Sensei Sensibility

Welcome to Sensei Sensibility!  You  are the hungry mind yearning to devour weird Asian horror;  I  am the (questionably) knowledgeable  Sensei , more than happy to satiate your cinematic appetite. As someone who spends an awful lot of time writing words, with many of my peers also primarily engaging in the act of also writing words, the rapid growth of AI engines being able to mock up reviews and articles at the click of a button is of course, terrifying to us all.  However, can the robots actually  help  us bloggers, journalists, and content creators galore? For absolute shits and giggles (and as the curator of a spooky Asian themed blog) I decided to ask the Notorious G.P.T the burning question that has been dividing fans of Japanese horror since the noughties: Once and for all, WHO IS SCARIER: Sadako or Kayako?! While I copy/pasted the core factual text, I  did  edit Chat's findings to give it the good old  Sensei Sensibilty ...

Welcome to Sensei Sensibility!  You  are the hungry mind yearning to devour weird Asian horror;  I  am the (questionably) knowledgeable  Sensei , more than happy to satiate your cinematic appetite. As someone who spends an awful lot of time writing words, with many of my peers also primarily engaging in the act of also writing words, the rapid growth of AI engines being able to mock up reviews and articles at the click of a button is of course, terrifying to us all.  However, can the robots actually help us bloggers, journalists, and content creators galore? For absolute shits and giggles (and as the curator of a spooky Asian themed blog) I decided to ask the Notorious G.P.T to generate for me a list of the top fifteen most haunted places in Japan. While I copy/pasted the core factual text, I did edit Chat's findings to give it the good old  Sensei Sensibilty "Voice".  (1) Baddest of Them All: Aokigahara Forest (Yamanashi): Known as the "Sea of...

Welcome to Sensei Sensibility!  You  are the hungry mind yearning to devour Asian horror cinema;  I  am the (questionably) knowledgeable  Sensei , more than happy to satiate your cinematic appetite. "I can't shake this creepy feeling..." In a terribly jaded world where everyone has already seen everything , it's a tremendous pleasure to stumble across something that one has not in fact, seen. One such previously un-seen entity is Kiyoshi Kurosawa's 2001 made-for-T.V. movie Séance (Kôrei).  Starring Japanese screen legends Koji Yakusho (Cure, Pulse, Tokyo Sonata) and Jun Fubuki (Like Father, Like Son, Our Little Sister, Call me Chihiro),  Séance is a cerebral slow-burn paranormal thriller. And bloody eerie to boot. Based on Mark McShane's  Séance on a Wet Afternoon (1961 novel, 1964 film adaptation), Kurosawa's version centres around Junko and Koji Sato, a couple whose outwardly placid marriage is irreparably rocked by the kidnapping of a yo...

Welcome to Sensei Sensibility!  You  are the hungry mind yearning to devour Asian horror cinema;  I  am the (questionably) knowledgeable  Sensei , more than happy to satiate your cinematic appetite. As someone whose first introduction to the legendary Shinya Tsukamoto was through his off-beat, disturbed acting roles in cult classics such as  Ichi the Killer  and  Marebito , I was apprehensive as to how he would fare behind the camera, as well as in front.  However, having recently seen his iconic oeuvre “Tetsuo Iron Man 1” for the first time, I was expecting a similar, shocking and experimental outing when watching the Third Window Films' edition of Tsukamoto's Gemini . I stood corrected. Tsukamoto's 1999 movie Gemini, set during Japan's Meiji period, is an exquisitely designed and elaborately accurate period piece inspired by author Edogawa Ranpo's short story “The Twins.  Shot with low lighting, off-kilter sepia colouring - gone is the...

Welcome to Sensei Sensibility!  You  are the hungry mind yearning to devour Asian horror cinema;  I  am the (questionably) knowledgeable  Sensei , more than happy to satiate your cinematic appetite. Hair We Are Now - Entertain Us? Whether you're on Team Sadako or Team Kayako, it's fair to say that not many J-Horror fans were on Team Koji Shiraishi after his 2016 release: Sadako VS Kayako . Both Sadako Yamamura and Kayako Saeki are undisputed icons of the J-Horror genre, inspiration for the (now) over-used hair-scare in Western horror, and the cause of many a bedroom light to be left on since 1998.  Victims of male violence, these women now wreak spectral, and psychological, vengeance on any innocent party who stumble across either their Cursed Video Tape or House of Death.  Regardless of who you personally find scarier, we can all agree that being haunted by one of these ghouls on their own is bad enough. The big screen union of these two titans of t...

Welcome to Sensei Sensibility!  You  are the hungry mind yearning to devour Asian horror cinema;  I  am the (questionably) knowledgeable  Sensei , more than happy to satiate your cinematic appetite. Junji Ito's iconic Uzumaki - does the 2000 Higuchinsky film adaptation do it any justice or should the oeuvres of Ito just be left the hell alone, in a book, where they belong? I love Junji Ito and I want everyone in the world to revere his genius. Surely the endless film and anime adaptations are a sign that others agree with me, right? Yes, but as I said in my recent review of  Nagaiyume , the intricate and nightmarish works of Ito rarely translate well off of the page. Considering their often cosmic and other-worldly style, how can they possibly be replicated in the flesh?  Let's break it down. It's safe to say that we're all familiar by now with the basic premise of Uzumaki.  Sweet young schoolgirl Kirie (Eriko Hatsune) and her gloomy boyfriend S...