
Film / Reviews Feb 27, 2020
'First Love': A heartfelt throwback to the golden age of yakuza flicks
by Mark Schilling
Masataka Kubota plays a doomed boxer who takes on the yazuka in Takashi Miike's newest film.
'First Love': A heartfelt throwback to the golden age of yakuza flicks
Masataka Kubota plays a doomed boxer who takes on the yazuka in Takashi Miike's newest film.
'Tokyo Ghoul "S"': A college, a cafe and a cannibal
Big pop-culture franchises generate movie sequels as naturally as chickens lay eggs. Directed by first-timers Kazuhiko Hiramaki and Takuya Kawasaki, "Tokyo Ghoul 'S'" is a follow-up to "Tokyo Ghoul," a 2017 sci-fi horror film based on Sui Ishida's hit manga about a college boy who ...
'Hero Mania': Japanese heroes are keeping it real
Why don't Japanese audiences turn up in big numbers for Hollywood superhero movies? The rare success in Japan of the Spider-Man series suggests one answer: Japanese like superheroes just fine, as long as they're flawed humans as well as heroic fighters for justice. Another case ...
Ex-AKB48 star resists a sleazy stranger on train in 'Round Trip Heart'
Pushing a food-and-drinks cart on an express train used to be a something of a glamour job for young Japanese women (or something of a comedown if they aspired to be flight attendants). The Odakyu Romance Car, which debuted in 1957, is one such express ...