Born in Niigata Prefecture in 1949, FUKUMA Kenji was a widely active poet, critic, and translator. He became engrossed in cinema during middle school, influenced by directors such as Jean-Luc Godard, Yasuzo Masumura, and Koji Wakamatsu. In high school, he met WAKAMATSU Koji, YAMATOYA Atsushi, and AD
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Director Spotlight #6: “NOT BEER”
Dir. NAKAGAWA Hirotaka (NOT BEER) Hirotaka Nakagawa was born in Aichi Prefecture and studied film production at university in Japan. He has worked…


Director Spotlight #9: “Twilight Cinema Blues”
Dir. JOJO Hideo (Twilight Cinema Blues) Born in 975 in Hachioji City, Tokyo. Jojo graduated from Musashino Art University and accumulated a career…


Director Spotlight #12:
Dir. NISHIKORI Yoshinari (The Takatsu River) Film director and screenwriter. Born in January 1962 in Izumo, the birthplace of Kabuki, Sake and Sumo…
News - Chicago Japan Film Collective
Izumo, Nichijou - My Ordinary Life: Episode 0, Nichijou - My Ordinary Life
Director Spotlight #11:
Dir. SATO Yoshinori (Shinjuku Tiger) Yoshinori Sato was born in Aichi, Japan on February 1975. After graduating high school, he went to the…


Director Spotlight #13:
Dir. SHIOTA Akihiko (The World of You) Born in Maizuru City, Kyoto Prefecture in 1961, Shiota has been a regular participant in the…


Director Spotlight #2: “Backlight”
Dir. SUDO Ren (New Director) (Backlight) Born in Tokyo in 1996. While studying law at Keio University, he began working as a…


Director Spotlight: Takayuki Hirao
One of the most promising young anime directors that has come on the scene during the last decade is Takayuki Hirao [平尾隆之], who first came into my…


Director Spotlight #10: “Underdogs”
Dir. KUMETA Tsuyoshi (Underdogs) Born in Aichi Prefecture in 1969. Graduated from the Department of Sociology and Cultural Anthropology at…


Director Spotlight #7: “Resonance”
Dir. TANAKA Toshinori (Resonance) Born in 1981 in Fukuyama City, Hiroshima, Japan, Tanaka is a Filmmaker, a Lecturer at Fukuyama University, and the…


Director Spotlight #3: “Cafune”
Dir. KINEMURA Haruki (New Director) (Cafune) Born in Nishinomiya City, Hyogo Prefecture in 2001, Japan. After enrolling in Osaka University…


Director Spotlight #10: “Qualia”
Born in 1980, he first gained recognition as a finalist in the 1996 Junon Super Boy Contest, leading to work primarily as a model in advertising. In 2001,…


Director Spotlight #8: “Toward Zero”
Dir. ITO Takashi (Toward Zero) ITO was born in Fukuoka in 1956. While studying in university, his experimental film SPACY(1981), premiered at MATSUMOTO…


Director Spotlight #5: “The Girls”
Born on April 20, 1984, in Tokyo, the director debuted with Dynamite Graffiti (2016), exploring Japan’s GAL culture. His next feature, Goodbye Silence (2018), depicts young people discovering…
News - Chicago Japan Film Collective
Nichijou - My Ordinary Life, Nichijou - My Ordinary Life: Episode 0


Director Spotlight #1: “Angry Son”
Dir. IIZUKA Kasho (Angry Son) Born in 1990 in Gunma Prefecture. He studied under film director NEGISHI Yoshitaro and screenwriter Masato Kato while…


Director Spotlight #3: “Copo a Copo”
Born in Sakai City, Osaka Prefecture. After working as an assistant director for notable productions, including the TV dramas like From the North Country '98, Private Detective Mike…


Director Spotlight #1: “99% Cloudy... Always”
SANAGOUMI Midori is an actor and voice actor who began studying filmmaking in 2020. Her short film Under the Bridge won the newly introduced Special Jury Award at…


Director Spotlight #6: “House of Sayuri”
Born on June 1, 1973, in Fukuoka Prefecture, Shiraishi made his mark on the film scene with Violent Man (1997), co-directed with Akihiro Kasai, which won the Screenplay…


Director Spotlight #7: “Leave in Summer”
Born in Hokkaido in 1996. “Tokeru” (2016) which Igashi made in college was officially selected for the 70th Cannes Film Festival, Cinéfondation category. She made her theatrical debut…


Director Spotlight #2: “Bring Minyo Back!”
Born in 1982, Moriwaki began his career in advertising after graduating from Waseda University and later moved into production editing, establishing his independent career in 2011. Based in…
Yesterday wo Utatte – Episode 9
Visit the post for more.


