#Japan#Film Festival Online 2024 will be Weds 5th-19th June (starts & ends noon JST so effectively the 18th for UK).
It's a great opportunity to see Japanese films which can be hard to find.
I'm going to watch as many as I can and post brief thoughts under #JFF2024 with the aim of helping those with busy lives choose one or two. Happy to have conversations as well.
Please follow the hashtag if you're interested.
Available here: https://watch.jff.jpf.go.jp/page/jffonline2024/ #JDrama#JFilm
The Lines That Define Me -
Lighter than I expected and an often gorgeous film about finding your own lines in art and traditional forms, the ones that express your own emotions and the life in them
The lines of this film shift from delicate to joyful to bold to struggle to fulfilling. In that, it embodies the ethos of its story.
Single8
Another youth film focused on creativity, a visual art and finding your own voice. High school students work together, with the help of a uni film student and a history teacher, pushing themselves, their skills and ingenuity to make a short science fiction film with meaning.
It's left me with a big smile 💖
About acceptance of difference and problems caused by those quick to judge. Cho-san has both learning disabilities and autism, needs his routines and works in a supported facility. He also has a great mum and difficult neighbours.
Beautiful, poetic melodrama depicting a romanticised and idealised life of an idealistic young man who, after his death, became one of Japan's most loved poets and writers.
Now to read some of his writings while this is still fresh in my mind.
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🇯🇵 Considering the subject of most Asian medical shows, it's not really a surprise that the Japanese drama #TonarinoNurseAide is trying to discuss very serious themes surrounding healthcare... More surprising, however, is its light-hearted tone.
🇯🇵 A rare display of violence, Japanese drama #EVOL uses superheroes to talk about much somber, and political topics. It's hard to watch, but worth the effort...
@reikableu When the JFF+ Online Film Festival starts again (June 2024 it seems, their website put that under the mention for 2022), we could talk about them here if you like.
Access can be difficult for me with #JDrama, though I would like to watch more.
Not sure how well the Hoshikuzu Telepath anime did in sales, but now there is a JDrama for it coming this summer.
The other Manga Time Kirara manga that received one that I am aware of is Yuru Camp and Gakkou Gurashi But if there is Japanese subtitles, I can watch it.
An interesting difference between #JDrama and #KDrama fandom. Every.Single.Time I jwatch a K-actor's Insta live, there are ALWAYS commenters saying stuff like "Speak English" - no "please", and no acknowledgement that the celeb has the absolute right to use their L1.
I've been watching a #JDrama actor's Insta live for the last 10 minutes, and it's all Japanese. I don't speak or read Japanese but I love that J actors aren't hassled by entitled fans demanding they speak English
@KDramaQn@youronlyone There are A LOT of recent shorter #KDrama series that are clearly built around at least the possibility of a 2nd season, and I tend to shun those as I INTENSELY dislike that element of "Westernisation".
But having drifted toward #JDrama (where 12 is LONG) in large part because of all the saggy bloated filler in >=16 ep KDramas, I love the nice tight feel of those #KDramas that are written short and complete. "One Day Off" is a beautiful example
@ronsboy67 Interesting. The IRIS franchise, especially the spin-off Athena, was well received here. In my case, it's actually the first time I've heard someone who did not like it. I guess that points to cultural differences and genre preferences. Was it perfect? Of course not.
As for Strong Woman, was it not the point of the writer to expose it without getting a negative reaction from their own culture? If one's culture (in this case, the writer's) still have prejudices against this and that, fiction is often the best way to express it and to expose it. Fiction has been used that way for centuries.
Many #Kdrama I've seen for the past 7 years touched on sensitive issues common in South Korea that either no one is talking about or you'll get cancelled for raising it up (for example, toxic feminism). So, fiction became a medium. It's there, and hopefully people in Korea noticed it at least (because foreign fans typically missed it and instead are drooling for their favourite actors).
This is what I like with K-drama, and #Jdrama for that matter, there are social issues embedded in their stories. This has been forgotten, in general, in Western entertainment. In the West, it's about how much money they'll earn; to the point that they'll pretend they agree with “movements” just so members of those “movements” will watch their shows. This is why I like “Star Trek: Strange New Worlds”, because of all the “nuTrek”, SNW is the only one that went back to its roots (but it does not mean I don't like the other ”nuTrek” series).
Going back to Korea, it was actually amazing that productions like “Extraordinary Attorney Woo” and “Innocent Witness” were green lit, as well as, “The Devil Judge” and “The Killing Vote”. These shows directly addressed social (and political) issues. If I take a guess, they got green lit because those issues (prejudice against #Autistics; and corrupt politicians) apply not just in South Korea, but everywhere else; otherwise, they more likely have to do embed it, or just mention in passing.
In any case, maybe it is just me. When I watch, I try to unlock the mind and goal of the writer, and understand the story from their perspective. What made prompted them to write it this way? What drove the director to express an act in a particular way?
For example, the K-drama “Please Don't Date Him”, and another one I can't recall right now, got so much negative reaction from foreign audiences. Some even had the audacity to make statements like “it doesn't happen in real life” or “the writer should quit, they don't know how to write a good story”. But, when I explained it to them, they changed their mind.
It's the same with “Grid”, “Alice”, and “Sisyphus: The Myth”. The writers got reactions like “the writer is dumb”; “that's now how time travel works”; “they should stop writing, they suck”. Likewise, after explaining it to them, they understood the story and what the writer had in mind.
So, I guess, it is just me seeing things differently in these stories. Maybe because I see these as a form of #Art. If it is an art, then we have to view it and understand it from the creator's perspective.
@ronsboy67@youronlyone@KDramaQn@kdrama@kdrama@kdrama interesting that you point out mysogyny in k-dramas. I drop most j-dramas because of it 😁
Female characters in Japanese dramas are shallow, submissive and the male characters typically have more screen time.
There are exceptions, like Unnatural, that I liked a lot, or two j-dramas I'm not sure I remember the title because I watched them years ago (one should be Tokyo Girl).
Animals is a good one too.
Yep, I'm sure there is a lot of misogyny in #JDrama. checking the JDramas I've dropped, that was a significant factor in many of them. But of the 17 #JDramas I've score at 9 or higher, 12 are unequivocally built around the female lead. Okeri Mone, Orange Days and Neechan No Koibito are good examples
@emmaaum I notice you watch a lot of j-dramas and thai-dramas.
Right now my brain can't process any difficult language other than Korean. I have some #jdrama entries on my Viki watchlist but I think they will still be there for some time 😉
I watched the first episode of Tsukuritai Onna to Tabetai Onna yesterday and it was interesting.Will share more thoughts about it later, but it’s surprisingly easy to understand.
Also, the food looks good in this, besides Yuru Camp JDrama of course.
Just finished chapter 46 of volume 3 of "Heaven Official's Blessing" 🌸 The kiss scene came out of nowhere ❤️ but the calligraphy scene seems even more intimate because it was understated. After arc 2 it is nice to see the main plot moving along.
@emmaaum Pity that I missed that but that is exactly what I was getting at. Have you see "My Happy Marriage"? It's not BL but it is Japanese and there isn't even kissing but there is a beautiful love story.