Berserk Manga/Anime series (Japan, 1997-1998)

Guts was brought up by a mercenary group since birth. After killing his guardian in self-defense, he runs away. Years later, he encounters Griffith and The Band of the Hawk. The Hawks fight for the King of Midland, and after winning the 100-year war against the neighboring Tudor, they become the King's personal guard. However, once they reach the top, things take a turn for the worse.

Here's an unusual recommendation, coming from this site. A series, instead of a film is what's up today. Now, don't worry, this will most likely be a one-time thing only but I feel I just can't ignore such a huge chunk of a Japanese gemstone. 

Berserk started as a manga series in 1989 and is still running today (if you can believe that). It's set in a medieval high fantasy world which gradually becomes a more nightmarish place and focuses on Guts, a mercenary with a sword twice the size of the soldiers he's chopping down with it. A 25-episode anime series was adapted in 1997, and covered most of the series first story arc. That's where you'll most likely get hooked, and then get your hands on the manga and the three animated films: The Egg of the King (2012), The Battle for Doldrey (2012) and Descent (2013), which I've covered here before.

The characters are one of Berserk's biggest strengths. After multiple viewings of the anime and readings of the manga, The Band of the Hawk starts to feel like your own comrades. The leader Griffith, a beautiful young man who's just as smart and cunning as he is loyal to his friends. Casca, a petite woman but one of the best fighters The Hawk's ever had, and Judeau, a master of knives and wits. The list goes on, but the point is that these are amazing characters you'll fall in love with. 

Also one of my favorite aspects of the series is how Guts is just a human being who's up against seemingly unbeatable odds. While the towering tentacle demons and colossal monstrosities are all coming down on him, Guts only have his trademark sword to fight them with. Berserk has also inspired other high fantasy work, the hardcore and now hugely popular 2011 video game Dark Souls for example have tons in common with the series. What it all comes down to is that it's a tour de force of raw violence and emotions, disgusting monster slaying and a powerful struggle for the fate of mankind, which starts with just a small band of ambitious mercenaries but grows infinitely larger until it reaches beings residing in an existence far from our own. 

Genre: Animation/Action/Fantasy

Bilocation (Japan, 2013)

Shinobu Takamura is an aspiring painter. One day, she is accused of using counterfeit money. Shinobu is confused by the allegation, because she never did such a thing and was at home when the crime occurred. Police Officer Kanou then appears and takes her to a place. When they get there, a group of people are already gathered. All of the people there are concerned over a doppelganger like existence that looks just like them and acts like them. They call that existence "bilocation".

Bilocation is a film with an interesting concept: what if there could exist an exact clone of yourself? What would you do if you met this person? Bilocation is about individuals who all have a mirrored self walking around. It reminds me a great lot of the 2014 film Enemy, starring Jake Gyllenhaal (though Bilocation came out first). It has been labeled as a true horror film, though I can't really stand behind that, but it is disturbing from time to time. A film worth seeing, no doubt.

Genre: Thriller

Warm Water Under a Red Bridge (Japan, 2001)

Taro, an old man who dies homeless in Tokyo has told Yosuke, a weak-willed out-of-work salaryman about a golden statue that he left years ago in a house by the sea in Noto. Yosuke goes and he's captivated by Saeko, a young women who lives in the house where Taro left the statue. She has a strange affliction: water builds up in her and she can only vent it by wicked acts, such as shoplifting, or, more powerfully, through orgasm. Yosuke obliges, the water gives him life, as well as the plants and fish it reaches.

I know I'm kinda late to the party with this one, but my first viewing actually predates this blog. So, yeah. Warm Water... has a sort of unusual plot. It's nasty erotic but also comical. Famous actor Koji Yakusho (Shall We Dance?, Pulse) plays the lead role with ease and  usual charisma. You may know the director, Shohei Imamura, as the man behind great films such as Black Rain (1989) and The Eel (1997). Great film. Deliciously weird, but great. 

Genre: Drama

Fatal Frame (Japan, 2014)

Michi, a student in a conservative all-girls school, must resolve the mysterious disappearances and deaths of her fellow classmates after they found an intriguing but haunting photo of Aya, the best singer of her class, who apparently is being held locked in her room, physically but not spiritually. A death curse is placed to anyone who sees Aya's photo, which seems to be taken with a "Camera Obscura". Michi, with the help of her photography skills, might stop it before the spirit of Aya takes her life too and the curse continues to spread in- and outside the school.

Here's an interesting one. Fatal Frame is a movie which I've been looking forward to seeing for quite a while now. Mostly because it's based on a very creepy series of horror video games also titled Fatal Frame. Here's the thing, I was never expecting anything more than some cheap thrills and constant jump-scares. Films based on video games seldom amount to anything amazing, but what I got was something completely different.

Fatal Frame is completely void of jump-scares and lame attempts at trying to make the viewer have a heart attack. Instead, it's a much more ambitious film which goes all-in on atmosphere and story. One of the films best aspects are the visuals. The cinematography and photo are just a wonder to behold, and more than once I was taken back at how skillfully shot this film is. One of the reasons for this could be that the director, Mari Asato, studied under two famous horror film makers: scriptwriter Hiroshi Takahashi ("Ring"), and Kiyoshi Kurosawa ("Cure"). Seems like that could only lead to great things.

One review I read for Fatal Frame complained that it wasn't scary, and while that is somewhat true, it's a very minor complaint when seeing how this film pretty much nails everything else. It actually reminds me of Kiyoshi Kurosawa in some ways, where the horror rarely gets in your face but is still always present. And to succeed with that is a much harder thing to do than just have a screaming ghost pop out every ten minutes, which literally was what I expected the film to do. So, all in all, Fatal Frame is a film done with extreme care and an unexpectedly more serious take on the source material while also being a beautiful horror story that doesn't insult your intellect. 

Genre: Horror

When Marnie Was There (Japan, 2014)

A young girl is sent to the country for health reasons, where she meets an unlikely friend in the form of Marnie, a young girl with flowing blonde hair. As the friendship unravels it is possible that Marnie has closer ties to the protagonist than we might expect.

When Marnie Was There is a sad movie for a lot of reasons. First, it's a sweet and mature story about two young girls who become each others best friends, but underneath the innocent relationship lies a far deeper and tragic bond between them. Secondly, it is animation house Studio Ghibli's (Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke) last film before taking a very long hiatus, or even stop making films altogether. Very sad indeed. A great film from some of the best minds in the animation industry.

Genre: Animation/Drama