Japan
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Black Lizard (1962)
黒蜥蜴 WikiData IMDb TMDB
Umetsugu Inoue actor: Machiko Kyō / Minoru Ōki …
other title: Le Lézard Noir / 黒蜥蜴 …
The cunning detective Akeichi must foil a kidnapping plot orchestrated by the notorious jewel thief known as Black Lizard.
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Gappa, the Triphibian Monster (1967)
大巨獣ガッパ
Haruyasu Noguchi actor: Tamio Kawachi / Yōko Yamamoto …
other title: Gappa - Il mostro che minaccia il mondo / Gappa - Invasion der fliegenden Bestien …
An expedition in the South Pacific lands on a tropical island where the natives worship the mysterious deity Gappa. An earthquake opens up an underground cavern and a baby reptile is discovered inside. The natives warn the foreigners to leave the hatching alone, but they don't listen and take it back to a zoo in Japan. Soon after, moma and papa Gappa start smashing Tokyo looking for their kidnapped child.
Watched
June 15, 2026
Big budget kaiju movie full of tropes, but maybe originated some of them?

Watched in #MonsterMiru watch party on Mastodon after #Monsterdon
Kaiju WatchParty 1960s MonsterMiru Japan
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Godzilla (1954)
ゴジラ
★ 8.7 7 ratings
Ishirō Honda actor: Akira Takarada / Momoko Kôchi …
other title: O Monstro do Oceano Pacífico / Godzilla, Japón bajo el terror del monstruo …
Japan is thrown into a panic after several ships are sunk near Odo Island. An expedition to the island led by Dr. Kyohei Yamane soon discover something far more devastating than imagined in the form of a 50 meter tall monster whom the natives call Gojira. Now the monster begins a rampage that threatens to destroy not only Japan, but the rest of the world as well.
Watched
June 8, 2026
Surprisingly serious and dark origin for a franchise that has taken varying paths over the years.

Watched in #ReMonsterdon watch party on Mastodon.
WatchParty Kaiju Japan Monster Tokusatsu
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Tokyo Story (1953)
東京物語
★ 9.1 9 ratings
Yasujirō Ozu actor: Chishū Ryū / Chieko Higashiyama …
other title: Viaggio a Tokyo / Viagem a Tóquio …
The elderly Shukishi and his wife, Tomi, take the long journey from their small seaside village to visit their adult children in Tokyo. Their elder son, Koichi, a doctor, and their daughter, Shige, a hairdresser, don't have much time to spend with their aged parents, and so it falls to Noriko, the widow of their younger son who was killed in the war, to keep her in-laws company.
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Himizu (2012)
ヒミズ
Sion Sono actor: Shōta Sometani / Tetsu Watanabe …
other title: Himizu - Dein Schicksal ist vorbestimmt / ヒミズ
Two 14-year-olds from troubled, abusive homes come together sharing misery and pain. In the aftermath of an earthquake, the classmates learn how to survive while relying on one another for emotional and physical support.
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Rebirth of Mothra (1996)
モスラ WikiData IMDb TMDB
Okihiro Yoneda actor: Megumi Kobayashi / Sayaka Yamaguchi …
other title: Mothra - Das Siegel der Elias / モスラ …
A new Mothra takes to the air and battles against Desghidorah to save all of humanity.
Watched
May 25, 2026
I never expected a silly little monster movie for kids to make me *care* about the beasties. Or have battle scenes better than 90% of the action movies I've watched.

