Comments on: Koki Mitani’s Odessa https://japan.elifessler.com/2024/02/21/koki-mitanis-odessa/ a writing & cross-cultural archival project by eli fessler (@frozenpandaman) Tue, 24 Jun 2025 09:27:21 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 By: eli https://japan.elifessler.com/2024/02/21/koki-mitanis-odessa/#comment-6103 Tue, 24 Jun 2025 09:27:21 +0000 https://japan.elifessler.com/?p=1225#comment-6103 In reply to Tai B.

Ahhh, thank you so much for the kind words and taking the time to comment! Hahaha, yeah, this has definitely started to veer toward becoming a place for me to write about travel & trains but I also, admitted, enjoy some great live theater!! I haven’t been to any in quite a while so I should probably fix that :) So glad you enjoyed and I hope you’re able to check out some of Mitani’s movies (or plays)! They’re all so great!

]]> By: Tai B https://japan.elifessler.com/2024/02/21/koki-mitanis-odessa/#comment-6102 Tue, 24 Jun 2025 09:18:30 +0000 https://japan.elifessler.com/?p=1225#comment-6102 This was a great read, thank you so much for posting. I came to this website cause of a train map I saw reddit, did not expect to get really great theatre reviews from it :)

]]> By: eli https://japan.elifessler.com/2024/02/21/koki-mitanis-odessa/#comment-449 Thu, 09 May 2024 08:40:16 +0000 https://japan.elifessler.com/?p=1225#comment-449 In reply to Artur sans H.

Thanks for your kind comment, Artur!! Like you, I am really hoping it might someday get adapted for the screen or even just released as a filmed version of the stage show, or something. Hell, even the script for it, in all honesty… I’m vaguely familiar with No Exit but have not ever read it. I really should! I loved seeing Annie Baker’s The Antipodes a few years back which, from the amount I know, seems in the same vein as some of Sartre’s work. Definitely philosophical and existentialist, stories about stories, and about theory and categorization…

Are you familiar with the game Kentucky Route Zero? So many literary references and allusions, including to Sartre (and Beckett, and O’Neill, and so on), and I get the feeling from your thoughtful comment here that it would be right up your alley… to note, it feels a lot more like reading a book or watching a play – blending a magical realist Americana story of reality and fiction – than the standard conceptualization of “playing a game”. Highly suggest you take a peek. :) If you do, enjoy, and thank you again! And have a great time in Japan!

]]> By: Artur sans H https://japan.elifessler.com/2024/02/21/koki-mitanis-odessa/#comment-418 Wed, 08 May 2024 03:14:09 +0000 https://japan.elifessler.com/?p=1225#comment-418 Hey Eli,
looking for something to do in Japan during the next two weeks, I stumbled upon your review. I had to stop myself halfway through your synopsis from finishing this fascinating read in the entirely unlikely event that Odessa gets adapted/translated or I learn Japanese and come back for a rerun. I love dramas that write dialogues of characters with different bodies of knowledge well, ever since reading Sartre’s No Exit. That being said, while such a use of language for a transnational narrative might not be entirely unheard of, I feel like a Japanese-American story involving Law Enforcement would add so many layers. Thank you for this write-up, even if it ended up being a huge tease for me ;’)

]]> By: eli https://japan.elifessler.com/2024/02/21/koki-mitanis-odessa/#comment-68 Tue, 27 Feb 2024 02:28:05 +0000 https://japan.elifessler.com/?p=1225#comment-68 In reply to TheFragranceOfDarkCoffee.

It was! Such a blast. Here’s hoping it gets released on DVD/BD or something someday :’)

]]> By: eli https://japan.elifessler.com/2024/02/21/koki-mitanis-odessa/#comment-67 Tue, 27 Feb 2024 02:27:38 +0000 https://japan.elifessler.com/?p=1225#comment-67 In reply to bunp.

Super happy to hear it, thank you for taking the time to leave a comment!

]]> By: eli https://japan.elifessler.com/2024/02/21/koki-mitanis-odessa/#comment-66 Tue, 27 Feb 2024 02:27:19 +0000 https://japan.elifessler.com/?p=1225#comment-66 In reply to Jai.

Thank you Jai!!! I’m so glad :’D

]]> By: TheFragranceOfDarkCoffee https://japan.elifessler.com/2024/02/21/koki-mitanis-odessa/#comment-62 Wed, 21 Feb 2024 22:13:21 +0000 https://japan.elifessler.com/?p=1225#comment-62 Great write up! Sounds like it was a lot of fun in person!

]]> By: bunp https://japan.elifessler.com/2024/02/21/koki-mitanis-odessa/#comment-59 Wed, 21 Feb 2024 03:30:30 +0000 https://japan.elifessler.com/?p=1225#comment-59 absolutely wonderful piece, thank you! really enjoyed reading

]]> By: Jai https://japan.elifessler.com/2024/02/21/koki-mitanis-odessa/#comment-58 Wed, 21 Feb 2024 03:02:45 +0000 https://japan.elifessler.com/?p=1225#comment-58 this was so entertaining to read, and not just cause my video’s in it!! I loved this so much

]]>