Thanks! Yeah the movie is a hard sell outside of some movie nerd subcultures, for sure. The runtime doesn’t help. It’s interesting you mention Antiporno cause I did actually quite like that one – really when it comes to the thematic stuff Sono is doing I like Tag a lot; that one I only disliked in a filmmaking sort of way. It felt… messy to me, not in the good way. But I did write a bit in a review of it as well about women in media being exploited and treated as disposable for male enjoyment. Seems the video essayist and I came to pretty similar conclusions on that one. Thanks for sharing that video, by the way! It was good. Unfortunately I haven’t seen Guilty of Romance yet, but I want to.
2 Likes
According to wikipedia it’s a リアリティ番組, but I don’t know if that is a subset of variety shows or not. 
Hooray, extensive listening thread for 2022! I’m excited to get going.
I haven’t made my table yet, but my goals are:
- listen to 12 audiobooks
- finish 20 dramas raw
- watch 250 variety show episodes (preferably raw but sometimes I can only find things with subtitles)
And then I’m also watching some anime, which I didn’t make a goal for. I think I’ll put it in the table as well just to keep track.
I finished my first drama already, so here goes:
-
最愛
Quality: ★★★★½
Enjoyment: ★★★★½
Ease of understanding: ★★½
In terms of listening comprehension, it was difficult because of dialect, a confusing plot and a lot of characters, and sometimes discussion of business and pharmaceuticals, etc. It was a good enough show that I often resorted to checking the Japanese subtitle file for lines that I didn’t understand raw.
5 Likes
OMG. LOVE 最愛。 I’m only 4 episodes in though 
I have so many series going at once. I also struggled with the dialect a bit but definitely found the business meetings way harder to understand comparatively. My business vocab is bare minimum right now.
I wonder if we’ll end up overlapping on other dramas? I’m currently binging 密告はうたう even though I should be finishing my other series…
5 Likes
Oh nice! 最愛 really pulled me in fast; it was quite the experience from beginning to end. Apparently two of the producers (I think) on 最愛 have a history of working together, and in looking at other things they’ve done I see Unnatural, which I loved as well, so I’m thinking to try to watch some of their other stuff, too.
I am also prone to watching way too many things at once, lol. If we both do that, surely at some point we’ll overlap again! 
1 Like
I haven’t seen Unnatural but just looked and 新井順子 also worked on MIU404 which I enjoyed a lot and there’s a review on MyDramaList suggesting it’s similar due to the same screenwriter (as Unnatural - different than 最愛 though. This lady).
Hope we catch each other on the same series again some time 
1 Like
Great to see some people talking about Japanese movies here. Love Exposure is also one of my favorite movies of all time. Big fan of Sion Sono and Takashi Miike in general.
Also big thanks for the list @Thaisthetic! I usually have no problem with Japanese movies if there are Japanese subtitles, but I find that there’s a big drop off in comprehension when there are no subtitles at all, so I need to work more on my listening in that area (even though there’s no way that I could realistically keep up with posting everything that I watch here).
4 Likes
About audiobooks, any tips on where to find them? I’ve been able to find older stuff that’s copyright free on YouTube, but wondering if there’s any good way to get ahold of newer stuff as well.
3 Likes
Have you checked the Japanese version of Audible? The Japanese Kindle store is really good, maybe audible is decent as well?
3 Likes
Hanty’s Listening Challenge Detailed List
I’ve decided to start on my list on what I plan to listen to here. I’m not planning to tackle everything on the lists, but rather I made them to serve as a reference point of what I’d like to try to get through.
