Ken Takakura stars as a China-based hitman dragged into local intrigue when a job goes awry in an early crime thriller from Teruo Ishii.
Jun 29, 2022 • Subscribe
More like this
Flesh Pier (女体桟橋, Teruo Ishii, 1958)
An undercover cop’s mission to crack a trafficking is disrupted when he runs into an an old flame in Teruo Ishii’s early B-movie noir
On the Road Forever (無宿者, Kenji Misumi, 1964)
Wandering sons on opposing sides find themselves united in their quest to avenge absent fathers in Kenji Misumi’s filiality drama
Mathematical Goodbye / 笑わない数学者
Mathematical Goodbye is a strange book. It’s different from the previous books in the S&M series (standing for the protagonists’ names, Sa...
![Featured image for Remain In Twilight (くれなずめ, Daigo Matsui, 2021) [Fantasia 2021]](https://cdn.aniblogtracker.com/live/20210819/1629331394.19675.45404.jpg)
Remain In Twilight (くれなずめ, Daigo Matsui, 2021) [Fantasia 2021]
A group of high school friends is forced to confront unresolved grief while rehearing for a wedding in Daigo Matsui’s moving metaphysical drama
Punk Samurai (パンク侍、斬られて候, Gakuryu Ishii, 2018)
The arrival of a chaotic ronin spreading tales of a weird cult results in a battle between “monkeys and idiots” in Gakuryu Ishii’s irreverent jidaigeki comedy.
Sorasoi (そらそい, Katsuhito Ishii, Shunichiro Miki, Yuka Osumi, 2008)
Students on a dance summer camp pick up a few lessons in authenticity and self-confidence while staying in an out of the way hotel in Ishii, Miki, &…
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…
Sayonara Rose Garden, Volume 3 (さよならローズガーデン)
Goodbye, My Rose Garden, Volume 1 by Dr. Pepperco is is out now in English from Seven Seas and in honor of this series coming out in English,…
Long Goodbye (さようなら, Yuuji Nomura, 2022)
A collection of dejected factory workers plot escape from small-town ennui by robbing their tax evading boss in Yuuji Nomura’s adaptation of his stage play.
Hana ni Arashi 11 (はなにあらし)
High school is a weird time. So much is going on in your body, in your head, in your heart. It’s the last time to have fun as…
Hana ni Arashi 10 (はなにあらし)
High school is a weird time. So much is going on in your body, in your head, in your heart. It’s the last time to have fun as…
Bohachi Bushido: Code of the Forgotten Eight (ポルノ時代劇 忘八武士道, Teruo Ishii, 1973)
A nihilistic ronin falls into the hellish trap of the Yoshiwara in Teruo Ishii’s dazzlingly psychedelic period drama, Bohachi Bushido
Hana ni Arashi, Volume 5 (はなにあらし)
While we’re able to enjoy Makoto Hagino’s slow-burn high school Yuri romance, A Tropical Fish Years for Snow in English, there is another Shogagakukan title with a similar…
Hana ni Arashi, Volume 7 (はなにあらし)
In Volume 7 of Hana ni Arashi, (はなにあらし) something finally happens. Well…two things. Remembering that, in this series “happen” is very broadly applied word. ^_^ The first thing…
Hana ni Arashi, Volume 4 (はなにあらし)
In Volume 1 we met Nanoha and Chidori, two girls who have a secret – they are lovers. They aren’t lovers, but they are in love and they…
Hoyaman (さよなら ほやマン, Teruaki Shoji, 2023)
The tranquil island life of a pair of brothers is interrupted by the arrival of a mysterious woman in Teruaki Shoji’s quirky comedy.
Hana ni Arashi, Volume 8, (はなにあらし)
In Hana ni Arashi, Volume 8 (はなにあらし), Nanoha is starting to feel the weight of the real world and isn’t sure that she and Chidori inhabit the same…
Hana ni Arashi, Volume 6 (はなにあらし)
Nanoha and Chidori have shared their first kisses and, frankly, they are pretty sure that they no one has noticed, even though it got a little weird between…
Hana ni Arashi, Volume 9 (はなにあらし)
We have watched Nanoha and Chidori since they began dating. For a very long time, it was under the radar, but as they look towards a wider future…
Hana ni Arashi, Volume 11 (はなにあらし)
Nanoha and Chidori are two young woman in love. They know that when they graduate thing will change and their lives will grow more compliacated, but for this…
Revenge (1964) review
A classic – a jidai-geki that every cinephile should see.
Kimi to Shiranai Natsu ni Naru, Volume 1 (君としらない夏になる)
Kimi to Shiranai Natsu ni Naru, Volume 1 (君としらない夏になる), subtitled in English “Throw away the suit together,” is one of my favorite reads currently in Comic Yuri Hime…
Yuri Manga: Sayonara Rose Garden, Volume 2 (さよならローズガーデン)
Volume 1 introduced us to Hanako, a Japanese woman who has traveled to England from far-off Japan to meet her favorite author, during Victoria’s reign. To support herself,…
Dear Etranger / 幼な子われらに生まれ
It’s no secret that divorce is messy and complicated, particularly when children are involved. From the child’s perspective, it may be the moment that you realize your parents…
Katsuhito Ishii as Animator
By Tom Wilmot. For those clued up on modern Japanese cinema, the name Katsuhito Ishii is sure to ring a bell. Renowned for his surreal imagery and off-kilter…
Pale Flower (1964) review
“A ‘seductive’ nihilistic masterpiece that explores the unescapable subjective problems created by the rhythmic capitalistic machinery.”
