Light-hearted and mildly amusing, Ozu’s most accessible late-career work explores the generation gap and quirks of communal communication amid a rise in consumerism in a modernising Japan.
This final installment caps the long-running series with a more dignified drama-focused entry as Zatoichi once again tries to seek justice for the oppressed.
The sea, by turns calm and angry, mirrors the hearts of the young protagonists, who must accept life’s vulnerabilities in Kawase’s poetic piece, shot largely on the southern Japanese island of Amami Oshima.
Miyazaki’s somewhat convoluted anti-war and pro-elderly piece doesn’t quite reach the heights of some of his greatest works, but as a fantasy about love, magic and curses, it can be spellbinding at times.
Shinkai’s new anime is largely compelling, though sometimes bogged down by its melodramatic excess and narrative contrivances.
Dread and unease ooze in abundance in this masterful, bar-raising existential psychological mystery about an exasperated detective trying to solve a series of inexplicable murders.
Rather unfocused and indulgent in its depiction of vices, this 24th instalment (featuring Shintaro Katsu in a rare outing as director) is also one of the franchise’s grittiest entries.
One of Ozu’s most accomplished silent efforts, this love story of jealousy and guilt set in the milieu of a small-time crook displays a mastery of visual storytelling.
An underrated postwar effort by Ozu, featuring an indelible performance by Kinuyo Tanaka whose character must do whatever it takes to fulfil her responsibilities as a mother to a sick child.
One of the most iconic anime ever produced, Otomo’s landmark work of dystopia and politics remains mind-blowing in its execution and acts as a stern warning to humanity not to destroy ourselves.
Eternality Tan 