Watched in the #ReMonsterdon watch party on Mastodon.
Japan Monster ReMonsterdon Mothra WatchParty
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A Samurai in Time (2024)
侍タイムスリッパー WikiData IMDb NeoDB
★ 8.2 6 ratings
Junichi Yasuda actor: Makiya Yamaguchi / Norimasa Fuke …
other title: 侍タイムスリッパー
A samurai who gets hit by lightning wakes up to find himself on a film set in the present day and starts to work as an extra on samurai films.
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The Big O (1999)
THE ビッグオー Season 1 part of TV Series: The Big O
Kazuyoshi Katayama / Akira Yoshimura … actor: Mitsuru Miyamoto / Akiko Yajima …
Forty years ago, the minds of Paradigm City's inhabitants were wiped clean of all recollections of the past. Now, ruled by a powerful corporation and cut off from the rest of the world by desolate wastelands, Paradigm has become a virtual police state where Negotiators like Roger Smith keep the wheels of progress, commerce, and society turning.
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Lady Snowblood (1973)
修羅雪姫
★ 8.2 17 ratings
Toshiya Fujita actor: Meiko Kaji / Toshio Kurosawa …
other title: Lady Snowblood: Blizzard from the Netherworld / 修羅雪姫 …
Yuki's family is nearly wiped out before she is born due to the machinations of a band of criminals. These criminals kidnap and brutalize her mother but leave her alive. Later her mother ends up in prison with only revenge to keep her alive. She creates an instrument for this revenge by purposefully getting pregnant. Yuki never knows the love of a family but only killing and revenge.
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Funky Forest: The First Contact (2005)
ナイスの森〜The First Contact〜 WikiData IMDb TMDB Skybridge
Shunichiro Miki / Katsuhito Ishii … actor: Susumu Terajima / Tadanobu Asano …
other title: Funky Forest - The First Contact / Funky Forest : The First Contact …
An outrageous collection of surreal, short attention span non-sequiturs largely revolving around Guitar Brother, his randy older sibling, and the pair's portly Caucasian brother.
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The Bodyguard (1973)
ボディガード牙 WikiData IMDb TMDB
Ryuichi Takamori actor: Sonny Chiba / Mari Atsumi …
other title: Kiba, der Leibwächter - Seine Rechte mäht wie eine Sense / Le garde du corps …
Karate master and anti-drug vigilante Chiba returns to his home in Japan, where he holds a press conference announcing his intention to wipe out the nation's drug industry. He also offers his services as a bodyguard to anyone who is willing to come forward and provide information about the drug lords' activities. He is soon approached by a mysterious woman claiming to have important information and asking for Chiba's protection. She seems to be legitimate, but is she really what she appears to be?
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Harakiri (1962)
切腹
★ 9.3 18 ratings
Masaki Kobayashi actor: Tatsuya Nakadai / Akira Ishihama …
other title: Haraquiri / 切腹 …
Down-on-his-luck veteran Tsugumo Hanshirō enters the courtyard of the prosperous House of Iyi. Unemployed, and with no family, he hopes to find a place to commit seppuku—and a worthy second to deliver the coup de grâce in his suicide ritual. The senior counselor for the Iyi clan questions the ronin’s resolve and integrity, suspecting Hanshirō of seeking charity rather than an honorable end. What follows is a pair of interlocking stories which lay bare the difference between honor and respect, and promises to examine the legendary foundations of the Samurai code.
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Tokyo Dragon Chef (2020)
TOKYOドラゴン飯店 IMDb TMDB
Yoshihiro Nishimura actor: Yasukaze Motomiya / Yoshiyuki Yamaguchi …
other title: TOKYOドラゴン飯店
Retired Yakuzas open a ramen restaurant and become an overnight sensation, thanks to their recipe developed in prison. But a mysterious upstart gang is taking down every Yakuza family one by one, drawing the chefs back into the gangland underworld once more!
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Ultraman (1966)
ウルトラマン Season 1 part of TV Series: Ultraman TMDB Douban NeoDB
Akio Jissoji / Hajime Tsuburaya … actor: Bin Furuya / Susumu Kurobe …
Ultraman is a Japanese tokusatsu science fiction television series produced by Tsuburaya Productions. It is a follow-up to Ultra Q, though not technically a sequel or spin-off. Tsuburaya Productions produced 39 episodes (40, counting the pre-premiere special) that aired on Tokyo Broadcasting System (TBS) and its affiliate stations from July 17, 1966, to April 9, 1967. Its premiere topped the average rating set by Ultra Q and kept climbing each week, marking the show as a success.
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Hot Spring Shark Attack (2024)
温泉シャーク IMDb TMDB NeoDB
Morihito Inoue actor: Shoichiro Akaboshi / Takuya Fujimura …
other title: Hotspring Sharkattack / 温泉シャーク
In a small hot spring town in Japan, a ferocious ancient shark reawakens and begins terrorizing the local hot spring facilities. As the threat escalates, the townspeople band together to protect their beloved town from the menacing predator, leading to a fierce and thrilling battle.
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Demon Pond (1979)
夜叉ヶ池
Masahiro Shinoda actor: Tamasaburō Bandō V / Gō Katō …
other title: L'Étang du démon / El estanque endemoniado …
When a lone traveler stumbles upon a remote, drought-stricken village, he finds himself engulfed in a whirlpool of myth, mystery, and magic: in a nearby pond reside spirits who hold the fate of the town’s inhabitants, including lovers Akira and Yuri, in their hands.
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Throne of Blood (1957)
蜘蛛巣城
★ 8.5 8 ratings
Akira Kurosawa actor: Toshirō Mifune / Isuzu Yamada …
other title: Il trono di sangue / Blodets trone …
Returning to their lord's castle, samurai warriors Washizu and Miki are waylaid by a spirit who predicts their futures. When the first part of the spirit's prophecy comes true, Washizu's scheming wife, Asaji, presses him to speed up the rest of the spirit's prophecy by murdering his lord and usurping his place. Director Akira Kurosawa's resetting of William Shakespeare's "Macbeth" in feudal Japan is one of his most acclaimed films.
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Ghost in the Shell (1995)
GHOST IN THE SHELL
★ 8.6 84 ratings
Mamoru Oshii actor: Atsuko Tanaka / Akio Otsuka …
other title: Ghost in the Shell: Cidade Assombrada / Ghost in The Shell …
In the year 2029, the barriers of our world have been broken down by the net and by cybernetics, but this brings new vulnerability to humans in the form of brain-hacking. When a highly-wanted hacker known as 'The Puppetmaster' begins involving them in politics, Section 9, a group of cybernetically enhanced cops, are called in to investigate and stop the Puppetmaster.