Obscure Japanese Film #144 Ayako Wakao and So Yamamura Having delivered a mega-hit for Daiei studios with Shinobi no mono (1962) and also...
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からだの美
Yōko Ogawa’s 2023 collection からだの美 brings together sixteen short essays on the theme of bodies and physicality. The three primary topics are sports, performing arts, and animals. The…
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Quick follow-up on my newsletter from last month about the particle だけ (dake). I mostly discussed the non-“only” meaning of the word, which can be replaced with くらい…
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A subtle but important tip for written Japanese - How to Japanese - August 2023
Thousand Autumns (山河剑心) Impression **Spoilers**
“Yan Wushi had walked a path full of blood and corpses. He did not believe in the good nature of humanity. Even more so, he did not believe…
Anata no Yoru ga Aketera (あなたの夜が明けたら)
Anata no Yoru ga Aketera (あなたの夜が明けたら), translated on the cover as After Sunrise, Haru Harukawa Collection is a collection of shorts by, obviously Harukawa Haru. Some of these…
My Sorry Life (愛のくだらない, Kozue Nomoto, 2020)
A self-absorbed TV producer gets a wake up call when her boyfriend announces he’s pregnant in Kozue Nomoto’s ironic dramedy
Girls Love of the Dead, Kioku no Kakera, Volume 2 (ガールズラブ・オブ・ザ・デッド〈記憶のかけら〉)
In Girls Love of the Dead, Shi ga Futari wo Waka..tanai? we met Mitsuki, a young woman mourning the death of the girl she loves. In her attempt…
Douseiseikatsu 3 Watashi ha Anata dake no mono (同棲生活3 わたしは貴方だけのもの)
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Douseiseikatsu 3 Watashi ha Anata dake no mono (同棲生活3 わたしは貴方だけのもの)
Douseiseikatsu 3 Watashi ha Anata dake no mono (同棲生活3 わたしは貴方だけのもの) is the third volume of Miyuki and Yuuko doing absolutely nothing and I’m pleased as punch about it.…
Muddy River (泥の河, Kohei Oguri, 1981)
The innocent friendship between two boys is disrupted by the post-war reality in Kohei Oguri’s quietly devastating drama
An Outlaw (ならず者, Teruo Ishii, 1964)
Ken Takakura stars as a China-based hitman dragged into local intrigue when a job goes awry in an early crime thriller from Teruo Ishii.
New Moomin 11/52 - Moominvalley Is Full of Holes (ムーミン谷は穴だらけ) (1972) (English subtitles)
After an argument with the Muskrat, My digs a massive hole in Moominvalley in an attempt to figure out how holes are useful. All of a sudden, a…
Drifting Flowers, Flowing Days (この日々が凪いだら, Yutaka Tsunemachi, 2023)
Two young people experience a crisis of youth after discovering their apartment block is to be torn down in Yutaka Tsunemachi’s indie drama.
Princess Mononoke (もののけ姫, Hayao Miyazaki, 1997)
A young man from an exiled clan tries to make peace between the natural world and the industrial in Hayao Miyazaki’s landmark 1997 animation
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Episode #72 (S10E1) – Princess Mononoke [ もののけ姫] (1997)
We kick off Season 10 with one of the most internationally renowned animated films of all time. Derick McDuff of the Underrated network returns to discuss Studio Ghibli’s…
Sound of the Mountain (山の音, Mikio Naruse, 1954)
A failed patriarch resolves to set his unhappily married daughter-in-free in Mikio Naruse’s post-war marital drama
How to Japanese Podcast – Episode 42 – のだ
I remember vividly learning how to use んだ in Japanese. My third year teacher did a section on storytelling/explaining, and she had us tell different stories over and…
The Thief in Black (黒の盗賊, Umetsugu Inoue, 1964)
Twins separated at birth kick back against the samurai corruption and growing Tokugawa authoritarianism i Umetsugu Inoue’s politically charged jidaigeki.
New Moomin 47/52 - Slip Out Of the Land of Ice (氷の国をぬけだせ) (1972) (English subtitles)
Winter is starting to arrive in Moominvalley, and Moomin and pals go ice-skating in the morning. However, after an accident, they find themselves in a strange icy wonderland,…
Dreaming of the Meridian Arc (大河への道, Kenji Nakanishi, 2022)
Dedicated civil servants do their best to put their town on the map while celebrating a local hero in Kenji Nakanishi’s warmhearted dramedy.
Your Japanese is Good if You Understand This No.4 なら たら と ば んだったら であれば であるなら
Learn Japanese with Me - https://bit.ly/4drmyU2
Those Who Sneer Like the Mountain Fiend / 山魔の如き嗤うもの
Another Genya Toujou book, another series of bizarre murders in a remote village that are entangled with the local folklore. Those Who Snee...
