YumCha!
»
Editor Picks - Japanese Video
Browse
- ycec Editor's Picks By Category
- esid Editor's Picks - By Editor
- yca Feature Articles
- ycpc Professional Reviews
- Awards & Festivals
- ppid Music Pop Chart
- yceb Entertainment News
- About YumCha!
-
All the Long Nights (Blu-ray) (Special Edition) (Japan Version)
Miyake Sho (Director)
| Shibukawa Kiyohiko
| Kamishiraishi Mone
| HI'SPEC
PMS is a common condition but there are very few films that seriously and empathetically portray how it affects life for women. Based on a novel by Seo Maiko, Miyake Sho's All the Long Nights shines a light on the everyday pains of a woman with severe PMS, while also emphasizing that her story is one of many in a world where everyone carries pains of their own. Kamishiraishi Mone plays Fujisawa Misa, a young woman whose premenstrual syndrome symptoms include fatigue and heightened anger and irritability. Her mood swings are so bad that it can be difficult for her to function normally during those few days of the month. We first see Misa leaving her job after some embarrassing moments in... [read more]
-
-
Turn To Me, Mukai-kun (Blu-ray Box) (Japan Version)
Akaso Eiji
| Haru
| Ikuta Erika
| Ichihara Hayato
Ten years of singledom can make you cluelessIt's hard to not get just a tinge of Cherry Magic deja vu from Turn To Me, Mukai-kun when Akaso Eiji appears as a fluffy-haired, thirtysomething salaryman who is trying to decipher his feelings and relationship status. Mukai-kun is slightly less panicky than Cherry Magic's Adachi, but no less sincere and self-analytical on his bumpy journey towards understanding love and himself. Based on Nemu Yoko's manga, the NTV comedy-drama takes a fresh approach to analyzing modern perspectives on romance and relationships through hapless hero Mukai-kun's encounters with different women. Having been single for a decade since getting dumped by his college sweetheart, Mukai-kun is determined to find a... [read more]
January 31, 2024 Picked By Sanwei See all this editor's picks
-
-
Kamen Rider Black Sun (Blu-ray) (Japan Version)
Nishijima Hidetoshi
| Nakamura Tomoya
| Shiraishi Kazuya (Director)
| Otoo Takuma
Director: Shiraishi Kazuya. Cast: Nishijima Hidetoshi and Nakamura Tomoya. Released on: Amazon Prime Video. Rating: 18+. Kamen Rider Black Sun is clearly not your usual kid-friendly Kamen Rider for network television. Produced to mark the iconic tokusatsu franchise's 50th anniversary, the 2022 Kamen Rider Black Sun series is a reboot of 1987's Kamen Rider Black. The Showa-era classic is one of the most famous titles of the franchise, and its hero Minami Kotaro is perhaps the most quintessential image of the lone-wolf, motorcycle-riding, angular-posing Kamen Rider. Targeted for adult audiences, Kamen Rider Black Sun digs deep into the dark and disturbing aspects of the Kamen Rider Black... [read more]
-
-
The Lines That Define Me (Blu-ray) (Deluxe Edition) (Japan Version)
Yokohama Ryusei (Actor)
| Eguchi Yosuke (Actor)
| Tomita Yasuko (Actor)
| Miura Tomokazu (Actor)
From 2016 to 2018, writer-director Koizumi Norihiro adapted the manga Chihayafuru into a three-part film about the coming-of-age journey of a group of teens who play the traditional game of competitive karuta. Koizumi and the production team of Chihayafuru bring another traditional art form to screen in the 2022 film The Lines That Define Me. Based on Togami Hiromasa's novel Sen wa, Boku wo Egaku, The Lines That Define Me begins with a youth's chance discovery of ink wash painting, or "suibokuga" in Japanese. Yokohama Ryusei portrays Aoyama Sosuke, a college student who has quietly lost his light in life since his parents' passing. Like many young people, Sosuke is studying a subject he... [read more]
-
-
Oshi no Ko Vol.1 (Blu-ray) (Japan Version)
Takahashi Rie
| Akasaka Aka
| Otsuka Takeo
| Iga Takuro
Aired from April to June 2023, the first season of the Oshi no Ko anime series has been a breakout hit – and the success starts with its epic first episode. Produced by Doga Kobo studio, Oshi no Ko is based on Akasaka Aka's same-titled manga set in the bright lights and dark shadows of the idol entertainment industry. There's a Japanese joke about being reborn as an idol's child, and that's exactly what happens to the protagonist of Oshi no Ko. Obstetrician Amamiya Goro is a superfan of an underground teen idol named Hoshino Ai, who shows up pregnant at his hospital one day. She is cheerily determined to become a single mother and also continue being an idol. On the night he's supposed to... [read more]
