A struggling actor rediscovers his sense of purpose on returning to his home town in the wake of his father’s death in Rempei Tsukamoto’s heartwarming drama
Mar 27, 2022 • Subscribe
More like this
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
My Brother, the Android and Me (弟とアンドロイドと僕, Junji Sakamoto, 2022)
A lonely researcher attempts to ease his existential anxiety by building a simulacrum of himself in Junji Sakamoto’s gothic sci-fi chiller
![Featured image for Mari and Mari 彼女来来 (2021) Director: Tatsuya Yamanishi [Japan Cuts 2021]](https://cdn.aniblogtracker.com/live/20210908/1631107394.21009.46977.jpg)
Mari and Mari 彼女来来 (2021) Director: Tatsuya Yamanishi [Japan Cuts 2021]
Mari and Mari 彼女来来 (2021) Director: Tatsuya Yamanishi [Japan Cuts 2021]
What She Likes (彼女が好きなものは, Shogo Kusano, 2021)
A young guy struggling with his sexuality bonds with a young woman embarrassed beyond belief by her love for BL in Shogo Kusano’s high school drama
Yuusha ni Naritai Shoujo To, Yuusha Narubeki Kanojo (勇者になりたい少女と、勇者になるべき彼女)
It seems very appropriate to start our happy New Year with some happy new Yuri, so today we’re going to take a look at Yuusha ni Naritai Shoujo…
Wind, Woman and Road (風と女と旅鴉, Tai Kato, 1958)
A wanderer returns home and finds himself torn between a desire for acceptance and revenge in an early Tai Kato jidaigeki.
Along the Sea (海辺の彼女たち, Akio Fujimoto, 2020)
A migrant worker from Vietnam is faced with her lack of possibility after discovering she is pregnant while living undocumented in Fujimoto’s unflinching social drama
![Featured image for Along the Sea 海辺の彼女たち Dir: Akio Fujimoto (2020) [Osaka Asian Film Festival 2021]](https://cdn.aniblogtracker.com/live/20210430/1619781841.11353.35798.jpg)
Along the Sea 海辺の彼女たち Dir: Akio Fujimoto (2020) [Osaka Asian Film Festival 2021]
A riveting look at the migrant experience through the travails of three Vietnamese women in Japan who travel along the sea to where they hope will be a…
Ashima (Kenji Tsukamoto, 2023)
A teenage rock climber wrestles with the pressures of parental expectation and early fame in Kenji Tsukamoto’s probing documentary.
She is me, I am her (ワタシの中の彼女, Mayu Nakamura, 2022)
A gentle sense of haunting echoes through four tales of pandemic-era Tokyo in Mayu Nakamura’s ethereal anthology.
Tsukuritai Onna to Tabetai Onna, Volume 1 (作りたい女と食べたい女)
I am so excited to be able to review this particular book as my first review of 2022! Since I first read this on Comic Walker, I’ve been…
Tsukuritai Onna to Tabetai Onna, Volume 2 (作りたい女と食べたい女)
Because I loved Volume 1 so very much, I ran out immediately after reviewing it, and bought Tsukuritai Onna to Tabetai Onna, Volume 2 (作りたい女と食べたい女) as a digital…
Tsukuritai Onna to Tabetai Onna, Volume 4 (作りたい女と食べたい女)
There are so many reasons that Tsukuritai Onna to Tabetai Onna, Volume 4 (作りたい女と食べたい女) is an amazing volume of manga, that I’m hard pressed to pick one thing.…
Tsukuritai Onna to Tabetai Onna, Volume 5 (作りたい女と食べたい女)
With more than two decades of reading, I am still absolutely amazed at the high quality of Yuri manga we have gotten in the last few years –…
Tsukuritai Onna to Tabetai Onna, Volume 3 (作りたい女と食べたい女)
In Volume 1, we met Nomoto Yuki, a contractor in an office. She finds society’s expectations for women confining and stress-cooks to relax. We then met Kasuga-san, her…
Vital (ヴィタール, Shinya Tsukamoto, 2004)
An amnesiac medical student attempts to rediscover the path to life while dissecting death in Shinya Tsukamoto’s raw examination of grief and loss.
