Distant Thunder

Famed onnagata (a man who plays women's parts in Kabuki) Tamasaburo Bando follows up on the success of his directorial debut, Gekashitsu, with this soft-focused romance about love and obligation, based on a novel by Kafu Nagai. Set during the Meiji period (1868-1912), Kaede (Sayuri Yoshinaga) is the former mistress of a wealthy merchant. When he dies, she is forced out on the street and forced to give up her young daughter to the merchant's family. The film opens with her working in a high-class brothel abutting Tokyo Bay. Though she has passionate affection for a drug wholesaler, whom she loves as well, Kaede is swamped with not only debts to the bordello and family obligations -- she is expected to support her parents and her sister -- but also guilt over losing her child. This pain is only increased when Kaede learns that her daughter is being abused. She does the only thing she can: She buys back her child by signing on at the brothel for a longer stint.

Mrs Taggart always celebrates her anniversary with her grown sons. It’s a tradition practised since the death of her husband and she is determined for it to continue. None of her three sons have dared to cross their ruthless domineering mother but this anniversary they intend to try. With cruel and brutal twists, the family get-together becomes a social nightmare beyond endurance.

Sam Bass receives a summons to testify before a grand jury, and not realizing that the matter concerns sheep-stealing he assumes it to concern the murder of his brother, Will.

Based on the novel by Truman Capote, this often-witty coming-of-age drama looks at a young man growing up with an unusual family in the Deep South in the 1940s. Becoming an orphan in 1935, Collin moves to his dad's cousins Verena and Dolly. Verena is a rich, bossy businesswoman. Dolly, Collin and the maid revolt, moving to a tree house.

In London, eccentric piano instructor Madame Sousatzka takes on a new prize protégé, Manek, a teenage Bengali immigrant who displays incredible talent. Manek forms a close bond with his teacher, but soon discovers that she expects her pupils to become disciplined in all areas of life, and not just behind the piano

J is in their early teens and lives in the countryside. J has been diagnosed with Gender Identity Disorder, goes by the selected pronoun “they”, and takes hormone blockers to suspend puberty. While J’s parents are away, their older sister and her Iranian boyfriend are assigned the duties of house-sitting and looking after J.

An aspiring writer from New York visits his girlfriend's eccentric family in Georgia.

An Irish lad (Matt Keeslar) who fled from his oppressive, widowed father (Albert Finney) falls for a girl (Victoria Smurfit) from an affluent family.

A Japanese-produced theatrical documentary about José Alberto Mujica Cordano.

Mary is a sophisticated pastry chef who's struggling to keep the doors of her bakery open. Facing eviction, she decides to return back home with her fiancé, Brent, to collect a sizable engagement gift from her eccentric Texan family. But, when Brent is felled by allergies and unable to travel, Mary bails his identical-twin brother, Jake, out of jail and travels back home passing him off as her fiancé.

Katie Mayfield is now the mistress of Mayfield Manor. In her new world she finds herself torn between two worlds and grieves for her plain Amish life. Does Katie choose her new life or the simple heritage she left behind?

A young wild girl, Fanchon, lives in a forest with her eccentric grandmother who is suspected by the villagers of being a witch. The unkempt Fanchon suffers from her grandmother's sorceress reputation. One day the girl rescues a boy from drowning and they fall in love, but Fanchon won't agree to marry him unless his father asks her. A year later the boy has fallen very ill and it is only the presence of the enchanting Fanchon that helps to restore his health.

On the eve of the Russo-Japanese war at the beginning of the 20th century, small-town girl Okane has married an old wealthy man to escape a life of poverty.

At the strong insistence of his father, Ushimatsu Segawa conceals his origins from a “buraku” area of low-class “untouchables,” leaving his hometown to serve as an elementary school teacher where he excels and is loved by his students. But he constantly struggles with the secret of his low-birth status and is disturbed by all of the discrimination levelled upon his class. It prevents him from pursuing a romance with Shiho, whom he meets at the temple where he resides, but who descends from a samurai family.

Dvorak's Symphony No. 9, "From the New World" wafts through a hospice recreation room. Sitting at the grand piano is a young girl, Chiori, with a prodigious ability to play any piece of music after one hearing. Keisuke Kisaragi whose career was abruptly cut short when he jumped in front of a bullet fired by a crazed gunman. The nerves in one hand were severed but he saved the life of Chiori. The tragic incident takes the lives of Chiori's parents, however, and Keisuke becomes her guardian. Not long after their return to Japan, Keisuke discovers Chiori's musical gift.

Jonny Briggs centers on the exploits of a young boy, the eponymous hero, his pet dog, Razzle, and his eccentric family members.

Where the Heart Is is a British television family drama series set in the fictional Yorkshire town of Skelthwaite. It focuses on the professional and personal lives of the district nurses who work in the town.

