Recently released on Netflix, the Japanese movie, Missing, is a heartfelt tribute to all the parents who haven’t been able to reunite with their children after they went missing. The movie powerfully portrays the impact of such a loss on parents—their lives, their minds, and the lengths they’ll go to find their child. Keisuke Yoshida’s drama is about a young girl named Miu, who went missing. Her parents did everything they could to search for their kid, from involving the media and distributing flyers, to giving personal interviews. But nobody could find anything, and the only clue they had was that Miu was last seen with her uncle, Keigo. Was her own uncle responsible for her disappearance, or is someone else involved?
Spoilers Ahead
Was Keigo responsible for Miu’s disappearance?
The night Miu went missing, her mother, Saori, was at a concert with her friends.
Spoilers Ahead
Was Keigo responsible for Miu’s disappearance?
The night Miu went missing, her mother, Saori, was at a concert with her friends.
- 9/20/2024
- by Sutanuka Banerjee
- Film Fugitives
Keisuke Yoshida delivers an unforgettable tearjerker with his latest film, “Missing.” This movie earns emotional resonation from viewers without feeling like hollow, melodramatic manipulation trying to cover up a flawed script. Similar to what he did in “Intolerance,” Yoshida weaves together a tragic story of psychological turmoil surrounding a parent's worst nightmare while critiquing media coverage that often circulates those sad circumstances.
Missing is screening at Toronto Japanese Film Festival
Married couple Saori and Yutaka's world is turned upside down when their little daughter Miu goes missing. Months pass, and there are still no leads to her disappearance, despite the valiant efforts of the parents. The fact that the press is not giving particular attention to the case, does not help. A local broadcasting station gets involved in the case, but it becomes clear they are more concerned with ratings than actual justice, combined with blatant reckless decisions. What...
Missing is screening at Toronto Japanese Film Festival
Married couple Saori and Yutaka's world is turned upside down when their little daughter Miu goes missing. Months pass, and there are still no leads to her disappearance, despite the valiant efforts of the parents. The fact that the press is not giving particular attention to the case, does not help. A local broadcasting station gets involved in the case, but it becomes clear they are more concerned with ratings than actual justice, combined with blatant reckless decisions. What...
- 6/17/2024
- by Sean Barry
- AsianMoviePulse
Although Masashi Kishimoto is known all over the world for his masterpiece Naruto, he has worked on a bunch of other stories and one-shot mangas that might not be as popular as Naruto but do have a compelling narrative. One of them was called Mario, and it even featured in the Seinen genre.
Mario by Masashi Kishimoto | Viz Media
The story of Mario follows the adventures of a mafia contract killer who is half-Japanese and half-Italian and is working in New York. He is forced to work together with a female colleague called Saori, who does not talk to men. The story offers mysterious and thriller elements and focuses on the underground mafia rule of the largest city in the world.
Kishimoto was so excited about the series that he even mentioned it in the comments of the Naruto manga, hyping up the story. However, the story did not grab much attention from the readers.
Mario by Masashi Kishimoto | Viz Media
The story of Mario follows the adventures of a mafia contract killer who is half-Japanese and half-Italian and is working in New York. He is forced to work together with a female colleague called Saori, who does not talk to men. The story offers mysterious and thriller elements and focuses on the underground mafia rule of the largest city in the world.
Kishimoto was so excited about the series that he even mentioned it in the comments of the Naruto manga, hyping up the story. However, the story did not grab much attention from the readers.
- 6/16/2024
- by Tarun Kohli
- FandomWire
It has been three months since Miu (Tsugumi Arita) disappeared. Her mother Saori (Satomi Ishihara) is worried the public is losing interest in the case and only a local broadcasting station continues to provide some coverage. A rift has also formed between her and her husband Yutaka (Munetaka Aoki), with the two of them fighting endlessly. Meanwhile, it is revealed that Saori was attending her favourite idol's concert at the time of Miu's disappearance. Rumours about Saori intensifies over the internet.
Written and directed by Keisuke Yoshida, who is known for two 2021 movies Blank and Blue, this human drama about a mother's desperate search for her missing daughter will be released in Japan on May 17, 2024.
Written and directed by Keisuke Yoshida, who is known for two 2021 movies Blank and Blue, this human drama about a mother's desperate search for her missing daughter will be released in Japan on May 17, 2024.
- 3/22/2024
- by Suzie Cho
- AsianMoviePulse
The Japanese director of Shoplifters uses different takes on a single story to tell the fraught tale of two troubled boys
A frazzled widowed mother, Saori (Sakura Andô), suspects that all is not well with her preteen son, Minato (Soya Kurokawa). The boy seems subdued and withdrawn; she catches him hacking inches from his mop of hair. He asks odd, troubling questions: if the brain of a pig was transplanted into a human, what would the resulting creature be, human or pig? Or some kind of monster? And then there are the injuries – an ear yanked so brutally that it bleeds; a livid facial bruise. Saori soon deduces that her son’s new teacher, Michitoshi Hori (Eita Nagayama), at his provincial Japanese elementary school, is responsible for her son’s brooding disquiet. She confronts the school principal (a confounding reflecting prism of a performance from veteran actor Yūko Tanaka), but...
A frazzled widowed mother, Saori (Sakura Andô), suspects that all is not well with her preteen son, Minato (Soya Kurokawa). The boy seems subdued and withdrawn; she catches him hacking inches from his mop of hair. He asks odd, troubling questions: if the brain of a pig was transplanted into a human, what would the resulting creature be, human or pig? Or some kind of monster? And then there are the injuries – an ear yanked so brutally that it bleeds; a livid facial bruise. Saori soon deduces that her son’s new teacher, Michitoshi Hori (Eita Nagayama), at his provincial Japanese elementary school, is responsible for her son’s brooding disquiet. She confronts the school principal (a confounding reflecting prism of a performance from veteran actor Yūko Tanaka), but...
