Staff Pick Movies – Japanese, Korean & French Cinema

Last Updated on 2025-12-06 by a-indie

Hello! This is the A-indie editorial team.

In our previous article, we got excited about unexpected topics like electric scooters and crane games. “Is our only common ground ART-SCHOOL and The Novembers?” we wondered, but this time our theme is “movies we want to recommend.”

So, can we find common ground when talking about movies? yabori, Takita, and Maririn brought their respective “movies to recommend.”

Participants: yabori (moderator), Takita, Maririn Original illustration: Furidashi Taro

Yowoko Nihonbashi’s Manga—Expressive Power Depicting Slight Pain and Salvation

yabori

So, up until now we’ve been talking about things that caught our attention recently, getting excited about Peace Boat posters and a fight that broke out at the Anpanman Museum (laughs). So, Maririn, tell us what caught your attention.

There’s a manga artist named Yowoko Nihonbashi. She’s most famous for a volleyball manga called “Girls Fight.” I discovered that her new series started around September the other day and started reading it.

Maririn

yabori

First time hearing that name!

I really love Yowoko Nihonbashi. This person’s art style is really distinctive, with thick lines. Just from the art style alone, you wouldn’t really feel inclined to read it.

Maririn

yabori

So she’s the type of author where the art divides people’s preferences.

That’s right. At first glance, the art style doesn’t make you think “this looks interesting!” But all of this person’s stories are really good. The new series that just started is called “Cafe Prison,” and the main character is a girl with panic disorder.

Maririn

yabori

So it’s a manga about that kind of story.

I also had an adjustment disorder about a year ago, so I was reading while empathizing with the depiction of not being able to leave the house due to panic disorder. Slight pain in people’s hearts, and how through small interactions with others, that pain is eased—not quite to the level of support, but a little bit of salvation. She’s incredibly skilled at expressing that kind of thing.

Maririn

yabori

So the depictions and such are quite realistic.

Yes. The author herself said she had an adjustment disorder, so I think that’s part of it. But it’s not just good because it’s realistic. On top of being realistic, there’s something extra, and after reading it you really feel like “you can’t throw away human connections.”

Maririn

yabori

So it’s thought-provoking content.

It makes you think, and I find salvation in reading this person’s manga.

Maririn

I knew about Yowoko Nihonbashi. The art had that distinctly Japanese manga feel, so I remembered it by its characteristics, but I’ve never read it, so I’d like to.

Takita

The art style is a bit hard to approach. The main character is a girl, but they’re not cute girls. So the barrier to entry from the cover is quite high.

Maririn

yabori

I see, I’ll check it out. I had no idea about this.

“All the Long Nights”—Director Miyake Sho’s Masterpiece Depicting Panic Disorder

Hearing that story reminded me—there was a Japanese film I put in last year’s top 10 called “All the Long Nights.” Its subject matter also included depictions of panic disorder, so I thought there were some similarities.

Takita

yabori

I saw the theater trailer for “All the Long Nights” but didn’t get to see the actual film.

It’s a Japanese film with Matsumura Hokuto and Kamishiraishi Mone, and the way the light hits is incredibly calculated. The way the sun hits and the shadow direction is really good. The subject matter deals with panic disorder and the effects of premenstrual syndrome (PMS). Rather than how to overcome them, it’s about properly living with them.

Takita

yabori

So that’s what it was about.

The interplay between a man with panic disorder and a woman with PMS has moments that make you laugh and moments that bring you to tears. Both in terms of content and visuals, it was really good.

Takita

The director was Sho Miyake, right?

Maririn

That’s right. I really thought Sho Miyake is amazing. He’s also a Hokkaido director, which makes me like him even more.

Takita

yabori

I hear his name quite often, Sho Miyake.

Films like “Small, Slow But Steady” and “And Your Bird Can Sing” are highly rated. This person’s films never miss.

Takita

Recommended Movie (1) “My Sunshine”—Director Okuyama Hiroshi’s Coming-of-Age Story Set in Northern Japan

yabori

Alright, let’s start talking about movies we want to recommend. Let’s have Maririn go first this time.

For movies I want to recommend, I have a “movies I want to recommend to people list,” and I thought I’d introduce the most recent addition to that list. It’s a film called “My Sunshine.”

Maririn

yabori

I saw it! Takita, you saw it too, didn’t you?

Yes, I was thinking about choosing “My Sunshine” too, but I have another one prepared.

