The best Kazuyuki Asano’s drama movies

Set in a five star Tokyo hotel on New Year's Eve, the film follows the misadventures of various hotel staff and guests in the run-up to midnight. The plot involves numerous characters, the different problems or situations they face in the run-up to midnight, and the ways that these different storylines interact and are resolved. The film is reminiscent of the Hollywood screwball comedies of 1930s and 1940s, and explicitly references the 1932 film Grand Hotel, whose plot also followed the interlinked lives of various characters in a fictional hotel over a short period.

Futakotamagawa High School had a Baseball Club, but because of a fight during one of their games, they were suspended for a year from all games. Composed of student delinquents, Futakotamagawa High's new Literature teacher Kawato Koichi inspires the Baseball Club to believe in a dream goal once again. For them, it is to play at the Koshien - Japan's National High School Baseball Championship. But, Kawato Koichi and the newly reformed baseball team run into plenty of obstacles along the way...

Would-be writer Ryunosuke Chagawa is still living across the street from Norifumi Suzuki and his auto repair shop, though now he shares his home with Junnosuke, an orphan he's taken under his wing at the urging of pretty Hiroi, who continues to manage a nearby tavern. Chagawa dreams of publishing a successful novel and settling down with Hiroi and Junnosuke, but his day job running the candy store keeps him busy, and Hiroi mistakes his tight schedule for a lack of interest in her. Hiroi has also embarked on a secret career as a burlesque dancer, which isn't doing much to improve her opinion of men. At the Suzuki household, seven-year-old Ippei isn't happy to be sharing the house with a guest, his distant cousin Mika who is the same age but far more demanding. Mutsuko, the apprentice female auto mechanic, is still staying with the Suzukis, and she's becomes the object of the affections of Takeo, a downbeat young man who is studying cooking.

Naruse Uta is a "unique" 13 year old child. She possessed the talent to read sheet music even before she could speak, but has now come to the point where she hates playing the piano. Her father was also a piano virtuoso, but mysteriously disappeared from her life at a young age. Because of her father's disappearance Uta's mother had to move out of their posh home and into a far modest working class neighborhood. In this working class neighborhood there is a local grocer. The grocer's son Kikuna Oto happens to be a budding musician, but lacks the drive to truly succeed. That is until Uta Naruse comes into his life...

Defence lawyer Emi is assigned to a particularly unusual case: a man is suspected of murdering his wealthy wife, and his only alibi is a 421-year old ghost, Rokubei. At first Emi is hesitant, but when she pursues her lead she is visited by the ghost herself. And so the fun begins in the courtroom when Prosecutor Osano starts to cross examine…

In a small town on the countryside, where everyone knows everyone, all the children pay their respect to the middle-aged woman who runs "Barber Yoshino". An old tradition is rooted in this town. Every young boy is forced to have the same ridiculous hairstyle to have their bangs cut straight, known as the "Yoshino-gari" hairstyle. Of course they all get their hair done at the only barbershop in town, "Barber Yoshino". Then one day, a drastic change occurs when a transfer student with bleached hair comes from Tokyo....

A single mother going through a divorce returns to her parents’ home, and struggles to raise her child and reviving her parents’ Gyoza restaurant; when she falls in love with a handsome pro-golfer.

Sasaki Ryohei (Yamada Ryosuke), the second son of the Sasaki family, is a high school student who lives in Shimane. He has just been chosen to be the vice captain of the youth soccer club. Setting his sights on participating in the prefectural championship, Ryohei practices every day with his buddies. One day, Ryohei has a severe headache and is brought to the hospital. Ryohei is diagnosed with an acute brain tumor from the test results. The family is told by the doctor that Ryohei will not live long. However, Ryohei musters the strength to say, "I will win. I will beat the illness. " Given a push by his words, the Sasakis try to stay positive.

In 2004, singer-songwriter Matsumoto Tetsuya wrote an autobiography that included a section about his relationship with his troubled mother. Writer-director Nakamura Daisuke adapts that story to film with Shiwase Come On, his directorial debut. The film covers the marriage of Tetsuya's mother and yakuza father, his mother's drug habit, his stay at an orphanage and his reconciliation with his mother after becoming an adult. In addition to writing and performing the film's theme song, Matsumoto Tetsuya also composed the score to this touching film. In 2011, Shiawase Come On won Grand Prix at the 2011 Okuradashi Film Festival, a film festival dedicated to screening unreleased Japanese films.