A young woman finds herself frustrated by outdated gender norms in her desire to take over the family lacquerware business in Keiko Tsuruoka’s gentle rural drama
Oct 6, 2023 • Subscribe
More like this
Ninja Girl (シュシュシュの娘, Yu Irie, 2021)
An ordinary young woman gains the courage to stand up to injustice after discovering her ninja heritage in Yu Irie’s absurdist political satire
Tokyo Onigiri Girl / 東京おにぎり娘 / Tokyo onigiri musume / (aka ‘Triangle Moods’, 1961)
Obscure Japanese Film #149 Ayako Wakao and Ganjiro Nakamura Ganjiro Nakamura and Murasaki Fujima Mariko (Ayako Wakao) is the daughte...
Ninja Girl シュシュシュの娘(こ)Director: Yu Irie (2021) [New York Asian Film Festival 2021]
Ninja Girl シュシュシュの娘(こ)Director: Yu Irie (2021) [New York Asian Film Festival 2021] is a quirky contemporary ninja action comedy/political satire. It plays on Sunday, August 15th at 5:30pm at…
傘の下、ふたり
Author & Artist: ぢゅん子 (Junko)Released March 2012 by Kaiohsha’s Gush ComicsGenre: Drama, Romance
Lumberjack the Monster (怪物の木こり, Takashi Miike, 2023)
Could being a psychopath actually be better? It might be an attractive thought for some, the absolute freedom of living without emotional or moral constraint. Emotion is after…
となりのメタラーさん
Author & Artist: マミタ (Mamita)Released April 2020 by Tokuma Shoten Publishing’s Chara ComicsGenre: Romance, Drama
Nosari: Impermanent Eternity (のさりの島, Tatsuya Yamamoto, 2020)
An ore ore scammer’s cynical worldview is challenged when he finds temporary harbour with an elderly woman in Yamamoto’s touching indie drama
Ikemen Onna to Hakoiri Musume, Volume 1 (イケメン女と箱入り娘)
Ikemen Onna to Hakoiri Musume, Volume 1 (イケメン女と箱入り娘) is written by Mochi_Au_Lait, and drawn by majoccoid for REX Comics, one of Ichijinsha’s other imprints. Honestly, I think both…
Ikemen Onna to Hakoiri Musume, Volume 2 (イケメン女と箱入り娘)
So in Volume 1, I missed the joke. My fault. Perhaps because it wasn’t funny?Ikemen Onna to Hakoiri Musume, Volume 2 (イケメン女と箱入り娘), written by Mochi_Au_Lait, drawn by majoccoid,…
Girls in the Orchard / 花の中の娘たち / Hana no naka no musumetachi (1953)
Obscure Japanese Film #109 Mariko Okada Toho’s first feature film in full colour concerns the Ishii family, who live in the rural area of ...
Kokuhaku: Takemiya Keiko
After reading Shojo Manga no Uchu last year, I was interested in picking up some of the classic shojo SFF discussed in its pages, but sadly, so much…
Inch Forward (走れない人の走り方, Su Yu-Chun, 2023)
An indie filmmaker experiences various setbacks while trying to complete her latest film in Su Yu-Chun’s cheerful dramedy.
How to Japanese Podcast – S02E08 – Roomshare.jp and のり弁
Living with Japanese roommates in Tokyo was the highlight of my time in Japan. I found those roommates on the website Roomshare.jp, a great site that I introduce…
The Angry Street (怒りの街, Mikio Naruse, 1950)
A sociopathic student takes revenge on a changing society by seducing wealthy women in Mikio Naruse’s brooding noir.
川のほとりに立つ者は
A young woman named Kiyose was recently promoted to the position of manager at an independent café. She devotes her love and attention to the business, but all…
Keiko Nobumoto (1964-2021)
The writer Keiko Nobumoto, who died on 1st December from oesophageal cancer, was one of the stand-out figures of the anime world, quite possibly because her path to…
From the End of the World (世界の終わりから, Kazuaki Kiriya, 2023)
Charged with the responsibility of saving the world, a teenage girl wonders if she should in Kazuaki Kiriya’s pre-apocalyptic drama.
The House of Hanging (病院坂の首縊りの家, Kon Ichikawa, 1979)
A legacy of familial trauma engulfs a once noble house in Kindaichi’s final and most complicated case
Hana Monogatari, Volume 3 (はなものがたり)
In Volume 1 we met Hanayo, an older woman, newly widowed and Yoshiko, a woman of similar age who opens Hanayo’s eyes to many things, including the pleasure…
Hana Monogatari, Volume 2 (はなものがたり)
In Volume 1, we met Hanayo, a woman whose husband has passed away, leaving her both free to do whatever she wants and confused as to what that…
Hana Monogatari, Volume 1 (はなものがたり)
Hana Monogatari, Volume 1 (はなものがたり) by shwinn, is one of my new favorite series ever. Hanayo’s husband has been dead for 49 days, so her mourning period is…
My Neighbor Totoro (となりのトトロ, Hayao Miyazaki, 1988)
A pair of sisters rejoice in the wonder of the natural world while befriending a fluffy forest creature in the charming Studio Ghibli family animation.