Onna Tomodachi to Kekkonshitemita, Volume 2 (女ともだちと結婚してみた。)
People are complex systems. Relationships are complex systems made up of complex systems. Even with clear boundaries, even when sex is not an issue, relationships get messy when…
Onna Tomodachi to Kekkonshitemita, Volume 1 (女ともだちと結婚してみた。)
If you are a regular reader here, you probably know how much I like Usui Shio’s recent work in Comic Yuri Hime. I’ve been really happy with Kaketa…
Tsukurita Onna to Tabetai Onna Live-Action Drama (作りたい女と食べたい女)
Tsukuritai Onna to Tabetai Onna (作りたい女と食べたい女), the NHK live-action drama, may well be the very best adaptation from a manga I have ever seen in any media. Nomoto…
Swallow 喰之女 Director: Mai Nakanishi (2021)
You are what you eat in “Swallow 喰之女”, the latest short from horror auteur Mai Nakanishi. This Taiwan-set story shows how coveting beauty and youth can warp alter…
Women and Miso Soup / 女と味噌汁 / Onna to misoshiru (1968)
Obscure Japanese Film #139 Junko Ikeuchi Chikako (Junko Ikeuchi) is a geisha who works under the name of Temari. Such an occupation gives ...
The Beauty and the Dragon (美女と怪龍, Kozaburo Yoshimura, 1955)
A clever princess takes advantage of a courtly crisis to save the kingdom and arrange her own marriage in Kozaburo Yoshimura’s adaptation of the well-known kabuki play Narukami.
Ikemen Onna to Hakoiri Musume, Volume 1 (イケメン女と箱入り娘)
Ikemen Onna to Hakoiri Musume, Volume 1 (イケメン女と箱入り娘) is written by Mochi_Au_Lait, and drawn by majoccoid for REX Comics, one of Ichijinsha’s other imprints. Honestly, I think both…
Ikemen Onna to Hakoiri Musume, Volume 2 (イケメン女と箱入り娘)
So in Volume 1, I missed the joke. My fault. Perhaps because it wasn’t funny?Ikemen Onna to Hakoiri Musume, Volume 2 (イケメン女と箱入り娘), written by Mochi_Au_Lait, drawn by majoccoid,…
Yuri Doujinshi: Yuricon Tabemono to Joshiben (ユリコン 食べ物と女子編)
What do you get when a bunch of the best adult-life Yuri artists get together and explore random themes, then collect them together into anthology doujinshi? You get…
Blood on the Tracks
A thriller manga about a son who is obsessed with her son. Continue reading →
Ranked: VIXX’s title tracks
Hi friends, I hope you’re all doing well! In lieu of a previous post I did ranking Girls’ Generation’s title tracks, which you can read here, I figured…
Ito (いとみち, Satoko Yokohama, 2021)
A shy young woman with a talent for Tsugaru shamisen grows in confidence after getting a job at a maid cafe in Satoko Yokohama’s warmhearted drama
Mushoku Tensei II – 23 – His Father’s Son
Rudy is understandably a mess after losing his left hand, his father, and his mother as he knew her. He’s holed up in his room and looks much…
This year, celebrate Father’s Day with Robo-Dad
It’s Father’s Day and what better way to spend it than with anime? There are a lot of great dads in anime to celebrate with, if they are…
Shadow of Fire (ほかげ, Shinya Tsukamoto, 2023)
The ruins of a firebombed city become a purgatorial space haunted by the tortured souls who cannot escape the traumatic wartime past in Shinya Tsukamoto’s eerie voyage through…
Melting Sounds (ほとぼりメルトサウンズ, Kahori Higashi, 2021)
Displaced youngsters begin to find a new sense of place thanks to a warmhearted young woman and an old man’s ambient sound obsession in Kahori Higashi’s quirky drama
Bad Women of China (中华坏女人, He Xiaopei, 2021)
He Xiaopei contemplates the lives of three generations of teenage women while attempting to reconcile with her distance mother in a very personal documentary.