Films (including animated)
| Title | Subtitles | Viewing | Review | Finish Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| After Life (ワンダフルライフ) | None | Rewatch | N/A | N/A |
| After the Storm (海よりもまだ深く) | None | Rewatch | N/A | N/A |
| Chronicles Of My Mother (わが母の記) | None | 1st time | N/A | N/A |
| Departures (おくりびと) | None | Rewatch | N/A | N/A |
| Every Day a Good Day (日日是好日) | None | 1st time | N/A | N/A |
| I Are You, You Am Me (転校生) | None | 1st time | N/A | N/A |
| Kabei, Our Mother (母べえ) | None | Rewatch | N/A | N/A |
| Like Father, Like Son (そして父になる) | None | Rewatch | N/A | N/A |
| Tokyo Tower: Mom & Me, and Sometimes Dad (東京タワー オカンとボクと、時々、オトン) | None | 1st time | N/A | N/A |
| Shoplifters (万引き家族) | None | Rewatch | N/A | N/A |
| Still Walking (歩いても歩いても) | None | Rewatch | N/A | N/A |
| Sweet Bean (あん) | None | Rewatch | N/A | N/A |
| Tokyo Godfathers (東京ゴッドファーザーズ) | None | Rewatch | N/A | N/A |
| Tokyo Sonata (トウキョウソナタ) | None | Rewatch | N/A | N/A |
| Until the Break of Dawn (ツナグ) | None | 1st time | N/A | N/A |
| Wolf Children (おおかみこどもの雨と雪) | None | Rewatch | N/A | N/A |
I’ve seen most of these movies before, but I watched them just before I came to Japan. My public library had a bunch of DVDs available for rent including a great variety of foreign films, so I got to pick up a lot of movies that looked interesting. I’d like to add some Akira Kurosawa films on the list at some point too, but as you might notice, I’m a Kirin Kiki and Kore-eda fan, so they were my main priority for this list. I love when they collaborate in movies, but it’s a terrible shame that they will no longer be able to. 
Live Action Dramas
| Title | Subtitles | Challenge | Viewing | Episode | Review | Start date | Last updated |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hanzawa Naoki (半沢直樹) | None | All episodes | Rewatch | 0/10 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Hanzawa Naoki Season 2 (半沢直樹2) | 英語 | All episodes | 1st time | 0/10 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Legal High (リーガル・ハイ) | 英語 | All episodes | Rewatch | 0/11 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Legal High 2 (リーガル・ハイ2) | 英語 | All episodes | 1st time | 0/10 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Say I Love You (愛していると言ってくれ) | 日本語 | All episodes | Rewatch | 0/12 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Under One Roof (ひとつ屋根の下) | 英語 | All episodes | 1st time | 0/12 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Under One Roof 2 (ひとつ屋根の下2) | 英語 | All episodes | 1st time | 0/12 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
I don’t really watch TV dramas, but these were all ones my husband recommended and watched together. 愛していると言ってくれ is really good not only for listening practice but for reading because one of the protagonists is deaf so he uses sign language to communicate (and so do some of the other characters who communicate with him). Since you can’t hear him speak, Japanese subtitles are provided. Unfortunately, I didn’t have enough kanji knowledge and had to rely on my husband for translation at the time. As for Legal High, if you’ve seen Hanzawa, it’s the same actor except his personality is the complete opposite. It’s a funny show but between the legal terminology and the super speedy talking, it’s difficult to fully appreciate without English subtitles.
TV Anime
| Title | Subtitles | Challenge | Viewing | Episode | Review | Start date | Last updated |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ansatsu Kyoushitsu (暗殺教室) | None | All episodes | Rewatch | 0/22 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Cardcaptor Sakura (カードキャプターさくら) | None | All | Rewatch | 0/70 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Donten ni Warau (曇天に笑う) | None | All | Rewatch | 0/12 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Gin no Saji (銀の匙) | None | All | Rewatch | 0/11 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Gin no Saji 2nd Season (銀の匙2ndシーズン) | None | All | 1st time | 0/11 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Monster (モンスター) | None | All | Rewatch | 0/74 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Princess Tutu (プリンセスチュチュ) | None | All | Rewatch | 0/38 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Sazae-san (サザエさん) | 日本語 | Currently airing episodes | 1st time | 1/? | N/A | 1月9日 | 1月11日 |
| Shingeki no Kyojin The Final Season Part 2 (進撃の巨人) | 日本語 | All | 1st time | 0/? | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Spice and Wolf (狼と香辛料) | None | All | Rewatch | 0/13 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Wolf’s Rain (ウルフズレイン) | None | All | Rewatch | 0/26 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
Most of the anime are ones I watched while I was still in university and doing the MAL Challenge (watching 100 series a year). So watching them again is long overdue and something to look forward to now with Japanese knowledge.
