The people of early Japan contemplate different visions of immortality in Kon Ichikawa’s sprawling adaptation of the first chapter in Osamu Tezuka’s manga series.
Jan 1, 2024 • Subscribe
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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
Nightshade Flower (夜来香, Kon Ichikawa, 1951)
A couple who met briefly in Manchuria are reunited in Kobe but find their joy short-lived amid the vagaries of the post-war society in Kon Ichikawa’s tragic romance.
Being Two Isn’t Easy (私は二歳, Kon Ichikawa, 1962)
A wise child critiques the post-war society in Kon Ichikawa’s charmingly surreal familial drama.
365 Nights (三百六十五夜, Kon Ichikawa, 1948)
A noble architect’s life is ruined by an obsessive stalker in Kon Ichikawa’s stylish though improbably post-war melodrama.
House on Fire (火宅の人, Kinji Fukasaku, 1986)
An anxious writer fears collapse under the weight of fatherhood in Kinji Fuksaku’s adaptation of the autobiographical novel of Kazuo Dan.
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Those Who are Shunned Like a Bird of Ill Omen / 凶鳥の如き忌むもの
Shinzou Mitsuda is a menace. Do not let this man write novels!
NC 1978
The 2011 anime series Tiger & Bunny takes place in NC 1977 to NC 1978. While this clearly isn’t our 1970s, there is no such place as Sternbild…
The Most Dangerous Game (1978)
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Murakawa delivers a satisfying sequel.
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The Phoenix: Eden17 anime is an exploration of greed and human nature birthed from the mind of the legendary Osamu Tezuka.
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Unmade animation, a video game and more.
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OPUS by Kon Satoshi
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The Demon (鬼畜, Yoshitaro Nomura, 1978)
When his mistress abandons their three children on his doorstep, a resentful father and his enraged wife take drastic action to be free of them in Yoshitaro Nomura’s…
No Life King (ノーライフキング, Jun Ichikawa, 1989)
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Raging Fire (怒火, Benny Chan, 2021)
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Bad Lands, The IDOLM@STER Million Live! Third Act, The Silent Service, Kon Kon, Japanese Film Trailers
Vintage Report 11: July 1978
The final month before the Farewell to Yamato premiere was a steady climb of excitement and anticipation as film production plowed through its final stages and publicity ratcheted…
Vintage Report 16: December 1978
Stop the presses moment: in the course of writing these vintage reports, new discoveries inevitably pop up that belonged in previous reports. Sometimes they warrant special attention, and…
Vintage Report 15: November 1978
Though Farewell to Yamato was no longer in theaters in November 1978, it continued to dominate the discourse, both in media and merchandising. But it was no longer…
King Fang (1978 TV Special)
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Vintage Report 12: August 1978
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Vintage Report 13: September 1978
The month following the incredible box office success of Farewell to Yamato was both a victory lap and the beginning of a marathon. As new media coverage and…
Kanada and Tomonaga, 1978-1979
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Vintage Report 14: October 1978
To understand how significant this month was, here’s a metaphor. Imagine that it’s July 1977, two months after Star Wars exploded into the world. Now, without buying a…
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By Jonathan Clements. On a distant, desiccated planet wistfully named Eden, colonists George (Yosuke Kubozuka) and Romi (Rie Miyazawa) play at being Adam and Eve. They have a…
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Peony Birds (牡丹鳥, Huang Yu-Shan, 1990)
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