- 3/17/2024
- by Wendy Ide
- The Guardian - Film News
Films about films have been coming in abundance from the Japanese movie industry lately, with the particular meta approach forming something of a trend but also circumventing the difficulties script-writing always presents. Su Yu Chun tries her hand in the category through a film that takes a rather realistic view on indie filmmaking.
Inch Forward is screening at Osaka Asian Film Festival
The story follows Kiriko, a young indie filmmaker who is struggling to make a road movie that ends on a beach, which, considering how much of a cliche both have become in the Japanese movie industry, emerges as hilariously ironic. However, the problems come one after the other, while her producer, Takimoto, is not exactly eager to give her a break. Location scouting proves a disaster, also financially, the actress Kiriko and Takimoto had in mind to play the leading role is nowhere to be found, the latter...
Inch Forward is screening at Osaka Asian Film Festival
The story follows Kiriko, a young indie filmmaker who is struggling to make a road movie that ends on a beach, which, considering how much of a cliche both have become in the Japanese movie industry, emerges as hilariously ironic. However, the problems come one after the other, while her producer, Takimoto, is not exactly eager to give her a break. Location scouting proves a disaster, also financially, the actress Kiriko and Takimoto had in mind to play the leading role is nowhere to be found, the latter...
- 3/7/2024
- by Panos Kotzathanasis
- AsianMoviePulse
Known for his exploration of universal themes including family, happiness and memories, Japanese director, producer, screenwriter and editor Hirokazu Kore-eda‘s newest feature Monster (2023) has received acclaim from critics and fans alike. Monster follows mother Saori whose son Minato (Soya Kurokawa) starts behaving strangely, leading her to think that something must be wrong. Soon discovering that a teacher is responsible, she storms into the school and demands to know what’s been happening to her son. However, as the story unfolds and the truth gradually emerges, it may not be anything close to what Saori imagined. Using clever storytelling methods to keep us intrigued, fantastic performances from the young leads and beautifully explored complex themes, Monster fits tidily into Kore-eda’s filmography as a heartbreaking study of childhood, growing up, and the harrowing idea that we may not know our children as deeply as we think we do.
The storytelling...
The storytelling...
- 2/19/2024
- by Becca Johnson
- Talking Films
When a large building catches fire, everybody stops to look. It’s such a dramatic sight that it pulls us, temporarily, out of the everyday, reminding us of a bigger reality. There’s a sense of threat in the way that Hirokazu Kore-eda films it, even though we are observing from a distance, as if it signifies the encroachment of a larger catastrophe. The mother and son beside us are about to be overwhelmed by events that neither of them fully understand, and the later arrival of a dramatic weather event serves to remind us of the existential threat against which all our individual stories are now playing out – yet Monster, surprisingly, will emerge as a film full of hope.
The mother, Saori (Sakura Ando) is a widow and has devoted herself to creating a good life for her 11-year-old son Minato (Sōya Kurokawa). When his behaviour suddenly changes, becoming sullen and.
The mother, Saori (Sakura Ando) is a widow and has devoted herself to creating a good life for her 11-year-old son Minato (Sōya Kurokawa). When his behaviour suddenly changes, becoming sullen and.
- 2/4/2024
- by Jennie Kermode
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
In the first act of Monster, the sharp-witted mother, Saori Mugino, observes strange behaviors in her son, Minato, in a series of instances, starting with weird questions about pig brains, which he claims he got to know from his teacher, Mr. Hori, or Hori sensei. The second instance takes place when Saori finds that Minato has chopped off his hair after returning from school, following which he loses a sneaker. On one particular evening, Minato doesn’t even return home, which compels Saori to look for him. She rushes to the old railroad as soon as she receives information about her son’s whereabouts, only to find him alone in the dark, yelling gibberish. On their way back home, Minato makes an unusual conversation about his father and suddenly jumps out of the car, causing her to crash her car as well. While walking back from the hospital, Saori suspects...
- 2/2/2024
- by Shrey Ashley Philip
- Film Fugitives
It is not every day that we come across a cinematic masterpiece like Monster, or 怪物 (Kai-butsu) by Hirokazu Kore-eda. Pursuing a triptych arrangement previously seen in Nolan’s Dunkirk, the movie unfolds its central plot through the narratives of three different characters, conveying the utter disparity in their perspectives and the backgrounds that lead to their conclusions about each other. Within this beautifully complex structure, Monster conceals a deceptively simple yet endearing and poignant story, compelling enough to sweep us into this emotional rollercoaster while we find ourselves demonizing and empathizing with the characters at the same time. This movie also presents itself as a spectacle of the socio-political bureaucracy in Japan, heteronormative conservatism in modern Japanese society, neurodiversity, and the innate curiosity and queer identity in children. Using subtle motifs, Kore-eda’s commentary on Japanese society provokes a sense of bitter-sweet nostalgia in the viewer.
Spoilers Ahead
Who Is Michitoshi Hori?...
Spoilers Ahead
Who Is Michitoshi Hori?...
- 2/1/2024
- by Shrey Ashley Philip
- Film Fugitives
Monster is a lot to take in. But it’s a relief to have Hirokazu Kore-eda back on his home turf, unabashed with melodrama that feels nothing but sincere. Kore-eda’s decision to relinquish the pen to Yuji Sakamoto not only got the film the Best Screenplay Award at Cannes but also gave him the space to do what he does best—exploring the reassurances of kinship in both conventional and unusual circumstances.
