The best Masato Sakai’s comedy movies

Several hundred years after the Battle of Dannoura, the Genji and Heike clans face off again in a poor mountain town with a buried treasure legend. A revolver-wielding stranger, a lone gunman, burdened with emotional scars and blessed with incredible skill, drifts into town and crosses paths with two warring clans who are both on the hunt for a hidden treasure in a remote western town. Knowing his services are valuable to either side, he offers himself to the clan who will offer up the largest share of the wealth. Yoshitsune commands his Genji gang in white while Kiyomori leads his Heike gang in red. Expectations collide as the key players wonder which gang the gunman will join. Dirty tricks, betrayal, desire and finally, love, get jumbled together, as the situation erupts into a showdown.

When easy-going Aoyagi meets an old friend for a fishing trip, he ends up drugged, framed for the Prime Minister's assassination, and on the run from corrupt cops. It's only the beginning of what quickly becomes the worst, weirdest day of his life. But he'll get by with a little help from his friends, who include a famous pop diva, a rockabilly deliveryman, a crippled old gangster, and the world's most cheerful serial killer.

Nishimura has a passion for cooking, but never would he have imagined the task before him now: He is unexpectedly assigned to a south polar mission to serve as head chef at the Dome Fuji station. Leaving his wife and daughter behind for a year, he and the other crew members experience one existential crisis after another in the icy cold.

Unemployed 35 year old Sakurai aspired to become an actor, but failed miserably. He decides to end his own life, but first he goes to purify himself at a public bathhouse. While there, he meets the very prosperous Kondo, who subsequently suffers a fall, erasing his memory. On a whim, Sakurai switches locker keys, steals the man's belongings, and decides to pass himself off as Kondo. What Sakurai does not know is that Kondo runs an illegal business, which brings him into contact with ornery Yakuza members. Meanwhile, Kondo has been convinced that he is actually the failed actor Sakurai and he faces the dismal reality of that life with increasing bewilderment. Fortunately, at the hospital he meets the lovely Kanae who, while yearning for marriage, goes out of her way to help "Sakurai" pull himself together. Eventually Kondo regains his memory, but before he can make a new life with Kanae, he has to solve the many problems caused by the theft of his identity.

Mikio (Masato Sakai) is a married man and works hard for the company where he is employed. Then one day Mikio is diagnosed with depression. Mikio's wife is Haruko (Aoi Miyazaki). They have been married for 5 years. Haruko draws comics for work, but they do not sell well. She mainly relied on Mikio for support. Meanwhile, Haruko did not notice any changes in her husband. She begins to blame herself for not noticing any signs. Mikio's depression derived from his work. His company has been pressing him to quit the company. After Mikio quits his job his condition improves, but the dynamics of their relationship changes.

A heady brain teaser of a film with unexpected twists and turns, After School reels the audience in with wry humor, quirky characters, and a puzzling mystery. Character actors Oizumi Yo (Gegege no Kitaro), Sasaki Kuranosuke (Bokutachi to Chuzai-san no 700 Nichi Sensou), and Sakai Masato (The Wall Man) headline this laidback yet cerebral caper comedy, along with an always welcome appearance from beauty Tokiwa Takako (20th Century Boys). Seedy private eye Kitazawa (Sasaki Kuranosuke) shows up at gym teacher Jinno's (Oizumi Yo) school with a picture of Kimura (Sakai Masato), Jinno's longtime buddy who has gone missing. Reluctantly joining the puzzling manhunt of myriad twists and turns, Jinno realizes that he doesn't know his friend as well as he thought after some strange brushes with Kimura's boss, a yakuza boss, and a club hostess.

Kazuhiko Kogure, who is a 2nd grade student in middle school, falls off from one of the school's rooftop. There were other male students on the roof when Kazuhiko Kogure fell off. According to the other students there, Kazuhiko Kogure tried to jump to another school building, but missed. Fortunately, Kazuhiko Kogure only fractured his leg and ribs. According to Kazuhiko Kogure's mother Hidemi, the school insists it was students playing around and did not involve bullying. Hidemi though, doesn't believe it, because Kazuhiko Kogure has a fear of heights. Hidemi goes to see attorney Machiko Mayuzumi (Yui Aragaki) and Machiko decides to take her case, but she asks for fellow attorney Kensuke Komikado's (Masato Sakai) help. Meanwhile, the school hires attorney Teshigahara Isao (Kinya Kitaoji).

A son quits his job and is persuaded by his father to head off to a cottage in the remote mountains. Together, the two of them manage to get through their days while wearing old jerseys left by a deceased grandmother. The following summer, the two once again leave the stifling heat of Tokyo, as if escaping to the mountain cottage. However, the next summer is very different...