Japan Synopsis
家族ゲーム
A sendup of the stereotypical Japanese family: dad is a salaryman jerk, unable to relate to anyone; mom is a hopeless housewife; the older son is a moderate academic success; but the younger son is a rebellious goof-off for whom a tutor must be hired. The tutor, played by the prototypical bad boy actor Matsuda Yusaku, proceeds to blow the entire family apart.
Other Titles From Art Theatre Guild
Comedy + Drama in Japan
462 Japan titles in our catalog blend the Comedy and Drama genres. Below: the top-rated of them (excluding The Family Game itself).
The 1982–1984 Japan Window
In the crowded 1982-1984 Japan release window, The Family Game sits at #40 of 57. The leaderboard below contextualises its neighbours.
#1Space Cobra
★ 8.3 · 1982
#2Super Dimension Fortress Macross
★ 8.1 · 1982
#3Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind
★ 7.9 · 1984
#4The Transformers
★ 7.9 · 1984
#5Captain Tsubasa
★ 7.8 · 1983
#6Kinnikuman
★ 7.8 · 1983
#7Voltron: Defender of the Universe
★ 7.6 · 1984
#8Mobile Suit Gundam III: Encounters in Space
★ 7.6 · 1982
The 1980s Japan Landscape
Catalog density by release year across the 1980s in Japan, 280 titles in total. Highlighted year (yellow) is when The Family Game premiered alongside 17 others.
Position in Catalog
Released alongside 17 other Japan films in 1983.
The 598th Japan title from Japan we index (earliest catalogued entry: 1899).
Our Japan catalog contains 4,579 titles in total (2,908 films).
Audience Engagement
18 audience reviews — more than 32% of Japan films in our index.
Popularity sits at the 31th percentile among Japan films.
Thematic Fingerprint
Tags on The Family Game, grouped by how common each theme is across the full Asian catalog. Rare tags are more distinctive signals.
- japanese family · 4
- tutor · 3
- brothers · 1
- showa · 1
- showa era · 1
Reception Benchmarks
Ranked #3,352 of 4,579 Japan films indexed here (27th percentile by TMDB audience score).
Rating is -0.5 points below the Japan average of 6.9/10.
Among Japan Comedy productions specifically: #1,088 of 1,411 (top 77%).
Production Details
| Primary Country | Japan |
|---|---|
| Original Language | Japanese |
| Production Companies | Art Theatre Guild, Nikkatsu Studio, New Century Producers |
| Runtime | 1h 47m |
| Release Date | May 4, 1983 |
| IMDb | tt0087545 |