The best Chika Uchida’s romance movies

Tetsuo (Kiyohiko Shibukawa) is a lowlife. A film director with a small indie hit many years back, yet he has never gotten any further as he refuses to go against his 'artistic integrity'.

In 1987, frustrated junior high student Takashi hates his uncool father hanging around their suburban home all the time, and is pestered by the area’s wannabe gangsters. But he’s interested in the girl next door, the bounteously-breasted Megumi. One day, Takashi hears a rumor that porn actress Kyoko Yokushimaru is coming to town for an autograph session at the only video store in town where Takashi and his judo friends always hang out. Their ridiculous but serious adventure begins. What will Takashi find after all the surprises and chaos? Recalling youth classics like Stand By Me, this is the debut feature of Shin Adachi, Japan Academy Prize-winning screenwriter of 100 Yen Love.

The romantic ensemble piece revolves around a filmmaker who wants to stop cheating on his girlfriends, a fan who continues to pine for an idol, and a former idol who goes to meet him, while also contemplating the true meaning of 'proper love.'

A Taiwanese girl Yuwen comes to a village of Fukushima to study abroad. She thinks falling-in-love is a stupid thing and the land is unusually dry as Yuwen’s heart because of no rains. Yuwen struggles to speak Japanese but learns Japan culture and relationships from her host family and neighbors. As she opens her heart little by little, rain falls on the small village after a long time.