Eireitachi no oenka: saigo no sôkeisen

Another hyper-obscure Japanese film with next to no internet presence whatsoever, The Last Game sees acclaimed Director Kihachi Okamoto trying his hand at a combination of a bleak war story & sentimental baseball sports film. A showcase for the difficulties Japanese baseball players had when drafted out of their universities & sent into the Pacific War, with the characters surreptitiously attempting to keep up their baseball skills, for the day when they would no longer be looked at as traitors for loving a sport from America. It's directed with all of Okamoto's usual panache and darkly cynical humour, one of the prime examples being when our characters are caught playing the game they loved, they convince their commander they were practising throwing grenades as opposed to simply throwing a baseball around. Moments like this litter the film's runtime, making for a surprisingly upbeat film despite the subject matter and one I would highly recommend seeking out if you ever get the chance; it desperately needs a proper release somewhere.