Shun Nakagawa’s coming-of-age drama Kalanchoe (2017) uses a class as a microcosm for society to explore difficulties in sincerely dealing with people who are different. It will be available @…
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Kalanchoe (カランコエの花, Shun Nakagawa, 2017)
The truth is, most people genuinely mean well but they often make mistakes. They make them because they don’t think things through, fail to consider perspectives outside of…
Sayonara, Girls. 少女は卒業しない (2022) Dir: Shun Nakagawa streaming on SAKKA
Shun Nakagawa’s understated ensemble drama “Sayonara, Girls” (2022) features a set of rising actors, featuring Yuumi Kawai and Rina Ono, playing out a quietly moving story of high…
Noise ノイズ (2017) Dir: Yusaku Matsumoto
This is my V-Cinema review of Yusaku Matsumoto’s film “Noise” from back in 2017.
Sayonara, Girls (少女は卒業しない, Shun Nakagawa, 2022)
A collection of teens contemplate the ghosts of youth in facing graduation from a school soon to be demolished in Shun Nakagawa’s poignant drama.
Jigoku Hanazono (地獄の花園)
Jigoku Hanazono (地獄の花園) is absolute trash, hilarious and unforgivable, and probably puzzling to anyone who isn’t deeply interested in girl-gang lore. It’s a movie tailored almost …
Casting Blossoms to the Sky (この空の花 長岡花火物語, Nobuhiko Obayashi, 2012)
An emotionally arrested journalist begins to reconnect with the past through wartime stories of Nagaoka in Obayashi’s compassionate plea for a kinder future
Somebody’s Flowers 誰かの花 (2022) Director: Yusuke Okada
Somebody’s Flowers 誰かの花 「Dareka no Hana」 Release Date: January 29th, 2022 Duration: 115 mins. Director: Yusuke Okada Writer: Yusuke Okada (Script), Starring: Shinsuke Kato, Kazuko Yoshiyuki, Ch…
Haruka’s Pottery ハルカの陶 Dir: Naruhito Suetsugu (2019)
Haruka’s Pottery ハルカの陶 Dir: Naruhito Suetsugu (2019)
Shin Sommelier- Shun no Wine
Fancy settings and high class clientele abound as a disenfranchised wine expert returns to his role and helps to launch a fancy restaurant in this second Sommelier work…
Song of the Flower Basket (花籠の歌, Heinosuke Gosho, 1937)
The daughter of a tonkatsu shop finds herself with an overabundance of suitors in Heinosuke Gosho’s generally cheerful yet occasionally dark melodrama.
Yakuza Graveyard (やくざの墓場 くちなしの花, Kinji Fukasaku, 1976)
A maverick cop finds himself sympathising with noble yakuza when confronted by entrenched corruption in Kinji Fukasaku’s jitsuroku-esque gangster drama.
Girls in the Orchard / 花の中の娘たち / Hana no naka no musumetachi (1953)
Obscure Japanese Film #109 Mariko Okada Toho’s first feature film in full colour concerns the Ishii family, who live in the rural area of ...
The Sound of Grass 草の響き Dir: Hisashi Saito (2021)
The Sound of Grass is a slow and solid showcase of the struggle of dealing with mental problems. Based on a story by Yasushi Sato. 草の響き Dir: Hisashi…
Hana no Asuka-gumi Infinity, Volume 7 (花のあすか組 ∞インフィニティ)
Buckle in, folks, today’s review is going to be a lot of expository commentary for a payoff that may seems small to you, but is hella powerful to…
Hana no Asuka-gumi Infinity, Volume 8 (花のあすか組 ∞インフィニティ )
A few weeks ago, I reviewed HabuCore F, the 10-years-later epilogue to a series Hayate x Blade (はやて×ブレード), which I described as “a gonzo battle/school manga series.” I…
Hana no Asuka-gumi! ∞Infinity, Volume 9 (花のあすか組! ∞インフィニティ)
Once again, we come to the end of the longest-running girl-gang manga series. I say “again,” because this series has ended several times before. This first time when…
Episode 128 – Six Degrees of Oguri Shun
Happy New Year! We have returned with our first anime episode of 2018, in which we talk about the last anime episodes of 2017. We are going over…
Our House わたしたちの家 (2018) Dir: Yui Kiyohara
Our House わたしたちの家 (2018), by director Yui Kiyohara, is a good mood piece about a house that connects two sets of female characters together even though they never really meet.
A Song I Remember ひとつの歌 Dir: Kyoshi Sugita (2012)
A Song I Remember ひとつの歌 「Hitotsu no Uta」 Release Date: October 13th, 2012 Duration: 102 mins. Director: Kyoshi Sugita Writer: Kyoshi Sugita (Script), Starring: Takenori Kaneko, Yuri…
The Real Thing 本気のしるし Dir: Koji Fukada (2020)
The Real Thing 本気のしるし Dir: Koji Fukada (2020) is an absorbing and addictive thriller about ascertaining the authentic aspect of a relationship and persona.
