A conflicted scientist struggles to reconcile himself to the implications of his work while researching an atomic bomb in Kurosaki’s contemplative wartime drama
Sep 13, 2021 • Subscribe
More like this
The Sands of Kurobe (黒部の太陽, Kei Kumai, 1968)
Kei Kumai directs a three-hour epic devoted to the sometimes brutal construction of the Kurobe Dam.
Yoko (658km、陽子の旅, Kazuyoshi Kumakiri, 2023)
An isolated woman begins to rediscover herself while hitchhiking to her estranged father’s funeral in Kazuyoshi Kumakiri’s quietly moving road movie.
The Naked Sun / 裸の太陽 / Hadaka no taiyo (1958)
Obscure Japanese Film #254Shinjiro Ebara Kimura (Shinjiro Ebara) is a young stoker on the railway saving up to marry Yukiko (Satomi Oka), His best friend, Maeda (Tatsuya Nakadai), also works for…
Children of the Beehive: What Happened Next (その後の蜂の巣の子供たち, Hiroshi Shimizu, 1951)
In an interesting piece of meta docufiction, Hiroshi Shimizu revisits the Beehive a few years later to find out how the orphans live now.
Dancing Girl (踊子, Hiroshi Shimizu, 1957)
The arrival of a free-spirited younger sister creates chaos in the live of a chorus dancer and her violinist husband in Hiroshi Shimizu’s elegantly lensed melodrama.
Under the Stars (星の子, Tatsushi Omori, 2020)
A young woman raised by devotees of a new religion comes to question her worldview when confronted with its otherness in Tatsushi Omori’s coming-of-age drama.
Blue Sun Palace (藍色太陽宮, Constance Tsang, 2024)
“It’s funny how quickly people you love become strangers,” a middle-aged man muses while talking about more than one thing at the same time. Those at the centre…
The Rose on His Arm (太陽とバラ, Keisuke Kinoshita, 1956)
A frustrated young man’s exploitative relationship with the son of a wealthy factory owner provokes only violence and futility in Keisuke Kinoshita’s take on post-Sun Tribe youth drama
A Balance (由宇子の天秤, Yujiro Harumoto, 2020)
An idealistic documentarian’s journalistic ethics are strained when she uncovers scandal close to home in Yujiro Harumoto’s probing social drama
Yoko Hikasa the "legendary Old Hag" 🫶 #日笠陽子
If you've seen the thumbnail of everyone's favorite waifu Mio Akiyama from K-On, you've come to the right place. She also played Emilie from 'Genshin Impact', Rias Gremory…
Okazu 2020 Yuri Gift Guide
2020 has been a decade of a year and, frankly, we all deserve a treat. I’ve picked a handful of series that I think will appeal to different…
The Sand City in Manchuria (砂漠を渡る太陽, Kiyoshi Saeki, 1960)
An idealistic doctor stands alone against Japanese imperialist oppression in Manchuria in Kiyoshi Saeki’s wartime drama.
Sayon’s Bell (サヨンの鐘, Hiroshi Shimizu, 1943)
An indigenous woman becomes a martyr for the Japanese empire after drowning in a river while carrying the possessions of a Japanese policeman in an unabashed propaganda effort…
Kodomo no me / 子供の眼 / (‘Eyes of a Child’, 1955)
Obscure Japanese Film #162 Hideko Takamine Kiyoko (Hideko Takamine) is a young woman living in Tokyo with her older brother, Shunji (Hiros...
Goto-san (ゴトーさん, Hiroshi Gokan, 2020)
A young man’s peaceful dropout existence is disrupted by potential romance, a deadly virus, and economic instability in Gokan’s deceptively quirky drama
Days of Anime 2020: Fire and Hemlock
One of the best books I read this year was Fire and Hemlock, a children’s fantasy written by Diana Wynne Jones. I spent some time after reading it…
Record of a Woman Doctor (女医の記録, Hiroshi Shimizu, 1941)
A doctor gains a new perspective on life after being sent to a remote rural village in Hiroshi Shimizu’s gentle social drama.
Image of a Mother (母のおもかげ, Hiroshi Shimizu, 1959)
A little boy’s difficulties in accepting his new stepmother express an anxiety about the changing nature of the family in Hiroshi Shimizu’s familial melodrama.
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
Children of the Great Buddha (大仏さまと子供たち, Hiroshi Shimizu, 1952)
A collection of orphans attempt to support themselves as tour guides to the ancient capital of Nara in HIroshi Shimizu’s empathetic drama.
The Golden Bullet (黄金の弾丸, Hiroshi Innami, 1927)
A locked room mystery sends a dogged detective hot on the trail of the Benevolent Picaroon in Hiroshi Innami’s highly stylised silent
Hiroshi Manabe
真鍋博 MANABE HIROSHI *Though more famous for his retro futurist illustrations, Manabe was one third of the original Animation Sannin no Kai group that jumpstarted independent animation in…
A Son (二十歳の息子, Ryuichi Shimada, 2022)
Documentarian Ryuichi Shimada follows a social worker who decides to adopt a 20-year-old man recently released from juvenile detention.
