Bamnol - The Debt My granddaughter works hard! All you do is get drunk everyday! It has been roughly two months since my The Monk and T...
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The Monk and The Samurai (2022) [Short Film Review]
The Monk and The Samurai The lives of two men, a monk and a samurai suffer unbearable loss. Heroic to the end their tales intertwine as...
The Night Is Short, Walk On Girl – Film Review
A spin-off of The Tatami Galaxy, this film builds on the style of the acclaimed series with a youthful, feel-good story bursting with fun and creativity!
Cube (2021) [Film Review]
Cube (2021); or, Running Scared I see a sin in your eyes. My first encounter with the Cube franchise was not a positive one. Back in…
Zokki (2021) [Film Review]
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Under The Open Sky (2021) [Film Review]
Under The Open Sky; or, Homecoming We'll face our fate. But you still have this chance. You have to be patient out here. Patient with f...
Asakusa Kid (2021) [Film Review]
Asakusa Kid; or, Make’em Laugh Listen, Take. Don’t suck up to your audience. You tell them what’s funny. I have been waiting patiently ...
Short Movie Time: Honeymoon (2021) review [Japan Cuts 2021]
“A pleasing narrative about the arbitrariness of language and culture.”
Beyond the Infinite Two Minutes (2021) [Film Review]
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Lackadaisy is a Fantastic Short Film!
Prohibition hasn’t been easy on the Lackadaisy speakeasy. Is it worth Rocky, Freckle, and Ivy risking their lives to bring back lackluster hootch to survive?
HOME! (2021) (Animenotane short)
Here's something a little uncharacteristically contemporary for us, this is a short made this year for Animenotane, an ongoing project tha...
Baan Muay Thai (2021) [Film Review]
Baan Muay Thai; or, The Measure of a Man When I was 19, I could do anything. Hurt but no real problem. One or two days and…
Short Movie Time: The Fish With One Sleeve (2021) review
“Tokaibayashi Tsuyoshi delivers an important narrative that reveals how a societal system, which struggles with the newly-posed riddle of gender, problematizes the integration of the transgen…
The Mole Song: Final (2021) review [Fantasia Film Festival]
Miike’s narrative delivers everything a fan of the previous narratives desires and even succeeds in inviting newcomers to delve into Reiji’s past exploits.
Joint (2021) review [The Japan Foundation Touring Film Programme]
Oudai Kojima proves, once again, that the yakuza genre is not dead and that, given the current societal constellation and the various currents within, engaging crime narratives can…
Short Movie Time: Go Seppukku Yourselves (2021) review [Japan Cuts 2021]
“An enthralling audiovisual experience and a powerful critique of the Japanese political system.”
Boy Sprouted (Japan, 2021) [OAFF 2022/Short Shorts and Asian Film Festival 2022]
Jason Maher reviews Yuko Watanabe's short film Boy Sprouted.
A Man Called Otto — Short Report (Film)
Every Saturday at 1:00 PM, Otto and Sonya visited a little café in town and ate eclairs, which were messy but very tasty. At 2 o’clock, they left.…
Tokyo Revengers (2021) Review [Fantasia Film Festival]
“An exciting blend of satisfying violence, tensive moments, surges of pleasing lightheartedness, and touching emotional moments.”
250th Review: Hell’s Garden: Office Royale (2021) [Film Review]
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Review: SHORT SUNZEN
The Tokyopop library is riddled with manga like this - no-name titles with a few interesting ideas that were unceremoniously dropped because...
AND THEN: A Girl-Meets-Girl Short Film
In the middle of spring 2020, Jenn Ravenna Tran launched a Kickstarter for a short film And Then, which she described as “A Girl-Meets-Girl Short Film Set in…
Dreams of Fire (2021) review [Fantasia Film festival]
“McKie’s film is not only the best dance-film of recent years but might very well be one of the best Japanese films to be released this year.”
The Imaginary Film Review
My review of The Imaginary is now up over on Anime News Network. Check it out!
