Japanese Movies

[Bear 1817]

Those type of films are clearly an cquired taste, but if you're into splatter films like Bad Taste, Braindead, Herschell Gordon Lewis flicks, Riki-Oh: The Story of Ricky, or even stuff like Hobo with a Shotgun, Machete, Planet Terror, Ichi the Killer and so on I'd highly recommend checking out a few of these.

 

Funky Forest is great. Weird as fuck. If you want more weirdness I' say yyou should dcheck out Rampo Noir, Visitor Q  and Japanese cyberpunk films like Death Power, Tetsuo: The Iron Man, 964 Pinocchio and Rubber's Lover. Some really weird and twisted stuff right there.

 

Burst City and Electric Dragon 80.000 V. Weird, different, cool and punk-as-fuck. I really want to see Sogo Ishii''s Crazy Thunder Road too, a film that looks like something beyond awesome.

[plastic_rainbow 2162]

Thanks for all the recommendations~ I've only gone as far as watching the trailers for Tetsuo and 964 Pinocchio, haha. Not sure if I'm ready to go down that road because I know I won't come back feeling like the same person.

I've been quite interested in Visitor Q for a while though. Will be sure to check that one out~

[Bear 1817]

On 13.6.2016 at 11:41 PM, Bear said:

I really want to see Sogo Ishii''s Crazy Thunder Road too, a film that looks like something beyond awesome.

 

I've seen this and you can read my thoughts on the film HERE.

[Atreides 454]

On 6/6/2016 at 6:49 PM, Tokage said:

 

 

I've been meaning to check out some of Kitano's movies, but I don't know where to start..

 

I recommend the gangster flick Sonatine.  It's not action heavy, but it is quite interesting and funny.

[Tokage 5930]

On 14-6-2016 at 8:44 PM, plastic_rainbow said:

Thanks for all the recommendations~ I've only gone as far as watching the trailers for Tetsuo and 964 Pinocchio, haha. Not sure if I'm ready to go down that road because I know I won't come back feeling like the same person.

I've been quite interested in Visitor Q for a while though. Will be sure to check that one out~

Tetsuo is decidedly less bad than Pinocchio IMO, I actually ended up loving Tetsuo while I totally hated Pinocchio so hard I couldn't even force myself to finish it.

[plastic_rainbow 2162]

^Ahh I see. Will maybe consider Tetsuo sometime~

 

Last night I watched Tanin no Kao/The Face of Another and it was really visually appealing. I was especially impressed by all the scenes in the psychiatrist's workplace. The overall disfigured and bandaged face thing reminded me a lot of Eyes Without a Face, but it still had a different story and is perhaps more philosophical. It did not leave a huge impact on me at the end though so it was just an alright movie. Mainly a good watch for the aesthetics~ Oh, and I found out after watching that it was based on Kobo Abe's novel of the same title.

Edited July 3, 2016 by plastic_rainbow

[plastic_rainbow 2162]

Just watched Visitor Q, and although the whole movie was weird and strange, I was mostly disturbed by the kitchen scene with the visitor and mother.

Spoiler

I even found intercourse with the corpse more amusing.

 

After watching it though I was kind of captivated by the actor for the visitor, Kazushi Watanabe, so I checked his other film roles and watched 19. Interestingly, he's also the director of the film. The movie is wayyy different from Visitor Q though, but his character in both films still resemble each other slightly. 19 is more atmospheric with a soundtrack only as much as some gloomy and grungy guitars, and one insert song from a shoegaze band that I still have to find the name of. I kind of enjoyed it~

 

Oh, and I thought I'd share a list of my other favorite films too, aside from those I mentioned in op:

 

Gaichuu

9 Souls

Aoi Haru

Aoi Tori

Karaoke Terror

Linda Linda Linda

Noriko's Dinner Table (watched it a month back or so and i'm completely impressed)

Rainbow Song

Solanin (adapted from a manga by Asano Inio)

Yojimbo

Edited September 13, 2016 by plastic_rainbow

[Bear 1817]

It's good to see a film like Yojimbo on your list. Are you very familiar with jidaigeki aside from Akira Kurosawa's and the other big ones?

