The lives of a series of dejected souls in a moribund quarry town intersect in unexpected ways in a poetical drama from Juichiro Yamasaki
Feb 7, 2023 • Subscribe
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Mabataki (まばたき)
Mabataki (まばたき) is a collection of short stories by Battan, creator of Run Away With Me, Girl. This is another manga I picked up while in Japan (I…
The Blue Danube (きまじめ楽隊のぼんやり戦争, Akira Ikeda, 2021)
An earnest soldier begins to question everything he’s been told thanks to musical intervention and a curious young man in Akira Ikeda’s absurdist anti-war drama
New Moomin 40/52 - The Torn Picture Book (やぶれた絵本) (1972) (English subtitles)
As a gift to celebrate her recovery from illness, Moomin gives Nonnon a mysterious but beautiful picture book that Too-Ticky found on the beach. However, the last page…
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.
Suizou Ga Kowaretara, Sukoshi Ikiyasuku Narimashita. (膵臓がこわれたら、少し生きやすくなりました。)
In her last book about her physical health, My Alcoholic Escape From Reality, Nagata Kabi-sensei explained the circumstances that landed her in the hospital with alcoholic pancreatitis. We…
Vlad Love (ぶらどらぶ) Guest Review by Megan
Today is my favorite kind of day – we have a brand new Guest Reviewer here on Okazu! Many of you will have noticed that Megan has been…
Break Out (行き止まりの挽歌 ブレイクアウト, Toru Murakawa, 1988)
A maverick cop realises he can only enforce the law by breaking it in Toru Murakawa’s hardboiled ’80s noir.
Spring In Between (はざまに生きる、春, Rika Katsu, 2023)
A struggling editor at a magazine gains a new perspective while falling in love with an autistic artist in Rika Katsu’s romantic drama.
What does まどかが好きな人は二人いる mean?
Learn Japanese with Yuta: https://bit.ly/3hyXcYh Support me on Patreon: https://goo.gl/aiWNd5 Twitter: https://twitter.com/ThatYuta Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thatyuta/ Facebook: https://bit.ly/381qpHS Blog: http://www.yutaaoki.com/blog/
It’s All My Fault (ぜんぶ、ボクのせい, Yusaku Matsumoto, 2022)
A young orphan and a homeless drifter attempt to overcome the legacy of parental rejection in Yusaku Matsumoto’s sensitive coming-of-age drama.
Enma-san (えんまさん, Tomoki Suzuki, 2022)
A young woman with the ability to see people’s true thoughts thanks to a magic mirror becomes consumed with hatred for the world’s duplicity but finds unexpected connection…
おやすみ、東京
Atsuhiro Yoshida’s 2018 linked short story collection おやすみ、東京 chronicles the adventures of a cast of slightly odd characters with subtle connections to one another. Each of the stories…
書き言葉
Tone in Written Japanese - How to Japanese - December 2022
まとめる
Bringing things together - How to Japanese - February 2024
決死の一発描きをお見せします。 My life risking drawing, without rough sketches!
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The Light of Spring (ひかりのどけき, Fumito Fujikawa, 2022)
Pushed to breaking point by the pressures of the contemporary society amid the coronavirus pandemic, an ordinary family undergoes a trial separation in Fumito Fumikawa’s neorealist drama
Small, Slow But Steady (ケイコ 目を澄ませて, Sho Miyake, 2022)
An aspiring boxer begins to lose the will to fight in Sho Miyake’s empathetic character study.
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Alone Again in Fukushima sees director Mayu Nakamura visit an interesting samaritan who remained behind to look after abandoned animals. Alone Again in Fukushima ナオト、いまもひとりっきり Dir: Mayu Nakamura…
Shoplifters / 万引き家族
Hirokazu Koreeda’s Shoplifters is a revelation, the culmination of years of study on a particular theme, a movie that brings together all of the director’s strengths and, for…
Maitsuki Niwatsuki Ooyatsuki – Monthly With Ooya (毎月庭つき大家つき)
Suga Asako finds herself alone quite suddenly when her partner decides their relationship is just not working. But her friend Hato isn’t listening because she’s more upset that…
One Day, You Will Reach the Sea (やがて海へと届く, Ryutaro Nakagawa, 2022)
A young woman finds a new accommodation with loss while searching for her missing friend in Ryutaro Nakagawa’s moving indie drama.
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A fallen kaiju presents a new problem for the governing authorities in Satoshi Miki’s satirical comedy.
