Anime Blog Tracker

Sep 8, 2021 • Subscribe

Spaghetti Code Love (2021) review [Japan Cuts 2021]

“Maruyama’s narrative speaks powerfully to the spectator’s subjectivity – his fears and hopes – and enables his evocation of a glimmer of hope that remains present in this…

Oct 16, 2021 • Subscribe

Short Movie Time: Honeymoon (2021) review [Japan Cuts 2021]

“A pleasing narrative about the arbitrariness of language and culture.”

Nov 9, 2021 • Subscribe

Kiba: Fangs of Fiction (2021) review [Japan Cuts 2021]

“Daihachi Yoshida succeeds in turning Shiota’s interesting story and fascinating world of publishing and bookstores into an engaging and pleasant filmic narrative.”

Aug 31, 2021 • Subscribe

Kiba

Hiroku The Goblin (1991) review [Japan Cuts 2021]

‘A classic that offers an unforgettable experience that is as touchingly lighthearted as is it disturbingly horrifying.’

Sep 3, 2021 • Subscribe

Town Without Sea (2020) review [Japan Cuts 2021]

“A visually engaging narrative about the nature of happiness and the importance of desire that is highly relevant for Japanese youth.”

Sep 15, 2021 • Subscribe

Talking The Pictures (2019) review [Japan Cuts 2021]

“Mayayuki’s celebration of cinematic history deeply satisfies the spectator’s desire to see cinema as an experience that can touch our being and the art of the benshi triumph.&#82…

Sep 6, 2021 • Subscribe

The Great Yokai War – Guardians (2021) review [Japan Cuts 2021]

“A pleasant and truly satisfying ride for the whole family.”

Aug 28, 2021 • Subscribe

Robinson’s Garden (1988) [Japan Cuts 2021]

“Yamamoto is not able to create a composition that engages the spectator with its highly relevant message.”

Feb 10, 2024 • Subscribe

Short Movie Time: Go Seppukku Yourselves (2021) review [Japan Cuts 2021]

“An enthralling audiovisual experience and a powerful critique of the Japanese political system.”

Oct 9, 2021 • Subscribe

The Goldfish Dreaming Of The Sea (2021) review [Japan Cuts 2021]

“Ogawa’s thoughtful lyricism that gives the emotionality of the performances their power to touch the spectator and enables her exploration of the difficulty to separate from one’s mother…

Sep 9, 2021 • Subscribe

Mari and Mari (彼女来来, Tatsuya Yamanishi, 2021)

A self-involved casting director experiences romantic and existential crisis when his girlfriend is replaced by another woman in Yamanishi’s eerie indie drama

Aug 30, 2021 • Subscribe

Short Movie Time: Born Pisces (2020) review [Japan Cuts 2021]

“Yamanaka does not only reaffirm that she has talent but also that she improved her compositional style and her storytelling.”

Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland

Jan 14, 2022 • Subscribe

Japan Cuts Announces Lineup for 2021 Hybrid Edition

In-person & online Aug. 20 – Sept. 2

Aug 17, 2021 • Subscribe

Hand (2022) review [Japan Cuts 2023]

Matsui avoids delivering an exploitative erotic piece merely to be enjoyed by male audiences.

Aug 22, 2023 • Subscribe

Kubi (2023) review [Japan Cuts 2024]

One of best period dramas in recent years.

Jul 3, 2024 • Subscribe

Amiko (2022) review [Japan Cuts 2023]

A fabulous narrative that explores the destructive effects caused by the radical misunderstanding that marks the field of speech and the refusal to speak to one’s child as…

Jan 23, 2024 • Subscribe

Single8 (2023) review [Japan Cuts 2023]

Konaka offers the spectator a heartwarming invitation to re-find, within oneself, one’s (nearly extinguished) passion for creation.

Aug 16, 2023 • Subscribe

Plastic (2023) review [Japan Cuts 2023]

Miyazaki creates a moody narrative that highlights the equivocal functionality of music for the subject as well as the destructive impact of not being able to create an…

Aug 19, 2023 • Subscribe

Winny (2023) review [Japan Cuts 2023]

Matsumoto offers a serene insight in how the Other of the law curtails a subject and, indirectly, sabotages the prospects of a new industry.

Aug 5, 2023 • Subscribe

A Preview of Japan Cuts 2021 (August 20th – September 02nd)

Japan Cuts 2021 Line-up and ticketing details

Aug 17, 2021 • Subscribe

Kiba

Six Singing Women (2023) review [Japan Cuts 2024]

A great narrative, yet one that stumbles over its own thematical fixation

Aug 18, 2024 • Subscribe

JAPAN CUTS Announces 2024 Lineup

At Japan Society New York from July 10 to 21

Jul 3, 2024 • Subscribe

JAPAN CUTS Announces 2023 Lineup

At Japan Society New York July 26 to Aug. 6

Jun 22, 2023 • Subscribe

The Legend and The Butterfly (2023) [Japan Cuts 2023]

The combination of historical anchor points, a phantasmatic romance to link those points together, and satisfying burst of action will surely be able to satisfy those who thirst…

Aug 31, 2023 • Subscribe

All The Long Nights (2024) review [Japan Cuts 2024]

A splendid drama that shows how symptoms can disturb a subject’s life and how the social field attains its cruel complexity due to the riddle of desire.

