The infamous and controversial movie base around a high school battle to the death. A bus of high school kids on a bus heading for what they believe to be a field trip is gassed and they are transported to a deadly island. In an effort to control high school violence, the Japanese government has decided the best solution is to randomly choose high school homerooms, send them to an island, and have them kill each other till there is only one survivor.

 Crazy premise, crazy plot, but it is one of those must watch type of movies and it is actually more emotional than you can imagine. Since the story is really character driven, you really hope in the end that everyone can survive. Can they?

4. トワイライトシンドロームデッドクルーズ (Twilight Syndrome Dead Cruise)
Japanese Level: ☆

Haruka invites five of her high school friends for what is supposed to be a fun and relaxing cruise. Everything is great until they find a video game remote control that allows them to change reality and turn it into a video game. But this isn’t a fun video game. It is a horror video game. There is a reset button on this game controller, but every time it is used, there is the fear that someone will be killed again.

The ship is turned into a nightmare world, and Haruka pleads for the assistance of her friends to work together to clear this game and save everyone. However, these friends start to realize they are not really friends at all, and the relationship between the 6 starts to crumble apart. Without cooperation, will they be able to beat this death game?

This falls into the weird horror movie category, but they play on an interesting concept and you’ll want to see how the story works out. C’mon, you’ve never thought what would happen if you got stuck in a horror video game? And the theme song is pretty cool as well.

3. サマータイムマシンブルース (Summer Time Machine Blues)
Japanese Level: ☆☆☆

In the middle of a sweltering summer, the air conditioner remote control breaks in the Science Fiction research club room. A time machine appears out of nowhere, and one of the members decides to use it for the greater good. To go back to yesterday before the remote control broke and steal it so they can have the air conditioning back in the present. But by doing that, the past is changed, and there is a fear that everything in the universe may be destroyed!

Now the real task is to try to fix everything back to the way it was. They repeatedly travel back and forth causing more problems than their originally were. Eventually they figure out the gist of how to get things right and they start to solve some mysteries that were present since even before they started time travelling. Will they be able to put the time space continuum back in order while at the same time having cool air for their club room?

This is probably the most laid back Science Fiction time travel movie I’ve seen, so even if you are not a big fan of the genre you can still have fun with this comedy.

2. イキガミ (Ikigami: The Ultimate Limit)
Japanese Level: ☆☆☆☆

All Japanese first grade children are given a shot, that when they reach adulthood, has a random chance of being activated by the Japanese government. Upon activation, the adult is given a death letter, stating that they will be remotely killed within 24 hours. The government’s reasoning is to increase productivity and appreciation of life to the younger generation, by establishing that at any moment your life may end.

The story follows a newly hired deliverer of these death notes, the three lives he will bring to a close, and the moral dilemma he faces with this cruel system.