Ikiru (生きる, Akira Kurosawa, 1952)
A lifelong bureaucrat is confronted by the emptiness of the salaryman dream when diagnosed with a terminal illness in Akira Kurosawa’s intensely moving melodrama.
Maitsuki Niwatsuki Ooyatsuki – Monthly With Ooya, Volume 3 (毎月庭つき大家つき)
Bing! Bing! Bing! We have a winner of the first annual “Adults Having An Important Conversation Like Adults” Award here at Okazu. Asako is living with her landlord,…
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If there was a “Perfect Manga About Pop Idols Who Are Adults”* award, Maitsuki Niwatsuki Ooyatsuki – Monthly With Ooya, Volume 4 would win, hands down. We’ve already…
Maitsuki Niwatsuki Ooyatsuki – Monthly With Ooya, Volume 2 (毎月庭つき大家つき)
In Volume 1, we met Suga Asako, who was starting a new life after her relationship ended, and her new landlady, former idol Miyako, who lives in her…
Manga Kodomo Bunko (まんがこども文庫) January ED (1月の歌) - The Snow is Falling (ゆきがふる)
Sung by (歌): Kumiko Ōsugi (大杉久美子) and the Columbia Yurikago-kai (コロムビアゆりかご会) Lyrics (作詞): Michio Mado (まどみちお) Composition and Arrangement (作曲・編曲): Shūkō Mizuno (水野修孝) Very special thanks to PopKorn Kat for transferring…
Dead Fishes (僕らはみーんな生きている, Tomoaki Kaneko, 2022)
A young man comes to Tokyo in search of experience but gains more of it than he might have liked in Tomoaki Kaneko’s bleak indie drama.
Manga Kodomo Bunko (まんがこども文庫) July ED (7月の歌) - Lullaby of the Zoo (どうぶつえんのこもりうた)
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The tranquil island life of a pair of brothers is interrupted by the arrival of a mysterious woman in Teruaki Shoji’s quirky comedy.
漫画で「迫力ある動き」を描く方法を解説します。How To Draw a Dynamic Movement in Manga
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The Emperor’s Naked Army Marches On ゆきゆきて、神軍 Dir: Kazuo Hara, Producer: Sachiko Kobayashi (1987)
The Emperor’s Naked Army Marches On ゆきゆきて、神軍 Dir: Kazuo Hara (1987)
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Oppressive social codes and repressed desire provoke a tragic love triangle in Mizoguchi’s adaptation of the story by Tanizaki.
Fire Festival (火まつり, Mitsuo Yanagimachi, 1985)
A proud mountain man goes to great lengths to hold back the tides of modernity in Mitsuo Yanagimachi’s poetic fable
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In a followup to her hugely popular documentary, Naoko Nobutomo follows her parents as her mother’s health continues to decline.
It’s All Right, My Friend (だいじょうぶマイフレンド, Ryu Murakami, 1983)
Bandmates help a stranded alien recover his ability to fly to Ryu Murakami’s forgotten surreal countercultural blockbuster.
Step on the Gas! (新宿アウトロー ぶっ飛ばせ, Toshiya Fujita, 1970)
A recently released street punk is dragged into local gang intrigue by the bored son of a CEO in Toshiya Fujita’s freewheeling underworld drama
Road Warriors (あやめ笠 喧嘩街道, Tai Kato, 1960)
A penniless wander is caught up in intrigue after encountering a woman travelling alone for the purposes of revenge in Tai Kato’s Toei chanbara.
Hit and Run (ひき逃げ, Mikio Naruse, 1966)
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The recently deceased watch over their loved ones from the vantage point of a familiar object in Kahori Higashi’s wistful drama.
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Episode #76 (S10E5) – Getting Any? [みんな〜やってるか!] (1995)
We’re going lighter this time with comedy podcaster Chris Andersen. In this episode, we discuss Getting Any?, Takeshi Kitano’s 1995 comedy/parody film about a middle-aged guy obsessed w…
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Koichi Sato’s elegiac documentary mourns the loss of the traditional amidst the modern as a 135-year-old pickle store is forced to close by changing times and a global…
浦沢流、手描き色塗りの方法をお見せします。How to color by hand in Urasawa style: Drawing and Coloring "PLUTO" 's Gesicht
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Crazy Thunder Road (狂い咲きサンダーロード, Sogo Ishii, 1980)
A perpetual outsider seeks direction but discovers only nihilistic despair in Sogo Ishii’s apocalyptic biker movie