A dejected artist finds himself reconsidering his life’s choices when his teenage daughter drops out of education to become a Buddhist nun and he falls in love with a forthright professor in Kim Mi…
Nov 20, 2022 • Subscribe
More like this
Climbing (클라이밍, Kim Hye-mi, 2020)
Maternal anxiety destabilises a young woman’s sense of reality as she struggles to deal with changes beyond her control in Kim Hye-ri’s animated body horror psychodrama.
A Distant Place (정말 먼 곳, Park Kun-young, 2020)
A man on the run from himself finds his attempt to live quietly in the mountains disrupted by the resurfacing of his estranged sister in Park Kun-young’s LGBTQ+…
Jiseok (지석, Kim Young-jo, 2022)
Kim Young-jo’s poignant documentary pays tribute to a much missed figure while pointing fingers at the iniquities of the Park Guen-hye era.
On the Line (보이스, Kim Gok & Kim Sun, 2021)
A former policeman gets back on the case when his wife is targeted by telephone scammers in Kim Gok & Kim Sun’s steely action thriller.
Urusei Yatsura – 40 – The Young Man Dressed Like a Woman and the Sea
When the newly-resurrected Nagisa has no place else to go, Ryuunosuke and her dad invite him into their house, but he proves to be an annoying freeloader who…
Otafu Susume 55 – Lonely Castles and Lonely Nerds (Lonely Castle in the Mirror)
Beyond the mirror lies a castle, a wolf, six lonely children, and two very opinionated nerds talking about Lonely Castle in the Mirror.
Kim Min-young of the Report Card (성적표의 김민영, Lee Jae-eun & Lim Ji-sun, 2021)
Former high school friends find themselves at odds over their contradictory life choices in Lee & Lim’s quirky dramedy
Lonely Castle in the Mirror
One day, seven troubled middle schoolers find themselves transported to a mysterious castle on the other side of their bedroom mirrors...in this new world they might just find…
Lonely Castle in the Mirror
Japanese Title: かがみの孤城 (Kagami no kojō)Author: Mizuki Tsujimura (辻村 深月)Translator: Philip GabrielPublication Year: 2017 (Japan); 2021 (United Kingdom)Press: DoubledayPages: 355 Thirteen-year-old Ko…
Lonely Castle in the Mirror
By Shelley Pallis. Kokoro (Ami Touma) has a name that means “heart”, but feels that hers is constantly being stamped on. Mean girls at school make her life…
The Silent Sea (2021) [Drama Review]
The Silent Sea; or, 2021: A Lunar Odyssey Not a damn thing works smoothly in this station. I have been looking forward to The Silent Se...
It’s Okay! (괜찮아 괜찮아 괜찮아!, Kim Hye-young, 2023)
A cheerful young woman smiling her way through tragedy and loneliness ameliorates the lives of those around her in Kim Hye-young’s exuberant dramedy.
Noryang: Deadly Sea (노량: 죽음의 바다, Kim Han-min, 2023)
Third and final instalment in the historical trilogy revolving around legendary admiral, Yi Sun-sin.
Review: Island Keeper (2021)
Island Keeper 守岛人 China, 2021, colour, 2.35:1, 124 mins. Director: Chen Li 陈力. Rating: 6/10. Well-played drama, based on a real-life story, of a couple on a lonely…
Review: Island Keeper (2021)
Island Keeper 守岛人 China, 2021, colour, 2.35:1, 124 mins. Director: Chen Li 陈力. Rating: 6/10. Well-played drama, based on a real-life story, of a couple on a lonely…
Island in a Puddle GN 1
From the creator of ERASED comes a new series about jumping through time when fifth grader Minato switches bodies with adult career criminal Tomohiro Takita – in the…
Lonely Castle in the Mirror Novel
At the risk of being too personal, I lived this story. I don't mean now; I mean that as a seventh grader I experienced many of the same…
Kim Jong-boon of Wangshimni (왕십리 김종분, Kim Jin-yeol, 2021)
A portrait of a truly extraordinary woman living an ostensibly very ordinary life, Kim’s quietly moving documentary is testament both to the hidden stories of those all around…
Sinkhole (싱크홀, Kim Ji-hoon, 2021)
A new homeowner sees his investment in the future crumble beneath his feet in Kim Ji-hoon’s harrowing disaster dramedy
Review: The Lonely Castle in the Mirror
What do you do when school is no longer a safe place? For thirteen-year-old Kokoro Anzai, the answer is simple: you step through your bedroom mirror and accept…
Lonely Man in a Bad City: Tantei Monogatari
As the esteemed readers of this blog (all 3 of you) may remember, back in 2020 I took a look back at a beloved series of mine, Cowboy…
The Goldfish Dreaming Of The Sea (2021) review [Japan Cuts 2021]
“Ogawa’s thoughtful lyricism that gives the emotionality of the performances their power to touch the spectator and enables her exploration of the difficulty to separate from one’s mother…
Review: VOICES OF A DISTANT STAR
A romance set against the backdrop of space sounds epic, but stories like this prove that it can be intimate and longing as well. VOICES OF ...
