A jaded young man struggling with the family funeral business gains a new perspective in bonding with a grumpy little girl in Liu Jiangjiang’s heartwarming drama.
Jan 21, 2023 • Subscribe
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Review: Lighting Up the Stars (2022)
Lighting Up the Stars 人生大事 China, 2022, colour, 2.35:1, 106 mins. Director: Liu Jiangjiang 刘江江. Rating: 6/10. Redemptive odd-couple movie, centred on a no-good ex-con and a brattish…
The Butterfly Murder Case / 蝶々殺人事件
While Kousuke Kindaichi is by far Seishi Yokomizo ’s most famous fictional detective, he is not the only one. Yokomizo also wrote many book...
The Last Dance (大病人, Juzo Itami, 1993)
A self-involved film director gets a lesson in what it is to live when he discovers that he has terminal cancer in a lighthearted melodrama from Juzo Itami.
Diamond City Lighting It Up: Ogiue Maniax Status Update for February 2022
Happy New Year (again!) to all who celebrate the lunar calendar and the Year of the T-T-T-T-Tiger. As the Omicron variant (hopefully) peaks at varying times, I’m naturally…
Godspeed (人生路不熟, Yi Xiaoxing, 2023)
An earnest young man does everything he can to try and impress his traditionalist father-in-law-to-be but just can’t seem to catch break in Yi Xiaoxing’s charming road trip…
Episode #51 – Big Man Japan (大日本人)
Author Patrick Moody makes his JOF debut to discuss Hitoshi Matsumoto’s kaiju mockumentary film, Big Man Japan.
Otona no Yuricon 2020 (大人のユリコン2020)
After a prolonged trip across the ocean, a long-awaited doujinshi has finally arrived at my home. And, like clockwork, the Melonbooks website is down for maintenance, so I…
Lost in the Stars (消失的她, Cui Rui & Liu Xiang, 2023)
A frantic husband searches for his missing wife with the aid of a steely international lawyer in Cui Rui & Liu Xiang’s twisted mystery thriller.
I Still Remember (二次人生, Lik Ho, 2021)
A directionless young man regains a sense of purpose after reuniting with a childhood father figure in Lik Ho’s sporting drama
Review: Lost in the Stars (2022)
Lost in the Stars 消失的她 China, 2022, colour, 2.35:1, 121 mins. Directors: Cui Rui 崔睿, Liu Xiang 刘翔. Rating: 8/10. Twisty-turny psychothriller is a flashy but entertaining ride…
Born to be Human (生而為人, Lily Ni, 2021)
A teenager’s life is upended when they discover they are intersex but have almost no rights over their bodily autonomy in Lily Ni’s elegantly designed social drama
Deliverance (源生罪, Kelvin Shum, 2022)
A young woman finds herself quite literally haunted by unresolved childhood trauma in Kelvin Shum’s eerie psychological thriller.
Review: Liu Qing (2021)
Liu Qing 柳青 China, 2021, colour, 2.35:1, 109 mins. Director: Tian Bo 田波. Rating: 5/10. A standard Party-member biopic elevated by some striking photography and visual detail. STORY…
The Apothecary Diaries #11 — Dramatic Lighting
Much subtlety. Impressions: Same as the last few, and the same commentary might as well be copy/pasted. About eight minutes of Maomao monologuing to explain it all,…
銀魂 - 鍋は人生の縮図である (25)
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Excerpt—The Wedding Party, by Liu Xinwu
Set at a pivotal point after the turmoil of the Chinese Cultural Revolution, Liu Xinwu’s tale weaves together a rich tapestry of characters, intertwined lives, and stories within…
The Silver Case / シルバー事件
The Silver Case takes place in 1999 in the (fictional) 24th Ward of Tokyo , where the murderer Kamui Uehara committed the titular Silver Ca...
How to Japanese Podcast – S02E10 – 車検 and 人生初めてのカラオケ
The dreaded 車検 (shaken, car inspection) is an expat’s worst nightmare, but it’s not a reason to not get a car. Driving in the Japanese countryside is absolutely…
The Most Terrible Time in My Life (我が人生最悪の時, Kaizo Hayashi, 1994)
PI/projectionist Maiku Hama becomes embroiled in a burgeoning turf war while trying to help a friend in the first instalment in Kaizo Hayashi’s noir trilogy.
The Flying Stars
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The Mannequin House Murders / 人形館の殺人
I didn’t like this book at all. I don’t have much more to say about it.
