My friend (and awesome indie fashion designer) from Singapore recently admitted she watches the Korean dorama Boys Over Flower. Of course I mistook her intentions and launched into a soliloquy of “who’s considered cute in Japan” and “who’s cute that has ‘anime style hair’”. But my friend said she doesn’t watch the dorama for the consumed idol worship that most fans watch it for, thankfully. That’s why I consider her a friend, I guess. But the tomboy in me is always excited to be able to …

Director: Kazuo Mori
Starring: Raizo Ichikawa, Eijiro Tono, Ayako Wakao
Genre: Action
My review queue has grown quite large over the past few months, but when I received Shinobi no Mono 3: Resurrection (aka: Shin Shinbi no Mono) in the mail, I bumped it straight to the top. You see, I love the Shinobi no Mono movies, and couldn’t wait to find out what happened to Goemon after the amazing cliffhanger ending of the second film. Now, if you haven’t seen the first two films, stop right here.  Go pick up …

We’ve seen a number of films this year, but I just haven’t had the time to write anything about them yet. So, in an effort to get some of these out the door, here are a few ultra-short reviews. And, speaking of ultra short, I’ve got myself a twitter account now. Follow me, and I’ll follow you back.
I’ll be back later in the week with a review of Shinobi no Mono 3. The rest of the month will hopefully see a return to Japanese film reviews as well. Enjoy.
Underworld: Rise …

Director: Suzuki Matsuo
Starring: Yuki Uchida, Yu Aoi, Kankuro Kudo, Shinya Tsukamoto, Satoshi Tsumabuki
Genre: Drama

HE SAID:
Although easy to classify as a “Japanese Girl Interrupted“, such comparison does this film a rather serious disservice. You see, Welcome to the Quiet Room is actually a good film. Make that an excellent one. In fact, it is one of my favorite films I’ve seen this year.
Welcome to the Quiet Room concerns a young journalist, Asuka Sakura (Yuki Uchida), who accidentally ends up in the hospital following a dangerous mixture of pills and liquor. …

Director: Kankuro Kudo
Starring: Shichinosuke Nakamura, Tomoya Nagase
Genre: Japan, Comedy, Curious, Fantasy
See it at SF Indie’s Another Hole in the Head June 2008!
Everyone loves a roadtrip movie. Maybe even a gay roadtrip movie. How about a couple of Edo era gay samurai who are forbidden to ride their motorcycle (by famed Susumu Terajima, no less) and must walk for the rest of the “roadtrip”? Well, there’s a lot of similar pain and disappointment to endure in Yaji and Kita: The Midnight Pilgrims, bookended by the baleful and the …

Director: Fumihiko Sori
Genre: Japan, action, action, sci-fi
Release Date: May 27, 2008
As interested as I was in watching Baldr Force EXE, I was completely ambivalent about Vexille. I’d seen the ads on all the geek sites, but its comparisons to Appleseed weren’t winning me over. You see, to be completely honest, I’m not that big a fan of CG animation. I’ve not bothered to see either of the Appleseed CG movies, and while I have checked out the Final Fantasy CG films, they didn’t grab me in anything more than a …

So I’ve seen a few titles over the past month, but just haven’t had any time to review them. So, rather than let them fall to the wayside, here are a few quick capsules. As for regular film/dvd reviews, I’ve just received a flood of titles, including Bohachi and Shinobi no Mono 2: Vengeance. Look for them to post in the coming week or so. Now, on to the reviews.
Black Kiss
If only America’s Next Top Model were like this. In Macoto Tezuka’s Black Kiss, the Tokyo modeling scene is terrorized …

I’ve been trying to figure out a way to handle this review in a non-fanboy sort of fashion, and I realized I can’t. I love Love Psychedelico. They’re one of my favorite bands. In fact, they’re one of the few bands that have prompted me to purchase multiple albums in these days of rotten popular music and lossy MP3s. And, keep in mind these are import CDs (Yes, I dig Love Psychedelico that much.) [...]

