An unhappily married woman contemplates independence but struggles to see herself as anything other than a “wife” in Naruse’s bitter marital drama
Jul 16, 2021 • Subscribe
More like this
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.
Repast (めし, Mikio Naruse, 1951)
An unhappily married woman fed up with the drudgery of her existence considers other options but finally concludes there are none in Naruse’s bleak melodrama
Mikio Naruse: Adventures on Harumi Island
I got a pleasant surprise recently when I watched Mikio Naruse’s AUTUMN HAS ALREADY STARTED (1960). At a key point in the narrative, the two child protagonists living…
Late Chrysanthemums (晩菊, Mikio Naruse, 1954)
Four former geishas struggle to find their place in a changing society in Miko Naruse’s melancholy melodrama.
Untamed (あらくれ, Mikio Naruse, 1957)
A rebellious woman strives for independence in a patriarchal society but nevertheless finds herself hamstrung by feckless men in Naruse’s Taisho-era drama
Mother (おかあさん, Mikio Naruse, 1952)
A teenage girl struggles to understand her self-sacrificing mother in Mikio Naruse’s subversive take on the hahamono
A Wanderer’s Notebook (放浪記, Mikio Naruse, 1962)
A determined young woman seeks a way out of poverty in Mikio Naruse’s biopic of author Fumiko Hayashi.
A Woman’s Place (女の座, Mikio Naruse, 1962)
The young women of post-war Japan struggle to define themselves in a changing society in Mikio Naruse’s uncharacteristically hopeful family drama
The Angry Street (怒りの街, Mikio Naruse, 1950)
A sociopathic student takes revenge on a changing society by seducing wealthy women in Mikio Naruse’s brooding noir.
Hit and Run (ひき逃げ, Mikio Naruse, 1966)
A grief-stricken mother hatches a desperate plan of revenge against the woman who killed her son in Mikio Naruse’s dark psychological drama.
Sound of the Mountain (山の音, Mikio Naruse, 1954)
A failed patriarch resolves to set his unhappily married daughter-in-free in Mikio Naruse’s post-war marital drama
The Approach of Autumn (秋立ちぬ, Mikio Naruse, 1960)
A small boy finds himself trapped between the new society and the old in Mikio Naruse’s often deceptively cheerful childhood drama.
Wife of a Spy (スパイの妻, Kiyoshi Kurosawa, 2020)
An upperclass housewife finds herself pulled into a deadly game of espionage in Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s dark exploration of the consequences of love
Five Men in a Circus (サーカス五人組, Mikio Naruse, 1935)
A 5-piece jinta brass band ends up performing as ringers at strike-stricken circus in Naruse’s melancholy anti-authoritarian comedy
A Wife Confesses (妻は告白する, Yasuzo Masumura, 1961)
A young widow finds herself on trial not exactly for her husband’s murder but the fact of her survival in Masumura’s noirish courtroom drama
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
Nizo Yamamoto (1953-2023)
The background artist Nizo Yamamoto, who died on 19th August, spent his whole life working in the Japanese animation sector. Born in Nagasaki, he developed an interest in…
VICE SQUAD (1953) – The Real “Dragnet”
VICE SQUAD (1953) is a sharply-directed, fast-paced black-and-white crime thriller that follows a full shift in a day’s work for a police captain in the Vice Squad…
Silent Naruse: STREET WITHOUT END (1934)
Last year I saw eleven films directed by Mikio Naruse, raising to 24 the number of films I’ve seen by him. So far this year I’ve seen two…
Review: BOSS WIFE
Going by the title alone, you might presume that this is another josei manga about a young working woman who gets swept up in an unconventi...
Review: BOSS WIFE
Going by the title alone, you might presume that this is another josei manga about a young working woman who gets swept up in an unconventi...
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...
Two Wives (妻二人, Yasuzo Masumura, 1967)
A conflicted social climber becomes disillusioned with his comfortable life on reencountering his uni girlfriend in Yasuzo Masumura’s dark mystery drama.
4: The Wife Pentacle
The Sickos take you on a guided tour of one of the greatest achievements in posting: The Wife Pentacle. Five holy posts, all about wife. Friends, enjoy. (PS…
16: The Wife Addendum
The Sickos return from the Posting Mines with three new Wife Post gems, and are generous enough to share their riches with you. They discuss the big time…
Naruse A Master of the Japanese Cinema - Booklet
Articles by Audie Bock, Hideko Takamine and Kihachi Okamoto (19 Pages )
Re: Zero – 53 – Wife Guys
When Regulus arrives to steal Emilia as his wife, Sirius doesn’t take kindly to his interrupting and attacks him with her flames, to no avail. Despite knowing Sirius,…
The Full-Time Wife Escapist
A manga about a woman who enters into a common-law marriage with a man to make a job out of being a house wife. Continue reading →
40: Posting/Reloaded: Wife Post Revolutions
The Sickos damage their brains with exposure to terrible posts! First, we discuss Duchess Goldblatt, an inexplicable gimmick account that has never been funny yet which commands a…
Wife of A Spy (2020) review
A tremendous achievement [that succeeds in calling] forth orth certain (indigestible) truths concerning the Japanese imperialistic Other.
