52ヘルツのクジラたち is a bestselling novel by Sonoko Machida that won the 2021 Japan Booksellers’ Award Grand Prize. In March 2024, the story was adapted into a feature film directed by Izuru Narushi…
Contemporary Japanese Literature
Dec 15, 2024 • Subscribe
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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.


Along the Sea (海辺の彼女たち, Akio Fujimoto, 2020)
A migrant worker from Vietnam is faced with her lack of possibility after discovering she is pregnant while living undocumented in Fujimoto’s unflinching social drama


Our Huff and Puff Journey (私たちのハァハァ, Daigo Matsui, 2015)
Four high school girls make an impulsive decision to bike to Tokyo from Kyushu to see their favourite band in Daigo Matsui’s teen 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 ...


Children of the Beehive: What Happened Next (その後の蜂の巣の子供たち, Hiroshi Shimizu, 1951)
In an interesting piece of meta docufiction, Hiroshi Shimizu revisits the Beehive a few years later to find out how the orphans live now.
Dekisokonai Hime-tachi, Volume 4 (できそこないの姫君たち)
Fujishiro Nanaki, having been ostracized by her group of fashionable and popular girls, has found acceptance with the “nerd” group, Kurokawa’s friends Izumi and Iroha. Together th…


Brush of the God (カミノフデ ~怪獣たちのいる島~, Keizo Murase, 2024)
A young girl struggles to accept her grandfather’s legacy in Keizo Murase’s retro drama.


傘の下、ふたり
Author & Artist: ぢゅん子 (Junko)Released March 2012 by Kaiohsha’s Gush ComicsGenre: Drama, Romance


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.
Dekisokonai no Hime-tachi, Volume 3 (できそこないの姫君たち)
In Volume 1, otaku and class loner Kurokawa Kaede is thrown together with school princess, Fujishiro Nanaki. In time-honored fashion, Fujishiro gives a radical makeover to the girl…
Yuri Manga: Dekisokonai no Hime-tachi, Volume 2 (できそこないの姫君たち)
Last spring I took a look at a pleasant “opposites attract” school life Yuri romance by Ajiichi. In Volume 1, we met otaku Kurokawa Kaede and fashionable Fujishiro…
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Along the Sea 海辺の彼女たち Dir: Akio Fujimoto (2020) [Osaka Asian Film Festival 2021]
A riveting look at the migrant experience through the travails of three Vietnamese women in Japan who travel along the sea to where they hope will be a…


Album review: 新世界の弟子たち (New World Disciples) by desert sand feels warm at night
More vaporwave! desert sand (never capitalized, so I don’t know what to do with it at the beginning of a sentence — whatever, I’m not following the rules…


Here Because of You (君たちがいて僕がいた, Ryuichi Takamori, 1964)
Post-war teens take on injustice in the form of a problematic parent at their school in Ryuichi Takamori’s cheerful youth movie.


In the Wake (護られなかった者たちへ, Takahisa Zeze, 2021)
A policeman investigating a series of murders comes to a new accommodation with the post-earthquake society in Takahisa Zeze’s gritty crime drama.


Noise, melancholy and escapism: わたしのココ
For some reason I tend not to like Vocaloid music or producers, but so far there’s a single artist, that I found many years ago by pure accident…


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.


Three Stories of Love 恋人たち (2015) Director: Ryosuke Hashiguchi
Three Stories of Love 恋人たち (2015), a solid drama about three different people breaking out from isolation and loneliness from director Ryosuke Hashiguchi


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…
Yuri-themed Board Game Sisters of Dangerous Yuri Council (ヤバ百合会の妹たち), Guest Review by Lee Sanhwa
Yuri Ranbou, which I reviewed earlier this month here on Okazu, is not the only Yuri-themed board game developed by Stromatosoft. Here is Sisters of Dangerous Yuri Council,…
A Look At – For Elise -エリーゼのために-
Hioki is an incompetent, shiftless salaryman, stuck grinding in a thankless job at his company. He has a crush on coworker Chitose, but keeps his feelings to himself.…
●EXHIBITION● OTOMO KATSUHIRO O SODATETA MANGA TACHI TEN (大友克洋を育てたマンガたち展)
Katsuhiro Otomo, Akira, Bibliography, Otomo, Animation, Manga, Steamboy, Japanimation,


アニメ業界のロックンロール – ウェブ系としてのりょーちもロングインタビュー
The post アニメ業界のロックンロール – ウェブ系としてのりょーちもロングインタビュー appeared first on fullfrontal.moe.


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.


