A Girl in My Room 左様なら今晩は (2022), by director Natsuki Takahashi, is a cute supernatural drama with shades of romance and sadness.
Sep 13, 2023 • Subscribe
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A Girl in My Room (左様なら今晩は, Natsuki Takahashi, 2022)
A young man reeling from a breakup is suddenly confronted by the literal ghost of lost love in Natsuki Takahashi’s supernaturally-inflected romantic drama
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...
Hana ni Arashi 10 (はなにあらし)
High school is a weird time. So much is going on in your body, in your head, in your heart. It’s the last time to have fun as…
Hana ni Arashi 11 (はなにあらし)
High school is a weird time. So much is going on in your body, in your head, in your heart. It’s the last time to have fun as…
Hana ni Arashi 13 (はなにあらし)
In their time, Nanoha and Chidori have spent 3 years together. In real time it has been a very slow, very gentle, even tentative 5 years. Hana ni…
From Today, It’s My Turn!! (今日から俺は!! 劇場版, Yuichi Fukuda, 2020)
Yuichi Fukuda takes the high school fighting delinquent manga to the parodic max in this sequel to the 2018 TV drama
Hana ni Arashi, Volume 7 (はなにあらし)
In Volume 7 of Hana ni Arashi, (はなにあらし) something finally happens. Well…two things. Remembering that, in this series “happen” is very broadly applied word. ^_^ The first thing…
Hana ni Arashi, Volume 5 (はなにあらし)
While we’re able to enjoy Makoto Hagino’s slow-burn high school Yuri romance, A Tropical Fish Years for Snow in English, there is another Shogagakukan title with a similar…
Hana ni Arashi, Volume 4 (はなにあらし)
In Volume 1 we met Nanoha and Chidori, two girls who have a secret – they are lovers. They aren’t lovers, but they are in love and they…
Hana ni Arashi, Volume 12 (はなにあらし)
We met Chidori and Nanoha 5 years ago in real time, 3 years ago in their time. At the beginning, all we had of them being girlfriends was…
Hana ni Arashi, Volume 11 (はなにあらし)
Nanoha and Chidori are two young woman in love. They know that when they graduate thing will change and their lives will grow more compliacated, but for this…
Hana ni Arashi, Volume 9 (はなにあらし)
We have watched Nanoha and Chidori since they began dating. For a very long time, it was under the radar, but as they look towards a wider future…
Hana ni Arashi, Volume 6 (はなにあらし)
Nanoha and Chidori have shared their first kisses and, frankly, they are pretty sure that they no one has noticed, even though it got a little weird between…
Hana ni Arashi, Volume 8, (はなにあらし)
In Hana ni Arashi, Volume 8 (はなにあらし), Nanoha is starting to feel the weight of the real world and isn’t sure that she and Chidori inhabit the same…
Angry Son (世界は僕らに気づかない, Kasho Iizuka, 2022)
A resentful young man comes to a better understanding of his place in the world while searching for his estranged father in Kasho Iizuka’s sensitive coming-of-age drama
Dead Fishes (僕らはみーんな生きている, Tomoaki Kaneko, 2022)
A young man comes to Tokyo in search of experience but gains more of it than he might have liked in Tomoaki Kaneko’s bleak indie drama.
Dougram: A Short Interview with Director Takahashi Ryosuke
This interview is from the 1983 August edition of OUT with a brief word from Takahashi Ryosuke on his, at the time, recently completed series Fang of the…
Yuri Manga: Hana ni Arashi, Volume 2 (はなにあらし)
In Volume 1, we met Nanoha and Chidori, two high school students who are keeping a secret from their friends – they are going out with each other.…
Yuri Manga: Hana ni Arashi, Volume 3 (はなにあらし)
Chidori and Nanoha have a secret, we are told in Volume 1 and Volume 2. They are lovers, we are told. And we will have to believe what…
In Her Room (2022) review
For those who succeed in looking past the phallus during Ito’s narrative will find a renewed respect of the complexity of the feminine position.