Director Spotlight #5: “I Quit Being “Friends””
Dir. IMAMURA Ayako (I Quit Being “Friends”) From Nagoya/President of Studio AYA Graduated from Aichi Education University, Faculty of Education/Studied film…


Director Spotlight #4: “Hoarder on the Border”
Dir. KAYANO Hirotaka (Hoarder on the Border) Kayano graduated from the Department of Image Design, Faculty of Arts and Engineering…


Director Spotlight #8: “New Nemuro Pro Wrestling Story”
Born in 1976 in Sapporo, Hokkaido, he graduated from the Nihon University College of Art, majoring in film directing. He has directed a wide range of television programming,…


Yesterday wo Utatte | Episode 8 and 9 Review
Episode Eight and Nine Thoughts At this point, you cannot convince me otherwise that Shinako is the character whose purpose is to upend and to cause distribution through…
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Red Rapture: Born Blessed To Walk A Cursed Reality! Manga Review [Indie Spotlight]
Genre: Fantasy, Sci-Fi Written By: Alexander I.A. Illustrated By: Raven Maureen D. Volumes: 4 We all know the world can turn a blind eye to some of the greatest…
Born to Boil!
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Black Clover, Chainsaw Man, EDENS ZERO, One Piece, The Promised Neverland


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Disclaimer: Act-Age has been cancelled due to the arrest of the Author. Please help provide moral support to the artist, Usazaki-sensei, in these difficult times. It’s a painful…


Director Spotlight #4: “Esper X Private Detective Agency - Searching for Good-Bye -”
Born September 1, 1973, in Tokyo and raised in Saitama, Koba is known for his unique blend of comedy, sci-fi, and fantasy. He launched his feature film career…


Director Spotlight #11: “Till The Day I Can Laugh About My Blues”
Born in 1997, Takeda is a graduate of Tokyo Polytechnic University’s Department of Imaging Arts. Since her university days, she has worked on numerous professional and amateur film…


Reign of the seven spell blades Episode 9: The alliance is born
Episode 9 sees Pete attempt to adjust to his new powers, and the gang inherit a workshop which gives birth to the sword rose


No Post Yesterday
Greetings, fabulous people of the Internet! Hanime on Anime here, and if the title above is any indication, there was no post tomorrow. And that’s for two reasons.…
A Star Fruit is Born
In what has become a recurring topic in this column, it’s time to introduce a new small publisher to the market! On June 11th, a Twitter account by…
Jeongnyeon: The Star Is Born
The Takarazuka Revue has inspired several manga and anime. Now comes Jeongnyeon: The Star Is Born, a Korean drama (currently streaming on Hulu and Disney+) that features an analogous…


Jujutsu Kaisen – 27 – Born Special
When Kuroi is kidnapped by the Star Religious Group, Amanai Riko insists on accompanying Satoru and Suguru to the exchange location. Riko is upset by the prospect that…


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I’m pleased to announce a new addition to the blog: Spotlight.Starting this week, every Friday, I’ll shine a spotlight on various aspects of anime, movies, books, and other…
Lapis Re:LiGHTs Episode 9: Down but not Out
While the episode was somber as expected it definitely wasn’t all moping.


Sing “Yesterday” for Me
I saw the word “sing” and I stopped. That was a terrible mistake! For those who follow me regularly, you know one of my least favorite anime genres…
Yesterday wo Utatte – 02
「袋小路」 (Fukurokouji) "A Blind Alley" "Do you think men and women can be friends?" Psssh. Still waiting on a viable answer.
Yesterday wo Utatte – 07
「恋人たちの予感」 (Koibito-tachi no yokan) "Premonition of a Couple"
Yesterday o Utatte – 07
The last two episodes have been absolutely stellar even by this series' high standard, though this one didn't do my heart any good. Read more
Yesterday wo Utatte – 05
「ミナトという男」 (Minato to iu otoko) "A Man Called Minato" Seasons have come and gone, feelings have been lifted, and Rikuo is finally admitting Haru is his friend.
Yesterday o Utatte – 10
I think that episode aged me about ten years. Read more
Yesterday o Utatte – 08
「イノセント・ブルー」 (Inosento buruu) "Innocent Blue" I get that this stuff is really hard, and many people never really figure it out. But can’t one of these people just get…
Yesterday o Utatte – 02
If there are things you hate about this show, chances are they're the things I love about it. Read more The post Yesterday o Utatte – 02 appeared…
Yesterday o Utatte – 09
「クリスマス・キャロル」 (Kurisumasu Kyaroru) "Christmas Carol" I think a great secret of this series’ success is that it never tries too hard.
Yesterday wo Utatte – 06
「Yuzuhara toiu onna」 (ユズハラという女) "The Woman Named Yuzuhara" Yuzuhara sweeps in, creates a stir, and disappears as quickly as she emerged. A whirlwind of a girl, she is.
Yesterday o Utatte – 05
Moving on is really a constant theme in Yesterday o Utatte. Read more
Yesterday wo Utatte Review
Yesterday wo Utatte struck me as quite a good anime, all things considered. Animated by studio Doga Kobo, it’s a slice-of-life romance story that takes its time with…