-
-
HiGH & LOW THE WORST X (Blu-ray) (English Subtitled) (Japan Version)
Kamio Fuju
| Kawamura Kazuma
| Nakano Yuta
| Fukuyama Kohei
Oya High vs. Senomon High feat. Suzuran and HousenThe most exciting development of LDH's HiGH & LOW gangster action series has been its crossover with the world of Takahashi Hiroshi's Crows and Worst. After HiGH & LOW The Worst pit the delinquent students of Oya High against Housen Academy, it's only natural that the legendary Suzuran High enters the brawl in the sequel HiGH & LOW The Worst X, though not necessarily in the way one may have expected. HiGH & LOW The Worst X continues to extend the Crows x Worst-meets-HiGH & LOW universe with Oya High's impetuous new leader Hanaoka Fujio (Kawamura Kazuma) angling for the chance to challenge Suzuran's top fighter Raul. Instead of that fight, he has to first deal with the sudden threat from... [read more]
March 29, 2023 Picked By Sanwei See all this editor's picks
-
-
Shin Ultraman (Blu-ray) (2-Disc) (Japan Version)
Saito Takumi
| Anno Hideaki (Writer)
| Nishijima Hidetoshi
| Nagasawa Masami
Back in 2017, I effused about the brilliance of Shin Godzilla, a special effects spectacle that combined dry political satire and giant monster destruction into blockbuster entertainment. I low-key hoped there would be a Shin Godzilla sequel from Anno Hideaki and Higuchi Shinji. Instead, we got something even better: Shin Ultraman. Similar to Shin Godzilla, Shin Ultraman reboots the iconic superhero franchise with an entertaining reimagining of the origin story of an extraterrestrial who lands on Earth and protects the planet from the kaiju monsters and other otherworldly visitors that are wreaking destructive havoc. Portrayed by Saito Takumi, Ultraman, as he comes to be known, assumes the... [read more]
-
-
The Crocodile That Lived For 100 Days (2021) (DVD) (Hong Kong Version)
Sugita Tomokazu
| Yamada Yuki
| Kamiki Ryunosuke
| Kimura Subaru
In December 2019, Kikuchi Yuuki began posting the webcomic A Crocodile Who Will Die in 100 Days with the caption "Day 1." With its cryptic title, slice-of-life warmth and unexpectedly poignant observations, the comic went viral in Japan as readers followed the daily life of the anthropomorphized crocodile who is unaware of the fate that awaits him. Every day from December 12, 2019, to March 20, 2020, the comic shared various small relatable episodes of the crocodile's kind nature and mundane life while ominously counting down his days. On Day 100, a spring day with sakura blossoms dancing in the sky, he passes away in an accident. The 2021 animated film The Crocodile That Lived For 100 Days... [read more]
-
-
Jujutsu Kaisen 0 (Blu-ray) (Normal Ediiton) (Japan Version)
Komatsu Mikako
| Akutami Gege
| Uchiyama Koki
| Hanazawa Kana
We'll have to wait for Season 2 of the Jujutsu Kaisen anime for the continuing story of Itadori Yuji, but to find out to what happened before Yuji's arrival, there's the feature film prequel Jujutsu Kaisen 0. Based on Akutami Gege's same-titled manga (which was published before Jujutsu Kaisen), Jujutsu Kaisen 0 revolves around the Jujutsu High School class of Okkotsu Yuta, Zenin Maki, Panda and Inumaki Toge when they were first-year students. Providing an interesting parallel to Yuji's story, fan-favorite character Okkotsu Yuta is the protagonist of Jujutsu Kaisen 0. The teenage boy is timid by nature and bullied by classmates, but he is protected by the cursed spirit of his late childhood... [read more]
-
-
Anime Supremacy! (Blu-ray) (Japan Version)
Ike Yoshihiro
| Kudo Asuka
| Yoshioka Riho
| Tsujimura Mizuki
Is there an anime that changed your life? Or maybe just made you believe a bit in magic? Anime Supremacy is about the blood, sweat and tears that go into making that anime. Based on the novel by Tsujimura Mizuki, Anime Supremacy dives headfirst into the comings and goings of the anime industry. While the original novel follows three female protagonists – director Saito Hitomi, producer Arishina Kayako and animator Namisawa Kazuna – the film adaptation concentrates primarily on rookie director Saito Hitomi played by Yoshioka Riho. As a child, Hitomi didn't watch anime and couldn't understand the imaginative play of other kids. It was not until she watched the anime Hikari no Yosuga as an... [read more]
