This week's recommendation: Friday, December 5, 2025: New movie "Peleliu: Guernica in Paradise" / Old movie "Jaws"

New movie "Peleliu: Guernica in Paradise"

© Kazuyoshi Takeda, Hakusensha / 2025 "Peleliu: Guernica in Paradise" Production Committee

This animated film is based on Peleliu: Guernica in Paradise, which won the Excellence Award at the 46th Japan Cartoonists Association Awards for its cute yet strikingly realistic portrayal of the madness of war. The story is set on Peleliu Island at the end of the Pacific War, where 40,000 elite US soldiers and 10,000 Japanese troops, ordered to endure to the bitter end, had turned it into a mad battlefield. Based on historical fact, this is a tale of friendship amid the flames of war, in which young people fought fiercely and lived to the fullest in an extreme world.

Released nationwide on Friday, December 5th. Distributed by Toei.

Old movie "Jaws"

(C)1975 UNIVERSAL STUDIOS. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Fifty years ago, on December 6th, Jaws(1975) was released in Japan. Among the many animal-panic films, Jaws stands out for its timeless brilliance, perhaps due to the skillful portrayal of the human drama of the characters placed in extreme situations, as well as the horror of being attacked by a shark. The film was a massive hit, breaking all box office records in the US at the time, and instantly propelled Spielberg to the status of a future master.

Read the review here