Tsuri Baka Nisshi 12

Rating: * * 1/2 Director: Katsuhide Motoki Running time: 111 minutes Language: JapaneseOpens Aug. 18

Some sequels make sense, but a "3" or "4" after the title of a Hollywood movie is generally a good reason to stay away unless you happen to be feeling charitable toward a studio with an empty idea bank. I am not alone in thinking so -- few Hollywood franchises make it to "5," let alone "25."

Japanese moviegoers for long had a different attitude toward sequels: If they liked the first or second installment, they would keep coming back again and again, until the actors and directors either got fed up, burned out or died.

The most famous example is Yoji Yamada's Tora-san series, about a wandering peddler who was forever falling in love but never got the girl. Starting in 1969, the series ran for 48 episodes, nearly every one a hit, and only ended in 1996, when star Kiyoshi Atsumi passed away. Yamada often compared his repetitive labors to making good bowls of ramen -- an apt analogy for the way the audience consumed the films: as a fun, familiar, easily digestible food that would neither surprise nor disappoint.