[plastic_rainbow 2162]

No not really, I haven't even heard of the term until now. ^^;

I just had a liking to Akira Kurosawa's films and watched a few, well I was more interested in Toshiro Mifune to be more accurate...haha.

 

What sort of films are jidaigeki?

[Bear 1817]

Jidaigeki are Japanese period dramas usually set to the Japanese Edo period, but you'll also find films set to both Heian and Meji periods too. It's films about samurai, farmers, craftsmen, and merchants of their time, but the samurai setting is the most common one and the one most people are familiar with. Samurai films, commonly called chambara, is an own subgenre of jidaigeki which includes films such as Seven Samurai, Yojimbo, Harakiri, Sanjuro, The Hidden Fortress and so on. But many of my favourite films are some of the "lesser known" ones like The Sword of Doom, Samurai Assassin, Samurai Rebellion, Lone Wolf and Cub, Lady Snowblood and so on. Both films such as The Lone Wolf and Cub series and Lady Snowblood belongs to the exploitation-side of chambara. More blood, violence and stuff. Incredible films. Anyway, I'm a huge fan of jidaigeki and chambara films in general.

Edited September 15, 2016 by Bear

[wesjrocker 21]

Please check imdb for more info:

 

- Soshite chichi ni naru (2013, drama): Awesome, beautiful film.

 

- Tokyo Pop (1988, comedy): Underrated and very funny [Includes a brief appearance of all the X-Japan members], nice to see Tokyo in the 80s.

 

- Tokyo Sonata (2008, drama): good film.

 

- Tokyo! (2008, drama, surreal): I don't know exactly what to say about this movie except that it has 3 different stories which are made by 3 different directors, the first one is ok, the second is too crazy for me, the third one is my favorite which is a story about a hikkikomori.

 

- Kids Return (1996, drama): awesome soundtrack, Kitano and Hisaishi, nice story too; I found out about this movie because Baru (ex.DuelJewel) drummer used to do a drum solo during DuelJewel gigs in 2003 with a track which was the theme song from this film.

 

- A scene at the sea (1991, drama): slow-paced, beautiful silent movie.

 

- Kikujiro no natsu (1999, drama): beautiful hisaishi soundtrack.

 

- Ugetsu monogatari (1953, drama): Japan in the 16th century, very good film.

 

- Suna no onna (1964, drama): slow-paced but unique.

 

- Life of Oharu (1952, drama): tragic, very good.

 

- Yotsuya Kaidan (1959, classic horror tale): good.

 

Yotsuya Kaidan and Ugetsu Monogatari reminds me of Isshi from Kagrra, I think it would be the kind of movies he would enjoy because both of them are classic horror tales [ps. Isshi used to write and read classic japanese ghost stories, it was also an inspiration for some kagrra' songs].

[Bear 1817]

So has anyone here digged really deep into the Tokusatsu films of the 50's, 60's and 70's? I've always been really into Kaiju, but I want to dig really deep into the non-Kaiju Tokusatsu films of the 50's, 60's and 70's. I don't care if it's sci-fi or horror, if it's good or bad as long as it's drenched in special effects and is fun as fuck.

 

It can be Invasion of the Neptune Men, a film so fucking bad it's amazing, or something way better like Matango which is a truly brilliant film.

 

Very interested in diggin' deeper into the Kaijin sub genre too. Supervillains is often fun, but they tend to be underdevelpoed as fuck and with far from enough screen time. But as far as I've understood Kaijin usually have a supervillain as a very central or main character? Sounds awesome.

 

I really want to watch Kamen Rider Amazon (74-75) which looks absolutely sick and twisted too. Seems to be quite different from other Kamen Rider series, with lots of creative monsters and special effects, and even a nice amount of blood and gore. And this is supossed to be a childrens series. Looks crazy as fuck!

[Bear 1817]

What the fuck, guys? No one with a massive knowledge on Tokusatsu? That's just weird. Tokusatsu über alles for fucks sake!

[Tokage 5930]

@BearI used to be huge into Toku stuff some years ago, I'll always have a weakness for this whole ''people in spandex/people in rubber monster costumes beating the shit out of each other" thing... But only the older stuff for the most part, before they started inserting godawful cgi in everything.