Takahiro Kimura (1964-2023)
Takahiro Kimura, who died on 5th March, first got the idea that animation might be the career for him when he saw episodes of Armoured Trooper VOTOMS and…
Keiko Nobumoto (1964-2021)
The writer Keiko Nobumoto, who died on 1st December from oesophageal cancer, was one of the stand-out figures of the anime world, quite possibly because her path to…
Lonely Girl ni Sakaraenai, Volume 1 (ロンリーガールに逆らえない)
Sakuraii is a model student but has a fatal flaw – she absolutely sucks at tests. If it weren’t for tests, she’d have no trouble at all getting…
Yuri Manga: Hana ni Arashi, Volume 2 (はなにあらし)
In Volume 1, we met Nanoha and Chidori, two high school students who are keeping a secret from their friends – they are going out with each other.…
Lonely Girl ni Sakaraenai, Volume 2 (ロンリーガールに逆らえない)
The best romantic comedies, in my opinion, are ones that stop trying to be a comedy. In Volume 1, this series was definitely a comedy. Lonely Girl ni…
Yuri Manga: Hana ni Arashi, Volume 3 (はなにあらし)
Chidori and Nanoha have a secret, we are told in Volume 1 and Volume 2. They are lovers, we are told. And we will have to believe what…
My Sorry Life (愛のくだらない, Kozue Nomoto, 2020)
A self-absorbed TV producer gets a wake up call when her boyfriend announces he’s pregnant in Kozue Nomoto’s ironic dramedy
3 Reasons To Watch: Outlaw Star
Aisha is a good kitty.
Outlaw Star (Seihō Bukyō Autorō Sutā)
Outlaw Star (Seihō Bukyō Autorō Sutā) 1998 Space Opera is one of my favourite genres so I was already pre-disposed toward enjoying Outlaw Star before I saw it,…
OtakuGeneration (Show #186) Trigun / Outlaw Star
NOTE: This was also cross posted in the otakugeneration LJ community. Shownotes :: (show 186) :: (website) :: (podcast feed) :: (direct download) :: (direct iTunes link) With the Holiday…
Death Note, Outlaw Star, Step Up Love Story, Outlaw Star, Pumpkin Scissors
Party 7 (Katsuhito Ishii, 2000)
A series of strange events bring a collection of lonely souls to Hotel New Mexico in Katsuhito Ishii’s zany crime comedy.
Ken (剣, Kenji Misumi, 1964)
A rigid young man dreaming of a “pure life” is forced to confront the contradictions of the modern society in Misumi’s melancholy masculinity drama
Goodbye CP さようならCP Director: Kazuo Hara, Producer: Sachiko Kobayashi (1972)
Goodbye CP さようならCP Director: Kazuo Hara, Producer: Sachiko Kobayashi (1972)
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…
Birdie Wing Episode 1: The Outlaw Golfer
While we wait and hope for a full Sorairo Utility anime we got another golf girls show here. Let’s see what the premiere had for us.
A Girl in My Room 左様なら今晩は (2022) Director: Natsuki Takahashi
A Girl in My Room 左様なら今晩は (2022), by director Natsuki Takahashi, is a cute supernatural drama with shades of romance and sadness.
Angry Son 世界は僕らに気づかない Dir: Kasho Iizuka
A rewrite of my review for the very worthwhile topical film Angry Son, a meaty drama about the mixed-race experience (Filipino-Japanese) in Japan! 世界は僕らに気づかない Dir: Kasho Iizuka [Osaka…
Ai ni Airashi Itoshi Anata (愛に愛らし愛しいあなた)
Suzuki Yufuko’s Ai ni Airashi Itoshi Anata (愛に愛らし愛しいあなた) was not at all what I expected it to be. No, scratch that. It was exactly everything I expected it…
●BOOK● OTOMO THE COMPLETE WORKS 4: SAYONARA NIPPON (さよならにっぽん)
Katsuhiro Otomo, Akira, Bibliography, Otomo, Animation, Manga, Steamboy, Japanimation,
Angry Son (世界は僕らに気づかない, Kasho Iizuka, 2022)
A resentful young man comes to a better understanding of his place in the world while searching for his estranged father in Kasho Iizuka’s sensitive coming-of-age drama
Seven Weeks (野のなななのか, Nobuhiko Obayashi, 2014)
“A death is a history” in Obayashi’s intensely moving tale of the interconnectedness of all things, love, death, war, and memory.
Otafu Susume 48 – Firefly the Anime (Outlaw Star)
Outlaw Star, a space western that's shooting off after treasure but isn't entirely concerned about when it gets there.
Nakatani Nio Short Story Collection Sayonara Alter ( 仲谷鳰短編集 さよならオルタ)
Nakatani Nio Short Story Collection Sayonara Alter ( 仲谷鳰短編集 さよならオルタ) is the collected volume of short stories by the Yagate Kimi ni Naru /Bloom Into You creator. The…