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Alice in Borderland Season 3 is about to be released, but that hasn’t kept fans from making speculations and theories. While there are several brilliant theories, one about the mental hospital might not be canon, but it’s even better than that. As a fan on Reddit recently pointed out, Borderland might actually be Arisu’s elaborate fantasy born from trauma.

The idea is that Arisu never really enters Borderland. Instead, he’s unconscious in a hospital, and the games serve as his mind’s therapeutic escape. This mental hospital theory resonates because it treats Alice in Borderland as a story about grief, but there is no way to know if any of the events are real, keeping fans coming back for more.

Alice in Borderland Mental Hospital Theory Works Emotionally Mira cunningly manipulates Arisu | Credits: Netflix

The literal ending of Season 2 reveals that Arisu and others experienced a meteor strike at Shibuya Crossing,...

It comes as no shock that Netflix has been killing it in the TV adaptation section; some believed it was One Piece that changed the notion. However, the real ones know that Alice in Borderland is the underrated masterpiece that is creeping its way to everyone’s watchlist. With a dystopian plot and a complex plot delving into the moral depth of characters, many believe it is better than Squid Game, and for all the right reasons.

Amidst the need to survive and waiting for ages for Season 3, it found some interesting conspiracy theories from the fans, which revolved around the plot and the characters. However, one fan took it too far, sharing their views on how Ginji Kyuma and Keiichi Kuzuryū might be secretly gay.

Alice in Borderland Theory: Keiichi Kuzuryū Had a Crush on Ginji Kyuma

Over the two seasons of Netflix’s Alice in Borderland, the show...

Netflix's Squid Game replacement, Alice in Borderland, is all set to return with its third installment, which finally has a trailer and a confirmed release date. Alice in Borderland premiered on Netflix in December 2020, almost a year before Squid Game, but failed to match the hit Korean show's success.

However, it seemingly benefited from Squid Game's success and garnered a new wave of attention because of its similar portrayal of white-knuckling survival games. Like Squid Game, Alice in Borderland will end its run with season 3, which, as its trailer reveals, will release on Netflix on September 25, 2025.

Although the trailer maintains an air of ambiguity surrounding many story details of the final season, it confirms Arisu and Usagi's returns and even hints the two characters will be married in the new installment. Things, however, will suddenly take a grim turn for Arisu (Kento Yamazaki) when Usagi (Tao Tsuchiya...

Queda una carta: el Joker. © Netflix

No nos quedaremos sin juegos mortales después del final de El juego del calamar, porque Netflix ha publicado el primer tráiler y un nuevo póster de la tercera temporada de Alice in Borderland, que se estrenará muy pronto.

Alice in Borderland es una de las series internacionales más populares de Netflix. Recordemos que en esta adaptación, basada en el manga homónimo de Hara Aso, un aficionado a los videojuegos y sus dos amigos atrapados en un Tokio distorsionado se ven obligados a competir en sádicos juegos para sobrevivir. Al final de la segunda temporada, Arisu y Usagi lograban regresar al mundo real tras completar todos los juegos de cartas, y todo parecía haber acabado hasta la aparición de la carta joker. Dicha carta fue la que dejó la puerta abierta a una posible nueva temporada a pesar de que el gigante de streaming diese...

Netflix has finally revealed its hand when it comes to Alice in BorderlandSeason 3. The streamer has confirmed when the next installment of the hit Japanese thriller series will make its long-awaited debut, while also dropping a chilling new teaser trailer to give fans a first look at all the action that is to come. The show returns nearly three years after the critically acclaimed second season, which ended on a cliffhanger as the mysterious Joker card was pulled out in the final episode, suggesting a darker chapter ahead for Arisu and Usagi.

The games that took the world by storm are set to resume on Sept. 25, as the third season of the thrilling series adapted from Haro Aso's popular manga comic premieres on Netflix. Once again directed by Shinsuke Sato, the new season reunites lead stars Kento Yamazaki and Tao Tsuchiya, who reprise their roles as Arisu and Usagi.

Netflix has officially confirmed that Alice in Borderland is back with a third season, and they’ve just dropped the first teaser. The new episodes will continue the intense story based on Haro Aso’s manga, and the show is set to return on September 25.

The story picks up with Arisu and Usagi, who are now married and living a quiet life. But their peace doesn’t last long.

Strange dreams and visions start haunting them, reminding them of the dangerous world they thought they left behind. Then, Usagi suddenly vanishes. She’s led back to the Borderland by a man named Ryuji, who studies the afterlife.

Arisu is devastated and doesn’t know where to turn. That’s when Banda, still in the Borderland, shows up and tells him what happened to Usagi. With no other choice, Arisu decides to go back into the game-like world to find her and bring her back.

The hit Japanese thriller “Alice in Borderland” is coming back for a third season, and Netflix has just dropped its first teaser for the new episodes. Fans can expect another wild ride back into the dangerous world of the Borderland. Netflix also revealed that the season will premiere on Sept. 25.

