Chiaki Kuriyama Fandom
News

March 1, 2005: Chiaki is on the cover of the Spring 2005 issue of Kateigaho Magazine. Since the release of Kill Bill, there's been a ton of publicity surrounding the young actress. Besides the many covers she has landed, you can find her in a new collection of ads from ECKO UNLTD. Click HERE to see the ads.

February 27, 2005:

Kagen no Tsuki (Last Quarter) was released on DVD yesterday in Japan. Surprisingly, it has English subtitles. However it's still region-locked so it won't play on American players.

For those in the States, you can get a glimpse of Chiaki in Steven Seagal's Into the Sun. She has a 10-second scene at the beginning of the film. It's a very minor role as the Tokyo Governor's daughter with no lines. Still, it's better than nothing. The DVD has been available in the US since February 15, 2005 and will be released in Europe in the next month or two.

December 4, 2004:

Now that I have more bandwidth to spare, check out the newly available video clips in the Miscellaneous Videos area.

November 22, 2004:

Next March will be a great month for Chiaki fans. Azumi 2: Death or Love will be released on Saturday, March 12, 2005 in Japan. See the trailer at the official Azumi 2 website. Less than a week later on Friday, March 18, her second American film, Into the Sun, will be released in theaters here in the States. Although the official website and trailer are not available yet, the release date is confirmed by multiple sources including IMDB, Rotten Tomatoes, movietickets.com, and others. Supposedly the official website would be unveiled around the middle of December.

October 26, 2004:

Chiaki's first starring film, Shikoku, was released on region 1 DVD today. You can buy it from amazon.com here. The film is a mild ghost story that was released in 1999 as a double feature with the much more famous Ring 2. The release marks only the second Chiaki Kuriyama DVD officially available to North American audiences (the first being Kill Bill). However, with the success of the Grudge starring Sarah Michelle Gellar, it's possible that the original Japanese Ju-On starring Chiaki Kuriyama might be released here as well. There's a lot of confusion with the Ju-On series. The one with Chiaki was the first Ju-On that started it all. The most famous is the third Japanese Ju-On production called Ju-On: The Grudge. This third Ju-On will come to region 1 DVD on November 9. So far, no official announcement for the first Ju-On starring Chiaki Kuriyama yet.

October 10, 2004:

Chiaki turns 20 today! Last year, Kill Bill opened in North America on her 19th birthday and this year, her Japanese film Kagen no Tsuki opened the day before her birthday. Tarantino sent Chiaki a birthday message and flowers.

October 9, 2004:

Chiaki's new film Kagen no Tsuki (Last Quarter of the Moon) opens in Japan. It's a romantic comedy based on a popular manga by Ai Yazawa and co-starring Hyde, the lead singer of visual band L'Arc~en~Ciel.

May 6, 2004:

Chiaki Kuriyama won the 2004 "Best Fight" MTV Movie Award with Uma Thurman for Kill Bill Vol. 1! Uma Thurman also won "Best Female Performance" and Lucy Liu won "Best Villain." Kill Bill was nominee in only three categories and it won them all. The award show will be broadcast at 9 PM on Thursday, June 10. Go to this MTV page to see other categories and nominees.

April 7, 2004:

Finally the Kill Bill Vol. 2 Official Website is up. Please also check out the full trailer (where Go Go Yubari makes a fleeting appearance) and the two TV spots at themoviebox.net. The film opens on Friday, April 16, 2004 in the states and is already earning excellent marks from critics. Listen to Ebert and Roeper's audio review where they gave the film two thumbs up and some of the highest praise I've ever heard from the pair.

April 3, 2004:

Yesterday, I set up the Fandom Forum, a visual message board based on EZBoard technology. You don't need to register or sign in to post and reply to messages. If you have any questions about Chiaki or simply want to make a comment, you can now do so without any hassels. Check it out.

March 29, 2004:

The Internet is abuzz with speculation on the sighting of an Asian woman who fights with the Bride in the Kill Bill Vol. 2 TV spot. That character is NOT Go Go or Yuki Yubari but Karen Wong of the Wong Sisters. In the final chapter of the draft script, Lisa and Karen Wong are introduced in a flashback. Four years ago, on a trip to assassinate Lisa on order from Bill, the Bride encountered Karen instead in a hotel room. The ensuing fight has the Bride throwing her knife at Karen with the Wong sister catching it on her shotgun. This sequence is shown in the TV spot. Also in both the TV spot and the draft script is this quote from the Bride, "I'm the deadliest woman in the world." Read more about the Bride - Karen Wong fight.

