# What is your favorite Japanese movie?



## The Red Skull (Jun 19, 2012)

I personally loved VERSUS it was while being a little goofy and odd all out awesome I mean the fight scenes were fantastic and really fun to watch. There was also a good twist and amazing comedy.


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## James Bond (Jun 19, 2012)

Quite liked Ichi the Killer but probrally need to be Ju-on The Grudge, that movied redefined horror for me when I saw it years ago.


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## raizen28 (Jun 19, 2012)

[YOUTUBE]22m0HlRcRFI[/YOUTUBE]


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## Stunna (Jun 19, 2012)

Is this both live action and animated? I'm no aficionado, but my favorite live action one is 'Old Boy', and animated, 'Paprika'.


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## James Bond (Jun 19, 2012)

raizen28 said:


> [YOUTUBE]22m0HlRcRFI[/YOUTUBE]



Jesus christ at that dentist drill scene *shudders*


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## dream (Jun 19, 2012)

Stunna said:


> Is this both live action and animated? I'm no aficionado, but my favorite live action one is 'Old Boy', and animated, 'Paprika'.



Old Boy is Korean if you are talking about the one where the guy is kidnapped for years at the start of the movie.

My favorite Japanese movie is probably Akira.


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## Comic Book Guy (Jun 19, 2012)

The anime adaptation of _Ghost in the Shell_.



Stunna said:


> Is this both live action and animated? I'm no aficionado, but my favorite live action one is '*Old Boy*', and animated, 'Paprika'.



_Oldboy _is Korean.


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## Stunna (Jun 19, 2012)

You guys are right, my bad.


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## Amuro (Jun 19, 2012)

Casshern or Yojimbo for live-action. Patlabor 2 or Jin-Roh for anime.


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## Stunna (Jun 19, 2012)

My answer for live-action is 'Rashomon'.


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## raizen28 (Jun 19, 2012)

James Bond said:


> Jesus christ at that dentist drill scene *shudders*


Yeah what a Pleasant scene. Gotta watch OutRage 2 now haha


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## Spica (Jun 19, 2012)

Kamikaze Girls, freaking best feel good girl power movie ever.

[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cbFEPS8PPic[/YOUTUBE]


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## Zen-aku (Jun 19, 2012)

*Sukiyaki Western Django*[YOUTUBE]XsCBToEUm_g[/YOUTUBE]


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## MartialHorror (Jun 19, 2012)

Casshern? Sukiyaki Western Django? Seriously?

The first has a spectacular finale, but I thought the opening half was weak, corny and convoluted. SWD isn't bad, but I consider it to be one of Miike's lesser efforts. To each his own I guess...

As for me-

Rashomon: The ending made me cry when I first saw it, which was only a few years ago. 

Every Godzilla movie except the ones I didn't grow up with.

Most Zatoichi movies. 

Black Belt: The best karate themed martial arts movie I've ever seen.

Imprint: This isn't Miike's best movie, but it freaks me the fuck out. 

Kiru (Kill!): Samurai movie that was probably loosely ripping off "Yojimbo". As great as "Yojimbo" is, I personally prefer this one. Tatsuya Nakadai is fucking awesome and it's nice to see him do something other than glare evilly and speak solemnly (like in...gasp, Yojimbo!)

Obviously this is a list that just popped into my head. I'd likely change my mind if I think of more.


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## Stunna (Jun 19, 2012)

Rashomon did have a sweet ending.


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## MartialHorror (Jun 19, 2012)

Oh yeah, "Versus" is enjoyable but kind of overrated. Mainly because I didn't like its length and how....Highlanderish it got near the end. I personally prefer "Death Trance", which has that same actor more-or-less playing the same role. 

Trying to think of a better Ryuhei Kitamura movie though and nothing comes to mind. I liked "Azumi", "Sky High" (No, not THAT Sky High!) and "Midnight Meat Train", but I wouldn't say they are better than "Versus".


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## Zen-aku (Jun 19, 2012)

MartialHorror said:


> Oh yeah, "Versus" is enjoyable but kind of overrated. Mainly because I didn't like its length and how....Highlanderish it got near the end. I personally prefer "Death Trance", which has that same actor more-or-less playing the same role.



I looove Death Trance.


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## MajorThor (Jun 19, 2012)

Battle Royale!


