Shiika Okada

I was heading to junior high school one day when my maternal instincts suddenly kicked in. After being held hostage to those urges for a decade, I started to wonder if this feeling was really about motherliness. Virgin birth, genes, pregnancy... I journey through 10 years in search of the maternal.

Heartbroken, I bought a bottle of wine and drank it walking home. A tipsy journey reconstructed using the Japanese traditional storytelling method "rakugo."

When Tsumire was young, she idolised her older brother, who was always surrounded by other girls, but her affection was met with disdain. As she grows up, the traces of his behaviour linger on. Told with understated, deadpan humour and creative animation, this slightly absurd coming-of-age tale broaches a variety of subjects – from cults and superstition to peer pressure and our self-image – with surprising sensitivity.

Keep Listening. Practice. Practice. Yeah.

I was heading to junior high school one day when my maternal instincts suddenly kicked in. After being held hostage to those urges for a decade, I started to wonder if this feeling was really about motherliness. Virgin birth, genes, pregnancy... I journey through 10 years in search of the maternal.

Can we ever be freed from the "curse of love" that dictates "women must be pretty and fall in love"? A humorous and at times affecting chronicle of an artistic girl’s life and loves from elementary school, through university, into young adulthood.

Can we ever be freed from the "curse of love" that dictates "women must be pretty and fall in love"? A humorous and at times affecting chronicle of an artistic girl’s life and loves from elementary school, through university, into young adulthood.