This new season continues the story from Haro Aso’s manga and brings back the same intense, mysterious atmosphere that made the first two seasons so popular.

The show’s director, Shinsuke Sato, is back, along with lead actors Kento Yamazaki and Tao Tsuchiya, who return as Arisu and Usagi. In the story, they’re now married and trying to live a peaceful life. But even though they escaped the Borderland, it’s not done with them yet.

Netflix shared an official description of the new season, saying that Arisu and Usagi are haunted by dreams and strange visions. Then...

Netflix has shared a first look at Alice in Borderland Season 3, which is set for a worldwide release on the streaming service on Thursday, September 25, 2025.

The survival action series became the most-watched Japanese Netflix title by worldwide audiences. Now, the “games” that took the world by storm begin once again.

In the series, after Usagi (Tao Tsuchiya) is abducted and left unconscious by a mysterious scholar obsessed with the afterlife, Alice returns to the perilous “Borderland” to save her. Teaming up with new players, they must face the yet-unseen “Joker” stage in a desperate bid to find a way back to their original world.

In the previous season, Arisu (Kento Yamazaki) and Usagi cleared all of the games and returned to the real world. They have since gotten married and established a happy life together.

Their memories of the borderland were erased, but they see glimpses of it in dreams and hallucinations.

Netflix is heading back to the Borderland. The streamer revealed Tuesday that it has set a Sept. 25 launch for the third season of the Japanese live-action hit Alice in Borderland, while also unveiling the first teaser trailer, giving fans a glimpse at the high-stakes survival drama’s next twisted round.

Directed once again by Shinsuke Sato and based on Haro Aso’s cult manga of the same name, the new season continues the story of Arisu and Usagi as they’re drawn back into the perilous limbo world known as the Borderland — a twisted realm that blurs the boundaries between life and death. The show has become one of Netflix’s top-performing Japanese originals, with season two debuting at No. 1 on the streamer’s Global Top 10 list for non-English-language TV upon launch in 2022.

Returning stars Kento Yamazaki and Tao Tsuchiya reprise their roles as Arisu and Usagi, now living a...

Netflix has set September 25 for the Season 3 premiere of Alice in Borderland, the live-action Japanese thriller series based on Haro Aso’s manga series of the same name. The streamer also dropped the first teaser trailer for the upcoming season which you can view above.

Alice In Borderland revolves around a group of people who are transported to a parallel universe in which they have to play and win games to remain alive. Following its second season debut in December 2022, the series became Netflix Japan’s most-watched title, even beating anime content, and reached the Top 10 in more than 90 countries.

In Season 3, after Usagi (Tao Tsuchiya) is abducted and left unconscious by a mysterious scholar obsessed with the afterlife, Alice (Kento Yamazaki) returns to the perilous “Borderland” to save her. Teaming up with new players, they must face the yet-unseen “Joker” stage in a desperate bid to find a way back to their original world.

Alice in Borderland is back!

The survival action series returns to Netflix with its third season later this year, after it became the most watched Japanese Netflix title by worldwide audiences.

Now, the “games” that took the world by storm begin once again.

Here’s a plot summary: “In the previous season, Arisu (Kento Yamazaki) and Usagi (Tao Tsuchiya) cleared all of the games and returned to the real world. They have since gotten married and established a happy life together. Their memories of the borderland were erased, but they see glimpses of it in dreams and hallucinations. One day, Usagi, led by afterlife researcher Ryuji (Kento Kaku), suddenly vanishes. At the same time as Usagi’s disappearance, Banda (Hayato Isomura) hands Arisu the final card: the Joker. The uncharted journey led by the mysterious Joker card is about to unfold…”

Keep reading to find out more…

Season 3 of the...

Does perception define existence? Curiously, two of the best thriller/crime dramas recently seen on TV and streaming are built around two similar metaphors that explore this very concept. The first is the South Korean drama “Frog”, which opens with the old adage, “If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?”, a provocative question that recurs throughout the unfolding of its mysterious plot. The second is the Japanese drama “Who Saw the Peacock Dance in the Jungle?”, whose rhetorical question is also the title itself. Both dramas draw on the idea of unnoticed or hidden events, a theme that naturally fits the crime and mystery genre.

An adaptation of Asami Rito’s manga of the same name, “Who Saw the Peacock Dance in the Jungle?” was written by Kanazawa Tomoki and directed by Kenta Tanaka, Takahiro Aoyama, Ryosuke Fukuda,...

Alice in Borderland is coming back for season 3 this year! Netflix Japan just confirmed the release of the upcoming season and shared the first teaser and poster in February 2025.

On Twitter, Netflix confirmed that Alice in Borderland season 3 will arrive in September 2025. The streamer did not share the release date for season 3 yet, but that's pretty normal for this kind of thing. We're still so far from the actual release date.

