Asuna Yanagi delivers Kumamoto stories as she channels her teen filmmaking experiences into her debut Rainy Blue レイニー ブルー (2025), a warm-hearted coming-of-age comedy drama [Osaka Asian Film Festiva…
Mar 17, 2025 • Subscribe
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Rainy Blue (レイニー ブルー, Asuna Yanagi, 2025)
“You never know when it will end,” Aoi mutters to a concerned teacher. “The streaming period, and my life.” Asuna Yanagi’s Rainy Blue (レイニー ブルー) is a semi-autobiographical…
A Preview of Osaka Asian Film Festival 2025
A preview of the films at Osaka Asian Film Festival 2025!
Osaka Asian Film Festival 2023
For the second year in a row, the Heroic Purgatory podcast is covering the Osaka Asian Film Festival (OAFF) which took place between March 10 and March 19.…
Osaka Asian Film Festival 2023
For the second year in a row, the Heroic Purgatory podcast is covering the Osaka Asian Film Festival (OAFF) which took place between March 10 and March 19.…
Osaka Asian Film Festival 2023
For the second year in a row, the Heroic Purgatory podcast is covering the Osaka Asian Film Festival (OAFF) which took place between March 10 and March 19.…
Perfect Nervous (2024) Dir: Masaru Sano [Osaka Asian Film Festival 2024]
Perfect Nervous (Dir: Masaru Sano, 2024) is a gorgeous short film with fantastical elements as it tells a life-affirming story wherein two young women with incurable body-altering diseases…
V. MARIA (2025) Director: Daisuke Miyazaki [Osaka Asian Film Festival 2025]
In Daisuke Miyazaki’s V. MARIA, the passing down of Visual Kei culture and love from one generation to the next is genuinely moving and the stylish delivery of…
Random Call ランダム・コール Dir: Riki Ohkanda [Osaka Asian Film Festival 2022]
Random Call ランダム・コール Dir: Riki Ohkanda [Osaka Asian Film Festival 2022]
Young Birds 雛鳥 Dir: Eriko Izumi [Osaka Asian Film Festival 2021]
Young Birds 雛鳥 Dir: Eriko Izumi [Osaka Asian Film Festival 2021]
Bagmati River バグマティ リバー Dir: Yusaku Matsumoto (2021) [Osaka Asian Film Festival 2022]
Bagmati River バグマティ リバー 「Bagumati Riba-」 Release Date: 2022 Duration: 29 mins. Director: Yusaku Matsumoto Writer: Yusaku Matsumoto, Kentaro Kishi (Screenplay), Starring: Junko Abe, Kenji Kohas…
The Sound of Light (2013) Dir: Junichiro Yamasaki [Osaka Asian Film Festival 2022]
The Sound of Light (2013) Dir: Junichiro Yamasaki is part of Osaka Asian Film Festival 2022’s Online Theater
Good Luck グッドラック Director: Shin Adachi [Osaka Asian Film Festival 2025]
Good Luck グッドラック is a wonderful low-key comedy from Shin Adachi that is part travelogue, part-Before Sunrise walk-and-talk, all cool-couple chemistry (HANA AMANO IS A-M-A-Z-I-N-G) [Osaka Asian Film…
Gotō-san ゴトーさん Dir: Hiroshi Gokan (2020) [Osaka Asian Film Festival 2021]
A film for the economic uncertainty of our Covid-19 age. Gotō-san ゴトーさん Dir: Hiroshi Gokan (2020) [Osaka Asian Film Festival 2021]
Howling 遠吠え Dir: Sheikh M Haris (2022) [Osaka Asian Film Festival 2022]
Howling is a bleak comedy of the absurd and cruel kind with good acting and direction to sell the story. 遠吠え Dir: Sheikh M Haris (2022) [Osaka Asian Film…
Osaka Asian Film Festival 2023 Announces Complete Lineup
In Osaka 10th to 19th March.
