A 'Real' Movie Fights Back In Anime-ruled Japan

A woman walks past the poster of Japanese movie "Kokuho" (R) outside a cinema in Tokyo's Roppongi district on September 4, 2025. Lasting almost three hours, "Kokuho" is about two "onnagata", male players of female roles in kabuki, a rarefied form of classical Japanese theatre. (Credit: AFP)

Pensioner Shizue Kato didn't fancy the new "Demon Slayer" anime blockbuster and instead watched "Kokuho", a rare live action cinema hit in Japan, where animation rules.

"Many of our friends already watched the film, and they were amazed we hadn't yet," Kato told AFP as she emerged from a Tokyo cinema on a recent weekday.