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Fusa (その木戸を通って, Kon Ichikawa, 1993)
Kon Ichikawa’s Fusa (その木戸を通って, Sono Kido wo Totte) opens on a note of artifice. Misty rain and the verdant green of the forest give way to total darkness…
Forever, My Love / 佳人 / Kajin (‘Beautiful Woman’/ ‘Good Person’, 1958)
Obscure Japanese Film #252Ryoji Hayama 1943. Shigeru (Ryoji Hayama) is a student returning from Tokyo to his hometown of Toyooka in Hyogo Prefecture on western Honshu (then part of the San’in…
Growing Up
Seishun Anime Zenshuu (translated as Animated Classics of Japanese Literature for its English release) is a 1986 anthology series that retold well-known stories from modern Japanese literature. It's…
Oh! My Goddess, Captain Tsubasa, Captain Tsubasa, Bite me!, Gon
Nessa no Wakusei
Okizari presents the first English-subtitled release of the original version of Nessa no Wakusei (Desert Planet or Hot Sandy Planet), a mid-1990s borderline hentai OVA. It's better known in North America…
Bakuen Campus Guardress, Gakkou no Yuurei, Gon, Nightsong of Splendor, Kitty-Cat Fantasia
Kyuukyoku no Chef wa Oishinbo Papa
A new year, a new Okizari hentai release. This time it's the 1990 OVA Kyuukyoku no Chef wa Oishinbo Papa (The Ultimate Chef Is Gourmet Papa), based on…
Hiroshima ni Chiban Densha ga Hashitta
A new year, a new Orphan release about the atomic bombings in World War II. This time, it's the 1993 NHK TV special Hiroshima ni Chiban Densha ga…
Akai Hayate, Anne of Green Gables, Getter Robo, Judo Story, Tsuyoshi Shikkari Shinasai: Tsuyoshi no Time Machine de Shikkari Shinasai
Apocalypse Hotel And Legacies That Outlast The End Of The World
Apocalypse Hotel made the bumpy road of its creation into a virtue, by confidently mixing different styles, viewpoints, and moods accumulated during its lengthy production process. The result…
Holiday Review #21: MANSECT
With so many horrors happening in the real world, it's almost a relief to turn to one of Living the Line's latest horror manga releases and enjoy a…
Holiday Review #21: MANSECT
With so many horrors happening in the real world, it's almost a relief to turn to one of Living the Line's latest horror manga releases and enjoy a…
EARLY MANGA DAYS: RAW #7 (1985)
Managed to finally snag a copy of RAW #7 (May 1985), known as the “torn” issue with a hand-torn corner - but relevant here for the “TOKYO RAW”…
Wind Breaker Episode 19 Review – Love Yourself
This was a beautiful episode with a lovely message.
The Killing Machine (少林寺拳法, Norifumi Suzuki, 1976)
A former Manchurian special operative tries to fix the post-war world through teaching Shaolin kung fu in Norifumi Suzuki’s martial arts drama.
The Killing Machine (少林寺拳法, Norifumi Suzuki, 1975)
A former Manchurian special operative tries to fix the post-war world through teaching Shaolin kung fu in Norifumi Suzuki’s martial arts drama.
From Old Country Bumpkin to Master Swordsman: My Hotshot Disciples Are All Grown Up Now, and They Won’t Leave Me Alone, Vol. 6
By Shigeru Sagazaki and Tetsuhiro Nabeshima. Released in Japan as “Katainaka no Ossan, Kensei ni Naru: Tada no Inaka no Kenjutsu Shihan Datta noni, Taisei Shita Deshitachi ga…
Dryads in a Snow Valley (風の波紋, Shigeru Kobayashi, 2015)
“You can’t live here alone” a older woman admits having long left the village and returning only to visit her parents’ graves to be shocked by its ongoing…
Review: 1921 (2021)
1921 1921 China, 2021, colour/b&w, 2.35:1, 135 mins. Director: Huang Jianxin 黄建新. Associate director: Zheng Dasheng 郑大圣. Rating: 5/10. Celebration of the centenary of the CPC’s founding is…
Whirlpool of Flesh (おんなの渦と淵と流れ, Ko Nakahira, 1964)
A intellectual professor and his wounded wife find themselves trapped in a toxic marriage after returning from Manchuria in Ko Nakahira’s fatalistic drama
Paradise of Solitude (孤独な楽園, Ikki Katashima, 2024)
A blocked writer and a introverted young woman discover unexpected connection through accidental epistolary communication in Ikki Katashima’s poetic drama.
