A haunted Go board, a paranoid lord, and a rumour about a vengeful ghost cat spirit throw a small community into chaos in Kunio Watabe’s playful supernatural drama
Jan 9, 2022 • Subscribe
More like this
Legend of the Cat Monster (麗猫伝説, Nobuhiko Obayashi, 1983)
A young writer falls prey to the dream of cinema while tasked with convincing a reclusive actress to return to the silver screen in Obayashi’s gothic tale of…
Black Cat Mansion (亡霊怪猫屋敷, Nobuo Nakagawa, 1958)
A rationally minded doctor and his sickly wife find themselves trapped in the haunted house of post-war Japan in Nobuo Nakagawa’s eerie gothic horror
YOTSUYA KAIDAN 四谷怪談 (1949) + NIJI OTOKO (THE RAINBOW MAN) 虹男 (1949)
YOTSUYA KAIDAN This is one of several film versions of Tsuruya Nanboku IV’s story, Tokaido Yotsuya Kaidan. Nanboku wrote this tale...
Immersion (忌怪島／きかいじま, Takashi Shimizu, 2023)
An attempt to recreate the “real” in the “virtual” causes a rupture between this world and another in Takashi Shimizu’s high tech horror.
Crest of Betrayal (忠臣蔵外伝 四谷怪談, Kinji Fukasaku, 1994)
An ambitious samurai finds himself corrupted by the times in which he lives in Fukasaku’s etherial fusion of Yotsuya Kaidan and the Chushingura
The Art of Kunio Kato
Returning to the "miniature garden."
The Ghost of the Hunchback (怪談せむし男, Hajime Sato, 1965)
Morally compromised citizens of post-war Japan find themselves trapped in the purgatorial hell of a creepy old mansion in Hajime Sato’s gothic romp
Droopy Shorts, 1943-1949
MGM’s animation department, founded in 1937, produced animated works until its closure in 1958 – the popular characters Tom and Jerry debuted through MGM in 1940, and three…
Cat, the Great Detective / 猫には推理がよく似合う
Cat, the Great Detective is a mystery novel that, you may have guessed from the title and cover, features a cat. Our protagonist is Kaori T...
Remembering Watanabe Chuumei
Composer Watanabe Chuumei (real name Watanabe Michiaki) died on June 23, 2022 at the age of 96. At first, the name didn’t ring a bell for me, but…
The Invisible Man Appears (1949) review
“Adachi’s mystery sci-fi film remains, after all these years, a highly entertaining narrative.”
Interview with Shinichiro Watanabe
The post Interview with Shinichiro Watanabe appeared first on Full Frontal.
Director Digest: Shinichiro Watanabe
Welcome, dear readers! My blog series Director Digest will take a look at a selected anime director each time. In this case, it’s Shinichiro Watanabe, and very famous…
Ghost of a Chance
detective fiction, 推理小説、games,
Gunpla Boom Ephemera: Kunio Okawara’s Gouf Lady
With the gunpla boom riding high and Bandai rolling out its new Mobile Suit Variations series, original Gundam mechanical designer Kunio Okawara tried his hand at sculpting an…
Children of the Sea Review (2019, Ayumu Watanabe)
Given that adaptations are the bread and butter of the anime industry, it is only natural that many of the most popular series are based on pre-existing manga,…
History of Ghost Taxis of Japan
Translated and Sourced from Shigeru Mizuki’s Mujara, Japanese Ghost Stories: Spirits, Hauntings, and Paranormal Phenomena, and Other Sources To learn more about Japanese Ghosts, check out my …
Keiichiro Watanabe: Jujutsu Kaisen #02
Most of the time I do this kind of analysis on twitter because aside from reaching a larger audience much faster, I also feel less of a need…
Watanabe Kills the Great Spider
This week continues spooky October with another Watanabe and Raiko monster adventure. You can find modernized versions of these and other stories in my compilation “Tales from Old…
∀ Gundam Question Corner with Okawara Kunio & Yasuda Akira
This interview is from the 1999 May release of Animage, so only shortly after the series began airing. It’s very short but I hope you enjoy it! Okawara…
Interview with Kunio Okawara from the Sankei Newspaper
I thought I’d translate a recent article that was published in the Japanese Sankei newspaper around the 08th of August 2015. This article interviews Kunio Okawara(大河原邦男) and also…
Monster (怪物, Hirokazu Koreeda, 2023)
Gossip and petty prejudice give rise to a series of “misunderstandings” in Koreeda’s probing drama.
Mononoke / モノノ怪 by Ninagawa Yaeko
Once again, I am shamefully coming to you with a manga recommendation based on an anime. I had originally intended this blog… well, to be a podcast, but…
Stray Dog (野良犬, Akira Kurosawa, 1949)
A rookie policeman chases an echo of himself through the backstreets of post-war Japan while looking for his missing gun in Akira Kurosawa’s sweltering noir.
Takashi Kojima【小島崇史】Sakuga MAD
Song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=onhBN0qkUcE Takashi Kojima is an animator of enormous talent and skill, with the ability to draw any character design perfectly while still maintaining his own unique style. I've…
Nagi’s Island (凪の島, Masahiko Nagasawa, 2022)
A young girl begins to put the past behind her while comforted by an idyllic island community in Masahiko Nagasawa’s gentle human drama.
