“What Can You Do about It?”, from director Yoshifumi Tsubota, is a heartfelt documentary that transforms from depicting his relationship with a distant relative with a developmental dis…
May 8, 2023 • Subscribe
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Kininatteru Hito Ga Otoko Janakatta, Volume 2 (気になってる人が男じゃなかった)
In Volume 1, we met Ohsawa Aya, a fashionable girl in most ways – except for her retro taste in music. When she walks into a shabby CD…
Kininatteru Hito Ga Otoko Janakatta, Volume 3 (気になってる人が男じゃなかった)
Up until this volume, there has been almost no conflict of any kind in Arai Sumiko’s school and music Yuri series. In Kininatteru Hito Ga Otoko Janakatta, Volume…
Kininatteru Hito Ga Otoko Janakatta, Volume 1 (気になってる人が男じゃなかった)
Aya is a high school student who loves music of the 90s-00s. She’s content to sit and listen to the Foo Fighters in her ear buds, but when…
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.
「全部磯チルドレンでいいんじゃないかと思っています」- 沓名健一インタビュー
The post 「全部磯チルドレンでいいんじゃないかと思っています」- 沓名健一インタビュー appeared first on Full Frontal.
Kininatteru Hito Ga Otoko Janakatta Drama CD, Special Edition (ドラマCD 気になってる人が男じゃなかった)
Last week, I was able to review the upcoming Yen Press release of Sumiko Arai’s popular manga The Guy She Was Interested In Wasn’t A Guy At All.…
In Her Room (ひとりぼっちじゃない, Chihiro Ito, 2022)
A shy dentist’s sense of reality is undermined by his relationship with a mysterious woman living in an indoor forest in Chihiro Ito’s ethereal drama.
Just Remembering (ちょっと思い出しただけ, Daigo Matsui, 2021) [Fantasia 2022]
Former lovers are confronted by reminders of their failed romance amid the loneliness of the coronavirus pandemic in Daigo Matsui’s melancholy drama.
Uchi no Shishou ha Shippo ga nai, Volume 2 (うちの師匠はしっぽがない)
Weirdly, it was almost a year ago that I reviewed volume 1 of this series, in which we met Mameda, a tanuki who wanders into the big city…
Uchi no Shishou ha Shippo ga nai, Volume 1 (うちの師匠はしっぽがない)
Mameda is a tanuki who has fallen hard for the magic of rakugo, the traditional Japanese form of comedic storytelling. Mameda heads to the big city in the…
Lonely Glory わたしの見ている世界が全て Director: Keitaro Sakon
Lonely Glory わたしの見ている世界が全て, directed by Keitaro Sakon, plays as part of the Japan Film Festival + 2023 season.
Back To That Day (幕が下りたら会いましょう, Seira Maeda, 2021)
A young woman facing a life crisis is forced to reevaluate her relationships with art, friends, and family after learning that her estranged younger sister has suddenly passed…
In Her Room ひとりぼっちじゃない (2022) Director: Chihiro Ito [New York Asian Film Festival 2023] 2
In Her Room ひとりぼっちじゃない (2022), by director Chihiro Ito, is an offbeat and erotic tale of jealousy that is told in a visually dazzling way with a slow pace…
Tsukiatte Agetemo Iikana, Volume 12 (付き合ってあげてもいいかな)
Yesterday I said that I was reviewing two series this week that focused on complicated relationships. The first was Volume 9 of Otona ni Nattemo, by Shimura Takako…
Tsukiatte Agetemo Iikana, Volume 7 (付き合ってあげてもいいかな)
When I reviewed Volume 6 I said of that volume that it was like a fever finally breaking. “You don’t feel “good,” per se, but you feel better,…
Tsukiatte Agetemo Iikana, Volume 9 ( 付き合ってあげてもいいかな)
When we first met Miwa, she was unsure of herself. And when we met Saeko she seemed very confident. As we’ve got to know them, we’ve come to…
Tsukiatte Agetemo Iikana, Volume 6 (付き合ってあげてもいいかな)
You know how you feel after you’ve had a fever, when the fever breaks and you’re soaked in sweat? You don’t feel “good,” per se, but you feel…
Tsukiatte Agetemo Iikana, Volume 4 (付き合ってあげてもいいかな)
In Tamifull’s Yuri drama Tsukiatte Agetemo Iikana, Volume 4 (付き合ってあげてもいいかな), we are confronted with something we don’t see very often at all in Yuri…two people who may just…
Tsukiatte Agetemo Iikana, Volume 8 (付き合ってあげてもいいかな)
“The characters and the art have grown, Tamifull’s narrative skills are excellent here. We’ve been with them through a lot…and we’re still here as they enter the next…
Tsukiatte Agetemo Iikana, Volume 10 ( 付き合ってあげてもいいかな)
Life is complex – humans are complex systems and relationships are complex systems made up of other complex systems interacting. Things are always complicated in Tamifull’s Tsukiatte Ag…
Tsukiatte Agetemo Iikana, Volume 11 ( 付き合ってあげてもいいかな)
In my review of Volume 10, I said, “I’m ready for something to lighten up.” Welp, Volume 11 of Tsukiatte Agetemo Iikana ( 付き合ってあげてもいいかな) by Tamifull is not…
Tsukiatte Agetemo Iikana, Volume 5 (付き合ってあげてもいいかな)
As a reviewer, I understand that spoilers are sometimes unavoidable in order to make a review make sense. As a reader, I don’t particularly mind spoilers…until I do.…
"ましょう Mashou Isn't Always 'Let's ___'" #learnjapanese
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Just Only Love 愛がなんだ (2019) Dir: Rikiya Imaizumi
Just Only Love 愛がなんだ 「Ai ga Nanda」 Running Time: 123 mins. Release Date: April 19th, 2019 Director: Rikiya Imaizumi Writer: Rikiya Imaizumi, Kaori Sawai (Screenplay), Mitsuyo Kakuta (Original No…
colorless 猿楽町で会いましょう Dir: Takashi Koyama (2020)
colorless 猿楽町で会いましょう Dir: Takashi Koyama (2020) is a well-acted drama about the grit behind the glitz of Shibuya’s fashion industry.
