Japanese Movie Reviews »
From Up on Poppy Hill (2011) Movie Review
Screened at the 2012 Terracotta Far East Film Festival. “From Up on Poppy Hill” is the latest offering from legendary Japanese animation house Studio Ghibli, and is another in their line of nostalgia themed...
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Gyo (2012) Movie Review
Screened at the 2012 Terracotta Far East Film Festival. “Gyo” is an OVA anime adaptation of the horror manga by popular artist Junji Ito, the mad genius best known for the likes of “Tomie”...
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Kyofu (2010) Movie Review
“Kyofu” marks the end of the “J-Horror Theater” Japanese horror series, brainchild of famed producer Takashige Ichise, the man behind many of the country’s most influential genre films of the last couple of decades,...
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First Squad (2009) / Redline (2009) Movie Review
I love me some anime. I have since I was a teen. My love and appreciation for the genre has only grown and as much as I love it, I’m often disappointed by the...
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Adrift in Tokyo (2007) Movie Review
“Adrift in Tokyo” (released domestically as “Tenten”) is a 2007 outing from cult favourite director Satoshi Miki, who has been responsible for some of the best loved of the recent wave of eccentric Japanese...
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Gantz: Perfect Answer (2011) Movie Review
“Gantz” continues with “Perfect Answer”, the second and concluding part of writer Watanabe Yusuke and director Sato Shinsuke’s big screen adaptation of the cult anime and manga series. Following on from the semi-cliffhanger ending...
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Ninja Kids (2011) Movie Review
Generally speaking, I love Takashi Miike. In fact, you could go as far as to say that I’m a fanboy without offending me in the slightest. I’ve followed the director down many strange cinematic...
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Quirky Guys and Gals (2011) Movie Review
As its title suggests, “Quirky Guys and Gals” is another slice of idiosyncratic comedy from Japan, a colourful anthology piece which follows a variety of eccentric individuals about their oddball lives. The film pulls...
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Tomie: Unlimited (2011) Movie Review
The name Noboru Iguchi is synonymous with balls-out, gore-soaked cinematic insanity. The guy has cranked out some seriously warped motion pictures, including my personal favorite, the 2008 action flick “The Machine”. All of his...
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Underwater Love (2011) Movie Review
“Underwater Love” has been one of the most talked about films amongst cult cinema fans of the last year. It’s not hard to see why, given it’s whacked out premise, being a musical take...
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Villain (aka Akunin, 2010) Movie Review
Tough drama “Villain” emerged as one of the most acclaimed films from Japan in 2010, earning a massive 15 nominations from the Japan Academy, including those for Best Picture, Director and a variety of...
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Paradise Kiss (2011) Movie Review
More manga hits the screen with “Paradise Kiss”, a live action version of the popular comic from “Nana” creator Yazawa Ai. Another title aimed at the female demographic, the film revolves around the adventures...
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Zipangu Fest Review: Abraxas (2010)
Continuing the theme of sound at the 2011 Zipangu Festival in London is “Abraxas”, a film with an intriguing protagonist in the form of a wild punk turned Buddhist monk, played by real life...
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Zipangu Fest Review: Shirome (2010)
Although if taken at face value “Shirome” may sound like a fairly typical and rather uninspiring slice of teen friendly J-horror, following a pre-pubescent idol band called Momoiro Clover wandering around a haunted school,...
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Zipangu Fest Review: The Ghost Cat and the Mysterious Shamisen (1938)
One of the great pleasures of attending film festivals is getting the chance to see the rare and obscure in all their glory, as in the case of “The Ghost Cat and the Mysterious...
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Zipangu Fest Review: KanZeOn (2011)
“KanZeOn”, opening the Japanese Zipangu Festival in London on Friday 18th November, is less a documentary and more a spiritual experience. Its title coming from an alternative reading of the Japanese name for the...
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I Wish (2011) Movie Review
Japanese director Kore-eda Hirokazu returns with “I Wish” (the film’s Japanese title is “Kiseki”, which translates as “Miracle”), a heart warming tale of two young brothers hoping to bring their separated parents back together....
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BFI London Film Festival Review: Hara-Kiri – Death of a Samurai (2011)
Prolific and unpredictable Japanese auteur Miike Takashi follows up his hugely popular and critically acclaimed “13 Assassins” with another period samurai outing in the form of “Hara-Kiri: Death of a Samurai”. The film is...
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Guilty of Romance (2011) Movie Review
Japanese auteur and explorer of the darker recesses of human behaviour Sono Sion follows up his off the wall serial killer shocker “Cold Fish” with more true crime psycho drama in “Guilty of Romance”....
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Rogue Ninja (2009) Movie Review
“Rogue Ninja” (aka “Fugitive Ninja”) is an earlier outing from “Aliens vs. Ninja” director Seiji Chiba, originally unleashed back in 2009 and now finding its way to DVD. Unsurprisingly, the film offers up very...
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