Shinobu is a naive ninja-in-training. In order to test her ninja abilites, she must steal the panties of all the high school girls. The first house she stops at is the abode of one Kaede Shiranui, who happens to catch Shinobu in the act. Kaeda is the voice of reason and the two girls become quick friends, despite a round yellow ball-thing who claims to be a ninja master and tries to get in the way of their friendship.

Mildred Pierce depicts an overprotective, self-sacrificing mother during the Great Depression who finds herself separated from her husband, opening a restaurant of her own and falling in love with a man, all the while trying to earn her spoiled, narcissistic daughter's love and respect.

20 years ago a half-frozen boy was rescuded in the mountains after his parents apparent sucide. He gets released from a mental institution and his girlfriend notices him talking about a dark mountain shadow. Meanwhile a murder happens in a residential area in Tokyo. Assistant Inspector Goda Yuichiro takes on the investigation. Soon an official of the Ministery of Justice gets murdered in a similar fashion pointing towards a serial killer. Yet, Goda receives a strange order from above: he's not to further investigate in this direction. He senses a huge mystery behind the case and starts chasing after the psychopath killer called Marks. Somehow a journalist's research about a corrupt construction magnate and another unsolved murder that happend in the mountains 13 years ago are also linked to the case.

Mifuyu is a high school student. Her mom suffers from a severe illness, which causes Mifuyu to spend most of her time taking care of her and doing housework. She doesn't think about her future after high school. Mifuyu's mom dies, her dad brings his girlfriend to their house and kicks Mifuyu out. Mifuyu goes to the home where her mom's cousin lives, in a high-class residential area in Tokyo.

Nami Isayama met a man through a blind date and married him. She and her husband moved to a quiet, exclusive residential area. Nami is now a housewife and she decides to take cooking classes. She meets other housewives at the cooking class and receives tips from them, while becoming friends. Nami surmises that one of the housewives in her cooking class is the victim of domestic violence. Nami decides to save the victim by herself.

After losing both parents in a fatal plane crash, teenager Ryuuichi Kashima must adjust to his new life as the guardian of his younger brother Kotarou. Although Ryuuichi is able to maintain a friendly and kindhearted demeanor, Kotarou is a reserved toddler still too young to understand the reality of the situation. At their parents' funeral, they are approached by Youko Morinomiya, the stern chairman of an elite academy, who decides to take them under her care. However, there is one condition Ryuuichi must fulfill in exchange for a roof over their heads and enrolment in the school—he must become the school's babysitter. In an effort to support the female teachers at the academy, a babysitter's club was established to look after their infant children; unfortunately, the club is severely short-staffed, so now not only is Ryuuichi responsible for his little brother, but also a handful of toddlers who possess dynamic personalities.

Story depicts the conflicts and growth of families who live at co-operative houses. Nana Igarashi is 35-years-old and works as a diving instructor. She is married to Daiki who is 32-years-old and works at a toy company. They live in a small apartment, while saving up to buy a house. They enjoy their life. Nana and Daiki decide to buy a co-operative house. They also try to have a baby. Nana and Daiki realize it isn't easy to have baby.

After the jolt he gets from a date gone bad with the girl of his dreams, a admired senior colleague, the drab white-collar worker Ken'ichi Tsumiki buys an appealing AI girl-droid "equipped" for sex, takes "her" as his wife, and names her Piple. But for some reason, Piple spurns his advances on their first night together. Visiting Piple's developers, Tsumiki meets the AI researcher Kaede Miyama. She tells Tsumiki that the problem is in the way he set Piple up—something that, sadly, couldn't be changed. But Miyama has an idea, and she makes a surprising suggestion.

This young student will do whatever it takes to become the world's best ballet dancer: the Danseur noble!

Taiyo Asano has been on his own ever since his parents died and the only one who seems to care for him is his childhood friend and classmate, Mutsumi Yozakura. But Mutsumi has a secret—she is the head of a family of spies! And on top of that, her brother Kyoichiro is dangerously protective of her! To stop Kyoichiro from killing him, Taiyo and Mutsumi must take the ultimate leap—marriage! Because in the Yozakura family, family cannot kill family.

A middle-aged man with only one passion in his life meets a fitting end in a traffic accident. That's where most stories would end, but instead, this is when his story begins when he's reborn as what he admired the most in life--a vending machine! But his new lease on life happens in the worst place possible--what can a vending machine do in a monster-infested dungeon when he can't speak or even move on his own?

Gawain Nanaumi is a third-grader with an incredible love for baseball and making the ball really fly. In a chance encounter with a female professional golfer, Kiria Nishino, he learns that golf will allow him to hit a ball further than any other sport.