The best Kirin Kiki’s romance movies
If you love cinema, you will share this ranking of the best Kirin Kiki’s movies, although you may have ordered them differently. In any case, we hope you love it and with a little luck discovering a movie that you still don’t know about Kirin Kiki.
Miss Lonely
7.3/10
A lonely high schooler suddenly meets the love of his life out of thin air. Is she a real person or a figment of his imagination?
Tokyo Tower
6.1/10
Toru Kojima and his friend Koji are young student boys with one thing in common - they both love to date older women. Koji is a playboy with several women, young and older, whereas Toru is a romantic with his heart set on on certain lady.
Hanezu
6.6/10
Woodwork artist Takumi moves to the small village Asuka in Nara Prefecture. He remodels old homes and lives a peaceful existence with nature. Takumi then meets Kayoko, a woman who went to the same school as Takumi. Kayoko is fascinated with the color crimson. She dyes scarves with the color of hanezu. Kayoko lives with boyfriend Tetsuya, who works as an editor of a PR magazine. They live together. Soon, Kayoko falls in love with Takumi.
Two Portraits of MIYAGINO
5.8/10
In Edo-era Japan, a ukiyo-e artist languishes in his master’s shadow. Creatively stifled, he finds consolation in the company of a prostitute, and becomes entangled in a love triangle. A mystery emerges involving two portraits and the sudden disappearance of the artist Sharaku. Helmed by Cannes-selected director Tatsuji Yamazaki, the film employs kabuki-inspired sequences and stylised sets.
The Mystery of Rampo
6.6/10
Edogawa Rampo is a writer whose latest work is censored by the government, deemed too disturbing and injurious to the public to be allowed to be published. However, after burning his drafts, his publisher shows him a newspaper with an account of events just like his forbidden story. As the film progresses, fantasy and reality intermingle in a tale that draws heavily on influences from Poe and Stoker's Dracula. The film's strongly Expressionistic direction skillfully combines a variety of media (animation, computer-generated imagery, grainy black-and-white fast film stock, color negatives) for artistic effect.
Koto—The Lake of Tears
7.6/10
A touching story following young shamisen string maker, Saku. Beautiful Saku moves to Lake Yogo, known for its production of quality shamisen strings, only to find her peaceful life turned upside down when a master musician takes personal interest in her.
The Wild Daisy
6.2/10
Saito Masao reminisces on the days of his youth more than 50 years ago and his forbidden love of his older cousin Tamiko. When he was 15, Tamiko moved in to take care of his sickly mother. The two quickly fell in love with each other but were inevitably forced by their family to live separate lives.
Toki no kagayaki
Yuka came to work as an intern nurse at a hospital and she met Shunichi again. They were school friends, and she liked him. But, she found out that Shunichi had an osteosarcoma.
Karate Cop
6.3/10
A martial arts master/detective investigates a series of murders and helps a deaf bathhouse attendant, Hisako.
The Sea of Eden
5.8/10
Nanjo, a new teacher at a girls' high school, unwittingly becomes the object of gossip when he buys underwear for Shimizu and spends his vacation with a female teacher. It turns out that Nanjo and Shimizu have fallen in love.
Fireworks, Ferris Wheels and Love
6.4/10
Morihara was left a widower 8 years ago when his wife passed away. He attends his first mixer party under the guidance of his daughter. There he meets Fumika and starts conversation. Morihara is too shy to show his love since he is much older than Fumika. On learning that Fumika goes to England to study about English Tea, Morihara rushes to the airport but his effort is in vain. He takes out his dead wife's photo and consults her: "I love Fumika, what should I do?"
Yume-Chiyo
6.9/10
Yumechiyo, a geisha house madam recently diagnosed with a terminal illness, yearns to do something constructive with the little time she has left. Through her responsibility lies in taking care of her girls, she finds purpose in providing a man innocent of a false murder charge and in the process discovers love for the first time in his arms.
Tokyo Marigold
6.7/10
Eriko – lonely, aimless and self-absorbed – falls for Tamura. Despite knowing that he is waiting for his girlfriend to return from overseas, she requests to enter into a relationship with him for just one year.
Teacher's suitcase
Tsukiko is in her late 30s and living alone when one night she happens to meet one of her former high school teachers, 'Sensei', in a bar. He is at least thirty years her senior, retired and, she presumes, a widower. After this initial encounter, the pair continue to meet occasionally to share food and drink sake, and as the seasons pass - from spring cherry blossom to autumnal mushrooms - Tsukiko and Sensei come to develop a hesitant intimacy which tilts awkwardly and poignantly into love.