Spoilers Ahead
What Happens In The Film?
The range of emotions and headspaces, defying and conforming to societal codes and rules, are spread out between the three acts that come together and make up Monster. Kore-eda is known for his earnest understanding of love in familial and social dynamics. And the same gets more and more evident the more we see Saori’s relationship with her son, Minato. Little Minato isn’t entirely aloof from his mother,...
Spoilers Ahead
What Happens In The Film?
The range of emotions and headspaces, defying and conforming to societal codes and rules, are spread out between the three acts that come together and make up Monster. Kore-eda is known for his earnest understanding of love in familial and social dynamics. And the same gets more and more evident the more we see Saori’s relationship with her son, Minato. Little Minato isn’t entirely aloof from his mother,...
- 1/13/2024
- by Lopamudra Mukherjee
- Film Fugitives
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"Monster", directed by Hirokazu Kore-eda, is one of the most acclaimed movies of 2023 that you probably haven't heard of yet.
Set in Japan, the film follows three people: the single mother Saori Mugino (Sakura Andō), her young son Minato (Sōya Kurokawa), and Minato's teacher Michitoshi Hori (Eita Nagayama). Saori begins to suspect that Hori is abusing her son, while Hori suspects that there's something sinister in the boy's head. The truth, which I'll leave unspoiled, is a lot sadder. The film is told from their three perspectives. Seeing the same sequence of events three times highlights how hard it is to truly understand someone by looking at them from the outside.
"Monster" enjoyed a film festival run, taking home the Queer Palm (bestowed to Kore-eda) and Best Screenplay (to Yuji Sakamoto) awards at the 76th Cannes Film Festival in May...
"Monster", directed by Hirokazu Kore-eda, is one of the most acclaimed movies of 2023 that you probably haven't heard of yet.
Set in Japan, the film follows three people: the single mother Saori Mugino (Sakura Andō), her young son Minato (Sōya Kurokawa), and Minato's teacher Michitoshi Hori (Eita Nagayama). Saori begins to suspect that Hori is abusing her son, while Hori suspects that there's something sinister in the boy's head. The truth, which I'll leave unspoiled, is a lot sadder. The film is told from their three perspectives. Seeing the same sequence of events three times highlights how hard it is to truly understand someone by looking at them from the outside.
"Monster" enjoyed a film festival run, taking home the Queer Palm (bestowed to Kore-eda) and Best Screenplay (to Yuji Sakamoto) awards at the 76th Cannes Film Festival in May...
- 1/1/2024
- by Devin Meenan
- Slash Film
Representing Mexico once more at the Oscars with her second film, “Totem,” Lila Avilés has proven that the critical success of her debut feature, “The Chambermaid,” was not a fluke.
The former actress, who worked in virtually all areas of film production and directed theater before venturing into filmmaking, has been hailed as part of the new wave of female talent shaping Mexican cinema. “Since I was a little girl, I always loved writing, creating my plays. And obviously, I’ve always had a fixation with photography. I hope to hold an exhibition someday, too,” she says.
Aside from racking up a slew of accolades since its world premiere at the Berlinale, “Totem” has been selected by the Independent Spirit Awards as one of five major contenders for its international film category.
Unlike the quiet, almost minimalist “The Chambermaid,” “Totem,” which Avilés also wrote, has a chaotic feel as it...
The former actress, who worked in virtually all areas of film production and directed theater before venturing into filmmaking, has been hailed as part of the new wave of female talent shaping Mexican cinema. “Since I was a little girl, I always loved writing, creating my plays. And obviously, I’ve always had a fixation with photography. I hope to hold an exhibition someday, too,” she says.
Aside from racking up a slew of accolades since its world premiere at the Berlinale, “Totem” has been selected by the Independent Spirit Awards as one of five major contenders for its international film category.
Unlike the quiet, almost minimalist “The Chambermaid,” “Totem,” which Avilés also wrote, has a chaotic feel as it...
- 12/15/2023
- by Anna Marie de la Fuente
- Variety Film + TV
The latest episode of Jujutsu Kaisen once again leaves us in pain, as another major character is made to suffer horribly in this malevolent world of Jujutsu. In the previous episode, we bid farewell to Kento Nanami as Mahito, the monster blew him to pieces. Later, Kugisaki Nobara met up with a clone of Mahito, and the two went to battle as Itadori Yuji fought Mahito’s real body underground.
Spoilers Ahead
Why Was Nobara Avoiding Mahito’s Hands?
Last we saw of Mahito, he’d split into two, and the second body had come across Kugisaki Nobara over at Dogenzaka Station. While Itadori tried his best to take down the curse that took a sickly pleasure in harming people, Nobara gave it her everything to make sure that the enemy before her didn’t make it out of there alive. However, she didn’t go into the battle recklessly...
Spoilers Ahead
Why Was Nobara Avoiding Mahito’s Hands?
Last we saw of Mahito, he’d split into two, and the second body had come across Kugisaki Nobara over at Dogenzaka Station. While Itadori tried his best to take down the curse that took a sickly pleasure in harming people, Nobara gave it her everything to make sure that the enemy before her didn’t make it out of there alive. However, she didn’t go into the battle recklessly...
- 12/1/2023
- by Indrayudh Talukdar
- Film Fugitives
Early in director Kore-eda Hirokazu’s Monster, single mother Saori (Andô Sakura) and her son, Minato (Kurokawa Sôya), watch from their apartment’s balcony as a fire engulfs a building across the way, the plumes of smoke rising up and up and up. Minato balances his arms on the ledge, his feet stuck in the gaps between the vertical rods of the balcony. From behind, we see him lean out, trying to get nearer to the flames from so far away, but his mother grabs him from behind and tells him to be careful to not go over the edge.