 

As far as the Kaiju side of things is concerned, I've enjoyed most of the older Godzilla movies I've seen, I got a few of 'em on DVD even. Also saw Frankenstein Conquers The World, The War of the Gargantuas and that some more of that sort of stuff. I also recall having seen Death Kappa, but I don't remember much of it. I really want to see that flick called Big Man Japan, it just seems absolutely fucking insane in the best possible way.

 

A recent film I saw that pays homage to Kaiju movies (especially the Gamera franchise) is Love & Peace by Sion Sono. It's basically a romantic comedy, kaiju film, musical (sort of) and a Christmas movie all at the same time. I honestly never would've expected him to ever go in that direction, but I thought the final product was genuinely charming.

 

I 've watched Matango before, remember it was good as well, nice atmosphere, and the creature design was also surprisingly well done for its time.

 

That '60s Yokai Monsters trilogy (at least I THINK it was a trilogy) centered around various types of Yokai was pretty charming as well. Worth watching if you can find 'em somewhere.. I used to have a whole bunch of other non-kaiju toku films on my old PC before it shit the bed, and now that Cinemageddon's sort of not doing too well anymore I'm pretty sure I'll never get 'em back : ^ (

 

Kamen Rider Amazon is kinda like the redheaded step child of the franchise, along with the EXTREMELY dark and edgy Kamen Rider Shin. The latter's a full-on standalone movie though, I assume you've already seen it. As for the former, Amazon is actually also one of the shortest out of the KR series if I'm not wrong, I wonder if parents complained or something.. Anyway, in general, the old Kamen Rider stuff is pretty damn good and entertaining. It's just a shame that most of it doesn't have english subs because people care more about the (in my opinion much lamer) newer seasons.

Now that I think about it, Amazon actually recently got a modern reimagining/retool series on Amazon Prime called Kamen Rider Amazons (all for the pun.. seriously). Unlike most Toku stuff - except for franchises/series like Akibaranger, Lion Maru G, Garo, Ultraman Nexus and such - it's actually aimed at adults from the start. It's supposed to get a second season this year.

 

As far as underrated Toku films go, you might be interested in checking out the Zeiram series if you haven't already. The plot in both parts isn't anything groundbreaking or whatever, but it has cool creature design, stop motion and enough action scenes to keep your attention. Added some trailers under the spoiler tag just cuz I can:

Spoiler

 

 

Other stuff that may be relevant to your interests (if you haven't seen 'em already):

 

Lady Battle Cop

Spoiler

I cant find any actual trailers for this one on the web, so this is the best thing I can do sans just linking a full upload of the movie w/ portugese subs lol

I guess this is unoficially part of Toei's Metal Hero franchise. This  one sets itself apart by being the only full-on feature length installment in the franchise, as well as the only one intended for a more adult audience, featuring more excessive violence. The Metal Hero franchise in general was already sort of aimed at more mature audiences than most Toku at the time (still mainly for children tho), but this one takes it to the next level. In terms of plot, this is pretty much just Robocop except with a female lead, but from what I've heard it's still supposed to be an entertaining watch. Haven't had the chance to see it myself yet.

 

Giant Robot Mikazuki

6 episode mini-series by the same guy responsible for Zeiram. All of the episodes are the length of your average Western drama episode, clocking in at around 50 mins or more instead of the ~20 mins that's usual for most toku/anime shows. It's about various teams fighting monsters born from human trauma, sometimes with the aid of the titular giant robot (as well as others) The whole thing's on YT afaik. Keita Amemiya's design work is always on point, so pretty much anything he's involved in is somewhat worth watching.

