We Couldn’t Become Adults ボクたちはみんな大人になれなかった (2021), by director Yoshihiro Mori, is a well-acted and well-shot drama about a 40-something man in contemporary Japan looking back at his life (v…
Sep 18, 2023 • Subscribe
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We Couldn’t Become Adults (2021) review
“An elegant and moving exploration of a how certain subjects unwillingly compose their own romantic failures.”
Kininatteru Hito Ga Otoko Janakatta, Volume 1 (気になってる人が男じゃなかった)
Aya is a high school student who loves music of the 90s-00s. She’s content to sit and listen to the Foo Fighters in her ear buds, but when…
Kininatteru Hito Ga Otoko Janakatta, Volume 2 (気になってる人が男じゃなかった)
In Volume 1, we met Ohsawa Aya, a fashionable girl in most ways – except for her retro taste in music. When she walks into a shabby CD…
Episode #76 (S10E5) – Getting Any? [みんな〜やってるか!] (1995)
We’re going lighter this time with comedy podcaster Chris Andersen. In this episode, we discuss Getting Any?, Takeshi Kitano’s 1995 comedy/parody film about a middle-aged guy obsessed w…
Natchan’s Little Secret (ひみつのなっちゃん。, Yasujiro Tanaka, 2023)
A trio of drag queens take off on a journey of self discovery while saying goodbye to their late friend and mentor in Yasujiro Tanaka’s road trip comedy.
Why You Can’t Be Prime Minister (なぜ君は総理大臣になれないのか, Arata Oshima, 2020)
Arata Oshima follows idealistic politician Junya Ogawa over 17 years in order to explore why his goal of becoming prime minister remains forever elusive
Futari ha Daitai Konna Kanji (ふたりはだいたいこんなかんじ)
In the Yuri world Ikeda Takashi is best known for Sasamekikoto / Whispered Words in English, from One Peace Books. That series made fun of every Yuri trope,…
Kininatteru Hito Ga Otoko Janakatta Drama CD, Special Edition (ドラマCD 気になってる人が男じゃなかった)
Last week, I was able to review the upcoming Yen Press release of Sumiko Arai’s popular manga The Guy She Was Interested In Wasn’t A Guy At All.…
Futari ha Daitai Konna Kanji, Volume 3 (ふたりはだいたいこんなかんじ)
One of the defining characteristics of an adult life is facing setbacks. You can work really hard, gambare with all you have and still not achieve the goal.…
Futari ha Daitai Konna Kanji, Volume 2 (ふたりはだいたいこんなかんじ)
Okay, so here’s a mood. You like a creator, so when they announce a new book or series, you’re cautiously optimistic at the least. You know it might…
Futari ha Daitai Konna Kanji, Volume 4 (ふたりはだいたいこんなかんじ)
In Futari ha Daitai Konna Kanji, Volume 4 (ふたりはだいたいこんなかんじ) Ikeda Takashi brings his specific brand of wacky slice-of-life to a fantastic conclusion. In the first three volumes of…
Mom, Is That You?! (こんにちは、母さん, Yoji Yamada, 2023)
Disillusioned with the salaryman dream a middle-aged man returns home to his mother only to find her busy with a life of her own in a touching drama…
井上俊之による『君たちはどう生きるか』- ロングインタビュー
伝説的アニメーター井上俊之による宮崎駿の新作『君たちはどう生きるか』についてのロングインタビュー
Best Wishes to All (みなに幸あれ, Yuta Shimotsu, 2023)
A visit to her grandparents’ home forces a young woman to reckon with with the price of “happiness” in Yuta Shimotsu’s eerie indie horror.
Three Stories of Love 恋人たち (2015) Director: Ryosuke Hashiguchi
Three Stories of Love 恋人たち (2015), a solid drama about three different people breaking out from isolation and loneliness from director Ryosuke Hashiguchi
What does まどかが好きな人は二人いる mean?
