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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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…
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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
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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.
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“A wonderful and refreshing blend between the jidai-geki/chanbara and the kaiju genre.”
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“Masamura delivers a phenomenal narrative, a true post-war classic.”
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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.
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…
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“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…
Black Tight Killers (1966)
A stylish and visually dazzling romp with lots of action and sensuality
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The Threat (脅迫, Kinji Fukasaku, 1966)
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It Comes (来る, Tetsuya Nakashima, 2018)
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Ice Cream Fever (アイスクリームフィーバー, Tetsuya Chihara, 2023)
A series of lost young women find refuge at the ice cream parlour in Tetsuya Chihara’s adpatation of the Mieko Kawakami.
Execution in Autumn (秋決, Li Hsing, 1972)
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Mononoke / モノノ怪 by Ninagawa Yaeko
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In which I talk about the recent passing of a manga legend.
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
The Golden Bat (黄金バット, Hajime Sato, 1966)
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Yowamushi Pedal, Corpse Party, Divine Gate, Fairy Tail, Gurren Lagann
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A cosmic storm is likened to the chaos of life in Busifan’s beautifully drawn but narratively obscure family animation.
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.
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
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The History of Mushi Pro – 02 – Anime business (1965-1966)
While I’m hesitant to speak of “golden ages”, if Mushi Production had one, it was certainly the years 1965-1966. Still riding on Tetsuwan Atom’s prodigious popularity, the studio…
Zero (零戦燃ゆ, Toshio Masuda, 1984)
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The Great White Tower (白い巨塔, Satsuo Yamamoto, 1966)
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A Water Mill (물레방아, Lee Man-hee, 1966)
A wandering soul stumbles on a death rite that may in some senses be his own in Lee Man-hee’s haunting feudal drama.
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.
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A restaurateur’s attempts to shake off his violent past are frustrated by the nature of his transgressions in Masaharu Segawa’s noirish drama.
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