While shopping in random bookstores in Japan at the end of last year I kept seeing book,s with girls in school uniforms wielding swords. I did that thing where I pick a thing up, then put it down, …
Feb 8, 2024 • Subscribe
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Bakumatsu Joshikousei – Oni to Yoake, Volume 1 (幕末女子高生 鬼と夜明け 一)
Back a the beginning of the year, I reviewed the second volume of a sequel to this series, Oni to Yoake Yuzikiyo (鬼と夜明け 夕月夜). Given that I knew…
Rainbow Over the Pacific (夜明けの二人, Yoshitaro Nomura, 1968)
An unserious man begins to grow up while chasing love in Hawaii in a cheerful if ultimately downbeat musical celebration of the centenary of Japanese migration to Hawaii.
Kaketa Tsuki to Donuts, Volume 4 (欠けた月とドーナッツ)
Let’s start with the most important thing in Kaketa Tsuki to Donuts, Volume 4 (欠けた月とドーナッツ) – this was the perfect, most exactly correct ending to this series that…
Kaketa Tsuki to Donuts, Volume 3 (欠けた月とドーナッツ)
What is love? How do we fall in love? What does that even mean? How do we make space in lives that are full already, for other people?…
Kaketa Tsuki to Donuts, Volume 1 (欠けた月とドーナッツ)
Uuno Hinako always looks good. Her dress and makeup are always spot on, her hair is always done. She’s always got a smile on her face at work,…
Kaketa Tsuki to Donuts, Volume 2 (欠けた月とドーナッツ)
In Volume 1, we met Hinako, a woman who is crumbling under pressure to conform to society’s requirements for a “good” life and Asahi, a woman who has…
All the Long Nights (夜明けのすべて, Sho Miyake, 2024)
Mismatched colleagues struggling amid contemporary corporate culture find unexpected solidarity in Sho Miyake’s gentle human drama.
Anata no Yoru ga Aketera (あなたの夜が明けたら)
Anata no Yoru ga Aketera (あなたの夜が明けたら), translated on the cover as After Sunrise, Haru Harukawa Collection is a collection of shorts by, obviously Harukawa Haru. Some of these…
Uyanotsuki, Volume 1 ( 雨夜の月)
Saki loves piano. Or does she? She loves taking lessons with her teacher, she’s sure of that. But her teacher is leaving… In Uyanotsuki, Volume 1 ( 雨夜の月),…
Yukidoke to Agapanthus, Volume 1 (雪解けとアガパンサス)
This is one of the few books I had picked up at Gamers while in Japan, because 1) I had not seen it before and 2) it came…
All the Long Nights 夜明けのすべて (2024) Director: Sho Miyake [Nippon Connection 2024 / Japan Cuts 2024]
Beautifully depicted, workmates suffering in silence with mental and physical conditions feel the warmth of human connection in director Sho Miyake’s All the Long Nights 夜明けのすべて (2024)…
The New Morning of Billy the Kid (ビリィ★ザ★キッドの新しい夜明け, Naoto Yamakawa, 1986)
A collection of pop culture icons attempt to safeguard a cafe bar/live house from an assault by savage gangsters in Yamakawa’s anarchic post-modern satire
The Dawning Sky (明け行く空, Torajiro Saito, 1929)
A female pastor is unexpectedly reunited with the child she was forced to abandon in Torajiro Saito’s tearjerking familial melodrama.
Amayo no Tsuki, Volume 2 ( 雨夜の月)
In Volume 1, we met Saki, a high school student who plays piano, and her classmate (and piano teacher’s daughter), Kanon, who is hard of hearing. Kanon is…
Amayo no Tsuki, Volume 4 ( 雨夜の月)
Well, wow. A whole lot of story happened in this volume. First, Saki finds Kanon’s former best friend – the one Kanon feel betrayed her – and learns…
Amayo no Tsuki, Volume 5 (雨夜の月)
In my fevered anticipation for The Moon on a Rainy Night, Volume 1 coming from Kodansha next week, I was thrilled to have the newest volume of the…
Amayo no Tsuki, Volume 6 (雨夜の月)
Do you remember Morinaga Milk’s series Girl Friends? It was an incredibly popular and influential Yuri manga in the early 2010s, so more than a decade ago. The…
Amayo no Tsuki, Volume 7 (雨夜の月)
Amayo no Tsuki, Volume 7 (雨夜の月) is absolute perfection. It was so good, that the moment I finished it, I started from the beginning and read it again.…
Amayo no Tsuki, Volume 3 ( 雨夜の月)
2022 has been an absolute celebration of amazing Yuri manga licenses and releases. Almost everything I wanted to have been licensed has been. Of the two remaining that…
Tsuki to Suppin, Volume 2 (月とすっぴん)
This past March I became enamored of Akegata Yuu’s Tsuki to Suppin, a Jousei Yuri manga from Feel Comics, about Akari and Shiho, an odd-couple who are nonetheless…
Tsuki to Suppin Volume 1 (月とすっぴん)
Akegawa Yuu’s Tsuki to Suppin, Volume 1 (月とすっぴん) is an absolutely delightful odd couple romance story. Shiho is a quiet, reserved photographer for bands, with a fondness for…
Yoake ni Furu, 13
Yoake ni Furu, ★ Ch 13⤷ by Hayakawa Nojiko READ: mangadex ★ download Back with Yoake (we’re almost done!). I’m always blown away by Hayakawa-sensei’s art. It’s so prett…
Yoake ni Furu, 12
Yoake ni Furu, ★ Ch 12⤷ by Hayakawa Nojiko READ: mangadex ★ download I really recommend setting the mangadex reader to double spread (offset) and use the reading direction from right to…
Episode #54 – Night and Fog in Japan (日本の夜と霧)
In the final episode of the season, Kota of the Against Japanism podcast brings his extensive knowledge of Japanese politics and the Japanese left-wing to bear in this…
The End of the Pale Hour (明け方の若者たち, Hana Matsumoto, 2021)
Dejected youngsters flounder amid the ruins of the salaryman dream in Hana Matsumoto’s youthful drama.