That’s not unlike what watching Monster feels like, as it constantly veers precariously between the realms of gentle humanism and contrived sentimentality. Monster is Kore-eda’s third film after his 2018 Palme d’Or-winning Shoplifters, which found a perfect calibration between his humane and tender sensibility and a kind of crowd-pleasing earnestness.
That’s not unlike what watching Monster feels like, as it constantly veers precariously between the realms of gentle humanism and contrived sentimentality. Monster is Kore-eda’s third film after his 2018 Palme d’Or-winning Shoplifters, which found a perfect calibration between his humane and tender sensibility and a kind of crowd-pleasing earnestness.
- 11/17/2023
- by Kyle Turner
- Slant Magazine
Hirokazu Koreeda returns to Japan for his latest feature, “Monster,” another outstanding entry in the director’s already impressive filmography. For “Monster,” Koreeda collaborated with screenwriter Yuji Sakamoto, who wrote the screenplay, and music composer Ryuichi Sakamoto, who produced his final film score before passing away. As such, a dedication to the memory of Sakamoto is included. Upon making its world premiere at the 76th Cannes Film Festival, competing for the Palme d’Or, the movie was met with an overwhelmingly positive reception, winning the Best Screenplay award and being honored with the Queer Palm. Its theatrical run has also been met with acclaim.
Monster is available from Wellgo USA
Regarding the story, single mother Saori Mugino grows concerned for her son Minato when she notices disturbing changes in his behavior. Things only become more concerning as time progresses. Upon learning that schoolteacher Michitoshi Hori is responsible for her child’s behavioral shifts,...
Monster is available from Wellgo USA
Regarding the story, single mother Saori Mugino grows concerned for her son Minato when she notices disturbing changes in his behavior. Things only become more concerning as time progresses. Upon learning that schoolteacher Michitoshi Hori is responsible for her child’s behavioral shifts,...
- 10/20/2023
- by Sean Barry
- AsianMoviePulse
Receiving its world premiere in Pingyao International Film Festival’s Crouching Tigers section, Zhang Yu’s feature debut Killing The Violet is the story of a woman dealing with the aftermath of being raped after a man breaks into her apartment.
At first she appears completely calm and assures her live-in boyfriend that there is nothing to worry about. But slowly she starts to question herself and the world around her starts to disintegrate. One of the first walls to crack is her ambition to be a writer and her feelings towards her father, a famous novelist who is comatose following a stroke, but still appears to enjoy sexual relations with his younger wife.
Zhang is a Shanghai-based director and screenwriter who made Killing The Violet as her graduation film at Tokyo University of the Arts. Produced by her classmate Lu Yanqing, the film is co-written by Zhang and Marina Kikuchi.
At first she appears completely calm and assures her live-in boyfriend that there is nothing to worry about. But slowly she starts to question herself and the world around her starts to disintegrate. One of the first walls to crack is her ambition to be a writer and her feelings towards her father, a famous novelist who is comatose following a stroke, but still appears to enjoy sexual relations with his younger wife.
Zhang is a Shanghai-based director and screenwriter who made Killing The Violet as her graduation film at Tokyo University of the Arts. Produced by her classmate Lu Yanqing, the film is co-written by Zhang and Marina Kikuchi.
- 10/18/2023
- by Liz Shackleton
- Deadline Film + TV
Leading New York City LGBTQ+ film festival NewFest has unveiled its 2023 lineup featuring a slew of highly anticipated fall releases for films and TV.
The festival, which runs October 12 to 22 in-person and virtually until October 24, boasts over 130 films from 26 countries. The New York premiere of Netflix’s historical film “Rustin” will open the 35th edition of the festival, with Andrew Haigh’s “All of Us Strangers” closing out the lineup. The U.S. Centerpiece film is confirmed to be “Nyad,” featuring the true story of Diana Nyad who swam from Cuba to Florida. The festival’s International Centerpiece film is the New York City premiere of Hirokazu Kore-eda’s “Monster,” which won Best Screenplay and the Queer Palm at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival.
“May December” director Todd Haynes will receive the 2023 NewFest Queer Visionary Award on October 19, followed by a special screening of the latest drama starring Julianne Moore and Natalie Portman,...
The festival, which runs October 12 to 22 in-person and virtually until October 24, boasts over 130 films from 26 countries. The New York premiere of Netflix’s historical film “Rustin” will open the 35th edition of the festival, with Andrew Haigh’s “All of Us Strangers” closing out the lineup. The U.S. Centerpiece film is confirmed to be “Nyad,” featuring the true story of Diana Nyad who swam from Cuba to Florida. The festival’s International Centerpiece film is the New York City premiere of Hirokazu Kore-eda’s “Monster,” which won Best Screenplay and the Queer Palm at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival.
“May December” director Todd Haynes will receive the 2023 NewFest Queer Visionary Award on October 19, followed by a special screening of the latest drama starring Julianne Moore and Natalie Portman,...
- 9/13/2023
- by Samantha Bergeson
- Indiewire
Zombie apocalypse and dystopic worldview have been explored in the manga and anime scene in a multitude of different ways—set in the far future or made as a period piece, as survival drama, or in the hack and slash action genre. But rarely has the set-up been implemented with such ingenuity as it has been in Zom 100: Bucket List Of The Dead, created by Haro Aso and Kotaro Takata. The plot revolves around a pretty basic premise: what would you want to be if all your societal burdens became non-existent? Of course, the opportunity is provided by the aforementioned scenario of the zombie apocalypse, which brings a contrasting yet unique tone to the narrative.
