Obscure Japanese Film #165 Tomohiro Tanabe and Sayuri Yoshinaga Based on the first part of a bestselling doorstop novel by Hiroyuki Itsu...
Feb 9, 2025 • Subscribe
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Youth (Spring) (青春, Wang Bing, 2023)
Wang Bing turns his camera on the mostly young workers in the textile factories of Zhili.


Dangerous Youth (危險的青春, Hsin Chi, 1969)
A young couple struggle to adapt themselves to a changing society in Hsin Chi’s youth morality drama


No Regrets for Our Youth (わが青春に悔なし, Akira Kurosawa, 1946)
A young woman is torn between a future with a passionate rebel or spineless conformist in Kurosawa’s meditation on the militarist folly.


Spring Anime 2012 Season Preview: Naruto Shippuden SD: Rock Lee no Seishun Full-Power Ninden (ロック・リーの青春フルパワー忍伝)
There is not enough of information on this show, for which I am grateful. Not because I am tired of writing – not at all, but because the…
![Featured image for Youth Part II [Seishun PT. II]](https://cdn.aniblogtracker.com/live/20210227/1614422272.4991.27453.png)
![Background image for Youth Part II [Seishun PT. II]](https://cdn.aniblogtracker.com/live/20210227/1614422272.4991.27453.png)
Youth Part II [Seishun PT. II]
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Nomad (烈火青春, Patrick Tam, 1982)
Aimless youth longs for exile in pre-Handover Hong Kong in Patrick Tam’s New Wave classic.


Terrorizers (青春弒戀, Ho Wi Ding, 2021)
A collection of youngsters are drawn into a dangerous web of simmering violence in Ho Wi Ding’s Taipei-set drama.


The Sunny Side of the Street (白日青春, Lau Kok-rui, 2022)
An embittered taxi driver is forced to reflect on his prejudices and relationships after getting into a vendetta with a refugee in Lau Kok-rui’s melancholy drama.


Where Now Are the Dreams of Youth? (靑春の夢いまいづこ, Yasujiro Ozu, 1932)
A privileged young man begins to understand the divisive effects of inequality after taking over the family business in Ozu’s wistful student drama


The Rest of Our Lives (ラストターン 福山健二71歳、二度目の青春, Shinji Kuma, 2023)
A pair of elderly men struggle to find meaning in their lives in the face of well-meaning infantilism and health anxiety in Shinji Kuma’s warmhearted ageing drama.


Graveyard of Honor (仁義の墓場, Kinji Fukasaku, 1975)
A renegade gangster slowly implodes amid the turbulent winds of the post-war era in Kinji Fukasaku’s anarchic take on the life of Rikio Ishikawa


REVIEW: Kei no Seishun
Separated by the cruelties of life, expectation and rank, two childhood friends turned lovers embark on separate missions to reunite with one another, in this emotional period drama…


Who’ll Stop the Rain (青春並不溫柔, Su I-Hsuan, 2023)
Two young women meet and fall in love amid the student protests of ’90s Taiwan but find their connection frustrated by ongoing lack of “freedom” in the new…
Yuri Manga: Kanade Aoharu Band Yuri Anthology (青春バンド百合アンソロジー)
Well, so, Kanade Aoharu Band Yuri Anthology (青春バンド百合アンソロジー) is definitely a Yuri anthology in which characters are near musical instruments and occasionally even play them. Which is not…


The Wife of Seishu Hanaoka (華岡青洲の妻, Yasuzo Masumura, 1967)
A mother and a wife become locked in an absurd battle of one-upmanship volunteering as test subjects for a husband’s experiments in Yasuzo Masumura’s ironic relationship drama


Hijacked Youth – Dare to Stop Us 2 (青春ジャック 止められるか、俺たちを2, Junichi Inoue, 2024)
Junichi Inoue paints a larger than life picture of director Koji Wakamastu in a semi-autobiographical tale of the later dayd of Wakamatsu Pro.


