This year, anime’s global boom brought record profits and more Hollywood interest but also renewed anxiety over AI and creative labor. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2025/12/26/film/anime-demon-slayer-gundam/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #culture #film #anime #demonslayer #japanesefilm #chainsawman #2025inreview

Genre-hopping anime adventure “Whoever Steals This Book” is visually inventive and easy to watch, even if the finer plot details fade fast. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2025/12/25/film/whoever-steals-this-book/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #culture #film #japanesefilm #anime #kagokan #keikokurosawa

When a popular student dies in Yukari Sakamoto’s J-horror film “White Flowers and Fruits,” the adults barge in — and everything fractures. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2025/12/25/film/white-flowers-and-fruits/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #culture #film #japanesefilm #yukarisakamoto #horror #jhorror

Isao Yukisada’s drama “Kaede” is the latest reminder that in Japan, today’s karaoke staple is tomorrow’s feature film. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2025/12/25/film/films-based-on-a-song-kaede/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #culture #film #japanesefilm #jpop #isaoyukisada

Keishi Otomo’s queer romance “10 Dance” has perfect abs, dance moves and a seductive premise but surprisingly little heat. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2025/12/18/film/10-dance/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #culture #film #japanesefilm #dance #keitamachida #ryomatakeuchi #keishiotomo

Journalist Shiori Ito said she had “never received so many letters and messages before” after “Black Box Diaries,” her 2024 film chronicling her experience as a sexual assault survivor, was finally released in Japan. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/12/15/japan/society/black-box-diaries-shiori-ito/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #japan #society #japanesefilm #shioriito #metoo #blackboxdiaries

Japanese film director Masato Harada, known for socially conscious works including "Climber's High," died on Monday at the age of 76. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2025/12/14/entertainment-news/masato-harada-obituary/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #culture #entertainmentnews #masatoharada #obituary #japanesefilm

Shiori Ito's Oscar-nominated #MeToo film finally screened in Japan https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/12/13/japan/society/shiori-ito-documentary-release/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #japan #society #shioriito #documentaries #sexcrimes #rape #shinzoabe #noriyukiyamaguchi #japanesefilm #blackboxdiaries

In “Good Luck,” Shin Adachi spins anxiety, awkwardness and odd detours into a warm, feather-light road movie that sneaks up on the viewer. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2025/12/11/film/good-luck/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #culture #film #japanesefilm #shinadachi #hirokisano #hanaamano

Jimbocho’s latest addition isn’t a bookstore or a coffee shop but an independent cinema built by a film lover who wants audiences to take more chances. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2025/12/11/film/mini-theater-cinemalice/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #culture #film #cinemas #film #japanesefilm #chiyodaward #jimbocho

With its clever bait-and-switch, “Peleliu: Guernica of Paradise” uses cute animation to draw viewers into a war film more disturbing than most live-action ones. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2025/12/11/film/peleliu-guernica-of-paradise/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #culture #film #japanesefilm #anime #wwii #gorokuji

Anime may have dominated the charts in 2025, but the real surprise was a kabuki drama that shot to No. 1 and stayed there for weeks. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2025/12/04/film/demon-slayer-infinity-castle-kokuho-festivals/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #culture #film #japanesefilm #2025inreview #kokuho #demonslayer #anime #chiehayakawa #kazuoishiguro #keiishikawa #shomiyake #tatsuyanakadai

When a deaf Japanese store owner clashes with a Kurdish immigrant opening a restaurant in the same neighborhood, the whole community has to rethink the way they communicate. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2025/12/03/film/chatterboxes-film-review/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #culture #film #japanesefilm #kenkawai #disability #hearing #kurdishimmigrant

Decades in, hundreds of credits deep, veteran actor Mariko Tsutsui’s secret to inhabiting her characters hasn’t changed: unwavering, meticulous preparation. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2025/11/28/film/mariko-tsutsui-dawn-chorus/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #culture #film #marikotsutsui #japanesefilm #yoshinorisato #kojifukada

An escalating spat between Japan and China over remarks about Taiwan by Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi is threatening to derail what was set to be a breakout year for anime in the world’s second-largest cinema market. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/11/27/japan/china-anime-damage/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #japan #chinajapanrelations #sanaetakaichi #taiwan #anime #japanesefilm #demonslayer #studioghibli #sony

A scapegrace brother receives a tender farewell in Ryota Nakano’s surprisingly touching dramedy “Bring Him Down to a Portable Size.” https://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2025/11/27/film/bring-him-down-to-a-portable-size/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #culture #film #japanesefilm #ryotanakano #joeodagiri #koshibasaki

A modern marriage is put to the test when the supportive partner suddenly becomes the successful one in Chihiro Amano’s “Sato and Sato.” https://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2025/11/27/film/sato-and-sato/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #culture #film #japanesefilm #yukinokishii #hiomiyazawa #chihiroamano

Ryuichi Sakamoto’s final chapter has been honored on the world stage in the form of an International Emmy Award for NHK. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2025/11/26/film/ryuichi-sakamoto-international-emmy-award/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #culture #film #ryuichisakamoto #awards #emmys #japanesefilm

Surprise hit “Kokuho” grossed more than $111 million, becoming the first movie in 22 years to break Japan’s box office record for a domestic live-action film. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2025/11/25/film/kokuho-film-break-record/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #culture #film #japanesefilm #kokuho #kabuki

Forty years ago, director Juzo Itami unveiled his masterpiece, "Tampopo," showing us that ramen can be elevated to a gourmet dish and egg yolks can be used in, erm, very tantalizing ways. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2025/11/22/film/tampopo-40th-anniversary-ramen/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #culture #film #tampopo #ramen #chefs #japanesecuisine #japanesefilm #juzoitami