The Wider Asian Cinematic Umbrella

The tour continues

Followers and newcomers will know that my tour of unsung media lacks borders. From the safety and comfort of these great United States, I always look outward. My favorite series, medium notwithstanding, have influences upon influences that go back seemingly for millennia. Max Payne? The squinty Finnish bloke who brought us that combined The Matrix with Norse mythos with John Woo operatic gun-fu. God of War? The title alone should tell you it’s Greek before it clues you in to the ancient tragedies and legacy Claymation Greco-Roman film adaptations of the late ’60s and ’70s. Mortal Kombat? Started as a love-letter to kung-fu films, added a flair of body horror–and being the target audience makes it difficult to understand why parents didn’t like it in the ’90s. Then again, consider what made headlines in the ’90s in America:

Among other things, the first black president did NOT have sexual relations with that woman.

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红衣小女孩

Also known as “The Tag-Along”

Ready to accompany me on another trip through the Asian film industry, dear viewer? Grab your bags, get your supplies, carry an extra flare and meet me at 13:00. The next stop on this tour is the 2015 film “The Tag-Along.”

Known also as Hong Yi Xiao Nü Hai or 红衣小女孩 or The Little Girl in Red

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The Gilded Age of Call of Duty, 2007-12

Revered by many at first glance

The original purpose of this blog was largely to give my most magmatic takes on animanga, TV, video games, and any other media, only to evolve into a comprehensive look at things I like, find interesting, or just plain don’t like. Case in point:

God of War III did better to make me feel guilty about f[growl]king up the world. I hate this game!

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Furuhata Ninzaburo: Japan’s Love Letter to Columbo

Another atypical police detective from another part of the world

It was the first week of April 2026 when I first wrote my piece on Det. Frank Columbo starring the incomparable* Peter Falk.

See this link provided for more details.

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Gran Turismo 4: The Racing Game that Sped Away (T_T)

And what a bloody shame too…

One of the earliest posts on this blog concerned racing games, three of which I ranked in order from great to terrible: Midnight Club 3, Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit 2, and L.A. Rush–with Gran Turismo 4 as the wild card that I would attempt to get back into at a later date due to vague memories of what it entailed.

I made that dedication on April 7, 2023 with this post: Racing Games. Attempts were made to fulfill that promise and short of typing “Results: Inconclusive. Project Cancelled” in bold letters, it’s worth noting what I experienced in the many times I booted the game up on PCSX2 and why it’s better to categorize it as “easy to play, hard to master.”

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Crackpot Conspiracy Theories the Anime

「それは愛じゃない...愛はそれじゃない...」

Those of you who can read Japanese probably see the cold open up there and have a guess at what this week’s topic is on about. If you don’t, this is the next big clue:

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Warriors~! Come Out to Play-ay~!

1979 cult classic film and… 2005 Rockstar published video game?

A low-budget gangster film from the late-1970s has gone on record to achieve the cult classic status it would enjoy some 20 to 40 years later.

The basic premise of The Warriors is that the largest and most powerful gang of hoods, the Gramercy Riffs, calls upon all the gangs in the five boroughs of New York. Gramercy Riffs’ gang leader Cyrus spends the early film urging peace amongst all the gangs, all of whom outnumber the NYPD 3 to 1. Whether this includes corrupt cops and mafiosi isn’t explained, but beating the piss out of one cop would come after first trying to bribe approximately four or five. Four cops take the cash and look elsewhere, the fifth needs knuckle persuasion.

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Chainsaw Chopping Chupa Chups Cheerleader

Yay alliteration

Jetlag is always fun >_>. A regular reader may know by now the entire shtick of this blog. Obscure, niche, underappreciated; this place is the Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends of the entertainment world. And lucky that it is because I’m still discovering stuff that slipped past my radar or was unavailable to me at the time of release. Case in point:

Or more specifcally Lollipop Chainsaw RePOP on Steam

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