Learn Japanese with Yuta: https://bit.ly/3hyXcYh Support me on Patreon: https://goo.gl/aiWNd5 Twitter: https://twitter.com/ThatYuta Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thatyuta/ Facebook: https://bit.ly/381qpHS Blog: http://www.yutaaoki.com/blog/
Struggling Man (私はいったい、何と闘っているのか, Toshio Lee, 2021)
A dejected middle-aged man experiences a crisis of masculinity when his home and work lives come under threat in Toshio Lee’s warmhearted comedy.
And Then They Never Die / そして誰も死ななかった
The protagonist of And Then They Never Die , Ushio Oomata, is a sleazebag. He’s crass, rude, and a fraud—he’s a mystery novelist, but the on...
「商業vs同人」から「開かれた公的表現vs閉ざされた私的表現」へ
以前、同人誌とはなんだろうかという問いを2013年に発表した。2013年――同人誌の再定義あれから10年が経った。 これまで商業誌と同人誌という区分けで日本のマンガ・アニメ・ゲームの世界を考えることが可能だったが、ネットとコロナ禍のためにこれが大きく変わったと兼光は考えてる。 最大の変化はプラットフォームとコミュニティが紐づけされなくなったのだ。以前は雑誌ごとに読者コミュニティがあり、よりデ…
Private ha Honnin-tachi ni Makasete Orimasu (プライベートは本人たちに任せております)
I picked up a copy of Private ha Honnin-tachi ni Makasete Orimasu (プライベートは本人たちに任せております) (translated in English on the frontispiece as Private Life Is Left To Them, Yuri Talext…
Ito いとみち Director: Satoko Yokohama (2021) [Osaka Asian Film Festival 2021]
“Ito” is a heart-warming comedy drama rich in Aomori’s culture where a girl learning to express herself through time spent at a maid cafe and her shamisen skills.…
君たちはどう生きるか/The Boy and the Heron
Hayao Miyazaki and his team are undoubtedly masters of their craft. It’s been ten years since Miyazaki directed a film (the wonderful, if divisive, The Wind Rises). This…
Your Japanese is Good if You Understand This No.4 なら たら と ば んだったら であれば であるなら
Learn Japanese with Me - https://bit.ly/4drmyU2
Transform! へんしんっ! Director: Tomoya Ishida [Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival 2021]
Transform! へんしんっ! Director: Tomoya Ishida [Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival 2021]
Sensei, Would You Sit Beside Me? (先生、私の隣に座っていただけませんか?, Takahiro Horie, 2021)
A mangaka and her cheating husband become locked in a cat and mouse game of ambiguous revenge in Takahiro Horie’s deliciously cynical anti-rom-com
Dear Etranger / 幼な子われらに生まれ
It’s no secret that divorce is messy and complicated, particularly when children are involved. From the child’s perspective, it may be the moment that you realize your parents…
A Madder Red (茜色に焼かれる, Yuya Ishii, 2021)
A single mother and her son face the myriad injustices of the modern society with dignity and grace in Yuya Ishii’s quietly seething pandemic-era social drama.
●BOOK● OTOMO THE COMPLETE WORKS 4: SAYONARA NIPPON (さよならにっぽん)
Katsuhiro Otomo, Akira, Bibliography, Otomo, Animation, Manga, Steamboy, Japanimation,
Dead Fishes (僕らはみーんな生きている, Tomoaki Kaneko, 2022)
A young man comes to Tokyo in search of experience but gains more of it than he might have liked in Tomoaki Kaneko’s bleak indie drama.
All Under the Moon (月はどっちに出ている, Yoichi Sai, 1993)
Citizens of post-Bubble Tokyo struggle to reorient themselves amid changing realities in Yoichi Sai’s lighthearted comedy.