Takita

If everyone’s already seen it, maybe it’s fine to choose something else…

Maririn

yabori

No, no, since we’re here, let’s go with that. It was really good, after all.

Yes, it was really good! Director Okuyama Hiroshi received quite high praise for his previous work “I Hate But Love,” so I knew about him from that time.

Maririn

yabori

So he was already getting recognition from his previous work.

The three of us here have all seen it, so I think you know the synopsis, but for people reading the article—roughly speaking, it’s about a boy in Hokkaido with a stutter who meets a slightly older girl through ice dance figure skating and grows through that experience. It’s a story that unfolds as snow falls, accumulates, melts, and spring arrives.

Maririn

yabori

That’s right.

Anyway, the story is good and the visuals are beautiful, but there’s not a single wasted frame. I think it’s a film where artistic merit and commercial accessibility coexist in a really good balance. When you focus too much on art, it becomes incomprehensible, doesn’t communicate well, and tends toward “only people who get it will get it.”

Maririn

yabori

That’s a common art thing.

That’s the creator’s ego, and Director Okuyama’s approach of “I’m absolutely going to convey everything I want to convey” is packed into every single cut. Personally, I think this is a work that stands head and shoulders above other Japanese films.

Maririn

yabori

Takita, what did you think when you saw this?

It got me, it’s amazing. I’m from Tomakomai in Hokkaido, so in elementary school we used to make rinks in the schoolyard, freeze the ice, and skate during class.

Takita

yabori

That’s so Hokkaido!

And boys, at least in my era, would wear hockey skates. Girls would wear figure skating skates. When boys wore those, partly because of the times, they would get made fun of a bit.

Takita

yabori

So things like what happened in the movie actually happen.

For a boy of that age to do ice dance, I think there would be some hesitation. That aspect is properly depicted too, which overlapped with my own experience.

Takita

yabori

I see.

Again, similar to “All the Long Nights,” the way sunlight enters is amazing. The director apparently really focused on that, and it got me. The visuals were so beautiful that I could enjoy it just for that alone.

Takita

yabori

The ice rink scenes were memorable.

The snow scenes too, and the scene where the three of them are having fun skating outside was good, but the skating rink scene where light pours in and they’re doing ice dance—I just wanted to watch that forever. Plus, that woman is actually doing ice dance and recently won an award.

Takita

yabori

Ah, so she’s someone who actually does skating.

That’s right. Apparently, they initially held auditions planning to have an actress learn figure skating. But that wouldn’t reach the level of skating needed to “fall in love watching someone dance,” so they posted recruitment posters at ice rinks. The one who responded was Kiara Nakanishi, who plays Sakura.

Maririn

I think her grandfather is Nakanishi Rei. Even with that connection, the fact that no one but her could have done it is amazing. There’s no doubt that because it was those two people, it became such a mystical and moving work.

Takita

Recommended Movie (2) “Stoker”—Director Park Chan-wook’s Psycho-Thriller

yabori

Alright, Takita, you’re next.

Right, I also get asked about movies I want to recommend a lot, so I had them organized. But this is something I made in my notes over 10 years ago, and there are about 100 titles.

Takita

yabori

100 titles!

Yes. When I was asked about movies I want to recommend, I was really torn, but looking at that list, I suddenly remembered—there’s a movie called “Stoker.”

Takita

yabori

“Stoker”? First time hearing about it.

The director is Park Chan-wook from Korea, the director of “Oldboy.”

Takita

I’ve heard the title “Stoker” but I’m like “what was that story again?” I haven’t seen it.

Maririn

Right. If I tell you everything about the content, it’ll be a spoiler and you won’t be able to enjoy it, so I’ll give you the rough outline. The genre is psycho-thriller, with an 18-year-old girl as the main character living peacefully, when her uncle appears, and from there an ominous atmosphere develops as the story progresses.

Takita

yabori

So that’s what it’s about.

It’s not as innocent as “My Sunshine,” but visually it’s colorful—white is precious, and since it’s called “garden,” there are colors, and the beautiful depictions are memorable. The ending scene with blood—how should I put it—”I didn’t know blood could be so beautiful”—that impression stuck with me.

Takita

yabori

I see.

Also, my original film experience came from discovering works recommended by ART-SCHOOL and The Novembers and branching out from there. Developing from that, “Stoker” is probably the first movie I found on my own and fell in love with, which is why I chose it as a movie I want to recommend.

Takita

yabori

ART-SCHOOL’s Riki is also a film enthusiast.

