Tag: Tom Wilmot

March 29, 2024 · 0 comments

By Tom Wilmot. Unlikely as it might be, the late Yasuharu Hasebe is one of Japan’s best-represented filmmakers overseas, with several of the director’s works making their way west over the past twenty or so years. Radiance Films continues the trend of bringing Hasebe’s trademark action movies to Blu-ray with the release of his electrifying […]

February 16, 2024 · 0 comments

By Tom Wilmot. As part of its latest wave of Japanese releases, Pushkin Press has taken the plunge into the world of manga, starting with Nishioka Kyodai’s Kafka. First published in Japan in 2010, the manga adapts several short stories from Bohemian-born author Franz Kafka, who’s widely regarded as one of the most important literary […]

August 9, 2023 · 0 comments

By Tom Wilmot. For those clued up on modern Japanese cinema, the name Katsuhito Ishii is sure to ring a bell. Renowned for his surreal imagery and off-kilter comedy, Ishii’s films range from the violent and zany to the soft and serene. However, while the director is most widely recognised for his work in live-action, […]

July 22, 2023 · 0 comments

By Tom Wilmot. In the spring before her first year of high school, the shy Yuna feels lost when her best friend moves away. However, it isn’t long before she’s thrown into the company of Akari, a spritely girl who has moved into the same apartment building. To begin with, the two couldn’t be more […]

June 28, 2023 · 0 comments

The late Kinji Fukasaku is most fondly remembered for his hold-no-bars yakuza flicks, characterised by their hard-as-nails anti-heroes and brutal action. However, in the late 1970s, the director began to expand his cinematic palette, first by dipping into the jidaigeki genre with Shogun’s Samurai (1978). Also known as The Yagyu Clan Conspiracy, the film starred semi-frequent Fukasaku collaborator Shinichi […]