A collection of pop culture icons attempt to safeguard a cafe bar/live house from an assault by savage gangsters in Yamakawa’s anarchic post-modern satire
Nov 30, 2021 • Subscribe
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Rainbow Over the Pacific (夜明けの二人, Yoshitaro Nomura, 1968)
An unserious man begins to grow up while chasing love in Hawaii in a cheerful if ultimately downbeat musical celebration of the centenary of Japanese migration to Hawaii.
Oni to Yoake Yuzikiyo (鬼と夜明け 夕月夜)
While shopping in random bookstores in Japan at the end of last year I kept seeing book,s with girls in school uniforms wielding swords. I did that thing…
The New God (新しい神様, Yutaka Tsuchiya, 1999)
Documentarian Yukata Tsuchiya’s personal documentary explores his friendship with a right-wing punk duo despite not sharing any of their nationalist views
Anata no Yoru ga Aketera (あなたの夜が明けたら)
Anata no Yoru ga Aketera (あなたの夜が明けたら), translated on the cover as After Sunrise, Haru Harukawa Collection is a collection of shorts by, obviously Harukawa Haru. Some of these…
A New Wind Blows (新しい風, Yutaro Nakamura, 2021)
A collection of Tokyoites have a very weird New Year in Yutaro Nakamura’s ethereal take on imagined futures and misremembered pasts.
アニメの新しいゴールデンコンビ – 中村亮介x細居美恵子インタビュー
フランスのジャパン・トゥール・フェスティバルで、アニメ監督の中村亮介とキャラクターデザイナーの細居美恵子の才能ある二人組に出会った。この二人の素晴らしい二人組は、『ねらわれた学園』、『あいうら』、『灰と幻想のグリムガル』などの印象的な作品を生み出した。
The End of the Pale Hour (明け方の若者たち, Hana Matsumoto, 2021)
Dejected youngsters flounder amid the ruins of the salaryman dream in Hana Matsumoto’s youthful drama.
A New Wind Blows 新しい風 Dir: Yutaro Nakamura (2021) [Osaka Asian Film Festival 2021]
Fantasy and reality collide in the youth movie A New Wind Blows 新しい風 Dir: Yutaro Nakamura (2021) [Osaka Asian Film Festival 2021]
Remembering Every Night/全ての夜を思い出す
In 2017, director Kiyohara Yui released her first feature film, Our House (私たちの家), and established herself as a talent to watch. Though that film at times felt a…
Itoshii Koishi, Volume 3 (いとしこいし)
Hina is a high school senior with a secret -she’s dating an older woman. She wants very much to share that secret with her friends, she just needs…
The Dawning Sky (明け行く空, Torajiro Saito, 1929)
A female pastor is unexpectedly reunited with the child she was forced to abandon in Torajiro Saito’s tearjerking familial melodrama.
Uyanotsuki, Volume 1 ( 雨夜の月)
Saki loves piano. Or does she? She loves taking lessons with her teacher, she’s sure of that. But her teacher is leaving… In Uyanotsuki, Volume 1 ( 雨夜の月),…
New Moomin 38/52 - The Curse of the Red Moon (赤い月の呪い) (1972) (English subtitles)
Every lunar eclipse, swarms of bats arrive in Moominvalley, and these bats are said to be vampiric. When it turns out that Snufkin has been taking care of…
Remembering Every Night (すべての夜を思いだす, Yui Kiyohara, 2022)
A series of women wander around Tama New Town each searching for something in Yui Kiyohara’s wistful drama.
Princess Mononoke (もののけ姫, Hayao Miyazaki, 1997)
A young man from an exiled clan tries to make peace between the natural world and the industrial in Hayao Miyazaki’s landmark 1997 animation
Disney+: The new kid in town.
