An isolated woman begins to rediscover herself while hitchhiking to her estranged father’s funeral in Kazuyoshi Kumakiri’s quietly moving road movie.
Feb 19, 2024 • Subscribe
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#Manhole (#マンホール, Kazuyoshi Kumakiri, 2023)
A salaryman’s moment of triumph is disrupted when he falls down a manhole the night before his wedding in Kazuyoshi Kumakiri’s unhinged B-movie thriller.
Gift of Fire (太陽の子, Hiroshi Kurosaki, 2020)
A conflicted scientist struggles to reconcile himself to the implications of his work while researching an atomic bomb in Kurosaki’s contemplative wartime drama
Hole in the Sky (2001) Director: Kazuyoshi Kumakiri
Hole in the Sky (2001) Director: Kazuyoshi Kumakiri is a great character study of a lonely man finding the will to move on after meeting a woman he…
Yoko (2023) review
A complex full-bodied filmic wine that cannot but stir the spectator’s emotions.
Samurai Kids (水の旅人－侍KIDS－, Nobuhiko Obayashi, 1993)
A small boy grows closer to the natural world while guiding a tiny samurai on his journey to the sea in Nobuhiko Obayashi’s charming family adventure.
Ichiko (市子, Akihiro Toda, 2023)
When a young woman disappears, it transpires that she never existed in the first place in Akihiro Toda’s twisty psychological mystery.
Under the Stars (星の子, Tatsushi Omori, 2020)
A young woman raised by devotees of a new religion comes to question her worldview when confronted with its otherness in Tatsushi Omori’s coming-of-age drama.
Desert of Namibia (ナミビアの砂漠, Yoko Yamanaka, 2024)
A young woman flounders unable to understand the world around her in Yoko Yamanaka’s quietly enraged character study.
The Sands of Kurobe (黒部の太陽, Kei Kumai, 1968)
Kei Kumai directs a three-hour epic devoted to the sometimes brutal construction of the Kurobe Dam.
The Deer King (鹿の王 ユナと約束の旅, Masashi Ando & Masayuki Miyaji, 2021)
A lone survivor comes to represent both salvation and destruction in Ando & Miyaji’s fantasy adventure.
Children of the Beehive: What Happened Next (その後の蜂の巣の子供たち, Hiroshi Shimizu, 1951)
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A Balance (由宇子の天秤, Yujiro Harumoto, 2020)
An idealistic documentarian’s journalistic ethics are strained when she uncovers scandal close to home in Yujiro Harumoto’s probing social drama
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Documentarian Ryuichi Shimada follows a social worker who decides to adopt a 20-year-old man recently released from juvenile detention.
Yoko Hikasa – Ex:Futurize
Tracklist: 1. EX:FUTURIZE (Z/X IGNITION OP) 2. Technoholica 3. EX:FUTURIZE (Instrumental) 4. Technoholica (Instrumental) 1. EX:FUTURIZE The tricky, impending start filled with violins and a single …
Seiyuu Series: Yoko Hikasa
Welcome! Instead of my usual random rant, today we have a list entry. I’ve been wanting to have some posts about cast and production committees of anime series…
菓子パン
Kashipan, kashipan as far as the eye can see - How to Japanese - May 2022
The Geisha (陽暉楼, Hideo Gosha, 1983)
The coming of the railroad spells doom for one of the most prestigious geisha houses in Japan in Hideo Gosha’s adaptation of the Tomiko Miyao novel.
Sachiko (さち子） – Lamp
Appears on their album 「Yume」. Sachiko Lyrics by Sakakibara Kaori Composed by Someya Taiyo Performed by Lamp The horizon at the end of summer and the sweet salt wind My newly shorn hair brushes pas…
How to 菓子パン
I just sent out the May newsletter. I wrote about my love of 菓子パン (kashipan). The croissant above I don’t think technically counts as 菓子パン? My theory is…
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Fortune Favors Lady Nikuko (漁港の肉子ちゃん, Ayumu Watanabe, 2021) [Fantasia 2021]
A resentful teenage girl comes to realise that she really does love her larger than life mum after all in Ayumu Watanabe’s anime adaptation of the Kanako Nishi…
アニメの新しいゴールデンコンビ – 中村亮介x細居美恵子インタビュー
フランスのジャパン・トゥール・フェスティバルで、アニメ監督の中村亮介とキャラクターデザイナーの細居美恵子の才能ある二人組に出会った。この二人の素晴らしい二人組は、『ねらわれた学園』、『あいうら』、『灰と幻想のグリムガル』などの印象的な作品を生み出した。
Whale Bones (鯨の骨, Takamasa Oe, 2023)
A brokenhearted office works finds himself chasing a digital ghost in Takamasa Oe’s eerie drama.
Yoko Kanno: What's She Been Up To?
At 32 years old, she composed one of the most iconic anime soundtracks in history. Now two decades later, what is the famed Yoko Kanno up to?
So What if yoko kanno is Involved?
A small rant about live action Cowboy Bebop, Yoko Kanno, and the spirit of Cowboy Bebop. Sorry.
