V-Cinema

Japanese V-Cinema is the direct-to-video industry that appeared in Japan in the 1980s. The term is a trademark of Toei Company but has been used in the West to describe any Japanese direct-to-video or -DVD release. Unlike its Western counterpart, this industry has a considerably better reputation, with directors making V-Cinema movies sometimes by choice, due to the creative freedom afforded by the less stringent censorship of the medium, and the riskier content the producers will allow.

Related Topics:
Japan - Direct-to-video - Toei Company - Censorship - Producers

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Notable examples are director Takashi Miike, who has released several direct-to-video films after his theatrical debut, and Takashi Shimizu, whose Ju-on series of films started out as V-Cinema, becoming surprise hits as the result of favorable word of mouth.

Related Topics:
Takashi Miike - Takashi Shimizu - Ju-on

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Incidentally, former television performer Masashi Tashiro has acted as V-Cinema's director after he was dismissed from the entertainment world, too.

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The term OVA (Original Video Animation) is applied when the film in question is anime.

Related Topics:
OVA - Anime

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