Island in a Puddle Vol 1 Review
Kei Sanbe, the creator of supernatural thrillers such as Erased and For The Kid I Saw In My Dreams, is back with a gripping new manga series. As…
Lonely Castle in the Mirror Film Review
My review of Lonely Castle in the Mirror is now up over on Anime News Network.
The 8th Night (제8일의 밤, Kim Tae-hyoung, 2021)
Hell is a place on Earth in Kim Tae-hyoung’s eerie supernatural thriller.
Hyper Combat Unit Dangaioh – Lonely Psychics in a Robot
The Crossroads of Dangaioh Welcome to the next installment of Hirano Halloween. This time, a very fun ova series that I’ve been wanting to watch for a long…
Ties to a Lonely Lustre
(This post contains spoilers for the animated adaptation of Land of the Lustrous.) ” (…) even if we break into pieces, as long as we collect enough…
The sea is the womb of the Universe- a Children of the Sea review
There are times that as fans of a manga we know that its aesthetics and its plot turns and curves aren’t easy to translate into animation- taking in…
The Apartment with Two Women (같은 속옷을 입는 두 여자, Kim Se-in, 2021)
A mother and daughter remain locked in a toxic cycle of resentment and dependency in the debut feature from Kim Se-in.
OVA October: Voices from a Distant Star
Note before we start: This will contain spoilers for the OVA Voices from a Distant Star or Hoshi no Koe. Please read at your own discretion. Hiya folks,…
Giovanni's Island - Hope, in a Time of Hopelessness
Giovanni's Island - a picture set during the months and years following the end of World War II - is an unexpectedly hopeful movie. Though the lives of…
Mizutamari ni Ukabu Shima (Island in a Puddle)
This is the story of two very different people swapping bodies. The first is an elementary school boy named Minato, who has to take care of himself and…
A Warrior’s Life is a Lonely One
Ninja Kamui Ep 4 Review I can’t speak from personal experience, but it seems like working in a profession that involves violence can be hard on one’s loved ones.…
Kaina and the Great Snow Sea – 6 [Ririha in a Cage]
Welcome everyone, to the halfway point of the season and another episode of Kaina and the Great Snow Sea! This is a bit of a slower week, even…
Director’s Intention (영화의 거리, Kim Min-geun, 2021)
A location scout is forced to confront her romantic past on realising the director of her latest film is an old flame in Kim Min-geun’s indie drama.
Memoryland (Miền ký ức, Kim Quy Bui, 2021)
It’s almost as if it’s the living who haunt the dead in Kim Quy Bui’s melancholy tale of the rites of death and the abyss of modernity.
Finding Angel (천사는 바이러스, Kim Seong-joon, 2021)
A lost young man begins to find his place in the world while searching for a “faceless angel” in Kim’s warmhearted seasonal mystery
Something fishy in the Sea of Anime!
There is something fishy going on in the anime world. There’s fish everywhere! I understand that the Japan is surrounded by the ocean and the Japanese do love…
Lonely Framing in Yama no Susume
When Hinata and Aoi spend an uncharacteristic day apart, three storyboarding patterns emphasize Hinata's growing loneliness. Yama no Susume Season 3 Episode 10: Passing Seasons 00:00 Intro 01:20 Three motifs 04:30…
The Apothecary Diaries – 15 – In the (Sea)Weeds
Our mysterious monacled official, Lakan, is a good listener. He’s napping on a balcony when he overhears that the warehouse fire case wasn’t actually solved by Lihaku, but…
Young, Alive, In Love
Initial Thoughts I’ll be honest, I had never heard of this manga until StarfruitBooks sent me a copy. I’m always up for trying new reads so I’m very…
The Sea Mystery
detective fiction, 推理小説、games, mystery, murder, locked room, Japanese, translations,
Lonely Hunter
I seem to have read a small pile of books since my last post without getting round to writing a review. So I'll try and write them up…
Sea You, Sea Me
detective fiction, 推理小説、games, mystery, murder, locked room, Japanese, translations,
Are The People in Paradis Island Jews?
Some people have made theories about this anime stating that the people of Paradis Island in Attack on Titan are basically Jews. And because of this theory, the…
Tomb of the River (강릉, Yoon Young-bin, 2021)
A noble gangster is pulled towards the dark side in an internecine battle with pure evil over a lucrative resort in Yoon Young-bin’s purgatorial gangland drama
Shades of the Heart (아무도 없는 곳, Kim Jong-kwan, 2021)
An alienated novelist begins to regain the desire to write after a series of serendipitous encounters in Kim Jong-kwan’s poetic human drama
The portrait of an artist as a young man in RahXephon
The longer I watch RahXephon, the more I become convinced that this is not a show about the human condition. Sure. There are elements in the show that…
Spiraken Manga Review Ep 475: Island In A Puddle
In this, our Four Hundred and Seventy Fifth episode of the Spiraken Manga Review, Xan reviews a seinen manga that is a mix of a suspense story and…