An attempt to recreate the “real” in the “virtual” causes a rupture between this world and another in Takashi Shimizu’s high tech horror.
Dec 16, 2023 • Subscribe
More like this
ご多忙かと存じます
The Language of Job Hunting - How to Japanese - August 2022
「全部磯チルドレンでいいんじゃないかと思っています」- 沓名健一インタビュー
The post 「全部磯チルドレンでいいんじゃないかと思っています」- 沓名健一インタビュー appeared first on Full Frontal.
Kaijuu-iro no Shima, Volume 1 (かいじゅう色の島), Guest Review by Mariko S.
It is Wednesday and you know what that means! It is indeed a Guest Review Wednesday here on Okazu. Today we welcome back Mariko S. (whose compelling review…
Okiku and the World (せかいのおきく, Junji Sakamoto, 2023)
A samurai’s daughter falls for a lowly manure man in a city on the brink of change in Junji Sakamoto’s touching dramedy.
Immersion (2023) review
Spectators looking for something new and fresh will find little to like about Shimizu’s latest.
Takashi Kojima【小島崇史】Sakuga MAD
Song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=onhBN0qkUcE Takashi Kojima is an animator of enormous talent and skill, with the ability to draw any character design perfectly while still maintaining his own unique style. I've…
Ox-Head Village (牛首村, Takashi Shimizu, 2022)
A young woman finds herself battling a malevolent supernatural force while searching for her doppelgänger in Takashi Shimizu’s folk horror.
Mabataki (まばたき)
Mabataki (まばたき) is a collection of short stories by Battan, creator of Run Away With Me, Girl. This is another manga I picked up while in Japan (I…
colorless 猿楽町で会いましょう Dir: Takashi Koyama (2020)
colorless 猿楽町で会いましょう Dir: Takashi Koyama (2020) is a well-acted drama about the grit behind the glitz of Shibuya’s fashion industry.
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,…
Tsukiatte Agetemo Iikana, Volume 8 (付き合ってあげてもいいかな)
“The characters and the art have grown, Tamifull’s narrative skills are excellent here. We’ve been with them through a lot…and we’re still here as they enter the next…
Tsukiatte Agetemo Iikana, Volume 4 (付き合ってあげてもいいかな)
In Tamifull’s Yuri drama Tsukiatte Agetemo Iikana, Volume 4 (付き合ってあげてもいいかな), we are confronted with something we don’t see very often at all in Yuri…two people who may just…
Tsukiatte Agetemo Iikana, Volume 11 ( 付き合ってあげてもいいかな)
In my review of Volume 10, I said, “I’m ready for something to lighten up.” Welp, Volume 11 of Tsukiatte Agetemo Iikana ( 付き合ってあげてもいいかな) by Tamifull is not…
Tsukiatte Agetemo Iikana, Volume 5 (付き合ってあげてもいいかな)
As a reviewer, I understand that spoilers are sometimes unavoidable in order to make a review make sense. As a reader, I don’t particularly mind spoilers…until I do.…
Tsukiatte Agetemo Iikana, Volume 9 ( 付き合ってあげてもいいかな)
When we first met Miwa, she was unsure of herself. And when we met Saeko she seemed very confident. As we’ve got to know them, we’ve come to…
Tsukiatte Agetemo Iikana, Volume 10 ( 付き合ってあげてもいいかな)
Life is complex – humans are complex systems and relationships are complex systems made up of other complex systems interacting. Things are always complicated in Tamifull’s Tsukiatte Ag…
Tsukiatte Agetemo Iikana, Volume 7 (付き合ってあげてもいいかな)
When I reviewed Volume 6 I said of that volume that it was like a fever finally breaking. “You don’t feel “good,” per se, but you feel better,…
Tsukiatte Agetemo Iikana, Volume 6 (付き合ってあげてもいいかな)
You know how you feel after you’ve had a fever, when the fever breaks and you’re soaked in sweat? You don’t feel “good,” per se, but you feel…
![Featured image for Okiku and the World せかいのおきく (2023) Director: Junji Sakamoto [New York Asian Film Festival 2023]](https://cdn.aniblogtracker.com/live/20230716/1689522521.64932.99781.jpg)
Okiku and the World せかいのおきく (2023) Director: Junji Sakamoto [New York Asian Film Festival 2023]
Okiku and the World せかいのおきく (2023), directed by Junji Sakamoto, is an absolutely heart-warming and moving story of love set during the end of the samurai period. Its beautiful…
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…
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…
Yuri Manga: Tsukiatte Agetemo Iikana, Volume 3 (付き合ってあげてもいいかな)
2020 marks an interesting new phase for me in regards to Yuri manga. Because there are so many more comics about adult women, written for adults, my specific…
Ghost Cat of Nabeshima (鍋島怪猫伝, Kunio Watanabe, 1949)
A haunted Go board, a paranoid lord, and a rumour about a vengeful ghost cat spirit throw a small community into chaos in Kunio Watabe’s playful supernatural drama
The Blue Danube (きまじめ楽隊のぼんやり戦争, Akira Ikeda, 2021)
An earnest soldier begins to question everything he’s been told thanks to musical intervention and a curious young man in Akira Ikeda’s absurdist anti-war drama
Yamabuki (やまぶき, Juichiro Yamasaki, 2022)
The lives of a series of dejected souls in a moribund quarry town intersect in unexpected ways in a poetical drama from Juichiro Yamasaki
Scribes and Sake: Kasa-Jizo (かなじぞ)
Reading fairytales within the origin language. Contextual agreements between time and place, emotions and aesthetics. We might localize our hearts out but truth be told we humans are…
『どれが恋かがわからない』奥たまむし先生インタビュー（第二回）
THE YURI TIMESでは、漫画『どれが恋かがわからない』（KADOKAWA）の著者、奥たまむし先生にインタビューさせていただきました。
『どれが恋かがわからない』奥たまむし先生インタビュー（第一回）
THE YURI TIMESでは、漫画『どれが恋かがわからない』（KADOKAWA）の著者、奥たまむし先生にインタビューさせていただきました。
Spring In Between (はざまに生きる、春, Rika Katsu, 2023)
A struggling editor at a magazine gains a new perspective while falling in love with an autistic artist in Rika Katsu’s romantic drama.
