Sabu leverages the familiar frame of the encounter to offer a fresh and deeply satisfying experienc
Category: Romance
Postman Blues (1997) review
Put this masterclass of genre-blending immediately on your to-watch list
Otonari (2009) review
Naoto Kumazawa and screenwriter Yukiko Manabe succeed in giving the fundamental dynamic that structures the romance film a fresh coat of paint.
Party 7 (2000) review
Ishii elevates the staging of the truth of the phallus with many moments of refined interactional absurdity and a finale that, in an inimitable fashion, exposes lack and castration.
Re/Member: The Last Night (2025) review
A fun romp if one takes everything at face-value
This Is I (2026) review
Matsumoto makes a very convincing case for the need for the societal field to become more willing to grant subjects the right to nominate themselves in accordance with their subjective position.
Stigmatized Properties: Possession (2025) review
From scares, unintended farce, to forced romance; another genre-mix that does not entirely click.
She Taught Me Serendipity (2024) review
Akiko Ohku steers away from delivering a clear-cut romantic fantasy to confront the spectator with the messy consequences of utilizing signifiers in the game of love in a very moving way.
Super Happy Forever (2024) review
A compelling drama that traces out the effect of the unsaid on the subject and highlights the subjective need to have some sort of material proof to support a faded fantasy of harmonious union.
A Love Letter From Yesterday (2024) review
The emotional drama is extremely flat – and even the sexual encounters, despite being well-acted by the female cast, cannot infuse life into the dried-up bed of the film’s emotional river.
Undead lovers (2024) review
Matsui delivers a heartwarming romance narrative that, due to its fresh approach to certain tropes of the genre, rises above the common derivative romance drivel Japan usually produces.
My Sunshine (2024) review
A bittersweet celebration of youth – seishun, celebrates the importance of the encounter and of desire, the force that pushes the subject towards inter-subjective connection.
A Bad Summer (2025) review [Japannual 2025]
Hideo Jojo offers a compelling exploration of poverty within the Japanese societal field as well as the the structural possibility of exploiting the welfare system for one’s own gain.
How Dare You? (2025) review [Camera Japan Festival]
With her narrative, Mipo O delivers one of the most convincing arguments to parents to create space for the subjectivity of their child and to take their signifiers – their pleasures, pressures, worries, fights, and frustrations – seriously.
The Man Who Failed To Die (2025) review [Camera Japan Festival]
Seiji Tanaka refuses to colour within the lines of comedy, creating an eclectic collage of different genre-elements that does not fail to satisfy the spectator.