Long Goodbye (さようなら, Yuuji Nomura, 2022)
A collection of dejected factory workers plot escape from small-town ennui by robbing their tax evading boss in Yuuji Nomura’s adaptation of his stage play.
![Featured image for Grown-ups わたし達はおとな (2022) Director: Takuya Kato [New York Asian Film Festival 2022]](https://cdn.aniblogtracker.com/live/20220801/1659350340.41038.70909.jpg)
Grown-ups わたし達はおとな (2022) Director: Takuya Kato [New York Asian Film Festival 2022]
Grown-ups わたし達はおとな (2022) Director: Takuya Kato [New York Asian Film Festival 2022]
A Muse Never Drowns (ミューズは溺れない, Nozomi Asao, 2022)
A teenage girl flounders amid a series of changes in her life while questioning her future and identity in Nozomi Asao’s empathetic coming-of-age film.
Review: Someone in the Room (2022)
Someone in the Room 屋内有人 China, 2022, colour, 2.35:1, 89 mins. Director: Bian Yuan 边原. Rating: 6/10. Low-budget horror/thriller is inventive and meticulously plotted, and doesn’t go in…
Review: Someone in the Room (2022)
Someone in the Room 屋内有人 China, 2022, colour, 2.35:1, 89 mins. Director: Bian Yuan 边原. Rating: 6/10. Low-budget horror/thriller is inventive and meticulously plotted, and doesn’t go in…
DOOR ドア (1988) Remaster Director: Banmei Takahashi
The 2023 Halloween review is of the Blu-ray Release of the Remaster of Banmei Takahashi’s criminally underseen 1980’s stalk-and-home-invade cult classic “DOOR” as brought to…
Lonely Girl ni Sakaraenai, Volume 2 (ロンリーガールに逆らえない)
The best romantic comedies, in my opinion, are ones that stop trying to be a comedy. In Volume 1, this series was definitely a comedy. Lonely Girl ni…
Lonely Girl ni Sakaraenai, Volume 1 (ロンリーガールに逆らえない)
Sakuraii is a model student but has a fatal flaw – she absolutely sucks at tests. If it weren’t for tests, she’d have no trouble at all getting…
you 様 - Meaning in Japanese
What you 様 means in Japanese, with examples and grammar.
Angry Son 世界は僕らに気づかない Dir: Kasho Iizuka
A rewrite of my review for the very worthwhile topical film Angry Son, a meaty drama about the mixed-race experience (Filipino-Japanese) in Japan! 世界は僕らに気づかない Dir: Kasho Iizuka [Osaka…
Goodbye CP さようならCP Director: Kazuo Hara, Producer: Sachiko Kobayashi (1972)
Goodbye CP さようならCP Director: Kazuo Hara, Producer: Sachiko Kobayashi (1972)
![Featured image for In Her Room ひとりぼっちじゃない (2022) Director: Chihiro Ito [New York Asian Film Festival 2023] 2](https://cdn.aniblogtracker.com/live/20230725/1690301321.65487.100468.jpg)
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…
We Couldn’t Become Adults ボクたちはみんな大人になれなかった (2021) Director: Yoshihiro Mori
We Couldn’t Become Adults ボクたちはみんな大人になれなかった (2021), by director Yoshihiro Mori, is a well-acted and well-shot drama about a 40-something man in contemporary Japan looking back at his life (v…
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.
Natsuki Crisis
Do you want to see girls of the old school kicking ass? Then yeah, you have got to check out Natsuki Crisis. In a time when guys thing…
Sayonara, Girls (少女は卒業しない, Shun Nakagawa, 2022)
A collection of teens contemplate the ghosts of youth in facing graduation from a school soon to be demolished in Shun Nakagawa’s poignant drama.
