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“Monthly in the Garden with my Landlord” vol. 2 official synopsis from Yen Press: “Asako has finally settled into life sharing a house with Miyako, her landlord and former leader of the popular idol group Elm. Now fully unpacked, Asako is ready for the next step in making her dream home a reality—buying her first-ever potted plant! But their carefree days are interrupted when Miyako's unexpected feelings for her tenant begin to strain their relationship, and the shocking news of Elm's comeback stirs up her past trauma…Will the two be able to return to the peaceful times they once shared?”

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Read our review of volume one of Monthly in the Garden with my Landlord first

Including Yodokawa's “Monthly in the Garden with my Landlord” in our best manga of 2023 list off of just one volume may have seemed presumptuous,...

The history of Japan and South Korea has brought the two countries together in a variety of areas, not just in the political realm but in the entertainment sphere as well. The multitude of films in a variety of genres and styles depicting animosity between the two countries using real-world scenarios is too vast to name, but one of the more overlooked entries is an acclaimed and highly-stylized horror from writer/director brothers Jung Sik and Jung Bum-shik, originally titled “Gidam” but known more commonly as “Epitaph.”

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After he finds a photo album, Dr. Park Jung-nam (Jin Goo) triggers memories of his life dating back to his days as an intern at the Ansaeng Hospital. In 1942, as a young medical intern, Jung-nam’s arranged marriage ended when his fiancée, whom he had never met, committed suicide. Later assigned...

Interview: Daniel Kasman | Video: Kurt WalkerDistinctly anomalous in the competition of the Cannes Film Festival this year was Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s Asako I & II: in the red carpet sheen of that gala world, its modest production and unshowy demeanor suggested a more appropriate venue in the city might be the Directors’ Fortnight, where the pretense towards grandiosity is less a requirement and subtlety is given the patience to be discovered. Hamaguchi’s film, the director’s follow-up to the much acclaimed but still little seen Happy Hour (2015), feels distinctly independent and off-kilter, made in a world alternative to the festival’s Japanese arthouse staple, Hirokazu Kore-eda, whose new film Shoplifters premiered the same day in the same section and went on to win the Palme d'Or. Kore-eda’s textures of warm colorwork and values of gentle humanism stalwart against sinister social contexts seemed more appropriate to what Cannes desires to...

At its start, the 2018 Cannes Film Festival wasn’t perceived as a big market for buyers, but many U.S. distributors came home happy: A24 acquired Gaspar Noé’s psychedelic dance thriller “Climax,” and Neon scored fantastical Un Certain Regard winner “Border.” Sony Pictures Classics picked up Lebanese crowdpleaser “Capernaum,” while Magnolia Pictures landed Palme d’Or winner “Shoplifters.” Even Jean-Luc Godard’s unclassifiable experimental essay film “The Image Book” found a home, with Kino Lorber, and the festival closed out with Netflix picking up prize winners “Happy as Lazzaro” and “Girl.”

Still, there were plenty of Cannes highlights that ended the festival with their futures uncertain. Here are some of our favorites that deserve to get out there. So long as buyers are still keen on acquiring foreign language films, they might want to consider these options.

“Asako I + II”

Smart indie distributors should be celebrating the fact that...