Japanese to Watch
by mackenzieajensen | created - 04 Apr 2021 | updated - 1 week ago | Publicsome japanese film I need to watch, if you find this enjoy
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1. Sonatine (1993)
R | 94 min | Action, Comedy, Crime
Several yakuza from Tokyo are sent to Okinawa to help end a gang war. The war then escalates and the Tokyo drifters decide to lay low at the beach.
Director: Takeshi Kitano | Stars: Takeshi Kitano, Aya Kokumai, Tetsu Watanabe, Masanobu Katsumura
Votes: 23,297
2. Shinjuku Triad Society (1995)
Not Rated | 100 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
Amidst a Chinese and Japanese mafia war, a lawyer for the Chinese mob finds a rift forming between him and his corrupt police office brother.
Director: Takashi Miike | Stars: Kippei Shîna, Tomorô Taguchi, Takeshi Caesar, Ren Ôsugi
Votes: 2,463
3. Rainy Dog (1997)
Not Rated | 95 min | Crime, Drama
A Japanese assassin stranded in Taiwan must take work from a local crime boss to make ends meet when suddenly a woman from his past delivers a son to him.
Director: Takashi Miike | Stars: Shô Aikawa, Li-Wei Chang, Shih Chang, Xianmei Chen
Votes: 2,881
4. Ley Lines (1999)
Not Rated | 105 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
A group of Chinese youths living in Japan struggle to make their way in life and eventually find trouble with the local crime syndicate.
Director: Takashi Miike | Stars: Kazuki Kitamura, Tomorô Taguchi, Dan Li, Naoto Takenaka
Votes: 1,787
5. Demon City Shinjuku (1988 Video)
TV-MA | 82 min | Animation, Action, Fantasy
A young swordsman and the daughter of a political Messiah enter a ravaged Shinjuku, Tokyo, to stop the man who killed the former's father from opening a portal to a world of demons.
Director: Yoshiaki Kawajiri | Stars: Hideyuki Hori, Hiromi Tsuru, Kiyoshi Kobayashi, Kyôko Tongû
Votes: 3,682
6. Akira (1988)
R | 124 min | Animation, Action, Drama
A secret military project endangers Neo-Tokyo when it turns a biker gang member into a rampaging psychic psychopath who can only be stopped by a teenager, his gang of biker friends and a group of psychics.
Director: Katsuhiro Ôtomo | Stars: Mitsuo Iwata, Nozomu Sasaki, Mami Koyama, Tesshô Genda
Votes: 205,420 | Gross: $0.55M
7. Burst City (1982)
115 min | Action, Drama, Music
Punk rock gangs and music groups clash with one another and the brutal police force in a futuristic Tokyo setting.
Director: Gakuryû Ishii | Stars: Takanori Jinnai, Shinya Ohe, Yuto Iseta, Hitomi Tsurukawa
Votes: 899
8. 964 Pinocchio (1991)
97 min | Horror, Sci-Fi
Pinocchio 964, lobotomised cyborg sex slave, is thrown out onto the street by his owners because of his inability to maintain an erection. He is befriended by a criminally insane, ... See full summary »
Director: Shozin Fukui | Stars: Haji Suzuki, Onn-chan, Kôji Ôtsubo, Kyoko Hara
Votes: 2,323
9. Enjeru dasuto (1994)
116 min | Drama, Horror, Romance
Every Monday at 6 pm a young woman is murdered in the subway. The psychiatrist Setsuko Suma is called in to assist the police. The trail leads to another psychiatrist - Dr Rei Aku - who ... See full summary »
Director: Gakuryû Ishii | Stars: Kaho Minami, Takeshi Wakamatsu, Etsushi Toyokawa, Ryôko Takizawa
Votes: 1,311
10. Happy Hour (2015)
Not Rated | 317 min | Drama
A slow-burning epic chronicling the emotional journey of four thirty something women in the misty seaside city of Kobe.
Director: Ryûsuke Hamaguchi | Stars: Sachie Tanaka, Hazuki Kikuchi, Maiko Mihara, Rira Kawamura
Votes: 2,955
11. Lost Girls and Love Hotels (2020)
R | 97 min | Drama, Thriller
Disillusioned with the world she knows, a woman searches for meaning and affirmations of life with a dashing Yakuza gangster in Tokyo.
Director: William Olsson | Stars: Alexandra Daddario, Takehiro Hira, Carice van Houten, Andrew Rothney
Votes: 5,394
12. The Night Is Short, Walk on Girl (2017)
PG-13 | 92 min | Animation, Adventure, Comedy
In this comedy about one epic night in Kyoto, a college sophomore goes on a series of surreal encounters with the local nightlife, all the while unaware of the romantic longings of her classmate Senpai.
Director: Masaaki Yuasa | Stars: Gen Hoshino, Kana Hanazawa, Hiroshi Kamiya, Ryûji Akiyama
Votes: 6,323 | Gross: $0.41M
13. Cure (1997)
Not Rated | 111 min | Crime, Horror, Mystery
A frustrated detective deals with the case of several gruesome murders committed by people who have no recollection of what they've done.
