Movie Review – Violent Streets

Violent Streets (Bôryoku gai) Japan (1974) Dir. Hideo Gosha Being a Yakuza might be dangerous, yet it gives wayward some younger people a sense of belonging and purpose to burn off that rebellious energy. The downside is that unless you die, leaving the Yakuza is not easy and someone or something will come to drag …

Movie Review – Punk Samurai

Punk Samurai (Panku-zamurai, kirarete sôrô) Japan (2018) Dir. Gakuryu Ishii Lying in order to get a job is something a lot of people do, although it is usually a white lie that can be covered by quickly learning the skill you’ve claimed to have rather than an egregious whopper. Either way, lies have a habit …

Anime Review – RE:cycle Of The PENGUINDRUM

RE:cycle Of The PENGUINDRUM (Cert 15) Limited Theatrical Release (Distributor: Anime Ltd.) Running time: 124 mins/142 mins approx. Release Date: May 20th    In 2011, Sailor Moon and Revolutionary Girl Utena director Kunihiko Ikuhara unleashed a 24-part anime series of his own creation on an unsuspecting world that beguiled and baffled in equal measures. That …

Movie Review – The Legend & Butterfly

The Legend & Butterfly Japan (2023) Dir. Keishi Otomo As one of the most famous figures in Japanese history, legendary daimyo Nobunaga Oda has been immortalised in a number of ways on TV, film and, anime (one series sees him re-imagined as woman). They all follow a similar idea of what Oda was like, but …

Anime Review – Jujutsu Kaisen Part 2

Jujutsu Kaisen Part 2 (Episodes 13-24) 2 Disc Blu-ray (Distributor: Anime Ltd.) Running time: 285 minutes approx. Ready for some more supernatural action with Yuji Itadori and the trainee sorcerers of Tokyo Metropolitan Magic Technical College? Okay, so picking up where we left off… Actually, there is a chance some of you may not even …

Movie Review – The Door Into Summer

The Door Into Summer (Natsu e no Tobira: Kimi no Iru Mirai e) Japan (2021) Dir. Takahiro Miki Isn’t time travel great? Make a mistake and simply go back in time and fix it! However, we have seen in films, it doesn’t always work out this way; but this is cinema and therefore no reason …

Anime Review – To Me, The One Who Loved You

To Me, The One Who Loved You (Kimi wo Aishita Hitori no Boku e) Japan (2022) Dir. Kenichi Kasai In my review for To Every You I've Loved Before I was hesitant to go too deeply into the plot discussion for fear of spoiling some of the twists. But there was also another reason for …

Anime Review – To Every You I’ve Loved Before

To Every You I've Loved Before (Boku ga Aishita Subete no Kimi e) Japan (2022) Dir. Jun Matsumoto “Let’s say there were 100 worlds with 100 of me and 100 of you. I’m sure the 100 me’s would love the 100 you’s” With the concept of the multi-verse becoming something of a staple in Hollywood …

Movie Review – Baby Assassins

Baby Assassins (Beibî warukyûre) Japan (2021) Dir. Yugo Sakamoto In my recent review of On The Edge Of Their Seats, I said that nobody does coming of age films like Japan. Little did I know that there was a film in existence that would back this opinion up in the most extreme way possible. Chisato …

Movie Review – On The Edge Of Their Seats

On The Edge Of Their Seats (Arupusu sutando no hashi no hou) Japan (2020) Dir. Hideo Jojo Sport is about bringing people together - unless you hate it as much as I do, especially when they mess up the TV schedules - with the players in the game being mere conduits for uniting strangers in …