Anime Blog Tracker

Penalty Loop (ペナルティループ, Shinji Araki, 2024)

A man trapped in a timeloop of vengeance begins to realise the fallacy of revenge in Shinji Araki’s absurdist drama.

Windows on Worlds

Jun 5, 2024 • Subscribe

Secret: A Hidden Score (2024) review [Nippon connection 2024]

Spectators who like piano and pianists might find something to enjoy in this emotionally impotent narrative.

psycho-cinematography

Jun 19, 2024 • Subscribe

Yin Yang Master Zero (2024) review [Nippon Connection 2024]

A fantastical visual experience like no other.

psycho-cinematography

Jun 8, 2024 • Subscribe

A Preview of Nippon Connection 2024

Nippon Connection takes place in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, from May 28 to June 2, and there are expected to be around 100 shorts and features programmed. Here…

Genkinahito

May 14, 2024 • Subscribe

Early Announcements for Nippon Connection 2024

Nippon Connection takes place in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, from May 28 to June 2, and there are expected to be around 100 shorts and features programmed. Here…

Genkinahito

Apr 10, 2024 • Subscribe

Blue Giant, Phoenix, The Concierge

A Look at Nippon Connection 2024 with Florian Höhr, the Festival’s Programmer [Nippon Connection 2024]

A Look at Nippon Connection 2024 with Florian Höhr, the Festival’s Programmer [Nippon Connection 2024] The festival takes place in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, from May 28 to…

Genkinahito

May 27, 2024 • Subscribe

18×2 Beyond Youthful Days (2024) review [Nippon Connection 2024]

Fujii proves that the tropes of the romance genre can still be exploited in a refreshing and emotionally satisfying manner.

psycho-cinematography

Jun 13, 2024 • Subscribe

December (2023) review [Nippon Connection]

A highly moving and emotionally powerful narrative that explores the struggle of a subject to shake of the winter of his subjectivity.

psycho-cinematography

Jun 24, 2023 • Subscribe

Kanon

Nippon Connection Confirms Full Lineup for 2024

In Frankfurt 28th May 2nd June

Windows on Worlds

May 15, 2024 • Subscribe

Bolt (2020) review [Nippon Connection 2021]

“A great narrative by Kaizo Hayashi that explores, via the structure fiction, the truth of three different affects – responsibility, guilt, and sadness through loss – during and…

psycho-cinematography

Jun 11, 2021 • Subscribe

Popran (2022) review [22nd Nippon Connection]

“A great narrative that questions in a light-hearted way the relation between the male subject and his member as well as the role the real member plays within…

psycho-cinematography

Jun 13, 2022 • Subscribe

His (2020) review [Nippon Connection 2021]

A touching and heartwarming romance drama that captivates the spectator not only because it’s driven by romantic feelings feel genuine, but also because the truth of love is…

psycho-cinematography

Jul 8, 2021 • Subscribe

Egoist (2022) review [Nippon Connection 2023]

Matsunaga’s heartfelt and heart-breaking narrative goes beyond the gay-dynamic to show that the lack that injures the subject complicates and radically determines the way he approaches the object…

psycho-cinematography

Jun 14, 2023 • Subscribe

22nd Nippon Connection: Recommendations

This list does not only reveal the variety of unique perspectives that mark Japanese Cinema, but also echoes that what directors, from a cinematic perspective, put into question…

psycho-cinematography

May 22, 2022 • Subscribe

NIPPON CONNECTION ’12 REVIEW: Die! Directors, Die!

死ね ! 死ね ! シネマ (Shine! Shine! Shinema) Released: 2011 Director: Makoto Shinozaki Starring:  Kyoko Mori …

Toronto J-Film Pow-Wow

May 5, 2012 • Subscribe

Wonderful Paradise (2020) review [Nippon Connection 2021]

A great experiment of the absurd, but its full potential to satisfy the spectator is hindered by its somewhat lackluster composition.  

psycho-cinematography

Jun 23, 2021 • Subscribe

Just Remembering (2022) review [22nd Nippon Connection]

An experience that will stir the spectator’s unconscious and affect his heart.  

psycho-cinematography

May 29, 2022 • Subscribe

Stormy Family (2019) review [Nippon Connection 2021]

“A great narrative that succeeds in exploring the very way that imaginary injuries and resentments erode family bonds, by causing a subjective blindness for the suffering of the…

psycho-cinematography

Jun 29, 2021 • Subscribe

Megumi

Ninja Girl (2021) review [22nd Nippon connection]

