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.
Tag: Reviews
The Young Strangers (2024) review [Camera Japan Festival 2025]
Uchiyama delivers a masterpiece that does not merely grab the spectator by his throat, but confronts him with the fundamental importance of the signifier in a heartrending way.
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.
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.
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.
Fantasia 2025: Movies to look forward to.
Discover our recommendation for this year’s Fantasia Film Festival.
Good Luck (2025) review [OAFF 2025]
Shin Adachi utilizes the dynamic of the encounter to examine the problem of desiring within the societal field and the way desire give rise to misunderstanding between subjects.
Sin And Evil (2024) review [Japannual 2024]
Saito shows that the Other always bears some responsibility for the subjective outcomes of dysfunctional familial dynamics and the criminal excesses that plague its mendacious image of peaceful harmony.
Short Movie Time: Neu Mirrors (2024) review
Keishi Kondo offers the spectator an unsettling illustration of the Lacanian gaze.
Kizumonogatari – Koyomi Vamp – (2024) review [Fantasia Film Festival 2024]
An evocative experience that succeeds in giving the vampire and the well-explored themes a fresh coat of drama and sexiness.
Short Movie Time: Nezumikozō Jirokichi (2023) review [Japan Cuts 2024]
The mix of elements supports the film’s aim well, that is to entice spectators to seek out the three films that remain from this somewhat forgotten master
City Hunter (2024) review
A fun but very forgettable experience.
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