Anime Blog Tracker

An Email Interview with Akihiko Yano, Director of “yes,yes,yes” [Osaka Asian Film Festival 2021]

I wish I were better at writing about acting because every now and then I watch a film where there are astonishing performance that I am spellbound and…

Genkinahito

Mar 13, 2021 • Subscribe

yes, yes, yes (Akihiko Yano, 2021)

A family begins to fall apart under the weight of impending grief when a mother enters the final stages of a terminal illness in Yano’s intense existential drama

Windows on Worlds

Mar 31, 2021 • Subscribe

Joint ジョイント Director: Oudai Kojima (2020) [Osaka Asian Film Festival 2021]

Joint ジョイント Director: Oudai Kojima (2020) [Osaka Asian Film Festival 2021] is a refreshing take on the yakuza genre thanks to the depth of its world building and…

Genkinahito

Mar 7, 2021 • Subscribe

POP! Director: Masashi Komura (2021) [Osaka Asian Film Festival 2021]

POP! provides a slightly surreal, slightly sweet existential crisis. POP! Director: Masashi Komura (2021) [Osaka Asian Film Festival 2021]

Genkinahito

Mar 24, 2021 • Subscribe

Three Sisters 세자매 Director: Lee Seung-won (2020) [Osaka Asian Film Festival 2021]

Three Sisters 세자매 Director: Lee Seung-won (2020) [Osaka Asian Film Festival 2021]

Genkinahito

Mar 6, 2021 • Subscribe

Osaka Asian Film Festival 2023

 For the second year in a row, the Heroic Purgatory podcast is covering the Osaka Asian Film Festival (OAFF) which took place between March 10 and March 19.…

Heroic Purgatory

Mar 21, 2023 • Subscribe

Osaka Asian Film Festival 2023

 For the second year in a row, the Heroic Purgatory podcast is covering the Osaka Asian Film Festival (OAFF) which took place between March 10 and March 19.…

Heroic Purgatory

Mar 21, 2023 • Subscribe

Osaka Asian Film Festival 2023

 For the second year in a row, the Heroic Purgatory podcast is covering the Osaka Asian Film Festival (OAFF) which took place between March 10 and March 19.…

Heroic Purgatory

Mar 21, 2023 • Subscribe

Ito いとみち Director: Satoko Yokohama (2021) [Osaka Asian Film Festival 2021]

“Ito” is a heart-warming comedy drama rich in Aomori’s culture where a girl learning to express herself through time spent at a maid cafe and her shamisen skills.…

Genkinahito

Mar 17, 2021 • Subscribe

Snowdrop スノードロップ Director: Kota Yoshida [Osaka Asian Film Festival 2024]

Snowdrop スノードロップ, by director Kota Yoshida, is a socially conscious domestic drama/character study that looks at the welfare system via a woman chased by the trauma of abandonment…

Genkinahito

Mar 5, 2024 • Subscribe

An Interview with Masashi Komura, Director of POP! [Osaka Asian Film Festival 2021]

An Interview with Masashi Komura, Director of POP! [Osaka Asian Film Festival 2021]

Genkinahito

Apr 17, 2021 • Subscribe

An Interview with Satoko Yokohama, Director of “Ito” [Osaka Asian Film Festival 2021]

An Interview with Satoko Yokohama, Director of “Ito” [Osaka Asian Film Festival 2021]

Genkinahito

Apr 12, 2021 • Subscribe

Out of TOKYO202x Director: Akinori Ikuse [Osaka Asian Film Festival 2022]

A refreshing sci-fi short from Japan, Out of TOKYO202x takes the time-slip formula and uses it on the summer Olympics of 2021! Director: Akinori Ikuse [Osaka Asian Film Festival…

Genkinahito

Mar 12, 2022 • Subscribe

New Religion ニューレリジョン (2022) Director: Keishi Kondo [Osaka Asian Film Festival 2023]

New Religion ニューレリジョン is a highly-atmospheric horror film from Keishi Kondo who crafts an original story with distinct visuals. It’s one of the best J-horror films I have seen…