Beast Alley (けものみち, Eizo Sugawa, 1965)
A hotel maid is dragged into conspiracy after murdering her bedridden husband in Eizo Sugawa’s incredibly dark post-war noir.
Father of the Milky Way Railroad (銀河鉄道の父, Izuru Narushima, 2023)
Izuru Narushima’s prestige drama explores the story of Kenji Miyazawa from the perspective of his devoted father, Masajiro.
THE GOAT RETURNS | Eve - "Bokurano" ぼくらの MV | REACTION
Eve putting up Wilt numbers on these MVs right now 😤 Reaction to Bokurano 「ぼくらの」 by Eve, which is also the My Hero Academia/Boku no Hero Season 6 Opening…
Rainbow Over the Pacific (夜明けの二人, Yoshitaro Nomura, 1968)
An unserious man begins to grow up while chasing love in Hawaii in a cheerful if ultimately downbeat musical celebration of the centenary of Japanese migration to Hawaii.
Love at Least 生きてるだけで、愛 (2018) Director: Kosai Sekine
Love at Least offers a nuanced depiction of living with depression with three great performances from its lead cast. Love at Least 生きてるだけで、愛 (2018) Director: Kosai Sekine
Watashi no Kobushi wo Uketomete, Volume 3 ( 私の拳をうけとめて)
In Volume1 and Volume 2, we met Soramori and Takebe, former rivals in high school gangs who have met once again as adults. Soramori confesses to Takebe that…
Watashi no Kobushi wo Uketomete, Volume 4 (私の拳をうけとめて！)
Watashi no Kobushi wo Uketomete, Volume 4 does something wonderful. But first…. Soramori and Takebe are taking a trip. To an onsen. Overnight. Yeah, and don’t think they…
Revenge (1964) review
A classic – a jidai-geki that every cinephile should see.
The Nighthawk’s First Love (よだかの片想い, Yuka Yasukawa, 2021)
A young woman begins to regain a sense of self-confidence in the face of social prejudice when invited to consult on a film in Yuka Yasukawa’s adaptation of…
Our House Party (ボクらのホームパーティー, Shuichi Kawanobe, 2022)
Quietly simmering tensions build towards a small explosion among a group of friends at house party in Shuichi Kawanobe’s intense social drama
The Light of Spring (ひかりのどけき, Fumito Fujikawa, 2022)
Pushed to breaking point by the pressures of the contemporary society amid the coronavirus pandemic, an ordinary family undergoes a trial separation in Fumito Fumikawa’s neorealist drama
All the Long Nights (夜明けのすべて, Sho Miyake, 2024)
Mismatched colleagues struggling amid contemporary corporate culture find unexpected solidarity in Sho Miyake’s gentle human drama.
Pickles and Komian Club (丸八やたら漬け, Koichi Sato, 2021)
Koichi Sato’s elegiac documentary mourns the loss of the traditional amidst the modern as a 135-year-old pickle store is forced to close by changing times and a global…
Sensei, Would You Sit Beside Me? (先生、私の隣に座っていただけませんか？, Takahiro Horie, 2021)
A mangaka and her cheating husband become locked in a cat and mouse game of ambiguous revenge in Takahiro Horie’s deliciously cynical anti-rom-com
The Shape of Night (1964) review
This filmic narrative needs to be counted among the classics of Japanese cinema
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Aikata System ~ Gakuen ga Eranda Unmei no Onna no ko~, Volume 2 (相方システム~学園が選んだ運命の女の子~)
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Thorns Of Beauty (恋のいばら, Hideo Jojo, 2023)
A jilted ex and the current girlfriend team up against a no good guy with compromising photos of them both in Hideo Jojo’s playful drama.
Keiko Nobumoto (1964-2021)
The writer Keiko Nobumoto, who died on 1st December from oesophageal cancer, was one of the stand-out figures of the anime world, quite possibly because her path to…
Takahiro Kimura (1964-2023)
Takahiro Kimura, who died on 5th March, first got the idea that animation might be the career for him when he saw episodes of Armoured Trooper VOTOMS and…
Pale Flower (1964) review
“A ‘seductive’ nihilistic masterpiece that explores the unescapable subjective problems created by the rhythmic capitalistic machinery.”
The End of the Pale Hour (明け方の若者たち, Hana Matsumoto, 2021)
Dejected youngsters flounder amid the ruins of the salaryman dream in Hana Matsumoto’s youthful drama.
The Thing 遊星からの物体X (1982) Dir: John Carpenter
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