carpere hilaire taleese
Cristhian Cinq-Mars
Like with many other films on this list, Bleach is based on a popular pre-existing manga of the same name. A live-action adaptation, the 2018 film does justice to the original story for the fans, while also doing a fantastic job with worldbuilding and introducing the characters so that those who know nothing about Bleach can also enjoy it. The fantasy story follows Ichigo Kurosaki, played by Sota Fukushi, a teenage boy who sees ghosts. He lives a (relatively) normal life, until one day, when he accidentally becomes a Soul Reaper, or someone who fights off evil spirits and transfers those who pass over to the Soul Society. Basically, he's a new Grim Reaper, given the powers by a woman with a katana named Rukio (Hana Sugisaki) during an attack. The movie is an example of a great live-action anime adaptation, and a truly enjoyable action film on its own.
Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Eternal The Movie is the latest installment in the never-ending Sailor Moon anime series. The two-part film came out in 2021 as a sequel and sort of fourth season of the Sailor Moon Crystal anime series, which aired three seasons between 2014 and 2016. Both the series and the film are well-loved by the fans, with many appreciating how closely it follows the original manga. Whether you are already a Sailor Moon fan or not, Sailor Moon Eternal is a great anime movie, and perfect for anyone looking for an adventure-filled, emotional story of teenage girls who moonlight as superheroes guarding the solar system from evil. No biggie, right?
Family, also known by the original title Yakuza and The Family, is a character drama like no other. The movie focuses on a man named Kenji Yamamoto (G Ayano) through three periods of his life. Beginning in 1999, Kenji's father's death inevitably drives him to join the yakuza and become embroiled in violence, before moving to 2006, when Kenji is at the center of the gang. After an incident sends him to jail for more than a decade, the last section of the film brings the story to 2019. During this time, an older, weary Kenji attempts to reconnect with his fellow yakuza members and the woman he used to like, only to find the world a much different, anti-yakuza place. A Family takes a very unique approach to the presence of yakuza in Japan, portraying the shifting landscape of gangs in a country slowly transitioning away from them.
Another movie based on a manga, Homunculus is a live-action thriller about a 34-year-old man down on his luck and with memory loss who volunteers to participate in a trepanation procedure to open his "third eye." Directed by Takashi Shimizu, who also directed the original Japanese The Grudge movie, the movie stars G Ayano as Susumu Nakoshi, the male protagonist. After the procedure, Nakoshi begins to see visions of everyone's "homunculus," which is thought to be the manifestations of their personal stressors or desires, and he tries to help them overcome these issues. But all the while, Nakoshi is facing his own mysterious past, and once he regains his memories, he is forced to face the truth of what caused his amnesia. While fans of the original Homunculus didn't really like the adaptation, it's still a great Japanese thriller for those looking for a psychological mystery.
Directed by Junichi Sato and Tomotaka Shibayama, A Whisker Away is a 2020 animated film about a young girl named Miyo Sasaki, voiced by Mirai Shida, who finds a reprieve from her troubles of a new stepmother and a crush who doesn't like her back by becoming a cat named Tarō through a magical Noh mask she is sold by a stranger. With her cat identity, Miyo gets closer to the boy she likes, finding out more about his anxieties and cares while also escaping her own. Eventually, she is convinced to give up her human life and become a cat completely, but will she regret it? A Whisker Away is a sweet, honest movie about friendship, family, and appreciating what you have, not what you don't. Definitely one of the best anime films Netflix has to offer.
If you are looking for an emotional drama with queer characters, Ride or Die is for you. Written by Nami Sakkawa and directed by Ryuichi Hiroki, the movie focuses on the relationship between a gay 20-something woman named Rei Nagasawa (Kiko Mizuhara) and her former classmate, Nanae Shinoda (Honami Sato), who is in an abusive marriage looking to escape. In order to show how much she cares for Nanae, Rei murders her husband, and the two run off together. As the women try to navigate this new stage of their life, Rei and Nanae are forced to face the complicated, intertwined emotions of their shared trauma and love for one another. The movie is based on the manga series Gunjō by Ching Nakamura and came out on Netflix in 2021.
