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Naho and Hitomi are living in the rural Japanese town of Ibaraki and are more than just classmates. As Naho gets the chance to fulfill her dream to become a K-Pop Idol in Korea, the talent agency forces the 16-year-old to cut ties with her girlfriend. Set back by Naho’s ambitions, Hitomi tries to find ways to deal with her feelings. Continuing their lives in two different worlds, Hitomi is able to transition the grief into a loveable act of farewell that leaves both of them on good terms.

Farewell, Saranghae, Farewell is screening at Osaka Asian Film Festival

Korean director Sunhye Hong, who won the grand prize at the Japan New Screenplay Competition for the feature screenplay “Mountain Fuji is Watching Us”, delivers a heartfelt love story about the hardships of growing up. The graduate of Japan Institute of Moving Image portrays the cold mechanism of the K-Pop...

This is the first feature film by Yusuke Taki, who has worked on big TV dramas like “My Dear Exes” (2021) or “Land of Tanabata” (2024) before. For his debut, he teamed up with veteran scriptwriter Yuji Sakamoto. He is known as the author of the cult series “Tokyo Love Story” (1991), which just recently celebrated a re-release on Netflix, and was awarded with the screenplay award at Cannes for Koreeda’s “Monster” (2023). According to the streaming service, “In Love and Deep Water” is somewhat like the cornerstone of a long-term cooperation between Sakamoto and Netflix with more exclusive titles to follow.

Suguru Ubukata, played by Ryo Yoshizawa (“Bleach” 2018), is the butler on the luxury cruise ship Msc Bellissima, where he ensures the passengers’ comfort. However, he faces challenges when Chizuru Banjaku, portrayed by Aoi Miyazaki (“Eureka” 2000) accuses his girlfriend of cheating and a murder occurs onboard. With multiple witnesses refusing to speak,...

Netflix is getting deeper into business with hit-making Japanese producer Aki Isoyama. The streamer revealed Thursday that it has signed an exclusive agreement to produce and distribute new series and films from Isoyama over the next five years. The deal continues Netflix’s increasingly bullish investments in the Japanese content space.

Isoyama has been behind some of Netflix’s most successful Japanese drama titles of late. She executive produced the time-traveling comedy Extremely Inappropriate!, which topped Netflix’s most-watched list in Japan for three weeks this spring. The story of a single father who is mysteriously transported from 1986 to the present day, the series became something of a social phenomenon in Japan, tapping into the country’s mixed feelings over its growing embrace of international progressive ideals. The lighthearted show takes its title from the misplaced lead character’s frequently retrograde behavior — crude remarks, spanking kids, cigarette smoking everywhere — which...

Netflix has announced an exclusive partnership with Japanese producer Isoyama Aki. Starting this month, Netflix will exclusively produce and distribute new series and films by Isoyama for the next five years.

Her most recent hit, the time-traveling comedy “Extremely Inappropriate!,” topped Netflix’s most-watched list in Japan for three weeks. Last June, Netflix also premiered her “Let’s Get Divorced.” Isoyama produced the comedy-drama series through TBS Sparkle with a screenplay co-written by Kudo Kankuro and Oishi Shizuka.

Isoyama will team up again with screenwriter Kudo for her first title to be produced under the new Netflix deal. Details were not disclosed though the company described it as being in a “never-before-seen style.”

“Netflix offers many kinds of local stories, and I saw this partnership as an opportunity to add more uplifting works from Japan. I want to share a different side of modern Japan beyond period dramas and traditional imagery often seen in foreign films,...

With four TV and film projects in as many years, few filmmakers right now are more prolific than Hirokazu Kore-eda.

The veteran Japanese filmmaker behind titles like the Palme d’Or-winning Shoplifters and Still Walking continued his hot streak after landing his third directing honor from the Asian Academy Sunday night for his last feature, Monster. Last night’s win was Kore-eda’s second consecutive Best Director win at the Asian Film Awards after nabbing the gong with the Korean-language Broker in 2023.

“I’m in a really good spot right now,” Kore-eda told Deadline shortly before picking up the award on Sunday. “I’m not forcing myself at all. I’m constantly working. I have good stamina.” The filmmaker told us that he has no intentions of slowing down.