You’re not ready for the final game.

Alice In Borderland Season 3...

Netflix has revealed its 2025 slate of Japanese films and television series, with the streamer offering a rich mix of period series, action films and intriguing unscripted offerings.

The standout highlight from the lineup, and a potential breakout global hit, is the period series Last Samurai Standing. The series hails from filmmakers Michihito Fujii, Kento Yamaguchi and Toru Yamamoto and could appeal to fans of both FX’s Shogun and Netflix’s Squid Game with its survivalist premise and period setting. Junichi Okada leads the cast in this story that takes place at the tail end of the samurai era in Japan and is about 292 warriors who are invited to compete to the death for a cash prize. Last Samurai Standing is an adaptation of Shogo Imamura’s novel Ikusagami, which has already been adapted into a popular manga series.

‘Last Man Standing’

Hirokazu Koreeda’s Asura is among the streamer...

Netflix has unveiled its Japanese content slate for 2025, headlined by “Last Samurai Standing,” a period drama featuring 300 samurai warriors gathered at Tenryuji Temple in Kyoto, lured by the promise of a 100 billion yen prize. The series stars Junichi Okada, who serves as lead actor, producer and action choreographer.

“When most people think about samurai, they think about this very glamorous period in Japanese history,” says Netflix Japan content head Kaata Sakamoto. “But what a lot of people don’t realize is that, towards the end of the Edo period, the samurai lost a lot of their glamour and their power. ‘Last Samurai Standing’ is about what would happen if these warriors — the toughest and best in Japan — all of a sudden became common people and had to fight for their lives. Think ‘Shōgun’ meets ‘Squid Game.'”

The streaming giant’s lineup includes “Alice in Borderland” returning for its third season in September,...

The UK’s biggest festival of Japanese cinema, the Japan Foundation Touring Film Programme (JFTFP25), is back for its latest entertaining and thought-provoking instalment, presenting a packed programme on the theme of ‘Justice, Justification and Judgement in Japanese Cinema’.

In a world where injustice runs rampant, cinematic expressions of justice seem inexhaustible: time and time again, heroic protagonists fend off malicious antagonists or enact their revenge, with the constant injustices they face mirroring those of audiences. Japanese film is no exception to this, and the JFTFP25 promises to showcase how Japanese filmmakers use the language of cinema to explore the concepts of criminal, social and moral justice, along with the ways people respond to external judgement. Featuring everything from thought-provoking hidden gems, powerful true-life tales, women-led stories, anarchic comedies, and unearthed retrospective titles, UK audiences are invited to join the festival in questioning the very concepts of justice, justification and...

There have been so many engrossing dark TV series that took viewers on mind-bending journeys and truly played with their heads. While modern television has embraced much darker and more sinister stories in recent decades, it takes a truly great show to bury underneath the surface of a series narrative and deliver philosophically rich stories that strike a chord for their deep, probing themes that leave a mark on viewers consciousness well after the credits have rolled. A thought-provoking series that can play with viewers' expectations often marks the difference between a simply good show and a truly great one.

Many of the best TV shows of all time were dark in nature and did not underestimate viewers' intelligence with deeply complex and intricate narratives. Highly influential series like Twin Peaks laid the groundwork for television to embrace more challenging and experimental stories. At the same time, creators worldwide, such...

Within Japanese literature, the significance of writer Kyokutei Bakin cannot be underestimated. His epic novel “Nanso Satomi Hakkenden” remains an influential piece of work to this day, having inspired JRPGs as well as “Dragon Ball Z”, just to name some modern examples. Among the countless adaptations, director Fumihiko Sori‘s “Hakkenden: Fiction and Reality” is the latest feature based on the novel, but this time it does not just tell the story of the eight dog warriors, since it also focuses on its origin, namely how Bakin wrote the novel over the course of 28 years. This is quite a change for the director who adapted “Fullmetal Alchemist” and quite an interesting extension of the original narrative as you also get to know the background to “Nanso Satimo Hakkenden” as well as how the writer may have struggled with a story that was just as much about his personal conflicts as...

Some of the most effective and engaging TV shows in recent years were also so gore-filled that audiences often had to look away in pure terror and disgust. From thrilling sci-fi dystopias to intense psychological horrors, just because a series was packed with gore, murder, and violence did not stop it from being truly great. In many cases, the excessively gruesome nature of these shows added to their appeal as they pushed the limits of what could be depicted and accepted in mainstream television.

Plenty of the most gruesomely violent TV shows were filled with gory sequences and sinister characters who committed heinous acts. From intense games that saw characters' lives on the line to sinister antiheroes who killed for the sheer thrill of it, in recent years, television has caught up with horror movies to make series that were equal to or even exceeded the most gore-filled cinematic spectacles.

