Obscure Japanese Film #126 Ayako Wakao Saburi (Keizo Kawasaki) is a writer who has just won the Newcomer of the Year Award for his boo...
Aug 16, 2024 • Subscribe
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Tokyo Olympiad (1965) [Documentary Review]
Tokyo Olympiad or, Faster, Higher, Stronger The Olympics are a symbol of human aspiration When it comes to sports-oriented movies, ther...
The Best is Yet to Come (不止不休, Wang Jing, 2020)
A man denied a fair chance because of his impoverished background comes to identify with the plight of those carrying the hepatitis B virus in Wang Jing’s true…
A Story Written With Water (1965) review
An exquisitely layered psychological drama that unveils how a subject’s fixation on a phantasmatic image disrupts his ability to commit himself romantically to the female other
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
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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…
Daughter-in-Law (민며느리, Choi Eun-hee, 1965)
A sense of female solidarity eventually develops between a dutiful young woman and her tyrannical mother-in-law in Choi Eun-hee’s lighthearted directorial debut
Obake no Q-Taro (1965) – Episodes 01A & 12B
Based on the gag manga by the duo known as Fujiko Fujio, here’s the very first segment of the original black and white anime. The first series featured…
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Episode #78 (S10E7) – Red Beard [赤ひげ] (1965)
In this episode, Ian Buckley joins the show to discuss Red Beard, one of Kurosawa’s most renowned films. With a lot of similar themes to Kurosawa’s earlier film,…
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Invasion of Astro-Monster (1965) review [The Godzilla Project]
A great narrative that is marred by budget and time-constraints.
Godspeed (人生路不熟, Yi Xiaoxing, 2023)
An earnest young man does everything he can to try and impress his traditionalist father-in-law-to-be but just can’t seem to catch break in Yi Xiaoxing’s charming road trip…
Beast Alley (けものみち, Eizo Sugawa, 1965)
A hotel maid is dragged into conspiracy after murdering her bedridden husband in Eizo Sugawa’s incredibly dark post-war noir.
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…
The Passionate Spinster (結婚相談, Ko Nakahira, 1965)
A woman still unmarried at the comparatively late age of 30 begins to go out of her mind while on a hellish descent into vice and crime in…
A Summer Trip (川流不“熄”, Feng Keyu, 2021)
A wayward young man comes to understand more about himself and his family on a summer road trip with grandpa in Feng’s warmhearted drama
A Bloodthirsty Killer (殺人魔 / 살인마, Lee Yong-min, 1965)
A hapless middle-aged man finds himself haunted by the spectre of wronged femininity in Lee Yong-min’s eerie gothic chiller.
Encounter at the Station (難忘的車站, Hsin Chi, 1965)
Destructive patriarchal social codes drive a young man to madness, cause a young woman to lose her sight, and push another towards nervous breakdown in Hsin Chi’s subversive…
Great Absence (大いなる不在, Kei Chikaura, 2023)
A forced reconnection with his estranged father forces a young man to contemplate the great absences of life in Kei Chikaura’s poetic drama.
Fuzoroi no Renri, Volume 5 (不揃いの連理)
Mikanuji’s Fuzoroi no Renri, Volume 5 (不揃いの連理) continues as a smorgasbord of miscellaneous relationships between various couples. In this volume, we take time to expand on a few…
Ready O/R Knot (不日成婚, Anselm Chan, 2021)
A woman who wants to get married and her boyfriend who doesn’t end up engaged in an escalating battle of the sexes in Chan’s snarky marital farce
Fuzoroi no Renri, Volume 2 (不揃いの連理)
In Volume 1, we met Tanaka Iori, a careerwoman with a job that she does not love, and a former juvenile delinquent girlfriend, Minami, whom she does. Ultimately,…
The Blind Menace (不知火検校, Kazuo Mori, 1960)
A blind sociopathic monk charts an unstoppable rise to power in Kazuo Mori’s bleak period drama.
Fuzoroi no Renri, Volume 4 (不揃いの連理)
Fuzoroi no Renri, Volume 4 (不揃いの連理) by Mikan Uji, is both a whimsical look at several Yuri odd couples and a profouns story about about found family and…
Johnny Keep Walking! (年会不能停！, Dong Runnian, 2024)
An earnest factory experiences a rude awakening when he’s accidentally promoted to head office in Dong Runnian’s hilarious satirical comedy.
Fuzoroi no Renri, Volume 3 (不揃いの連理)
In Volume 1, we met Iori and Minami, an career woman and a server at a izakaya whose relationship is surprisingly not fraught, and Saori and Shizuku, Iori’s…
Břetislav Pojar and Miroslav Štěpánek #1: Pojar’s “Hey Mister, Let’s Play!” entries (1965)
Watch the films discussed in this article with English subtitles on YouTube! …or, download files of them for personal viewing here! In the years since I initially spoke…
The History of Mushi Pro – 01 – The Road to TV Anime (1960-1965)
Osamu Tezuka, the God of Manga, is also the father of modern anime – not only did he coin the word, his Tetsuwan Atom was the first animated…
A Fugitive from the Past 飢餓海峡 (1965) Dir: Tomu Uchida
A Fugitive from the Past 飢餓海峡 (1965), from director Tomu Uchida, is an excellent crime drama with a visceral atmosphere.