Firing The Lighter Gun (ピストルライター の撃ち方, Kohei Sanada, 2022)
Residents of a moribund town on the edge of a nuclear exclusion zone find themselves trapped in existential purgatory in Kohei Sanada’s bleak indie drama.
Hana Monogatari, Volume 2 (はなものがたり)
In Volume 1, we met Hanayo, a woman whose husband has passed away, leaving her both free to do whatever she wants and confused as to what that…


Angel’s Egg (天使のたまご, Mamoru Oshii, 1985)
A solitary girl and a nihilistic soldier find themselves on opposite sides of an ideological divide in Mamoru Oshii’s surrealist animation.
Hana Monogatari, Volume 3 (はなものがたり)
In Volume 1 we met Hanayo, an older woman, newly widowed and Yoshiko, a woman of similar age who opens Hanayo’s eyes to many things, including the pleasure…
Hana Monogatari, Volume 1 (はなものがたり)
Hana Monogatari, Volume 1 (はなものがたり) by shwinn, is one of my new favorite series ever. Hanayo’s husband has been dead for 49 days, so her mourning period is…


Leaving on the 15th Spring (旅立ちの島唄~十五の春~, Yasuhiro Yoshida, 2013)
“How many of them will come back?” a man on the shore ominously asks as he watches the young people of his island ship out to pursue their…


Miss Shachiku and the Little Baby Ghost 11 (#しゃちされたい)
AstroNerdBoy reviews Miss Shachiku and the Little Baby Ghost 11. Fushihara, Yuurei-chan, & Myaako celebrate New Years with Satsuki and Lily.


君たちはどう生きるか/The Boy and the Heron
Hayao Miyazaki and his team are undoubtedly masters of their craft. It’s been ten years since Miyazaki directed a film (the wonderful, if divisive, The Wind Rises). This…
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...


"Should You Say あなたの物ですか?" #learnjapanese
Learn Japanese with Me - https://bit.ly/4drmyU2


Manga Kodomo Bunko (まんがこども文庫) March ED (3月の歌) - Little By Little, Spring Arrived (ちょびっとちょびっと春がきた)
Sung by (歌): Kumiko Ōsugi (大杉久美子) Lyrics (作詞): Hachirō Satō (サトウハチロー) Composition (作曲): Masaharu Kikuchi (菊地雅春) Arrangement (編曲): Akihiro Komori (小森昭宏) Very special thanks to PopKorn Kat for transferring and scanning this…


Miss Shachiku and the Little Baby Ghost (Series Review #しゃちされたい)
AstroNerdBoy reviews the anime Miss Shachiku and the Little Baby Ghost, better named Shachiku-san Wants to be Healed by a Little Girl Ghost


Miss Shachiku and the Little Baby Ghost 12 (Finale #しゃちされたい)
AstroNerdBoy reviews Miss Shachiku and the Little Baby Ghost 12. The oni mikogami Miko-chan warns Fushihara of impending misfortune.


Miss Shachiku and the Little Baby Ghost 10 (Christmas #しゃちされたい)
AstroNerdBoy reviews Miss Shachiku and the Little Baby Ghost 10. Yuurei-chan & Myaako learn about Christmas and Santa-san.


We Couldn’t Become Adults ボクたちはみんな大人になれなかった (2021) Director: Yoshihiro Mori
We Couldn’t Become Adults ボクたちはみんな大人になれなかった (2021), by director Yoshihiro Mori, is a well-acted and well-shot drama about a 40-something man in contemporary Japan looking back at his life (v…


Miss Shachiku and the Little Baby Ghost 07 (Summer Activities #しゃちされたい)
AstroNerdBoy reviews Miss Shachiku and the Little Baby Ghost 07. Fushihara celebrates Yuurei-chan, then takes her and Myaako to a festival.


Miss Shachiku and the Little Baby Ghost 02 (Too Adorable! #しゃちされたい)
AstroNerdBoy reviews Miss Shachiku and the Little Baby Ghost 02. Yuurei-chan comes to Fushiharai's home. Fushihara's kohai gets freaked out.


Children of the Great Buddha (大仏さまと子供たち, Hiroshi Shimizu, 1952)
A collection of orphans attempt to support themselves as tour guides to the ancient capital of Nara in HIroshi Shimizu’s empathetic drama.


Miss Shachiku and the Little Baby Ghost 09 (Autumn Activities! #しゃちされたい)
AstroNerdBoy reviews Miss Shachiku and the Little Baby Ghost 09. Yuurei-chan & Myaako go shopping. Tsukimi and Halloween arrive.


本田雄が語る『君たちはどう生きるか』- ロングインタビュー
The post 本田雄が語る『君たちはどう生きるか』- ロングインタビュー appeared first on fullfrontal.moe.


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


スタジオダブの裏話: サンライズの名作アニメを作った人々 – 西村誠芳ロングインタビュー
The post スタジオダブの裏話: サンライズの名作アニメを作った人々 – 西村誠芳ロングインタビュー appeared first on fullfrontal.moe.


あっためて vs あたためて #learnjapanese
Learn Japanese with Me - https://bit.ly/4drmyU2


Natchan’s Little Secret (ひみつのなっちゃん。, Yasujiro Tanaka, 2023)
A trio of drag queens take off on a journey of self discovery while saying goodbye to their late friend and mentor in Yasujiro Tanaka’s road trip comedy.


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…
Anata to Watashi no Shuuhassuu (あなたと私の周波数)
Readers of Comic Yuri Hime monthly, might remember most of the stories in this volume, Anata to Watashi no Shuuhassuu (あなたと私の周波数) by Kuwabara Tamostsu. Each short takes a…