Pharaoh no Haka: Takemiya Keiko
I actually started reading this series years ago. I got through book one and realized that for some reason, I did not have book three even though books…
アニメ業界のロックンロール – ウェブ系としてのりょーちもロングインタビュー
The post アニメ業界のロックンロール – ウェブ系としてのりょーちもロングインタビュー appeared first on fullfrontal.moe.
Scent of a Spell (魔性の香り, Toshiharu Ikeda, 1985)
After falling in love with a woman he saved from drowning, a conflicted reporter worries she’s not all she seems in Toshiharu Ikeda’s noirish romance.
What’s your favorite Nobumoto Keiko work?
The lauded writer of Cowboy Bebop passed away at only 57 early this month; we wanted to have some time to celebrate her contributions to the world of…
The Humanist Legacy Of Keiko Nobumoto
Cherished by all who worked with her, Nobumoto's reputation as a delicate humanist with radical ideas about the intersection of gender, politics, and environmentalism put her behind the…
Keiko First Live K001, “I’m Home”
Thanks to the Covid-19 pandemic that has hamstrung the entire live music and travel industries, it’s been a rough year for music fans and performers alike. Second only…
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…
Keiko Yoshinari - Asu e no Yuuki
My dad taught me how to use a lawn mower, and I actually managed to not slice anyone to death with it. One step closer to adulting, I…
Keiko Nobumoto and the Inescapable Past
After leaving a Macross Plus viewing on Tuesday night, I just feel like it is time to talk about one of the more underrated people behind anime series…
伊藤詩織の裏切り:正義の味方は誰でしょうか
ホテル側に直接取材した。結論は映画公開に何の異議も唱えていない。それなのに誰がこの映像の使用に怒っているのか?
The Light of Spring (ひかりのどけき, Fumito Fujikawa, 2022)
Pushed to breaking point by the pressures of the contemporary society amid the coronavirus pandemic, an ordinary family undergoes a trial separation in Fumito Fumikawa’s neorealist drama
Break Out (行き止まりの挽歌 ブレイクアウト, Toru Murakawa, 1988)
A maverick cop realises he can only enforce the law by breaking it in Toru Murakawa’s hardboiled ’80s noir.
“Keiko” Debuts in Spotted Flower with Baby
Last month, another Genshiken side character analogue finally appeared in Spotted Flower: the editor’s sister, Not-Keiko. I’m not sure if her having a kid (named Mani) should come…
[Translation] Keiko Takemiya: What Jun Taught Me
Over the years, Fantasy World Jun has inspired readers and mangaka alike, including the marvelous Keiko Takemiya. Below, Mel has been kind enough to provide a translation of…
Brief Connections: A Nobumoto Keiko Career Retrospective
One of the benefits to a creator having worked on so few projects is it becomes much simpler to look through their body of work to find common…
Carole & Tuesday, Cowboy Bebop, Space Dandy, Tokyo Godfathers
Red Post on Escher Street (エッシャー通りの赤いポスト, Sion Sono, 2020)
The extras reclaim the frame in Sion Sono’s anarchic advocation for the jishu life.
Woman of Design (その場所に女ありて, Hideo Suzuki, 1962)
Post-war women find themselves constrained by a relentlessly patriarchal society in Hideo Suzuki’s workplace melodrama
Whale Bones (鯨の骨, Takamasa Oe, 2023)
A brokenhearted office works finds himself chasing a digital ghost in Takamasa Oe’s eerie drama.
99% Cloudy… Always (99%、いつも曇り, Midori Sangoumi, 2023)
Why do some people feel themselves entitled to ask insensitive questions at emotionally delicate moments? Kazuha (Midori Sangoumi) may have a point when she calls her oblivious uncle…
My Name is Yours (君が世界のはじまり, Momoko Fukuda, 2020)
A collection of Osaka teens begin to find a sense of solidarity in the wake of a violent crime in Momoko Fukuda’s nostalgic teen drama
お湯割り
In the newsletter this month I wrote about 角ハイ (kakuhai). This is a combination of 角瓶 (kakubin), Suntory’s flagship whiskey, and ハイボール (highball), a mixed drink made from…
Yoko (658km、陽子の旅, Kazuyoshi Kumakiri, 2023)
An isolated woman begins to rediscover herself while hitchhiking to her estranged father’s funeral in Kazuyoshi Kumakiri’s quietly moving road movie.
Festival Champ (お祭り野郎 魚河岸の兄弟分, Norifumi Suzuki, 1976)
A festival-obsessed young man finds himself at the centre of a number of community crises in Norifumi Suzuki’s warmhearted dramedy.
入りませんか? vs 入ります? #learnjapanese
Learn Japanese with Me - https://bit.ly/4drmyU2
Short Movie Time: Sad Girl (2021) [JFFH 2023]
A pleasant comical romance narrative.