Netflix’s live-action movie adaptation of Zom 100 is about to premiere tomorrow, and to give viewers an idea of what to expect from the feature, we would like to discuss a few initial volumes of the manga.
Netflix’s live-action movie adaptation of Zom 100 is about to premiere tomorrow, and to give viewers an idea of what to expect from the feature, we would like to discuss a few initial volumes of the manga.
- 8/2/2023
- by Siddhartha Das
- Film Fugitives
Japanese filmmaker Junta Yamaguchi follows his buzzy debut "Beyond the Infinite Two Minutes" with another winning time-loop comedy, the more succinctly titled "River." Yamaguchi chooses Kyoto's picturesque Fujiya Inn as his backdrop, thriving off the meditative aesthetics of a rushing river that soothingly gurgles through a serene hotel. It's so calming and comforting, much like Yamaguchi's hilarious sci-fi predicament where time keeps repeating on a two-minute cycle. There are parallels between "Beyond the Infinite Two Minutes" and "River," but Yamaguchi's sophomore effort is an upgrade in every conceivable measure. "River" is a triumphant indie comedy that'll have you laughing out loud from start to finish — easily one of the funniest films I've seen this year (at minimum).
The story follows both guests and staff of Fujiya, sticking on waitress Mikoto (Riko Fujitani) as our focal protagonist. Mikoto goes to check stock on their beer supply, stopping at the Kibune River for a quick prayer.
The story follows both guests and staff of Fujiya, sticking on waitress Mikoto (Riko Fujitani) as our focal protagonist. Mikoto goes to check stock on their beer supply, stopping at the Kibune River for a quick prayer.
- 7/31/2023
- by Matt Donato
- Slash Film
With three years under his belt at the company from hell, Akira Tendo is mentally and physically spent. All at the ripe old age of twenty-four. Even his crush from Accounting, Saori, wants nothing to do with him. Then, just when life is beginning to look like one big disappointment, it happens. The zombie apocalypse descends on Japan! Surrounded by hordes of hungry zombies, Akira comes to a realization that will forever change his life… “Wait, does this mean I never have to go to work again?” Confess to… party like it's… travel Japan coast to… Now, with his nightmare job no longer, Akira's got his mojo back. Let the bucket listing begin!!
Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead is coming to Crunchyroll on July 9th!
Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead is coming to Crunchyroll on July 9th!
- 7/5/2023
- by Don Anelli
- AsianMoviePulse
The upcoming zombie comedy anime series “Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead” dares to ask, what if the zombie apocalypse gave you the freedom to live life to its fullest?
Crunchyroll has officially acquired the streaming rights for the highly anticipated series, and a new trailer highlights the humor found in a zombie outbreak ahead of the series’ simulcast on July 9 at 2:00 Am Pacific Time with new subtitled episodes every week.
In the series: “With three years under his belt at the company from hell, Akira Tendo is mentally and physically spent. All at the ripe old age of twenty-four. Even his crush from Accounting, Saori, wants nothing to do with him. Then, just when life is beginning to look like one big disappointment, it happens. The zombie apocalypse descends on Japan! Surrounded by hordes of hungry zombies, Akira comes to a realization that will forever change his life…...
Crunchyroll has officially acquired the streaming rights for the highly anticipated series, and a new trailer highlights the humor found in a zombie outbreak ahead of the series’ simulcast on July 9 at 2:00 Am Pacific Time with new subtitled episodes every week.
In the series: “With three years under his belt at the company from hell, Akira Tendo is mentally and physically spent. All at the ripe old age of twenty-four. Even his crush from Accounting, Saori, wants nothing to do with him. Then, just when life is beginning to look like one big disappointment, it happens. The zombie apocalypse descends on Japan! Surrounded by hordes of hungry zombies, Akira comes to a realization that will forever change his life…...
- 7/3/2023
- by Meagan Navarro
- bloody-disgusting.com
When her young son Minato (Soya Kurokawa) starts to behave strangely, Saori (Sakura Ando) feels that there is something wrong. Discovering that a teacher Hori (Eita Nagayama) is responsible, she storms into the school demanding to know what's going on. But as the story unfolds through the eyes of mother, teacher and child, the truth gradually emerges. (Source: 76th Cannes Film Festival Press Kit)
Monster is the sixteenth feature film by acclaimed director, Hirokazu Kore-eda, and his seventh to be featured in Competition at Cannes. Screenwriter Yuji Sakamoto wins the Best Screenplay Award and the film was also awarded the Queer Palm 2023. A release date is yet to be announced.
Monster is the sixteenth feature film by acclaimed director, Hirokazu Kore-eda, and his seventh to be featured in Competition at Cannes. Screenwriter Yuji Sakamoto wins the Best Screenplay Award and the film was also awarded the Queer Palm 2023. A release date is yet to be announced.
- 6/24/2023
- by Suzie Cho
- AsianMoviePulse
San Francisco, CA — May, 28th, 2023 — Today, Viz Media, a world-leading producer of manga and anime, announce the anime series, Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead, based on the manga by creators Haro Aso and Kotaro Takata will stream on Hulu and Netflix in the U.S.
In the U.S, the series will simulcast on Hulu premiering 2:00Am Pdt, July 9th, 2023, with sunrise details for Netflix and other streaming platforms to come. Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead is a Viz Media co-production alongside Shogakukan and Shogakukan-Shueisha Productions Japan, with Viz Media representing the anime in the North America, Latin America, Australia, and New Zealand territories.
The zombie hordes are coming, so it's time to live your best life! There's nothing quite like the end of the world to inspire your bucket list. In Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead, Akira Tendo's life has lost its luster.