Genkinahito

Mar 16, 2023 • Subscribe

December 赦し (2022) Director: Anshul Chauhan [Osaka Asian Film Festival 2023]

December 赦し is director Anshul Chauhan’s third feature film. An impressive courtroom drama, it takes us through a harrowing criminal trial that constantly keeps us empathising with and questi…

Genkinahito

Mar 12, 2023 • Subscribe

Sekai 世界 (2023) Director: Marina Tsukada [Osaka Asian Film Festival 2023]

Sekai 世界, directed by Marina Tsukada, is a rich portrait of two people living in Nagano prefecture. It gently guides us into their inner worlds and exploring them…

Genkinahito

Mar 11, 2023 • Subscribe

Suton すとん Director: Rikako Watanabe [Osaka Asian Film Festival 2024]

Suton すとん, by director Rikako Watanabe. is a quietly affecting character study where a young woman’s life is marked by the poignancy of aging and separation and also…

Genkinahito

Mar 2, 2024 • Subscribe

Blackbird Blackbird Blackberry (2023) Director: Elene Naveriani [Osaka Asian Film Festival 2024]

Blackbird Blackbird Blackberry (2023), by director Elene Naveriani, is a touching late coming-of-age film about a 48-year-old woman in a Georgian village growing into herself after a near-death…

Genkinahito

Mar 6, 2024 • Subscribe

An E-mail Interview with Oudai Kojima, Director of JOINT [Osaka Asian Film Festival 2021]

An E-mail Interview with Oudai Kojima, Director of JOINT [Osaka Asian Film Festival 2021]

Genkinahito

Mar 15, 2021 • Subscribe

My Sister 姊姊 Director: Pan Ke-yin (2021) Taiwan [Osaka Asian Film Festival 2022]

My Sister 姊姊 is a wonderful Taiwanese short that delivers a shot of reassuring love through a bratty brother and family. Director: Pan Ke-yin (2021) Taiwan [Osaka Asian…

Genkinahito

Mar 11, 2022 • Subscribe

An Email Interview with Hiroshi Gokan, Director of “Gotō-san” [Osaka Asian Film Festival 2021]

An Email Interview with Hiroshi Gokan, Director of “Gotō-san” [Osaka Asian Film Festival 2021]

Genkinahito

Apr 5, 2021 • Subscribe

Gotō-san ゴトーさん Dir: Hiroshi Gokan (2020) [Osaka Asian Film Festival 2021]

A film for the economic uncertainty of our Covid-19 age. Gotō-san ゴトーさん Dir: Hiroshi Gokan (2020) [Osaka Asian Film Festival 2021]

Genkinahito

Mar 12, 2021 • Subscribe

Ribbon 2021 Director: Non [New York Asian Film Festival 2022]

Ribbon is a Covid-19-themed film about the frustrations of life in isolation and creative blockages. Combining the two, we see a coming-of-age drama where the protagonist overcomes both through…

Genkinahito

Jul 20, 2022 • Subscribe

Osaka Asian Film Festival 2022 Announces Complete Lineup

At venues across Osaka March 10 to 20 plus 10-film retrospective selection streaming worldwide March 3 to 21

Windows on Worlds

Feb 26, 2022 • Subscribe

Osaka Asian Film Festival 2022’s Japanese Films

Details on many of the Japanese films that will be screened at Osaka Asian Film Festival 2022

Genkinahito

Mar 7, 2022 • Subscribe

Osaka Asian Film Festival 2023 Announces Complete Lineup

In Osaka 10th to 19th March.