Ayato (Hayato Isomura) is busy paying off his late father's debts, and also has to care for his mother Asami (Reika Kirishima), who suffers from an incurable disease. He works at a construction site during the day and at the karaoke bar opened by his parents at night. His younger brother Sohei (Shodai Fukuyama), who lives with him, also takes on the same responsibilities while aspiring to be a mixed martial arts fighter following in their father's footsteps. Even though he is living a life that is by no means rich, Ayato dreams of a happy future with his girlfriend, Hinata (Yukino Kishii). But one fateful night, their daily lives are completely changed by an unexpected event.

Scheduled for theatrical release in Japan on October 11, 2024.

Vincenzo’s Ok Taec-yeon Finds His Soul Mate in New Netflix Series - Main Image

Korean pop star Ok Taec-yeon marks his Netflix comeback in Soul Mate, set to premiere sometime next year.

Also starring Japanese actor Hayato Isomura, the live-action series set in Berlin, Seoul, and Tokyo highlights the decade-long relationship between Ryu Narutaki and Johan Hwang, who find solace and safety in each other's company while in a foreign land.

“We arrived at the ultimate destiny story, where people from different cultures and backgrounds meet in a foreign land, and their lives intersect,” says executive producer Dai Ota.

Starting his career as a member of the Korean boy group 2Pm, Taecyeon gained widespread recognition as an actor after his powerful portrayal of the villain Jang Joon-Woo in Netflix’s Vincenzo. Soul Mate will be his first boys-love (Bl) drama.

“Because there were so many types of characters and...

A decade-long love story of two young men is the subject of Netflix’s latest Asian series, Soul Mate.

The drama stars Japanese actor Hayato Isomura and Korean singer-actor Ok Taec-yeon from boyband 2Pm, and will follow their enduring relationship despite the distance. It begins when Rye Narutaki (Isomura), who left everything in Japan, is saved by a boxer named Johan Hwang (Ok) in a foreign land.

Filming has taken place in Berlin, Seoul and Tokyo, with Shunki Hashizume the writer and director. The series was developed following a conversation between Hashizume and executive producer Dai Ota.

“We arrived at the ultimate destiny story, where people from different cultures and backgrounds meet in a foreign land and their lives intersect,” said Ota. “The story, filled with life’s joys and pains, combined with the exceptional performances from Isomura and Taec-yeon, will warm the hearts of viewers.

Expanding its Japanese content, Netflix has set up “Soul Mate,” a live-action series that charts the ten-year romance between a Korean man and a Japanese man.

Traversing Berlin, Germany, Seoul, South Korea and Tokyo, Japan, “Soul Mate” starts when a man who left everything behind in Japan (portrayed by Isomura Hayato), is saved by a boxer named Johan (portrayed by Ok Taec-yeon) in a foreign land. The narrative goes on to explore the “profound journey of souls connecting and enduring over the years despite the distance.”

The project greenlight follows details of Netflix’s first Japanese same-sex rating reality show “The Boyfriend,” which will go to air from next month.

“This series is a heartfelt depiction of love and its complexities, including joy, pain and unexplainable deep bonds,” said the streamer.

It is written and directed by up-and-coming creator Hashizume Shunki. The idea for the series began with a conversation...

Winner of Awards for Best Director and the Audience one in Tokyo this year, “(Ab)normal Desire” is a film that stays true to its title, as Yoshiyuki Kishi tries to present fetishes and the people who carry them as a normal part of society, even if society does not.

(Ab)normal Desire is screening at Toronto Japanese Film Festival

Based on the novel Seiyoku by Ryo Asai, the script follows the lives of a number of characters. Hiroki Terai is a prosecutor at the Yokohama Prosecutor's Office. He is married to Yumi and has a son who goes to elementary school, but has troubles adapting to school life. When he watches a video of a YouTuber influencer girl his age, who states how great she feels now that she is not attending school, he asks his father to do the same, but he turns him down without a second world,...

The Japan Academy Film Prize Association held the 47th edition of its awards ceremony on March 8, 2024. The nominees are selected by the Nippon Academy-Sho Association of industry professionals from the pool of film releases between January 1 and December 31, 2023 which must have screened in Tokyo cinemas.

Following its success at the recent Blue Ribbon Awards and leading with 12 nominations, Toho Studios' and Takashi Yamazaki's kaiju cinema masterpiece “Godzilla Minus One” takes top honours winning Picture of the Year and a slew of technical awards. Sakura Ando cements her place as one of Japan's top actresses securing both awards for Outstanding Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role (for “Monster”) as well as Supporting Role (for “Godzilla Minus One”).

The full list of winners is described below.

Picture of the Year

Monster

Godzilla Minus One

Mom, Is That You?!

September 1923

Perfect Days

Animation of the Year

Kitaro Tanjo – GeGeGe no...

The 66th edition of the Blue Ribbon Awards, presented by the Association of Tokyo Film Journalists, has announced its winners on January 24, 2024. The nominees are selected from movies released in 2023. The trifecta wins for “Godzilla Minus One” come as no surprise, sweeping the Best Film, Best Actor and Best Supporting Actress categories. Yuya Ishii picks up the Best Director award for both his movies “The Moon” and “Masked Hearts”.

