Our mark is 銀幕, ginmaku — the silver screen, and the same two characters in Japanese, Chinese and Korean.

I came to Tokyo at twenty-three for a summer job at a Shibuya mini-theatre and the job never quite ended. Fifteen years of festivals later I still think the only review that counts is the one the room gives you: where the laugh lands, the moment three hundred people stop moving at once, whether anybody stays for the credits.

Cinepuuulse follows Asian cinema — Japan, Korea, China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Thailand — across about a hundred and twenty sources. A good number of them are Spanish, French and Portuguese, because those countries programme this work seriously and write about it better than most of the English-language trade. Genre and art-house get the same seat here. I am not ranking them, and nothing is scored out of ten.

Each story is a headline, a short excerpt, one still and a link to the outlet that did the reporting. We never republish the piece, and the still belongs to its studio or its photographer. A Korean trade paper appears in Korean, a French review in French. We point at the work; we do not put words in anyone's mouth.

— Daren Wise, Tokyo

← Cinepuuulse Archive

Tokyo WeekenderJapan

Two New Anime Tackle Smoking in Polar-Opposite Ways

September 14

Japanese people used to be one of the heaviest smokers on the planet, so cigarettes have always appeared in anime. But rarely as an object of focus.

Anime

Read at Tokyo Weekender ↗

One letter a week, in your inbox.

Latest

Two New Anime Tackle Smoking in Polar-Opposite Ways

Related

Japanアニメとドキュメンタリーの融合作品「アマゾン、精霊が宿る川」11月公開 natalie

Japan「超かぐや姫！」のツインエンジンが実写映像事業へ参入、「日日是好日」ヨアケと資本業務提携 natalie

JapanNetflix’s ‘S&X’ Sex Therapy Drama Is a Must-Watch Tokyo Weekender

UKThe Seven Year Intergalactic Journey of Shahaf Ram and His Independent Animated Space Opera ‘Orange Story’ Directors Notes

USAAnimated Nellie Mae Rowe Biopic Coming to YouTube Hyperallergic Film

Japan「チェンソーマン喫茶」期間限定オープン、レゼのアルバイト先をイメージ natalie