Days at the Morisaki Bookshop – When We Find Ourselves Again Among Old Books
After her boyfriend announces he’s marrying someone else, twenty-five-year-old Takako quits her job and takes…
Days at the Morisaki Bookshop – When We Find Ourselves Again Among Old Books
After her boyfriend announces he’s marrying someone else, twenty-five-year-old Takako quits her job and takes up her eccentric uncle Satoru’s offer of the tiny room above his second-hand bookshop in Tokyo’s Jimbocho district. There, among the stacks of old books, at the Saveur coffee shop and in the company of new friends, she slowly rediscovers…
Star Wars Visions (Season 2) – Visions have gone outside of Japan
Season two of Star Wars: Visions hands the universe over to nine studios from nine different countries – Spain, Ireland, Chile, the UK, South Korea, France, India, Japan and South Africa – and every episode carries the DNA of its own culture. The result is a visually varied multivitamin juice: oil-painted animation, stop-motion, hand-drawn work…
Strange Houses – Houses with a Secret You Wouldn’t Want to Uncover
Uketsu’s “Strange Houses” is an atypical blend of crime, mystery, and horror, told almost entirely through dialogue, theories, and the analysis of unusual house plans The novel reads quickly, holds your attention easily, and draws the reader into an investigation whose dark twists aren’t easily predictable, although the second half demands a bit more concentration…
It’s All in the Mind – Stress is the great source of our suffering
It’s All in the Mind The book “It’s All in the Mind” by Greek psychologist Eleftherios Eleftheriadis wins you over with its simple, almost unhurried approach, guiding the reader through topics of stress, phobias, panic attacks, and obsessive thoughts – without ever resorting to a lecturing tone. The book’s central message is powerful and liberating…
Star Wars Tales – Small stories with big consequences
Star Wars Tales “I am no Jedi.” – Ahsoka Tano “Star Wars Tales” is a charming animated anthology of short stories set within the existing Star Wars universe, following important but often less explored characters such as Ahsoka Tano, Count Dooku, Morgan Elsbeth, Barriss Offee, Asajj Ventress, and Cad Bane. Created under the guidance of…
Bruce Lee: Fighting Spirit – Behind the Legend, a Man
Bruce Lee: Fighting Spirit – Behind the Legend, a Man Bruce Thomas doesn’t build the myth in this biography – he dismantles it, revealing a man who was as obsessed and brilliant as he was contradictory and fallible. The book follows Lee’s entire life, from his street-fighting days in Hong Kong to the philosophy of…
Mortal Kombat (2021) – Nostalgy is not the replacement for quality
Mortal Kombat (2021) “Mortal Kombat” (2021) only truly works in its first ten and last thirty minutes, with everything in between falling into forgettable mediocrity. The sole genuine highlights are Hiroyuki Sanada and Joe Taslim, whose duels are masterfully executed, while the protagonist Cole Young turns out to be the film’s weakest and most unnecessary…
Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope
Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope is a film that, despite enormous production problems, a modest budget, and widespread pessimism among the crew, emerged as one of the greatest miracles in cinema history. With a young, inexperienced cast and a great deal of improvisation, Lucas…
The Gift of Not Belonging
The Gift of Not Belonging “The Gift of Not Belonging” by Rami Kaminski introduces the otrovert as a personality type equal in standing to introverts and extroverts – a person who can fit into any social group, yet never feels a genuine inner need to belong. The book, divided into four parts, guides the reader…
Maneki-Neko
Maneki-Neko “Maneki-Neko: The Japanese Book of Lucky Destiny” by Nobuo Suzuki is not a typical self-help book, but rather a cultural guide through the Japanese (and broader Asian) perspective on happiness, with the maneki-neko cat as its central metaphor The book is organized as a collection of short chapters on various symbols and rituals of…