The Two Lives of Li Ermao (他她：李二毛的双重人生, Jia Yuchuan, 2019)
Following her over a period of 17 years, Jia charts the frustrated attempts of a transgender woman to find love and acceptance in a rigid and conservative soceity
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Hyping Up Fall 2022
Finally, some time to make more space for…stuff…
Bibliophile Princess, The Eminence in Shadow, Karas, Raven of the Inner Palace, Shinobi no Ittoki
Wrap Up: January 2022
We’ve reached the end of another month, and it’s time to roll everything up like a shawarma so we can have ourselves a wrap up. Let’s read on.
Dororo, Dororo, Maria the Virgin Witch, WATAMOTE ~No Matter How I Look at It, It’s You Guys Fault I’m Not Popular!~
Fall 2022 – Catching Up…
Take a week off for the holiday, hit a writer’s block, and all the sudden I have four weeks to catch up on… Which I have finally managed…
Mobile Suit Gundam, Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury, My Hero Academia, Encouragement of Climb
PODCAST: 2022 Wrap-up
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google Podcasts | RSS Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukah, Blessed Kwanzaa, Merry MegaChristmas, and Happy Holidays! Doc & Shadon are here with you…
Hyping Up Winter 2022
Noting how much I’ve got backlogged, I’m probably going to sit this one out entirely.
Sabikui Bisco, Saiyuki, Saiyuki Reload, Sasaki and Miyano, LINK CLICK
Dreaming of the Meridian Arc (大河への道, Kenji Nakanishi, 2022)
Dedicated civil servants do their best to put their town on the map while celebrating a local hero in Kenji Nakanishi’s warmhearted dramedy.
ロートレック荘事件 ~ The Lautrec Manor Case
It’s the end of summer and in an elegant western mansion in the suburbs, young men with a promising future and beautiful young women gather. It seemed to…
The Seasonal Anime Round-Up: Spring 2022
You might be wondering what the heck is going on. I mean, I’ve reviewed anime like clockwork ever since I started writing this blog in October of 2020.…
The Winter 2022 Anime Season Round-Up
Let’s be honest, we all know Elden Ring was the true standout of this season (image from Globku’s thumbnail).
Intimate Stranger (親密な他人, Mayu Nakamura, 2022)
A middle-aged woman bonds with a young man claiming to have information about her missing son in Mayu Nakamura’s noirish psychological drama.
A Holy Family (神人之家, Elvis Lu, 2022)
Documentarian Elvis Lu (The Shepherds) turns the camera on his own devoutly religious Taoist family on returning home after many years away.
The Secret in the Stars
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Legendary in Action! (大俠Action！, Justin Cheung & Li Ho, 2022)
A struggling director gets a second chance at a big break when hired to direct a classic wuxia in Justin Cheung & Li Ho’s behind the scenes dramedy.
Stand Up Story (說笑之人, Amen Au Cheuk-man, 2023)
An aspiring comedian tries to turn his grief into laughter while caring for his ageing father with learning difficulties in Au Cheuk-man’s poignant drama.
2022 Week 20 Wrap-up
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Eye for an Eye: The Blind Swordsman (目中无人, Yang Bingjia, 2022)
A blind swordsman takes revenge against the evils of feudal society in Yang Bingjia’s impressively helmed action drama,
The Storm (大雨, Yang Zhigang, 2024)
A cosmic storm is likened to the chaos of life in Busifan’s beautifully drawn but narratively obscure family animation.
Detective vs Sleuths 神探大战 (2022) Director: Wai Ka-Fai
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First Impression: Studio Apartment, Good Lighting, Angel Included
Shintarou Tokumitsu is a high school boy who lives in a studio apartment. He lives there by himself, so he’s shocked to find a girl he doesn’t know…
First Look: Studio Apartment, Good Lighting, Angel Included
High school student Shintaro Tokumitsu lives alone, studying and working by day and living a lonely existence at home at night. However, his life changes when one morning,…
Studio Apartment, Good Lighting, Angel Included – Episode 1
Studio Apartment, Good Lighting, Angel Included is a magical girlfriend anime with absolutely no thoughts in its head.
Anime Like Studio Apartment, Good Lighting, Angel Included
Shintarou Tokumitsu is a high school student who just started living by himself in a studio apartment. However, his living arrangement changes drastically
A Galaxy Next Door, Heaven's Lost Property, Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid, Studio Apartment, Good Lighting, Angel Included, The Angel Next Door Spoils Me Rotten
Murderer vs. Maniac / 殺人犯 対 殺人鬼
While some books take a while to get into the action, Murderer vs. Maniac wastes no time. The opening scene is all about the protagonist ...
The Personals (徵婚啓事, Chen Kuo-fu, 1998)
Fleeing romantic trauma a young woman gains an insight into contemporary dating mores after placing a personal ad looking for a husband in Chen’s sophisticated dramedy