It is an exhausting experience, yet an experience that, if one succeeds to make it to the end, convincingly shows that the idea of romantic harmony is but an unrealizable fantasy.
Category: Reviews
Revolver Lily (2023) review
A very enjoyable action-thriller that succeeds in satisfying the spectator thirsting for exciting action-pieces.
Sympathy For The Underdog (1971) review
This is not merely classic that speaks to those who felt lost due to the rapid shifts that upheaved the Japanese societal field after the second world war, but continues to speak to those who feel out-of-place, who feel like Gunji unsuited for this world of ‘criminal’ suits.
There Was A Father (1942) review
A quintessential Ozu narrative that, despite its age, still succeeds in engaging the spectator.
Kingdom: Return of the Great General (2024) review
Shinsuke Sato knows what makes people come back to the series and delivers it in spades.
I Fell in Love With a Z-Grade Director in Brooklyn (2025) review [Fantasia Film Festival]
One of the most pleasant surprises of this year.
Blank Canvas: My So-Called Artist’s Journey (2025) review [Fantasia film Festival]
Seki offers audiences a touching fictionalized account of Akiko Higashimura’s relationship with her mentor Kenzo Hidaka.
Honeko Akabane’s Bodyguards (2024) review [Fantasia Film Festival]
Ishikawa delivers an engaging narrative with some satisfying twists, many funny moments, and pleasing action-sequences.
Garo: Taiga (2025) review [Fantasia Film Festival]
Keita Amemiya does not only please fans and newcomers alike, but proves the continued appeal of the tokusatsu superhero genre
Rewrite (2025) review [Fantasia Film Festival]
Daiga Matsui’s narrative ultimately develops into something that expands beyond mere romance, a surprising and highly satisfying time-loop drama.
Cha-Cha (2025) review [Nippon Connection 2025]
Mai Sakai light-heartedly perforates the fantasy of writability of The sexual relation and cheekily confronts the spectator with the radical misrecognition that structures the field of romance.
Transcending Dimensions (2025) review [Nippon Connection]
A masterpiece, a culmination of his past disillusionment with the societal Other and his interest in spiritualism and rebirth born from being mistreated by the Other of the law.
River Returns (2025) review [Nippon Connection 2025]
Masakazu Kaneko convinces the spectator to go beyond the consumptive way of interacting with the other and have more eye and ear for the subjectivity of the Other.
Missing Child Videotape (2024) review [Nippon Connection 2025]
Ryota Kondo proves that the emaciated and abused body of J-horror still has some life within it.
Kaiju Guy (2025) review [Nippon Connection 2025]
A narrative that engages the spectator from start to finish, but offers him one of the funniest yet heartfelt celebrations of Tokusatsu filmmaking.
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