“A political satire that will not fail to please audiences, but lacks the thematical punch to make a statement that will long linger in the spectator’s mind.”

psycho-cinematography

Jun 10, 2022 • Subscribe

A Preview of Nippon Connection 2021: Nippon Visions

A preview of Nippon Connection 2021: the films of the Nippon Visions section – Company Retreat, Beyond the Infinite Two Minutes , Daughters, It’s a Summer Film, Sasaki…

Genkinahito

May 26, 2021 • Subscribe

School Days

A Preview of Nippon Connection 2021: Nippon Cinema

A Preview of Nippon Connection 2021: Nippon Cinema: Can’t Stop the Dancing, The Day of Destruction, To the Ends of the Earth, Under the Open Sky, A Girl Missing,…

Genkinahito

May 25, 2021 • Subscribe

A Preview of Nippon Connection 2021: Nippon Cinema

A Preview of Nippon Connection 2021: Nippon Cinema: Can’t Stop the Dancing, The Day of Destruction, To the Ends of the Earth, Under the Open Sky, A Girl Missing,…

Genkinahito

May 25, 2021 • Subscribe

Special A

Nippon Connection 2021: our recommendations

“While we of course encourage the audience to explore the many films this rich festival has to offer, we do want to introduce our recommendations, films that we…

psycho-cinematography

May 30, 2021 • Subscribe

Intolerance (2021) [22nd Nippon Connection]

Yoshida’s narrative hits all the right emotional notes for the audience and that its message will long linger in the spectator’s mind.

psycho-cinematography

Jun 4, 2022 • Subscribe

Backlight (2021) [22nd Nippon Connection]

An elegantly constructed and highly impactful exploration of the inhibiting fear of being rejected by one’s beloved.

psycho-cinematography

Jun 1, 2022 • Subscribe

Festival Report: Nippon Connection 2012

by Marc Saint-Cyr Those initially scanning the program for the 12th Nippon Connection film festival , hosted in Frankfurt, Germany from...

Toronto J-Film Pow-Wow

May 15, 2012 • Subscribe

Jumping, Mirai

The Promised Land (2019) review [Nippon Connection 2021]

A beautifully composed and highly relevant narrative about destructive kinds of social violence, a social violence against the Otherness present in the community and an ostracizing violence to…

psycho-cinematography

Jun 20, 2021 • Subscribe

NIPPON CONNECTION ’12 REVIEW: Come as You Are

ソーローなんてくだらない (Sôrô nante kudaranai) Released: 2011 Director: Kôta Yoshida Starring:  Tateto Serizawa…

Toronto J-Film Pow-Wow

May 6, 2012 • Subscribe

Any Crybabies Around? (2020) review [22nd Nippon Connection]

“A great drama that sketches out the destructive effect of the gap between one’s signifiers and one’s acts on others and shows the spectator that what the marital…

psycho-cinematography

Jun 7, 2022 • Subscribe

NIPPON CONNECTION ’12 REVIEW: The Sound of Light

ひかりのおと (Hikari no oto) Released: 2011 Director: Juichiro Yamasaki Starring:  Yoshitomo Fujihisa …

Toronto J-Film Pow-Wow

May 6, 2012 • Subscribe

NIPPON CONNECTION ’12 REVIEW: About the Pink Sky

ももいろそらを (Momoiro sora o) Released: 2011 Director: Keiichi Kobayashi Starring:  Ai Ikeda Ena…

Toronto J-Film Pow-Wow

May 2, 2012 • Subscribe

A Madder Red (2021) review [Nippon Connection 2022]

Machiko Ono and Yuki Katayama breathe extra-ordinary life and realism into the pain, the hopes, the white lies, the tears, the smiles, and the anger of contemporary female…

psycho-cinematography

May 24, 2022 • Subscribe

Ripples 波紋 (2023) Director: Naoko Ogigami [Nippon Connection 2024]

Ripples 波紋 (2023), written and directed by Naoko Ogigami, [Nippon Connection 2024] [Nippon Connection 2024]

Genkinahito

Jul 1, 2024 • Subscribe

LONESOME VACATION ロンサム　バケーション (2023) Director: Atsuro Shimoyashiro [Nippon Connection 2024]

LONESOME VACATION ロンサム　バケーション (2023), by director Atsuro Shimoyashiro, gains strength by playing against noir genre expectations and presents a heart-warming tale of people finding connection in ea…

