This was the best of years and the worst of years for Japanese films. On one hand, dire TV-network-produced blockbusters continued to fill multiplexes. On the other, makers of indie films, both big names and small, struggled for funding and distribution, as the mini-theater (art-house) sector continued its slow death spiral.

The story, however, was not quite as simple as evil Toho — the Godzilla of local distributors — stomping the good little guys. In fact, Toho and other majors released some of the better films of the year. And some of these better films even became bigger hits than the glorified TV episodes or the live-action versions of anime and manga franchises that are the local industry's surest box-office bets.

"Akunin (Villain)": Sang-il Lee's drama about an intense young laborer (Satoshi Tsumabuki) who falls for a thirtysomething men's store clerk (Eri Fukatsu) while on the run from the police for murder is rightfully being showered with awards. Lee, who made Yu Aoi a star with his 2006 hit "Hura Garu (Hula Girls)," extracts a similar career-best performance from Fukatsu as the shy, unworldly but stubbornly devoted clerk. Lee does what masters of Japanese cinema used to do with regularity, but now seems little short of a miracle: craft incisive, luminous drama from the common and sometimes sordid materials of ordinary lives.