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NY Asian Film Fest to Show Hentai Kamen, Thermae Romae, Kenshin

The organizers of the New York Asian Film Festival announced on Monday that they will screen Hentai Kamen: Forbidden Superhero, Lesson of Evil, Rurouni Kenshin, Thermae Romae, and Helter Skelter.

Hentai Kamen: Forbidden Superhero (HK/Hentai Kamen) film adapts Keishuu Andou's Ultimate!! Hentai Kamen manga. Ryōhei Suzuki (live-action Gatchaman, Mei-chan no Shitsuji, Hana-Kimi, Yankee-kun to Megane-chan) stars as Kyōsuke Shikijō, a high school boy who transforms into a hero by wearing a panties mask — and little else. Yūichi Fukuda (I'll Give It My All... Tomorrow, One Pound Gospel, Saru Lock, The 3-Mei-sama: Anime wa Anime de Arissho!) directed the HK/Hentai Kamen film, which opened in theaters in Japan on April 13.

Takashi Miike's live-action film adaptation of Yūsuke Kishi's Aku no Kyōten (Lesson of the Evil) psychological suspense novel stars Hideaki Ito(Onmyoji, Sukiaki Western Django) as a popular, always-smiling high school teacher — who is also a psychopath murdering his students. The film opened in Japan in November.

Keishi Ōtomo's live-action adaptation of the Rurouni Kenshin manga had its North American premiered in Los Angeles in October. The film stars Takeru Satoh (Kamen Rider Den-O, Rookies, Beck) and Emi Takei (Kyō, Koi o Hajimemasu, For Love's Sake/Ai to Makoto). The original manga by Nobuhiro Watsuki ran from 1994 to 1999 in Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump magazine. An anime series aired in Japan from 1996 to 1998 and spawned several anime film and video projects. Viz Media publishes the manga in North America, while Media Blasters released the anime.

Starring Hiroshi Abe and Aya Ueto, Thermae Romae opened in Japan last year.

The story follows Roman architect Lucius Modestus (Abe), who designs bath-houses in ancient Rome. One day he's sucked into modern-day Japan. Able to travel back and forth in between worlds, Lucius uses Japanese ideas to improve the Roman baths he builds in the past. Toronto hosted the North American premiere of the film last year.

Mika Ninagawa (Sakuran) directed the live-action adaptation of Kyoko Okazaki's Helter Skelter psychological manga. The story centers on RIRIKO (Erika Sawajiri), a model who underwent extensive plastic surgery to attain her beauty. The clinic who performed RIRIKO's surgeries goes under investigation for questionable business practices, and RIRIKO's body starts to deteriorate. As the model's prominence in the entertainment industry begins to falter, so does her sanity.

The festival will also screen Bad Film by Sion Sono, The Complex by Hideo Nakata, Dreams for Sale by Miwa Nishikawa, I'm Flash by Toshiaki Toyoda, It's Me, It's Me by Satoshi Miki, The Kirishima Thing by Daihachi Yoshida, A Story of Yonosuke by Shuichi Okita, and The Warped Forest by Shunichiro Miki.

The 12th annual film festival will run from June 28 to July 15 at the Walter Reade Theater and Japan Society.

[Via Twitch]