Grown-ups (わたし達はおとな, Takuya Kato, 2022)
A young couple struggle to reorient their lives while dealing with an unexpected pregnancy in Takuya Kato’s intense relationship drama.
My Life in the Bush of Ghosts (2022) Director: Daisuke Miyazaki
My Life in the Bush of Ghosts (Dir: Daisuke Miyazaki, 2022) sees him explore the randomness of life and the preciousness of relationships in a series of vignettes split…
My Sorry Life (愛のくだらない, Kozue Nomoto, 2020)
A self-absorbed TV producer gets a wake up call when her boyfriend announces he’s pregnant in Kozue Nomoto’s ironic dramedy
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Our House Party ボクらのホームパーティー (2022) Director: Shuichi Kawanobe [Osaka Asian Film Festival 2022]
“Our House Party” is a well-acted slice of gay life from Tokyo that gives an honest view of some of what it means to be gay in Japan.…
![Featured image for Crumpled だからなに (2025) Director: Chihiro Yuki, Hikaru Yabuki [Osaka Asian Film Festival 2025]](https://cdn.aniblogtracker.com/live/20250319/1742412357.99953.143003.jpg)
Crumpled だからなに (2025) Director: Chihiro Yuki, Hikaru Yabuki [Osaka Asian Film Festival 2025]
In their co-directorial/writing debut Crumpled だからなに (2025), Chihiro Yuki and Hikaru Yabuki deliver a tersely-shot short where strong physicality defines the emotional journey. [Osaka Asian Film Fe…
![Featured image for 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]](https://cdn.aniblogtracker.com/live/20230823/1692811721.67090.102370.jpg)
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]
Your Japanese is Good if You Understand This No.4 なら たら と ば んだったら であれば であるなら
Learn Japanese with Me - https://bit.ly/4drmyU2
An Outlaw (ならず者, Teruo Ishii, 1964)
Ken Takakura stars as a China-based hitman dragged into local intrigue when a job goes awry in an early crime thriller from Teruo Ishii.
Humbreaders had me Dancing (in my chair) In The Room.
Today was a day of doing things with my chair. I did a bunch of chair yoga and stretching since I’ve been sitting on my bum listening to…
![Featured image for Georama Boy, Panorama Girl (ジオラマボーイ・パノラマガール, Natsuki Seta, 2020) [Fantasia 2021]](https://cdn.aniblogtracker.com/live/20210806/1628210594.18812.44392.png)
Georama Boy, Panorama Girl (ジオラマボーイ・パノラマガール, Natsuki Seta, 2020) [Fantasia 2021]
Lovelorn teens experience parallel moments of romantic disillusionment in Natsuki Seta’s charmingly retro teen comedy
Sayonara Rose Garden, Volume 3 (さよならローズガーデン)
Goodbye, My Rose Garden, Volume 1 by Dr. Pepperco is is out now in English from Seven Seas and in honor of this series coming out in English,…
DOOR II: TOKYO DIARY ドア 2 (1991) Remaster Director: Banmei Takahashi
DOOR II: TOKYO DIARY ドア 2 (1991), directed by Banmei Takahashi, uses extreme S&M to explore alienation and loneliness in 90s Japan. Repellent in concept, but artfully composed and…
![Featured image for The Residents 暮らしの残像 Director: Kahori Higashi [Osaka Asian Film Festival 2022]](https://cdn.aniblogtracker.com/live/20220527/1653634376.36901.65880.jpg)
The Residents 暮らしの残像 Director: Kahori Higashi [Osaka Asian Film Festival 2022]
The Residents, by director Kahori Higashi, is a snappy ensemble comedy that follows a traditional four-act structure of intro, development, twist, and conclusion. The Residents 暮らしの残像 Director: Kah…
New Moomin 34/52 - I Am King! (ぼくは王様だ!) (1972) (English subtitles)
Moomin has to clean the storehouse before he can go play with his friends in the sea. While rummaging through the items, he finds a strange pair of…