Windows on Worlds

Mar 5, 2023 • Subscribe

An Interview with Shinji Imaoka, Director of A Rainbow-colored Trip [Osaka Asian Film Festival 2021]

An Interview with Shinji Imaoka, Director of A Rainbow-colored Trip [Osaka Asian Film Festival 2021]

Genkinahito

Jun 9, 2021 • Subscribe

An Interview with Yutaro Nakamura, Director of A NEW WIND BLOWS [Osaka Asian Film Festival 2021]

A Brief Interview with Yutaro Nakamura, Director of A NEW WIND BLOWS [Osaka Asian Film Festival 2021]

Genkinahito

Jun 7, 2021 • Subscribe

Strangers 人知れず Director: Sae Suzuki [Osaka Asian Film Festival 2022]

Strangers 人知れず Director: Sae Suzuki [Osaka Asian Film Festival 2022] is an effective look at how people can explore thorny issues such as sexual harassment and discrimination in…

Genkinahito

Nov 14, 2022 • Subscribe

Out of TOKYO202x Director: Akinori Ikuse [Osaka Asian Film Festival 2022] V-Cinema

A rewrite of my review of Out of TOKYO202x, a refreshing sci-fi short from Japan that takes the time-slip formula and uses it on the summer Olympics! Director: Akinori…

Genkinahito

May 18, 2022 • Subscribe

City of Wind (2023) Director: Lkhagvadulam Purev-Ochir [Osaka Asian Film Festival 2024]

City of Wind (2023), by director Lkhagvadulam Purev-Ochir, is a perfectly-crafted portrait of Mongolian youth that looks at the way modernity and tradition, social order and individuality affect…

Genkinahito

Mar 4, 2024 • Subscribe

Sumiko 22 スミコ22 (2024) Director: Sawako Fukuoka [Osaka Asian Film Festival 2024]

Sumiko 22 スミコ22 (2024), sees editor/writer/director Sawako Fukuoka draw upon her own experiences to make a quirky comedy/drama about the everyday pressures and small-scale strangeness experienced b…

Genkinahito

Mar 18, 2024 • Subscribe

Sumiko

An Interview with Sae Suzuki, Director of Strangers [Osaka Asian Film Festival 2022]

STRANGERS tackles gender discrimination and sexual harassment in a heartfelt and interesting way. Director Sae Suzuki talks about how she made it in an interview done in Japanese…

Genkinahito

Nov 14, 2022 • Subscribe

Young Birds 雛鳥 Dir: Eriko Izumi [Osaka Asian Film Festival 2021]

Young Birds 雛鳥 Dir: Eriko Izumi [Osaka Asian Film Festival 2021]

Genkinahito

Apr 19, 2021 • Subscribe

The Winter of 1905 (1981) Director: Yu Wei-Cheng [Osaka Asian Film Festival 2024]

The Winter of 1905 (1981), directed by Yu Wei-Cheng, is a solid dramatisation of Li Shutong’s time in Japan and the influences that would lead him to become…

Genkinahito

Mar 7, 2024 • Subscribe

Blue Imagine ブルーイマジン Director: Urara Matsubayashi [Osaka Asian Film Festival 2024 / Japan Cuts 2024]

Director Urara Matsubayashi makes a definitive #MeToo film for the Japanese film industry with her sincere and complex drama Blue Imagine ブルーイマジン [Osaka Asian Film Festival 2024 / Japan…

Genkinahito

Jul 18, 2024 • Subscribe

An Interview with Kahori Higashi, Director of Melting Sounds [Osaka Asian Film Festival 2022]

An Interview with Kahori Higashi, Director of MOOSIC Lab affiliated film “Melting Sounds”. It is available in Japanese and English. [Osaka Asian Film Festival 2022]

Genkinahito

Jul 15, 2022 • Subscribe

Marchen Awakens Romance

An Interview with Yusaku Matsumoto, Director of BAGMATI RIVER [Osaka Asian Film Festival 2022]

An Interview with Yusaku Matsumoto, Director of BAGMATI RIVER [Osaka Asian Film Festival 2022]

Genkinahito

Apr 11, 2022 • Subscribe

On a Boat オン・ア・ボート (2024) Director: Heso [Osaka Asian Film Festival 2024]

Black comedy and painful humiliation abound as a mismatched couple vie for control in the black comedy On a Boat オン・ア・ボート (2024) Director: Heso [Osaka Asian Film Festival…