Ito (いとみち, Satoko Yokohama, 2021)
A shy young woman with a talent for Tsugaru shamisen grows in confidence after getting a job at a maid cafe in Satoko Yokohama’s warmhearted drama
Angry Son 世界は僕らに気づかない Dir: Kasho Iizuka
A rewrite of my review for the very worthwhile topical film Angry Son, a meaty drama about the mixed-race experience (Filipino-Japanese) in Japan! 世界は僕らに気づかない Dir: Kasho Iizuka [Osaka…
Angry Son (世界は僕らに気づかない, Kasho Iizuka, 2022)
A resentful young man comes to a better understanding of his place in the world while searching for his estranged father in Kasho Iizuka’s sensitive coming-of-age drama
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)…
本田雄が語る『君たちはどう生きるか』- ロングインタビュー
The post 本田雄が語る『君たちはどう生きるか』- ロングインタビュー appeared first on fullfrontal.moe.
Otona ni Nattemo, Volume 9 (おとなになっても)
I am currently reading two Japanese series about adults in complicated relationships. Both series are, in equal part, compelling and interesting and annoying as heck. Today we’re looking…
Otona ni Nattemo, Volume 3 (おとなになっても)
Akari is ready to move on. She’s ready to reclaim her old career in the salon and stop running away from her life. She’s putting Ayano and her…
Otona ni Nattemo, Volume 7 (おとなになっても)
In Shimura Takako’s Otona ni Nattemo, Volume 7 (おとなになっても) a lot happens. We left Akari and Ayano having been carefully not seeing one another for some time, as…
Otona ni Nattemo, Volume 5 (おとなになっても)
Previous volumes of Shimura Takako’s adult life drama have centered on three adults whose life has been thrown into turmoil by unexpected emotions. Otona ni Nattemo, Volume 5…
Otona ni Nattemo, Volume 4 (おとなになっても)
In previous volumes of Otona ni Nattemo, we met Akari and Ayano, who met in a bar and spent the night together, Ayano’s husband Wataru, who has wondered…
Otona ni Nattemo, (おとなになっても) Volume 6
In Otona ni Nattemo, Volume 6, Shimura Takako has done something I’ve not seen before in a manga and I think I like it. ^_^ The main plot…
Otona ni Nattemo, Volume 1 (おとなになっても)
Shimura Takako’s work with gender and sexual minorities has been very influential and popular among western manga readers, and series like Sweet Blue Flowers and Wandering Son end…
Otona ni Nattemo, Volume 8 (おとなになっても)
Akari and Ayano have moved in together. This fact fills this book with all sorts of tensions, both positive and negative. Sure, they have been through ” a…
確か・確かに
You sure about that? - How to Japanese - September 2024
Kimi no tame ni Sekai ha Aru (きみのために世界はある)
As you may remember, I’m a huge fan of Usui Shio’s series Kaketa Tsuki to Donuts. So when a collection of Usui-sensei’s work came out from Ichijinsha, I…
●BOOKLET● ŌTOMO KATSUHIRO ZENSHŪ KAISETSU 4 SAYONARA NIPPON (大友克洋全集解説 4 さよならにっぽん )
Katsuhiro Otomo, Akira, Bibliography, Otomo, Animation, Manga, Steamboy, Japanimation,
Genjitsu Touhishitetara Boroboro ni Natta Hanashi Manga (現実逃避してたらボロボロになった話)
Who could have imagined in 2016, when we all first discovered Nagata Kabi-sensei’s honest and touching diary of her struggles with mental health, that we’d be tuning back…
Kanasando (かなさんどー, Toshiyuki Teruya, 2024)
A young woman gains a better understanding of her parents and her culture when told her estranged father has not long to live in Toshiyuki Teruya’s poignant island…
山下明彦が語る『君たちはどう生きるか』- ロングインタビュー
The post 山下明彦が語る『君たちはどう生きるか』- ロングインタビュー appeared first on fullfrontal.moe.
The Boy and the Heron (君たちはどう生きるか, Hayao Miyazaki, 2023)
A young man reeling from grief amid the firebombing of Tokyo enters a strange fantasy world after moving to the country in a surreal adventure from Hayao Miyazaki.