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## gumby2ms (Jun 19, 2012)

lol didn't know thy made a movie outta sky high. should look it up. i liked ichi the killer. not sure how some of the rest of these stack. find korean and chinese to be more interesting usually. (Chinese rip off western stuff and koreans actually are heavily western influenced compared to japan)


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## Detective (Jun 19, 2012)

Seven Samurai.


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## Parallax (Jun 20, 2012)

I have a hard time with this one

probably Ikiru or The Human Condition.  I also really like High and Low and Harakiri is my favorite Jidaigeki film.


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## Grape (Jun 20, 2012)

@OP, easily the best Japanese film imo is "_Fukkatsu no Fusion!! Goku to Vegeta"._ This classic is the twelfth film out of the 13 spectacular "Dragonball Z" films. Second to last, but always number one in my heart.

Though it is not a foreign film because everyone has seen it.


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## The Red Skull (Jun 20, 2012)

Detective said:


> Seven Samurai.
> 
> [/QUOTAniE]
> 
> Anime doesn't count live action only.


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## Zen-aku (Jun 20, 2012)

The Red Skull said:


> Detective said:
> 
> 
> > Seven Samurai.
> ...


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## Detective (Jun 20, 2012)

The Red Skull said:


> Anime doesn't count live action only.



This is my first time responding to a post of yours, but I must warn you that you will never be able to redeem yourself in this section for such a blasphemy, my friend.


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## Gain (inactive) (Jun 20, 2012)

_Fall Guy_
_Shall We Dance?_


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## James Bond (Jun 20, 2012)

Grape Krush said:


> Though it is not a foreign film because everyone has seen it.



Who came up with this? The movies still a foreign film, just because a lot of people have seen it dosent mean it isnt. A lot of people think Justin Biebers a girl but that dosent make it so.


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## Pocket4Miracles (Jun 21, 2012)

I saw House in TCM about four days ago. OMG. Everyone needs to see it. It is a Japanese Horror film (1978). 

So scary and weird at the same time. I won't tell it if you see it on Youtube. So awesome if the film was re made from a Western audience.


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## Dr. White (Jun 21, 2012)

Seven Samurai...


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## Don Draper (Jun 21, 2012)

Crows Zero or 13 assassins.


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## Uncle Acid (Jun 21, 2012)

That's a hard one. Way too many favourites to choose only one. It's hard to choose between movies such as Onibaba, The Happiness of the Katakuris, Kwaidan, Lady Snowblood, Sex & Fury, Wild Zero, Lone Wolf & Curb (first 4), Seven Samurai, Ran, The Sword of Doom and so fucking on. But I guess I'd go for either Onibaba or Kwaidan as of today.

Onibaba is a pretty straight forward film to be honest, but it seriously has one of the, if not _the_ best endig of all time as far as horror goes, or just movies in general when thinking about it. I'm a huge horror movie fan, and this one is easily up there in top-3. I'm unable to find a single flaw in this movie. Great story, looks amazing and it managed to creep me the fuck out. Amazing!

Only a few movies have made me feel the way I did when I watched Onibaba, but Kwaidan is one of those that did so. Four seperate stories, each amazing. The visual style is like nothing I've seen before and the stories are cold, and leaves you tense due to slow buildups of tension and on quiet suspense. I'm unable to find a single flaw in this movie. Great story, looks amazing and it managed to creep me the fuck out. Amazing!

These are old movies and they rely on atmosphere and feeling rather than cheap, shitty "unexpected" scenes that are made to make you jump now and then. Horror at its best, easy as that.


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## Ruby Moon (Jun 21, 2012)

I love Shall we Dance? and Millennium Actress.


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## Jeff (Jun 21, 2012)

Although I am widely panned by my friends and family for liking this movie, my all time favorite Japanese movie has to be *Suicide Club (自殺サークル)*.  Sure it is pretty grotesque and I don't know any of my friends who have watched it in its entirety, but it is an excellent satire on Japanese society and addresses countless of issues such as the idol-craze, suicide in Japanese culture, the disconnection of people within society in regards to their families and loved ones, etc.  The suicides in the movie are overdone to make it seem more of an "artwork" than an emotional "omg, did they just do that shit?".

I haven't watched Noriko's Dinner Table but I will once I find it online.


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## Samavarti (Jun 21, 2012)

Harakiri and Ikiru.


