Zíza

It's a strange and lovely film, where a passionate Korean element is brought into a sterile Japanese setting. We start off in a nice Korean way and watch how two Japanese men are put together who clearly don't care much for that sort of thing. This is exactly the kind of film, that kind of borderline, if you're watching only Japanese or Korean stuff and maybe you want to expand your horizons to the other side. Here it all moves along nicely thanks to Korean doggedness and melodrama, while not overstepping certain boundaries thanks to Japanese reservedness (when it comes to establishing relationships) and uptightness. Somehow it all got mixed up here and ended up being very interesting. Unfortunately, I felt that certain things were left unfinished and it dragged a bit here and there, but somehow it felt pleasant and civil. Why not sweeten your life a little bit with a little pleasure and pain?

I approached this without clinging to the source material or the anime, and I did just fine because I at least enjoyed it that way. Of course, there were certain details that someone who knows the source material is more likely to enjoy (like Sebastian as a cat lover, or Tanaka – it really was exactly him in the movie). The running time isn’t too long, so the film moves along at a nice pace, and is also bolstered by a very decent OST. The acting was very decent, but Mizushima Hiro shone above all, returning to the silver screen after four long years. For me, one of those above average "live action" film versions. I enjoyed it, I wasn't bored, and I even laughed.

The premise may sound interesting, but in the end... it's bland and flavorless, full of pastels, blushing, and the same thing repeated over and over again a hundred times (which is to be expected when the main character forgets after a week who she's been hanging out with, who she's friends with). There are lighter moments here and there, but otherwise the whole thing is as sickly as a premature baby. Even the musical accompaniment wasn't interesting enough to at least spice up this whole boring thing that drags like a bad smell. So I finished watching the whole thing, expecting the main character to become less unstable, but alas, it never happened. If you like romances that move slowly, where nothing much happens, the characters have only one trait, and it's all just the same thing over and over, going nowhere, where even the clichés aren't used that well, this is the series for you.

I was looking forward to seeing the new Ueno – this one didn't laugh and sparkle her eyes like usual and honestly it was pretty unusual, especially if you had just been riding high on Nodame. At times I thought she seemed unsure of her role and a little off, but maybe it was just the unusualness. It's been a long time since I've seen a "revenge" series in a Japanese setting, so I guess you could say it's a fairly new experience for me. And it was definitely worth it. At first everything seems to go like clockwork and awfully fast, but in the end not everything is as it seems and the twist in the last episode really surprised me, I really didn't see this one coming, I was expecting someone else. I admit that the episodes in the middle didn't really entertain me that much, to the point where I thought I would only give the series 3 stars, but in the end, when I think about it as a whole, and about the fact that it had a very solid ending, not a hasty one, I found it very well thought out and gave it 4 stars. An interesting piece of work where they will easily kill off a character you don't expect to die. It had its flaws, but in the end it turned out to be something above average. If you're in the mood for a pretty good revenge flick, don't be afraid to give Asumi a chance.

I went to the cinema just wanting to have fun. This film absolutely delivered on that. I didn't expect anything from it, just that it would entertain me without putting me to sleep. I left happy and drained. Since I got exactly what I expected, I can't give it anything less than a full rating. And I haven't even read the book yet. EDIT: 10 Sep 2018 – now I have read the book, and I have to admit, I was more entertained by the movie.

Granted, I was still enjoying it at the beginning, but then it turned into such an awful melodrama with everyone licking their wounds and traumas that it became unwatchable. I realize you can't expect anything realistic from a show like this, but this was too much. The characters became unbearable after a while, and it was about watching the eighth episode that I realized I absolutely didn't care how the characters ended up, whether suffering or laughing. And with a show like this, if you don't care about the fate of the characters, you're just not going to enjoy it, and you end up thinking it’s the biggest bore in the world. The actors tried their best, but it just couldn't overcome the obnoxiousness of the characters. Besides, everyone considers Barbie Hsu a beauty and a perfect actress and who knows what else, but after a few episodes I couldn’t stand the sight of her. I found her annoying (could it have been her character?). Anyway, the masochism in me said to hang in there, so I watched the whole thing, but I'm not happy about it. Overwrought, silly, unnecessarily tragic, and downright whiny.

