Wild Zero is a 2000 zombie horror comedy cult classic directed by Tetsuro Takeuchi, and starring the Japanese garage punk band Guitar Wolf. It borrows many elements from other popular B-movies such as Psychomania and Evil Dead II. Read more…
Love*Com The Movie is a 2006 film based on the manga of the same name. It is a love story between a boy and a girl. The girl, Risa Koizumi, is 172 cm (5′ 7″) tall—much taller than the average Japanese girl. The boy, Atsushi Otani, is 156 cm (5′1 and a half”) — way below the height of the average Japanese boy. Because of this, they are called the “All Hanshin Kyojin” after a popular comedy duo that has a similar height difference. Read more…
Train Man : Densha Otoko is a 2005 Japanese movie, starring Takayuki Yamada and Miki Nakatani. It is part of the Densha Otoko franchise of television series, manga, novel etc. all based on the purportedly true story of a 23-year-old otaku (Japanese geek) who intervened when a drunk man was harassing several women on a train. One young woman sends him a set of Hermès tea cups as a thank you, and the otaku ultimately begins dating one of the women. Read more…
Kamikaze Girls is a 2004 movie directed by Tetsuya Nakashima and based on Novala Takemoto’s light novel of the same name.
Kamikaze Girls centers around two students, Momoko Ryugasaki (Kyoko Fukada) and Ichigo “Ichiko” Shirayuri (Anna Tsuchiya), who are from completely different backgrounds: one is a Lolita girl, the other a YankÄ«. The story showcases their special bond. The movie was filmed in the town of Shimotsuma, in the Ibaraki Prefecture in Eastern Japan. Read more…
The Pornographers is a 1966 Japanese film directed by Shohei Imamura. It tells the story of porn filmmaker Mr. Ogata, whose business is under threat by thieves, the government, and his own family.
Subu makes pornographic films. He sees nothing wrong with it. They are an aid to a repressed society, and he uses the money to support his landlady, Haru, and her family. From time to time, Haru shares her bed with Subu, though she believes her dead husband, reincarnated as a carp, disapproves. Read more…
Good Morning is a 1959 comedy film by Japanese director Yasujiro Ozu. It is a loose remake of his own 1932 silent film I Was Born, But…, and one of only six films that Ozu made in color.
The film takes place in suburban Tokyo, and begins with a group of boy students going home. The film steers into a subplot concerning the local women’s club monthly dues. Read more…