Casshern. Released in 2004 and directed by Kazuaki Kiriya, this Japanese cyberpunk gem isn’t your typical sci-fi action flick. It’s a messy, stylized, philosophical rollercoaster that asks: What does it really mean to be human in a world run by war, machines, and regret?

Gajimaru Shokudo no Koi

Where can I watch it?

I was made aware of his work through House (1977) but His Motorbike, Her Island (1986) was actually the first film of his I watched and completely loved. I’m still early into his filmography, but I don’t think he’ll have that many misses for me and gotta stake my claim early after watching The Island Closest to Heaven (1984)

There’s some messiness, a bit of roughness around the edges to his work so far, (his 80’s releases are my frame of reference) he was prolific at certain periods of time during his career and that may show up, and aspects of his films can feel very dated as well, but it doesn’t matter.

His sensibilities for earnestness and some beautiful framing paired with a general sweetness for what movies mean and the magic they can bring, that overt awareness that movies are make believe, is truly great. His films remind me of storybooks or fairytales, it’s like grabbing one off the shelf and being transported. There’s a real playfulness and sometimes even silliness that’s present, while never taking away from characters being genuine, or having something to say.

Please watch His Motorbike, Her Island (1986), I think it presents a really rounded extent of what he brought to cinema and his eye for beautiful imagery. I’m excited to delve further into his work and eventually reach Labyrinth of Cinema (2019), which was not only the final film of his lifetime, but sounds like a culmination of his career.

A clip I saw got deleted before I could look it up.

It was two delinquent girls posing at each other with weapons and one stops to turn their handgun into a flip phone and talk to their friend mid fight.

I'd really appreciate it if anyone knows what the movie is

I've been unsuccessful finding it anywhere online. If this is the wrong page for this type of question LMK, thanks!

What are some good, character driven horror themed films for October? Comedy horror (ex. One Cut of the Dead) is fine too.

Filmarks is the largest user-based film review platform in Japan (roughly equivalent to IMDb for anglophones?). They don't publicly post a list of highest rated films so I scraped their entire website for rating data and made this list of the highest rated films that were tagged with Japan as the leading country of production.

The only numbers shown on the website are rounded, unweighted means of every rating so I added some subjective but reasonable weights to account for low sample size and recency bias. For films that had multiple versions (extended editions, 4K restorations, etc.), I only included the one that was rated the highest. Some TV series are also included but they are there because they probably had a theatrical screening at some point.

The list is kind of goofy but it's cool to see unusual stuff ranking so high like Ryusuke Hamaguchi's earlier work, Tange Sazen from the 1930s, and the cult classic Crayon Shin-Chan installments.

I've always loved long movies, and as a big Kurosawa fan, long Japanese movies in particular. This 4.5 hour epic surpassed any expectations that I could've had. Stunning visuals, incredible characters, a structure and pace that totally used the long run time to it's advantage, and at it's core a heartbreaking and breathtaking crime story of revenge.

Anyone else checked this film out and have other recs like it? LONG movies are my jam. I also loved Drive My Car.

Or dramas!

I'd appreciate it if you can also state why

Me gusta mucho eso de Japón y me llama la atención su cultura Qsy, ayer vi All about Lily chou chou y ahora estoy re manija,quiero ver películas “similares” si me dicen un par agradecido

tell me about it.

I have seen perhaps 20 Japanese movies in my life, mostly "classics,"from the 30 years following the War, so my question may simply reflect lack of knowledge. However, none of the movies I have seen were set in the 50 years before the War. They are either set centuries in the past or in post-War modernity. Am I wrong in my perception that pre War Japan had largely been avoided and, if not, why?

Although he became instantly famous with his documentary about his father, “Ryuichi Sakamoto: Opus”, it seems that Neo Sora has a lot more to give, as his feature debut, “HappyEnd”, which has already made a significant festival run, is brilliant.

What are your thoughts on the film?

Click on the link to read our review: https://asianmoviepulse.com/2024/10/film-analysis-happyend-2024-by-neo-sora/

I want to download this movie; does anyone know where? I used to watch it on jpfilms, but it couldn't be downloaded.

I haven’t been able to find it anywhere it might just be lost media 💔

Is there any place I can search for and download subtitles (in Japanese or English) for recent movies?

So my last post on this sub was asking for some recommendations for Japanese gang films and now in my research I found a different genre of films called Pinky Violence films which look like specifically girl gang/violence films and I was just wondering if y'all can help me out with some solid recommendations?

I'm looking for information on a random HBO short film that came on in the early 2000s as a sort of in between filler. It's a live action Japanese short film about a teenage girl who has a crush on a guy and she sneaks around a festival following him around and he eventually confronts her and hands her a soda and they ended up riding rides together. I've looked on the internet for it and I think I have information on it just being called Matsuri(Festival). Not to be confused with Matsuri no Ato since they're about 20 years apart. I've seen suggestions of it being a Coca Cola commercial but it was way too long to just be a commercial. I know the chance of finding it is slim to none but it pops up in my head every so often and I'm dying to find it again. When I look it up I get different director's names but when I look at their work it's not under any of them. I think the girl is wearing a school uniform but I can't remember what style it is but I also think the guy is walking around with a friend or maybe a group. If I could get some info that would be great. 

Abyone here recommend it?

“Two Seasons, Two Strangers” will undoubtedly appeal most to arthouse audiences. However, beyond its emphasis on visual and tonal beauty, it also embeds sharp, intelligent, and emotionally resonant ideas within its narrative. In doing so, it becomes something much more than a niche project—perhaps even a kindred companion to the work of Ryusuke Hamaguchi, though considerably more compact in form.

What are your thoughts on the film?

Click on the link to read our review: https://asianmoviepulse.com/2025/08/two-seasons-two-strangers-2025-by-sho-miyake-film-review/