Finding the real story of your life takes more than one minute

WOW ... I started watching this movie out of curiosity, but then descended into despair ... job hunting ... it can really put you through the wringer ... rejection after rejection even though you put your 'best self' out there and when that doesn't work you put your best rendition of what you think the kind of person they are looking for ... and when that doesn't work ... what the hell do you do ヽ(•́ᴥ•̀)ノ ... if you are not backed by money or family supports ... it is your very existence, your survival that is on the line ... in the face of this onslaught of rejection and negative opinion, some people are resilient, some lie through their teeth, others wrap themselves up in a delusional world of their creation ... and so on.

However, this depressing start soon became psychologically fascinating and the way the movie brought that to the screen was very clever ... "real life" turning into a boxed room stage play ... that was a visual profound shift in awareness ... the staged play reflected the true life of Takuto ... his 'real' life just a 'stage play'.

There were some powerful concepts that were repeated during the moving ... words and sentences that were densely loaded and worth time to reflect on.

"Someone" ... when Kotaru said "The job hunt is over, but I don't feel like I have become someone." WOW that is a profound observation ... how do we become 'someone' and what does that even mean ... how do we know when we actually become 'someone' and is the process and end the same for everyone (◑_◑)?

"The masterpieces in our own head ... the ones that we cannot get out of." WOW ... so true ... we have these grand masterpieces of how our life is going to be, how we are going to be 'someone' ... but bridging the gap (or chasm in some cases) between our mental masterpieces and real life, is easier said than done. Takuto himself threw this statement in the face of others more than once and yet he himself remained unaware or ignored the fact that he himself was still living in the masterpiece in his own mind ... the only way he could bridge the gap was to bring everybody else down through his alternative twitter account.

"reeked of desperation" ... yes indeed ... to one degree or another ... desperation for what ... to be someone BUT not just society's expectation of what that 'someone' should be, but rather to 'find the story of your own life' ... only to be told "Please express who you are in one minute." .... like what the photon ... one minute ... "I can't do this in one minute." Finally, Takuto became 'real' ... that brought tears to my eyes (༼☯﹏☯)༽ ... and then I thought well done Takuto, well done ◝(ᵔ‿ᵔ)◜

For me this movie was brilliant ... profound ... heartbreaking and yet potentially transformative as well ... applicable not just to the job hunting stages of life ... but life in general regardless of what stage we are at ... why ... because we all get out of the masterpieces of our own head at different times ... and some never escape it. The way they all brought these deep concepts to the screen in an hour and a half was very impressive indeed.

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War of Faith | A "Long March" of the heart and mind

10/10 ... an EPIC and SUPERLATIVE production
There have been some very good Cdramas over the years ... from the ones I have watched, this series is at the pinnacle ... the script, the production, the sets, the score and the acting ... better than 10/10 ... it was an absolute 100/10 for me ... from episode 1 right through to episode 38. The story and pacing, the acting and production never dropped ... it just kept getting better and better. Put all together I have never felt for drama characters as much as I felt for the characters in this story ... it was so life like, so replicated the gut wrenching, gritty tragic realities of life lived in chaos. Wang Yibo ... my god ... he blew my mind with his acting ... his acting was a force of nature ... every nuance, every microexpression ... he totally nailed it, TOTALLY.

It has kept me on edge all the way through. The sets and the cinematographic atmosphere really brought the story 'alive' ... I can almost smell the bank and the alley ways ... feel the roughness and smell of the clothing ... the coldness of the water when Wei Ruolei washes his face .... so well acted and produced ... it really gets you into the lives of the characters.

The story is nerve wracking ... the cruelty and sheer struggle to survive ... the 'cheapness' of human life starkly contrasts with the lives and lifestyles of those well-endowed with money and status. I couldn't help but wonder how many people in the world are like Wei Ruolai ... people who have such brilliance and passion ... but who never get to 'bloom' ... they are lost to the 'world' because they got trampled under the heavy feet of ideology, status and money.

I was deeply moved by the rawness of the environmental and personal reality of war ... the ideological wars of faith, economic wars of faith (within China and those internationals with vested interests in China e.g. German and Japan) ... and the psychological wars that goes on in the hearts and minds of each and every individual to survive and protect what is important to them ... not just the high level stuff of ideology, morals, ethics etc but the day to day requirements of survival ... food, clothing, shelter, safety and an inbuilt desire to 'thrive' ... how to navigate betrayal and the death of loved ones, how to manage the onslaught of chaos, the overwhelming sense of powerlessness and despair ... in this sense not one character in this series was a gap filler, every single character and NPC was relevant ... they showed that this internal war is one that wages in the hearts and minds of every human being regardless of time, country or ideology ... making this series a truly powerful and profound multi-level drama ... I am blown way.

