Forced to livestream her own kidnapping, an influencer must confront her authentic self in Park Dong-hee’s tense kidnap thriller.
Oct 3, 2023 • Subscribe
More like this
Akudama Drive – 06 – Akudama Brawlliant Park
Even though the Boss has mobilized every Executioner to seek and destroy the Akudama, Master gets there first, driven by his need to redeem himself for past failure.…
In Our Prime (이상한 나라의 수학자, Park Dong-hun, 2022)
A student outcast bonds with an equally excluded genius from North Korea Park Dong-hun’s educational drama.
The Sin (씬, Han Dong-seok, 2023)
Strange events unfold as a film crew attempt to shoot a movie in a disused school in
One and Only (热烈, Dong Chengpeng, 2023)
An aspiring street dancer from an impoverished background just can’t seem to catch a break no matter how hard he works in Dong Chengpeng’s inspiring dramedy.
The Childe (귀공자, Park Hoon-jung, 2023) [Fantasia 2023]
A boxer finds himself in a precarious position after travelling to Korea in search of the father who abandoned him in Park Hoon-jung’s bloody thriller.
Small Fry (잔챙이, Park Joong-ha, 2023)
A dejected actor begins to feel like a fish caught on a hook only to be cast back in Park Joong-ha’s tense chamber drama.
Bear Man (웅남이, Park Sung-kwang, 2023)
A pair of bare cubs decide to become human with entirely different results in Park Sung-kwang’s zany comedy.
Akudama Drive – 12 [Akudama Drive]
Before I get into my thoughts on this episode, I want to note that what we saw this week wasn’t its final form. There’s an additional five minutes…
Space Sweepers (승리호, Jo Sung-hee, 2021)
Cynical space junkers find themselves conflicted on discovering a missing little girl in Jo Sung-hee’s epic sci-fi adventure.
Herstory (허스토리, Min Kyu-dong, 2018)
A female business owner ensures now elderly victims of wartime sexual slavery will have their voices heard in Min Kyu-dong’s empathetic drama.
Fall 2023 Pledge Drive – Wrap-up and Thank You
We got there in the end. Read more
Full Drive
A manga about a young ping pong player who returns from Germany to make his debut in Japan. Continue reading →
Akudama Drive
The core of the anime involves a group of very different Akudama, which is a special designation of super criminals by the police, being brought together to take…
A Water Mill (물레방아, Lee Man-hee, 1966)
A wandering soul stumbles on a death rite that may in some senses be his own in Lee Man-hee’s haunting feudal drama.
The Starting Point (원점, Lee Man-hee, 1967)
A hired thug and a sex worker dreaming of a new life are set on a collision course at mountain retreat in Lee Man-hee’s noirish thriller.
Mother’s Place (엄마의 자리, Ryu Hee-jung, 2022)
A young woman finds herself questioning the nature of family when her parents die suddenly but the relatives won’t let them be buried together in Ryu Hee-jung’s raw…
Daughter-in-Law (민며느리, Choi Eun-hee, 1965)
A sense of female solidarity eventually develops between a dutiful young woman and her tyrannical mother-in-law in Choi Eun-hee’s lighthearted directorial debut
Brave Citizen (용감한 시민, Park Jin-pyo, 2023) [Fantasia 2024]
A former boxer turned schoolteacher rediscovers the strength to fight back when faced with unchallenged bullies in Park Jin-pyo’s cathartic dramedy.
Fall 2023 Pledge Drive – It’s a Marathon, Not a Sprint
The fight to keep LiA running is a never-ending one. Read more
Amagi Brilliant Park: A Fantastically Flawed Theme Park
I think you guys know a lot my tastes in media from my posts, right? For instance, Full Metal Panic. For the past few years, Mecha March has…
Bear Man 웅남이 (2023) Director: Park Sung-kwang [New York Asian Film Festival 2023]
Bear Man 웅남이 (2023), by director Park Sung-kwang, is a solid comedy/action/crime film about bears that turn into men. It makes good on its premise and offers an…
Hard Love (“炼”爱, Tracy Dong, 2021)
A series of single women in their 30s reflect on love and marriage in Tracy Dong’s probing social documentary
The Prayer (간호중, Min Kyu-dong, 2020)
A caregiving android’s awakening spirituality and poor grasp of human empathy present a series of ethical questions in Min’s existential sci-fi drama
Handsome Guys (핸섬가이즈, Nam Dong-hyub, 2024)
The malicious inequalities of the contemporary society are manifested in an angry goat demon who wants to burn the world in Nam Dong-Hyub’s zany horror comedy.