Osaka Asian Film Festival 2022’s Japanese Films
Details on many of the Japanese films that will be screened at Osaka Asian Film Festival 2022
Osaka Asian Film Festival 2022 Announces Complete Lineup
At venues across Osaka March 10 to 20 plus 10-film retrospective selection streaming worldwide March 3 to 21
Green Jail 緑の牢獄 Dir: Huang Yin-yu [Osaka Asian Film Festival 2021]
Green Jail 緑の牢獄 Dir: Huang Yin-yu [Osaka Asian Film Festival 2021]
Over the Town 街の上で Dir: Rikiya Imaizumi [Osaka Asian Film Festival 2021]
A charming cringe comedy that takes place in Tokyo’s Shimokitazawa. Over the Town 街の上で Dir: Rikiya Imaizumi [Osaka Asian Film Festival 2021]
Bagmati River バグマティ リバー Dir: Yusaku Matsumoto (2021) [Osaka Asian Film Festival 2022] vcinema review
My rewrite of my review for Bagmati River バグマティ リバー Dir: Yusaku Matsumoto (2021) [Osaka Asian Film Festival 2022]
North Shinjuku 2055 北新宿2055 (2022) Dir: Daisuke Miyazaki [Osaka Asian Film Festival 2022]
North Shinjuku 2055 北新宿2055 (2022) Dir: Daisuke Miyazaki [Osaka Asian Film Festival 2022]
The Slug 태어나길 잘했어 (2020) Dir: Choi Jin-young (South Korea) [Osaka Asian Film Festival 2021]
Hands down, one of the best films at the Osaka Asian Film Festival 2021, I cried multiple times during this heartfelt film about overcoming existential loneliness. The Slug…
Boundary: Flaming Feminist Action 바운더리 Dir: Yun Ga-hyun (South Korea) [Osaka Asian Film Festival 2022]
Boundary: Flaming Feminist Action is a timely reminder 바운더리 Dir: Yun Ga-hyun (South Korea) [Osaka Asian Film Festival 2022]
Blue Imagine ブルーイマジン Director: Urara Matsubayashi [Osaka Asian Film Festival 2024 / Japan Cuts 2024]
Director Urara Matsubayashi makes a definitive #MeToo film for the Japanese film industry with her sincere and complex drama Blue Imagine ブルーイマジン [Osaka Asian Film Festival 2024 / Japan…
I Am Kirishima 桐島です (2025) Director: Banmei Takahashi [Osaka Asian Film Festival 2025]
Banmei Takahashi revives the turbulent times of the 70s as he depicts 50 years on the run of the fugitive Satoshi Kirishima and finds a rich and moving…
Osaka Asian Film Festival 2022’s Opening and Closing Films
Details on Osaka Asian Film Festival 2022’s Opening and Closing Films – Yanagawa, Miss Osaka
Snowdrop スノードロップ Director: Kota Yoshida [Osaka Asian Film Festival 2024]
Snowdrop スノードロップ, by director Kota Yoshida, is a socially conscious domestic drama/character study that looks at the welfare system via a woman chased by the trauma of abandonment…
POP! Director: Masashi Komura (2021) [Osaka Asian Film Festival 2021]
POP! provides a slightly surreal, slightly sweet existential crisis. POP! Director: Masashi Komura (2021) [Osaka Asian Film Festival 2021]
Keep Rolling 好好拍電影 Dir: Man Lim Chung (2020) [Osaka Asian Film Festival 2021]
The opening film of Osaka Asian Film Festival 2021 is KEEP ROLLING 好好拍電影 Dir: Man Lim Chung (2020), a documentary dedicated to Hong Kong filmmaker Ann Hui.
