A maths prodigy finds himself in a battle of wits with a former mentor when working as a government codebreaker in Chen Sicheng’s surreal thriller.
Sep 12, 2024 • Subscribe
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Hovering Blade (彷徨之刃, Chen Zhuo, 2024)
The wheels of justice turn too slowly for the father of a murdered girl in Chen Zhuo’s vigilante thriller.
Secret: A Hidden Score (言えない秘密, Hayato Kawai, 2024)
A dejected young man is enchanted by a mysterious young woman and her secret song in Hayato Kawai’s haunting romantic drama.
Sweet Secret / 甘い秘密 / Amai himitsu (1971)
Obscure Japanese Film #116 Tomomi Sato Eitaro Ozawa Yoko (Tomomi Sato) is a young woman living in Hokkaido who wants to be a writer. She p...
Dissolution Rites (解散式, Kinji Fukasaku, 1967)
“We’re all legitimate businessmen now” as a former yakuza explains to a recently released foot soldier stepping out into a very different Japan in Kinji Fukasaku’s Dissolution Rites…
Convention Stories: The Adventure with Ming Chen
So this is a very recent story that happened at Chattanooga Comic Con 2023. During the convention the event offered a Trolley Pub with one of their guests…
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Grit (鱷魚, Chen Ta-Pu, 2021)
A naive young man finds himself conflicted when tasked with turfing a farmer off her family land in Chen Ta-pu’s quirky romantic crime drama
Intimate Stranger (親密な他人, Mayu Nakamura, 2022)
A middle-aged woman bonds with a young man claiming to have information about her missing son in Mayu Nakamura’s noirish psychological drama.
Good Autumn, Mommy (尋她, Chen Shizhong, 2023)
A woman living in a rural village is confronted by the oppressively patriarchal social codes of her society when her newborn baby goes missing in Chen Shizhong’s pointed…
The Locked Rooms of the Twin Snakes / 双蛇密室
The Locked Rooms of the Twin Snakes is the fourth book in the Lychee Kamiki series starring the titular high school prostitute detective, ...
Yukidoke to Agapanthus, Volume 1 (雪解けとアガパンサス)
This is one of the few books I had picked up at Gamers while in Japan, because 1) I had not seen it before and 2) it came…
Eternal Summer (盛夏光年, Leste Chen, 2006)
A trio of emotionally displaced teens struggle to define themselves in a constant search for acceptance in Leste Chen’s emotionally intense youth drama
The Silent Forest (無聲, Ko Chen-Nien, 2020)
An idealistic student is caught between justice and complicity when he uncovers a culture of bullying and abuse at a school for deaf children in Ko’s hard-hitting drama.
Secrets of 1979 (弓蕉園的秘密, Zero Chou, 2021)
Two women fall in love over the summer of 1979 but find their innocent romance overshadowed by the oppressive KMT regime in Zero Chou’s political drama
Mama Boy (初戀慢半拍, Arvin Chen, 2022)
A diffident young man begins to step into himself after falling for a middle-aged woman in Arvin Chen’s charming romantic dramedy.
The Personals (徵婚啓事, Chen Kuo-fu, 1998)
Fleeing romantic trauma a young woman gains an insight into contemporary dating mores after placing a personal ad looking for a husband in Chen’s sophisticated dramedy
Chen Uen (千年一問, Wang Wan-Jo, 2020)
Using a mix of interviews and animatics, Wang’s elegantly lensed documentary presents an enigmatic picture of the legendary pioneer of Taiwanese comics
The Invisible Guest (瞒天过海, Chen Zhuo, 2023)
A woman accused of murdering her friend in a locked hotel room finds herself in a cat and mouse game with a helpful policeman in Chen Zhuo’s psychological…
Fish Memories (（真）新的一天, Chen Hung-i, 2023)
A middle-aged man’s comfortable if emotionally empty existence is disrupted by his relationship with a pair of teenagers in Chen Hung-i’s poetic drama.
