, new transfer student Koichi Sakakibara turns to a mysterious girl who holds the key to the dark mystery.
Four dramas about brothers and sisters, each of whom lacks a certain emotion.
Baffling serial killings unfold in which the victims are tied up and left to starve. Tone was just released from prison after finishing his sentence for another crime, and he surfaces as a suspect but detective Tomashiro can't nail down conclusive proof.
At the beginning of the 19th century, Japan was under a policy of national isolation. A group of Dutch scholars who wanted to open the country secretly completed a copy of a map of Japan under shogunate control. They sent a young Dutch scholar, Michi-an, as a secret envoy to deliver the copy of the map to the Dutch. Michi-an, hiding himself and making his way through the deserted winter mountains, but the mountain guardians, led by Takayama, had begun hunting in the mountains with a description of Michi-an's appearance arranged by the shogunate.
Prosecutor Komazuki Nao from the Yokohama District Public Prosecutors Office’s Minato Mirai branch and lawyer Tsutaya Madoka (Matsu Takako) from the law firm Yokohama Gold dated for seven years since the time they were in school. Even after they broke up, they have continued to be hopelessly linked to each other.
Ayano, Miyu, Yuri and Mei are high school students. They learn about a fatal gas accident which occurred at a school in the past. The girls then experience unusual occurrences like hearing breathing from closed classrooms and seeing a person's shadow. Hitomi then sneaks into an abandoned school to shoot a horror video for the internet. Hitomi hears from her colleague Kimio about a fox's window which leads to the spirit world.
Two swim-team members, a hairless boy and a hirsute girl, discover the pangs and tangles of first love.
Kiyosumi is a live in manger of an apartment building. He spends most of his time composing & playing music in his apartment. He doesn’t relate well with people and his life is simple. One day, Ushio who lives upstairs from him, greets him. She tells him that she broke up with her boyfriend and she listens to his music every day. Ushio then posts online a video of Kiyoshumi playing his music. Since then, Kiyosumi faces a big change in his life.
Tamura Yujiro and Hiyori have been married for four years. They look like a happily married couple, but, Hiyori secretly badmouths her husband on social media page "Husband Death Note."
The murder of a young girl leaves the inhabitants of a small Japanese village in shock. The body of Emili is found by four classmates with whom she was playing. The murder is never solved. Emili's mother, Asako, is torn by grief and puts a curse on the four girls when they claim not to remember the killer's face. Each of the girls, in their own way, will do penance for their silence.
In the year 1868, three young men join the elite Shogitai division of the Shogunate. The Shogitai fights to the end and opposes the dismantling of the feudal military dictatorship known as the Bakufu system.
After missing the last train after their best friend’s wedding, Ko, Reiji, and Yasumasa are dropped off at a small train station in the countryside. A teacher, a salaried worker, and an aspiring painter, three people with vague anxieties walk the dark streets at night and pour out their thoughts.
Adapted from the manga series "Black Jack"
Set in 1945 at the end of World War II. Saku arrives on Kakeromajima as the head of navy special forces. He is admired by the children on the island and he is interested in learning the island song as well as drinking with his men. Toe is an elementary school teacher on Kakeromajima and she has feelings for Saku.
Saimon hides his feelings as he and Takashi hit the road in search of love, but the journey leads them somewhere unexpected.
A high school teacher, struggling to keep up with today's youth and estranged from his only son, receives the news about a terrible accident that left his son in a coma. Wanting to know more about his son's life, he finds out that he's been working as a producer for a new underground idol group who are now left without a guiding hand.
Kiyosumi's affection for his schoolmate Hari grows after he saves her from bullying, but a dark secret she's unwilling to share threatens their bond.
On Christmas Eve, a TV broadcasting station receives a phone call. The caller warns "I have set up a bomb at Ebisu in Tokyo." A contract worker for the TV broadcasting station and a housewife are accused by the Ebisu police as being the culprits. During this chaotic situation, a mysterious man silently watches as everything unfolds. A video clip is then uploaded to an online video website. The video contains a demand to talk with the Prime Minister during a live broadcast or a bomb will be detonated at 6 pm in Shibuya, Tokyo. Who is behind the bombings and who will stop them?
Akira is the legendary killer known as the Fable. Following the order of his boss and due to being overworked, he lives peacefully with his partner, Yoko, as ordinary siblings. Akira still works part-time at design company Octopus with CEO Takoda and employee Misaki. CEO Takoda and Misaki are unaware of Akira's background as an assassin. Meanwhile, Utsubo is a representative for an NPO. But, Utsubo works with contract killer Suzuki to set people up for extortion purposes. They target someone at design company Octopus.
Set in the near future, Rina lives a wandering life and she meets Ema. Ema becomes a mentor for Rina and Rina begins to work for Ema. Her job is called body works, which is to plasticize dead bodies for people who lost loved ones. Meanwhile, Ema’s younger brother Amane develops technology that is finally able to achieve immortality. Rina becomes the first recipient of the technology. She can now live forever, while having a 30-year-old appearance, but ...
Taichi's father is the only family he has, but his father commits suicide by hanging. People suspect Taichi might have killed his father. Because of this, Taichi loses his job and he also loses his place. On the day his father is cremated, Taichi meets Tsukiko who is mentally handicapped. Tsukiko has run away from a facility.
Wasao, an Akita dog in Aomori Prefecture that became famous as an ugly-yet-cute dog from a traveller's blog. Heartwarming drama starring Wasao himself turns part of the life of this former stray into an original story. Setsuko, who runs a grilled-squid shop in a fishing village at the foot of the Shirakami mountains, decides to take in a large dog with a long, unruly fur that has shown up in town. She names the dog Wasao and showers it with affection, but Wasao at that time doesn't take to Setsuko.
Japan, 1944. Trained for intelligence work, Hiroo Onoda, 22 years old, discovers a philosophy contrary to the official line: no suicide; stay alive whatever happens; the mission is more important than anything else. Sent to Lubang, a small island in the Philippines where the Americans are about to land, this role will be to wage a guerrilla war until the return of the Japanese troops. The Empire will surrender soon after; Onoda, 10,000 days later.
Beyond the glass, a night that never dawns. The automatic doors work just fine, yet for some reason, it isn’t possible to leave… Shunsuke awakes to find himself trapped. The building is familiar, as are certain of his fellow “prisoners” – members of his old university theatre club. Despite the irrationality of their plight, the group begins rehearsing a play…
Curry and Rice
Naoya, living in the heart of Tokyo, spent his days caught up in the routines of a work-centered life. It had been a long time since he indulged in his favorite pastime — traveling, something he had loved since his university days. One day, out of the blue, he receives a phone call from Shogo, a senior from his university, inviting him on a trip to Okutama. Though puzzled by the sudden invitation, Naoya heads out to Okutama, where Shogo introduces him to an American traveler named Jackson. The three of them explore the lush natural surroundings — a place so rich in nature it hardly feels like it’s still part of Tokyo. Along the way, they meet warm-hearted locals and fully enjoy the natural beauty of Okutama. This unexpected escape from his ordinary life brings Naoya small yet meaningful realizations and changes. The scenery before his eyes begins to gently shine in a new light.
Koji carries an emotional wound from a missing childhood friend Sayoko, who disappeared when they were junior high school students. He left his hometown to forget about her and now, five years later, he goes to a grad school in Tokyo. One day, he gets a phone call from a former classmate and hears about the death of Sayoko's father. To attend his funeral, Koji returns to his hometown...