The Bullet Train (1975) review
A highly engaging and satisfying thriller classic.


Story of a Nymphomaniac (1975) review
“While it does nothing to take the genre further, Ekimoto still delivers an enjoyable narrative.”
Yuri Manga: Sore ha, Haru no Arashi no You ni, Volume 1 (それは、春の嵐のように)
Aoi is an office lady who dreams of a “normal life.” She tells her her friend that she wants to get married. Chi-chan appears to accept it. Aoi,…


Flavors of Youth
A beautifully animated coming of age vignette piece with a professional polish, but not very memorable at the end of the day.
![Featured image for Nomad 烈火青春 (1982) Director: Patrick Tam [New York Asian Film Festival 2023]](https://cdn.aniblogtracker.com/live/20230803/1691081321.65996.101077.jpg)
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Nomad 烈火青春 (1982) Director: Patrick Tam [New York Asian Film Festival 2023]
Nomad 烈火青春 (1982), by director Patrick Tam, is a sensuous story of youth looking for themselves through love and culture. [New York Asian Film Festival 2023]
Goukaku Tame no! Yasashi Sankaku Kakei Nyuumon ( 合格のための! やさしい三角関係入門)
Mayuki is determined to get into the school of her choice to be close to the girl she likes, her old sempai on the basketball team, Akira. But…


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…


The Passenger (1975) Director: Michelangelo Antonioni
The Passenger (1975) and existential thriller with a great turn from Jack Nicholson and Maria Schneider. The Passenger (1975) Director: Michelangelo Antonioni


Blue Flag: The Color of Youth
Created by mangaka KAITO, Blue Flag (青のフラッグ) began its run in Shonen Jump+ on February 1, 2017. It’s billed as a school life drama on Manga Plus.


The Vision of Youth - Farewell 999
The Vision of Youth – Farewell 999 (Parts One and Two) TV Episodes 112 - 113 Note: For our very lengthy finale, I…
Vintage Report 2: 1975
The simplest description of Yamato‘s arc in 1974 would be “a herculean rise leading to a sudden fall.” An enormous amount of effort to get the thing off…
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![Background image for [Review] Flavors of Youth](https://cdn.aniblogtracker.com/live/20220822/1661207940.42282.72523.jpg)
[Review] Flavors of Youth
It took me a few years to finally get around to watching the 2018 film Flavors of Youth, which you can now find on Netflix. This anime-original anthology…
Koharu to Minato: Watashi No Partner Ha Onna No Ko, Volume 1 (小春と湊 わたしのパートナーは女の子)
Koharu to Minato: Watashi No Partner Ha Onna No Ko, Volume 1 (小春と湊 わたしのパートナーは女の子) is a fictionalized autobiographical comic essay on the real-lives of the creative team, Daruma…


Takano Tofu (高野豆腐店の春, Mitsuhiro Mihara, 2023)
A sudden brush with mortality convinces an ageing tofu maker to marry off his middle-aged daughter in Mitsuhiro Mihara’s charming dramedy.


Vendetta of a Samurai (荒木又右衛門 決闘鍵屋の辻, Kazuo Mori, 1952)
Two friends find themselves on opposite sides of samurai vendetta that has nothing to do with them in Kazuo Mori’s merciless assault on the futility of the feudal…


The Power of Three: Steins;Gate
I was thinking about Steins;Gate for a different reason when I hit on why it works narratively. Because it shouldn’t, you know. Steins;Gate is really kind of a…


Tune of the Week(ish): BOCCHI THE ROCK’s Seishun Complex!
I’ve not watched this show, but its now the one everyone won’t shut up again. Song is damn catchy though! The Tune of the Week is the opening…


“Just Because” and the language of youth
Scattered thoughts regarding the prominence of SMS communication chat bubbles in the 2017 anime “Just Because”


The Revenge of My Youth Manga Review
This manga knows how to use its tried-and-true premise about redoing the past to its advantage, giving us a start of a story that makes for a leisurely…


