Echoes of violence reverberate through a haunted hotel in Shunya Ito’s romantic ghost story.
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ＯＺの迷宮 ～ The Labyrinth of “OZ”
Being a private detective is not a job but a way of life. Being a master detective is not a way of life but destiny. One victim is…
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The Labyrinth House Murders / 迷路館の殺人
The shin-honkaku movement has always been a bit meta. It’s right there in the name: it means “new orthodox,” as it’s a revival of the origi...
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.
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Office ladies go to war in Kazuaki Seki’s anarchic, Bakarhythm-scripted transposition of the yankee manga to the world of the OL
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A resentful father’s kidnap attempt does not go as planned in Shunya Ito’s social thriller.
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…
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Jigoku no Hanazono: Office Royale 地獄の花園 Director: Kazuaki Seki (2021) [New York Asian Film Festival 2021]
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KALANCHOE カランコエの花 (2017) Dir: Shun Nakagawa
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Somebody’s Flowers 誰かの花 (2022) Director: Yusuke Okada
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First Impression: Rail Romanesque
Rail Romanesque is a short form period piece that is supposedly set in the 1980s. Supposedly. But this is in an alternate version of Japan where rail is…
学園アイドルマスターの描写理念について
今の時代において学園アイドルマスターの立ち位置とその描写理念について、少しの間だけ語らせて下さい。
Kaiba, Kyousougiga, Kyousougiga, Jinsei - Life Consulting, The Idol Master
My Neighbor Totoro (となりのトトロ, Hayao Miyazaki, 1988)
A pair of sisters rejoice in the wonder of the natural world while befriending a fluffy forest creature in the charming Studio Ghibli family animation.
PLAMAX MF-02 Shunya Yamashita
I didn’t mean to get this. But it was cheap, and she looked cute. So, I figured why not. This is a 1/20 figure and is a unique…
Anime Series Like Rail Romanesque
The Japanese railway once served as the country’s most important form of travel. To help the operations, humanoid control modules called Raillords were created. With the advent of…
Sakura Quest, Amagi Brilliant Park, Kemono Friends, Rail Romanesque
Choujikuu Romanesque Samy: Missing 99
Choujikuu Romanesque Samy: MISSING 99 ( Superdimensional Romanesque Samy: MISSING 99 ) is a 1986 sci-fi fantasy that makes no sense along m...
Katte ni Shirokuma, Rurouni Kenshin, Sangokushi, Sengoku Basara: Samurai Kings, Reign: The Conqueror
Song of the Flower Basket (花籠の歌, Heinosuke Gosho, 1937)
The daughter of a tonkatsu shop finds herself with an overabundance of suitors in Heinosuke Gosho’s generally cheerful yet occasionally dark melodrama.
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.
Girls in the Orchard / 花の中の娘たち / Hana no naka no musumetachi (1953)
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Summer Vacation 1999 (1999年の夏休み, Shusuke Kaneko, 1988)
Four teenage boys confront jealousy and desire during a haunted summer in Summer Vacation etherial drama.
Kaito Ruby (1988)
A highly satisfying rom-com about phallic stupidity and desire’s subjective impact.
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Hana no Asuka-gumi Infinity, Volume 7 (花のあすか組 ∞インフィニティ)
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Hana no Asuka-gumi Infinity, Volume 8 (花のあすか組 ∞インフィニティ )
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Hana no Asuka-gumi! ∞Infinity, Volume 9 (花のあすか組! ∞インフィニティ)
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Lecture Series - Shunya Yoshimi (University of Tokyo)
In this Meiji at 150 Project Keynote Lecture, Dr. Shunya Yoshimi (University of Tokyo, Harvard University) proposes that a longue durée approach to history presents one possible solution…
Break Out (行き止まりの挽歌 ブレイクアウト, Toru Murakawa, 1988)
A maverick cop realises he can only enforce the law by breaking it in Toru Murakawa’s hardboiled ’80s noir.
Door (Banmei Takahashi, 1988)
A housewife finds herself unsafe in the domestic space while stalked by a persistent salesman in Banmei Takahashi’s home invasion thriller.
Xanadu: Dragonslayer Densetsu (1988)
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The Revealed Labyrinth
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The Labyrinth Seduction
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Those Swell Yakuza (極道渡世の素敵な面々, Seiji Izumi, 1988)
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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~)
What if you entered a school that had a fabled old tradition and it sounded so beautiful and romantic that you couldn’t wait to be part of it…but…
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Bara no ki ni bara no hana saku / 薔薇の木にバラの花咲く / (‘Roses Bloom on the Rose Bush’, 1959)
Obscure Japanese Film #136 Ayako Wakao Rieko Sumi and Ayako Wakao Reiko (Ayako Wakao) is a senior university student majoring in English w...
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Robinson’s Garden (1988) [Japan Cuts 2021]
“Yamamoto is not able to create a composition that engages the spectator with its highly relevant message.”
Retro Anime Reviews: Ryuu Seiki (1988)
Retro Anime Review #17: Ryuu Seiki (1988) directed by Kiyoshi Fukumoto #anime #retroanime #80sanime #manga
Evidence #32 - Bubblegum Crisis Artbook (1988)
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AVAHS – Christmas in Tattertown (1988) Review
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Episode #68 (S9E6) – Akira [アキラ] (1988)
Konner Hudson and Michael Hale of the KMP Podcast Project return to Japan On Film to join Perry for a discussion on the groundbreaking Akira. We talk about…