Obscure Japanese Film #255 Shin Saburi Narasaki (Shin Saburi) has married Katsuko (Setsuko Hara), the widow of a soldier who got killed fig...
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Bonds of Love / 愛のきずな / Ai no kizuna (1969)
Obscure Japanese Film #125 Mari Sono and Makoto Fujita Suzuki (Makoto Fujita) is a low-level manager at a travel agency who drives a mod...
Bonds of Love (愛のきずな, Takashi Tsuboshima, 1969)
Trapped in a loveless marriage and unsatisfying career, a salaryman’s attempt to escape through an affair proves more complicated than he bargained for in Takashi Tsuboshima’s noirish d…
Love Nonetheless (愛なのに, Hideo Jojo, 2022)
A lovelorn bookseller is drawn into a world of romantic confusion by a high school girl with a hopeless crush and and his own requited love in Jojo’s…
Summer Storm / 夏の嵐 / Natsu no arashi (1956)
Obscure Japanese Film #112 Masahiko Tsugawa and Mie Kitahara Director Ko Nakahira’s first film following his famous ‘sun tribe’ movie Craz...
Wandering Shore / 流離の岸 / Ryuri no kishi (1956)
Obscure Japanese Film #180 Terumi Niki Sachiko Murase Chiho (Terumi Niki) is a young child left alone in the country to be raised by her...
Street of Love and Hope (愛と希望の街, Nagisa Oshima, 1959)
A young man’s pigeon selling scam eventually ruins his cross-class friendship with a wealthy young woman in Oshima’s biting sociopolitical drama
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...
Their Legacy / 家庭の事情 / Katei no jijo (‘Family Circumstances’, 1962)
Obscure Japanese Film #243So YamamuraJunko Kano and Ayako WakaoUtako Shibusawa and Mako Sanjo Upon retiring, widower Misawa (So Yamamura) decides to give each of his four unmarried daughters 500,000 yen to…
Love Poem (情詩, Wang Xiaozhen, 2019)
Wang Xiaozhen directs himself and his wife in a self-lacerating meta contemplation of art and marriage
Crossroad (死の十字路, Umetsugu Inoue, 1956)
An adulterous industrialist’s life unravels after he accidentally kills his wife and tries to cover up the crime in Umetsugu Inoue’s gothic noir.
A Wife’s Heart (妻の心, Mikio Naruse, 1956)
When plans to start a new business go awry, a dejected wife finds herself at a crossroads in Mikio Naruse’s martial drama.
Sound in the Mist (霧の音, Hiroshi Shimizu, 1956)
A botanist continues to visit the same mountain lodge each Harvest Moon in search of lost love in a late melodrama from Hiroshi Shimizu
Love’s Whirlpool 愛の渦 Director: Daisuke Miura (2014)
Love’s Whirlpool 愛の渦 Director: Daisuke Miura (2014) is a strong drama unafraid to look to look fully at the desire for sex and how it affects different people.
Beyond Love and Hate / 愛と憎しみの彼方へ / Ai to nikushimi no kanata e (1951)
Obscure Japanese Film #237Toshiro Mifune Abashiri Prison, Hokkaido. When six convicts escape one rainy night, kindly veteran screw Kubo (Takashi Shimura) is shocked to learn that one of the men was…
This Love of Mine (我的愛, Chang Yi, 1986)
When an already anxious housewife discovers her husband’s affair, she becomes aware of the extent to which she is already trapped by the patriarchal social codes of the…
Dorodarake no junjo / 泥だらけの純情 (‘Mud-Spattered Purity’/ ‘Trampled Innocence’, 1963)
Obscure Japanese Film #230 Sayuri Yoshinaga and Mitsuo Hamada Jiro (Mitsuo Hamada) is a teenage yakuza who rescues high school girl Mami (Sayuri Yoshinaga) from being harassed in the street by a…
The Heart of Hiroshima (愛と死の記録, Koreyoshi Kurahara, 1966)
Sayuri Yoshinaga was the top female star at Nikkatsu in the mid-1960s. Together with her regular co-star Mitsuo Hamada, she starred in a series of hit youth romances…
It Must Be Love 愛の茶番 Director: Junko Emoto [Osaka Asian Film Festival 2024]
It Must Be Love 愛の茶番, by director Junko Emoto, has actors give fun improvisational performances as egotistic characters driven crazy by love in a film-meets-theatre experiment. [Osaka Asian…
The Last Gunfight (暗黒街の対決, Kihachi Okamoto, 1960)
A maverick cop finds himself at the centre of a moribund gang war in Kihachi Okamoto’s anarchic western-inflected crime drama
Waga ai / わが愛 (‘My Love’, 1960)
Obscure Japanese Film #232 Ineko Arima Niizu (Shin Saburi) is a newspaper reporter who drops dead in the street after a night of heavy drinking. At the wake, his wife (Yatsuko Tan’ami) is…
Where Love Goes 愛のゆくえ (2023) Director: Fuka Miyajima [Osaka Asian Film Festival 2023]
Where Love Goes 愛のゆくえ, from director Fuka Miyajima, is a rich story about love that takes a girl from Hokkaido to Tokyo and back, by way of magical realism.…
The Kamikaze Guy (カミカゼ野郎 真昼の決斗, Kinji Fukasaku, 1966)
A bumbling pilot becomes embroiled in a conspiracy after an encounter on a ski slope in a goodnatured action comedy starring a young Sonny Chiba.