Jul 20, 2024 • Subscribe

Best Wishes To All (2023) review [Japan Cuts 2023]

A surprisingly satisfying horror-narrative

Dec 3, 2023 • Subscribe

Special - Japan Cuts Film Festival 2024

Table of Contents Hello everyone, Once again this year, the Heroic Purgatory podcast is covering the Japan Cuts 2024 film…

Heroic Purgatory

Jul 21, 2024 • Subscribe

Japan Cuts 2018 Film Festival at the Japan Society

This past few weeks I volunteered for the Japan Society Film Department’s annual Japan Cuts film festival, which screens a host of new Japanese blockbusters, avant-garde films, and…

踊る猿life is kyōgen

Aug 3, 2018 • Subscribe

Short Movie Time: Hail Mary (2023) review [Japan Cuts 2024]

Nakamura succeeds in making the spectator care for Maria and impact him/her emotionally with her tragedy.

Jun 23, 2024 • Subscribe

Short Movie Time: Social Circles (2023) review [Japan Cuts 2024]

A highly experimental and conceptual experience that might not be for everyone

Jul 16, 2024 • Subscribe

Short Movie Time: Nezumikozō Jirokichi (2023) review [Japan Cuts 2024]

The mix of elements supports the film’s aim well, that is to entice spectators to seek out the three films that remain from this somewhat forgotten master

Jul 13, 2024 • Subscribe

An Interview with Mayu Nakamura, Director of Among Four of Us [OAFF 2021/JAPAN CUTS 2021]

Sep 23, 2021 • Subscribe

Blind Bombing, Filmed by a Bat (2019) review [Japan Cuts 2020]

Introduction Kota Takeuchi is man of many creative talents, but whatever he does – be it painting, filming, or sculpting – it is related to historical or contemporary…

Jul 20, 2021 • Subscribe

Tora-san, Wish you were here (2019) review [Japan Cuts 2020]

“Yamada’s latest offers not only a powerful homage to the late great Kiyoshi Atsumi but also a moving nostalgic ride along many of the iconic scenes of the…

May 27, 2021 • Subscribe

Father of The Milky Way Railroad (2023) review [Japan Cuts 2023]

By being able to rely on such talent, Narushima is able to deliver a narrative that gracefully moves the spectator and elegantly provokes spectator’s emotions and tears.

Sep 3, 2023 • Subscribe

The Three Sisters of Tenmasou Inn (2022) review [Japan Cuts 2023]

Those spectators that love to release their stress by releasing tears will be very satisfied by Kitamura’s narrative.

Aug 13, 2023 • Subscribe

Inside Mari

Chelsea just spent like £1b on a lot of players to make like an amalgam of a...

Taiiku Podcast

Feb 6, 2023 • Subscribe

Inside Mari

Chelsea just spent like £1b on a lot of players to make like an amalgam of a...

Taiiku Podcast

Feb 6, 2023 • Subscribe

Amiko Wins Obayashi Prize at 2023 JAPAN CUTS

Prize introduced in 2020 is awarded an independently produced narrative feature from an emerging filmmaker.

Aug 8, 2023 • Subscribe

Anime Movie Review — Mari Okada’s Maboroshi

Mari Okada is one of the Japanese anime industry’s most prolific screenwriters. A quick scan of her lengthy bibliography is enough to…

AniTAY-Official - Medium

Jan 20, 2024 • Subscribe

maboroshi

Short Movie Time: Bath House of Whales (2019) review [Japan Cuts 2020]

Introduction Mizuki Kiyama’s graduation short film Bath House of Whales is a creative reworking of her memories of accompanying her mother, a person of Korean descent living in…

Oct 19, 2021 • Subscribe

The Rise and Rise of Mari Okada

By Zoe Crombie. As far as creators of anime go, Mari Okada has experienced one of the strangest rises to power from her humble origins to her current…

All the Anime

Feb 25, 2024 • Subscribe

Noisemaker cuts through the noise and cuts deep on Pushing My Back.

This week has been chock full of rock tracks that go HARD. Pushing My Back from Noisemaker continues the trend in fine fashion. What’s even better about this…

SussySempai

Aug 11, 2023 • Subscribe

Manga: Inside Mari

By Jeannette Ng. Inside Mari begins with a seemingly simple bodyswap where Isao Komori, a depressed shut-in and college dropout wakes up in the body of Mari Yoshizaki,…

All the Anime

Nov 14, 2022 • Subscribe

Kubi 首 (2023) Director: Takeshi Kitano [Japan Cuts 2024]

Kubi 首 (2023), directed by Takeshi Kitano, is a historical epic that amps up the violence and sex for satire’s sake as Kitano takes aim at the absurd samurai social…

Jul 17, 2024 • Subscribe

Short Movie Time: Bottle George (2024) [Japan Cuts 2024]

An instant stop-motion classic

Jun 26, 2024 • Subscribe

Films: Japan 2021

by Jeremy Clarke. So, Scotland Loves Anime is over (save a few stragglers at the Film House) and you’re wondering where you can see more Japanese movies. Today,…

All the Anime

Oct 18, 2021 • Subscribe

A Preview of Japan Cuts 2024 (July 10th – July 21st)

Details on the line-up for Japan Cuts 2024 (July 10th – July 21st))

Jun 10, 2024 • Subscribe

A Preview of Japan Cuts 2023 (July 26th – August 06th)

Details on the line-up for Japan Cuts 2023 (July 26th – August 06th)