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In Toshiaki Toyoda‘s newest film, “Transcending Dimensions“, a hitman chases a mysterious Japanese ascetic and encounters a mix of mystical power and spacetime. The combination of science fiction and crime breathes new life into his “Mt. Resurrection Wolf” series, which includes the three short films “Wolf’s Calling” (2019), “The Day of Destruction” (2020), and the latest “Go Seppuku Yourselves” (2023).

Transcending Dimensions is screening at International Film Festival Rotterdam

Yosuke Kubozuka plays monk Rosuke, who appears to have fallen under the influence of Master Hanzo, a formidable ascetic who believes in the resurrection of wolves. Rosuke’s partner Nonoka (Haruka Imou) brings a skilled assassin named Shinno, played by Ryuhei Matsuda to Hanzo’s mountain monastery to closely observe the enigmatic man, who requests a finger as payment for assisting his followers in transcending to a new dimension. It is there that they encounter the sorcerer Ajari (Chihara Junior), leading to...

Films and documentaries about underdogs that manage to win, or people who were winners all their life is something common in cinema. Toshiaki Toyoda though, chose to deal with the exact opposite subject, a group of people headed by “Unchain” Kaji, who do not seem to get a break from the day they were born.

As the story unfolds starting with Kaji, we learn of his unfortunate life, which actually begun from his birth. His parents abandoned him when he was an infant and he was raised by his uncle, although he did not know that until he became 18. His uncle eventually died and he took up boxing, without, though, managing to win even once, as he retired with a record of eight losses and one draw, after severe damage to his eye. As he tries to start a new life as a civilian, his situation becomes even worse,...

Using crime-filled Shibuya of the 90’s as his setting, Toshiaki Toyoda presents a true guerilla film, which frequently functions as a music video.

The film starts with a mysterious, almost catatonic young man named Arano, walking in the street and bumping everyone around him, in a more violent edition of The Verve’s “Bittersweet Symphony” music video. Eventually, he stumbles upon Kamijo, a young club-owner who struggles to stay away from the Yakuza, despite the fact that he is kind of a gangster himself. Through a series of violent episodes, Arano ends up in Kamijo’s group, as the latter appreciates his knack for violence. Their relationship though, is anything but smooth.

Toshiaki Toyoda presents a world where violence is the rule, where every man seems to be a gangster or on his way of becoming one. This world seems to be a perfect fit for Arano,...