Released in 2020 and directed by Tatsushi Omori, Mother is the story of a boy's unbreakable love for his mother, no matter how much she puts him through. Daiken Okudaira plays the son, Shuhei (played by Sho Gunji as a young boy), while Masami Nagasawa plays Akiko Misumi, his mother. The story follows Shuhei from his early years being raised by his inattentive single mother, through to his teenage years. Despite constantly facing struggles, whether emotionally, economically, or physically, Shuhei is unable to separate himself from the mother he loves so much. Even when a social worker finds him and his younger sister, offering them a new, better life, he just can't leave Akiko behind. While a lot of the film is focused on the son, Mother also puts a spotlight on Akiko's issues, and how her mental illness is only amplified by the fact that she was never taught how to be a good mother or responsible human.
Starring Mei Kayama in her acting debut as Yuma Takada, 37 Seconds is an honest tale about a young woman with cerebral palsy (Kayama also has the condition) who has a clear talent for art and creating manga, but doesn't exactly know how to move forward in her career. Part of what holds her back -- at least according to a magazine editor she submits her work to -- is her lack of romantic experience, specifically sex. Deciding to follow the editor's advice, Yuma goes out into the world to gain more relationship and sexual experience, finding out a lot about herself in the process. 37 Seconds is a wholly original and moving story, and it's a definite must-watch on Netflix.
The Academy Award-nominated and Annie Award-winning film Mirai is an animated fantasy adventure about a young boy's journey throughout time to learn about his family, realizing just how special those around him really are. Specifically, the film focuses on the boy, a four-year-old named Kun (Moka Kamishiraishi), and his newborn sister, Mirai (Haru Kuroki), who appears from the future to help him learn from the experience. Mirai came out in 2018 and was absolutely adored by audiences. In fact, with its Oscar nomination, it is the first non-Studio Ghibli anime movie to be nominated, produced by Studio Chizu. Over the years, Mirai is destined to become an essential anime movie alongside other well-known hits like Spirited Away and Your Name.
A recent anime film release as well, Words Bubble Up Like Soda Pop came out in 2020 and is set in a rural Japanese town in which the social scene is centered around the local shopping mall. There, two awkward teenagers with low self-esteem meet, sparking a sweet relationship as they learn from one another and become more comfortable in themselves. The two main characters are Yui "Cherry" Sakura (Ichikawa Somegorō VIII), a boy who tends to only express his feelings through haikus, and Yuki, also known as "Smile," a bright influencer who constantly hides her braces behind a mask. Words Bubble Up Like Soda Pop also features a lot of intriguing supporting characters, and it's a quintessential slice-of-life style story.
These two films -- Rurouni Kenshin: The Final and Rurouni Kenshin: The Beginning -- are actually the fourth and fifth movies in a live-action series based on the popular Rurouni Kenshin manga written and illustrated by Nobuhiro Watsuki. The franchise is all about a deadly samurai named Himura Kenshin, played by Takeru Satoh, who decides to change and be a protector of the innocent, never to kill a person ever again. It seems like Netflix used to host the whole series, but right now the streaming platform only has the final chapter of the main character's story, as well as the most recent movie, which happens to be a prequel. Both films were released around the same time in 2021, and despite being later movies in a franchise, they are still fantastic, action-packed films. Even if you don't want to find and watch the first three movies, these are still great picks worthy of checking out.
Based on the popular novel of the same name by Japanese author Moegara, We Couldn't Become Adults is about a 40-something man named Makoto Sato (Mirai Moriyama) who is looking back at various stages of his life, from the present to all the way back in 1995. At a low point in his life with no real meaning to what he's doing, Sato revisits all of his past experiences, no matter how inconsequential they seem, to see how they brought him to where he is in the present. We Couldn't Become Adults is more of a subtle, introspective romantic drama, perfect for those who like movies like Before Sunrise or Chungking Express.
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