Zíza

I suppose the source material must have had some story to it. Here, I was actually quite puzzled until the end as to who had what ambitions, motivations. I mean, I kind of took those statements about them into account, but it was awfully empty from that perspective and there the movie was really about nothing. Plus, I'd say Miike gave everyone a lot of slack and a lot of the actors just did what they felt. Such a long movie and I didn't really get anything out of it, apart from the blood splattering and the occasional joke. I would have preferred the film to come in three parts so we could get to know everyone properly, rather than this brittle nothing. Not to mention Rin. Why was she there in the first place? Why was she supposed to be holding a sword? Is she supposed to be the opposite of all the others who just hack and slash? Her flat personality made me hate her and she was a nuisance on screen. I was looking forward to it, I was curious, but in the end all I got was a piece of crap where people are just cutting each other. But if blood spatters and severed limbs are enough for you, go for it. Maybe people who know the source material will like it better, since they know more than I do and can figure a lot of that out. It did have some interesting scenes at times, but was drowned in its own running time. 50%.

I'm done after the tenth episode. Uninteresting, annoying, often brutally so. Sure, it has its bright moments, but there are plenty of shows like this. I had been so impressed with the cast that I’m just walking away from the show irritated. There's nothing new or revelatory about it. Korea has this cat-and-mouse game in so many, many shows. And in a much, much better way.

I jumped on the moving train and enjoyed it. But then as time went on, I started to find that I wasn't enjoying it as much. As time went on, I enjoyed it less and less, and my interest in the characters completely waned. It's definitely not bad, the acting didn't spoil anything either, the subject is interesting, the actors are top notch. But if it looked like it would burst into flame at the beginning, then a spark perhaps suitable for small fireworks, which soon disappeared. In the end it was all half-hearted. 60%.

I was debating between 3 stars and 4 stars, but in the end it passed with 4 stars by a hair. After all, it was such a cheerful breeze where you didn't have to worry about anything; when you wanted to relax, this anime allowed it. Granted, there were some repetitive elements that didn't sit well with me, but all in all, it's a very sweet anime about a lost soul who finds himself on a small island thanks mostly to children. Simply put, if you're in no hurry to get anywhere, want to be charmed by children, and would prefer a laugh to a nail-biter, this is the way to go.

At first it seemed like the classic scenario where a breath of fresh air comes into some ossified institution/system and starts changing everything. A change per episode. But in the end it wasn't at all. The changes weren't sudden, new friendships weren't formed as if by a wave of a magic wand. I like the fact that not everything followed the usual formula, instead the formula was broken, twisted, and circumvented. Apart from a very good script, of course, this was helped by an excellent cast, not just the actors playing the mothers, but also the children and the men, who were more than just some supplement to the story, they weren't just there because someone had to make the babies. Mother Game is a very interesting and in some ways very poignant probe into Japanese relationships, not just between mothers and children, but into the relationships mothers form in general (men, teachers, friends, other mothers). It's a social drama and very well presented. The children are not a burden here. If you're interested in a probe into Japanese society, this is definitely one of the works to watch. And it's definitely worth analyzing. So if we've got a sociologist here, give it a go! :-)

It doesn't really stand out in anything. It doesn't even manage to make a proper impression. The acting is standard for this type of Korean series. Of course, everything else follows the standard lines of other such series as well. That's why I stopped watching at the 28th episode and I really don't care what happens next. Just making it to the 28th episode seems like a waste of time I could have spent on a more interesting series.

Definitely a nice immediate follow-up to a successful season. I found it a bit weaker than all the seasons, but I still enjoyed this TV movie. I'm watching the third season at the moment and it's incredible to see how far the actors have come. Their performances here are not nearly as convincing as they were almost a decade later. It might be too long, it doesn't play with tension that well. Still, if you enjoyed the first season, definitely continue with the special and maybe pick up the other episodes sometime.

I definitely like it better than the Korean subject matter. That was, how can I put this... more evil. The story here isn't particularly cheerful – how could it be when your own mother acts like she doesn’t know you and you have three months to live – but the Ritsu here is more human, not a piece of garbage. He has a goal that he's been floundering with the entire series, and he never once strays from that path. Plus, the cast really came through, Nagase excels in the lead role. He usually plays more comedic characters and hasn't acted in a romance in a while, but he's really good in this genre as well. He proved to me that he can do more than make faces, he can play real emotions. The rest of the cast is more in his shadow, but they still do a very decent job of keeping up with him and certainly don't put their craft to shame. Probably the saddest show of the season, with a great ending.

I actually don't really like it when stories revolve around food. I don't like watching people cook, I don't even like cooking shows. But this is different. It's friendly, warm, welcoming, simple. And it's not so much about cooking as it is about enjoying the food. And there are also stories of people who go out to eat after midnight in a pub in the backstreets, where they definitely don't get more than three drinks. It's pleasantly peaceful and, I would say, nostalgic. You have to be in the mood for it.

It's a very enjoyably international film, but unfortunately it's torn between being a crime drama or a dark period drama, and maybe that works somewhere, but it didn't quite work for me here. The acting wasn't great, but the worst was the dark shaky camerawork where you couldn't really see what was going on during the scenes with more action. Too long, indecisive, with good and bad scenes. An average 55%.