As Birth Rates Plummet, Japan’s PM Regrets Couples Have Fewer Chances to Hook Up
The PM also lamented the dip in omiai, traditional Japanese matchmaking services, and said the government should do...something.
Ai sureba koso / 愛すればこそ / (‘Only If You Love’, 1955)
Obscure Japanese Film #166 Isuzu Yamada This omnibus film comprised of three stories was an independent venture co-produced by two compani...
Tsuyoshi Shikkari Shinasai: Tsuyoshi no Time Machine de Shikkari Shinasai
My Discord colleagues in the Inka kairetsu have a dismissive term for the vast bulk of anime that is neither outstanding nor outstandingly ...
Sailor Moon, Akai Hayate, Gakkou no Yuurei, GeGeGe no Kitaro, Graduation
From Old Country Bumpkin to Master Swordsman: My Hotshot Disciples Are All Grown Up Now, and They Won’t Leave Me Alone, Vol. 5
By Shigeru Sagazaki and Tetsuhiro Nabeshima. Released in Japan as “Katainaka no Ossan, Kensei ni Naru: Tada no Inaka no Kenjutsu Shihan Datta noni, Taisei Shita Deshitachi ga…
Gakkou no Yuurei (School Ghosts), volume 4
More ghostly doings in Japanese schools. Gakkou no Yuurei ( School Ghosts) , volume 4, is much like volume 3: six segments of about the sa...
X-Men, Hand Maid May, Macross Plus, First Loves, Fruits Basket
Gakkou no Yuurei (School Ghosts), volume 3
Let's start out 2025 on a scary note, 'cause it's gonna be a scary year. Gakkou no Yuurei (School Ghosts), volume 3, features more supernatu...
Monkey Magic, Iron Virgin Jun, Kujibiki Unbalance, Macross, B.B. Fish
The Tragedy of 1 / 一の悲劇
I assume most people reading this blog know who Ellery Queen is, but for who don’t, he (actually the joint pseudonym for two cousins) is on...
534 – Manben Machinations 3 – Takao Saito, Shigeru Mizuki, Osamu Tezuka
This week we return to Naoki Urasawa's television show, Manben! We watch the episodes on Takao Saito, Shigeru Mizuki, and Osamu Tezuka! We also discuss Dragon Ball Daima,…
Harvestella OST
Rating : 81/100 In the year 2000, a man named Kaz Ayabe and his team at the company Millennium Kitchen released an...interesting game for the PlayStation that was…
Japan’s PM Worn Down Because No One Loves Him
Japan's Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru says he can hardly sleep and no one even compliments him in the papers.
Turnabout Memories - Part 14
detective fiction, 推理小説、games, mystery, murder, locked room, Japanese, translations,
Karas, Mobile Suit Gundam, Rewrite, Shigeru, Sword Art Online
Moonlight Whispers (月光の囁き, Akihiko Shiota, 1999)
A pair of teenagers find themselves in an accidentally sado-masochistic relationship without the ability to understand what exists between them in Shiota’s unconventional teen romance.
Hiroshima (ひろしま, Hideo Sekigawa, 1953)
During the post-war occupation of Japan which lasted until 1952, the censorship regulations which replaced those of the militarist era perhaps ironically made it more or less impossible…
Science Fiction Art on Page and Screen from Jules Verne to Jack Kirby
I read H.G. Wells’s The Time Machine (1895) recently and began reading Jules Verne’s 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1870) and I got to wondering when the genre…
From Old Country Bumpkin to Master Swordsman: My Hotshot Disciples Are All Grown Up Now, and They Won’t Leave Me Alone, Vol. 4
By Shigeru Sagazaki and Tetsuhiro Nabeshima. Released in Japan as “Katainaka no Ossan, Kensei ni Naru: Tada no Inaka no Kenjutsu Shihan Datta noni, Taisei Shita Deshitachi ga…
Yokai: The Art of Shigeru Mizuki Artbook Review
Although nominally an artbook, this might be just as easily described as a collection of folklore.
