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Following his revealing, beautiful, and downright delicious Netflixseries The Makanai: Cooking for the Maiko House (currently with a 93% on Rotten Tomatoes), Palme d'Or-winning director Hirokazu Kore-eda has returned to Netflix with Asura (currently at 100% on Rotten Tomatoes). Haven't heard of it? You're not the only one. While Netflix has arranged deals with some of the greatest creatives of our time, few have received such little public support as Kore-eda. That's surprising, considering Asura is already being touted as not just one of the best shows of 2025, but in Netflix's history.

Rebecca Nicholson of The Guardian calls it "the best Netflix drama in years," writing, "Trust Netflix to make absolutely no fuss whatsoever about Asura, which could be the best drama it has put out in years. The lack of fanfare for the series, quietly released in early January, is genuinely baffling." Meanwhile, Geoffrey Bunting of Slate writes, "2025 is less than a month old,...

Despite the accolades and the occasionally triumphant comments from all over, Koreeda’s films after “Shoplifters” did not reach the level of his masterpieces. “Asura” however, a 7-episode series which was adapted from the 1979 drama titled “Ashura no Gotoku” and is now streaming on Netflix, is definitely masterful. Even more so, it proves that even a material that is soapy in its basis, can become something outstanding in the hands of the Japanese master.

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The story takes place in the end of the 70s and revolves around four sisters. Tsunako is the oldest and a widow who is handling the flower arrangement in a restaurant, while retaining an affair with the owner, Sadaharu, who is running it along with his wife. She also has a son who is away while she also teaches ikebana. Eventually she is fired from the restaurant due to financial issues,...

Netflix's Asura has an impactful story anchored by great performances from its four lead stars: Rie Miyazawa, Machiko Ono, Yu Aoi, and Suzu Hirose.

The seven-part drama series is based on Kuniko Mukōda's novel, Ashura no Gotoku, which revolves around four sisters who discover their father's affair.

As they try their best to hide the heartbreaking secret from their mother, more unnerving details about the sisters' lives are unearthed.

Read full article on The Direct.

Japanese moviemaker Yoshimitsu Morita has died, aged 61.

The award-winning director passed away on Tuesday of acute liver failure at a hospital in Tokyo.

Morita started his movie career in the early 1980s after teaching himself to direct, and he won great critical acclaim for his 1983 film Family Game, which was voted as picture of the year by Japanese critics.

The dark comedy also won him the Directors Guild of Japan New Directors Award.

Throughout his career Morita also picked up the Best Director award for Ashura no Gotoku in 2004, as well as the best director trophy at the 21st Yokohama Film Festival for 1999's Keiho.