-
-
We Made a Beautiful Bouquet (2021) (Blu-ray) (English Subtitled) (Hong Kong Version)
Suda Masaki (Actor)
| Arimura Kasumi (Actor)
| Kobayashi Kaoru (Actor)
| Takiuchi Kumi (Actor)
Screenwriter Sakamoto Yuji has spearheaded a long list of hits and classics for Japanese television over the years, from Last Christmas to Mother to his most recent My Dear Exes. He's not the most prolific of TV writers, but basically every drama he touches is guaranteed quality. Sakamoto, however, rarely writes for the silver screen. His last film outing before 2021's We Made a Beautiful Bouquet was the 2007 film extension of the hit Saiyuki series, and his most representative film remains 2004's Crying Out Love, in the Center of the World. We Made a Beautiful Bouquet reteams Sakamoto Yuji with director Doi Nobuhiro after the excellent 2017 series Quartet. Encapsulating the different... [read more]
-
-
Gintama: The Final (2021) (DVD) (English Subtitled) (Hong Kong Version)
Miyawaki Chizuru (Director)
Fans: How many Gintama endings will there be? Gintama animators: Yes. In 2018, the Gintama TV anime notoriously ended with a cliffhanger and a long gag about the series finally coming to an end after many fake-out endings. Over two years later, the Gintama anime returns with a feature film of The Very Final ending. Gintama: The Final starts with an extended Dragon Ball Z parody, in-jokes about the animators being free to do whatever they want since they're not locked down by the grind of a TV anime, and a long narration summarizing the events leading up to the feature film. Before you can gripe about the recap being long and confusing, rest assured, the characters do it for you. Gintama:... [read more]
-
-
Words Bubble Up Like Soda Pop (Blu-ray) (Special Edition) (Japan Version)
Sugisaki Hana
| Ichikawa Somegoro
| Hanae Natsuki
| Ushio Kensuke
Poetry, music and anime come together in delightfully fizzy fashion in the youth romance Words Bubble Up Like Soda Pop, which was produced to commemorate the tenth anniversary of Victor Entertainment's anime-related music label FlyingDog. Directed by Ishiguro Kyohei, this original animated film is a simple yet fanciful boy-meets-girl summer story set in a suburban town. Bubbly and popular live-streaming influencer Smile (voiced by Sugisaki Hana) feels painfully insecure about her buck teeth and braces, which she hides under a face mask. Painfully shy haiku enthusiast Cherry (voiced by kabuki actor Somegoro Ichikawa VIII) works at an elderly day center and hides under headphones to avoid... [read more]
-
-
Cherry Magic! Thirty Years of Virginity Can Make You a Wizard?! (Blu-ray Box) (English Subtitled) (Japan Version)
Akaso Eiji
| Machida Keita
| Asaka Kodai
| YUTARO
There is no shortage of live-action BL dramas lately, but the winner of most amusing title has to go to Cherry Magic! Thirty Years of Virginity Can Make You a Wizard?! Just for that curious title alone, I had to watch this 2020 TV Tokyo series based on Toyota Yuu's same-titled manga. As signaled in the title, urban legend says that 30 years of virginity will bestow one with "magic." The magical power that protagonist Adachi Kiyoshi (Akaso Eiji) reluctantly gains on his 30th birthday is mind reading. The timid, everyday office worker can suddenly read the minds of anyone he touches, but this special power is bothersome more than anything for him. One day, while squeezed into a packed... [read more]
-
-
HiGH & LOW THE WORST (Blu-ray) (Japan Version)
Kubo Shigeaki (Director)
| Nakano Yuta
| Yoshino Hokuto
| Kawamura Kazuma
Created by LDH in 2015 as an entertainment franchise revolving around EXILE TRIBE, the HiGH & LOW series has taken on a life of its own. Beyond providing a reason for EXILE TRIBE members to expand into acting and LDH artists to drop some tie-in jams, the gangster action series has been a surprisingly viable original film and TV franchise, spawning over ten productions in five years. In the world of HiGH & LOW, the gritty town known as S.W.O.R.D. takes its moniker from the five gangs that control the area – Sannoh Rengokai, White Rascals, Oya High School, Rude Boys and Daruma Ikka. Each differently themed gang controls a different part of town, maintaining a tense balance of power against... [read more]
-
-
Miyamoto (2019) (DVD) (English Subtitled) (Hong Kong Version)