Detective Chinatown 1900 (唐探1900, Chen Sicheng & Dai Mo, 2025)
The Detective Chinatown team head back to turn of the contrary San Francisco in the latest instalment of the mega hit franchise
Monk Comes Down the Mountain (道士下山, Chen Kaige, 2015)
A wandering monk is forced to consider a series of dualities presented by his traditional upbringing and burgeoning modernity in Chen Kaige’s ‘30s wuxia Monk Comes Down the…
Delicious Romance (爱很美味, Leste Chen & Hsu Chao-Jen, 2023)
The enduring friendship between three women is strained by the demands of the contemporary society in the big screen sequel to the hit TV drama.
Hero (世间有她, Li Shaohong, Joan Chen, Sylvia Chang, 2022)
Li Shaohong, Joan Chen, and Sylvia Chang tell the stories of women in Wuhan, Beijing, and Hong Kong in this tripartite pandemic anthology film.
Detective Chinatown 3 (唐人街探案3, Chen Sicheng, 2021)
Qin and Tang Ren are back on the case investigating a locked room mystery in Japan while contending with the mysterious Q in the third instalment of the…
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Intimate Stranger 親密な他人 Dir: Mayu Nakamura [New York Asian Film Festival 2022]
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My Missing Valentine (消失的情人節, Chen Yu-Hsun, 2020)
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One of the best things about shopping in a bookstore is the serendipity of finding a completely unexpected, marvelous, find. Over the years I’ve found all sorts of…
As We Like It (揭大歡喜, Chen Hung-i & Muni Wei, 2021)
A romantic exile meanders through an internet free corner of Taipei in Chen & Wei’s all-female adaptation of the Shakespeare play.
Vengeance of the Phoenix Sisters (三鳳震武林, Chen Hung-Min, 1968)
Three separated sisters find each other and pursue revenge on the bandits who killed their parents in Chen Hung-Min wuxia adventure
The Cabbie (運転手之戀, Chen Yi-wen & Chang Hwa-kun, 2000)
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●BOOKLET● ŌTOMO KATSUHIRO ZENSHŪ KAISETSU 7 G.... (大友克洋全集解説 7 G....)
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The Emperor’s Sword (乱世之定秦剑, Chen Hao-nan & Zhang Ying-li, 2020)
Retired heroes must rise again when an ambitious courtier attempts to usurp the kingdom through obtaining twin swords in Chen & Zhang’s
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●BOOKLET● ŌTOMO KATSUHIRO ZENSHU KAISETSU 8 DOMU (大友克洋全集解説８童夢)
Katsuhiro Otomo, Akira, Bibliography, Otomo, Animation, Manga, Steamboy, Japanimation,
●BOOKLET● ŌTOMO KATSUHIRO ZENSHŪ KAISETSU 3 HIGHWAY STAR (大友克洋全集解説 3 ハイウェイスター )
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Higashi delivers a touching exploration of love after death.
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Snowdrop (2024) review [OAFF 2024]
A complex character portrait that touchingly illustrates how easy it is to misrecognize the logic of the subject-supposed-to-be-in-need.
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Amalock (2024) review [OAFF 2024]
A narrative that fluidly combines comedy and tragedy to deliver an experience of smiles and tears.
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Rikako Watanabe’s narrative succeeds to echo the unvocalized ‘pandemic’ truth of many.
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Wash Away (2024) review [OAFF 2024]
A pleasant narrative that offers a fresh but familiar exploration of the subject’s fundamental desire for recognition/love and the problematic yet medicative function of consumption.
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Sumiko 22 (2024) review [OAFF 2024]
A subtle but playful narrative about a subject who slowly tries to crawl out the hole of emptiness and diminished self-worth.
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Blue Imagine (2024) review [OAFF 2024]
A powerful reminder of the sexual transgressions that structurally plague the Japanese film industry
Otakon 2024
I only bought two Lupin TV specials this year
2024 Retrospective
Ringing in the new year by taking one last look at the old one. Here's to 2025! 5:42 - 2024 Recommendations 5:48 - The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really,…
Chainsaw Man, The Elusive Samurai, Black Clover, Green Green, My Hero Academia
Farewell, 2024…
This post is brought you by Ave Mujica where this girls’ band from BanG Dream! will make its debut next year. This is a direct sequel to BanG…
2024 Outlook
Brief overview of what’s happening for this blog in 2024.
2024 plans.
(I didn’t even bother with a witty title for this post. Written hastily in less than 30 minutes…) Hi. So it’s almost 2024. And this blog has been…