Leave Me Alone (不想一個人, Fan Yang-chung, 2021)
A lovelorn gallery owner and ambitious pimp embark on a steamy affair but find themselves bound by their shared yet opposing desires in Fan Yang-chung’s steamy urban drama
Donghua Reccomendation: No Doubt In Us / Liang Bu Yi (两不疑)
Yume will be recommending and reviewing a bit on a Donghua or Chinese Animations she recently watched called No Doubt In Us / Liang Bu Yi (两不疑)~ Video:…
The Ghost of the Hunchback (怪談せむし男, Hajime Sato, 1965)
Morally compromised citizens of post-war Japan find themselves trapped in the purgatorial hell of a creepy old mansion in Hajime Sato’s gothic romp
The Furious Yama《大王不高兴》Episode 1 First Impression Review
Little Yan is the newly appointed queen of the underworld of the eastern continent. She is timid and afraid of ghosts, so she was sent to the hum
Fujyourina Atashi-tachi, Volume 2 ( 不条理なあたし達)
Yamanaka is, for lack of a better term, a jerk. In Volume 1, we meet her teasing her colleague Taneda mercilessly. When Taneda invite Yamanaka to a lesbian…
Virgin Blue (不要再見啊，魚花塘, Niu Xiaoyu, 2021)
A young woman drifts between fantasy and reality while returning home for a last summer with grandma in Niu Xiaoyu’s surreal drama.
The Time of Reckoning / 不信のとき / Fushin no toki (1968)
Obscure Japanese Film #128 Jiro Tamiya and Ayako Wakao Asai (Jiro Tamiya) is an artist who designs advertising posters for a printing comp...
Tale of Japanese Burglars (にっぽん泥棒物語, Satsuo Yamamoto, 1965)
A former burglar finds himself conflicted on realising only he can prevent a miscarriage of justice in Satsuo Yamamoto’s ironic tale of post-war moral confusion
Story of a Blind Woman /女めくら物語 / Onna mekura monogatari (1965)
Obscure Japanese Film #130 Ayako Wakao This Daiei production stars Ayako Wakao as Tsuruko, an orphan who loses her sight at the age of 16 ...
Who’ll Stop the Rain (青春並不溫柔, Su I-Hsuan, 2023)
Two young women meet and fall in love amid the student protests of ’90s Taiwan but find their connection frustrated by ongoing lack of “freedom” in the new…
Blood of Revenge (明治侠客伝 三代目襲名, Tai Kato, 1965)
An earnest yakuza trying to walk a more legitimate path faces off against a thuggish businessman in Tai Kato’s late-Meiji ninkyo eiga.
Too Cool to Kill (这个杀手不太冷静, Xing Wenxiong, 2022)
Fantasy and reality begin to blur for a jobbing actor suddenly offered the lead in an experimental hitman movie in Xing Wenxiong’s take on Koki Mitani’s The Magic…
I Didn’t Dare to Tell You (不敢跟你講, Mou Tun-Fei, 1969)
A young boy finds himself victimised by an oppressively authoritarian society in Mou Tun-Fei’s subversive social realist drama
The Grass is Greener on the Other Side (野草不盡, Crystal Wong, 2022)
Crystal Wong’s heartfelt documentary follows a pair of exiles as they try to hang on to their Hong Kong identity after moving to the UK.
Hong Kong: City on Fire (不作浮塵, Choi Ka-yan & Lee Hiu-ling, 2022)
Visceral in its immediacy, Hong Kong City on Fire is among the bleakest of the recent series of documentaries focussing on the 2019 Anti-Extradition Law Amendment Bill protests
Sex and Fury (不良姐御伝 猪の鹿お蝶, Norifumi Suzuki,1973)
An orphaned daughter takes revenge against the corruptions of the late Meiji society in Norifumi Suzuki’s pinky violence classic.
A Story from Echigo / 越後つついし親不知 / Echigo Tsutsuishi Oyashirazu (1964)
Obscure Japanese Film #107 Rentaro Mikuni and Yoshiko Sakuma In 1930s Japan, Gonsuke (Rentaro Mikuni) is working at a sake brewery in Fushim...
行方不明の池田大作創価学会会長を探せ！
日本で最も有力な政治関係のパイプ役であり、宗教指導者でもある池田氏は2010年以来、公共の場で姿を見せていない。彼いったいどこにいるの？
Touching the Skin of Eeriness 不気味なものの肌に触れる (2014) Dir: Ryusuke Hamaguchi
“Touching the Skin of Eeriness” turns from coming-of-age drama to supernatural mystery and is packed full of absorbing physical performances. 不気味なものの肌に触れる (2014) Dir: Ryusuke Hamaguchi…
Touching the Skin of Eeriness 不気味なものの肌に触れる (2014) Dir: Ryusuke Hamaguchi
“Touching the Skin of Eeriness” turns from coming-of-age drama to supernatural mystery and is packed full of absorbing physical performances. 不気味なものの肌に触れる (2014) Dir: Ryusuke Hamaguchi…
Ode to the Spring (没有一个春天不会来临, Zhou Nan, Zhang Chi, Dong Yue, Tian Yusheng, Rao Xiaozhi, 2022)
With an all star cast and five top directors, Ode to the Spring celebrates the efforts of frontline workers in Wuhan during the pandemic.