Best Film

Masked Hearts

Ichiko

Egoist

Monster

The Dry Spell

Godzilla Minus One

Mom, Is That You?!

(Ab)normal Desire

The Moon

One Last Bloom

Perfect Days

Bad Lands

September 1923

Do Unto Others

As Long as We Both Shall Live

Best Director

Yuya Ishii – The Moon, Masked Hearts

Hirokazu Koreeda – Monster

Daishi Matsunaga – Egoist

Takashi Yamazaki – Godzilla Minus One

Yoji Yamada – Mom, Is That You?!

Best Actor

Goro Inagaki – (Ab)normal Desire

Ryunosuke Kamiki – Godzilla Minus One, We're Broke, My Lord!

A woman buries her anger deep under a lake of serenity only to discover that every small action or decision can set off a chain of reverberating ripples, in the latest movie from director Naoko Ogigami, aptly named “Ripples” (波紋 Hamon). Her trademark quirky comedy style and unique perspective are still here, but this time her narrative voice is a notch more dramatic.

Ripples is screening at Five Flavours

A prologue set in the aftermath of a fictional eco-disaster, introduces the Sudo family living in a tranquil suburban neighbourhood. Yoriko Sudo (Mariko Tsutsui) is a woman in her 50s, defined by her roles of wife of a salaryman, mother of a disaffected young man and reluctant carer of Osamu's bedridden – but well able to fondle her – father. Water is scarce, as probably contaminated after the earthquake, and bottled water has become a precious good. One ordinary day, Yoriko calls everybody...

Following decades in television and film, including stints as a producer, screenwriter and documentary filmmaker, Yoshiyuki Kishi made his feature directorial debut in 2016, aged 52, with Double Life, attracting some international festival attention.

He returned the following year with the ambitious Wilderness, based on the only novel by Shuji Terayama. Released in two parts a few weeks apart in Japan, with a combined running time of more than five hours, Wilderness portrayed two very different social outcasts on their journey to becoming professional boxers, against the backdrop of a socially disintegrating Japan. It landed Masaki Suda best actor at the Japan Academy Awards, and Korea’s Yang Ik-june best supporting actor at the Asian Film Awards.

Kishi’s latest, (Ab)normal Desire, is almost certainly his most challenging and complex work to date. Selected in competition at this year’s Tokyo International Film Festival and starring Yui Aragaki, Goro Inagaki,...

“The Quiet Yakuza,” is one of two late additions made by Japanese indie sales firm Free Stone Productions to its slate of films being pitched at Tiffcom, the film rights market attached to the Tokyo International Film Festival.

Directed by Yamaguchi Kento, the two-part-film is adapted from the highly popular manga “Shizukanaru Don – Yakuza Side Story” by Nitta Tatsuo, which runs to 108 volumes and has sold nearly 50 million copies.

It sees Ito Kentaro as Shizuya, the only son of the Shinsen Group, the largest yakuza group in Kanto,. However, Shizuya has zero interest in the yakuza and wants to be a regular civilian. He is perfectly happy working at a design company, living a simple, puritan life and lusting after his colleague Akino. His ordinary life is threatened by a crisis within the Shinsen Group.

The two films were released one week apart in May. Despite both parts having been distributed in Japan,...

Key Asian territories have picked up the drama.

Japan’s Free Stone Productions has secured a brace of deals on Yuya Ishii’s The Moon, following its world premiere in competition at Busan International Film Festival this week.

The film has been acquired for distribution in Taiwan (SkyDigi) and Korea (Media Castle) during the Asian Contents & Film Market (Acfm), which runs parallel to the festival. It is set to be released in Japan by Star Sands on October 13.

The story follows a writer named Yoko who takes a job at a nursing home, where she witnesses elderly and disabled residents...

Yuya Ishii has been the mastermind behind a number of films we cherish particularly here in Asian Movie Pulse, with “The Great Passage” especially featuring frequently in some of our ‘best of’ lists. Recently, however, and particularly since “The Asian Angel”, Ishii seems to have lost some of his edge, which he apparently tries to find once more with “The Moon”, a rather ambitious project.

The Moon is screening at Busan International Film Festival

Yoko Dojima once wrote a novel about the 2011 Earthquake, which brought her fame and even a much younger and rather handsome husband, Shohei, who calls her maestra and is an animator. Currently, though, she has not been able to produce anything new, which is why, along with the financial issues the couple faces, she agrees on taking on a job as caretaker at a facility for the severely disabled, which is located deep in the forest.