18×2 Beyond Youthful Days (青春18×2 君へと続く道, Michihito Fujii, 2024)
Screenshot Apparently inspired by a real life viral blog, the latest from the prolific Michihito Fujii, 18×2 Beyond Youthful Days (青春18×2 君へと続く道, Seishun 18×2 Kimi e to Tsudzuku…


Yahari Ore no Seishun Love Comedy wa Machigatteiru. Kan
“If you can’t solve this in one word, then use all the words you need. And if words aren’t enough to get the job done, throw in some…
My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU, My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU Climax!
Review: Mon Mon Mon Monsters (2017)
Mon Mon Mon Monsters 报告老师!怪怪怪怪物! Taiwan/Hong Kong, 2017, colour, 2.35:1, 111 mins. Director: Ke Jingteng 柯景腾 [Giddens Ko 九把刀]. Rating: 3/10. Wannabe comedy-horror about high-schoolers vs two zombie-vampires…
![Featured image for SHUNGA: The Lost Japanese Erotica 春の画 SHUNGA (2023) Director: Junko Hirata [Nippon Connection 2024]](https://cdn.aniblogtracker.com/live/20240709/1720506329.86994.126954.jpg)
![Background image for SHUNGA: The Lost Japanese Erotica 春の画 SHUNGA (2023) Director: Junko Hirata [Nippon Connection 2024]](https://cdn.aniblogtracker.com/live/20240709/1720506329.86994.126954.jpg)
SHUNGA: The Lost Japanese Erotica 春の画 SHUNGA (2023) Director: Junko Hirata [Nippon Connection 2024]
Junko Hirata’s gorgeous and informative documentary SHUNGA: The Lost Japanese Erotica 春の画 SHUNGA (2023) reclaims the erotic artform by showing the skill involved in making the prints and the…


Rashomon (羅生門, Akira Kurosawa, 1950)
A series of witnesses give conflicting accounts of a death in the forest in Akira Kurosawa’s exploration of the limits of objective truth.


The Revenge of My Youth Volume 1 Review
Publisher SummaryShin’ichiro Niihama works at a job he hates, for a company with no morals, under a boss who detests him. After years of corporate abuse, one day…


Witch Hat Atelier and the Confidence of Youth
We find Qifrey bound in herbs as we return to Witch Hat Atelier, ensconced in the tools of his trade on the title page. He is at peace,…


Seishun Hajimemashita – Limited Edition
I recently bought the (stupidly expensive) limited edition of the otome game, Seishun Hajimemashita. I rarely go for limited editions, but this was clearly the only way to…


Gate
★★★★ Have you ever wondered what would happen if those hordes of evildoers in isekai worlds, with their swords and arrows and armor and forced evil laughter, were…
Arcadia of My Youth and the Limits of Being Cool
Arcadia of My Youth is an extravagant movie. Even in a medium not particularly known for its subtlety, the thing hits all-time highs of being overwrought. It seems…


A Haunted Turkish Bathhouse (1975) review
It is via the splatter of blood, the concatenation of sexual acts, and the ghostly revenge that Yamaguchi presents the male spectator his truth: that he, beyond fantasy…


The Garden of Words (言の葉の庭 Kotonoha no Niwa) is a 2013 Japanese...
The Garden of Words (言の葉の庭 Kotonoha no Niwa) is a 2013 Japanese anime film produced by CoMix Wave Films and directed by Makoto Shinkai. Garden of Words [Blu-ray]


The Garden of Words (言の葉の庭 Kotonoha no Niwa) is a 2013 Japanese...
The Garden of Words (言の葉の庭 Kotonoha no Niwa) is a 2013 Japanese anime film produced by CoMix Wave Films and directed by Makoto Shinkai. Garden of Words [Blu-ray]


Steins; Gate. One of the Greatest of All Time.
I consciously held off on reviewing this series, because I knew it would make me emotional (in a good way) while writing it. Artwork like Steins;Gate sustain a…