In the U.S, the series will simulcast on Hulu premiering 2:00Am Pdt, July 9th, 2023, with sunrise details for Netflix and other streaming platforms to come. Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead is a Viz Media co-production alongside Shogakukan and Shogakukan-Shueisha Productions Japan, with Viz Media representing the anime in the North America, Latin America, Australia, and New Zealand territories.
The zombie hordes are coming, so it's time to live your best life! There's nothing quite like the end of the world to inspire your bucket list. In Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead, Akira Tendo's life has lost its luster.
- 5/30/2023
- by Adam Symchuk
- AsianMoviePulse
Few stories are as gratifying as the narrative jigsaw. How to fool the viewer into believing one thing without lying about what happened? It’s difficult enough to execute on the page, but much more can be hidden in writing. With film it’s a matter of obscuring the context of what we both see and hear, which requires some trickery. Like any sound cinematic tool, it can be misused and abused (see: the MCU), but with tasteful restraint it can be the backbone of a masterclass in mystery. See: Monster.
Writer, editor, and director Hirokazu Kore-eda’s 17th feature––his fourth in five years, the third of those to debut in competition at Cannes, with Shoplifters taking the Palme d’Or in 2018––is exactly that: a masterclass in mystery. Or, perhaps, context. What starts as a relatively clear story about sinister pyros, “pig-brained” kids, and abusive teachers transforms, through labyrinthine story mechanics,...
Writer, editor, and director Hirokazu Kore-eda’s 17th feature––his fourth in five years, the third of those to debut in competition at Cannes, with Shoplifters taking the Palme d’Or in 2018––is exactly that: a masterclass in mystery. Or, perhaps, context. What starts as a relatively clear story about sinister pyros, “pig-brained” kids, and abusive teachers transforms, through labyrinthine story mechanics,...
- 5/18/2023
- by Luke Hicks
- The Film Stage
In the throes of Hirokazu Kore-Eda’s latest narrative Cannes competition film Monster are two boys learning about their feelings for one another.
“There haven’t been many Japanese films that address these topics,” acknowledged the 2018 Shoplifters Palme d’Or winner, speaking at a Thursday press conference for the film, about the LGBTQ themes among the young boys in Monster.
“When I discovered the screenplay, I thought to myself, this story should not be viewed from that angle. It’s an inner struggle,” he added.
Monster follows Saori (Ando Sakura), a take-no-prisoners widowed mother bringing up her son Minato (Kurokawa Soya), who is weathering tough times in his elementary school. Mom learns that son’s odd behavior may have to do with his teacher, who Minato says hit him. The pic is told from several different points of view, including that of the teacher, Hori (Nagayama Eita), Minato, and the friend he adores,...
“There haven’t been many Japanese films that address these topics,” acknowledged the 2018 Shoplifters Palme d’Or winner, speaking at a Thursday press conference for the film, about the LGBTQ themes among the young boys in Monster.
“When I discovered the screenplay, I thought to myself, this story should not be viewed from that angle. It’s an inner struggle,” he added.
Monster follows Saori (Ando Sakura), a take-no-prisoners widowed mother bringing up her son Minato (Kurokawa Soya), who is weathering tough times in his elementary school. Mom learns that son’s odd behavior may have to do with his teacher, who Minato says hit him. The pic is told from several different points of view, including that of the teacher, Hori (Nagayama Eita), Minato, and the friend he adores,...
- 5/18/2023
- by Anthony D'Alessandro
- Deadline Film + TV
Japanese filmmaker Hirokazu Kore-Eda’s seventh go-round in Cannes competition, Monster, received a six-minute standing ovation Wednesday in the Grand Theatre Lumiere. He won the Palme d’Or back in 2018 for Shoplifters. Can he do it again?
Kore-Eda spoke in Japanese: “Thank you. Some people couldn’t be here. Can’t wait to go back to Japan and show them the film…tell them about this absolutely wonderful premiere. It will stay in my heart.”
It’s the filmmaker’s ninth movie overall at the fest (counting two that appeared in Un Certain Regard). Monster is his first movie since his 1995 debut feature Maborosi that the director has not had a screenplay credit on.
Monster follows Saori (Ando Sakura), a take-no-prisoners widowed mother, who is now bringing up her son Minato (Kurokawa Soya) who is weathering tough times in his elementary school. Mom learns that son’s odd behavior may...
Kore-Eda spoke in Japanese: “Thank you. Some people couldn’t be here. Can’t wait to go back to Japan and show them the film…tell them about this absolutely wonderful premiere. It will stay in my heart.”
It’s the filmmaker’s ninth movie overall at the fest (counting two that appeared in Un Certain Regard). Monster is his first movie since his 1995 debut feature Maborosi that the director has not had a screenplay credit on.
Monster follows Saori (Ando Sakura), a take-no-prisoners widowed mother, who is now bringing up her son Minato (Kurokawa Soya) who is weathering tough times in his elementary school. Mom learns that son’s odd behavior may...
- 5/17/2023
- by Nancy Tartaglione and Anthony D'Alessandro
- Deadline Film + TV
In film after film, from “Nobody Knows” to “Shoplifters,” Japanese master Kore-eda Hirokazu has proven himself to be among the medium’s most humanistic directors, inclined to see the best in people, especially children. So how to reconcile the way “Monster” makes us feel?
Returning to his native Japan after helming two relatively disappointing features abroad (“Broker” and “The Truth”), the 2018 Palme d’Or winner opens his latest Cannes competition entry with a building on fire — a “hostess bar” where lonely men seek female company — and fifth-grade Minato (Kurokawa Soya) watching the inferno from a nearby balcony. Kore-eda will return to this scene three times over the course of the film, folding the narrative back upon itself from a different angle each time, before finally revealing who set the blaze.