A grief-stricken author attempts to reconnect with society by taking a job at a nursing home for the severely disabled in Yuya Ishii’s compelling drama The Moon, inspired by a real-life Japanese tragedy and adapted from the novel by Yo Hemmi. Rie Miyazawa (Pale Moon) is sensational in the lead role, but is surrounded by an equally impressive ensemble that includes Joe Odagiri (Adrift in Tokyo), Fumi Nikaido (Why Don't You Play in Hell?), and Hayato Isomura (Tokyo Revengers). Yoko (Miyazawa) and her husband Shohei (Odagiri) are battling to keep their marriage on course following the death of their infant son due to a congenital heart disease. Yoko previously found success as a writer, publishing a celebrated novel about the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake. Since...

[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...

Absence haunts the streets of Masaya Takahashi’s Maebashi City: as absent as the rains are during the apex of summer is the nurturing essence of humanity. Parched of comfort and joy, the inhabitants, so jaded by circumstance and experience, find their ability to thrive has diminished beyond comprehension; instead, fear from just a knock on the door flourishes where little else can. Yet there exists a responsibility to keep up appearances so those whose innocence remains intact are not doomed to follow those same footsteps. Based on Mitsuru Kawabayashi’s 1990 novel of the same name, Takahashi’s ‘Dry Spell’ explores the insurmountable hardships of growing older amidst the harsh realities of a world plundering itself of human decency. Thirty years after the novel’s publication, its examination of poverty, especially amongst children, remains as true and as poignant as ever.

Dry Spell is screening at Camera Japan

Bearing the...

A woman buries her anger deep under a lake of serenity only to discover that every small action or decision can set off a chain of reverberating ripples, in the latest movie from director Naoko Ogigami, aptly named “Ripples” (波紋 Hamon). Her trademark quirky comedy style and unique perspective are still here, but this time her narrative voice is a notch more dramatic.

Ripples is screening at Camera Japan

A prologue set in the aftermath of a fictional eco-disaster, introduces the Sudo family living in a tranquil suburban neighbourhood. Yoriko Sudo (Mariko Tsutsui) is a woman in her 50s, defined by her roles of wife of a salaryman, mother of a disaffected young man and reluctant carer of Osamu’s bedridden – but well able to fondle her – father. Water is scarce, as probably contaminated after the earthquake, and bottled water has become a precious good. One ordinary day, Yoriko calls...

It’s official: Netflix has renewed its hit Japanese sci-fi thriller drama Alice in Borderland for a third season. Fans of the show noticed late Wednesday that Netflix had unceremoniously dropped a teaser for a third season, leading to online speculation that more episodes of the live-action show were officially in the works. At the Apos entertainment and media industry conference in Bali, Indonesia, Netflix’s vice president of content in Asia Pacific, Minyoung Kim, made the news official by announcing the renewal during a keynote talk from the stage.

Following its second season debut in December 2022, Alice in Borderland became Netflix Japan’s most-watched title ever, even including anime titles. It shot up to the Top 10 in over 90 countries, claiming the No. 1 spot in 17 of them, and clocked 200 million viewing hours worldwide.

With Kento Yamazaki and Tao Tsuchiya reprising their roles as Arisu and Usagi in Season 3, Netflix says...

In Plan 75, Japan suffers two existential crises: the very real economic and societal strains of its aging population and, worse yet, a severe loss of empathy. It’s set in an alternative present where older people are at best ostracised from society; at worst they’re targets of violent hate crimes. Grasping for a solution, or perhaps eyeing a nefarious opportunity, the government introduces a voluntary euthanasia program.

The director of this engrossing, chilling, depressingly plausible dystopia is Chie Hayakawa, a first-time filmmaker from Tokyo who got a special mention from Rossy de Palma’s Un Certain Regard jury in Cannes last summer. Expanding on her 2018 short of the same name, Plan 75 is both compelling and overstuffed. Hayakawa splits her story into four perspectives, though I’d wager any two might have done the trick. The best protagonist is Michi (Chieko Baisho), a seemingly single and childless woman of 81 who,...

On July 26, 2016, a 26-year-old ex-employee of a Japanese care home for intellectually and mentally disabled people broke into his former place of work and stabbed 19 defenseless patients to death in their beds. Believing his massacre to be a kind of mercy for his victims — and a noble sacrifice for the benefit of the entire nation — the killer wrote that he envisioned “a world where a person with multiple disabilities can be euthanized, with an agreement from their guardians, when it is difficult for the person to carry out household and social activities.”

The killer claimed that doing so was a necessary step to protect the economy of the world’s most rapidly aging country; an economy that’s stressed even further by the highest life expectancy of any country on Earth, and crushes its young people under the financial burden of paying for that longevity in the face of Japan’s strained pension funds.

