Obscure Japanese Film #136 Ayako Wakao Rieko Sumi and Ayako Wakao Reiko (Ayako Wakao) is a senior university student majoring in English w...
Oct 3, 2024 • Subscribe
More like this
Mejirobana Saku, Volume 2 (メジロバナの咲く)
Back in 2020 when I reviewed the first volume of Nakamura Asumiko’s first manga that was specifically meant to be seen as Yuri, I kept my expectations relatively…
Mejirobana Saku, Volume 3 (メジロバナの咲く)
It was summer 2021 that last time we visited this manga by the insanely hard-working Nakamura Asumiko. When I initially encountered it in the pages of Rakuen Le…
Yuri Manga: Mejirobana Saku (メジロバナの咲く)
This year we are starting off 101 CYE and I wanted to pick something really special to begin with. It was a difficult decision, let me tell you!…
Hanasaku Iroha 花咲くいろは
Ohana, a Tokyo high school girl, who had been living alone with her single mom has no choice but to relocate to her grandmother’s inn when her mom…
Funeral Parade of Roses [Bara no Soretsu]
Download the Entire Issue (All ATG Issues Here )
Haru Tsuzuru, Sakura Saku Kono Heya de (春綴る、桜咲くこの部屋で)
Haru Tsuzuru, Sakura Saku Kono Heya de (春綴る、桜咲くこの部屋で) is a deeply poignant and touching manga by Tokuwotsumu, an author who does low-key Yuri that I absolutely love. Haruki…
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 ...
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.
Heimin no Kuse ni Namaikina!, Volume 3 (平民のくせに生意気な!)
It is not often that a book makes me choke up. Heimin no Kuse ni Namaikina!, Volume 3 (平民のくせに生意気な!) made me choke up three times…even though I knew…
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…
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…
Tune of the Week: Requiem of the Rose King’s Ware, Bara ni Insu
This show I’ve found myself enjoying far more than I should, though it really needs a better budget. The tune of the week is the opening to Requiem…
A Mother’s Touch (桜色の風が咲く, Junpei Matsumoto, 2022)
A young man begins to ponder the meaning of his life while losing both his sight and hearing in Junpei Matsumoto’s heartwarming biopic.
Hana ni Arashi 10 (はなにあらし)
High school is a weird time. So much is going on in your body, in your head, in your heart. It’s the last time to have fun as…
Hana ni Arashi 11 (はなにあらし)
High school is a weird time. So much is going on in your body, in your head, in your heart. It’s the last time to have fun as…
ka no you ni かのように - Meaning in Japanese
What ka no you ni かのように means in Japanese. Grammar and examples.
The Human Wall / 人間の壁/ Ningen no kabe (1959)
Obscure Japanese Film #113 Kyoko Kagawa Fumiko (Kyoko Kagawa) is a teacher at an elementary school in Saga Prefecture in the south of Japa...
Thoughts on A White Rose in Bloom Volume 1
A White Rose in Bloom is a yuri manga written and illustrated by Asumiko Nakamura. I’m told that Asumiko Nakamura is the creator of the “modern BL classic”…
Thoughts on A White Rose in Bloom Volume 2
Ruby is aiming for a scholarship in the second volume of Asumiko Nakamura’s A White Rose in Bloom. Unfortunately, her father is determined to not let that happen.…
Hana ni Arashi, Volume 5 (はなにあらし)
While we’re able to enjoy Makoto Hagino’s slow-burn high school Yuri romance, A Tropical Fish Years for Snow in English, there is another Shogagakukan title with a similar…
Hana ni Arashi, Volume 6 (はなにあらし)
Nanoha and Chidori have shared their first kisses and, frankly, they are pretty sure that they no one has noticed, even though it got a little weird between…
Hana ni Arashi, Volume 8, (はなにあらし)
In Hana ni Arashi, Volume 8 (はなにあらし), Nanoha is starting to feel the weight of the real world and isn’t sure that she and Chidori inhabit the same…
Hana ni Arashi, Volume 4 (はなにあらし)
In Volume 1 we met Nanoha and Chidori, two girls who have a secret – they are lovers. They aren’t lovers, but they are in love and they…
Hana ni Arashi, Volume 9 (はなにあらし)
We have watched Nanoha and Chidori since they began dating. For a very long time, it was under the radar, but as they look towards a wider future…
Hana ni Arashi, Volume 11 (はなにあらし)
Nanoha and Chidori are two young woman in love. They know that when they graduate thing will change and their lives will grow more compliacated, but for this…
Hana ni Arashi, Volume 7 (はなにあらし)
In Volume 7 of Hana ni Arashi, (はなにあらし) something finally happens. Well…two things. Remembering that, in this series “happen” is very broadly applied word. ^_^ The first thing…
The Albino’s Trees (アルビノの木, Masakazu Kaneko, 2016)
An emotionally distant young man is forced to face up to the nature of existential struggle when tasked with killing a god in Masakazu Kaneko bucolic drama
The Apothecary Diaries Episode 22 Review – Make The Roses Bloom Mad
Maomao’s incentive for making the blue roses is to be a hater. That’s it.
