Tony Takitani

Like Haruki Murakami? Yeah, yeah, get in line. And while you’re waiting, check out Tony Takitani – on SBS this Thursday, 6 November 2008, from 10:05 pm. Japanese with English subtitles.

Because of his Western name, Tony was shunned by other kids and spent a solitary childhood. Though gifted as an artist, his drawings lacked feeling, so as an adult, he carved a career as a technical illustrator. In middle age, the reclusive Tony falls for a pretty young woman, Eiko Konuma, who visits him one day on business. Eiko is like an angel in Tony’s daily existence, and for the first time in his life, he feels connected to the outside world. However, Eiko does have one (fatal) fault: she’s a clothing shopaholic.

This movie is actually far more melancholic than the blurb suggests. It’s not typical Murakami (although the lead might seem familiar), but it is based on one of his short stories. Enjoy it – but you will feel terrible at the end.

The Outdoor Room: Japanese garden

For anybody who watches Channel 7’s The Outdoor Room from 6:30pm on Sundays, you’ll know they apparently plan their backyard renovations by sending Jamie Durie to overseas countries and having him check out local art and architecture.

The next episode (which, according to the website, is Sunday October 12, rather than this Sunday, October 5) features a Japanese garden makeover. Check it out and get some ideas for your own garden. All I want is a nice roten-buro!

There will apparently be a recipe for tuna tataki with soba noodles and wasabi dressing too (as if you needed it).

Japanese Film: Aragami - The Raging God of Battle

On Thursday night (Friday morning) 18/19 September 2008 from 1 am, SBS is screening Aragami, a 2003 Japanese action film directed by Ryuhei Kitamura. It was Kitamura’s contribution to the Duel Project, a challenge issued by producer Shinya Kawai to him and fellow director Yukihiko Tsutsumi to film a feature length movie with only two actors, battling in one setting, in only the time frame of one week. The other movie in the Project was 2LDK, which was on SBS earlier this year.

Two seriously wounded samurai find refuge from a storm at an isolated temple, the home of a swordsman and a mysterious young woman.

One samurai awakes to find that not only has his comrade died, but that his wounds have miraculously healed. He discovers that he has been given the power of immortality by the swordsman, a man once known as the legendary Miyamoto Musashi, who now lives an endless existence as Aragami, a “god of battle”.

Starring Takao Osawa, Masaya Kato and Kanae Uotani.

Japanese with English subtitles – perfect for language learners of either!

Japanese Anime - Wed 10 September 2008

From 10:05 pm this Wednesday, 10 September 2008, SBS is screening Miyazaki Hayao’s anime Kiki’s Delivery Service.

Kiki, a young witch, has turned 13, and according to the ancient tradition she must leave home to find her own place in the world. She flies her broom to a coastal town where she finds a room above a local bakery, run by Mrs Osono, and sets up a delivery service. Despite a few misadventures, Kiki is doing fine until one day she discovers that her powers have disappeared – she cannot fly her broomstick and she can no longer communicate with her cat Jiji. Ursula, a painter Kiki has met on one of her delivery runs, explains artist’s block and how something similar may have affected Kiki.

This is the fifth Studio Ghibli anime film, produced, written, and directed by Hayao Miyazaki in 1989. It was the fourth theatrically released film from the studio, and was also the second feature film that Miyazaki directed but did not originally write himself. The movie won the Animage Anime Grand Prix prize in 1989. The movie is based on Eiko Kadono’s novel of the same name, which is the first in a series originally published by Fukuinkan Shoten in 1985.

Dubbed in English. Several towns in Australia are said to have provided the inspiration for the setting!

Japanese Anime - Wed 3 September 2008

From 10:05 pm this Wednesday, 3 September 2008, SBS is screening Miyazaki Hayao’s anime Laputa: Castle in the Sky .

According to legend, humans were fascinated with the sky; therefore they created increasingly sophisticated ways of lifting aircraft from the ground. This eventually led to flying cities and fortresses. Over time, the cities came crashing back to the ground, forcing the survivors to live on the ground as before. One city, Laputa, is said to remain in the sky, concealed within the swirling clouds of a violent thunderstorm. While most people consider it to be fictional, some believe the legend is true and have sought to find the ancient city. Airships still remain in common use.

This is a film written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki, released in 1986. It is the first film created and released by Studio Ghibli, although is considered the second by some since Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind was created by the founding members two years before. Laputa: Castle in the Sky won the Animage Anime Grand Prix in 1986.

Dubbed in English.

Iron Chef returns

If the Olympics didn’t quench your desire for competition, tune in to SBS from 8:30pm Saturday night (Aug 30) when the Iron Chef returns to Australian TV screens.