Maybe Disney+ and anime are two things you wouldn’t see pictured together. As more people are turning more to streaming services than television, it makes sense that all…
Shurijō Akewatashi 首里城明渡し – The Turning Over of the Sui royal palace
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Episode #72 (S10E1) – Princess Mononoke [ もののけ姫] (1997)
We kick off Season 10 with one of the most internationally renowned animated films of all time. Derick McDuff of the Underrated network returns to discuss Studio Ghibli’s…
Back To The Matrix: The 4th Time Is The Charm. ★★★★
BTW, there is only a smattering of the “bullet-time” that made the first film so ground-breaking, but for good reasons. It’s two and a half hours of B+…
The Real Thing (本気のしるし, Koji Fukada, 2020)
A bored salaryman begins to chase the real thing after saving a distressed woman from an oncoming train in Fukada’s beautifully elliptical drama
Graveyard of Honor (新・仁義の墓場, Takashi Miike, 2002)
An accidental gangster finds himself on a downward trajectory amid the changing fortunes of late 20th century Japan in Miike’s take on the Fukasaku classic
Just Remembering (ちょっと思い出しただけ, Daigo Matsui, 2021) [Fantasia 2022]
Former lovers are confronted by reminders of their failed romance amid the loneliness of the coronavirus pandemic in Daigo Matsui’s melancholy drama.
今期で注目しているアニメ その他諸々
シングルの発売以来、リリリリさんのMaihimeをヘビロテしているけど、未だに「代替できない仲間」を「大体できない仲間」と聞き間違えてしまう。のは、ここだけの秘密です。どうもこんにちは、麦です。 さて、早くも4月がやってまいりました。ということは、もうすぐ新作アニメが雪崩を打って到来します。かれこれ20年程、アニメの海に溺れている者としては、その荒波に揉まれるのもやぶさかではないといいますか…
墓碑銘の楽しき混乱 A Fun Derangement of Epitaphs
KONOSUBA -An Explosion on This Wonderful World!, Stella of the Theater: World Dai Star, Yuri Is My Job!, Attraction, Maihime
Amayo no Tsuki, Volume 2 ( 雨夜の月)
In Volume 1, we met Saki, a high school student who plays piano, and her classmate (and piano teacher’s daughter), Kanon, who is hard of hearing. Kanon is…
Amayo no Tsuki, Volume 3 ( 雨夜の月)
2022 has been an absolute celebration of amazing Yuri manga licenses and releases. Almost everything I wanted to have been licensed has been. Of the two remaining that…
Amayo no Tsuki, Volume 5 (雨夜の月)
In my fevered anticipation for The Moon on a Rainy Night, Volume 1 coming from Kodansha next week, I was thrilled to have the newest volume of the…
Amayo no Tsuki, Volume 4 ( 雨夜の月)
Well, wow. A whole lot of story happened in this volume. First, Saki finds Kanon’s former best friend – the one Kanon feel betrayed her – and learns…
Amayo no Tsuki, Volume 6 (雨夜の月)
Do you remember Morinaga Milk’s series Girl Friends? It was an incredibly popular and influential Yuri manga in the early 2010s, so more than a decade ago. The…
The Real Thing 本気のしるし Dir: Koji Fukada (2020)
The Real Thing 本気のしるし Dir: Koji Fukada (2020) is an absorbing and addictive thriller about ascertaining the authentic aspect of a relationship and persona.
A Couple of Cuckoos – 13 – It’s a New Morning
After Nagi’s realization sparked by dad that he harbors feelings for all three of Hiro, Erika, and Sachi, he realizes something else: he cannot think about anything else.…
Douseiseikatsu 3 Watashi ha Anata dake no mono (同棲生活3 わたしは貴方だけのもの)
Douseiseikatsu 3 Watashi ha Anata dake no mono (同棲生活3 わたしは貴方だけのもの) is the third volume of Miyuki and Yuuko doing absolutely nothing and I’m pleased as punch about it.…
Douseiseikatsu 3 Watashi ha Anata dake no mono (同棲生活3 わたしは貴方だけのもの)
Douseiseikatsu 3 Watashi ha Anata dake no mono (同棲生活3 わたしは貴方だけのもの) is the third volume of Miyuki and Yuuko doing absolutely nothing and I’m pleased as punch about it.…
The Light of Spring (ひかりのどけき, Fumito Fujikawa, 2022)
Pushed to breaking point by the pressures of the contemporary society amid the coronavirus pandemic, an ordinary family undergoes a trial separation in Fumito Fumikawa’s neorealist drama
New Moomin 47/52 - Slip Out Of the Land of Ice (氷の国をぬけだせ) (1972) (English subtitles)
Winter is starting to arrive in Moominvalley, and Moomin and pals go ice-skating in the morning. However, after an accident, they find themselves in a strange icy wonderland,…
New Moomin 39/52 - The Laughter Mask (笑いの仮面) (1972) (English subtitles)
It's the day of the Mask Festival, and Sniff wants a special laughter mask that the old mask-maker doesn't want to give him at first. Eventually, he relents,…
Kiba: The Fangs of Fiction (騙し絵の牙, Daihachi Yoshida, 2020)
A maverick magazine editor attempts to ride the waves of the Japanese publishing industry while in the middle of a succession crisis in Yoshida’s literary farce
Goukaku Tame no! Yasashi Sankaku Kakei Nyuumon ( 合格のための! やさしい三角関係入門)
Mayuki is determined to get into the school of her choice to be close to the girl she likes, her old sempai on the basketball team, Akira. But…
Beast Alley (けものみち, Eizo Sugawa, 1965)
A hotel maid is dragged into conspiracy after murdering her bedridden husband in Eizo Sugawa’s incredibly dark post-war noir.
