We blinked and a year went by. It’s now December: 2024 is coming to a close and 2025 is peeking at us from the horizon. So shall we look back at the most interesting 2024 K-dramas, books, and films? As much as possible, I tried to choose one title per month of the year so…
Film
Year In Review: The 2024 Japanese Books, Films, and Dramas We Won’t Forget
A couple more weeks and it’s 2025. Can you believe it? I know that I can’t! But now it’s the perfect time for us to take a look back at 2024 and talk about the very best 2024 Japanese books, dramas and films. Can you recognise all these titles? As much as possible, I tried…
25 Amazing J- and K-Pop Music Videos That Could Be Award-Winning Short Films
On August 30th, 2024, Netflix released the incredibly enjoyable A-List to Playlist, a documentary about the hundred days that Jo Jung-suk had to compose and record his very first album. Is A-List to Playlist Worth Watching? A-List to Playlist has seven short episodes and an eighth, final episode that spans 80 minutes. Not only is…
Japanese & Korean Horror Films For Beginners: 10 Frightening Titles You Need to Watch
I’ve never been a big fan of horror movies. Psychological thrillers, yes. But horror has never been my thing. Studying film has forced me to watch a few, of course, but I’m too much of a scaredy cat for them. Oh, well. What can I do? With Halloween right around the corner and a partner…
If Cats Disappeared From The World: Embracing What Truly Matters
What would you sacrifice for an extra day of life? If you grab a copy of Genki Kawamura’s If Cats Disappeared From The World (here I’m talking about the UK Picador edition) and check its back cover, that’s exactly the question this little book will throw at you. What do you deem necessary in life?…
10 Exciting Korean Action Movies on Netflix in September 2024!
Beyond the world of romantic K-dramas, South Korea is also known for its thrilling action films. With the upcoming Officer Black Belt, why don’t we talk about the Korean action movies on Netflix that you can watch this September? Before We Start, A Little Intro to Korean Action Movies Have a seat, children, and I’ll…
Perfect Days Review: Embracing Ephemerality and the Art of Noticing
To celebrate the release of MUBI’s beautiful Collector’s Edition of Wim Wenders’ Perfect Days, I’d like to pose a few questions. What would you consider to be a “perfect life”? Travelling all over the world? Having a beautiful house somewhere? Having a prestigious job? Nowadays, we are bombarded with information all the time. Most people…
Soulmate (2023) Review: When Love Cannot Be Defined
How would you define concepts such as “friendship” or “soulmate”? Cambridge Dictionary defines “soulmate” as “someone, usually your romantic or sexual partner, who you have a special relationship with, and who you know and love very much.” Albeit accurate, this definition ignores the many shades that the concept of “soulmate” may have and the different…
The JFF 2024 Diary: A Tremendous Month of Japanese Media
The Japanese Film Festival Online (JFF), which started on the 5th of June, came to an end on the 3rd of July. Thanks to the Japan Foundation, it was a month full of Japanese content — and I fell madly in love with some of the titles they had to offer. [If you want to…
The Parades Review: A Bittersweet Journey Through Love and Loss
What waits for us once we die? What happens to us, and what happens to the people we leave behind? Fujii Michihito (director of the acclaimed The Journalist and, more recently, The Last 10 Years) has come up with a beautiful, heartfelt answer to those questions with Netflix’s The Parades, released this past February. The…
