PI/projectionist Maiku Hama becomes embroiled in a burgeoning turf war while trying to help a friend in the first instalment in Kaizo Hayashi’s noir trilogy.
Oct 9, 2024 • Subscribe
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BOLT (Kaizo Hayashi, 2019)
A nuclear engineer resolves to live in the midst of despair in Kaizo Hayashi’s trio of post-Fukushima tales
The Stairway to the Distant Past (遙かな時代の階段を, Kaizo Hayashi, 1995)
Maiku Hama is forced into a confrontation with the legacies of his past along with those of the post-war era in the second part of Kaizo Hayashi’s noir…
『戦国魔神ゴーショーグン 時の異邦人（エトランゼ）』のあとがき
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The Trap (罠 THE TRAP, Kaizo Hayashi, 1996)
Maiku investigates his strangest case yet when a man walks into his office and asks him to look for himself in the final instalment of Kaizo Hayashi’s noir…
The Hidden Fortress (隠し砦の三悪人, Akira Kurosawa, 1958)
A fugitive princess offers a new hope for a peaceful and prosperous socitey in Akira Kurosawa’s Sengoku-era epic.
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A Confucian Confusion (獨立時代, Edward Yang, 1994)
A collection of conflicted urbanites find themselves lost in a rapidly changing society in Edward Yang’s bitterly ironic social drama.
The Mannequin House Murders / 人形館の殺人
I didn’t like this book at all. I don’t have much more to say about it.
The Last Daimyo: The Life of Hayashi Tadataka
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My Anime List's Terrible Community And Most Violent Comment Section
A look into My Anime List: one of the worst anime communities out there. Support me: https://www.patreon.com/spirit_chaser Donate: https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/Contreras2992 My Anime List: https://myanimelist.net/profile/Spirit_Chaser Anilist: https://anilist.co/user/SpiritChaser #anime #myanimelist
Circus Boys (二十世紀少年読本, Kaizo Hayashi, 1989)
Two brothers who grew up in a travelling circus find themselves on different paths in Kaizo Hayashi’s etherial 1930s drama.
How to Japanese Podcast – S02E10 – 車検 and 人生初めてのカラオケ
The dreaded 車検 (shaken, car inspection) is an expat’s worst nightmare, but it’s not a reason to not get a car. Driving in the Japanese countryside is absolutely…
The Age of Assassins (殺人狂時代, Kihachi Okamoto, 1967)
A mild-mannered professor is dragged into an international conspiracy in Kihachi Okamoto’s absurdist adventure.
Lazarus is a Terrible Anime and I've Wasted My Life
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Murder in the Crimson Manor / 紅蓮館の殺人
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Godspeed (人生路不熟, Yi Xiaoxing, 2023)
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寝転がる人/Person Lying Down
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Volunteering for Villainy (悪人志願, Tsutomu Tamura, 1960)
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Terror in the Streets (悪魔が呼んでいる, Michio Yamamoto, 1970)
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I Live in Fear (生きものの記録, Akira Kurosawa, 1955)
An elderly man’s nuclear paranoia threatens to tear his family apart in Kurosawa’s post-war social drama.
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Double-Headed Devil / 双頭の悪魔
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Death Within the Evil Eye / 魔眼の匣の殺人
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Junya Sato’s ambivalent drama straddles the fine line between condemning the wartime past and glorifying those who gave their lives for it.