Genkinahito

Mar 2, 2024 • Subscribe

An Interview with Azusa Hieda, Director of Summer Wedding [Osaka Asian Film Festival 2022]

SUMMER WEDDING is a short by Azusa Hieda that sees a relationship undergo a massive change due to isolation forced by the Covid-19 pandemic. You can read some…

Genkinahito

Jun 29, 2022 • Subscribe

Summer Wedding 恋がする Director: Azusa Hieda [Osaka Asian Film Festival 2022]

Summer Wedding is a unique and strong take on pandemic isolation. Summer Wedding 恋がする Director: Azusa Hieda [Osaka Asian Film Festival 2022]

Genkinahito

Mar 29, 2022 • Subscribe

An Interview with Kasho Iizuka, Director of ANGRY SON [Osaka Asian Film Festival 2022]

An interview with Kasho Iizuka about the making of his film ANGRY SON, shown as part of Osaka Asian Film Festival 2022.

Genkinahito

Jan 9, 2023 • Subscribe

An Interview with Yuko Watanabe, Director of BOY SPROUTED [Osaka Asian Film Festival 2022]

An interview with Yuko Watanabe, director of the short film BOY SPROUTED. You can read it in Japanese and English! [Osaka Asian Film Festival 2022].

Genkinahito

May 14, 2022 • Subscribe

An Interview with Sheikh M Haris, Director of HOWLING [Osaka Asian Film Festival 2022]

Get the background to the Japanese neo-noir black comedy HOWLING in this Interview with Sheikh M Haris, the Director [Osaka Asian Film Festival 2022]

Genkinahito

Apr 15, 2022 • Subscribe

The Slug 태어나길 잘했어 (2020) Dir: Choi Jin-young (South Korea) [Osaka Asian Film Festival 2021]

Hands down, one of the best films at the Osaka Asian Film Festival 2021, I cried multiple times during this heartfelt film about overcoming existential loneliness. The Slug…

Genkinahito

Mar 10, 2021 • Subscribe

Bagmati River バグマティ リバー Dir: Yusaku Matsumoto (2021) [Osaka Asian Film Festival 2022]

Bagmati River    バグマティ リバー  「Bagumati Riba-」 Release Date: 2022 Duration: 29 mins. Director: Yusaku Matsumoto Writer: Yusaku Matsumoto, Kentaro Kishi (Screenplay),  Starring: Junko Abe, Kenji Kohas…

Genkinahito

Mar 12, 2022 • Subscribe

Wash Away うぉっしゅ Director: Ikunosuke Okazaki [Osaka Asian Film Festival 2024]

Wash Away うぉっしゅ, the sophomore feature by director Ikunosuke Okazaki, may have an unlikely premise but it works well as an existential examination of loneliness. It plays at…

Genkinahito

Mar 1, 2024 • Subscribe

Melting Sounds ほとぼりメルトサウンズ Director: Kahori Higashi [Osaka Asian Film Festival 2022]

Melting Sounds is a wonderfully incisive yet offbeat MOOSIC LAB film concerned with mortality and human connections. Higashi’s light touch delivers a profound, cute, and deeply humanistic pae…

Genkinahito

May 27, 2022 • Subscribe

Marchen Awakens Romance

SANKA: Nomads of the Mountains 山歌 Director: Ryohei Sasatani [Osaka Asian Film Festival 2022]

SANKA: Nomads of the Mountains 山歌 Director: Ryohei Sasatani [Osaka Asian Film Festival 2022]

Genkinahito

Apr 22, 2022 • Subscribe

Sumiko 22 スミコ22 (2024) Director: Sawako Fukuoka [Osaka Asian Film Festival 2024] Second Draft

Sumiko 22 スミコ22 (2024), sees editor/writer/director Sawako Fukuoka draw upon her own experiences to make a quirky comedy/drama about the everyday pressures and small-scale strangeness experienced b…

Genkinahito

Mar 18, 2024 • Subscribe

Sumiko