A classic tale of intrigue and revenge leads to revolution against the feudal order in Tetsuya Yamanouchi’s tokusatsu ninja movie.
Feb 24, 2024 • Subscribe
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Episode #63(S9E1) – The Great Yokai War [妖怪大戦争] (2005)
In the first episode of season 9, Perry is joined by Lyndsey Little, writer and artist of the OniGirl comic. And in keeping with that theme of Japanese…
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
OtakuGeneration (Show #439) Panda and the Magic Serpent
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Maken-Ki! Battling Venus, Mobile Suit Gundam UC, Phoenix, Unico, Wolf Children
The Sunday Runoff (決戦は日曜日, Yuichiro Sakashita, 2021)
A naive woman asked to stand for political office in her father’s place finds herself conflicted by the depth of corruption she discovers in Yuichiro Sakashita’s political satire.
Father of the Kamikaze (ゝ決戦航空隊, Kosaku Yamashita, 1974)
Koji Tsuruta stars in an uncomfortably nationalistic biopic of Admiral Onishi
Underrated, & Under-appreciated: Jūni Taisen 十二大戦
The 12 members of the Juni Taisen. I watched Juni Taisen years ago, but of course, I have just come around to reviewing it. Surprise surprise. This 12…
The Kamikaze Guy (カミカゼ野郎 真昼の決斗, Kinji Fukasaku, 1966)
A bumbling pilot becomes embroiled in a conspiracy after an encounter on a ski slope in a goodnatured action comedy starring a young Sonny Chiba.
Obanai Iguro: The Serpent Hashira
(Spoilers!) After this, we only have 2 Hashiras left! If I finish them, then it will be my first ever blog project completed, Thats a pretty great achievement…
Daimajin (1966) review
“A wonderful and refreshing blend between the jidai-geki/chanbara and the kaiju genre.”
Irezumi (1966) review
“Masamura delivers a phenomenal narrative, a true post-war classic.”
Operation Plazma in Osaka (実録外伝 大阪電撃作戦, Sadao Nakajima, 1976)
An attempt at a hostile takeover from corporatised Kobe gangsters destabilises the precarious balance of post-war Osaka in Sadao Nakajima’s anarchic jitsuroku eiga.
Black Tight Killers (1966)
A stylish and visually dazzling romp with lots of action and sensuality
Kentaro Miura (1966-2021)
“When you’re a cartoonist and working at home you sit at your desk pretty much all day,” Kentaro Miura once said in an interview. “You get most of…
Kyokou Suiri – 02 [Guardian’s Serpent Heard]
Hope springs eternal, and Amun is here with another show that he’s incredibly hyped about (and a little wary of). It’s my turn this week, so how does…
The Threat (脅迫, Kinji Fukasaku, 1966)
An ambitious executive is confronted with the emasculating nature of the salaryman dream when escaped convicts invade his home in an early thriller from Kinji Fukasaku.
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What to Do With the Dead Kaiju? (大怪獣のあとしまつ, Satoshi Miki, 2022) [Fantasia 2022]
A fallen kaiju presents a new problem for the governing authorities in Satoshi Miki’s satirical comedy.
In/Spectre (Episode 2) – What the Guardian Serpent Heard
Kotoko has a request from the Yokai. A giant guardian serpent is troubled and cannot sleep, so she must venture into the mountains to visit it and put…
It Comes (来る, Tetsuya Nakashima, 2018)
The “perfect” life of a superficial salaryman is disrupted by vengeful spirits in Tetsuya Nasahima’s anarchic horror movie.
Shangri-La Frontier Episode 12 Review: The Grand Serpent Showdown
Embark on a journey with Sunraku, Katzo, and Arthur in Shangri-La Frontier Episode 12, as they navigate the intricate landscapes of Unite Grounds. The episode s
Monster (怪物, Hirokazu Koreeda, 2023)
Gossip and petty prejudice give rise to a series of “misunderstandings” in Koreeda’s probing drama.
Mononoke / モノノ怪 by Ninagawa Yaeko
Once again, I am shamefully coming to you with a manga recommendation based on an anime. I had originally intended this blog… well, to be a podcast, but…
Kentaro Miura (1966-2021): A Tribute
In which I talk about the recent passing of a manga legend.
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Ebirah, Horror Of The Deep (1966) review [The Godzilla Project]
A pleasant Kaiju film that continues to emphasize the imaginary dynamic of us (i.e. societal harmony) against them (i.e. the Otherness that threatens it)
The Golden Bat (黄金バット, Hajime Sato, 1966)
Skeletal superhero Golden Bat is woken from his 10,000 year slumber to fight for justice when the Earth is threatened with destruction in Hajime Sato’s delightfully silly tokusatsu…
Execution in Autumn (秋決, Li Hsing, 1972)
A condemned man undergoes a spiritual awakening but only to understand that he must die in Li Hsing’s melancholy existential drama
The Storm (大雨, Yang Zhigang, 2024)
A cosmic storm is likened to the chaos of life in Busifan’s beautifully drawn but narratively obscure family animation.
