This was the year of love in Japan. Not that there was a sudden rise in the marriage rate (ain't happening), but you could sense a certain savviness about love-related issues that wasn't present before.

Evidence: In cinema, 2010 was a bumper year for both Japan-brand and European/American love stories created far from the Hollywood rom-com conveyor belt. Box office sales indicated that people would rather see vehicles less manicured and more unwieldy, light on the reliably rewarding endings but heavy on gritty, unrequited longing.

This trend is not surprising. Now that Japan is officially in the throes of Galapagos syndrome, it stands to reason that we're ready to embrace strangeness in its many guises. Here are 10 titles released this year that take you out of your comfort zone, prick you in all the places that hurt and give glimpses of something dark and mysterious that just won't fit on an iPhone screen.