"We're all alone in life." KimStim has announced an official US release date for this indie from Japan titled Plan 75, marking the feature directorial debut of filmmaker Chie Hayakawa. It premiered in the Un Certain Regard section at last year's 2022 Cannes Film Festival, and stopped by Busan, Karlovy Vary, and Toronto. In a near dystopian future, Japan's government launches "Plan 75", a program encouraging the elderly to terminate their own lives to better handle its rapidly aging population. In Chie Hayakawa's remarkable and sensitive film, the lives of three ordinary citizens intersect in this new reality. "On the surface, the plan and its hawkers exude a kindness that serves as the film's chilling vision of bureaucratic indifference and our increasing loss of interconnectedness. However, Hayakawa's view is far from grim, as these characters soon learn to fully reckon with their own lives and what it truly means to live.

One of the prestigious national cinema awards in Japan presented by the Association of Tokyo Film Journalists, the 65th edition of the Blue Ribbon Awards announced its winners on February 24, 2023. The nominees are selected from movies released in 2022 within the Tokyo Metropolitan Area. Leading with 6 nominations, A Man by Kei Ishikawa, wins Best Film while Plan 75 by Chie Hayakawa picks up Best Director and Best Actress for Chieko Baisho. The full list of winners is described below.

Best Film

A Man

Kingdom 2: To Distant Lands

Small, Slow But Steady

Missing

Silent Parade

Dr Coto’s Clinic

Plan 75

Motherhood

Fragments of the Last Will

Wandering

A Man Best Director

Kei Ishikawa – A Man

Shinzo Katayama – Missing

Takahisa Zeze – Tombi: Father and Son; Fragments of the Last Will

Chie Hayakawa – Plan 75

Ryuichi Hiroki – 2 Women, Motherhood; Phases of the Moon

Best Actor

Sadao Abe – Lesson in Murder; I am...

Further titles include Rodrigo Sorogoyen’s ’The Beasts’ and Chie Hayakawa’s debut ‘Plan 75’.

Venice titles including Fyzal Boulifa’s Morocco-set drama The Damned Don’t Cry and Penelope Cruz-starring melodrama L’Immensità are among the prestige international titles on UK-Ireland distributor Curzon’s 2023 slate.

The line-up represents filmmakers from Italy, Spain, Japan, France and the UK.

“The past year has been a difficult one for international film in the UK,” said Louisa Dent, Curzon Film managing director, “but we remain absolutely committed to championing the best cinema from around the world.”

UK filmmaker Boulifa’s second feature, after debut Lynn + Lucy,...

The trailer for Alice in Borderland season 2 introduces deadly new games. A live-action adaptation of Haro Aso's manga series, which shares the same name, Alice in Borderland, debuted in 2020. Consisting of eight episodes and directed by Shinsuke Sato, the story follows characters who find themselves in an eerily abandoned Tokyo and are forced to compete in kill-or-be-killed competitions. As the season progressed, the show's universe expanded to reveal more secrets and a strange conspiracy that could go beyond what any protagonist expected. Though it was renewed shortly after its premiere, the second installment of the adaptation has been a long time coming.

But now, after filming wrapped on Alice in Borderland season 2 back in March, Netflix has unveiled the trailer for the upcoming episodes. Set to debut on December 22, Alice in Borderland season 2 looks like it will double down on the wild aspects of the first installment. There's an...

While announcing the film before its premiere in Cannes, Salle Debussy, Thierry Frémaux and Pierre Lescure reminded the audience that Chie Hayakawa’s debut feature “Plan 75” was the first Japanese film to be competing in this selection in a very long time. The first screening took place in a packed theatre, and in the presence of the filmmaker and her team, with high expectations from a movie which steps in the domain of unpleasant, and those were mostly met.

“Plan 75“ is screening at Thessaloniki International Film Festival

In her strong debut, Hayakawa sets the story in a near, dystopian future in which the Japanese government takes a concrete step to beat ‘the surplus of old citizens’. The propaganda machinery motivates them to enter the so called Plan 75 project, using embelished words for something that is simply supposed to end their lives. Painted as a well-meant act of euthanasia...

Japan Society and the Agency for Cultural Affairs, Government of Japan, are excited to announce the East Coast Premiere of Japan’s submission for Best International Feature Film at the 95th Academy Awards, Plan 75 as the closing title for its Aca Cinema Project The Female Gaze: Women Filmmakers from Japan Cuts and Beyond lineup. The debut film from director Chie Hayakawa, Plan 75 premiered as part of this year’s Cannes’ Un Certain Regard selection, garnering the Caméra d’Or Special Mention Prize. A runaway independent success in Japan, the film imagines a near future in which Japan’s aging crisis has hit critical levels, resulting in a government initiative that encourages the elderly to voluntarily surrender their lives for the greater good.

In addition, we will also host a Panel Discussion Women in Film at 4pm on Saturday, November 19th, moderated by Joel Neville Anderson and featuring talents including...