![Featured image for Ito いとみち Director: Satoko Yokohama (2021) [Osaka Asian Film Festival 2021]](https://cdn.aniblogtracker.com/live/20210317/1615980458.6424.29677.jpg)
Ito いとみち Director: Satoko Yokohama (2021) [Osaka Asian Film Festival 2021]
“Ito” is a heart-warming comedy drama rich in Aomori’s culture where a girl learning to express herself through time spent at a maid cafe and her shamisen skills.…
Ranked: Girls Generation/SNSD’s title tracks
Hi friends! I hope you’re all doing well! Today is that time again for another ranked series, this time focusing on one of my favorite KPOP girl groups:…
Holiday Reviews: BLOOD ON THE TRACKS
If you wanted something just as serious as My Broken Mariko but far more chilling, then 2020 delivered just that with Vertical's release of...
Off The Tracks: The Promised Neverland
I wasn’t planning to post this piece this week. I had something else, about Insomniacs at Night, I think. BUUUT, we ended up having an actual discussion last…
Blood on the Tracks Vol. 1
Talking about volume one of Shuzo Oshimi’s Blood on the Tracks.
The Penguin & The Bloody Tracks Home
This week we talk about The Penguin HBO series and some games Im playing. Then later in the show I share final thoughts on some manga I finished…
Equinox Flower (彼岸花, Yasujiro Ozu, 1958)
An ageing patriarch struggles to accept his declining authority in Ozu’s first colour film
Review: My Country, My Parents (2021)
My Country, My Parents 我和我的父辈 China, 2021, colour, 2.35:1, 157 mins. Directors: Wu Jing 吴京 (I), Zhang Ziyi 章子怡 (II), Xu Zheng 徐峥 (III), Shen Teng 沈腾 (IV).…
Father’s Day in Japan: Special Experience and Gift Ideas
Whether your dad loves food and drink or has a competitive edge, these gifts and experiences will make this Father’s Day in Japan memorable.
Friends Remember Hiroe Tsukamoto, Aniplex USA Producer and Dub Advocate
With a production career spanning over three decades, Hiroe Tsukamoto ushered in fan-favorite series to the home video market and held the door open for aspiring talent and…
Hiruko the Goblin (ヒルコ／妖怪ハンター, Shinya Tsukamoto, 1991)
A professor and his nephew battle ancient evil deep underground in Shinya Tsukamoto’s anarchic genre romp adapted from the manga by Daijiro Morohoshi
Hero-san to Moto Onna Kanbu-san, Volume 3 (ヒーローさんと元女幹部さん)
In Volume 1 we met Honjou Hayate, a woman with a secret identity as the hero Rapid Rabbit and her evil arch-rival Honey Trap. Honey leaves the presumably…
Bakumatsu Joshikousei – Oni to Yoake, Volume 1 (幕末女子高生 鬼と夜明け 一)
Back a the beginning of the year, I reviewed the second volume of a sequel to this series, Oni to Yoake Yuzikiyo (鬼と夜明け 夕月夜). Given that I knew…
My PC 2021 version
I can call myself a PC enthusiast, and this entry is regarding my main PC in 2021.
My World (Murantin, 2021)
Trapped in an alternate reality, an amnesiac attempts to piece together a reality he may not want to face in Murantin’s oneiric indie drama
Blood on the Tracks, Vols. 1-5
One part Mommie Dearest, one part Kids, Blood on the Tracks is an unsettling depiction of the toxic parent-child relationship between Seiko, an overbearing mother, and Seiichi, her…