Portrait of the Psychopath as a Young Man (Aoki Honoo v2)
Aoki Honoo is a one-shot OVA from 1989, based on a six-volume manga by Yanagasawa Kimio, a prolific mangaka who is almost unknown in the…
The Inferno (地獄, Tatsumi Kumashiro, 1979)
No one can escape from their sins according to the ominous voiceover that opens Tatsumi Kumashiro’s loose reimagining of Nobuo Nakagawa’s Jigoku, The Inferno (地獄, Jigoku). Then again,…
The Military Policeman and the Dismembered Beauty (憲兵とバラバラ死美人, Kyotaro Namiki, 1957)
A top investigator finds himself swimming against the tide when investigating the discovery of woman’s torso at the barracks in Kyotaro Namiki’s ghostly procedural.
Pick of the Week: Female Leads and Cool… Guys?
MICHELLE: I'm quite interested in two debuts this week. Diary of a Female Lead and The Guy She Was Interested In Wasn't a Guy at All both appeal…
Ushiro no Hyakutaro
Ushiro no Hyakutaro ( Hyakutaro Behind or Hyakutaro in Back ) is a two-volume OVA from 1991. Based on a eight-volume manga by Tsunada Jir...
Galaxy Express 999, The Twelve Kingdoms, Bite me!, Girl from Phantasia, Fruits Basket
Shigeru Ishiba: Fun facts to know and yell
The flow of time made it inevitable; sooner or later, a member of the Yamato generation would eventually rise to the height of political power. That has now…
Kitarou Tanjou: GeGeGe no Nazo
Plot: A completely new feature-length animation commemorating the 100th anniversary of Shigeru Mizuki’s birth. The story of Kitaro’s father is revealed for the first time. Set in the…
Will Japan’s New PM Pass Marriage Equality for LGBTQ People?
A majority in Japan support passing marriage equality. Will new PM Ishiba Shigeru move on this and other social issues?
Otaku in Chief
How will Shigeru Ishiba becoming Prime Minister impact Japan’s pop culture?
Shinobi no Mono 2: Revenge (1963) review
Satsuo Yamamoto reveals the frailty and replaceability of the capitalistic father in an engaging way.
513 – Ooku: The Inner Chambers part 3
On this episode we talk about anime remakes, Isekai Mou Kaeritai, Kufuku na Bokura, and more! Then we continue to trek into Fumi Yoshinaga's Ooku: The Inner Chambers…
Topsy-Turvy Land
detective fiction, 推理小説、games, mystery, murder, locked room, Japanese, translations,
Anime & the Economic Miracle | The History of Animation & Japan
With the release of Astro Boy in 1963 Anime in Japan experienced an unparalleled boom period. This coincided with the Japanese Economic Miracle, a time in which Japan…
Zero (零戦燃ゆ, Toshio Masuda, 1984)
The Zero Fighter has taken on a kind of mythic existence in a romanticised vision of warfare, yet as Toshio Masuda’s Zero (零戦燃ゆ零戦燃ゆ, Zerosen moyu) implies its time…
Mystery of the Glowing Eye
detective fiction, 推理小説、games, mystery, murder, locked room, Japanese, translations,
Graveyard Kitaro, Spooky Kitaro, Spooky Kitaro, Gegege no Kitarou (1985), Doraemon
From Old Country Bumpkin to Master Swordsman: My Hotshot Disciples Are All Grown Up Now, and They Won’t Leave Me Alone, Vol. 3
By Shigeru Sagazaki and Tetsuhiro Nabeshima. Released in Japan as “Katainaka no Ossan, Kensei ni Naru: Tada no Inaka no Kenjutsu Shihan Datta noni, Taisei Shita Deshitachi ga…