The title misleads for a time, inviting us to speculate about the darkness that surrounds young Minato. Could a child have been the culprit?...
Returning to his native Japan after helming two relatively disappointing features abroad (“Broker” and “The Truth”), the 2018 Palme d’Or winner opens his latest Cannes competition entry with a building on fire — a “hostess bar” where lonely men seek female company — and fifth-grade Minato (Kurokawa Soya) watching the inferno from a nearby balcony. Kore-eda will return to this scene three times over the course of the film, folding the narrative back upon itself from a different angle each time, before finally revealing who set the blaze.
The title misleads for a time, inviting us to speculate about the darkness that surrounds young Minato. Could a child have been the culprit?...
- 5/17/2023
- by Peter Debruge
- Variety Film + TV
Japanese director Kore-eda offers a deliberately dense but ultimately hopeful examination of how to negotiate family dysfunction with intelligence and humanity
Hirokazu Kore-eda challenges us with intricacy and complexity in this family drama about bullying, homophobia, family dysfunction, uncritical respect for flawed authority, and social media rumour-mongering; all working together to create a monster of wrongness. Kore-eda is collaborating with screenwriter Yûji Sakamoto and the late composer Ryuichi Sakamoto, whose score creates a layer of nuance and meaning. Its plangent, sad piano chords will often counterintuitively be added to a scene of apparent drama or tension, implying that the meaning of this scene has not yet been disclosed. Monster is a movie that does not render up its meanings easily in general, and its repeated motif is to replay the same events from a different viewpoint; in another type of film this might deliver the smooth and gratifying narrative click...
Hirokazu Kore-eda challenges us with intricacy and complexity in this family drama about bullying, homophobia, family dysfunction, uncritical respect for flawed authority, and social media rumour-mongering; all working together to create a monster of wrongness. Kore-eda is collaborating with screenwriter Yûji Sakamoto and the late composer Ryuichi Sakamoto, whose score creates a layer of nuance and meaning. Its plangent, sad piano chords will often counterintuitively be added to a scene of apparent drama or tension, implying that the meaning of this scene has not yet been disclosed. Monster is a movie that does not render up its meanings easily in general, and its repeated motif is to replay the same events from a different viewpoint; in another type of film this might deliver the smooth and gratifying narrative click...
- 5/17/2023
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
Editor’s note: This review was originally published at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival. Well Go USA releases the film in theaters on Wednesday, November 22.
Scary as it sounds, “monster” can be such a strangely comforting word. Not only does classifying someone as inhuman absolve us from acknowledging the most difficult aspects of our shared humanity, it also reaffirms the smallness and simplicity of an infinitely complex universe that continues to expand no matter how much we might want to wrap our arms around it. “Monster” is a period at the end of a sentence; it’s the permission we give ourselves to demonize whatever we don’t understand.
And, for all of those reasons, it’s also a very unexpected title for a new feature by the great Hirokazu Kore-eda, whose achingly humanistic stories of families lost and found have never had any use for such a stiflingly judgmental term.
Scary as it sounds, “monster” can be such a strangely comforting word. Not only does classifying someone as inhuman absolve us from acknowledging the most difficult aspects of our shared humanity, it also reaffirms the smallness and simplicity of an infinitely complex universe that continues to expand no matter how much we might want to wrap our arms around it. “Monster” is a period at the end of a sentence; it’s the permission we give ourselves to demonize whatever we don’t understand.
And, for all of those reasons, it’s also a very unexpected title for a new feature by the great Hirokazu Kore-eda, whose achingly humanistic stories of families lost and found have never had any use for such a stiflingly judgmental term.
- 5/17/2023
- by David Ehrlich
- Indiewire
After making The Truth in France and Broker in South Korea, Hirokazu Kore-eda returns to a Japanese-language project for the first time since his justly lauded Shoplifters five years ago, working with another writer’s script for the first time since his head-turning 1995 debut, Maborosi. Many of the peerless humanist’s frequent themes figure in Monster (Kaibutsu) — loss, isolation, the elusive nature of happiness and the struggles of imperfect families — viewed through a somewhat imposing multi-perspective Rashomon-esque prism. The director’s customary delicacy, compassion and sensitivity ripple through the drama, though its affecting moments of illumination are more intermittent than cumulative.
With its fragmented exploration of childhood bullying, stigma, peer pressure and homophobia, as well as the age of its young protagonists, Monster vaguely recalls Belgian director Lukas Dhont’s Close from last year, albeit with more restraint and less sentiment, for better or worse. It’s a frustrating film in many ways,...
With its fragmented exploration of childhood bullying, stigma, peer pressure and homophobia, as well as the age of its young protagonists, Monster vaguely recalls Belgian director Lukas Dhont’s Close from last year, albeit with more restraint and less sentiment, for better or worse. It’s a frustrating film in many ways,...
- 5/17/2023
- by David Rooney
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Japanese auteur Hirokazu Kore-eda is a perceptive observer of families, keenly detecting the quirks that make an individual unique and the whole stronger and more complicated. 2018’s masterful Palme d’Or winner “Shoplifters” was perhaps the finest display of Kore-eda’s skills and preoccupations as a minimalist artist of mysterious domestic rhythms, informed by social and financial realities.
His make-shift family in last year’s arguably more populist “Broker” didn’t hit a note as high, but “Monster,” the director’s return to this year’s Cannes competition, feels closer to the subtly multilayered tales we came to expect from him.
A sweet, unknowable and often purposely misleading red herring of a whodunit that morphs into an unexpected tale of friendship, “Monster” feels like a departure for Kore-eda, mostly because of its intricate structure that recounts the same event from three different viewpoints. An obvious (and quite accurate) association point...