Koharu to Minato: Watashi No Partner Ha Onna No Ko, Volume 1 (小春と湊 わたしのパートナーは女の子)
Koharu to Minato: Watashi No Partner Ha Onna No Ko, Volume 1 (小春と湊 わたしのパートナーは女の子) is a fictionalized autobiographical comic essay on the real-lives of the creative team, Daruma…
“Ouji-sama Joshi” Yuri Anthology STAYGOLD (「王子様女子」百合アンソロジー STAYGOLD)
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Manga Kodomo Bunko (まんがこども文庫) December ED (12月の歌) - The Candy Train (お菓子の汽車)
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Yoko Kanno: Crafting the Songs of 90s Anime
Yoko Kanno is perhaps the definitive anime composer. Her soundtracks include Cowboy Bebop, Macross Plus, Porco Rosso, and many others!
#247 – Hataraku Saibō BLACK: Enoki Junya & Hikasa Yoko
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Hotel Iris (艾莉絲旅館, Hiroshi Okuhara, 2021)
You can check out any time you like, but you can never really leave the titular Hotel Iris (艾莉絲旅館) at the centre of centre of Hiroshi Okuhara’s Taiwan-set…
Aikata System ~ Gakuen ga Eranda Unmei no Onna no ko~, Volume 2 (相方システム~学園が選んだ運命の女の子~)
What if you entered a school that had a fabled old tradition and it sounded so beautiful and romantic that you couldn’t wait to be part of it…but…
Aikata System ~ Gakuen ga Eranda Unmei no Onna no ko~, Volume 1 (相方システム~学園が選んだ運命の女の子~)
Hakamada Mera is a name that is well-known around here on Okazu. From her early days with Saigo no Seifuku, originally published by Hobunsha (and eventually Seven Seas…
Dancing Girl (踊子, Hiroshi Shimizu, 1957)
The arrival of a free-spirited younger sister creates chaos in the live of a chorus dancer and her violinist husband in Hiroshi Shimizu’s elegantly lensed melodrama.
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Yoko Kanno & TikToker Maya Collaborate on Cowboy Bebop’s Blue
Although Cowboy Bebop aired over 25 years ago, one of the most enduring elements from that anime is Yoko Kanno’s soundtrack. It’s focus on jazz, along with an…
Yoko Kanno & TikToker Maya Collaborate on Cowboy Bebop’s Blue
Although Cowboy Bebop aired over 25 years ago, one of the most enduring elements from that anime is Yoko Kanno’s soundtrack. It’s focus on jazz, along with an…
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The Rose on His Arm (太陽とバラ, Keisuke Kinoshita, 1956)
A frustrated young man’s exploitative relationship with the son of a wealthy factory owner provokes only violence and futility in Keisuke Kinoshita’s take on post-Sun Tribe youth drama
The Yin Yang Master Zero (陰陽師ゼロ, Shimako Sato, 2024)
An aloof alchemist finds himself at the centre of conspiracy when one of his colleagues is murdered in Shimako Sato’s visually striking fantasy.
Tsugaru Lacquer Girl (バカ塗りの娘, Keiko Tsuruoka, 2023)
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
Thorns Of Beauty (恋のいばら, Hideo Jojo, 2023)
A jilted ex and the current girlfriend team up against a no good guy with compromising photos of them both in Hideo Jojo’s playful drama.
Push Pause (ココでのはなし, Ryoma Kosasa, 2023)
A small hotel becomes a refuge for those “struggling with the everyday” in Ryoma Kosasa’s heartwarming drama
The Great Journey / 大いなる旅路 / Oinaru tabiji (1960)
Obscure Japanese Film #110 Rentaro Mikuni and Michiko Hoshi Morioka, Iwate Prefecture, mid-1920s. Kozo Iwami (Rentaro Mikuni) works for the ...
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Seiyuu Highlights: Wakato Matsumoto 松本 和香子
Otherwise known by her stage name as Kujira (くじら) She's a really well known voice actress who portrays many roles of middle aged women in anime. Support me through…
Girls’ School (女子學校, Mimi Lee, 1982)
The transgressively close friendship between two teenage girls comes under scrutiny when a rumour circulates they are more than friends in Mimi Lee’s sensitive drama
Takano Tofu (高野豆腐店の春, Mitsuhiro Mihara, 2023)
A sudden brush with mortality convinces an ageing tofu maker to marry off his middle-aged daughter in Mitsuhiro Mihara’s charming dramedy.
Six Singing Women (唄う六人の女, Yoshimasa Ishibashi, 2023)
A man finds himself trapped in a strange place after travelling to the mountains in the wake of his estranged father’s death in Yoshimasa Ishibashi’s surreal dra
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Whale Bones 鯨の骨 (2023) Director: Takamasa Oe [Japan Cuts 2024]
Takamasa Oe’s social media mystery turns into a satire of living life online as a hapless website worker tries to find a missing AR girl in his beautifully…
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A teenage boy struggling with grief and loneliness gains a new perspective after bonding with another lonely young man in Taro Kawasaki & Eisuke Sakauchi’s indie drama.