Cloistered Nun: Runa’s Confession marks our third and final review from Kino’s Masaru Konuma/Nikkatsu collection. The previous two films prompted quite different reactions from me, but from what I’ve seen, it looks like this third film was the charm. Runa’s Confession is not only the most cinematic of the three, but also provides a decent and entertaining pulp tale, while operating on a higher level than either Erotic Diary of an Office Lady or Tattooed Flower Vase.
The basic plot of Cloistered Nun: Runa’s Confession concerns a young woman, Runa (Runa …

Our second review title from Kino’s Nikkatsu collection, Tattooed Flower Vase, sees director Masaru Konuma at his most skilled, and most perverse [[If you haven't already, you'll want to read my review of his Erotic Diary of an Office Lady for necessary background]]. Visually the film is stunning, but the story itself is a bit lacking, and perverse to such a degree that it makes the title hard to recommend to even the most ardent fan of Japanese cinema.
In a nutshell, the basic story of Tattooed Flower Vase concerns …

Clocking in at just seventy-five minutes, Tokyo Loop provides a collection of avant-garde animated shorts from Japan. Now, it’s important to note up front that the animation exhibited here is not anime. In fact, there’s nothing really stereotypically Japanese about any of them, save for the slightest hints at their Tokyo setting and one mildly disturbing segment taking place in a restroom with Japanese toilets. Brought to life through a variety of animation mediums, from traditional cell animation to paintings to CG, these short are actually more in line with …

I haven’t had much time to watch films these past couple weeks, what with a hectic work schedule and a pile of animation sent to me for review (I’m currently on the third disc of an eight disc set), but I’ve been listening to quite a bit of music at work. Given the fact I haven’t turned out a music review in quite some time, I figured it’s high-time to put out another batch.
First a bit of background. As an early birthday present this past Christmas Break, Kris got …

Remember being a senior in High School, drugging and raping underclassmen and making bombs filled with razor blade schrapnel? No? Maybe you were the self-mutilating waif with a penchant for instigating violence amongst your classmates. Not that either? Boy, times sure have changed, eh? Or maybe the epitaph left by This World of Ours (Oretachi no Sekai) is that things haven’t changed, that immorality is a distinct rite of passage and possibly a survival requisite.
Fueled by the familiar “coming-of-age” annals describing peer pressure and …

HE SAID:
I’ve been promising this one for near four months now, and Christmas Break seemed as good a time as any to finally get this done.
When it comes to theatrical turns by popular television shows, the result more often than not leaves both fans and newcomers oddly unsatisfied. Oftentimes these assume a too-high familiarity on the part of the audience with the characters, or simply a story that, aside from being longer than normal, would have been right at home in the series’ small screen setting. Now, not being familiar …

Slaughter in the Snow, the third and final installment in the Mikogami Trilogy, sees Jokichi (Yoshio Harada, Party 7, 9 Souls) on the last leg of his journey. Kyubei and Chogoro are dead, leaving only Chuji to take care of. But standing in the way of his final target is a knife wielding assassin, Kobunji (Isao Natsuyagi, Goyokin, Umizaru 2: Test of Trust), hired by Chuji to take Jokichi out. Being an honorable and ethical man, Kobunji feels somewhat reluctant to kill Jokichi, given that Chuji is directly responsible for …

One down and two to go. Having slain Kyubei at the end of The Trail of Blood, Jokichi now sets his sights on Chogoro and Chuji, the two remaining parties responsible for the deaths of his wife and son. As the film starts, Jokichi makes a reckless attempt towards killing Chogoro at wake for a Yakuza bigwig, with all the bosses in the land in attendance. This blatant disregard for rules and authority doesn’t go over too well with the higher ups, and Jokichi finds himself roughed up and tossed …

So, I’m a little late on this, but who cares? December 5th was Day of the Ninja, an effort to spread Ninja appreciation given the Pirates vs. Ninja net phenomenon. Now, I find the Pirates vs. Ninja thing to be a bit lame (I mean, c’mon. Stealthy assassins against legions of unwashed thieves and rapists? No contest there), but the whole thing allows me to put out a nice list of recommended Ninja media.
So, without further ado, my Ninja Favorites list:
Film

Shinobi no Mono — The first Ninja film, and still …

Wow, so that was an insanely busy week. Back to some film reviews. First up: The Mikogami Trilogy Box Set. As with all other Box Sets I’ve covered, I will review each film individually. A warning though: This review has been written in bits and pieces for the past week and a half. I apologize in advance for any inconsistencies.

While I’ve reviewed a fair share of Samurai and ninja films, I haven’t touched upon Yakuza Chivalry films too much. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the genre, Chivalry …