Lust of the White Serpent (蛇精の淫, Morihei Magatani, 1960)
A village boy falls for the headman’s daughter but unwittingly embarks on an affair with a snake spirit in Morihei Magatani’s Shintoho horror
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Episode #79 (S10E8) – Kwaidan [怪談] (1965)
Podcaster Mike Lund visits the show to discuss Kwaidan, an adaptation of four of Lafcadio Hearn’s Japanese ghost stories. We discuss our favorite stories from this anthology, some…
The History of Mushi Pro – 02 – Anime business (1965-1966)
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Hiruko the Goblin (ヒルコ／妖怪ハンター, Shinya Tsukamoto, 1991)
A professor and his nephew battle ancient evil deep underground in Shinya Tsukamoto’s anarchic genre romp adapted from the manga by Daijiro Morohoshi
The Last Gunfight (暗黒街の対決, Kihachi Okamoto, 1960)
A maverick cop finds himself at the centre of a moribund gang war in Kihachi Okamoto’s anarchic western-inflected crime drama
The Silent Duel (静かなる決闘, Akira Kurosawa, 1949)
A doctor who contracted syphilis from a patient wrestles with desire and responsibility in Kurosawa’s post-war drama.
Genesis—Kono Hikari ga Ochinai Yo Ni: Kohama Tetsuya (ed.)
I’m going to level with you, friends—Tokyo is hot. Real hot. Hotter than I remember. Hotter than my J-friends remember. Hotter than the host of my favourite radio…
The Great White Tower (白い巨塔, Satsuo Yamamoto, 1966)
The medical system is just another corporate body filled with egotistical salarymen and dangerously narcissistic careerists in Satsuo Yamamoto’s tense political drama
The Last Dance (大病人, Juzo Itami, 1993)
A self-involved film director gets a lesson in what it is to live when he discovers that he has terminal cancer in a lighthearted melodrama from Juzo Itami.
The Road (大路朝天, Zhang Zanbo, 2015)
The building of a highway in provincial Hunan exposes the corruptions and hypocrisies at the heart of the modern society in Zhang’s unflinching documentary
The Beauty and the Dragon (美女と怪龍, Kozaburo Yoshimura, 1955)
A clever princess takes advantage of a courtly crisis to save the kingdom and arrange her own marriage in Kozaburo Yoshimura’s adaptation of the well-known kabuki play Narukami.
Rub Out the Past (日本暗黒街, Masaharu Segawa, 1966)
A restaurateur’s attempts to shake off his violent past are frustrated by the nature of his transgressions in Masaharu Segawa’s noirish drama.
The Magic of the Inner Palace
Raven of the Inner Palace episodes 1-11 While I don’t specifically consider myself a fan of Chinese Imperial Court-influenced fantasy series, I must have a high tolerance for…
Samurai Wolf (牙狼之介, Hideo Gosha, 1966)
A wandering samurai squares off against a corrupt postmaster in Hideo Gosha’s uncharacteristically aventgarde chambara.
Green Rain (草雨 / 초우, Chung Jin-woo, 1966)
The false promises of the post-war era are brought home to two romantic youths dreaming of an illusionary future in Chung Jin-woo’s anti-romantic melodrama.
Yakuza Hooligans (893 愚連隊, Sadao Nakajima, 1966)
A gang of petty criminals get in over their heads while working with the yakuza in Sadao Nakajima’s ironic crime movie.
Carmen from Kawachi (河内カルメン, Seijun Suzuki, 1966)
Suzuki’s anarchic take on Bizet’s opera sees its heroine transcend the forces which oppress her to find true freedom and independence.
The Magic and Wise Asexual
12 Days of Aniblogging 2019, Day 7Media tropes about LGBT+ identities are just as old as the identities themselves. The unfaithful bisexual, the effeminate gay, the fetishistic trans woman, the…
The Magic of Older OVAS
Have you noticed that OVAS are completely gone these days? Ok, maybe saying isn’t completely fair. Especially since OVAS did exist in some form. In recent times, I…
Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic
A manga about a boy with a genie named Aladdin who teams up with Ali Baba the thief to explore mysterious dungeons in search of treasure. Continue reading…
The Magic of Sports Anime
If you enjoyed the video a like would be appreciated. This is my first post in a very long time because I've been busy and college is hard,…
(REVIEW) The Magic of ARTISWITCH
The unassuming Sunrise web series fits into a growing tradition of work that centers the stories of young women and themes of perseverance.
RISE AGAINST THE SWORD (1966): When Toshiro Mifune No Longer Needed the Seven Samurai
On what would have been Toshiro Mifune’s 102nd birthday (I covered his centennial in three blog posts in 2020), I look at a lesser-known historical drama starring Mifune,…
