A mountain ascetic gains a new perspective when confronted with mortality in Yuji Nakae’s contemplative foodie drama.
Feb 10, 2023 • Subscribe
More like this
A Son (二十歳の息子, Ryuichi Shimada, 2022)
Documentarian Ryuichi Shimada follows a social worker who decides to adopt a 20-year-old man recently released from juvenile detention.
Article 20 (第二十条, Zhang Yimou, 2024)
A jaded prosecutor re-evaluates his view of justice while investigating the death of a loanshark in Zhang Yimou’s New Year legal dramedy.
Underrated, & Under-appreciated: Jūni Taisen 十二大戦
The 12 members of the Juni Taisen. I watched Juni Taisen years ago, but of course, I have just come around to reviewing it. Surprise surprise. This 12…
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.
Yuji Nunokawa (1947-2022)
Yuji Nunokawa, who died on Christmas Day, was not a well-known name among Anglophone anime fans, but he was a powerful figure in the Japanese cartoon business, instrumental…
Circus Boys (二十世紀少年読本, Kaizo Hayashi, 1989)
Two brothers who grew up in a travelling circus find themselves on different paths in Kaizo Hayashi’s etherial 1930s drama.
Japan Diary: February 2022
As much as I was hoping that February would bring more positivity… that didn’t exactly happen.
Japan Diary: July 2022
The start of July called for more organisation than I’m used to, but I was determined to hit the ground running. Time was running out to get things…
Japan Diary: May 2022
While my first few days of May were very uneventful, Golden Week was about to kick off properly.
Japan Diary: April 2022
Between having a rough few months and the self-imposed deadline to fulfil my Japan travel goals approaching, I figured that having a few days away would be the…
Japan Diary: June 2022
June started off the best way I know how: with plenty of opportunity to socialise.
Japan Diary: January 2022
At the end of my last diary post, my positive COVID test had completely ruined my plans to fly back to Japan as scheduled. All of a sudden,…
Sasayakuyouni Koi wo Utau 7 (ささやくように恋を唄う)
We join our resident adorable high school love story as Himari and Yori-sempai share their first real kiss. This leads to them spending the night together after a…
Sasayakuyouni Koi wo Utau, Volume 10 (ささやくように恋を唄う)
In the wake of the final episodes of Whisper Me A Love Song anime finally seeing light of day, and the cancellation of a Blu-ray release, I wanted…
Sasayakuyouni Koi wo Utau, Volume 5 (ささやくように恋を唄う)
The battle of the bands is coming! Now that Yori-sempai has officially joined the SS Girls, they are raring to go. Only, they seem to have developed a…
Sasayakuyouni Koi wo Utau, Volume 2 (ささやくように恋を唄う)
In Volume 1, Himari saw Yori up on the stage playing with a band and was blown away by her. When she told Yori-sempai, Yori replied that she’d…
Sasayakuyouni Koi wo Utau, Volume 3 (ささやくように恋を唄う)
It’s not like Takeshima Eku’s high school love story is groundbreaking. It’s not that it’s game-changing. It’s just that this story is so pleasant and full of such…
Sasayakuyouni Koi wo Utau, Volume 6 (ささやくように恋を唄う)
It’s summer! It’s time for one last gasp of wholesome fun, hanging with your friends, eating ice cream, going on dates. Both Yori and Himari are very interested…
Sasayakuyouni Koi wo Utau, Volume 8 (ささやくように恋を唄う)
In Volume 7, Shiho finally addressed the elephant in her room and admitted that the source of her bad temper was unrequited love. Having shot her shot, it…
Gifts from the Kitchen (キッチンから花束を, Hisashi Kikuchi, 2024)
One of the few places offering Chinese-style home cooking, Fumin had become a home from for many during the 50 years its founder worked her kitchen herself. Fumi…
Sasayakuyou no Koi wo Utau, Volume 10 (ささやくように恋を唄う)
In the wake of the final episodes of Whisper Me A Love Song anime finally seeing light of day, and the cancellation of a Blu-ray release, I wanted…
Japan Diary: March 2022 {1/2}
I may live in Japan, but that doesn’t mean I let British holidays go by unobserved. So when Pancake Day fell on March 1st, I made a deliberate…
Japan Diary: March 2022 {2/2}
After the earthquake on the 16th, it was back to life as normal.
Japan Diary: August 2022 {2/2}
Two days after visiting the Ofuna Kannon, I went to collect my last two stamps from my favourite temples in Yokohama.
Japan Diary: August 2022 {1/2}
Usually I’d be starting this at the beginning of the month, then updating as things happened, but here I am, 6:30am on August 30th, typing my first sentences.…
“Hoarder Hygge” is the Anti-Zen
Sorry, KonMari fans: Japan’s most charming spaces are its least tidy
The Various Forms of うかがう
The newsletter and podcast are online: This month, the core topic I looked at was how easy and broadly useful is 伺う (ukagau) is, especially for folks struggling…
The Future Diary
By Andrew Osmond. Mirai Nikki (The Future Diary) is a death game anime, in which the gamemaster is God Himself. Well, he calls himself Deus Ex Machina, and…
Zen Ryoiki Ijo Kaiketsu Shitsu
Plot: Following a string of mysterious disappearances, police officer Amano Koyume is suddenly transferred to an agency devoted to solving abnormal cases. Okitama Miyabi is the director of…
Mama’s Affair (阿媽有咗第二個, Kearen Pang, 2022)
A middle-aged woman’s return to work places a strain on her relationship with her son when she begins managing an aspiring pop star in Kearen Pang’s familial drama.