Genkinahito

May 30, 2024 • Subscribe

Under The Open Sky (2020) review [Nippon Connection 2021]

“A (damning) look at the vicious and unforgiven nature of the judgmental Other as well as heartwarming emotionally rich exploration of the importance of supportive inter-subjective social bon…

psycho-cinematography

Jun 8, 2021 • Subscribe

Sasaki In My Mind (2020) review [Nippon Connection 2021]

“Uchiyama delivers a great and finely composed narrative that explores the ephemeral character of relationships that find their sole strength in the imaginary, in the thirst for gaining…

psycho-cinematography

Jul 2, 2021 • Subscribe

NIPPON CONNECTION ’12 REVIEW: The Woodsman and the Rain

キツツキと雨 (Kitsutsuki to ame) Released: 2011 Director: Shûichi Okita Starring:  Kôji Yakusho …

Toronto J-Film Pow-Wow

May 5, 2012 • Subscribe

Baby Assassins: 2 babies (2023) review [Nippon Connection 2023]

Sakamoto’s latest film has such a irresistible charm that even those who normally shy away of action or comedy narratives will leave satisfied.  

psycho-cinematography

Jun 8, 2023 • Subscribe

Extraneous Matter – Complete edition (2020) review [Nippon Connection 2021]

“A great erotic sci-fi narrative that explores, in an engaging way, the need for a certain amount of sexual desire to make the dynamic of a romantic relation…

psycho-cinematography

Jul 11, 2021 • Subscribe

The Town of Headcounts (2020) review [Nippon Connection 2021]

“His dystopian ‘thriller’ does not only masterly highlight, in a chilling way, the various ills that marks contemporary society, but also shows, that within such dystopian world, a…

psycho-cinematography

Jun 26, 2021 • Subscribe

Thorns of Beauty (2023) [Nippon Connection 2023]

Hideo’s latest uncovers the deep marks that the thorns of phallic beauty have left on contemporary society.

psycho-cinematography

Jun 11, 2023 • Subscribe

Nippon Connection Confirms Full Lineup for 2023

In Frankfurt 6th to 111th.

Windows on Worlds

May 20, 2023 • Subscribe

A Preview of Nippon Connection 2021: Animation

A Preview of the Animated Films at Nippon Connection 2021: On-Gaku: Our Sound, Seven Days War, Sumikkogurashii: Good to Be in the Corner

Genkinahito

May 28, 2021 • Subscribe

A Preview of Nippon Connection 2021 – Highlights

A preview of Nippon Connection 2021 that offers some highlights: Dance With Me, To the Ends of the Earth, Under the Open Sky, The Day of Destruction, Beyond the…

Genkinahito

May 24, 2021 • Subscribe

Nippon Connection Confirms Full Lineup for 2022!

In Frankfurt 24th – 29th May and online 30th May to 6th June

Windows on Worlds

Apr 30, 2022 • Subscribe

A Preview of Nippon Connection 2021: Documentaries

A Preview of Nippon Connection 2021 – The full line-up of Documentaries: Ainu Neno An Ainu, I Quit, “Being Friends”, Koshien: Japan’s Field of Dreams, Me and the…

Genkinahito

May 27, 2021 • Subscribe

Beyond the two infinite minutes (2021) review [Nippon connection 2021]

“A highly entertaining and cleverly constructed sci-fi film that not only underlines the power of romantic desire, but also reveals how tricky knowing the future can be.”

psycho-cinematography

Jul 5, 2021 • Subscribe

I Am What I Am (2022) review [Nippon Connection 2023]

Toko Miura, with her layered performance, gives the emotional struggle of her character its genuine flavour.   

psycho-cinematography

Jun 20, 2023 • Subscribe

Mondays: See You This Weekend! (2022) review [Nippon Connection 2023]

Introduction One successful screening at a reputable film festival has the ability to launch the career of young directors. This year, it might very well be the turn…

psycho-cinematography

Jun 17, 2023 • Subscribe

LONESOME VACATION ロンサム　バケーション (2023) Director: Atsuro Shimoyashiro [Nippon Connection 2024] Second Draft

LONESOME VACATION ロンサム　バケーション (2023), by director Atsuro Shimoyashiro, gains strength by playing against noir genre expectations and presents a heart-warming tale of people finding connection in ea…

Genkinahito

May 30, 2024 • Subscribe