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…
A Rainbow-colored Trip にじいろトリップ Dir: Shinji Imaoka (2021) [Osaka Asian Film Festival 2021]
A Rainbow-colored Trip にじいろトリップ Dir: Shinji Imaoka (2021) [Osaka Asian Film Festival 2021]
Howling 遠吠え Dir: Sheikh M Haris (2022) V Cinema Show Review [Osaka Asian Film Festival 2022]
Howling is a bleak comedy of the absurd and cruel kind with good acting and direction to sell the story. 遠吠え Dir: Sheikh M Haris (2022) [Osaka Asian Film…
Hong Kong Family 過時・過節 (2022) Dir: TSANG Hing Weng Eric [Osaka Asian Film Festival 2023]
Hong Kong Family by director Eric Tsang is a strong ensemble drama that shows he is a promising talent to watch. 過時・過節 (2022) Dir: TSANG Hing Weng Eric…
A Glimpse at the Films at Osaka Asian Film Festival 2024
A glimpse at the feast of films programmed for Osaka Asian Film Festival 2024 (March 01st to March 10th)
Out of TOKYO202x Director: Akinori Ikuse [Osaka Asian Film Festival 2022]
A refreshing sci-fi short from Japan, Out of TOKYO202x takes the time-slip formula and uses it on the summer Olympics of 2021! Director: Akinori Ikuse [Osaka Asian Film Festival…
Joint ジョイント Director: Oudai Kojima (2020) [Osaka Asian Film Festival 2021]
Joint ジョイント Director: Oudai Kojima (2020) [Osaka Asian Film Festival 2021] is a refreshing take on the yakuza genre thanks to the depth of its world building and…
The Tales of Kurashiki 蔵のある街 (2025) Director: Emiko Hiramatsu [Osaka Asian Film Festival 2025]
The Tales of Kurashiki 蔵のある街 (2025) is a celebration of the beautiful historic city by director Emiko Hiramatsu who sets a youth story in her hometown and delivers…
Egoist エゴイスト (2022) Dir: Daishi Matsunaga [New York Asian Film Festival 2023]
Egoist エゴイスト (2022) Dir: Daishi Matsunaga [New York Asian Film Festival 2023]
404 Still Remain 너와 나의 5분 (2024) Director: Uhm Ha-neul [Osaka Asian Film Festival 2025]
Director Uhm Ha-neul’s 404 Still Remain 너와 나의 5분 (2024) is a gorgeous romance between two beautiful boys that revels in early 2000s Japanese and Korean pop culture.…
The Burden of the Past 過去負う者 (2022) Dir: Atsushi Funahashi [Osaka Asian Film Festival 2023]
The Burden of the Past by director Atsushi Funahashi is a fierce film about the failure of Japanese society to provide rehabilitation for former criminals. The Burden of the…
Along the Sea 海辺の彼女たち Dir: Akio Fujimoto (2020) [Osaka Asian Film Festival 2021]
A riveting look at the migrant experience through the travails of three Vietnamese women in Japan who travel along the sea to where they hope will be a…
New Religion ニューレリジョン (2022) Director: Keishi Kondo [Osaka Asian Film Festival 2023]
New Religion ニューレリジョン is a highly-atmospheric horror film from Keishi Kondo who crafts an original story with distinct visuals. It’s one of the best J-horror films I have seen…
Osaka Asian Film Festival 2022: 10 Japanese Films Online and Available Internationally
Details on the films programmed for the Osaka Asian Film Festival 2022 Online Theater (Available Internationally)
Blackbird Blackbird Blackberry (2023) Director: Elene Naveriani [Osaka Asian Film Festival 2024]
Blackbird Blackbird Blackberry (2023), by director Elene Naveriani, is a touching late coming-of-age film about a 48-year-old woman in a Georgian village growing into herself after a near-death…
Sekai 世界 (2023) Director: Marina Tsukada [Osaka Asian Film Festival 2023]
Sekai 世界, directed by Marina Tsukada, is a rich portrait of two people living in Nagano prefecture. It gently guides us into their inner worlds and exploring them…
yes, yes, yes Director: Akihiko Yano (2020) [Osaka Asian Film Festival 2021]
A powerful drama about reckoning with grief, “yes, yes, yes” is powered by raw performances from its brilliant cast. yes, yes, yes Director: Akihiko Yano (2020) [Osaka Asian…
December 赦し (2022) Director: Anshul Chauhan [Osaka Asian Film Festival 2023]
December 赦し is director Anshul Chauhan’s third feature film. An impressive courtroom drama, it takes us through a harrowing criminal trial that constantly keeps us empathising with and questi…
Suton すとん Director: Rikako Watanabe [Osaka Asian Film Festival 2024]
Suton すとん, by director Rikako Watanabe. is a quietly affecting character study where a young woman’s life is marked by the poignancy of aging and separation and also…
A Preview of the Japanese Films at Osaka Asian Film Festival 2024
A Preview of the Japanese Films at Osaka Asian Film Festival 2024 (March 01 – March 10) – trailers and synopses.
The Land of Morning Calm 아침바다 갈매기는 (2024) Director: Park Ri-woong [Osaka Asian Film Festival 2025]
Writer/director Park Ri-woong (The Girl on a Bulldozer) delivers a fiery working-class hero fighting against society’s moral indifference in The Land of Morning Calm 아침바다 갈매기는 (2024) [Osaka…