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.
Lonely Glory わたしの見ている世界が全て Director: Keitaro Sakon
Lonely Glory わたしの見ている世界が全て, directed by Keitaro Sakon, plays as part of the Japan Film Festival + 2023 season.
Ani no Yome to Kurashiteimasu., Volume 7 (兄の嫁と暮らしています。)
Kuzushiro’s Ani no Yome to Kurashiteimasu. (兄の嫁と暮らしています。) lurches along, awkward, uncomfortable, neither a romance nor something else, and yet, I cannot look away. I last reviewed Volume 5,…
Shinyaku Ribon no Kishi, Volume 1 (新約・リボンの騎士)
Today’s review is in part thanks to the constant evangelizing of Raybon No Kishi on Twitter, who alerted me to some interesting plot complications in this recent reworking…
Thorns Of Beauty (恋のいばら, Hideo Jojo, 2023)
A jilted ex and the current girlfriend team up against a no good guy with compromising photos of them both in Hideo Jojo’s playful drama.
Where Now Are the Dreams of Youth? (靑春の夢いまいづこ, Yasujiro Ozu, 1932)
A privileged young man begins to understand the divisive effects of inequality after taking over the family business in Ozu’s wistful student drama
Episode #67 (S9E5) – Castle in the Sky [天空の城ラピュタ] (1986)
This week, Perry is joined by returning guest, author Patrick Moody, to discuss the Studio Ghibli classic, Castle in the Sky. We discuss the film’s legacy, influence, and…
あの作品の裏話もー。漫画家の星野泰視さんにお越しいただきました。A Talk with Urasawa’s old assistant, Yasushi Hoshino.
漫画家・浦沢直樹の「浦沢チャンネル」。今回は漫画家で元浦沢アシスタントの星野泰視さんにお越しいただき、アシスタント時代の思い出やデジタル作画、漫画制作の裏話などを語っていただきました。 [ゲスト] 星野泰視 Yasushi Hoshino 漫画家。山形県出身。『哲也~雀聖と呼ばれた男~』(原案/さい ふうめい)で第24回講談社漫画賞受賞。著作に『江川と西本』(原作/森高夕次)、『ABC殺人事件』(原作/アガサ・クリスティー)など。現在『日本を創った男~渋沢栄一 青き日々~』を「ヤングチャンピオン」にて連載中。 “Urasawa Channel”, a YouTube channel by a Japanese manga artist Naoki Urasawa. This time, he invites a manga artist and his former assistant,…
Bread of Happiness (しあわせのパン, Yukiko Mishima, 2012)
A warmhearted couple offer gentle support to a series of lonely souls from their cosy Hokkaido cafe in Yukiko Mishima’s slice of comfort foodie cinema
New Moomin 35/52 - Pappa's Old Shoes (パパの古い靴) (1972) (English subtitles)
While searching for his ball in the storeroom, Moomin discovers Pappa's old shoes. As Mamma explains, they are a memento of the hardships he went through when he…
Noise, melancholy and escapism: わたしのココ
For some reason I tend not to like Vocaloid music or producers, but so far there’s a single artist, that I found many years ago by pure accident…
Yuri Manga: White Lilies in Love Watashi ga Yoishireru no ha, Natsu no Hizashi to Anata Dake. Shakaijin Yuri Anthology (White Lilies in Love 私が酔いしれるのは、夏の陽射しと貴方だけ。 社会人百合アンソロジー)
Kadokawa’s “White Lilies” series of anthologies have been good and goofy and fun and sad. White Lilies in Love Watashi ga Yoishireru no ha, Natsu no Hizashi to…