Mount Fuji on Film: From Naruse to Godzilla to Anime
I’ve always been intrigued by 19th century Japanese artist Katsushika Hokusai’s series of woodblock prints entitled, “36 Views of Mount Fuji,” which indeed offers Mount Fuji from a…
Bi-Weekly Booty: Mio Naruse from Shinmai Maou no Testament
You know how I feel about this show, but damn if the main girl doesn’t bring the goods. The Bi-Weekly Booty is Mio Naruse from Shinmai Maou no…
Judai no seiten / 十代の性典 (‘Teenage Sex Book’, 1953)
Obscure Japanese Film #114 Ayako Wakao When high school student Fusae (Yoko Minamida) is excused from PE one day due to having her perio...
My Wife Has No Emotion Anime Announced
Today an anime adaptation of My Wife Has No Emotion was announced for the sci-fi romantic comedy manga series, starts airing July 2024.
A-Girl, Endo and Kobayashi Live! The Latest on Tsundere Villainess Lieselotte
Anime Like My Wife Has No Emotion
Takuma Kosugi is an office worker that lives alone. Finding it hard to keep up with household tasks, he decides to buy a secondhand housekeeping Mina model
Plastic Memories, The Angel Next Door Spoils Me Rotten, The Masterful Cat is Depressed Again Today, Chobits, Mahoromatic - Automatic Maiden
![Featured image for Spy X Family – 2 [Secure a Wife]](https://cdn.aniblogtracker.com/live/20220419/1650358478.34836.63367.jpg)
Spy X Family – 2 [Secure a Wife]
Right away I want to apologize for the lateness of this, Easter Weekend played havoc with my schedule. Excuses out of the way though, welcome to my 2nd…
S4E6 - My Wife Is a Gangster (2001)
Hello everyone, In this episode of Heroic Purgatory, we discuss the 2001 South Korean film, My Wife is a Gangster. Does this 20+ year-old action comedy pass the test…
First Impression: My Wife Has No Emotion
Takuma Kosugi is your typical hard-working young salaryman; putting in long hours at work leaves him with very little time to prepare his meals. However, Takuma has one…
My Wife Has No Emotion – Episode 1
My Wife Has No Emotion seems to have very little interest, at least up front, in any introspection other than "robot girl cute." Which...really sucks.
My Wife is the Student Council President!
My Wife is the Student Council President! is a 2015 Ecchi Romantic Comedy anime series from one of the more interesting Japanese animation studios, Seven. While some viewers…
Spy x Family #09 — The Good Wife
'Assassin,' my butt. Impressions: Ugh. In a lot of ways, a repeat of last week's episode. Well, the first half was just a flat out continuation thereof,…
Convention Stories: Will Friedle Photobombed my Wife
This is a fun story that goes back all the way to Dragoncon 2016. This was actually the first huge convention that my wife and I went to…
Naruse Akira to Ikkai Yaretara Ore wa Mou Shindemo Ii / If I Could Do It with Akira Naruse Once, I’d Be Okay with Dying by Kumo
There is almost nothing about Naruse Akira to Ikkai Yaretara Ore wa Mou Shindemo Ii / If I Could Do It with Akira Naruse Once, I’d Be Okay…
A Dangerous Age / 続十代の性典 / Zoku judai no seiten (1953)
Obscure Japanese Film #118 Ayako Wakao The Japanese title of this film (which translates as ‘Teenage Sex Diary Sequel’) is somewhat misl...
My Wife Became a Fourth Grader #01 — Illegalities
Why are we making this a constant point of conversation? Impressions: I'm not sure that the strategy of constantly announcing how illegal and creepy the premise is…
So, I Watched Tokyo Godfathers with My Wife. . .
Welcome, all, again. As mentioned in the above title, I invited my wife along to see Tokyo Godfathers last night–and she said, “Yes.” Now, this is extremely unusual. …
Tonikaku Cawaii Chapter 170 (Insights on the Wife)
AstroNerdBoy reviews Tonikaku Cawaii Chapter 170. Nasa finds Shiori at her art exhibit. She takes him to tea to talk about Tsukasa.
Shin no Nakama – 08 – Happy Wife Happy Life
For the second straight week Shin no Nakama wades deeper into plots, false identities and shadow players. But what keeps me engaged and coming back is the wonderfully tender…
The Echo Wife by Sarah Gailey (Book Review)
A review of "The Echo Wife" by Sarah Gailey, an excellent near-future feminist drama about the other woman and human cloning
The Full-Time Wife Escapist (with Megan DeYarman)
Covers all 9 volumes of The Full-Time Wife Escapist by Tsunami Umino What would it be like to get married as a job? Megan DeYarman (of The Manga Test…