Really, I got into it through “Oldboy,” learned about Park Chan-wook, and then his new work was coming out—it was released in 2013—I couldn’t see it in theaters, so I rented the DVD from TSUTAYA and watched it, and I was shocked.

Takita

Recommended Movie (3) “Annette”—Director Leos Carax’s Rock Opera Musical

yabori

So, I’ll talk about my recommended movie last. Do you both know the movie “Annette”?

Ah, yes. I love that director, so I’ve seen “Annette.” Movies should be this exaggerated—I recently re-recognized that with this film.

Takita

yabori

Maririn, do you know it?

I know about it, but I haven’t seen it yet.

Maririn

yabori

Adam Driver, who played Kylo Ren in “Star Wars,” is the lead, but well, to put it simply—it’s an incomprehensible, distasteful piece of crap. It’s really a crap movie, but it’s one I want to watch once a year!

It’s addictive, right?

Takita

yabori

That’s right. Adam Driver raises Annette, who is clearly a doll from every angle, as if she were his own child—it’s a ridiculous musical (laughs).

yabori

Sparks did the music. At first, since Sparks was doing the music, I wondered what it would be like, went to see it without knowing the content, and thought “what is this?” As Takita said earlier, it ends with a “is this allowed?” kind of development. Well, it’s that kind of movie, and it really influenced me. The AI character I created recently—that was strongly influenced by “Annette.”

Ah, I see. It does have “Annette” vibes.

Takita

yabori

The characters Aria and Punipon, but at the very beginning it was “Annette” (laughs). I was thinking about having Annette, like NHK’s Chiko-chan, say cheeky things to BELONG. Then things changed and it settled on Aria and Punipon. Well, I was influenced that much. I thought it was interesting.

Right. Leos Carax made one of the three films that define my life.

Takita

yabori

You like him that much.

Yes. I can’t choose between “The Lovers on the Bridge” and “Bad Blood”—I love them both equally—but that director released “Annette” after a long time, and I saw it too. It’s chaotic, but it can only be done in film, and it’s allowed because it’s Leos Carax. From the opening, the grandiosity—like “I’m about to show you my movie.”

Takita

With Leos Carax, that’s probably how it is.

Maririn

Tarantino’s titles are also cool from the start, right? Like the logo “A Band Apart” appearing and the movie beginning. The music was also amazing, and I got excited from that opening. It’s a movie, but it also had the rawness of watching opera or theater. It was 140 minutes. But somehow it felt like it went by in a flash.

Takita

yabori

It’s a crap movie, but there really aren’t many movies you want to watch once a year.

“Annette,” even among films from recent years, isn’t highly rated per se, but as a topic it’s incredible, right? They apparently offered it to Rihanna too. She turned it down though.

Takita

yabori

That’s pretty bold. That would have been interesting too though.

Right. If Rihanna had been in it, I wonder what it would have been like.

Takita

Editor’s Note

So, how was it?

With the theme of “movies we want to recommend,” the three brought: Maririn chose “My Sunshine,” Takita chose “Stoker,” and yabori chose “Annette.”

Japanese film, Korean film, French film—three nicely diverse works. But all of them were films where the directors’ intense individuality shone through, pursuing “the beauty of visuals” and “expression that can only be done in film.”

We said “our only common ground is ART-SCHOOL and The Novembers,” but when it came to movies, all three of us had seen “My Sunshine,” so surprisingly we can discuss things.

The next theme is “manga we want to recommend.” What works will emerge from Maririn’s massive manga collection? The loose yet deep conversations of A-indie staff. Look forward to the next installment!

Next preview: “Manga we want to recommend” special. What manga makes Takita’s top 3 of life? What selected works from Maririn’s “manga I want to recommend to people list”? Stay tuned!

A-indie Editorial Team

A music-specialized media outlet covering music from Japan, the West, and Asia, with a focus on indie rock. Published 26 issues of the music magazine “BELONG Magazine” themed around “roots rock.”

In 2021, appeared as a guest on J-WAVE’s SONAR MUSIC. In 2022, launched English-language sister site A-indie.

The editorial team members’ main source of nourishment comes primarily from shoegaze and dream pop.

About BELONG Media/A-indie

BELONG Media is an indie music media outlet that started in 2012. We cover indie music from around the world, including Japan and overseas. In 2021, we appeared as a guest on J-WAVE’s “SONAR MUSIC.” In 2022, we launched “A-indie,” an English-language sister site focusing on Asian music.

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