Director: Kiyoshi Kurosawa | Stars: Masato Hagiwara, Koji Yakusho, Tsuyoshi Ujiki, Anna Nakagawa
Votes: 23,125 | Gross: $0.09M
14. Dreams (1990)
PG | 119 min | Drama, Fantasy
A collection of tales based upon eight of director Akira Kurosawa's recurring dreams.
Directors: Akira Kurosawa, Ishirô Honda | Stars: Akira Terao, Mitsuko Baishô, Toshie Negishi, Mieko Harada
Votes: 29,205 | Gross: $1.96M
15. Fireworks (1997)
103 min | Crime, Drama, Romance
Nishi leaves the police in the face of harrowing personal and professional difficulties. Spiraling into depression, he makes questionable decisions.
Director: Takeshi Kitano | Stars: Takeshi Kitano, Kayoko Kishimoto, Ren Ôsugi, Susumu Terajima
Votes: 33,210 | Gross: $0.23M
16. Tokyo Drifter (1966)
Not Rated | 82 min | Action, Crime
After his gang disbands, a yakuza enforcer looks forward to life outside of organized crime but soon must become a drifter after his old rivals attempt to assassinate him.
Director: Seijun Suzuki | Stars: Tetsuya Watari, Chieko Matsubara, Hideaki Nitani, Tamio Kawaji
Votes: 9,716
17. Violent Cop (1989)
Not Rated | 103 min | Action, Crime, Drama
A violence prone police officer discovers that his colleague is trafficking drugs.
Director: Takeshi Kitano | Stars: Takeshi Kitano, Maiko Kawakami, Makoto Ashikawa, Shirô Sano
Votes: 13,001 | Gross: $0.00M
18. Swallowtail Butterfly (1996)
148 min | Crime, Drama
The struggles of a group of immigrant outcasts living in an alternative-future, xenophobic Japanese metropolis.
Director: Shunji Iwai | Stars: Hiroshi Mikami, Chara, Ayumi Ito, Yôsuke Eguchi
Votes: 4,423
19. Boiling Point (1990)
Not Rated | 96 min | Action, Comedy, Crime
Two disquieted junior baseball players seek revenge on the local yakuza for attacking their coach.
Director: Takeshi Kitano | Stars: Takeshi Kitano, Yûrei Yanagi, Yuriko Ishida, Taka Guadalcanal
Votes: 7,502 | Gross: $0.00M
20. Brother (I) (2000)
R | 114 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
A Japanese gangster is exiled to Los Angeles where his brother lives with a small but respectable multi-racial gang, who he inspires to expand their influence.
Director: Takeshi Kitano | Stars: Takeshi Kitano, Claude Maki, Omar Epps, Masaya Katô
Votes: 24,549 | Gross: $0.45M
21. Dead or Alive (1999)
R | 105 min | Action, Crime, Drama
A yakuza of Chinese descent and a Japanese cop each wage their own war against the Japanese mafia. But they are destined to meet. Their encounter will change the world.
Director: Takashi Miike | Stars: Shô Aikawa, Riki Takeuchi, Renji Ishibashi, Hitoshi Ozawa
Votes: 8,566 | Gross: $0.00M
22. Last Life in the Universe (2003)
R | 112 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A suicidal, obsessively compulsive Japanese librarian is forced to lie low in Thailand with a pot-smoking woman coping with the recent loss of her sister.
Director: Pen-Ek Ratanaruang | Stars: Tadanobu Asano, Sinitta Boonyasak, Takashi Miike, Laila Boonyasak
Votes: 11,561 | Gross: $0.03M
23. Graveyard of Honor (2002)
Not Rated | 131 min | Action, Crime, Thriller
A barkeeper saves a Yakuza boss' life and thus makes his way up in the organization. However his fear of nothing soon causes problems.
Director: Takashi Miike | Stars: Gorô Kishitani, Ryôsuke Miki, Narimi Arimori, Mikio Ôsawa
Votes: 2,349
24. The Five (1995)
Unrated | 109 min | Action, Drama, Crime
Five men plot to steal a large sum of money from the local yakuza, but everything does not go as planned and the men find themselves hunted down by contract killers.
Director: Takashi Ishii | Stars: Kôichi Satô, Masahiro Motoki, Jinpachi Nezu, Kippei Shîna
Votes: 2,645
25. Memories (1995)
PG-13 | 113 min | Animation, Sci-Fi, Thriller
An animated science fiction anthology from the visionary anime director, Katsuhiro Otomo.
Directors: Kôji Morimoto, Tensai Okamura, Katsuhiro Ôtomo | Stars: Marc Swint, Robbie Daymond, Frank Todaro, Laura Post
Votes: 21,411
26. Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade (1999)
R | 102 min | Animation, Action, Drama
A traumatized member of an elite para-military police force falls for the sister of a female terrorist courier who died in front of him on duty.