Kita no Onna ni Tamesaretai (北の女に試されたい)
Hokuryuu Aya, who is a tall, cool woman, meets Kuromizu Suzuka who is also a tall, cool woman and both are surprised that the other is as tall…
Lying to Mom / 鈴木家の嘘
(Warning: not exactly spoilers, but this review does include some detailed info about the latter half of the film.) Japanese cinema of the last 20 years (and much…
Yuri Manga: Hana ni Arashi, Volume 2 (はなにあらし)
In Volume 1, we met Nanoha and Chidori, two high school students who are keeping a secret from their friends – they are going out with each other.…
Yuri Manga: Hana ni Arashi, Volume 3 (はなにあらし)
Chidori and Nanoha have a secret, we are told in Volume 1 and Volume 2. They are lovers, we are told. And we will have to believe what…
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
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…
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 …
Yuri Manga: Sore ha, Haru no Arashi no You ni, Volume 1 (それは、春の嵐のように)
Aoi is an office lady who dreams of a “normal life.” She tells her her friend that she wants to get married. Chi-chan appears to accept it. Aoi,…
A White Rose in Bloom Volume 1
Periodically (pun intended) I subscribe to a manga magazine named Rakuen Le Paradis. It’s technically a Jousei magazine, but is an unusual one. Hakusensha lets their artists have…
A White Rose in Bloom, Volume 2
In Volume 1, we met Ruby, a student at a prestigous girls’ school who, because of family problems, stays at school over the holidays with only one other…
Holiday Review: A WHITE ROSE IN BLOOM
I could have done an entire month's worth of reviews just of yuri manga just from 2021 - that's how popular the genre has become. I've got ...
A White Rose in Bloom, Volume 3
Content Warning for off-screen violence and implication of intended sexual assault. We have thus fa, been paying attention primarily to Ruby Canossa, that breath of fresh air that…
Asterism ni Hanataba o Yuri SF Anthology (アステリズムに花束を 百合 SFアンソロジー)
In 2019, Japan’s premier science fiction magazine, SF Magazine launched a special Yuri issue. It was an immediate best-seller and legitimized Yuri science fiction as a subgenre. Followi…
Haru Tsudzuru, Sakurasaku Kono Heya de, Volume 2 (春綴る、桜咲くこの部屋で)
In Volume 1, we met Haruki, a woman suffering from intense, debilitating grief from the loss of her lover, even after 5 years. She finds Sakura’s 10-year diary…
KALANCHOE カランコエの花 (2017) Dir: Shun Nakagawa
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…
Ep 11 - Rose of Versailles - "The Power of Bara" (ft. Anime Nostalgia & GrantTheTheif)
BARA WA, BARA WA! Danny and K assemble a super crew to discuss the 1979 classic anime Rose of Versailles, joined by Dawn from the Anime Nostalgia Podcast…
A White Rose in Bloom Vol 1 Review
If the cover art for A White Rose in Bloom has a familiar feel to it, that’s because this manga is by Asumiko Nakamura – the creator of…
A White Rose in Bloom Vol. 1 Review
An old hand at BL turns her efforts to yuri.
While Yet a Wife / 妻の日の愛のかたみに / Tsuma no hi no ai no katamini (1965)
Obscure Japanese Film #141 Ayako Wakao Chieko (Ayako Wakao) and Kitahara (Eiji Funakoshi) are country schoolteachers who get married and a...
Sakura Saku
Bring in the spring with these anime and manga themed sales to look out for in this week's Please Save My Money column.
The Girl From the Other Side (とつくにの少女, Yutaro Kubo & Satomi Maiya, 2022) [Fantasia 2022]
A kindly exile and lonely little girl find mutual salvation in Yutaro Kubo & Satomi Maiya’s beautifully animated fairytale.
Girl from Phantasia, The Girl From the Other Side: Siúil, a Rún