The Last Judgment / 最後の審判 / Saigo no shinpan (1965)
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Home Sweet Home (我が家は樂し, Noboru Nakamura, 1951)
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Born to be Human (生而為人, Lily Ni, 2021)
A teenager’s life is upended when they discover they are intersex but have almost no rights over their bodily autonomy in Lily Ni’s elegantly designed social drama
The Labyrinth House Murders / 迷路館の殺人
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The Twilight Years (恍惚の人, Shiro Toyoda, 1973)
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Learn Japanese with Yuta: https://bit.ly/3hyXcYh Support me on Patreon: https://goo.gl/aiWNd5 Twitter: https://twitter.com/ThatYuta Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thatyuta/ Facebook: https://bit.ly/381qpHS Blog: http://www.yutaaoki.com/blog/
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生成AIの台頭と知的活動の隔絶の心配
AIが発達しても好奇心旺盛な人間、自己顕示欲が強くこだわりが強い創作者、頭の良さがずば抜けている人たち、天邪鬼、変人、狂人は創作や研究において頭角を現し続けるであろう。これは変わらないと思う。しかし頭のねじが壊れていない、その他大勢の方々は知的探求において受け身に甘んじたり思考が単純化しそうで怖い。 趣味の世界で没頭できる余裕がある人は大丈夫だろうけど、駆け出しの十代や日々の生活でかつかつな人たちからすればじっくり研究したり徐々に技を磨く工程が「贅沢な道楽」となってしまうのではないだろうか。 努力せずともそこそこ面白い想像や探究が可能とするAIだが、思考や論理組み立ての基礎が脆弱な段階からAIに依存するとカンペだよりと同じ結果になりそう。計算機を使う前に基礎的な計算方法を知らないとミスが発生しても対応に苦慮するのと同じである。計算機やAIをけなしているのではなく、それを使いこなす教育の不十分さと人間の怠慢さを危惧しているのだが…… また創作や研究への情熱を理解できない人はその重要性を「有効性」「生産性」や「人気」でしか図ることができなくなり、ますます人間の特権である遊び心の領域が退化する不安が先走る。杞憂であればよいのだが。 そもそも知的作業を営む人間の数がごく一部になってしまい、最先端にいる人とその他大勢の間に大きな隔たりが生まれると中世ヨーロッパのように「ラテン語の出来る人とできない人」のように認識能力においてかなり決定的な差異が発生しかねない心配をしている。 中世においてラテン語ができれば古代の知識や遠方の人間との交流を可能とする学術の言語だった。ラテン語ができれば自らの研究が共有されやすく、他者の知的探求を認知しやすくなる。いっぽうラテン語ができない人間は他者（権力者その他）による解説に依存することにある。 これまで人は創作や研究における競争が行き過ぎると、その内容ではなく人格攻撃やプラットフォームでの上げ足取りや人気取りの小手先を重要視する傾向がある。もちろんこれは兼光の個人的な印象でしかないが、日米を比較したり、これまでのメディア業界の歴史を振り返るとそのような事象が目立つのだ。巨大な統一プラットフォームでの勝ち組負け組形成による不均衡の増大より、複数のプラットフォームで色々な競争があったの方が文化は豊かになると思っている。 プラットフォームの集約と生成AIの問題は別だが、片方がもう片方を悪化させる可能性は否めないのではないだろうか。 すごい作品ばかりが立ち並ぶ領域にいきなり立たされると人は委縮しやすい。最初は身近な箱庭がいい。家庭の中で、学校で、同人誌即売会の中で――ローカルで技を磨き、やがて本当に上を目指す人はより大きなステージへ。 しかし生成AIから手軽に研究・創作できると最初からグローバルでの競争となるために、気軽に身近な場所で下手の横好きから創作・研究が始められず、挫折する人が増えそうな気がして仕方ない。 これがすべて50代中盤のおっさんの身勝手な心配であればいいのだが……
Wings in the Dark: Mercator Ayu - The Last Incident / 翼ある闇 メルカトル鮎最後の事件
Wings in the Dark is phenomenal. But before I gush about it, I must proceed with the airing of grievances. Why does it have to have “Mercat...
The Town of Headcounts (人数の町, Shinji Araki, 2020)
A disaffected young man gets a fresh start in a utopian community but quickly becomes disillusioned in Shinji Araki’s slick dystopian thriller
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...
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A detective becomes lost in the labyrinths of cinema while chasing a ghost of the silver screen in Kaizo Hayashi’s ethereal ode to the silent movie
Curse of the Dog God (犬神の悪霊, Shunya Ito, 1977)
An emissary of modernity finds himself plagued by an ancient curse after upsetting the Dog God in Shunya Ito’s eerie folk horror.