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## MartialHorror (Jun 21, 2012)

Pocket4Miracles said:


> I saw House in TCM about four days ago. OMG. Everyone needs to see it. It is a Japanese Horror film (1978).
> 
> So scary and weird at the same time. I won't tell it if you see it on Youtube. So awesome if the film was re made from a Western audience.



I have it recorded but have yet to actually watch it.

Lol, "Wild Zero" is pretty awesome. How do you kill hostile aliens and hordes of flesh eating zombies? WITH THE POWER OF ROCK N ROLL!

Im not big on "Kwaidan". It's a stunningly well made picture, but it's just too slow for me. I'll stick with real samurai-horror like.....er......"Samurai Reincarnation"? No, that was mediocre. "Izo"? No, in fact that was just as slow and 100x nonsensical. Um.......the first 5 minutes of "Versus"? 

Man, we need more samurai horror!


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## Uncle Acid (Jun 21, 2012)

MartialHorror said:


> Im not big on "Kwaidan". It's a stunningly well made picture, but it's just too slow for me.



Did you see the original uncut one? Or the american one which is cut, and is about an hour shorter than the original one? Or any of the others?



MartialHorror said:


> Man, we need more samurai horror!



This, so fucking much!

Have you seen Onibaba, by the way?


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## Yasha (Jun 21, 2012)

*Drama genre *
Tokyo Tower: Mom and Me, and Sometimes Dad
After Life
Nobody Knows
Ikiru
Still Walking
Heavenly Forest 
Moteki

*Thriller genre*
Cold Fish
Audition

*Manga-based Live Action*
NANA
20th Century Boys 1 & 2
Solanin

*Animation*
Princess Mononoke
My Neighbour Totoro
Spirited Away
Perfect Blue
Grave of the Fireflies
Ghost in the Shell

*Samurai flicks*
The Hidden Blade 
The Twilight Samurai
Love and Honor
Yojimbo

*Oddball films*
Survive Style 5+
Suicide Club
Love Exposure

*Others*
Swallowtail Butterfly
Kisaragi
Confession
Crows Zero
Air Doll
Akunin

I'm sure I miss out a bunch of others.




Jeff said:


> I haven't watched Noriko's Dinner Table but I will once I find it online.



The 2 films are only very loosely related. Noriko's Dinner Table didn't offer any answers as it promised.


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## Ennoea (Jun 22, 2012)

Between Tokyo Story, Ikiru and Rashomon for me.


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## Yasha (Jun 22, 2012)

People need to see more Japanese movies that are not animation, Kurosawa's or J-horror. There are lots of gems to be found if you care to dig.


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## Parallax (Jun 22, 2012)

It's not Kurosawa's fault that he's made some of the all time best.

That being said The Human Condition is severely underrated here


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## Rukia (Jun 22, 2012)

The Red Skull said:


> Detective said:
> 
> 
> > Seven Samurai.
> ...


I'm confused.


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## Yasha (Jun 22, 2012)

Parallax said:


> It's not Kurosawa's fault that he's made some of the all time best.
> 
> That being said The Human Condition is severely underrated here



That's because a lot of people know almost nothing about new Japanese movies other than Miyazaki and J-Horror.


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## Uncle Acid (Jun 22, 2012)

People should watch more old stuff from the 70's and older.


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## Stringer (Jun 22, 2012)

*Live-action:*
? The Twilight Samurai
? Yojimbo
? Sanjuro
? Rashomon
? Seven Samurai

*Animation:*
? Princess Monoke
? Paprika
? Akira
? Millenium Actress


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## Cromer (Jun 23, 2012)

Yasha said:


> *Drama genre *
> Tokyo Tower: Mom and Me, and Sometimes Dad
> After Life
> Nobody Knows
> ...



I'd never heard of most of these films; thanks for the list.


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## Tranquil Fury (Jun 23, 2012)

OP should specify no anime in his first post, most people would list anime movies unless they've made it to page 2.
Zatoichi(2003 one)
Godzilla vs Destroyah

Have to watch some of these other movies, Crows was already on my to watch list.


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## Ennoea (Jun 23, 2012)

Yasha none of the new films even compare to stuff like Human Condition though.