Who can forget Jonathan Swift’s “A Modest Proposal,” that cheeky work of early-18th-century satire in which the author had the nerve to suggest cannibalism as a means of keeping Ireland’s unwanted kids “from being a burden on their parents or country, and for making them beneficial to the publick”? In “Plan 75,” debuting director Chie Hayakawa floats an equally extreme idea of her own without so much as a glimmer of irony, and the suggestion is upsetting enough that the public will likely still be citing it decades down the road. Set in near-future Japan, where it’s a surplus of seniors — versus an abundance of babies — that’s causing trouble, this chilling social drama takes its name from a hypothetical new legislation whereby an overtaxed government offers its elderly citizens an incentive to euthanize.

Candidates, who must be at least 75 years of age, will be offered a...

Exclusive: Paris-based Urban Sales has sold Japanese director Chie Hayakawa’s dystopian drama Plan 75 to KimStim for North America, in addition to several other territories. The film won a Camera d’Or Special Mention when it premiered in Un Certain Regard at Cannes this year, and is also Japan’s submission to the Best International Feature category of the Oscars.

In a second round of deals, Urban also sold the film to South Korea (Challan), Spain (Adso), Switzerland (First Hand Films), Indonesia (Falcon Pictures) and Thailand (Sahamongkol Film) while Spafax and Encore acquired worldwide inflight rights.

It was previously sold to France (Eurozoom), Italy (Tucker Film), China (Dddream), Benelux (September Films), Philippines (Tba Studios), Taiwan (Sky Digi) and Singapore (Lighthouse Film Distribution).

Since Cannes, the film has played at festivals including Karlovy Vary and Toronto and will receive a double U.S. premiere at Chicago and Mill Valley film festivals.

The twisted competition at the center of "Alice in Borderland" is back, and it looks like the games aren't done just yet. A "super teaser trailer" for season 2 of the popular show, which is based on the manga series of the same name by Haro Aso, was revealed during Netflix's Tudum fan event, and it looks like we're in for another wild ride.

The teaser shows the return of protagonists Arisu (Kento Yamazaki) and Usagi (Tao Tsuchiya) after that massive cliffhanger at the end of the last season. After completing a number of increasingly deadly challenges, they learned to their dismay that there are even more coming as the games enter a second phase. We also get our first look at some of the other contestants roped into the games, as well as shots of the sadistic gamemaster Mira (Riisa Naka), who looks to be a more menacing presence this season.

Exclusive: Manila-based Tba Studios has acquired Philippines theatrical rights to award-winning drama Plan 75, which is Japan’s submission for the best international feature category of the Academy Awards.

The Japanese-language film has a strong connection to the Philippines. It features Filipina actress Stefanie Arriane in the cast, while US-Filipino company Fusee is one of the producers, with Wilfredo C. Manalang, George Sommerrock and Alicia Catubay-Watt taking producer credits, and Alemberg Ang of the Philippines’ Daluyong Studios on board as co-producer.

The film was produced by Japan’s Loaded Films, Happinet Phantom Studios and Dongyu Club, with France’s Urban Factory, Fusee and Ang. Urban Sales is handling international sales outside of the co-production territories. Fusee retained Philippines rights.

Written and directed by acclaimed short film director Chie Hayakawa, the film premiered in the Un Certain Regard section of this year’s Cannes film festival, where it won the Camera d’Or special mention.

Keep track of all the submissions for best international feature at the 2023 Academy Awards.

Entries for the 2023 Oscar for best international feature are underway, and Screen is profiling each one on this page.

Scroll down for profiles of each Oscar entry

An international feature film is defined as a feature-length motion picture produced outside the US with a predominantly (more than 50) non-English dialogue track and can include animated and documentary features.

Submitted films must have been released theatrically in their respective countries between January 1, 2022 and November 30, 2022. The deadline for submissions to the Academy is October 3, 2022.

A shortlist of 15 finalists is...

Keep track of all the submissions for best international feature at the 2023 Academy Awards.

Entries for the 2023 Oscar for best international feature are underway, and Screen is profiling each one on this page.

Scroll down for profiles of each Oscar entry

An international feature film is defined as a feature-length motion picture produced outside the US with a predominantly (more than 50) non-English dialogue track and can include animated and documentary features.

Submitted films must have been released theatrically in their respective countries between January 1, 2022 and November 30, 2022. The deadline for submissions to the Academy is October 3, 2022.

A shortlist of 15 finalists is...

Following the unexpected and quite significant success of “Midnight Swan”, which took home the Best Film and Best Actor Awards for Tsuyoshi Kusanagi by the Japanese Academy, it was expected that Eiji Uchida would find access to the highest echelons of the local movie industry, as the presence of Hiroshi Abe and the overall production quality of “Offbeat Cops” highlights.

Offbeat Cops is screening on New York Asian Film Festival

Tsukasa Naruse is a workaholic detective working on homicide cases, who, as the movie begins, is researching a group of conmen who rob old people after giving them a call posing as the police to discover if they hide money in their houses. His methods, however, are not exactly by the book, as his new partner, young Shota Sakamoto soon discovers. At the same time, his obsession with his job has led him to a divorce and a daughter, Noriko,...