March 10, 2004:

Two other Kill Bill Vol. 2 REVIEWS can be found at AICN. The second one by Pyul MacTackle is particularly interesting as it touches on the mythology of Kill Bill. He also explains that Miramax will have a combined release of both Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 sometime in the future.

March 9, 2004:

Harry Knowles of AICN saw Kill Bill Vol. 2 at a private test screening in Austin, Texas. Here's his glowing REVIEW. His words only heighten my considerable expectations for the film. Can't wait to see it on April 16, 2004.

March 6, 2004:

The Official Kill Bill Website has finally been updated. It now serves as a placeholder for upcoming Kill Bill Vol. 2 information. The trailer for the Vol. 1 DVD is essentially the same as the Vol. 1 trailer that we've all seen.

February 26, 2004:

February 8, 2004:

The official website for Chiaki's upcoming Japanese film, Last Quarter, is now online. Not much there yet but there should be more content in the coming months as the film completes production.

February 3, 2004:

I hate to be the messenger of bad news but Chiaki Kuriyama will not be in the American remake of The Grudge. The role of Rika went to another young Japanese actress named Yoko Maki, who coincidentally starred in Battle Royale II. At least the role went to a member of the Battle Royale family. Despite this, I am still looking forward to this remake as it will bring about the release of the Japanese Ju-On DVDs here in the states. Chiaki was in the first Ju-On (2000), the one that spawned the whole franchise. Currently, it would appear that the American remake will draw heavily from the third feature, called Ju-On: The Grudge. Here's the trailer for that film. The website of the fourth feature called Ju-On: The Grudge 2 is still online since the film was released in Japan just late last year. You can view its trailer as well.

By the way, I actually posted the news about Yoko Maki being selected as Rika in the Chiaki Kuriyama Yahoo Group about 10 days ago. So to the members of the Group, this is nothing new. Please do join us at the CK Yahoo Group for faster news, informative discussions, and tons of pictures.

January 26, 2004:

Equinox Fitness, an upscale American fitness club, will use Chiaki Kuriyama in their 2004 advertising campaign. They have gyms in the three largest U.S. metropolitan markets of New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago. This news was reported in Adweek in December but because they spelled Chiaki's name wrong (Kuryama instead of Kuriyama), no one knew about this until a fan in New York saw an actual Chiaki Equinox poster ad on the side of a bus stop recently. Here's a reprint of the Adweek press release. You can find this on adweek.com as well but they actually charge to read the whole article.

January 23, 2004:

The wait is over. Finally the Kill Bill Volume 2 Teaser Trailer is available at Yahoo Movies. All 56 seconds of it can be downloaded in Windows Media, Quicktime, and Real formats.

January 21, 2004:

Chiaki is currently working on Last Quarter, a Japanese film based on the popular manga Kagen no Tsuki by Ai Yazawa. She will play the lead character of Mizuki. This news defeats the rumor that she might have a small part in The Grudge, the American remake of Ju-On. It's a shame that Chiaki couldn't land a cameo role in The Grudge since she was in the original Japanese film. At least we're guaranteed an official release of Ju-On on region 1 DVD once the marketing blitz for The Grudge begins.

January 10, 2004:

The Kill Bill Vol. 1 DVD will be released on April 13, 2004 according to Amazon. Uma Thurman has said during a December 24, 2003 interview on "The View" morning TV program that Kill Bill Vol. 2 will be in theaters on April 16, 2004. No official word from Miramax yet.

December 22, 2003:

Take the "A" Train Someday opened in Tokyo on Saturday, December 20, 2003. This is a small art house film and therefore has a very limited release. Chiaki plays Yuki Noguchi, a waitress. It's a small part but she does have the opportunity to deliver a few of her lines in English.