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Jigoku-no-Hanazono: Office Royale (地獄の花園, Kazuaki Seki, 2021) [Fantasia 2021]
Office ladies go to war in Kazuaki Seki’s anarchic, Bakarhythm-scripted transposition of the yankee manga to the world of the OL
The Many Faces of Chika またの日の知華 (2005) Dir: Kazuo Hara, Producer/Writer: Sachiko Kobayashi
The Many Faces of Chika またの日の知華 (2005) Dir: Kazuo Hara, Producer/Writer: Sachiko Kobayashi
The Thing 遊星からの物体X (1982) Dir: John Carpenter
The Thing 遊星からの物体X (1982) Dir: John Carpenter
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…
Otakon 2017
We’re a while out from Otakon, but we’re still gonna podcast about it! I brought fellow podcasting...
Otakon 2017
We’re a while out from Otakon, but we’re still gonna podcast about it! I brought fellow podcasting cohorts Chris (@gokuffy) and Helen (@WanderinDreamr) to cover Otakon 2017 in…
Acen 2017
We’re back for a special episode, rounding up Acen 2017 with my friends Kenny (@Minoru79), Kyle (@ANewtypeCentury), and Patz (@PatzPrime). No show notes this time, just us shooting…
Acen 2017
We’re back for a special episode, rounding up Acen 2017 with my friends Kenny (@Minoru79), Kyle (@ANewtypeCentury),...
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Green Jail 緑の牢獄 Dir: Huang Yin-yu [Osaka Asian Film Festival 2021]
Green Jail 緑の牢獄 Dir: Huang Yin-yu [Osaka Asian Film Festival 2021]
The Guard From Underground 地獄の警備員 (1992) Remaster Dir: Kiyoshi Kurosawa
The Guard From Underground 地獄の警備員 (1992) Remaster, directed by Kiyoshi Kurosawa, is a solid slasher film that features a psychotic sumo wrestler smashing the world of corporate Japan.…
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Over the Town 街の上で Dir: Rikiya Imaizumi [Osaka Asian Film Festival 2021]
A charming cringe comedy that takes place in Tokyo’s Shimokitazawa. Over the Town 街の上で Dir: Rikiya Imaizumi [Osaka Asian Film Festival 2021]
Huahua’s Dazzling World and its Myriad Temptations (花花世界, Daphne Xu, 2022)
Xu’s largely observational doc follows an unlikely streaming star as she overcomes her sense of futility through boundless optimism.
OSMcast! Anime Weekend Atlanta 2017 10-9-2017
Wait wait wait what 2 updates in a row is this 2017 or what geez SO ANYROAD yes the OSMcast is BACK yet again for a classic late…
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A Movie Capital 映画の都 Dir: Toshio Iizuka (1991) [Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival]
Get a glimpse of the inaugural Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival and learn why this festival space became the leading place for discussion amongst people. A Movie Capital…
Bara no ki ni bara no hana saku / 薔薇の木にバラの花咲く / (‘Roses Bloom on the Rose Bush’, 1959)
Obscure Japanese Film #136 Ayako Wakao Rieko Sumi and Ayako Wakao Reiko (Ayako Wakao) is a senior university student majoring in English w...
Spring 2017 Conclusion
I wish I could say this blog wasn’t dead, but working life has left me a dried husk of a man I used to be and I struggle…
Summer 2017 Conclusion
It’s been pretty dead here, but I can at least be bothered to fart out a season conclusion post. My career is closing in on its expiration date…
Spring 2017 Conclusion
I wish I could say this blog wasn’t dead, but working life has left me a dried husk of a man I used to be and I struggle…
Updates for 2017
As you might be able to tell I have let the maintenance of this site slide this year. So much for my new year's resolution in January. Anyway..…
The Japan Blog List - Japan related blogs which are written in English
Christmas Card 2017
WARNING: AS A PRESENT TO OURSELVES THIS EPISODE IS ONLY MINIMALLY EDITED Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Joyous Kwanzaa, Merry Mega Christmas and HAPPY HOLIDAYS to all of our…
Summer 2017 roundup
Or “it’s halfway through the new season and I still can’t think of much to say about these shows.” …
Konohana Kitan (2017)
Endlessly fluffy and wholesome —a shining example of the best the iyashikei genre has to offer.
Summer 2017 Conclusion
It’s been pretty dead here, but I can at least be bothered to fart out a season conclusion post. My career is closing in on its expiration date…
Character(s) of the Month: Umi and Shun, and Cob
OK, fabulous people of the Internet. If you could tell by the title of today’s post, this will be a very different Character of the Month post. To…
The Vampire Moth (吸血蛾, Nobuo Nakagawa, 1956)
Kindaichi is on the case when a series of fashion models is mysteriously bumped off by a butterfly-obsessed killer in Nobuo Nakagawa’s atmospheric horror.
WINNY (2023) Dir: Yusaku Matsumoto
A gracefully simple screenplay brought to life by a great ensemble leads to an easy to understand dramatisation the Winny prosecution, a complex case from Japan’s early digital…
Kitanhana Monogatari (綺譚花物語)
A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of reviewing a book on Yuri history in Taiwan by Baihe novelist 楊雙子 Yáng Shuāngzǐ. Today I am reviewing the…
Domains 王国 (あるいはその家について) (2019) Dir: Natsuka Kusano
Domains is a thoroughly absorbing drama thanks to excellent performances and its unique structure. Domains 王国 (あるいはその家について) (2019) Dir: Natsuka Kusano