I love Japanese movies - but how???
September 7, 2013 12:50 AM Subscribe
How can we, in Australia, get access to Japanese films (with English subtitles)? Is there a Japanese movie place in Sydney? We're happy to pay, stream, download, and maybe even buy... but I'm not finding much. Any hints?
Help! and Thank you!
My husband and I love Japanese film, and want to watch more of it. We lived in Japan for awhile, and occasionally have found things randomly at the rental shop or a film festival; I got to see Righting the Girl Ship* on a JetStar flight, etc... My list is getting longer - how can we find access to Japanese movies?
(Sub-question: Righting the Girl Ship is based on a comic... but what comic? Can I get that somehow?)
Currently on my list:
Patisserie Coin De Rue (www.coin-de-rue-movie.com)
Rico's Restaurant
Bread of Happiness
Glasses
Rent-a-cat
I Wish by koreeda Hirokazu http://kiseki.gaga.ne.jp/
The Wolf Children Ame & Yuki
The Borrower Arrietty
My husband and I love Japanese film, and want to watch more of it. We lived in Japan for awhile, and occasionally have found things randomly at the rental shop or a film festival; I got to see Righting the Girl Ship* on a JetStar flight, etc... My list is getting longer - how can we find access to Japanese movies?
(Sub-question: Righting the Girl Ship is based on a comic... but what comic? Can I get that somehow?)
Currently on my list:
Patisserie Coin De Rue (www.coin-de-rue-movie.com)
Rico's Restaurant
Bread of Happiness
Glasses
Rent-a-cat
I Wish by koreeda Hirokazu http://kiseki.gaga.ne.jp/
The Wolf Children Ame & Yuki
The Borrower Arrietty
Best answer: Try this place maybe, could be a tad expensive though. http://www.media-asia.com.au/
posted by niruniru at 1:43 AM on September 7, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by niruniru at 1:43 AM on September 7, 2013 [1 favorite]
You've picked some movies that have no English release. You can check whether a movie generally has an English release via IMDB. You'd be pretty hard pressed to find any of those movies in English language if they haven't got an official English release of some sort. Unless you wanna go the fansub route, as Loony mentions. But apart from being illegal, not everything is translated.
Your best bet for the ones not released in NA or AU are the Singapore/Malaysian and Hong Kong markets, which sometimes have English subtitle options. The best place I know of for buying those is Yes Asia -- but sometimes they lack stock, and/or the subtitles are awful.
If it has an official North American release, Amazon is good.
As for renting-- official releases that have been released in Australia-- you can get them from somewhere like Quickflix or Big Pond Movies. I've used both, and they're good; I prefer Quickflix though. They tend to have the more obscure stuff.
Keep in mind, the list of official releases for the Australian market is pretty low, so... most of those you probably won't find.
posted by Dimes at 1:44 AM on September 7, 2013
Your best bet for the ones not released in NA or AU are the Singapore/Malaysian and Hong Kong markets, which sometimes have English subtitle options. The best place I know of for buying those is Yes Asia -- but sometimes they lack stock, and/or the subtitles are awful.
If it has an official North American release, Amazon is good.
As for renting-- official releases that have been released in Australia-- you can get them from somewhere like Quickflix or Big Pond Movies. I've used both, and they're good; I prefer Quickflix though. They tend to have the more obscure stuff.
Keep in mind, the list of official releases for the Australian market is pretty low, so... most of those you probably won't find.
posted by Dimes at 1:44 AM on September 7, 2013
Best answer: You could try this library. I'm not sure they'll have subtitled movies but it's a start. Or you can wait to see what they are screening at their film festival in November.
I'd also check universities for Japanese film or cultural clubs. They do tend to favour manga and anime from what I've seen rather than umm, non anime (I can't even think of the word right now). ANU is a bit further away but have a strong Asian studies department, so likely to have some active clubs, and you might find someone who can put you on to what you need.
posted by Trivia Newton John at 2:04 AM on September 7, 2013
I'd also check universities for Japanese film or cultural clubs. They do tend to favour manga and anime from what I've seen rather than umm, non anime (I can't even think of the word right now). ANU is a bit further away but have a strong Asian studies department, so likely to have some active clubs, and you might find someone who can put you on to what you need.
posted by Trivia Newton John at 2:04 AM on September 7, 2013
Madman distributes quite a few Asian films in Australia. Here's their list of films from Japan. I couldn't see the ones you were after, but perhaps you'll find something else you'd enjoy.
The Dendy sometimes shows Japanese films, too.
posted by Georgina at 3:19 AM on September 7, 2013
The Dendy sometimes shows Japanese films, too.
posted by Georgina at 3:19 AM on September 7, 2013
Arrietty is available at JB and presumably other stores too. Madman in general release a lot of Japanese stuff, though may not be what you're after.
posted by Athanassiel at 4:30 AM on September 7, 2013
posted by Athanassiel at 4:30 AM on September 7, 2013
Re your sub-question, that movie is based on a manga called Su-chan by Miri Masuda (link to Amazon Japan).
Good luck finding those movies (I like Naoko Ogigami, too! Esp Kamome Diner). Except for the Studio Ghibli and the Mamoru Hosoda animations, though, you might have trouble finding decently subbed ones.
Oh, and the English title for Shokudo Katatsumuri is "Rinco's Restaurant" for those others who might want to look for it.
posted by misozaki at 4:59 PM on September 7, 2013
Good luck finding those movies (I like Naoko Ogigami, too! Esp Kamome Diner). Except for the Studio Ghibli and the Mamoru Hosoda animations, though, you might have trouble finding decently subbed ones.
Oh, and the English title for Shokudo Katatsumuri is "Rinco's Restaurant" for those others who might want to look for it.
posted by misozaki at 4:59 PM on September 7, 2013
This thread is closed to new comments.
You might find Chinese versions of some of the movies with English subtitles (again, I question the quality) on sites like Yesasia or CD Japan, but probably not many. Also, depending on your DVD player region, you may need to buy a region-free player to actually play those.
I'm afraid the easiest solution may be to study Japanese.
Of course, someone actually from Sydney may have more helpful answers for you.
(Righting the Girl Ship is, according to CD Japan, based on a yon-koma (four panels) manga called Su-chan Mai-chan Sawako-san.)
posted by LoonyLovegood at 1:28 AM on September 7, 2013