 

Mirai Ninja (aka Cyber Ninja)

Spoiler

 

ANOTHER film by Amemiya. Co-produced by Namco, who also produced a game based on the movie.. Either that, or the movie's based on the game, making this one of the oldest film adaptations of a videogame in history. Set in the future during a war between humans and cyborgs, but as with most Toku, you don't really watch it for the plot but for the effects anyway : ^)

 

Kaiketsu Zubat

Spoiler

 

32 episode series from the late '70s. Created by the legendary Shotaro Ishinomori. It's heavily inspired by older Japanese superhero shows like Diamond Eye, Rainbowman and such. The show can somewhat be compared to Adam West's Batman. There's no monsters in this one, all the villains are (usually outlandishly dressed) human criminals. The main character's a detective who goes around dressed in cowboy attire, carrying a guitar that has his superhero costume hidden inside. The entire series has been subbed and should be available online

 

Winspector / Solbrain / Exceedraft (Rescue Hero Trilogy)

Spoiler

This music video shows scenes of all 3 parts of the trilogy in order

Part of the Metal Hero franchise I mentioned earlier. Once again different from the 'usual' Tokusatsu fare in the sense that, while the heroes DO indeed wear super suits, the emphasis is more on rescuing people than on fighting. There's the occasional rampaging mutant or super robot that has to be put down, but overall most of the action scenes involve the main characters on the defense, not on the offense. Again, while there are some childish elements and episodes here and there, this is probably as close as Toku's ever gonna get to 'mature' crime procedurals. Winspector's the first part of the trilogy. The main character, his two robot sidekicks, as well as a couple of recurring human cops who dont get a super suit, work together to stop high-tech criminals. The show is pretty much entirely episodic, with only the occasional two parter here and there. The show not only aired in Japan, but was also pretty damn popular in Brazil, and several other countries also aired their own dubbed versions. Winspector's been fully subbed as of last year.

Second part of the trilogy, Solbrain, is pretty much a direct sequel to Winspector. With the Winspector team having relocated to France, Japan needs a new team of super cops to keep the people safe. While Winspector was 2/3rds robot, the Solbrain team is 2/3rds human, with only 1 token robot member (that was originally intended to appeal to the kiddies, but kids turned out to absolutely fucking hate the thing apparently lol). This show is somewhat more serious than its predecessor, with more focus on the investigative aspect. There's still enough action throughout too, though. Members of the Winspector team also come back to team up w/ the new guys from time to time. This one's currently in the process of being subbed, the subber is now about 32 or 33 eps in (out of 53), and it's slated to be fully done by the end of January. Exceedraft's the final part of the trilogy, and they just kind of fully went off the deep end with this one. It's pretty much almost entirely disconnected from the other parts, and while the other two series were somewhat low on blatantly supernatural elements, this one's full of the stuff. Supposedly, one of the recurring villains in the first half of the show is a guy posessed by an alien, and the main big bad at the end of the series is literally Satan (who looks like a guy in a business suit, apparently. also he has 666 tattooed on him). Infamous for its totally insane christmas episode, which is supposedly an all-out war between Satan's own evil santas and a bunch of actual angels or some shit. unfortunately no subs exist for this one yet, but iirc it does have a portugese dub. It'll get subs after Solbrain's finished though

[Bear 1817]

Holy shit, that's what I call a reply. Great post!

 

Not Japanese, but since he stepped into the land of Kaiju I just thought I had to shout out to the almighty Pulgasari. North-Korean Kaiju by the South-Korean director Shin Sang-ok who was kidnapped on orders from Kim Jong-il to direct fantasy/propaganda films for them. It's an incredible film, and the story of Shin Sang-ok and his wife Choi Eun-hee is also super interesting.

[Bear 1817]

 

Sion Sono's new film. This looks amazing! Can't wait to see it.

[Bear 1817]

Watched Takashi Miike's Yakuza Apocalypse yesterday. It starts out very promising with a intro that's a pure splatterfest, then it turns into a big fucking mess. But it's a very entertaining mess that's all over the fucking place. It's weird, absurd and crazy. Certainly not for everyone, but I like this film quite a lot. It's just too absurd not to like. And the Killer Priest was fantastic. Such an odd but amazing character. No idea why he spoke English, but he was cool as fuck.

 

 

To sum up this film with one single gif:

 

 

Yep, a martial arts master with a big fucking frog costume fighting gangsters. And this is far from crazy or weird considering what else this film has to offer, I just didn't bother looking for other gifs.

[Tokage 5930]

Gonna have to look into that one.

