Japan's Netflix contender bets on youth-driven viral hits
On a Friday night at a downtown Tokyo television studio, 12 teen models with cutesy nicknames like "Ayamin" and "Kyokyo" are waiting nervously to find out who has won coveted ...
Life after 'The Bachelor Japan': The one who got away
Searching for love on the reality TV series "The Bachelor Japan," a record number of women have already applied for the show's third season, set to stream on Amazon Prime ...
Hit Netflix reboot 'Queer Eye' setting its sights on Japan in new episodes
The "Fab Five" from Netflix's hit reality series "Queer Eye" will bring their makeover talents to Tokyo this year for special episodes, the media streaming company has announced. The five TV ...
Anime Feminist: Tackling anime's gender bias
Over the past few years, there has been more mainstream recognition of the idea that discourse is better served when it is expanded outside the sole realm of heterosexual, white, cisgender men. That's true of major forums, and no less true when it comes ...
Marie Kondo's new TV series cleans up
Marie Kondo is the type of person you wouldn't initially expect lots of people to go crazy over. In the cleaning consultant and best-selling author's new Netflix show, "Tidying Up with Marie Kondo," she simply lays out the basics of her "KonMari" method of ...
TV in 2018: Progressive voices and the enduring charm of ‘Terrace House’
In the English-speaking world, Japanese TV in 2018 was celebrated for how boring it could get. But it was anything but domestically, where viewers questioned norms and helped nudge forward programs with progressive politics. However, no production from Japan was bigger overseas this year than ...
Anime in 2018 saw serious cash but no surprise hits
What do a 24-year-old child detective, a group of seriously laid-back campers and anthropomorphic blood cells have in common? 2018, that's what. "Anime is a medium, not a genre" is a common refrain, and in a field as diverse as Japan's animation industry, it can ...
A blond Swedish landscape artist flexes for NHK — remember his name ... Tatsumasa Murasame
Who's that hunk of blond beefcake crunching his abs on NHK's workout program "Minna de Kinniku Taiso"? When the five-minute nightly exercise show launched for a four-episode run this August and attracted a huge cult following, social media users wanted to know the answer. Tatsumasa Murasame ...
Twitter speaks: That joke isn't funny anymore
An Aug. 16 episode of Tokyo MX's variety show "Hirukyun!" found comedian Ken Horiuchi (better known as Horiken) joining the hosts in the studio. Over the course of his stay, he launched the other TV talent and stage hands into a wall of cardboard ...
Anpanman: Is the children's superhero the best thing since sliced bread?
Illustrator Takashi Yanase's beaming cartoon character celebrates the 30th anniversary of 'Soreike! Anpanman' on Nippon TV.
The small screen needs the small mercies of 'Terrace House'
Television has long been my connection to home. White Walkers ushering in an apocalyptic winter, Cold War sleeper agents going rogue, robots running amok in an Old West theme park — all of these have but a passing resemblance to my former life in ...
Rainy season is a great time to binge-watch anime
The anime season that began in April is winding down, meaning that those who prefer to wait and ingest their anime in one flat-out, high-speed burn are starting to look around for series to binge. This season saw several classic franchises get a high-tech makeover, ...