Monster (怪物, Hirokazu Koreeda, 2023)
Gossip and petty prejudice give rise to a series of “misunderstandings” in Koreeda’s probing drama.
You’re Not Normal, Either! (まともじゃないのは君も一緒, Koji Maeda, 2021)
A nerdy maths teacher turns to his student for advice on how to seem more “normal” little knowing she has an ulterior motive in Maeda’s charming rom-com
いろいろ December 2023
I ran out of space over at the newsletter this month, so I thought I’d share the いろいろ section on the blog instead. Podcast link at the bottom!…
Onna x a Onna Umakuikanai Renai Essay parlor, Volume 1 (女×女のうまくいかない恋愛エッセイ parlor)
Onna x Onna Umakuikanai Renai Essay parlor, Volume 1 (女×女のうまくいかない恋愛エッセイ parlor) by Fujio, has had a long journey from there to here. This manga began more than a…
The Great Yokai War: Guardians (妖怪大戦争 ガーディアンズ, Takashi Miike, 2021)
An anxious little boy discovers his inner hero and saves the world through kindness in Takashi Miike’s warmhearted return to the world of folklore
![Featured image for An Interview with Junji Sakamoto, Director of Okiku and the World せかいのおきく [New York Asian Film Festival 2023]](https://cdn.aniblogtracker.com/live/20230731/1690819721.65813.100857.jpg)
An Interview with Junji Sakamoto, Director of Okiku and the World せかいのおきく [New York Asian Film Festival 2023]
Okiku and the World せかいのおきく (2023), directed by Junji Sakamoto, is an absolutely heart-warming and moving story of love set during the end of the samurai period. Its beautiful…
New Moomin 51/52 - I Hate You, Snufkin (スナフキンなんか大きらい) (1972) (English subtitles)
It's almost time for hibernation in Moominvalley, and Moomin is mostly idling. After he and his friends wonder why Snufkin has a guitar, he goes to Snufkin's tent…
I Go Gaga, Welcome Home Mom (ぼけますから、よろしくお願いします。～おかえりお母さん～, Naoko Nobutomo, 2022)
In a followup to her hugely popular documentary, Naoko Nobutomo follows her parents as her mother’s health continues to decline.
Kaguyahime: Shimizu Reiko
The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter has long been a favourite of mine, if only because every time I come across it, I am honestly blown away by…
![Featured image for Ox-Head Village 牛首村 (2022) Director: Takashi Shimizu [New York Asian Film Festival 2022]](https://cdn.aniblogtracker.com/live/20220718/1658163540.39912.69618.jpg)
Ox-Head Village 牛首村 (2022) Director: Takashi Shimizu [New York Asian Film Festival 2022]
“Ox-Head Village” is the third film in Takashi Shimizu’s “Village Horror Triptych” that mixes together folk-horror, social media, urban legends and a touristic time. S…
Itsuki Tsuchigami【土上いつき】Sakuga MAD
Song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QwrI-DkXiWQ Itsuki Tsuchigami (alternatively miso) is a favorite animator of mine, and I've planned to make a MAD with his work for a long time. Now that FGO…
Skeleton Flowers (かそけきサンカヨウ, Rikiya Imaizumi, 2021)
A pair of preoccupied teens learn to work through their difficulties with maturity and empathy in Rikiya Imaizumi’s wholesome coming-of-age drama
Farewell: Comedy of Life Begins with a Lie (グッドバイ～嘘からはじまる人生喜劇～, Izuru Narushima, 2019)
A womanising magazine editor gets more than he bargained for when he hires a beautiful woman to pose as his wife in order to break up with his…
The Island Closest to Heaven (天国にいちばん近い島, Nobuhiko Obayashi, 1984)
A young woman comes to a new understanding of herself while travelling abroad in Nobuhiko Obayashi’s laidback kadokawa idol movie.
Farewell: Comedy of Life Begins with A Lie グッドバイ 嘘からはじまる人生喜劇 Dir: Izuru Narushima (2020)
Farewell: Comedy of Life Begins with A Lie グッドバイ 嘘からはじまる人生喜劇 Dir: Izuru Narushima (2020)
Godzilla Minus One (ゴジラ-1.0, Takashi Yamazaki, 2023)
A kamikaze pilot finds himself haunted by the manifestation of his war trauma in Takashi Yamazaki’s entry into the classic franchise.
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.
Crazy Thunder Road (狂い咲きサンダーロード, Sogo Ishii, 1980)
A perpetual outsider seeks direction but discovers only nihilistic despair in Sogo Ishii’s apocalyptic biker movie
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.