 

For some reason (prob the frog costume) im reminded of

from looking at that gif. This movie's worth watching just for the wtf-factor alone, it's a thriller/comedy about a murderous businessman koala.

(same creator as those 'squid wrestler' & 'crab goalkeeper' flicks btw iirc)

Edited January 20, 2017 by Tokage

[plastic_rainbow 2162]

I'm still catching up on Sion Sono's films but that cover looks pretty cool~

I recently watched Strange Circus and that was some really fucked up shit, but like GOOD. Kinda gives me the same dark and twisted vibes as Suicide Club, except way more grotesque and disturbing.

 

Some that I watched since my last post:

Waiting in the Dark - I was unsure about this one because the trailer made it look like some typical romance drama, but it wasn't at all. Decided to watch it because I saw a screencap from tumblr that kinda piqued my interest. The film is categorized as mystery and romance, but I find the romance tag very misleading as there weren't even hints of a romantic relationship and the mystery aspect was much stronger overall. Probably not a film for those who are looking for real romance, but good for those who might like a realistic mystery film.

 

Ritual (Shiki-jitsu) - This movie is my soul and it quickly became one of my top favorites. It's so self-destructive, yet beautiful at the same time. It may be a dark film, but there's a few heartwarming moments that lessens the overall dark themes. The cinematography and ost is splendid as well.

 

Hana and Alice - Just a cute and uplifting film between the friendship of two high school girls. It didn't resonate with me well, but it's good for what it is.

 

Cure - Very good and cleverly written psychological horror. As I have a simple mind it was hard to digest at first, but the more I think about it the more I am struck by its portrayal of human's nature and fears. Also has a great atmosphere.

 

Su-ki-da - I think it's obvious from reading the title that this is a romantic film. I actually almost fell asleep while watching it, haha. It's not a bad film per se, but it's just that there is no background music at all. Everything is very quiet. I guess they wanted to take an extreme realistic approach with this one. A ton of long and still scenes, with few dialogue. It was rather hard to sit through, even for me who enjoys these kinds of films.

Edited January 21, 2017 by plastic_rainbow

[Bear 1817]

I watched Ishirō Honda's The Mysterians yesterday. Really cool sci-fi film with bright, colorful visuals, beautiful miniatures, great special effects and a majestic score. Lovely stuff! Moguera, the kaiju part of the film, was cool as fuck. As usual, a very good Honda flick.

[Tokage 5930]

I watched Strange Circus tonight. All I can say about the experience is that somehow it felt like I was watching a live action adaptation of a Suehiro Maruo manga the man never actually wrote. I enjoyed it.

[MaikoMizu 167]

Teke Teke was a pretty decent movie.

[Bear 1817]

I just rewatched RoboGeisha and this film is still as fun and entertaining as it is absurd and bad. I don't know where to begin with this film. Cybernetic AssSwords, breast milk from hell, castle-shaped robot, bleeding buildings and whatnot. This shit isn't for everybody, but if you're into this kind of shit, then this surely will entertain you.

 

 

 

 

I feel like I've seen a lot of the new wave of japanese splatter films, but I still feel I gotta dig even deeper than what I've done. It just have to be even more gold made by these guys, or which is connected to the "genre". Don't think I'll ever find anything as good, great and brilliant as Tokyo Gore Police, Meatball Machine and The Machine Girl (in that order), but I am hoping. But these three I can watch over and over and over again without geting bored. Just... amazing!

[Tokage 5930]

 they're making a sequel to meatball machine, aren't they?

[Bear 1817]

Yes, they are. Or rather, Yoshihiro Nishimura is. He wasn't involved in directing the original, but he's got Tokyo Gore Police on his filmography, even though he's failed to deliver after that film. He's done good films, just nothing that matches the brilliance of Tokyo Gore Police.

 

 

But since we're on this subject, anyone seen Hard Revenge, Milly? Both the short and feature film? Not sure if I've seen these (probably have, but can't actually remember it), but anyone know if these are super violent/bloody/gory splatter films or if they are much more serious? They look a bit more serious on the picutres I've seen, rather than the splatterfest we're usually getting from the genre.