Watashi o Tabetai, Hito de Nashi, Volume 3 (私を喰べたい、ひとでなし)
At the end of Volume 2 of Watashi o Tabetai, Hito de Nashi, (私を喰べたい、ひとでなし) by Naekawa Sai, Hinako was forced to confront her best friend Miko’s secret –…
Watashi o Tabetai, Hito de Nashi, Volume 2 (私を喰べたい、ひとでなし)
Watashi o Tabetai, Hito de Nashi, Volume 2 (私を喰べたい、ひとでなし) is a freakin’ brillant volume of a manga and I really hope someone (cough/Yen Press/cough) licenses it so you…
Watashi o Tabetai, Hito de Nashi, Volume 1 (私を喰べたい、ひとでなし)
Hinako’s family died in a tragic accident. Most of what she remembers is falling into the deep, deep ocean. So when, one day, she stops to look at…
Watashi o Tabetai, Hito de Nashi, Volume 5 (私を喰べたい、ひとでなし)
You know, it sounds kinda cool to have a bunch of youkai fighting over you for your delicious blood but, as Hinako has found out, it’s not, really.…
Watashi o Tabetai, Hito de Nashi, Volume 9 (私を喰べたい、ひとでなし)
When we left our principals in Volume 8, Miko had been maliciously outed to Hinako as a human-eating kitsune by Tsubaki. In Watashi o Tabetai, Hito de Nashi,…
Watashi o Tabetai, Hito de Nashi, Volume 6 (私を喰べたい、ひとでなし)
Shiori confides to Miko how she met Hinako…and how it has ruined Hinako’s life. At last, the pieces of the puzzle that is Hinako begin to fall into…
Watashi o Tabetai, Hito de Nashi, Volume 7 (私を喰べたい、ひとでなし)
In a moment of extraordinary timing, Yen Press has just announced that they have licensed this series as This Monster Wants To Eat Me, with Volume 1 headed…
Watashi o Tabetai, Hito de Nashi, Volume 8 ( 私を喰べたい、ひとでなし)
There is no way to review this volume without a few spoilers, so if you would like to skip them, please jump down to after the asterisks. Kitsune,…
Watashi o Tabetai, Hito de Nashi, Volume 4 (私を喰べたい、ひとでなし)
Watashi o Tabetai, Hito de Nashi, Volume 4 (私を喰べたい、ひとでなし) was one of the skin-crawlingest creepy manga I have ever read. If you like youkai and supernatural creature-type creepies,…
The Zen Diary, Suzume no Tojimari, Achira ni iru oni, Tsuiso Journey, Nagisa ni Sakuhana, Remember to Breathe, Japanese Film Trailers
The Zen Diary, Suzume no Tojimari, Achira ni iru oni, Tsuiso Journey, Nagisa ni Sakuhana, Remember to Breathe, Japanese Film Trailers
Watashi no Kobushi wo Uketomete, Volume 4 (私の拳をうけとめて！)
Watashi no Kobushi wo Uketomete, Volume 4 does something wonderful. But first…. Soramori and Takebe are taking a trip. To an onsen. Overnight. Yeah, and don’t think they…
Watashi no Kobushi wo Uketomete, Volume 3 ( 私の拳をうけとめて)
In Volume1 and Volume 2, we met Soramori and Takebe, former rivals in high school gangs who have met once again as adults. Soramori confesses to Takebe that…
Yuri Manga: Strawberry Fields wo Mou Ichido, Volume 3 ( ストロベリー・フィールズをもう一度)
In Volume 1, we met Akira, a high school student who tended to avoid other people and Pure the transfer student who calmly informs Akira that in 7…
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)
Kunoichi Bettegumi Igarashi Satsuki, Volume 4 ( くノ一別手組ー五十嵐五月)
The problem with writing alternate history is that you have to figure out where things go, as china has discovered in Kunoichi Bettegumi Igarashi Satsuki series. To understand…
Kunoichi Bettegumi Igarashi Satsuki, Volume 2 (くノ一別手組ー五十嵐五月)
While we are all waiting for the Seven Seas release of I Fell In Love With the Villainess, (of which I had read the first few chapters in…
Kunoichi Bettegumi Igarashi Satsuki, Volume 3 (くノ一別手組ー五十嵐五月)
In Kunoichi Bettegumi Igarashi Satsuki, Volume 3 (くノ一別手組ー五十嵐五月), Satsuki comes face to face with a political group that wants, not just foreigners’ expulsion from Japan…but their deaths…
S4E7 - A Touch of Zen (1971)
Hello everyone, In this episode of Heroic Purgatory, we visit Taiwan to discuss of King Hu's most notable films, A Touch of Zen (1971). A seminal piece of the…