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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…
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…
Keiko Yoshinari - Asu e no Yuuki
Rating : 95/100 Man, I really shouldnt have put this off for so long. I mentioned in my previous Natsume review that during 2016-2020, I was neck deep…
Break Down That Wall / その壁を砕け / Sono kabe o kudake (1959)
Obscure Japanese Film #108 Izumi Ashikawa and Yuji Odaka in foreground Saburo (Yuji Odaka) is a young Tokyo garage mechanic who has been w...
RPG Review: Final Fantasy VII ~Rebirth~
Cloud is about to have the ultimate yaoi battle…inside his head. ::extremely one-winged angel voice:: YAOI VIBES ⚠️ This Post Contains Spoilers for FF7 Rebirth ⚠️
The Mad Mermaid
detective fiction, 推理小説、games, mystery, murder, locked room, Japanese, translations,
Tokarev (トカレフ, Junji Sakamoto, 1994)
The discovery of a pistol concealed under a vending machine provokes a prolonged crisis of power and masculinity in Junji Sakamoto’s tense psychological drama.
Yakuza Hooligans (893 愚連隊, Sadao Nakajima, 1966)
A gang of petty criminals get in over their heads while working with the yakuza in Sadao Nakajima’s ironic crime movie.
A Story from Echigo / 越後つついし親不知 / Echigo Tsutsuishi Oyashirazu (1964)
Obscure Japanese Film #107 Rentaro Mikuni and Yoshiko Sakuma In 1930s Japan, Gonsuke (Rentaro Mikuni) is working at a sake brewery in Fushim...
492 – One Shot 72 – Onward Towards Our Noble Deaths
This week we talk about X-Men '97, The End of Evangelion, The Three-Body Problem, Fujou wo Nuguu Hito, and more! Then we discuss how war is bad with…
Review: Leap (2020)
Leap 夺冠 Hong Kong/China, 2020, colour, 2.35:1, 134 mins. Director: Chen Kexin 陈可辛 [Peter Chan]. Rating: 8/10. Celebration of women’s volleyball in China’s modern development is shaded by…
Shroud of Snow / 雪の喪章 / Yuki no mosho (1967)
Obscure Japanese Film #105 Ayako Wakao The story begins in 1930 in Kanazawa, a city located on the west coast of Japan’s main island…
From Old Country Bumpkin to Master Swordsman: My Hotshot Disciples Are All Grown Up Now, and They Won’t Leave Me Alone, Vol. 2
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…
Nonnonba by Mizuki Shigeru
The back of this manga describes itself as a “poetic memoir,” though I feel like the term semi-autobiographical might also apply. It’s basically the lightly fictionalized story of…
Angry Rice Wives (大コメ騒動, Katsuhide Motoki, 2021)
Village women start a small revolution over the increasing price of rice in Katsuhide Motoki’s historical drama.
Criminal Woman: Killing Melody (前科おんな殺し節, Atsushi Mihori, 1973)
Former cellmates band together to take out a duplicitous yakuza in Atsushi Mihori’s expertly crafted slice of pinky violence
This Week in Games - You Can't Keep Shigeru Miyamoto Down
Miyamoto and two other game industry titans have no interest in retiring any time soon. Plus: Jack Black's new video game film role, Twitch's nudity snafu, and more!
Stuff on the Office Desk: Still a Pain to Transform
A couple of weeks ago, I was finally able to get rubber tires for my SND-08 The One figure from, well, SND. To those unfamiliar, this is their…
From Old Country Bumpkin to Master Swordsman: My Hotshot Disciples Are All Grown Up Now, and They Won’t Leave Me Alone, Vol. 1
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…
This Week in Anime - Shigeru Mizuki
Halloween may have passed but that won't stop Nicky and Steve from taking a deep dive into the OG of horror manga, Shigeru Mizuki.
Happy Halloween with GeGeGe no Kitaro!
As per our usual tradition, TSHS and our partners have cooked up some subtitled Kitaro episodes. GeGeGe no Kitaro (1968) – episode 24 In episode 24 of the…
Halloween Special Review: The Ghost of Yotsuya (1959) review
Nakagawa succeeds in delivering an unforgettable finale that, due to its hallucinatory feel, mesmerises the spectator with its haunting imagery.
Halloween Special: the Yokai Guy
Manga master Shigeru Mizuki breathed new life into the undead
124 - The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time vol. 2
James and Steven discuss the concluding adult arc of the manga, breaking it down using Joseph Campbell’s monomyth template. And even speak of the bonus skull kid chapters,…
123 - The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time vol. 1
It starts with friends recommending their manga books. It quickly turns into a reflection on the power of storytelling and how manga can some times get you through…
![Featured image for Tips for The Boy and the Heron [2023 Sept. 22 draft]](https://cdn.aniblogtracker.com/live/20230922/1695389399.68849.104490.jpg)
Tips for The Boy and the Heron [2023 Sept. 22 draft]
This post includes a lot of spoilers for The Boy and The Heron. If you have not watched the film, I don't recommend reading it. Introduction Hayao Miyazaki's…
Berserk, Future Boy Conan, Ponyo, Princess Mononoke, The Boy and the Heron
Revenge (1964) review
A classic – a jidai-geki that every cinephile should see.
Japanese Children’s Literature in English Translation
RJL’s booklists don’t include children’s literature, so here’s a list for your reference. Support RJL by buying through our links. Check out our Bookshop.org page. Middle Gr…
Ghost in the Regiment (憲兵と幽霊, Nobuo Nakagawa, 1958)
A treacherous military police officer comes to embody the evils of war in Nobuo Nakagawa’s eerie psychological horror.
Willful Murder (日本の熱い日々 謀殺・下山事件, Kei Kumai, 1981)
A dogged reporter comes to the conclusion an industrialist was murdered but cannot say by whom in Kei Kumai’s searing exploration of the occupation and the economic miracle.
Hoarder On The Border (断捨離パラダイス, Takayuki Kayano, 2023)
A former concert pianist begins to see the world from a different angle after taking a job cleaning houses in Takayuki Kayano’s humanistic dramedy.
Turning Up the Creepy to Eleven in Blood on the Tracks Volume Three
Talking about Blood on the Tracks volume three.
Yakuza Graveyard (やくざの墓場 くちなしの花, Kinji Fukasaku, 1976)
A maverick cop finds himself sympathising with noble yakuza when confronted by entrenched corruption in Kinji Fukasaku’s jitsuroku-esque gangster drama.
Luminous Woman (光る女, Shinji Somai, 1987)
A pure-hearted mountain man descends into the hell of the model capital in search of lost love in Shinji Somai’s surrealist fable.
Let Him Rest in Peace 友よ、静かに瞑れ (1985) Director: Yoichi Sai
Let Him Rest in Peace, by director Yoichi Sai, is a solid noir set in an Okinawa shot with Western-genre stylings. Let Him Rest in Peace 友よ、静かに瞑れ (1985)…