Rude to Love (愛に乱暴, Yukihiro Morigaki, 2024)
Momoko (Noriko Eguchi) can’t find her cat, Pi-chan. It hasn’t been home for days, and now there’s a stray prowling around near its water bowl. Her mother-in-law, Teruko…
Suffocating Love (愛的噩夢, Liao Ming-yi, 2024)
A conflicted young man chases the dream of romance while reassessing his relationships in Liao Ming-yi’s surreal dramedy.
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
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…
Ai ni Airashi Itoshi Anata (愛に愛らし愛しいあなた)
Suzuki Yufuko’s Ai ni Airashi Itoshi Anata (愛に愛らし愛しいあなた) was not at all what I expected it to be. No, scratch that. It was exactly everything I expected it…
Love is Lost / 銀心中 / Gin shinju (‘Silver Double Suicide’, 1956)
Obscure Japanese Film #179 Jukichi Uno and Nobuko Otowa Tokyo, c. 1942. Sakie (Nobuko Otowa) and her husband Kiichi (Jukichi Uno) run a ...
A Dilemma?: The Kroll Class Action Settlement
By: Peggy Sue Wood | @pswediting By now, I am sure almost everyone in the anime community has heard of the Kroll Class Action Settlement. The news was all…
A Dilemma?: The Kroll Class Action Settlement
By: Peggy Sue Wood | @pswediting By now, I am sure almost everyone in the anime community has heard of the Kroll Class Action Settlement. The news was…
Love Conquers All (爱情征服一切, Tan Chui Mui, 2006)
A naive young country girl is drawn into a web of abuse and exploitation after falling for a city tough guy in Tan Chui Mui’s romantic drama.
Naruse’s FLOWING (1956): The Fall of a Geisha Household
The more films by Mikio Naruse I see, the more I feel he belongs in the pantheon of great Japanese directors alongside the three I have long considered…
Halloween Special Review: The Ghosts of Yotsuya (1956) review
An incredible horror film that retains its power to engage and thrill the spectator due to Tomisabura Wakayama’s outstanding performance.
Wrath of Desire (愛・殺, Zero Chou, 2021)
A religious lawyer’s ordered existence is turned upside down by her attraction to a female tattoo artist accused of murder in Zero Chou’s heady drama
Just Only Love 愛がなんだ (2019) Dir: Rikiya Imaizumi
Just Only Love 愛がなんだ 「Ai ga Nanda」 Running Time: 123 mins. Release Date: April 19th, 2019 Director: Rikiya Imaizumi Writer: Rikiya Imaizumi, Kaori Sawai (Screenplay), Mitsuyo Kakuta (Original No…
South Korean Animations (1956 - 2021) | WooKong
A compilation of the South Korean animated works from 1956 to 2021. This is a supplementary video for "A Brief History of South Korean Animation" https://youtu.be/uQDFI30strY. Be sure…
Sazae-san / サザエさん (1956)
Obscure Japanese Film #245Chiemi EriKamatari Fujiwara and Nijiko Kiyokawa Sazae (Chiemi Eri) is a young woman still living at home with her father (Kamatari Fujiwara), mother (Nijiko Kiyokawa) and two younger siblings.…
Rodan (1956) review [The Godzilla Project]
Honda delivers a bleak and disconcerting outlook on the optimistic post-war reparative economic growth.
Funuke Show Some Love, You Losers! (腑抜けども、悲しみの愛を見せろ, Daihachi Yoshida, 2007)
The petty resentments of a dysfunctional family quickly escalate when a failed actress returns home in Daihachi Yoshida’s dark farce
A Hole of My Own Making / /自分の穴の中で / Jibun no ana no nakade (1955)
Obscure Japanese Film #134 Rentaro Mikuni, Mie Kitahara and Jukichi Uno Tamiko (Mie Kitahara) is a young woman living at home with her s...
Love Lies (我談的那場戀愛, Ho Miu-ki, 2024)
Falling for a romance scam allows a middle-aged woman to reassess her romantic past in Ho Miu-ki’s charming cybercrime dramedy.
Japanese Feudalistic Love is Entertainment Fodder: 恋愛裁判 (Renai Saiban) Review
by Kaori Shoji Renai Saiban (International Title: Love on Trial) opened in theaters across Japan last month and it’s rumored to overtake Kokuho’s box office popularity within the year. Like Kokuho, Love on Trial premiered…
Flowing (流れる, Mikio Naruse, 1956)
The denizens of a moribund geisha house contemplate visions of independence in post-war Japan Mikio Naruse’s thriving ensemble drama.
Early Spring (早春, Yasujiro Ozu, 1956)
A dejected office worker and his disappointed wife battle the emptiness of the “salaryman dream” in Ozu’s embittered marital drama
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]
ShinRa-Bansho – 純情アルメリア (Pure-Hearted Armeria)
When I heard this one, I had to write a post for it.YouTube’s autoplay feature has been giving me a lot of ShinRa-Bansho to listen to lately, I…
Execution in Autumn (秋決, Li Hsing, 1972)
A condemned man undergoes a spiritual awakening but only to understand that he must die in Li Hsing’s melancholy existential drama
Ai sureba koso / 愛すればこそ / (‘Only If You Love’, 1955)
Obscure Japanese Film #166 Isuzu Yamada This omnibus film comprised of three stories was an independent venture co-produced by two compani...
Song of the Horse / 馬の詩 / Uma no uta (1971)
Obscure Japanese Film #121 Toshiro Mifu-neigh? Akira Kurosawa’s only work for TV was this documentary co-produced by his own company and ...