'Sensei Kunshu': Looking for love in all the wrong places
Student crushes on teachers are a pop culture staple (ask any Van Halen fan). In real life, they're a minefield, with trip wires becoming ever more sensitive. "Sensei Kunshu," Momoko Koda's hit manga about a teenage girl (Minami Hamabe) goo-goo-eyed over a handsome math teacher ...
'Flavors of Youth': A China-focused anthology falls flat
So-called anthology films, made up of multiple shorts based around the same theme, are a staple of the anime industry and are generally created to a) give young directors a chance, b) show off what studios are capable of, or c) keep a director ...
'Bleach': Easy entry into an action-packed manga world
Marvel and DC may rule the North American multiplex, but that doesn't mean their fans have read the source comics. In Japan the opposite is true: The manga comes first and foremost in a media chain that eventually leads to anime, games and, at ...
'Mirai': Mamoru Hosoda's latest anime is for the young at heart
Though anime director Mamoru Hosoda rarely diverges from his pet theme of family, the scale of his movies rises and falls like the tide. "The Girl Who Leapt Through Time" (2006) was an intimate tale of high school life, "Summer Wars" (2009) dealt with ...
By documenting the tales of those who lived through the Battle of Okinawa in 1945, filmmakers Chie Mikami and Hanayo Oya question the island's current role as a military stronghold.
'Still Life of Memories': An erotic drama that perpetuates the male gaze
Hitoshi Yazaki goes slightly overboard with visual innuendo in an otherwise artistic film.
'Shino Can't Say Her Name': A teenage struggle that speaks to everyone
There's a point in many teenagers' lives where few things are more mortifying than the prospect of having to speak in public. High school freshman Shino (Sara Minami) has it worse than most. When she's by herself, she can talk perfectly fine, even play-acting ...
'The Chrysanthemum and the Guillotine': A sumo subplot stands out in a crowded film
One man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter. I'm not sure if Takahisa Zeze knows this phrase but it applies to the heroes of his new film, "The Chrysanthemum and the Guillotine," an overly long, high-energy passion project that languished in development hell for ...
'You, Your, Yours': Goofball gags that'll go over well with goofball guys
Love can drive you nuts. One recent illustration of how can be seen in the American TV show "Crazy Ex-Girlfriend," about a successful New York lawyer who runs into her teen crush one day, and soon after quits her job and moves to California ...
'The Name': Ren Komai's performance raises a multilayered drama
What's in a name? On one level, it's how you identify yourself to yourself (as in dorky name, dorky self-image). On another, it's your social calling card, your link to family, going back generations (or not, if an ancestor decided to exchange one name ...
'Punk Samurai Slash Down': An audacious adaptation that may look better on paper
One of the frequent complaints lodged against the Japanese film industry is that producers are reluctant to bankroll anything that isn't based on an existing novel, manga or TV series. There's a lot of truth in the criticism, but not every screen adaptation of ...
'One Cut of the Dead': A zombie flick that brings indie filmmaking back to life
Both budgets and box-office prospects for Japanese indie films have been declining for years. As the former approaches the zero mark, so do recognizable actors and other standard indicators of quality. Audiences, smelling amateurism, stay away. Flying in the face of this dismal trend is ...