And Then They Never Die / そして誰も死ななかった
The protagonist of And Then They Never Die , Ushio Oomata, is a sleazebag. He’s crass, rude, and a fraud—he’s a mystery novelist, but the on...
An Interview with Chihiro Ito, Director of In Her Room ひとりぼっちじゃない (2022) [New York Asian Film Festival 2023]
In Her Room ひとりぼっちじゃない (2022) Director: Chihiro Ito [New York Asian Film Festival 2023]
行こう ikou VS 行きましょう ikimashou #learnjapanese
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You’re Not Normal, Either まともじゃないのは君も一緒 (2021) Director: Koji Maeda
You’re Not Normal, Either まともじゃないのは君も一緒 (2021), by director Koji Maeda, is a superb screwball comedy based on the fantastic interplay between Ryo Narita and Kaya Kiyohara while it maturely touches…
Yuri Manga: Tsukiatte Agetemo Iikana, Volume 3 (付き合ってあげてもいいかな)
2020 marks an interesting new phase for me in regards to Yuri manga. Because there are so many more comics about adult women, written for adults, my specific…
Here Because of You (君たちがいて僕がいた, Ryuichi Takamori, 1964)
Post-war teens take on injustice in the form of a problematic parent at their school in Ryuichi Takamori’s cheerful youth movie.
Futari ha Daitai Konna Kanji (ふたりはだいたいこんなかんじ)
In the Yuri world Ikeda Takashi is best known for Sasamekikoto / Whispered Words in English, from One Peace Books. That series made fun of every Yuri trope,…
Why So Many Marriages in Japan Are Sexless – And What You Can Do About It
Nearly half of marriages in Japan are sexless. Why does intimacy disappear, especially in international couples?
Switch Back / 今はもうない
The S&M series has always had a lot of character work and philosophical tangents, and while they sometimes felt a bit overbearing, they nev...
Lonely Glory (わたしの見ている世界が全て, Keitaro Sakon, 2023)
A thoroughly unpleasant young woman gradually begins to realise that other people have feelings too and she has no idea what she’s doing with her life in Keitaro…
Wash Away うぉっしゅ Director: Ikunosuke Okazaki [Osaka Asian Film Festival 2024]
Wash Away うぉっしゅ, the sophomore feature by director Ikunosuke Okazaki, may have an unlikely premise but it works well as an existential examination of loneliness. It plays at…
"Can I Say したい Instead of ほしい?" #learnjapanese
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"How About Saying 入りましょう Instead of 入ります?" #learnjapanese
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あとになってわかったこと
Collector's Mindset - How to Japanese - February 2025
Oshi ga Budokan Ittekuretara Shinu, Volume 9 (推しが武道館いってくれたら死ぬ)
When we left this series in Volume 8, there were rainbows and doves flying because an entire volume had passed without making me feel unpleasant thoughts in the…
Oshi ga Budokan Itterkuretara Shinu, Volume 8 (推しが武道館いってくれたら死ぬ)
Yippee! A whole volume of this manga in which I never once wanted to shake the daylights out of the creator! Ahem. But seriously, Oshi ga Budokan Itterkuretara…
Oshi ga Budokan Ittekuretara Shinu, Volume 6 ( 推しが武道館いってくれたら死ぬ )
In Oshi ga Budokan Ittekuretara Shinu, Volume 6 ( 推しが武道館いってくれたら死ぬ ), we meet another local idol group, the Starlights, when the two groups end up in a double…
Oshi ga Budokan Ittekuretara Shinu, Volume 7 (推しが武道館いってくれたら死ぬ )
Until late last night, this review was going to be completely different. I had a whole review planned out and was all ready to joke about Path #5…
Oshi ga Budokan Ittekuretara Shinu Live-Action (推しが武道館いってくれたら死ぬ)
For various reasons I have spent the last few weeks playing catch-up with everything I have meant to watch and read and listen to but never got around…
Oshi ga Budokan Ittekuretara Shinu, Volume 10, (推しが武道館いってくれたら死ぬ)
Volume 9 left me weak with relief as Eripyo and Maina actually had a conversation. But as we look at the cover of Oshi ga Budokan Ittekuretara Shinu,…
Futari ha Daitai Konna Kanji, Volume 3 (ふたりはだいたいこんなかんじ)
One of the defining characteristics of an adult life is facing setbacks. You can work really hard, gambare with all you have and still not achieve the goal.…
Futari ha Daitai Konna Kanji, Volume 4 (ふたりはだいたいこんなかんじ)
In Futari ha Daitai Konna Kanji, Volume 4 (ふたりはだいたいこんなかんじ) Ikeda Takashi brings his specific brand of wacky slice-of-life to a fantastic conclusion. In the first three volumes of…
Futari ha Daitai Konna Kanji, Volume 2 (ふたりはだいたいこんなかんじ)
Okay, so here’s a mood. You like a creator, so when they announce a new book or series, you’re cautiously optimistic at the least. You know it might…
What You Can Do About Bullying By Max & Zoey (Graphic Novel Review)
A graphic novel that explains bullying from a kid’s perspective!