Japan On Film

Returning guest Jenn comes back for a chat about Takashi Miike's 2012 thriller, Lesson of the Evil. Despite an interesting use of Die Moritat von Mackie Messer, it's a bit of a let-down compared to some of Miike's other films. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/japanonfilm/message Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Perry is joined by returning guest Ashley Stockdale to talk about the crowd-pleasing Swing Girls. A group of delinquent students are forced to fill in for the school's brass band and in the process, discover a love of swing and jazz. Though not a very deep movie, it's one that's universally beloved for its humor and use of music. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/japanonfilm/message L...

Filmmaker LowRes makes his debut appearance on Japan On Film to talk about Hana-bi, one of the movies that helped cement Takeshi Kitano's reputation as one of the finest modern Japanese directors. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/japanonfilm/message Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Japan On Film is back with a new season! Perry is joined by new guest Dan to discuss Takashi Miike's adaptation of the Yakuza video game. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/japanonfilm/message Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Derrick Ferguson, who had appeared on several episodes of Japan On Film and also co-hosted Perry's other podcast, Superhero Cinephiles, passed away on April 4, 2021. To honor his memory, we're releasing a supercut episode of Derrick's appearances on Japan On Film, discussing Seven Samurai (and its western remake, The Magnificent Seven) and Unforgiven. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm...

In the final episode of season 6, we watch 2003's Zatoichi, Takeshi Kitano's reinvention of the classic blind samurai. Perry is joined by Frank Schildiner, the perfect guest for this episode because not only is he a martial artist, but also the author of an upcoming book examining the Zatoichi series of films. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/japanonfilm/message Learn more about your...

1992's Minbo is a satire of Japanese criminals trying to strong-arm a hotel. It so angered the real yakuza that they mounted a direct assault on director Juzo Itami. Japanese cinema professor Patrick returns to the show in order to discuss the film's multiple layers and its clever subversiveness. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/japanonfilm/message Learn more about your ad choices. V...

Nobuo Nakagawa's Jigoku is considered to be a cornerstone of Japanese cinema, noted in particular for its graphic depictions of Hell. Perry is joined by Luna, another Ongaku To You host, to discuss this classic and peel back some of the layers. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/japanonfilm/message Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Between directing the Japanese and American versions of The Grudge, Takeshi Shimizu took a break to direct the haunting Marebito, starring the legendary Shinya Tsukamoto. Adam of Asian Movie Pulse returns this episode to discuss the movie. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/japanonfilm/message Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What if you could kill with the stroke of a pen? That's the concept behind the internationally popular Death Note franchise. In the latest episode, Perry is joined again by Ken of the Ongaku To You podcast (and Death Note fan) to discuss the first live-action Death Note film. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/japanonfilm/message Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adc...

Sion Sono's controversial 2001 movie shocked right from its opening scene of over fifty schoolgirls jumping in front of a train. Perry and returning guest-host John Atom engage in a spirited debate about the different themes and how they think some things work and don't. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/japanonfilm/message Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoice...

Can a song save the world? Perry and guest-host Ashley discuss Yoshihiro Nakamura's oddball comedy movie that effortlessly weaves together different stories across different time periods. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/japanonfilm/message Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Takeshi Fukunaga's latest movie, AINU MOSIR, is a beautiful coming-of-age story featuring Kanto, a young boy who lives in the Ainu village of Akan and struggles with his cultural identity. I spoke with the director about his influences, inspiration, ideas of cultural identity. and more. AINU MOSIR is available on Netflix in English-speaking territories on November 17th and available in select thea...

Film student and Tsukamoto fan Michael Torres is the guest in the last episode of the season, where he and Perry discuss Tetsuo: The Iron Man, the movie that made Tsukamoto a cult favorite film director. Listen as they discuss their impressions and interpretations of this unique cyberpunk film. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/japanonfilm/message Learn more about your ad choices. Vis...

Graduate student Emma, who just completed her thesis on the Ghost in the Shell series, joins the show to discuss the groundbreaking anime film! They discuss the importance of the movie and go in-depth into some of the philosophy behind the movie. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/japanonfilm/message Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Patrick, a professor of Japanese cinema, joins Perry in this episode to discuss the 1981 cult classic, Sailor Suit and Machine Gun! Learn more about this intriguing film that offers some pretty unique social critiques of Japanese society. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/japanonfilm/message Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Perry is joined by Singapore-based scholar Richard Davis, who is very knowledgeable about early Japanese cinema. In this episode, they explore Yasujiru Ozu’s classic Tokyo Story. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/japanonfilm/message Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Perry is joined this episode by Joshua, another foreign English teacher currently in Japan. They take on the 2006 anime, The Girl Who Leapt Through Time. Listen in to hear what they thought of it and to learn more about the many incarnations this story has gone through! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/japanonfilm/message Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I’m joined in the latest episode by Adam of the Asian Movie Pulse website and we talk about Sogo Ishii’s short film, Electric Dragon 80,000V! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/japanonfilm/message Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We're back with a brand-new episode and a brand-new season! Pick up your Buster Sword and fire up your nostalgia, because in this episode, Ken of the Ongaku To You podcast joins me to discuss Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/japanonfilm/message Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Derrick Ferguson of Perry's other podcast, Superhero Cinephiles, returns to Japan On Film. With his knowledge of westerns and Perry's knowledge of Japanese history, they team up to discuss Sang-il Lee's Japanese remake of Clint Eastwood's revisionist western, Unforgiven! As Derrick put it best, this is less a remake and more a translation, with Lee seamlessly melding the classic story in Meiji-era...

John Atom of VCinema returns to discuss the 1978 Message From Space. While on the surface it seems like a Star Wars rip-off, it’s directed by the legendary Kinji Fukasaku, so there’s a bit more going on under the surface. Plus, there’s a certain campy charm about it that can’t be denied. So strap in and listen to our discussion on Message From Space! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/...

Perry welcomes back returning guest Aaron Shelton of the Kame House Party and Thinking Too Much About Anime podcasts. In this episode, they discuss Karate-Robo Zaborgar. A remake of a short-lived 70s tokusatsu series, director Noboru Iguchi not only pays homage to the tokusatsu genre, but also puts some of his own trademarked weirdness on display. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/jap...

This Godzilla reboot from the creators of Neon Genesis Evangelion takes inspiration from the government’s handling of the Fukushima disaster and feels especially appropriate given the COVID19 pandemic. Author, film critic, and Godzilla fan Mark Bousquet joins this episode to discuss the movie’s political themes and its place in the Godzilla pantheon. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/...

Perry is joined by Konner and Michael from The KMP Podcast to discuss the first film in Yoji Yamada’s samurai trilogy. Get ready for a more realistic look at the end of the samurai era as they talk about some of the history of the samurai at that time and how some of the ideas and themes are reflected in contemporary Japan. Also an update about the COVID19 situation in Japan. --- Send in a voice m...