Uminekosou days, Volume 3 (海猫荘 days)
In Volume 1, wet met Mayumi, a woman on the run from the ruins of her life. She decides to become a teacher in a small seaside town,…
Uminekosou days, Volume 2 (海猫荘 days)
Mayumi’s job as a teacher in this small town has begun and she is settling in. Well, settling isn’t the right word at all. If anything, in
![Featured image for A first look at Ghost Cat Anzu [WIP – Annecy International Animation Film Festival 2023]](https://cdn.aniblogtracker.com/live/20230723/1690102720.65347.100296.jpg)
A first look at Ghost Cat Anzu [WIP – Annecy International Animation Film Festival 2023]
A report on the Ghost Cat Anzu movie's Work in Progress at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival
Kunio-kun and Double Dragon for Super Smash Bros.
As Smash Bros. Ultimate increasingly becomes a celebration of gaming history on a wider scale, I want more and more to see every video game genre represented in…
１９ （ナインティーン） Director: Kazushi Watanabe (2001)
１９ （ナインティーン） Director: Kazushi Watanabe (2001)
Behind the Monogatari Series – Akio Watanabe
The post Behind the Monogatari Series – Akio Watanabe appeared first on Full Frontal.
493 – Manben Machinations 1 – Wataru Watanabe
It's time to examine Naoki Urasawa's Manben! We'll be diving into the episode on Wataru Watanabe and discussing his signature series, Yowamushi Pedal! We also talk about Anime…
Koi Ja Nee Kara: Watanabe Peko
After two and a half years of living my vicarious bookstore life through online shops and international couriers, I have finally set foot in a Japanese bookstore again,…
Watanabe Cuts Off the Oni’s Arm
To celebrate October (one of my favorite months), I will be posting Japanese folklore in their original English versions. You can find modernized versions of these and other…
![Featured image for Episode #79 (S10E8) – Kwaidan [怪談] (1965)](https://cdn.aniblogtracker.com/live/20240320/1710922571.81177.119684.jpg)
Episode #79 (S10E8) – Kwaidan [怪談] (1965)
Podcaster Mike Lund visits the show to discuss Kwaidan, an adaptation of four of Lafcadio Hearn’s Japanese ghost stories. We discuss our favorite stories from this anthology, some…
Racing the Ghost of Initial D
MF Ghost is not Initial D despite their thematic and narrative similarities. No series will ever be as transcendent as Initial D was, but that doesn’t mean no…
Ghost Memories
By Andrew Osmond. “The story of a legendary actress talking about her life. Confusion clouds her memory and her old roles come into play to create an eventful…
Summer Ghost
By James L. Perkins. After working as an illustrator and character designer on light novels, manga and anime features such as the gut-punching and emotional I Want to…
Summer Ghost
By Andrew Osmond. The name Summer Ghost may sound oxymoronic to British viewers. We tend to associate ghosts with cold, dark months, as with A Christmas Carol and…
The Capable Cat #09 — Cat Sitting
This episode proved my personal hypothesis that two episodes of this in a short span is a bit more than I can stomach. Impressions: Or maybe it…
Straying (猫は逃げた, Rikiya Imaizumi, 2021)
An adulterous couple on the brink of divorce are brought closer together while looking for their runaway cat in Rikiya Imaizumi’s contemporary romantic drama.
Pick of the Week: Cat Feud
MICHELLE: There is so much good stuff coming out this week! My Androgynous Boyfriend and The Carp on the Chopping Block Jumps Twice are exciting enough, and then…
Minisode 6: A Short Intro To – The Animation of Keiichiro Watanabe
For the sixth and final installment of the ‘Short Intro To’ series, let’s discuss the wonderful animation of Keiichiro Watanabe! Watanabe’s animation has definitely made me …
Max-imum Ma.K Technique: The Chromatic Painting Style of Max Watanabe
kvltworx returns with another painting tutorial, this time diving into the unique lacquer hand brush techniques of master modeler Max Watanabe.
Black Cat
I'd make a joke about bad luck crossing your path, but I think they already do that in the manga a couple of times... 2:13 - Black Cat 29:41 -…
Dark Cat
Dark Cat is a 1991 Action Horror Original Video Animation from Agent 21 studios. While this is only one episode, that does not mean that it can’t pack…
A Hometown in Heart (마음의 고향, Yoon Yong-Kyu, 1949)
A lonely boy longing for his mother bonds with a grieving widow in Yoon Yong-Kyu’s tale of oppressive religiosity and the necessity of love
Motoshinkakarannu (沖縄エロス外伝 モトシンカカランヌー, NDU, 1971)
The Nihon Documentarist Union visits Okinawa on the brink of its reversion and capture a sense of anxiety of those caught at a moment of transition.
Carole & Tuesday by Watanabe Shinichiro / Yamataka Morito
I picked up the first two volumes of the rock-and-roll futuristic fantasy, Carole & Tuesday at my library. You’ll have to do the same, if you’re interested, because…