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All the right moves: The production team for “Ride or Die” hired an intimacy coordinator to coach the film’s two leads, Kiko Mizuhara (right) and Honami Sato (left), through sex scenes. Netflix says this was a first for a Japanese movie.

Sex, murder and a getaway car: ‘Ride or Die’ stars go on the trip of a lifetime

by James Hadfield

Today’s viewers may have grown desensitized to screen violence and CGI spectacle, but there’s still something bracing about seeing an actor go beyond the call of duty for a role. Ryuichi Hiroki’s “Ride or Die,” which will be released worldwide on Netflix this month, is likely to get people tal...

The characters from "Attack on Titan" for the manga's final chapter are shown on the cover of the May issue of Bessatsu Shonen Magazine.

‘Attack on Titan’ manga series concludes run of almost 12 years

The final chapter of the "Attack on Titan" manga series, popular in Japan and abroad and set to be made into a Hollywood film, was released Friday, closing the curtain on a story that has been running since 2009. The 139th chapter of the saga depicting a battle against giant man-eating creatur...

Surprise hit: Indonesian singer Rainych Ran’s Japanese rendition of Doja Cat’s chart-topping number “Say So” became a viral hit on YouTube last year.

Indonesian singer Rainych Ran goes viral amid an online city pop renaissance

by Patrick St. Michel

Few recent developments showcase the globalization of pop culture like an Indonesian artist covering an American pop hit in Japanese. Singer Rainych Ran began uploading her covers of J-pop and anime songs to YouTube about five years ago, and while she received some attention over the years, no...

‘Terminal Boredom’ is a treasure trove of Izumi Suzuki’s subversive science fiction

by Iain Maloney

Reading the brief biography of Izumi Suzuki on publisher Verso Books’ website, it’s hard to believe she isn’t more famous. In the 1970s, she was a model and an actress in mainstream cinema and pinku eiga (erotic films), and after the death of her husband, jazz musician Kaoru Abe, she became a pro...

‘First Person Singular’ marks Haruki Murakami’s welcome return to his signature style

by Nicolas Gattig

What makes a writer’s voice addictively readable, selling millions of copies in 50 languages? And how can the same voice remain deeply personal while also speaking to readers all over the globe? For Haruki Murakami, Japan’s maestro of contemporary fiction, first-person narratives were his sign...