Amagi Brilliant Park
Episodes: 13 + OVA Summary: When new transfer student Isuzu asks Seiya Kanie out on a date at gunpoint, he knows something odd is going on. Especially since…
Park Chanwook: Trio
This episode, Chris (@antoniuspius) leads Kory (@taiikumenco) and Chris (@gokuffy) through Park Chanwook’s second worst or worst...
Akudama Drive Review
“It’s equal parts eloquently meaningful-cum-punkishly pissed off political critique, and adrenaline pumping thriller action. It excels at both.”
Akudama Drive – 01
「SE7EN」 "See a penny, pick it up, and all day long, you'll have good luck!”
Fall 2023 Pledge Drive – 10/02 Update: Not Quite Panic (Yet)
This marathon is a long way from run. Read more
Alienoid (외계+인 1부, Choi Dong-hoon, 2022)
Alien cyborgs and feudal magicians battle cosmic disorder in the opening instalment of Choi Dong-hoon’s epic science fiction fantasy.
Captain Aardvark Rocks the Convention! Drive, Magic T-Bird, Drive!
Dallas Fantasy Fair, 1984Back in cave man days, before the dawn of civilized anime conventions, we had to pretty much make do with whatever was in the immediate…
Episode 77 - The Park
This was an episode that we planned to do a while back, but terrible sound quality caused it to never be released. Now that we have time to…
Ikebukuro West Gate Park
The ingredients for a simple but effective crime thriller are here, which may make wonder why you have heard so little about it. The reasoning becomes apparent: despite…
Akudama Drive Episode 2
Visit the post for more.
Akudama Drive Episode 5
Visit the post for more.
Winter 2021 Pledge Drive
Whenever Jerry pops up, you know what's coming next... Read more
Akudama Drive Episode 10
Visit the post for more.
Akudama Drive – Episode 1
Akudama Drive comes in like a robot boxer: moving fast, swinging hard, and covered in LED lights.
Drive Into Night (2022)
A pleasant narrative that laments the ongoing pauperization of the social bond.
Akudama Drive – 04 [Speed]
Here’s a curious case of an episode that’s just as action-packed as the first two, yet fails to bring the thrills of those earlier installments. The whole time…
First Look: Akudama Drive
In a crime-ridden cyberpunk version of Japan’s Kansai region, an Ordinary Person gets caught up in a death game involving several “AKUDAMA”, the most dangerous class of criminal.
Akudama Drive Review (Spoiler)
There were so many animes in Fall 2020, but Akudama Drive was a spotlight for me. Akudama Drive Official Trailer The story begins in a place known as…
Akudama Drive (First Impression)
“Long ago, there was a war between Kanto and Kansai and the world was split apart. Kansai became a vassal state of Kantou, and as developed in its…
Akudama Drive Episode 6
Visit the post for more.
What motivates your drive?
Upon revisiting Ambivalence , or is it ambiguity? and reading Valence’s more recent posts, I’ve been pondering since how one could motivate themselves to watch anime as well…
Akudama Drive – 06 [Brother]
All of Akudama Drive’s episodes are named after famous crime or action movies: Se7en, Reservoir Dogs, Dead Man Walking, etc. Each film title has some relation to the…
Akudama Drive Episode 11
Visit the post for more.
Akudama Drive Episode 4
Visit the post for more.
Akudama Drive Episode 7
Visit the post for more.
Hidden Gems: Akudama Drive
If you want to know whether or not you should watch this show without any spoilers then the answer is a resounding yes. It has excellent visuals, a…