For all these characters it really was a 'long march' of heart and soul and not just the Long March of the Red Army from Jiangxi

A great sadness for me was how the powers to be (regardless of which ideology they held) used people like Qian Song and Tu Nan to be their tools ... weapons of mass destruction that were manipulated and used by the powers to be so they did not have to get their hands dirtied with the blood, sweat and tears and guts of all the people and children that fell victim to their game play ... such tragedy ... what makes it even worse is that despite hopeful beginnings ... there is not one organisation on this planet that hasn't succumbed to the power hungry who use ideology and systems for their own benefit at the cost of the people it was meant to support.

I was so glad of the ending ... Jin Zhen 'saving' her brother after she had died ... not just with a bullet proof vest but with her 'faith' as well ... (´╥︵╥`) that was so moving. Tu Nan revealing his true faith after he shot Qian Song and pointed the gun at Rou Lai ... (´╥︵╥`) and their final coming together as 'brothers' ... OMG I was in tears.

Just as an FYI (from Wiki pedia) The Long March (referred to in this last episode) was a military retreat by the Red Army from advancing Nationalist forces during the Chinese Civil War in 1934 through 1936.
The most famous of these marches was undertaken by the First Red Army under the leadership of Mao Zedong. Departing from their headquarters in the southern province of Jiangxi on 16 October 1934, the 65,000-person First Army marched more than 9,000 kilometres (5,600 mi) in a large clockwise arc through the western frontiers of the country, ultimately meeting with other Communist forces in Yan'an on 19 October 1935. The circuitous route brought the First Army through some of the most difficult terrain in the country while pursued by the Nationalists: at first the NRA under Chiang Kai-Shek, and later by local cliques of Nationalist-aligned warlords. Fewer than 8,000 people traveling with the First Red Army survived the march.

A War of Faith indeed ... well worth watching and definitely worthy of repeat watches ... 100% recommend it.

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"Know Thyself"

As a 'cop show' it was just kind of average for me ... but as an expose into the human mind, it was fascinating and introspective.

The first couple of episodes were slow but from episode 3 it started to turn into so much more than I expected. It takes you through a gamut of emotions around some very emotive topics ... child abuse, spouse abuse, elder abuse, dementia, young lives cut short etc ... all the while peeling back the shadow layers of the minds of the police graduates who want to become detectives and shine a light on the drivers of human behaviour - both theirs and the people they are investigating. Ego and self-delusion ... weapons of mass destruction that reverberate across society and generations.

Kazama's training method is very interesting ... his "Dojo" was not so much about solving cases (thought it did do that) as it was about solving 'people'. Kazama's powers of perception are phenomenal to say the least ... if you survived him, you definitely come out a transformed and better human being and a better police officer / detective.

While watching it I was reminded of the inscription on the Temple of Apollo in Delphi ... "Know thyself" ... it is a very loaded, two word statement ... one which I thought had ample play in this series. Everyone's life was touched by a shadowed or hidden heaviness ... quiet desperation bleeding out of the edges of the shadowed self ... no one is immune ... not even a semblance of 'control' (like Kazama's) or lack thereof (like Kenji's) mitigates its covert permeation into everything and anything they do or say ... it may be held back for a time, but if unaddressed there will come a tipping point of no return where that shadow self unleashes itself ... often having a devastating domino effect on the lives of others around them. Kazama challenges his learner detective's world view through concepts of 'blind acceptance' ... how often do we blindly accept what we see and hear and never question it ... and equally, how often do we blindly accept our own justifications / rationalisations about ourselves and our world view without ever challenging it?

Kazama was like some kind of Kamisama ... every case seemed tailored made for each one of his 'learner' detectives ... kind of corny in a way but I didn't mind this seemingly impossible correlation because, through those 'tailor made' cases, these police officers got to face their 'shadowed' selves, and their 'shadowed' past. Before Kazama, they did NOT know themselves very well or to their full extent ... they were totally ignorant of aspects of themselves or were in denial of it or were so traumatised by it that it was 'blocked' from memory. However, once they faced it, accepted it and incorporated that knowledge into their here and now lives, they became better people, better detectives and more open to their own ongoing personal evolution, more open to the lives and drivers of others ... and that is a good thing .. it makes for a better detective and a better human being ... a double plus.

The series gives much pause for reflection about the human condition. It was sad to see the remnants of one's life being left behind or discarded ... the beautiful flower gardens, abandoned and withered ... the photographs of dreams and hopes now stained with the rusty colour of blood, no longer to be looked upon with expectation, joy and determination to succeed ... a ring, loaded with wonderful memories of times passed but never to grace the hand of the one who it was given to ... photos of a woman whose mind was so vibrant and in love but was hardly a shadow of its former functionality, and yet that woman gave her murderous husband her final cogent thought before passing ... 'a get out of jail' card by deleting that last message ... ahhh so sad, so poignant ... as I thought of all these things, I burst into tears the same time Kazama did ... being human is a bloody tough gig.