Variety Shows
| Title | Subtitles | Episode Count | Last updated |
|---|---|---|---|
| あなたは小学 5年生より賢いの？ | 日本語 | 0 | N/A |
| チコちゃんに叱られる! | 日本語 | 0 | N/A |
| YOUは何しに日本へ？ | 日本語 | 0 | N/A |
I don’t really like Japanese TV except quiz shows or if I’m learning something new, hence the ones I chose on the list. YOU is either loved or hated by viewers, but even though some interviews are kind of ridiculous, there are some really heartwarming episodes too. I like that they check up on some of their old guests to see how they’re progressing.
5 Likes
Audiobook.jp is where I get all my books. I tried ListenGo for a short while too, but their subscription model I don’t like, browsing the site is a pain, and I had weird issues where the last few seconds of chapters would be cut off.
5 Likes
I decided to join in since I really want to move myself to do more listening this year. I did a different format since the mediums I do listening on vary depending on how I’m feeling, but I want to try and consistently do some amount of listening. I’m going to do a lot of things I’ve already seen before at least in the beginning so I don’t worry about missing plot as much, and maybe later when I’m more comfortable may venture into new territory. We’ll see how things go. Oh also and for now at least I’m using subtitles where possible, though would like to eventually move to listening without.
7 Likes
皆さま!
I just had my first 1-1 open conversation practice with a Japanese teacher and it was ROUGH. I’ve been studying for 8 months, I’m currently enrolled in a Beginner 2 class at my Japanese language school, but as soon as I was being asked simple direct questions in Japanese my mind went blank.
I went into it knowing it would probably be rough and I was correct. Anyways, guess I can file this away under the “Other” listening category. My new goal is to understand and remember enough to make it like 3 minutes into a conversation without sounding like a total fool :,)
It was honestly a great reminder of the amount of listening/speaking practice I need to be doing to just avoid sounding like a toddler. I’ve gotten to an upper-intermediate level in Mandarin Chinese before (I’m now rusty in that, too), so I know it’s possible to get past this hurdle but I’m going to need to ganbatte pretty hard.
I’m truly amazed by all of you multi-lingual learners out there (and very jealous).
Anyways, 皆さま、頑張って！
6 Likes
For anyone looking for content I saw someone on Reddit linked AudioMovie.jp which I hadn’t seen before. I listened to a few minutes of 令和版・夜のミステリー and the quality seems good.
Also I’m probably going to finish 密告はうたう tonight and look forward to reviewing it. 
3 Likes
I think I managed to update the table without breaking anything! First time I’ve used that sort of heavier formatting here.
Wanted to check in because today I finished season 1 of からかい上手の高木さん. Using subtitles, it was probably the easiest show I’ve found yet for listening comprehension, and a nice confidence boost that hopefully I’m getting started on working my way up. I’ve been fighting to break through the listening wall. I have indeed stuck to one episode per day as I wanted, and sometimes 2.
As for the show? It’s cute. It very much feels like the “anime formula,” where I watch it and think “this is the most anime thing ever; this is what my friend who hates the whole medium imagines every anime is like.” I think it does it well though, haha. It’s cute, and I was pretty on board for their not-a-relationship by the end of the season. Sometimes Nishikata’s neurotic monologues are a little much for me, but overall, I’m into it.
