The best Naoto Takenaka’s romance movies

Cyborg She follows the burgeoning romance between an ordinary college student and his sassy love interest - who happens to be a time-traveling cyborg with superhuman powers. One day, a beautiful cyborg girl appears in front of a dull university student. Even though the cyborg starts to like him, she can’t truly feel emotions, so the boy has no choice but to say goodbye. Missing her, he continues his lonely existence. One day, a disastrous earthquake hits Tokyo and the cyborg girl saves his life. In that moment, she starts to have feelings like a real human being.

A bored Japanese accountant sees a beautiful woman in the window of a ballroom dance studio. He secretly starts taking dancing lessons to be near her, and then over time discovers how much he loves ballroom dancing. His wife, meanwhile, has hired a private detective to find out why he has started coming home late smelling of perfume.

A businessman, Tsuda, runs into a childhood friend, Tajuki, on the subway. Tajuki is working as a semiprofessional boxer. Tsuda soon begins to suspect that Tajuki might be having an affair with his fiancée Hizuru. After an altercation, Tsuda begins training rigorously himself, leading to an extremely bloody, violent confrontation.

Nodame and Chiaki mutually decide that it would be for the best if they parted ways for a while so Nodame can practice for an upcoming competition. However, when things don’t go her way, she gets impatient and depressed. While Nodame is away, Chiaki’s former pianist Rui Son returns to take her place. To make matters worse, Rui and Chiaki are set to play the song Nodame dreams of playing with Chiaki herself: Ravel’s “Concerto in G Minor”.

The film is a series of vignettes from Taiji Tonoyama's life and film clips, interspersed with a dialogue to camera by Nobuko Otowa, addressing the camera as if she is addressing Tonoyama himself, recollecting events in his life. The film focuses on Tonoyama's alcohol dependence and his various sexual relationships, as well as his film work with Shindo.

Shuichi Kushimori is a 17 year old high school student who lives happily with his mother and stepsister. One day, without warning, his estranged stepfather returns home from a long absence. He quickly falls into a circle of drinking and starts abusing his ex-wife and daughter. When he begins making sexual advances towards Shuichi’s stepsister, Shuichi is compelled to take matters into his own hands.

Shohei works as a doctor in a seaside hospital. One day, a new patient is admitted to the hospital with ovarian cancer. Shohei is surprised to recognize Michiko, his first love from high school. Shohei has been leading a dissolute bachelor life, paying for the company of high school girls and dating an older woman who works in a local bar, but in reality, for the last twenty years, he has not forgotten Michiko. Unfortunately though, Michiko doesn't remember him at all. Shohei becomes more and more persistent in his attempts to get her to recall their past. At first she is annoyed by his overtures, but gradually warms to the doctor. Under Shohei's kind and patient care, Michiko's condition improves and her cancer becomes operable. The operation is a success, but now Shohei himself learns that he has terminal cancer.

Chiaki is an aspiring conductor who faces the challenge of leading an orchestra which is made up of substitutes. Nodame gives her support to her beloved as she works hard towards achieving her dream to pass a promotion exam at their music conservatory. Will Chiaki be able to revive a broken down orchestra and launch his musical career? What will become of Nodame and Chiaki's relationship?

The secret warriors of feudal Japan were the Ninja. Sent on impossible missions, the Ninja were trained to work in shadows, gather information and defeat the enemy to build a world of peace. Red Shadow, Blue Shadow and Aska are neophyte ninjas under the tutelage of White Shadow. Their life is a series of perilous missions that entail intrigue, deception and intimidation.

Fumio Yano is an unassuming young businessman in the ski wear line. His own skiing ability is close to professional level, and he assists a former world champion, Tayama, on the sales team. Fumio meets and falls in love with Yu, a young secretary, but initially finds it hard to express his true feelings for her. A St Valentine's Day fashion show provides an unexpected backdrop for crisis resolution, and a mad scramble ensues to beat the clock and make it to a neighboring ski resort in time for the press and photographers. A pack of chocolate is a symbol of true love...

Edogawa Rampo is a writer whose latest work is censored by the government, deemed too disturbing and injurious to the public to be allowed to be published. However, after burning his drafts, his publisher shows him a newspaper with an account of events just like his forbidden story. As the film progresses, fantasy and reality intermingle in a tale that draws heavily on influences from Poe and Stoker's Dracula. The film's strongly Expressionistic direction skillfully combines a variety of media (animation, computer-generated imagery, grainy black-and-white fast film stock, color negatives) for artistic effect.

Yuri leaves Ryo with mysterious words. Ryo goes to Hokkaido knowing that his doppelganger magician is missing. Ryo realizes Yuri was also the magician’s lover and he learns magic. The story that crosses over two identities, illusion and magic.

A successful Japanese make-up artist collides with a tough-talking Shanghai taxi driver in this romantic dramedy that twists traditional roles by making the beauty expert a male and the cab driver a feisty female. Although he works in a glamorous industry, Naoki Mizushima (Masahiro Motoki) can't help but notice that his life is anything but beautiful. Can the uncouth Lin Xi (Wei Zhao) help him make over his life for the better?

Ayane Sukehira (Kang Ji-Young) is an overweight woman who loves chocolate. Because of her love for chocolate, she has moved to Italy which is famous for its chocolates. There, Ayane Sukehira gets involved in an accident and she passes out. When Ayane Sukehira wakes up, she finds that her appearance has totally changed. She is now a beautiful woman. Ayane Sukehira travels back to Japan and she begins work as an esthetician. She still is not interested in dating and she buries herself in eating chocolate and playing games. One day, popular idol Takumi Minato invites her for dinner

In EDO, the fabulous wonderland where only men exist, the most beautiful courtesan is Shiratori Dayū. His apprentice's suicide made him desolate, and he finds love when he meets the most popular and sexy candy boy, Furimatsu, at the "Candy Shop." However, the town of EDO bans romantic relationships, and a rare disease starts to spread.

Tsukiko is in her late 30s and living alone when one night she happens to meet one of her former high school teachers, 'Sensei', in a bar. He is at least thirty years her senior, retired and, she presumes, a widower. After this initial encounter, the pair continue to meet occasionally to share food and drink sake, and as the seasons pass - from spring cherry blossom to autumnal mushrooms - Tsukiko and Sensei come to develop a hesitant intimacy which tilts awkwardly and poignantly into love.