December 17, 2003:

The American remake of Japanese horror spectacular Ju-On is coming! Sam Raimi, the director of Spider Man and Spider Man 2 will bring the Ju-On franchise to the West. Called the Grudge in English, the Hollywood remake has just recently signed Sarah Michelle Geller to star. Her royal highness Chiaki Kuriyama was in the original Ju-On and this development will only expose her to a wider audience as every film student, movie geek, and foreign cinema aficionado will scour the Net, import houses, and bootleg marts for the original Ju-On.

Go to my Grudge (Ju-On) remake information page for more.

December 2, 2003:

The trailer for Kill Bill Volume 2 is attached to Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, which debuts on December 17, 2003. That means just two short weeks before we get a glimpse of what else Tarantino has in store for us. Chiaki is in the cast list for Volume 2 so there should at least be a flashback scene but hopefully more. I would love to see more backstory for our sweet adorable Go Go Yubari.

Source: joblo.com

November 13, 2003:

The Kill Bill video game might have been cancelled but here come the action figures! The January 2004 issue of ToyFare (both cover variants on the right) has some great news about these upcoming collectibles. Tarantino was very hands-on with this license and the figures should enter retail in April 2004. Here's the rest of what Toyfare wrote verbatim.

"NECA's first toy line based on a current movie will make a big splash, according to Farinas. Quentin Tarantino's fourth (and technically fifth) film, the two-parter Kill Bill details the quest of an assassin called The Bride (Uma Thurman) to end the lives of five people - her four backstabbing comrades and the boss that paid them to kill her.

Planned figures include The Bride; assassin O-Ren Ishii (Lucy Liu); the masked swordsmen called the Crazy 88 Fighters; and , at the personal request of Tarantino, Go Go Yubari, the mace-and-chain-wielding Japanese schoolgirl. Kill Bill products will hit after the second film debuts on Feb. 20, and Farinas promises that the figures will feature plenty of articulation to recreate all the cool kung fu moves."

November 12, 2003:

The DVD for Kill Bill Volume. 1 will be available in early February 2004. Amazon.ca has it listed for Feb. 3, 2004 and Amazon.co.uk has it listed for Feb. 9, 2004. The release of the DVD in Canada and the UK almost certainly guarantees that it will street in the U.S. in early February as well, just in time to correspond to the arrival of Volume 2 in theaters on February 20.

Between October 24 and 25, Kill Bill hits theaters in Japan, Italy, Denmark, and many other countries. The picture to the right comes from the Toyko press event held on Oct. 19. Click on the image to see why Quentin Tarantino is the man.

On October 25, roughly two weeks after Kill Bill first played in the U.S., the highly acclaimed film will land in Japanese theaters. Finally, residents of Chiaki Kuriyama's native land will be able to witness her complete mastery of the deadly Go Go Ball. The Asian edition of Kill Bill will also have more blood and a few more scenes than its North American counterpart. To promote this film in Japan, Tarantino and key cast members returned to Tokyo. Check out this Windows Media clip of the press event to hear Quentin Tarantino, Uma Thurman, and Lucy Liu talk to the Japanese media in English. Film legend Sonny Chiba and a very gentle Chiaki Kuriyama also speak. Since it was in Japanese, I have no clue what Chiaki said although I pray it's an announcement for Go Go Yubari: The Movie. Their day of fun is not over though. Check out this Japanese page for a clip of the evening premiere where Tarantino made impressions with his Japanese fluency. Although Chiaki is silent in this clip, her red dress was pure eye candy.

Kill Bill was officially released on October 10, 2003 in the United States and many other countries. There are overwhelming positive reviews from film critics including "two thumbs up" from Ebert and Roeper. Don't miss your chance to see what extracurricular activities Go Go Yubari participates in after school. Volleyball, basketball, or mace and chain? Whatever it is, with Go Go's personable disposition, I'm sure she has a ball doing it.

Happy Birthday, Chiaki! She turned 19 on October 10, 2003, the day Kill Bill opened in theaters. What a coincidence! The teen princess was born on October 10, 1984 in Tsuchiura, a city in the Ibaraki perfecture. It's not too far northeast of Tokyo on the big island of Honshu.

Check out this behind-the-scenes Windows Media clip with Tarantino directing his girls. About one minute into the clip, you see Go Go literally swing onto a table. Awesome!

Read Max Sterling's Battle Royale and Ju-On Film and DVD Reviews. With Max's writing style, it's always a fun read.