Anyone familiar with the director Ozu might know how he largely made the “same movie” over and over – same actors, very similar plots, always the same general vibe and filmmaking techniques. Well, having read それでも歩は寄せてくる and now watched this, I’m convinced the original creator is taking the same path to his art: honing his techniques over and over to master the art of creating the largest possible foreheads.
3 Likes
Finished 密告はうたう!
Ahh so good! A cop has to investigate his colleagues on suspicion of being a mole and he struggles with doubting his fellow officers while simultaneously being ostracized by his org due to an incident where his partner was murdered…which likely is tied to the mole. Oh, and no one likes the police officers who investigate other officers.
I love this kind of intrigue. It has the perfect pacing to make it very bingeable. The only thing stopping me from finishing it sooner was the number of hours in my day after other obligations.
For people who don’t like violence this is mildly violent. There is on screen blood, but they go out of their way to edit so that you don’t see much for graphic injuries and such.
I’d put this at slightly below the difficulty of 桜の塔 for me. There aren’t as many new words, but the longer conversations sometimes were rough. I suspect this is the type of show where whenever I rewatch it I’ll wonder why I struggled at all; it’s right on that cusp. If I’m not simultaneously watching body language, trying to analyze the most recent developments in the story, AND parse Japanese it’ll surely be easier. 
I also decided to try out some new shows today as I had a bit more time than usual. Gossip I didn’t even like enough to finish the first episode, but the first episode of３年A組 seemed super promising. It’s about a teacher who takes his classroom hostage. The only off thing about it for me is that it can’t seem to decide if it wants to be a comedy, a drama, or dark. Those all can be balanced/combined, but I don’t think it’s doing a good job of it. I still like it regardless and plan to continue watching, although I’m curious how it will progress as the hostage situation is “planned” to last 10 days, there are 10 episodes, and each day a student is killed which seems like maybe it’ll get strange after awhile? Like what is he doing with the bodies? He just dragged the first kid into a room but he blocked off the majority of the school so there’s limited space…?
You should have them watch 哀しみのベラドンナ/Belladonna of Sadness. As someone who isn’t into, I suppose you could call it “tropey anime”(?), I quite enjoyed that movie. It’s actually rentable on youtube and it’s more of a dark 70s art trip than what most people would think of when they hear anime. It is NSFW however for rape (central to the plot), copious nudity, and general violence IIRC
3 Likes
I’ve actually seen that one! Definitely a good pick. You’re dead on about how unlike the tropes or… really anything else that that movie is. Years ago I tried a Satoshi Kon thing, but that didn’t go as well as I expected it might. That movie is definitely taking it a solid step further, haha.
2 Likes
Been a mega listening weekend. Will put things behind detail curtains to not grab too much space
シグナル
I finally finished シグナル after watching episodes 1-8 last year (or maybe even in 2020?). It’s a really good show, but much harder for me to watch because the scenes can be so emotional. Highly recommend it, though. I still have the stand alone special that came out last year to finish yet, but the first season is done!
I remember when I started watching it I strugggggggggllllleeeedddd to understand what was going on. Tons of rewatching scenes, looking up words, dissecting dialogue. Now I’d place it as somewhat easier than 密告はうたう, at least for the last two episodes. It overall uses less flowery phrases and has more back and forth quick dialogue than long monologues (I personally struggle more with those).
Some random 1st episodes
Also watched the first episode of ケイヤク which, surprise! is a crime drama. This one seems to be a BL crime drama of some sort and there’s already 3 actors from 押井刑事, which I loved, in this show. Basically about a yakuza member and a cop end up working together. I won’t say why as that’d spoil the ending of the first episode.
Also watched an episode of たびくらげ探偵日記 - verdict is still out for me on this one. It’s pretty easy to understand and follow along, I just don’t know if it interests me enough to. If you want to practice listening to casual male speech (men in their 20s) this would be a good show to get that practice from.
