Yuko Takeuchi Movies
- 2007
An intimate journal serves as the nexus between two otherwise disconnected lives in Isao Yukisada's romantic drama Kurosudo Nooto. As the story opens, co-ed Kae (Erika Sawajiri) - who is undergoing training to become a teacher - moves into a new flat and happens upon a strange diary, stored in a compartment in the room. Upon reading it, she discovers that it belonged to Ibuki (Yukio Takeuchi), the previous tenant and also a nascent teacher, employed at a local primary school. As this occurs, Ibuki's story is told in flashback; we see that she consistently inspired all of her students (with the exception of one boy, who couldn't be helped), and meanwhile pined for a gentleman she knew in college, named Takashi. Because this story is visually filtered through Kae's imagination as she reads, she instinctively pictures Takashi as screen idol Tetsuji Tanaka (who, conveniently, plays the part). Meanwhile, events from Kae's life unfold; using a job in a fountain pen shop to pay for her education, she begins to romantically yearn for a quirky artist, Ryu (Yusuki Iseya), even as she spurns the inappropriate advances of her girlfriend's beau. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Erika Sawajiri, Yusuke Iseya, (more)
When a nuclear equipped, stealth-type American strategic bomber code-named Midnight Eagle bursts into flames during a routine training flight over the Northern Alps, an ex-war photographer turned nature-loving shutterbug attempts to prevent the missing weapons from falling into enemy hands. Based on author Tetsuo Takashima's popular novel of the same name, director Izuru Narushima's urgently paced action film stars Takao Ôsawa, Yûko Takeuchi, Hiroshi Tamaki, and Eisaku Yoshida. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Takao Osawa, Yuko Takeuchi, (more)
- 2005
Independent Japanese filmmaker Isao Yukisada collaborates with screenwriters Chihiro Ito and Shinsuje Sato to adapt author Yukio Mishima's sexually tinged tale of obsession and intrigue in Taisho era Japan. The year is 1912, and as Emperor Taisho takes power the Japanese upper class begins mirroring the refined social graces of European aristocrats. Noble bloodline youngsters Kiyoaki Matsugae (Satoshi Tsumabuki) and Satoko Ayakura (Yuko Takeuchi) are two such citizens, and though Satoko harbors feelings for Kiyoaki that run much deeper than friendship, the girl's disapproving father (Kenjiro Ishimaru) fears that the Kiyoaki's lecherous father (Takaaki Enoki) has passed his unchaste manners on to the next generation. Having fallen from grace with the rise of Emperor Taisho, the families of both children must struggle simply to stay afloat financially. Even as she enters into her final year of high school a decade later, Satoko still longs to be with her childhood sweetheart. In order to sidestep the romance, Kiyoaki ponders the prospect of setting Satoko up with his high-strung military school pal Shigekuni Honda (Sosuke Takoaka). Later, when Kiyoaki forces sex on Satoko and the teen becomes pregnant, she furtively plans to have an abortion before traveling to Nara to become a nun. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Satoshi Tsumabuki, Yuko Takeuchi, (more)
- 2003
Japanese director Shin Togashi spins this mystical tale of two young souls who may have been soul mates had they been given a chance in his 2003 romantic drama, Hoshi ni Negaio (Night of the Shooting Stars). Working long hours in the emergency room, nurse Kana Aoshima (Yuko Takeuchi) befriends musician and frequent hospital patient Shogo Amami (Yu Yoshizawa). Shogo's therapy visits for his muteness and blindness happen to frequently coincide with Kana's shift, which enables the nurse to get to know the handsome artist well enough to start falling in love with him. Fate intercedes, however, when Shogo is killed after being hit by a car -- a development that utterly crushes Kana's will to live. Shogo's spirit is transported to heaven, where it is given the chance to return to Earth to assist Kana through her grieving and to renew her sense of faith in the world -- with the only caveat being he cannot reveal his identity to Kana. Night of the Shooting Stars was selected for inclusion into the 2003 Berlin International Film Festival. ~ Ryan Shriver, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Yuko Takeuchi, Yu Yoshizawa, (more)
In this psychological horror story from Japan, a legend circulates among teenagers that if one watches a certain video at a certain time of the night, the telephone will ring right afterward, and one week later, you will die. When Masami (Hitomi Sato) tells her friend Imako this story, she scoffs -- but a week later, Imako dies in an auto accident. Imako's aunt, a television journalist named Reiko (Nanako Matsushima), hears that not long before she died, Imako was watching a strange video with her friends -- all of whom have turned up dead. Reiko tracks down a copy of the video, and as she watches its strange, spectral images, the telephone begins to ring....The next morning, Reiko begins a desperate search to solve the mystery of the video, convinced she has only seven days to live; assisting her is Ryuji (Hiroyuki Sanada), a mathematics expert and her former husband. Ringu was a box-office success in its native Japan, and a surprise blockbuster in Hong Kong, where it became the biggest grossing film of the first half of 1999. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Nanako Matsushima, Hiroyuki Sanada, (more)