Film Review: The Concierge
There is a certain department store with a very peculiar clientele. It’s not just that it caters to the rich and famous, though many a celebrity, business mogul,…
Short Movie time: Psychology counsellor (2021)
“A thrilling masterpiece.”
Short movie time: Reason To Oblivion (2021) review [JFFH 2022]
A pleasant horror short-narrative that showcases Miyahara’s talent.
Short Movie Time: Born Pisces (2020) review [Japan Cuts 2021]
“Yamanaka does not only reaffirm that she has talent but also that she improved her compositional style and her storytelling.”
Short movie time: North Shinjuku 2055 (2021) review [OAFF 2022]
“A pleasant experimental short.”
Building a Film: Night is Short, Walk on Girl
Night is Short, Walk on Girl is one of those movies I keep coming back to over and over when I’m not feeling too great and have no…
June 2021 Review No.1 (Sound Eupho Sequel Film)
Now, while I have been following the Sound Euphonium series for some time, it took a bit longer to see the other entries. Granted, I tend to skip…
Love, Live, and Goldfish (2021) review [Fantasia Film Festival]
“While Makabe’s narrative does not offer anything truly new or groundbreaking, what it does brings to the table is served with excellence.”
It’s a summer film (2021) review [Camera Japan Festival]
“A highly entertaining film that offers a nostalgic and touching dive into youthful passion and romantic feelings and lighthearted celebration of indie-filmmaking and often-forgotten beauty o…
Detective Pikachu & The Mystery Of The Missing Flan Short Review – The Cutest Mystery Short
The cutest mystery short I’ve seen so far!
Anime short review: Pupa
Today it’s the final anime short review for the month. But I wanted to do something different this time: instead of finding a series I thought I might…
Japan Foundation Film Tour 2021
By Jasper Sharp. The ongoing Coronavirus crisis may have disrupted many aspects of the cultural calendar, but it is heartening to report that one the Japan Foundation UK…
Live-action film retrospective (2021)
Before I continue with the anime and games, as well as the usual end-of-month post, I have one more piece of old business from last year to complete:…
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Happy New Year, everyone! As was the case in 2019 and 2020, our first post of the new year is a rundown of Wooper’s favorite short anime from…
The Killer (1989) [Film Review]
The Killer; or, Tomorrow Never Came In this world, not everybody is untrustworthy. Just how awesome is John Woo? The director is obvio...
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The Concierge is a light-hearted look at working in the service industry. It shows some of the best and worst of customers and clerks and ties it together…
The Imaginary Anime Film Review
Between reality, storybook worlds, and children's minds, this is a film overflowing with imagination—and it has the animation to match.
Japanese Films at the Cannes Film Festival 2021
A preview of the Japanese and Japanese co-production films at the Cannes Film Festival 2021
Jigoku-no-hanazono ~Office Royale~ (2021) review [Fantasia Film Festival]
“An absurd and crazy cocktail full of violence and funny twists and unexpected turns.”
One Piece Film: Red Film Review
My review of One Piece Film: Red is now up over on Anime News Network.
The Fish with One Sleeve: A Short Film on a Japanese Trans Experience
The Fish With One Sleeve, by director Tsuyoshi Shoji, is a film about a Japanese trans woman returning to her hometown to see old friends.
Belle Film Review
My review of Belle is now up over on Anime News Network.
Paprika – Film Review
The mind-bending visual movie by Satoshi Kon is a classic in Japanese animation, but are its visuals enough to make it worth watching?
Barbie Film Review
Numerous Kens also live in an area of Barbieland known as Beach. The Kens, much like the Barbies, of all types, are ‘plastically’ fit and overtly…
Downfall Film Review
My review of Downfall is now up over on Anime News Network. Check it out!
Slow Loop | #Short Anime Review
Finally, I have finished Slow Loop. What did you expect? Slice of Life anime will always be highly rated by me. Sorry. Allow me to share my thoughts!
Short critiques: Homestay (2022) review
Seta’s narrative is, despite its flaws, a pleasant narrative that offers an important message.