“I’m currently working on a streaming drama I shot last autumn. I’m in the editing phase for that now,...

Netflix has revealed that its Japanese slate for the year ahead includes three films and a seven new and returning series.

The features include Drawing Closer by Takahiro Miki, a director well-known for romantic dramas such as Love Me, Love Me Not and Your Eyes Tell. It follows a young man with a terminal illness who falls for a woman who is also living on borrowed time. The cast is led by Ren Nagase and Natsuki Deguchi.

It is based on a best-selling novel by Ao Morita and is scripted by Tomoko Yoshida, whose collaborations with Miki go back to...

In Love and Deep Water, directed by Yûsuke Taki, is a romantic thriller shrouded in mystery. The cast includes Ryo Yoshizawa, Aoi Miyazaki, and other efficient actors who have done justice to the plot of the film. The Japanese film introduces Ubukata, an efficient butler on a luxurious cruise, and a passenger, Chizuru Banjaku. The way they gradually develop feelings for each other on their quest to resolve a mystery is unexpected. Will they be able to detangle their love lives? Will they be able to resolve the murder that takes place on the cruise? Is it true that love brings one closer to death? A lot of mysteries are yet to be unfolded!

Spoilers Ahead

What Message Does Chizuru Convey To Ubukata?

Ubukata, a skilled butler, is seen efficiently handling all the tantrums of the passengers on the cruise. His life changes when Chizuru Banjaku, a mysterious lady, gets on board.

“In Love and Deep Water” is a movie directed by Yûsuke Taki, and starring Ryo Yoshizawa, Aoi Miyazaki, and Yoh Yoshida.

In Love and Deep Water

It could have been another murder story, reminiscent of Agatha Christie’s style, set on a ship, one of those movies where a detective eats a lot while solving a crime. But no, because “In Love and Deep Water” plays with that premise and turns it around to immerse us in a delightful tale of love, crime, and comedy.

A sophisticated comedy coming all the way from Japan, available on Netflix this Thursday.

It’s a mystery comedy where the crime is clear and all we have to solve is… the enigma of love.

Review of “In Love and Deep Water”

Since we were kids, we have grown up with fantastic stories of cruises where two people find love or maybe rediscover it. Whether...

The latest feature from David Fincher, a big-budget drama series from Steven Knight and Shawn Levy, and an Oscar hopeful starring Annette Bening and Jodie Foster are among the standout new additions hitting Netflix in November.

With The Killer, Fincher reteams with Seven writer Andrew Kevin Walker to adapt the graphic novel written by Alexis Nolent. The film, which premiered at the Venice Film Festival this year and debuts on Netflix on Nov. 10, stars Michael Fassbender as a shadowy unnamed assassin and features a cast that includes Arliss Howard, Charles Parnell, Gabriel Polanco, Kerry O’Malley, Emiliano Pernía, Sala Baker, Sophie Charlotte and Tilda Swinton.

The Hollywood Reporter‘s review of The Killer described the film as “a satisfyingly retro, location-hopping genre exercise with fisticuffs, gadgets (albeit ones bought from Amazon) and smooth-talking antagonists that all plays like a tongue-in-cheek spoof of James Bond movies.”

All the Light We Cannot See...

Netflix’s slate for November 2023 has much to offer as the transition from Halloween to Thanksgiving and eventually Christmas begins. Many favorite movies such as Jennifer Garner’s “13 Going on 30” and “The Big Lebowski” arrive Nov. 1, while Garner’s new movie “The Family Switch” rounds out the month when it arrives on the streamer Nov. 30. Other can’t-miss film arrivals on November first include “Whiplash,” “Sixteen Candles,” “The Social Network” and “Pitch Perfect.”

Several new seasons of Netflix shows arrive this month as well, the most highly anticipated of which might be “The Crown” Season 6 Part 1. The first half of the final season of the royal drama series arrives Nov. 16. The limited series adaptation of “All the Light We Cannot See” by Shawn Levy and Steven Knight launches November 2. Levy directed all four episodes of the epic drama series, adapted from the Pulitzer prize-winning novel by Anthony Doerr.