Very funny, and unlikely story about a samurai ghost becoming the witness in a murder trial.

Emi Hosho (Eri Fukatsu) is a lawyer with no talent. She always says the wrong things, and blows her case. Her client Goro Yabe (KAN) is accused of killing his wife Fuko (Yuko Takeuchi),but it's really a plot by Fuko's sister Suzuko to kill her sister and put the blame on Goro. Goro's only defense is that he couldn't move at the time of the murder because he was pinned by the samurai ghost at the hotel. Emi decides to check if the ghost really exists and heads for the hotel Shikabane-so. There she meets Rokubei Sarashina (Toshiyuki Nishida) who's a 400 year old ghost of the Hojo clan. She asks Rokubei to be the witness, and Rokubei accepts. The problem is, Rokubei can only be seen by a select group of people. These includes the court artist Tamaru Himura (Sen Yamamoto),the prosecutor Tooru Osano (Kiichi Nakai),the truck driver Isetani (Zen Kajiwara),and the call girl (Ryoko Shinohara). Emi must figure out the common denominator between them to figure out why only they can see Rokubei. Then she needs to convince the judge, and the prosecutor that Rokubei's testimonial is legitimate.

Kiichi Nakai puts in a stellar performance as the prosecutor. His straight laced acting actually adds humor to the scenes. Toshiyuki Nishida, and Eri Fukatsu also puts in good performance as the "Witness", and the lawyer. Zen Kajihara were really funny at the restaurant as the truck driver who can see the ghost.

I think this movie is worth seeing for the performance of Kiichi Nakai alone. There are other funny scenes, but the battle between the defense and the prosecution is the highlight of this movie. Osano knows that Rokubei is real, but pretends that he doesn't know. He insists that a testimony by a ghost that is not proved by science, cannot be accepted in the court of law.

Good movie that's a delight to watch for all the funny scenes.

Ghost of a Chance (aka Once in a Blue Moon) is a Japanese ghostly courtroom comedy. It's hardly great, but there's not much to dislike about it.

SPOILERS AHEAD!

Eri Fukatsu stars as Emi Hosho; an ambitious and hard working defense attorney trying to make a name for herself in her late father's shadow. Unfortunately, she's not very good at her job as she continually bungles cases and fails to win acquittals for her clients. Her boss (played by the ubiquitous Hiroshi Abe) gives her one last chance to prove herself with a case no one else wants. Her task: defending a murder suspect who claims he was held down by a ghostly presence at a haunted inn during the time of the crime he's accused of.

This is a pretty straight forward comedy with some minor sub themes dealing with family and life & death. Eri Fukatsu is terrific as always as the plucky young attorney. She's effective and likable, and this is a role for which she is well suited for. The rest of the cast is rounded out by a bunch of veteran Japanese actors and actresses, and they all play their parts quite well.

As the story unfolds, Emi sets out to investigate her client's alibi and ends up spending the night at the same haunted inn as the suspect himself. She too receives a visit from the same ghost who haunted her client (in the form of a grumpy 400 yr old samurai warrior who was betrayed by his clan). Instead of being overly frightened by a sword wielding ghostly presence, Emi tries to convince this dead "wandering warrior" to testify in court on behalf of her client. He reluctantly agrees to do so in exchange for her clearing his good name and receiving a proper memorial to send him on to the afterlife.

This plot is obviously quite ludicrous, but that doesn't prevent the movie from being an enjoyable watch anyway. This is a comedy after all, and the end product is satisfactorily entertaining. Emi and the "Wandering Warrior" quickly form a bond and understanding, others belonging to the afterlife chip in along the way, various scientific and supernatural methods are employed to convince the non believers, and as a result, the most fantastical murder trial in the history of Japan is underway.

I found this movie to be quite enjoyable. I can't whole heartedly say that is a "MUST SEE", but it does work quite well overall. My biggest complaint (as is the case with many Asian films) is that it is simply too long; there is no reason or excuse for this movie to clock in at 2.25 hours. They could have easily cut a few scenes here or there, or deleted the mostly irrelevant boyfriend/live in actor sub plot, in order to better streamline this flick into a more economical production. That being said (written),I do recommend it as a decent and worthwhile diversion!

Hmmmm. I'm giving it 7 out of 10 stars. I probably would have rated it approx 65-75% under a different format, but here on IMDb it's either 6 or 7, so 7 it is IMO!

Come on people I've watched Japanese movies nothing tops this, it has everything you want funny, cute,scary and touching to where you will shed a tear even for a old American man like me, seen it on a flight bought it on ebay and that wasn't cheap.YOU WONT BE SORRY YOU WATCHED IT its now on youtube with english subs so no excuse