
Film
Race back to anime’s halcyon days with 'Redline'
by Matt Schley
The action-packed film about adrenaline-chasing racers in a distant galaxy draws fervent fans for its 10th anniversary.
Race back to anime’s halcyon days with 'Redline'
The action-packed film about adrenaline-chasing racers in a distant galaxy draws fervent fans for its 10th anniversary.
‘Otona no Jijo’: When dinner guests stop being polite and start getting real
This remake of Italy’s hit comedy “Perfect Strangers,” convincingly adapts the “party from hell” storyline for local audiences with a more heartwarming, less cynical undertone.
‘I Fell in Love Like a Flower Bouquet’: Millennial romance with a Gen X heart
Kasumi Arimura and Masaki Suda star in an entertaining but inauthentic portrait of 2010s romance, penned by veteran TV screenwriter Yuji Sakamoto.
‘The Night Beyond the Tricornered Window’: Stylish scares with a side of romance
Director Yukihiro Morigaki’s horror-mystery film based on a ‘boys’ love’ manga focuses more on confronting inner demons rather than battling ghouls.
‘Woman of the Photographs’: An existentialist fable for the Instagram age
Takeshi Kushida’s debut feature playfully riffs on Kobo Abe’s novel, “The Woman in the Dunes,” in a surrealist fable about the pitfalls of image retouching.
Japanese films you won't want to miss in 2021
This year’s release lineup is stacked with domestic films that have little competition for audiences as many Hollywood films have been set back by the COVID-19 pandemic.
‘Angry Rice Wives’: Rousing take on 'rice riots' is sure to inspire
Katsuhide Motoki’s drama about the “rice riots” in 1918 shows the bravery of female protestors who fought against sexism and the deep poverty that threatened their livelihoods.
Virtual and victorious: Anime came out on top in 2020
In a year marred by industry-wide delays and cancellations due to the COVID-19 pandemic, anime still managed to become more popular than ever thanks in part to streaming platforms.
How ‘Demon Slayer’ came to be Japan’s biggest box-office hit of all time
The anime film beat out former record holder “Spirited Away,” due in part to fortuitous timing and word-of-mouth popularity.
Film spotlights Vietnamese temporary workers' plight in Japan
When director Akio Fujimoto's "Along the Sea" reaches theaters nationwide next spring, he hopes the plight of Vietnamese temporary workers depicted in the film will show the exploitative reality their like face in Japan at times. A co-production with a Vietnamese film company, the movie ...
Long-awaited final 'Evangelion' film underlines the strength of its legacy
It's been over 25 years since the hit anime series “Neon Genesis Evangelion” first aired on Japanese television, but fervor among fans is once again on the rise.
One anime to slay them all: How Japanese film fared in 2020
The film industry was hit hard by the pandemic, with the closure of theaters and festivals moving online. However, that's what made the triumph of “Demon Slayer” all the more surprising.