私の正しいお兄さん
I started 私の正しいお兄さん (4 of 8 episodes done. Half hour episodes). It’s about a girl with a big brother complex who meets a guy who reminds her of said brother. He has trouble sleeping - unless he’s with her - so naturally he asks for this favor. Reason I kept watching but spoiler for end of first episode: annnnnd he’s a murderer.
This show is incredibly easy to follow along with. No JP subs and I almost feel like I’m cheating at “studying” by watching it. Probably because it’s more focused on the romance than the other aspects. I’m somewhere vaguely in the intermediate plateau so I’d guess this to be a good show for people at low intermediate? It’s not beginner friendly vocab or pacing. Mildly violent (one scene so far).
I’m mostly just enjoying the absurdity of this one and want to see where it goes.
Audiobooks
I also stopped listening to the audiobook for 君の膵臓を食べたい because I just wasn’t enjoying it. This wasn’t a huge shock to me because I read another one of the author’s books before and sincerely disliked it, but I felt I needed to try his most famous work to give him a fair shake. His work is quite popular based on Natively so take that with a grain of salt - if my tastes don’t already align with yours, don’t weigh my opinion too heavily. 
I started 謎解きはディナーの後で and it’s been going ok. It’s a pretty standard detective comedy so enjoyable to listen to while out on walks, but nothing amazing. I have to focus more when listening to it compared to something like コーヒーが冷めないうちに but I’m never lost listening to it either so it’s a nice little listening challenge for my current level.
Currently at 22/400 hours for my yearly goal.
7 Likes
I’m joining in too !
By the way, if anyone is looking for content, here’s some youtube channel that I enjoy watching (all of them are uploading short stories and they do have subs) :
Short stories about three friends with supernatural powers that are running カレコレ屋, a place where people can request help for pretty much anything.
混血のカレコレ
Short stories about a guy that constantly raises death “flags” (and other kind of flags). (comical)
全力回避フラグちゃん!
Short stories on horror topics (in a humorous fashion).
秘密結社ヤルミナティー
5 Likes
Thanks everyone for the suggestions! And welcome, @ToAruNoKON! I went and subscribed to those channels. 
@Daisoujou I watched the first episode of からかい上手の高木さん because of your recommendation. It’s very cute and while I’m at a lower listening level, I am still getting value out of watching with the Japanese subtitles. I’ll definitely keep watching!
My recommendation this week: The "Thinking in Japanese Podcast"
The host, Iisaku, speaks pretty slowly and will pause between paragraphs, so your brain has time to catch up with what he just said. But I also like that the episodes are longer and cover more advanced topics than Nihongo Con Teppei for beginners. (No hate to Teppei, I like his work.)
I went ahead and subscribed to the “Thinking in Japanese Podcast” Patreon to get transcripts of the episodes and reading those along with the episodes has also been really helpful for me.
I have a question for everyone: Do you tend to space your listening practice throughout the day, or do you try to do it in one block of time for extended immersion?
(Btw - totally unrelated to anything - @pocketcat, your pfp makes me crack up every time I look at it. Thank you for that.)
5 Likes
Haha, I’m glad. It also makes me laugh which is why I chose it 
While we’re sharing youtube channels and such - most of the channels I watch have wandered off into my niche interests, but I looked up a couple I enjoyed when I was just getting into JP listening via youtube since they could still be useful to a lot of people here:
ジェルちゃんねる - dumb skits but they’re a lot of fun and the amount of puns and kanji jokes was honestly really useful for me.
Pokémon Kids TV Japan - specifically the 体験探検 videos are super handy if you’re just starting out listening. They introduce you to a lot of topics in an easily digestible format and there are subtitles with furigana for nearly all the dialogue.
Original Story - scary(?) stories narrated with JP subtitles. They’re written like short stories but include animations so it’s helpful for connecting words to meanings and might help someone get more comfortable with the ‘flow’ of writing in books.
4 Likes