The Shelves

Welcome to The Shelves, where you can find all of the weekly music, books, movies, and miscellaneous links I’ve recommended collected into one place!

If anything catches your fancy, click on it and you’ll be taken right to my short impressions.

Have fun perusing my loverly digital aisles; I hope you find something you love!

(please enjoy my top of the line non-symmetrical microsoft paint work)

• Kusunoki Gekijou by AQ! Ishii & Hiroko Taniyama

• Re-Face by MENU

• Dream of Embryo by Funeral Party

• Eutopia by HikkieP

• Super Ball EP by Super Ball

• IT’S NOT FOOD!! by pandagolff

• The French Operation by GIRLS BE

• Jaki Matsuri ‘89 Live by Kengo Iuchi

• Old Age Systematic by NYAI

• 6 Roads by Utena Kobayashi

• Marine Crystal by K. Yoshimatsu

• Houses of Fire by Ignition Block M

• Amputasion by situasion

• Shisha by Ill Bone

• Like a Fable by Shintaro Sakamoto

• Hou-Kai-Kei by Napalm Death Is Dead

• Phant Solo II by Taishi

• E.P by AIR-CON BOOM BOOM ONESAN

• Amu Onna by Mari Hamada

• Hana Furu Hi by Babi

• A Boy by Doji Morita

• The Picture Show of Chronic Deja Vu by Cinema and Boy CQ

• Kazemachi Roman by Happy End

• Osharaka by Oni no Migiude

• room share EP by Car10 / The Guays

• We Are Uchu no Ko by Afrirampo

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• Yokai Hunter by Daijirou Morohoshi (manga)

• Moon Child by Reiko Shimizu (manga)

• Kimagure Robot by Shinichi Hoshi (novel)

• #DRCL midnight children by Shinichi Sakamoto (manga)

• Boogiepop and Others by Kouhei Kadono (novel)

• Sazan and Comet Girl by Yuriko Akase (manga)

• Pure Trance by Junko Mizuno (manga)

• The Decagon House Murders by Yukito Ayatsuji (novel)

• Shijinsou no Satsujin by Masahiro Imamura (novel)

• Getter Robo by Ken Ishikawa (manga)

• Zoo by Otsuichi (novel)

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• Honto ni Atta! Noroi no Video Vol. 1 (dir. Yoshihiro Nakamura, Kenichi Suzuki, 1999)

• Ultra Q The Movie: Legend of the Stars (dir. Akio Jissoji, 1990)

• Labyrinth Romanesque (dir. Shunya Ito, 1988)

• Eternal Heart (dir. Hiroshi Shimizu, 1929)

• Twilights (dir. Tengai Amano, 1994)

• The Tale of Genji (dir. Gisaburo Sugii, 1987)

• Vibrator (dir. Ryuichi Hiroki, 2003)

• The Ghost of Yotsuya (dir. Nobuo Nakagawa, 1959)

• Mondays (dir. Ryo Takebayashi, 2022)

• A Page of Madness (dir. Teinosuke kinugasa, 1926)

• Toward the Terra (dir. Hideo Onchi, 1980)

• Typhoon Club (dir. Shinji Somai, 1985)

• One Day, You Will Reach the Sea (dir. Ryutaro Nakagawa, 2022)

• For My Crushed Right Eye (dir. Toshio Matsumoto, 1969)

• Grass Labyrinth (dir. Shuji Terayama, 1979)

• Small, Slow But Steady (dir. Sho Miyake, 2022)

• Alien Artist (dir. Seiyo Hotani, 2022)

• The Moon (dir. Takashi Ito, 1994)

• Bound for the Fields, the Mountains, and the Seacoast (dir. Nobuhiko Obayashi, 1986)

• Luminous Woman (dir. Shinji Somai, 1987)

• Gonin (dir. Takashi Ishii, 1995)

• When Twilight Draws Near (dir. Akio Jissoji, 1969)

• Peach Baby Oil (dir. Junko Wada, 1995)

• Escaflowne: The Movie (dir. Kazuki Akane, 2000)

• Gerorisuto (dir. Shozin Fukui, 1986)

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• a great vid about Rei Ayanami-like characters

• a very good essay about military propaganda in media (esp w/r/t Ace Combat)

• a wildly deep dive into Final Fantasy X's fashion

• an interview with one of Japan’s greatest living writers

• aesthetic 80s vid of touge racing (aka mountain drifting, aka real-life Initial D)

• the most interesting (aka good) Best Anime Movie list I’ve seen

• a great discussion about BL (boys love) history in Asia

• a killer in-depth vid on my beloved Gridman

• an extremely detailed history of a legendary anime studio (Mushi Pro)

• a deep dive into the genre history of Mr. Fate/Stay Night himself, Kinoko Nasu

• the ultimate guide to good yuri media (with enough recs to keep you busy for life)

• a super fun vid about 2D PS1 games

• the first ep of my friend’s very fun book podcast, the Bog Frog Book Pod

• a thematic exploration of the ever-evolving Castlevania series

• an awesome post about Japanese landscape critical theory

• Anne Watanabe and Hikaru Utada cooking some grub together and chatting

• an essay about Mamoru Oshii’s singular Gozenso-sama Banbanzai!

• the incredible history of the very first eroge (erotic game) ever made.

• a video about Tengai Makyou ZIRIA, a foundational (and absolutely banging) RPG

• a huge interview with legendary animator Toshiyuki Inoue about The Boy and the Heron

• a monumental video about Gundam, dress, and the body

• an awesome (and free!) zine covering some recent Japanese indie games

• the first in an amazing (and official) deep in the weeds lecture series about the history of Sega hardware

• an interview with four essential anime directors who got their start in Tatsunoko Pro

• an English tokusatsu fanzine from 1996

• an article I wrote for PC Gamer about a new Vampire Survivors-like

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(images from, in descending order, Read or Die, Ongaku, Whisper of the Heart, End of Evangelion, and Roujin Z)