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## Uncle Acid (Jun 23, 2012)

Tranquil Fury said:


> Zatoichi(2003 one)



Do you really prefer this to a lot of the original series of films, or have you just not seen the original film-series? I haven't seen all of the 26 movies in the original series of films, but the first 11 are in a whole different league than Takeshi Kitano's Zatoichi, a movie which I am very fond of. I love Beat Takeshi and everything, but he just can't compare to Shintar? Katsu, the original Zatoichi. Shintar? Katsu was amazing in his roles as Zatochi, and it is as if he was born just to play Zatoichi. Nothing but perfect!

And I saw Beat Takeshi's many years before I started on the original series of films, by the way. And as I said, I really like Beat Takeshi's Zatoichi too.


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## Tranquil Fury (Jun 23, 2012)

I have'nt seen the originals but I'll give them a try if they really blow the 2003 one. They must really be amazing to do that.


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## emilbus (Jun 23, 2012)

Pocket4Miracles said:


> I saw House in TCM about four days ago. OMG. Everyone needs to see it. It is a Japanese Horror film (1978).
> 
> So scary and weird at the same time. I won't tell it if you see it on Youtube. So awesome if the film was re made from a Western audience.



My favorites are Hausu(house) and Audition. Ichi the killer too. Everyone should check out House and Audition.

forgot The shogun's assasin

House is definitely best


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## Utz (Jun 24, 2012)

Really enjoyed _Joze to tora to sakanatachi_.

Also, _Sayonara Itsuka_ is pretty decent. Kind of long, though.


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## 666firebird7 (Jun 24, 2012)

The Deathnote movies.


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## Uncle Acid (Jun 24, 2012)

Tranquil Fury said:


> I have'nt seen the originals but I'll give them a try if they really blow the 2003 one. They must really be amazing to do that.



Yes, you should, unless you dislike old movies in general. I honestly can't find a single down about any of the elleven first movies. Just amazing!


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## Goobtachi (Jun 24, 2012)

Crows Zero...


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## TasteTheDifference (Jun 25, 2012)

In the Realm of the Senses


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## Pocket4Miracles (Jun 28, 2012)

MartialHorror said:


> I have it recorded but have yet to actually watch it.
> 
> Lol, "Wild Zero" is pretty awesome. How do you kill hostile aliens and hordes of flesh eating zombies? WITH THE POWER OF ROCK N ROLL!
> 
> ...



Meet the Pyro

this is a trailer of House. scary stuff


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## Descent of the Lion (Jun 29, 2012)

Because of my lack of money my Japanese movie experience is limited, but out of the ones I've seen, I like Rashomon the most.


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## Kanali (Jun 29, 2012)

I've only watched a few but I very much enjoyed Battle Royale.


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## keiiya (Jun 30, 2012)

There are so many: Yojimbo, Ichi the Killer, The Twilight Samurai, Seven Samura, Battle Royale, Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke, Akira.

Has anyone seen Tetsuo the Iron Man? A serious WTF film. When they go over the line, they REALLY go over the line.



			
				MartialHorror said:
			
		

> Man, we need more samurai horror!


Yes yes yes!


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## Jeff (Jun 30, 2012)

Forgot to put _Hotaru no Haka_ (Grave of the Fireflies) last time.

What a fucking sad and touching movie.  I think I cried for a majority of the movie, it got me in a place where few movies live or animation-wise can get me.  What a frickin unbelievably sad movie, but honestly one of my all time favorites just for the emotional value of watching it.

Kind of half-assed read this thread but did anyone in particular like Akira?  I'm interested in hearing your opinion on it.


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## The Red Skull (Jun 30, 2012)

There was also the Death Note movies.


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## Yasha (Jun 30, 2012)

Death Note live-action was horrible. Didn't do the manga justice at all.


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## Parallax (Jun 30, 2012)

Not like the manga was really that great overall if you really think about it.


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## Uncle Acid (Jun 30, 2012)

Yasha said:


> Death Note live-action was horrible. Didn't do the manga justice at all.



This so much.


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## Kazeshini (Jun 30, 2012)

Death Note live action was so freakin bad.


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## アストロ (Jun 30, 2012)

*1 liter of tears*. Also a TV drama. Sure it does take a lot of opportunities to bring about a melodramatic feel to the entire story / plot - but I think they pulled it off pretty well.


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## Wolfpack (Jun 30, 2012)

Definitely Battle Royale. It never gets old.


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