Directors: Kenji Kamiyama, Hiroyuki Okiura | Stars: Michael Dobson, Yoshikazu Fujiki, Sumi Mutoh, Moneca Stori
Votes: 18,775 | Gross: $0.09M
27. Berserk (1997–1998)
TV-MA | 23 min | Animation, Action, Adventure
Guts, a wandering mercenary, joins the Band of the Hawk after being defeated in a duel by Griffith, the group's leader and founder. Together, they dominate every battle, but something menacing lurks in the shadows.
Stars: Marc Diraison, Nobutoshi Canna, Carrie Keranen, Kevin T. Collins
Votes: 53,299
28. Wicked City (1987)
Not Rated | 82 min | Animation, Action, Fantasy
While protecting a signatory to a peace treaty between their peoples, a male human and a female demon discover that their mutual attraction may be the key to unifying their worlds.
Director: Yoshiaki Kawajiri | Stars: Yûsaku Yara, Toshiko Fujita, Ichirô Nagai, Takeshi Aono
Votes: 9,606
29. Cyber City Oedo 808 (1990–1991)
TV-14 | 120 min | Animation, Action, Adventure
In 2808 A.D., three convicts are conscripted by the Cyber Police to fight crime in the hi-tech metropolis of Oedo - while being forced to wear collars that can kill them at any time.
Stars: Hiroya Ishimaru, Kaneto Shiozawa, Tesshô Genda, Norio Wakamoto
Votes: 2,319
30. Mezzo Forte (2000–2001)
Not Rated | 80 min | Animation, Action, Comedy
A young woman and her mercenary for hire team run afoul of a violent mob boss and his sociopath daughter.
Stars: Tomoko Kotani, Takumi Yamazaki, Taichirô Hirokawa, Shôzô Îzuka
Votes: 1,540
31. Escaflowne: The Movie (2000)
PG-13 | 98 min | Adventure, Animation, Drama
A grim retelling of the television series "The Vision of Escaflowne".
Directors: Kazuki Akane, Yoshiyuki Takei | Stars: Shin'ichirô Miki, Jôji Nakata, Maaya Sakamoto, Tomokazu Seki
Votes: 3,817
32. Genocyber (1994)
Unrated | 46 min | Animation, Action, Horror
A combination of cybernetics and psychic potential. At its core: the tortured souls of 2 human beings. Many wish to control this monstrosity, but can their hatred be contained?
Stars: William Roberts, Rosemary Elliot, Keith Howard, Rachel Nanstad
Votes: 1,330
33. Battle Angel (1993)
Not Rated | 54 min | Animation, Action, Drama
In a distant future, a the young cyborg Gally is found on a scrapheap by the Cyberdoctor Daisuke Ido, who rebuilds her and becomes her surrogate father.
Stars: Miki Itô, Shunsuke Kariya, Kappei Yamaguchi, Edward Glen
Votes: 5,829
34. Kite (1998)
TV-MA | 50 min | Animation, Action, Crime
A young girl, orphaned at an early age, carries out assassinations at the behest of her mentor.
Stars: Konami Yoshida, Kinryû Arimoto, Kôsuke Okano, Tatsuo Matoba
Votes: 5,325
35. Bubblegum Crisis (1987–1991)
TV-MA | 25 min | Animation, Action, Fantasy
A female mercenary team, armed with unique power armor suits, battle the forces of the corrupt mega-corporation, Genom in futuristic Tokyo.
Stars: Yoshiko Sakakibara, Kinuko Ômori, Michie Tomizawa, Akiko Hiramatsu
Votes: 1,772
36. Tokyo Revelation (1995 Video)
Not Rated | 55 min | Animation, Fantasy, Horror
A teen boy learns how to control demons through the help of a computer program. His plan? To unleash Hell on Earth.
Director: Osamu Yamasaki | Stars: Brianne Brozey, Debra Rogers, Arisa Andô, Steve Blum
Votes: 138
37. Urotsukidoji: Legend of the Overfiend (1989)
Not Rated | 108 min | Animation, Action, Fantasy
The relative coexistence of the human world, demon world and beast world is soon to be disrupted by The Overfiend, an immensely powerful demon who'll be reborn after 3000 years to remake the world to his own liking.
Director: Hideki Takayama | Stars: Christopher Courage, Rebel Joy, Sonny Weil, Bick Balse
Votes: 3,667
38. Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust (2000)
R | 103 min | Animation, Action, Drama
A legendary dhampir competes with a motley family of bounty hunters to return a young woman, who has been seemingly abducted by a vampire, to her family.
Director: Yoshiaki Kawajiri | Stars: Andrew Philpot, John Rafter Lee, Pamela Adlon, Wendee Lee
Votes: 35,838 | Gross: $0.15M
39. Ninja Scroll (1993)
Not Rated | 94 min | Animation, Action, Adventure
A vagabond swordsman is aided by a kunoichi and a spy in battling a demonic clan of killers - led by a ghost from his past - who are bent on overthrowing the Tokugawa Shogunate.
Director: Yoshiaki Kawajiri | Stars: Kôichi Yamadera, Emi Shinohara, Takeshi Aono, Osamu Saka
Votes: 40,750
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