This week we cover three deeply grisly short films from Japan, listed below, that fall roughly into the Ero Guro category. What kind of transgressiveness links these films? What is a satisfying definition of Ero Guro in the first place, aside from the basic "Erotic Grotesque Nonsense"? Have you ever owned art you were reluctant to cross international borders with? What was revealed by watching a copy of A Garden Without Birds with subtitles when it seems to be commonly watched without them? How is the least explicit film the best fit for the category? Why did we watch Lucky Sky Diamond? Seriously, it was the longest one and it was terrible? Answers to all these questions and more this week.  

Lucky Sky Diamond - 1989 - Izo Hashimoto
The First Love -1989 - Mari Terashima
A Garden Without Birds - 1992 -Akira Nobi