This is not a program for learning how to cook. It is a feverish competition among world-class chefs with the over-the-top appeal of pro wrestling. The ingredients are unconventional; the preparations are sheer genius. Iron Chef pushes the boundaries of taste.

Fukui-san!!

Japanese Anime - Wed 27 August 2008

From 10:05 pm this Wednesday, 27 August 2008, SBS is screening Miyazaki Hayao’s anime Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind.

A thousand years have passed since the violent collapse of industrial civilisation. Small pockets of humanity survive on the fringes of a vast polluted forest, the Toxic Jungle, inhabited by giant mutated insects, of which the Ohmu, are the greatest threat. The plant life and the spores from the jungle are poisonous to humans. Anyone who ventures into the jungle must wear breathing masks to protect their lungs.

The Valley of the Wind is a small community of humans protected by sea breezes from the toxic spores. Their young princess, Nausicaä, tries to understand, rather than destroy the Toxic Jungle.

Dubbed in English.

Japanese Movies: June 23 & 25 2008

SBS is being kind to us lately (except for that horrible Casshern), with two flicks on this week. One is a WWI anime from Hayao Miyazaki, Porco Rosso, the other an Oscar-nominated samurai film with a gentler side, The Twilight Samurai.

Porco Rosso

SBS, Monday 23 June 2008 from 10:55pm, in English

Porco Rosso is set in Italy in the early 1930s where air pirates, bounty hunters and high flyers of all sorts rule the skies. The most cunning and skilled of these pilots is Porco Rosso, a man cursed with the head of a pig after watching the spirits of the pilots rise to the heavens after they were killed in the last air battle he fought in. He now makes a living taking jobs, such as rescuing those kidnapped by air pirates.

Donald Curtis, Porco’s rival in the air and in catching the affections of women, provides a constant challenge to the hero, culminating in a hilarious, action packed finale.

The Twilight Samurai (Tasogare Seibei)

SBS, Thursday 26 June (late Wed night) from 12:20am, subtitled

The Twilight Samurai is a 2002 Japanese film directed by Yoji Yamada. Set in mid-19th century Japan, a few years before the Meiji Restoration, it follows the life of Seibei Iguchi, a low-ranking samurai employed as a bureaucrat. Poor, but not destitute, he still manages to lead a content and happy life with his daughters and senile mother. Sadly, through an unfortunate turn of events, the turbulent times conspire against him.

The film is different from many other samurai-themed films in that it concentrates on showing the main character’s everyday struggles, instead of focusing on action-oriented battles. Thus, the film carries only two fight scenes.

The Twilight Samurai was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film at the 76th Academy Awards, losing to the Canadian film Les Invasions Barbares. Twilight Samurai also won an unprecedented 12 Japanese Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, and Best Screenplay.

Japanese Movies: 16 June 08 - Casshern

On Monday night, SBS shows Casshern, which has an awesome storyline that gets in just about everything we love about Japanese film:

In a futuristic world, the Great Asian Federation takes control over the entire Eurasia continent after a 50-year war which has left the world extremely polluted, causing diseases with no cure. Geneticist Azuma is trying to developing a “neo-cell” that rejuvenates damaged human parts. The research receives a backing from powerful but aging military leaders, while Azuma is only interested in saving his ailing pacifist wife, Midori. Their nationalistic son Tetsuya is killed in the ethnocentric government’s military action against rebels. Lightning strikes Azuma’s human tissue tank and somehow produces a new race of mutants.

Excellent! Paul Ross of News of the World, whatever that is, called it “better than both Matrix sequels put together”. With subtitles (although if you check out Wikipedia, apparently the official subtitles are pretty average – let’s hope SBS does better!)

Casshern

When: Monday June 16 from 11:50pm
Where: SBS

Japanese TV: Wed June 4 2008 - Ring 0

This week our old friend SBS serves up Japanese horror. Ring 0: Birthday stars Yukie Nakama of Gokusen fame and the face plastered across all sorts of billboards in Japan.

The third installment in the Ring film trilogy, this prequel reveals how the evil spirit Sadako got into the well thirty years prior to causing the deaths in the other films of the series.

This film provides the background story of how Sadako later became the vengeful, murdering spirit. It begins with Sadako as a shy, withdrawn university student, who becomes involved with a drama club. Journalist Miyaji investigates Sadako’s spiritualist mother, Shizuko, and arrives on campus to confront Sadako just when a series of mysterious deaths sweep through the drama club.

Sounds like fun.

Ring 0: Birthday

When: SBS from 12:25 am Thursday June 5 2008 (i.e. late Wednesday night)