Rakugo and Yose

Finally after far too long I am again starting to add entries to the Anime Companion Supplement. I hope to maintain a good speed on adding such new entries so keep an eye out for announcements.
The first two new entries are for:
Rakugo
and
Yose

August 1945

The last days of World War II were dramatic in many ways. I have added two new movies to my recommended live action cinema title list that dramatize the same events.

Japan's Longest Day from 1967 and 2015's The Emperor in August. Both films cover the same events but with a different focus. These are not filled with the explosions and raging battles of most war films, rather they show the meetings were various members of the government and military agonized over what path Japan was to take. Do they fight to the death, do they fight until they can get terms better than in the Potsdam Declaration, or do they negotiate for surrender now?

Kabukiza

I have an addition to my Recommended Japanese Live Action Cinema page. A new entry for a wonderful documentary on the Kabukiza theater in Tokyo. Kabuki-za Final Curtain.

What's happening.

I have been busy with various matters for some time. I have done some redesign and clean up on the site. I hope to get back into updating the website on a regular basis, mainly adding new recommended titles on a weekly basis as well as adding a new supplement page in November. The new supplement will be for my forthcoming book Tokyo Stroll, November is the e-book release with a print release coming in February.

Today I can announce an addition to my Recommended Japanese Live Action Cinema page. A new entry for the 2007 film Adrift in Tokyo.

Of love and delicious food

Just added to my recommended manga listings.

What Did You Eat Yesterday? by Yoshinaga Fumi

Shiro is a lawyer, his good looks make him seem younger than he is. He is serious, very much a professional, and his co-workers assume he is single even at his age. Kenji is a hair stylist, fashionable, and not very serious. Kenji is openly gay where Shiro is very much in the closet. Shiro's serious side comes out in his overseeing the household finances. His love for Kenji is partly expressed through cooking delicious meals on a tight budget. Together they make a good match. The series is very character driven, not only showing us Kenji and Shiro but also glimpses into the lives of their friends. The cooking is one part readers enjoy, you can actually follow the process Shiro goes through as he talks to himself.

What Did You Eat Yesterday? is available from The Right Stuf

City boy out of his element?

I'm currently reading the manga for Silver Spoon which was adapted into anime in 2013-14. This is one of my favorite titles from that time period and strongly urge people to check out the anime. So I have added it to my recommended anime web page. Being an aniplex title it is pricy, but oh so good. You can also watch it on Crunchyroll.

The Dashing Sukeroku

I have uploaded a new recommended title to my live action recommendations. This one is the famous kabuki play Sukeroku, which happens to be available on all region subtitled DVD from NHK.

Sukeroku (1713)

Script: Tsuuchi Jihei II, Tsuuchi Hanemon

 

Also known as Yukaro no Edo Zakira, and Sukeroku: Flower of Edo. This is one of the Kabuki Juhachiban, "Eighteen Great Plays," of the Ichikawa family. The setting is the Yoshiwara during the cherry blossom viewing. The highly regarded courtesan Agemaki longs for her dashing young lover Sukeroku while being pursued by the old lecherous samurai Ikyû who wishes to possess her himself. Sukeroku is constantly getting into fights, however he has a reason for this which I will not go into. Traditionally some of the scenes are improvised so the audience never quite knows what to expect. The NHK DVD release is one of the few kabuki plays to be subtilted.

 

DVD:

Order the all region DVD of Kabuki Meisaku Sen Sukeroku Yuen Kurozakura from CD Japan