Ikematsu Sosuke (Actor)
| Aoi Yu (Actor)
| Sato Jiro (Actor)
| Matsuyama Kenichi (Actor)
Oftentimes when TV dramas get a feature film sequel, the film starts out with some kind of recap or introductory context for viewers who don't know or don't remember the events of the TV drama. Mariko Tetsuya's Miyamoto does no such favors for its audience. Based on Arai Hideki's 90s seinen manga about a stationery salesman, the film plops audiences right into the midst of the eponymous hero's seemingly mundane yet overwhelmingly messy life. A roughed-up-looking Miyamoto (Ikematsu Sosuke, at his jittery best) is going through the ritual of visiting the parents to inform them of his planned marriage with girlfriend Yasuko (Aoi Yu), who is expecting. This disorienting feeling of being dropped... [read more]
-
-
Children of the Sea (2019) (DVD) (English Subtitled) (Hong Kong Version)
Morisaki Win
| Aoi Yu
| Inagaki Goro
| Hisaishi Joe
A beautiful and confounding aquatic odysseyDespite the title, the young protagonists and the pretty animation of sea animals, Watanabe Ayumu's Children of the Sea is probably not something you'd show your children. Based on Igarashi Daisuke's manga Kaiji no Kodomo, the confounding animated fantasy feature is from Studio 4°C, the makers of Tekkon Kinkreet, Mind Game and Harmony. The film starts out like a sensitive story about discovering friendship and the wonders of the ocean – and gradually morphs into a mind-blowing meditation on the meaning and mysteries of life itself. Children of the Sea begins with protagonist Ruka getting into a fight at soccer practice and being forced out of her summer club activity. The moody girl then... [read more]
June 30, 2020 Picked By Sanwei See all this editor's picks
-
-
Bento Harassment (2019) (Blu-ray) (English Subtitled) (Hong Kong Version)
Shinohara Ryoko (Actor)
| Yoshine Kyoko (Actor)
| Matsui Rena (Actor)
| Sato Kanta (Actor)
Nobody wants to be harassed, unless it's with meticulous homemade bento lunchboxes – in which case, bring it on! Like When I Get Home, My Wife Always Pretends to be Dead, Tsukamoto Renpei's amusingly titled Bento Harassment is a slice-of-life family comedy-drama based on a true story shared online in Japan. Shinohara Ryoko is single mom Kaori whose once precious little girl, Futaba (Yoshine Kyoko), is now a rude, disgruntled teen going through the "do not enter room" stage of adolescence. Since Futaba can't even be bothered to speak to her, Kaori decides to combine communication and retaliation through her daughter's daily packed lunches. Every day, she puts extra time and effort into... [read more]
-
-
Fly Me to the Saitama (Blu-ray) (Normal Edition) (Japan Version)
Nikaido Fumi
| Iseya Yusuke
| Face 2 fAKE
| Mamiya Shotaro
Somehow, this happened: Fly Me to the Saitama won Best Director and Best Screenplay at the 43rd Japan Academy Prize. Some may want to point out that last year was a particularly weak year for Japanese cinema, and that this is the kind of stuff that happens when Kore-eda Hirokazu uses his one-film-a-year output on a French co-production instead of a Japanese film that everyone can safely award. But I'd like to think that it's all part of the Saitama Liberation Front's master plan to spread the influence of the suburban prefecture. Directed by Takeuchi Hideki, Fly Me to the Saitama is the kind of crazy Japanese film that you would show your friends to perpetuate the stereotype of Japanese... [read more]
-
-
Mori, The Artist's Habitat (2018) (DVD) (English Subtitled) (Hong Kong Version)
Yamazaki Tsutomu (Actor)
| Okita Shuichi (Actor, Director)
| Kase Ryo (Actor)
| Mitsuishi Ken (Actor)
What would it be like to not step out of your home for three decades? Okita Shuichi's charmingly simple drama Mori, The Artist's Habitat imagines a day in the latter life of Kumagai Morikazu, who was famous for his distinctly stylized and colorful paintings of plants, animals and everyday scenery. He was also famous for being a recluse who never left his home for the last few decades of his long life. It would be tempting to call the artist a hikikomori – his name is even Mori – but Okita's wonderful little film provides a gentle, whimsical look into the rich world of a happy hermit who rightfully has no need to step outside. As portrayed by the great Yamazaki Tsutomu, the nonagenarian... [read more]
-
Bookmark & Share