“With his low-key dramedy, one will laugh, one will tear up, but above all, one will come to understand that matters of romance always require a leap of faith.”
Kakegurui (2019) review [Fantasia 2020]
“A narrative that will not only please long-time fans of the series, but also convert many newcomers into kakegurui’s enthusiasts.”
Wotakoi: love is hard for Otaku (2020) review [Fantasia 2020]
Fukada offers plenty of comical moments, a myriad of pleasing musical sequences, and endearing romantic segments but fails to deliver the emotional powerful moment the narrative needed.
Hentai Kamen: Abnormal Crisis (2016) review [Fantasia 2020]
“Despite offering plenty of fun moments and tons of silliness, the sequel fails to truly surprise and explore the thematic riddle of the structural role perversion plays in human subjectivity in a truly meaningful way.”
Milocrorze: A Love Story (2011) review [Fantasia 2020]
“What makes Milocrorze: A Love Story truly wonderful is that Ishibashi, beyond offering a highly absurd narrative and rich visual ride, also delivers an exquisite commentary on the imaginary dimension in subjective functioning.”
Project Dreams – How to Build Mazinger Z’s Hangar (2020) review [Fantasia 2020]
“A more daring approach could have made ‘Project Dreams’ into an even more powerful celebration of technology and the inspiring power of anime.”
Woman of the Photographs (2020) review [Fantasia 2020]
“A powerful reminder that what truly counts is not the relation to the imagined Other, an Other who might or not desire the subject, but a relation to another subject.”
Crazy Samurai Musashi (2020) review [Fantasia 2020]
“Sakaguchi reveals that what truly stirs the imagination of the spectator is not shining special effects, but true skill and physicality of the actor’s presence.”
Seafood Monster Wars (2020) review [Fantasia 2020]
“A silly Kaiju narrative that explores the selfish desires orienting male subjects, the centrality of the oral drive in the subject’s circuit of enjoyment, as well as the causal role human desires and drives play in the birth of (super-)natural disasters.”
Fantasia Film Festival: 8 Japanese film recommendations
“While there are many Japanese films to discover at the festival – even for us, we can already provide eight recommendations for this year’s festival.”
Short Movie Time: See You on the Other Side (2019) [Japan Cuts 2020]
“A very precise and rather confronting exploration of how, within the sexual act, the male and the female subject never meet each other.”
Short Movie Time: A Wolf’s Calling (2019) [Japan Cuts 2020]
“A powerful subjective statement against the prowling nature of the Japanese police.”
Short Movie Time: Wheel Music (2019) review [Japan Cuts]
“A pleasing visual and auditive experiment.”
Short Movie Time: Fuel (2019) review [Japan Cuts 2020]
“Not only a composition honouring the art of grilling and the joy of eating, but also a subtle plea to protect this tradition, a tradition closely intertwined with the flow of nature.”
It Feels so Good (2020) review [Japan Cuts 2020]
“This lingering sense of impossibility and nothing else is what makes the narrative a truly haunting experience.”