His make-shift family in last year’s arguably more populist “Broker” didn’t hit a note as high, but “Monster,” the director’s return to this year’s Cannes competition, feels closer to the subtly multilayered tales we came to expect from him.
A sweet, unknowable and often purposely misleading red herring of a whodunit that morphs into an unexpected tale of friendship, “Monster” feels like a departure for Kore-eda, mostly because of its intricate structure that recounts the same event from three different viewpoints. An obvious (and quite accurate) association point...
- 5/17/2023
- by Tomris Laffly
- The Wrap
Japan’s most prolific and successful contemporary filmmaker, Hirokazu Kore-Eda, is back in a favorite place, Cannes, for the unveiling of his latest effort, a return to his Japanese storytelling roots and a good one at that. For his seventh film in the main Cannes competition and his ninth overall (counting two that appeared in Un Certain Regard), Monster represents the first movie since his 1995 debut feature Maborosi that the director has not had a screenplay credit on — this film being written by Sakamoto Yuji — but clearly with its humanist family-centered themes is right in this master craftsman’s wheelhouse.
After last year’s lighter Cannes entry Broker, which was his first Korean film, Monster is more in line with his touching 2013 Jury Prize winner Like Father, Like Son and his 2018 Palme d’Or winner Shoplifters, which also earned him a foreign-language Oscar nomination. In fact, he is teaming...
After last year’s lighter Cannes entry Broker, which was his first Korean film, Monster is more in line with his touching 2013 Jury Prize winner Like Father, Like Son and his 2018 Palme d’Or winner Shoplifters, which also earned him a foreign-language Oscar nomination. In fact, he is teaming...
- 5/17/2023
- by Pete Hammond
- Deadline Film + TV
“Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead,” a zombie comedy anime series, will launch in July this year following a development and production deal between the U.S.’s Viz Media and Japan’s Shogakukan and Shogakukan-Shueisha Productions. The story focuses on a salaryman who finds an exciting new side to life while under siege from zombies.
Viz Media will represent the rights to “Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead” in North America, Latin America, Australia and New Zealand. The series will launch in July 2023, and stream on Hulu in the U.S. Other streaming partners will be announced across all territories. A trailer is now available.
The series is an adaptation of the manga by creators Aso Haro and Takata Kotaro, first published by Shogakukan: Monthly Sunday Gene-x in 2018 and is still expanding.
Aso is a top manga creator who is also behind “Alice in Borderland,” a sci-fi-fantasy...
Viz Media will represent the rights to “Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead” in North America, Latin America, Australia and New Zealand. The series will launch in July 2023, and stream on Hulu in the U.S. Other streaming partners will be announced across all territories. A trailer is now available.
The series is an adaptation of the manga by creators Aso Haro and Takata Kotaro, first published by Shogakukan: Monthly Sunday Gene-x in 2018 and is still expanding.
Aso is a top manga creator who is also behind “Alice in Borderland,” a sci-fi-fantasy...
- 1/6/2023
- by Patrick Frater
- Variety Film + TV
Winner for Best Film and Best Actor awards from the Japanese Academy, as much as the Audience Award from Udine in 2021, “Midnight Swan” is a film that essentially establishes Eiji Uchida on the top level of local cinema, and an excellent drama that works on a number of levels.
“Midnight Swan” is screening at Toronto Japanese Film Festival
Nagisa is a transgender on the process of a sex change operation, who grew up in Hiroshima as a man but now lives in Shinjuku as a woman, working in a night club as a dancer. Due to an accident, she begins to live with middle school student Ichika, a distant relative, who has been suffering from neglect from her alcoholic mother Saori for years, to the point that she barely utters two words to anyone. The cohabitation is as difficult as possible, with Nagisa making no effort to hide that she...
“Midnight Swan” is screening at Toronto Japanese Film Festival
Nagisa is a transgender on the process of a sex change operation, who grew up in Hiroshima as a man but now lives in Shinjuku as a woman, working in a night club as a dancer. Due to an accident, she begins to live with middle school student Ichika, a distant relative, who has been suffering from neglect from her alcoholic mother Saori for years, to the point that she barely utters two words to anyone. The cohabitation is as difficult as possible, with Nagisa making no effort to hide that she...
- 6/13/2022
- by Panos Kotzathanasis
- AsianMoviePulse
“100 yen, 100 yen, your whole life for 100 yen…”
Even though it may be a bit of a cliche, there is no denying a time of need may provide the foundation for a great story. After all, at the beginning of many stories a character needs to escape from dire circumstances in order to achieve something in the world, to fulfill a dream or to fight odds which have seemed insurmountable at first. Masaharu Take’s “100 Yen Love” does not necessarily tell a success story, but one about fighting, about challenging the most dangerous enemy one can imagine: yourself.
For Japanese director Masaharu Take the beginning of the 2010s marked quite a low point in his career, which had already almost two decades by that time. Due to the economic crisis, he tells the South China Morning Post, he found himself without a job like so many of his colleagues in the industry.
Even though it may be a bit of a cliche, there is no denying a time of need may provide the foundation for a great story. After all, at the beginning of many stories a character needs to escape from dire circumstances in order to achieve something in the world, to fulfill a dream or to fight odds which have seemed insurmountable at first. Masaharu Take’s “100 Yen Love” does not necessarily tell a success story, but one about fighting, about challenging the most dangerous enemy one can imagine: yourself.
For Japanese director Masaharu Take the beginning of the 2010s marked quite a low point in his career, which had already almost two decades by that time. Due to the economic crisis, he tells the South China Morning Post, he found himself without a job like so many of his colleagues in the industry.
- 2/8/2019
- by Rouven Linnarz
- AsianMoviePulse
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