It was clear from the start that it would be slightly above average, but nothing great. Just an ordinary crime drama where the main character sees the ghosts of the victims and thus has an easier time catching the criminals. Oh, how wrong I was! As it progressed, it turned out to be much more than "slightly above average". We follow the gradual evolution of Ishikawa, played brilliantly by Oguri Shun. The whole tempo goes where he whistles. Good thing he's not tone deaf, and he whistles in a way that starts giving you chills. Just as it started off all in soft colors, positive and hopeful, it ends in pitch black darkness, despairing and drowning in a quagmire of helplessness. It's not a bad ending, but it’s begging for a sequel (which of course would be unnecessary, but it would be very easy to tie in more episodes). I've already mentioned that Oguri was excellent, and yet he was well seconded by the others, both his partner played by Munetaki Aoiki and the chief Endō Ken'ichi. Nor did Haru go unnoticed, who I've been following for a while now, and I have to admit that she's definitely gotten somewhere and certainly doesn’t fall behind her fellow actors here. Overall, everyone's performances were solid, except for the one kid from the first half of the series who annoyed me with his non-acting. But it probably stood out so much because the rest of the cast is just perfect. In other words, yes, for me this was an excellent concert of great acting. They cut the series by two episodes during the broadcast, but it certainly can't be because the series had low ratings – quite the opposite. However, 9 episodes is plenty and I can only guess why it happened. There are definitely a few clues, so we'll see. In short I can only recommend it. Probably the best thing that aired this season, and for the first time in a long time a Japanese series that I really enjoyed without reservations.

The effects are slightly better than Kamen Rider. There's a love polygon, love gone wrong, friendship over all. You can really see how hard the filmmakers tried, but somehow I feel like Mr. Director didn't do much to keep it in check. It does have an interesting cast, but I feel like no one was given the space to show what they can do. The characters seem so flat that you don't want to root for either side. It's dull, pathetic, and the only thing I really enjoyed was the voice of Gorō Kishitani. It's really a shame, I was crossing my fingers so hard for the Japanese to make a decent sci-fi movie, and it ended up being a pile of crap. It's full of stereotypes that aren't even used properly... the film simply has a lot of flaws. It's not even two hours long, but I found it interminable. I don't even know who I could recommend the film to. Anyway, if anyone really likes it, write me why you liked it, I'd be interested to know. :-)

So what did I like? That there was a sense of Japanese sparseness in the narration and portrayal of the characters. The action/drama was subtly diluted with humor, or a little romance, but nothing that made you roll your eyes. I didn't see a single American flag, didn't hear the American national anthem, and there wasn't even anyone giving stupid patriotic obnoxiously cliched speeches about how important it was to man up and go out and fight and that we're going to show these aliens what for and blah blah blah. It just wasn't there, and I cheered. Plus the characters were portrayed as people, with their own problems, their own histories, so they weren't just flat characters with a gun in their hands and some catchphrase. But what I liked best was the interplay between Cruise and Blunt, just a joy to watch. Granted, it did lose momentum towards the end and it felt like the film was squeezing out the last drops (but maybe I was squeezing out the last drops because the theater was sweltering), but it ended well and I left very satisfied in the end. This is exactly the blockbuster I wanted – an unpretentious film, and yet it has an engaging story, a quality cast, a decent OST, and action that wasn't shot with a shaky camera, so the viewer could see something and enjoy it too. Nice, and I have no choice but to say – keep it up.

A very interesting piece of work. Basically a psychological drama with elements of fantasy, only I wonder if the fantasy was a metaphorical expression of a pathological relationship between a mother and daughter or maybe some psychological disorder...? Even though it may look like just an ordinary school drama/romance with a naively well-behaved protagonist, I would say it has psychological implications that kept me thinking for a long time after I finished it. Maybe I'm just seeing something in it that wasn't there, but I still have a little worm gnawing at the back of my mind cowhat were the filmmakers trying to say?. What I have to pick up on is the beautiful Japanese everyone was speaking. They were so easy to understand, they didn't say anything unnecessarily complicated, and that had a very pleasant effect on me. It was interesting that most of the characters weren't just empty archetypes, weren’t just Potemkin villages. I didn't feel the urge to get particularly attached to them, but their behavior, their decisions didn't strike me as outrageous the way they usually do in series like this. My favorite character ended up being Rika's father, he was both a beacon and a safe haven for his entire family. The story isn't exactly a phenomenon, but it's got something to offer. Plus, I got to see the young Miho Kanno and Okada Yoshinori here, which were extra points in its favor. The series is, in a word: interesting.