Yoake ni Furu, 14 + ex
Yoake ni Furu, ★ Ch 14 + ex⤷ by Hayakawa Nojiko READ: mangadex ★ download And that’s a wrap-up! Happy to finish this manga and sharing it with you. Hope you all…
Yoake ni Furu, 10 & 11
Yoake ni Furu, ★ Ch 10 & 11⤷ by Hayakawa Nojiko READ: mangadex ★ download This is one project we promised to pick up a few months ago. The person who recommended…
Sword Devil (剣鬼, Kenji Misumi, 1965)
A gentle samurai who just wants to grow flowers finds himself consumed by courtly intrigue and a cruel destiny in a visual tour de force from Kenji Misumi
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…
Thousand and One Nights (千夜、一夜, Nao Kubota, 2022)
Two women are united by the search for answers in the disappearances of their husbands but take very different paths in Nao Kubota’s melancholy tale of unanswerable longing.
Daikoku and the Oni
A long while ago, when the idols of Buddha and his host of disciples came to Japan, after traveling through China from India, they were very much vexed…
Episode 272 - Ao Oni
This week, it's been a while since Shaun has given Remington a choice of multiple shows to watch, and Remington decides on watching all 13 episodes of the…
Review: My Oni Girl
On Friday May 17th, the Studio Colorido original project My Oni Girl had its world premiere at Anime Central, ahead of its wider release on Netflix on May…
Daikoku and the Oni
A long while ago, when the idols of Buddha and his host of disciples came to Japan, after traveling through China from India, they were very much vexed…
Watashi no Kobushi wo Uketomete, Volume 3 ( 私の拳をうけとめて)
In Volume1 and Volume 2, we met Soramori and Takebe, former rivals in high school gangs who have met once again as adults. Soramori confesses to Takebe that…
Watashi no Kobushi wo Uketomete, Volume 4 (私の拳をうけとめて!)
Watashi no Kobushi wo Uketomete, Volume 4 does something wonderful. But first…. Soramori and Takebe are taking a trip. To an onsen. Overnight. Yeah, and don’t think they…
Sangokushi Daiichibu Eiyuu-tachi no Yoake (HD)
This has been in the works for a while. High-definition versions of the Sangokushi movies appeared on Japanese streaming sites in the spring...
More on だけ
Quick follow-up on my newsletter from last month about the particle だけ (dake). I mostly discussed the non-“only” meaning of the word, which can be replaced with くらい…
Yuri to Koe to Kaze Matoi, Volume 3 (百合と声と風纏い)
In Volume 1, we met Matoi, a high school senior with a talent for music and vocals. Surrounded by people her age who are in an out of…
Yuri to Koe to Kaze Matoi, Volume 4 (百合と声と風纏い)
When we met Matoi, she was an uncertain high school student, with a crush on an older woman who had returned to their town. Yuri was a young…
Yuri to Koe to Kaze Matoi, Volume 2 (百合と声と風纏い)
In Volume 1, we met Matoi, a high school senior who is a talented songwriter who doesn’t understand love. She meets Yuriko, older by a few years, attractive,…
Yuri to Koe to Kaze Matoi, Volume 3 (百合と声と風纏い)
In Volume 1, we met Matoi, a high school senior with a talent for music and vocals. Surrounded by people her age who are in an out of…
Episode 498: Knights of Oni
It's Superbowl Sunday, so what are Red and Ryo doing? Not watching football is what! They got anime to talk about, but first, news. Red talks about his…
Kaerenu Oni tono Momobiyori 4
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Oni Onsen BL Demo Review – Creating Steam with a Hunky Harem of Oni
Y Press Games is back with another steamy boys love game, and this one is extra unhinged. Oni Onsen is a visual novel set in feudal Japan and…
Just Remembering (ちょっと思い出しただけ, Daigo Matsui, 2021) [Fantasia 2022]
Former lovers are confronted by reminders of their failed romance amid the loneliness of the coronavirus pandemic in Daigo Matsui’s melancholy drama.
Demon Slayer 鬼滅の刃 Kimetsu no Yaiba
Tanjiro, son of a humble woodcutter, returns from town to find his family slaughtered mercilessly. The work of demons, this also turns his sister into a demon. He…
New Moomin 37/52 - The Bell That Rings On Moonlit Nights (月夜になる鐘) (1972) (English subtitles)
On moonlit nights, Moominvalley's bell tolls mysteriously, and the culprit seems even stranger, leaving leaves behind. When everyone tries to take the bell down to figure out who…