Episode #101 (S13E02) – Weathering With You (2019) [天気の子]
Today, Perry is joined by author and filmmaker Liam Quane to talk about 2019's anime film, Weathering With You. Directed by Makoto Shinkai, this was his follow-up to…
My Sunshine (ぼくのお日さま, Hiroshi Okuyama, 2024)
A young man with his head in the clouds discovers a new means of expression through figure skating in Hiroshi Okuyama’s delicate drama.
The Playful Icons of Hiroshi Mori
While browsing Pinterest recently, I found this: Beneath, some wags had christened this the “Moe Lisa” by “Leonardo Doujinshi.” The whimsical, anime-esque style reminds me of the playful…
Give a Gift of Okazu!
Patreon has a new feature that I want to share. You can now give an Okazu patronage as a gift to someone else. Maybe you know someone who…
Cane Fire (Anthony Banua-Simon, 2020)
Banua-Simon’s multimedia doc explores the ongoing effects of contemporary colonialism through the prism of Hollywood’s presentation of the Hawaiian paradise.
Otona no Yuricon 2020 (大人のユリコン2020)
After a prolonged trip across the ocean, a long-awaited doujinshi has finally arrived at my home. And, like clockwork, the Melonbooks website is down for maintenance, so I…
On the Edge of Their Seats (アルプススタンドのはしの方, Hideo Jojo, 2020)
It’s only natural to be a little anxious in the last year of high school but a collection of his school students are in danger of giving up…
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
Mashle and the Gift of Circumstance
If you’re like a number of our staffers, you were absolutely entranced by Mashle, a series that alternately would have you on the floor rolling in laughter or…
Goodbye, Shika: The Gift of Mourning
A few hours ago, as I write this, my cat Shikamaru died. He had developed FIPV, or Feline Infectious Peritonitis, an incurable and fatal viral infection. Shika was…
The gift of BL on #Blush801
Today would have been the Blush Convention. For years, as organisers, we’ve sought to find ways to hold the con as close to 801 yet schedules fail…
Nosari: Impermanent Eternity (のさりの島, Tatsuya Yamamoto, 2020)
An ore ore scammer’s cynical worldview is challenged when he finds temporary harbour with an elderly woman in Yamamoto’s touching indie drama
ユダヤ人から見た小林賢太郎氏のホロコーストコント(JPN Editon)
皆さんは情報を発信する時、誰の目に留まるのか意識しているでしょうか?日本人と繋がりの深いユダヤ人から見た小林賢太郎のホロコーストコントに関する本音をお伝えします。(JPN edition of original English post.)
The Old Town Girls (兔子暴力, Shen Yu, 2020)
The left behind children of decaying industrial China find themselves at the mercy of a corrupted parental legacy in Shen Yu’s gritty neo-noir
菓子パン
Kashipan, kashipan as far as the eye can see - How to Japanese - May 2022
Tonkatsu DJ Agetaro (とんかつDJアゲ太郎, Ken Ninomiya, 2020)
The nerdy heir to a tonkatsu restaurant finds his heaven on the dance floor in a surprisingly wholesome turn from Ken Ninomiya
Animator Hiroshi Watanabe’s Interview
This is an interview with one of Studio Live’s main animators, Hiroshi Watanabe. For more on Studio Live and Hiroshi Watanabe, I recommend reading my previous post on…
Hiroshi Hirata (1937-2021)
The manga artist Hiroshi Hirata, who died last week, spent his formative years struggling to make ends meet in a poverty-stricken Japan. He was born in Tokyo, where…
OUT (Hiroshi Shinagawa, 2023)
Delinquent dramas have been having a bit of a moment over the last few years and like many Hiroshi Shinagawa’s manga adaptation OUT is a comic retro throwback…
The Town of Headcounts (人数の町, Shinji Araki, 2020)
A disaffected young man gets a fresh start in a utopian community but quickly becomes disillusioned in Shinji Araki’s slick dystopian thriller
Seven Days War (ぼくらの七日間戦争, Hiroshi Sugawara, 1988)
Oppressed teens rebel against the constraints of the Bubble-era society in Hiroshi Sugawara’s anarchic Kadokawa teen movie.
House on Fire (火宅の人, Kinji Fukasaku, 1986)
An anxious writer fears collapse under the weight of fatherhood in Kinji Fuksaku’s adaptation of the autobiographical novel of Kazuo Dan.
X: Mild Gift
Japanese animation, anime, cartoons, manga, 1960-1990, Tezuka, Miyazaki, Ishinomori, Matsumoto, Yamato, Gatchaman, Star Blazers, Captain Harlock
Anime Gift Recommendations
By Andrew Osmond. If you’re buying anime as a present for someone this Christmas, here are our recommendations! If they like action… Cowboy Bebop may have spaceships, but…
Fire Force Anime Gets Second Season in 2020
Earlier today, the final episode of Fire Force aired on Japanese TV. At the end of the episode, a teaser trailer played, which confirmed that the show will…
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]
Episode 652, "Gift of the Majis" (with @ochimusha108)
On this week’s episode of The One Piece Podcast we have hosts Zach , Ed , Steve & Alex with Greg Werner (columnist for the official …