Samurai
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Episode #85 (S11E5) – Lone Wolf and Cub: Baby Cart to Hades [子連れ狼 死に風に向う乳母車] (1972)
This week, Perry is joined by Trevor McKillop of the First Look, Final Word podcast. We've discussed the first Lone Wolf and Cub film long ago, now we're skipping the second and jumping straight into the third to discuss this action-packed samurai thriller!
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Episode #73 (S10E2) – Sukiyaki Western Django [スキヤキ・ウエスタン ジャンゴ] (1997)
New guest Nick Frame joins the show to discuss Takashi Miike's gonzo ramen western film, Sukiyaki Western Django. Clearly inspired by spaghetti westerns and trying to mix the western genre with Japanese history, there's some good stuff here, but also some strange choices.
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Episode #71 (S9E9) – Lady Snowblood: Love Song of Vengeance [修羅雪姫 怨み恋歌] (1974)
For the final episode of the season, Perry is joined by returning guest Joshua Cervenka to discuss Lady Snowblood: Love Song of Vengeance. And while there are some interesting ideas in this film, plus an appearance by a pre-directing Juzo Itami, the film unfortunately doesn't quite live up to the original.
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Episode #65 (S9E3) – Kagemusha [影武者] (1980)
In this episode, Perry is joined by Derick McDuff of the Underrated podcast network to discuss Akira Kurosawa's 1980 film, Kagemusha. It received a lot of support from George Lucas and Francis Ford Coppola, but ultimately represents something of a downturn for the acclaimed director.
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Episode #62 – Batman Ninja (ニンジャバットマン)
Japan On Film will be ending, but we're presenting you an episode on Batman Ninja that Perry did with Derrick Ferguson on the Superhero Cinephiles podcast.
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Episode #61 – Kibakichi (跋扈妖怪伝 牙吉)
In this episode, Perry is joined by Tyler, who is working on a book about obscure Asian cinema, and in that fashion, the movie they watched is the 2003 Kibakichi. It's a movie about a samurai werewolf and despite a grindhouse-style opening and climax, the rest of the movie's a bit meandering. Still, the movie's not without its charms, too.
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Episode #60 – Sanjuro (椿三十郎)
Robert Kelly of the Record All Monsters podcast is the guest this week to discuss Sanjuro, Akira Kurosawa's sequel to his groundbreaking film, Yojimbo. We compare it to the original, discuss Sanjuro's character progression compared to Yojimbo, and reflect on the character's legacy.
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Episode #46 – Zatôichi (座頭市)
In the final episode of season 6, we watch 2003's Zatoichi, Takeshi Kitano's reinvention of the classic blind samurai. Perry is joined by Frank Schildiner, the perfect guest for this episode because not only is he a martial artist, but also the author of an upcoming book examining the Zatoichi series of films.
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Episode #32 – Unforgiven (許されざる者)
Derrick Ferguson of Perry's other podcast, Superhero Cinephiles, returns to Japan On Film. With his knowledge of westerns and Perry's knowledge of Japanese history, they team up to discuss Sang-il Lee's Japanese remake of Clint Eastwood's revisionist western, Unforgiven! As Derrick put it best, this is less a remake and more a translation, with Lee seamlessly melding the classic story in Meiji-era Japan.
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Episode #28 – The Twilight Samurai (黄昏清兵衛)
Perry is joined by Konner and Michael from The KMP Podcast to discuss the first film in Yoji Yamada’s samurai trilogy. Get ready for a more realistic look at the end of the samurai era as they talk about some of the history of the samurai at that time and how some of the ideas and themes are reflected in contemporary Japan.