Symbolism throughout was very well done and poignant ... like a child literally branded by both parents "ma Ma" ... Tono's flower bed restored to its colourful glory - a visual reminder of the potential and the shortness of life, here one day and gone the next. The cinematography with all the muted interiors, reflective surfaces ... symbolic of how we 'mute' aspects of our minds, of our lived experiences ... how what we see is often not the 'original' thing but a reflection of the original from some other thing/person ... how the lack of clarifying light on the 'real thing' impacts what and how we see things around us and ipso facto how we respond / react to it.

The OST was beautiful and melancholy at the same time ... it suited the story well ... though I did not understand the lyrics.

The final scenes of the last episode shows a sudden ominous breeze in the trees at the police academy, a "here one second gone the next" Tozaki asks "Where is my sister?" ... all those murders to get an answer to this question? Does the answer lie within Kazama's own shadow past? I wonder.

I really liked this series ... from a slow beginning it took me into a deep dive of the human mind ... a poignant and reflective and at times deeply sad story ... worth the time to watch imo.

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"Anyone could become Asura by chance" or "There but for the grace of god, go I"

This was a brilliant and profoundly deep movie experience for me. It blew my mind with how loaded it was. Watch past the closing credits as you get the final picture to the whole story. Before I go further TRIGGER WARNING – this movie does include scenes depicting mass shooting in a market place in the opening scenes and later on in the movie. There are also some suicidal themes.

Fascinating story ... I thoroughly enjoyed it ... it sent me on a deep dive into all sort of existential questions ... LOVED all of it and I was particularly taken with the black and white drawings ... the high contrast with the darks ... very emotive indeed. The movie has a "chaos theory" edge to it i.e. Edward Norton Lorenz's 'butterfly effect" - a tornado can be influenced by minor perturbations such as a distant butterfly flapping its wings several weeks earlier ... and so it is with this movie but in respect of people and the effect they and their actions have on other people's lives and actions. It was a truly fascinating watching this concept unfold ... very moving and deeply thought provoking ... it was very well done indeed.

I liked the different cinematography effects used, loved the use of symbolic imagery which was very powerful in the messages it conveyed ... sometimes a picture really does say a thousand worlds. The score was good and did not detract for the story. Nothing is superfluous in this story … everything links to everything else … even the robotic vacuum cleaner is pivotal.

The movie was partly inspired by three in depth articles about a random killing incident and an article on council estates. The screenwriters Lou Yi An and Singing Chen have truly crafted an amazing story around those articles. It is told in 3 chapters: Chapter 1 – Raging Zero; Chapter 2 – Goddamned Asura and Chapter 3 – Bridge to Hades.

Chapter 1 sets the scene for all that follows. It starts off with a mass shooting as seen through cell phone videos and then goes to a blank screen and then a series of beautiful and emotive black and white drawings over which the ML character Jan Wen says, “I dreamt that dream again. In that dream, all of humanity had disappeared except for me and Oreo.”

Oreo is a Border Collie dog that has been locked up in a small cage by its owner. Oreo's predicament is highly symbolic. Jan Wen does not have the words to describe his feelings but through videoing Oreo’s caged life he can, they are two different creatures but are living ‘parallel’ lives … in the mind of Jan Wen, all of humanity has disappeared except for himself and Oreo.

That Oreo is a Border Collie adds to the symbolism. Border Collies are highly intelligent dogs, probably the smartest dog breed out there. It was bred for an active outdoor life of herding and is a high energy dog of purpose and drive. Cage a dog like that ... limit where it can go ... limit what it can do ... it will go crazy, it will lose its sense of purpose and identity. Oreo has been in that small cage for such a long time. When it was set free it didn’t know what to do, it was reluctant to leave ... why? Because it had no idea what to do outside of the cage ... it had been disconnected too long from its instinctual behaviour and drivers. Oreo left only to be either caught again or go voluntarily went back to that horribly small cage.

Oreo’s situation is so similar to humans ... intelligent beings that need purpose ... cage them and they can go crazy ... limit what they can do ... where they can go ... and they can go crazy, lose their sense of purpose and identity. Set them free and most will either go back to the cage they came from or make a new cage to go into. Jan Wen is no different. Jan Wen wanted to escape from the cage his separated parents put him in and write stories with his friend Axing. When both of his parent wanted him to go overseas ... in one way an opportunity of freedom ... he doesn’t want to go and is desperate to stay. So creates his own cage by shooting people with an air pistol ... and is sent to another cage ... prison. His life parallels the life of Orea the border collie.

Everyone is in some kind of cage to one degree or another … be it physical, psychological or both. Individuals trapped by their families, trapped by location, trapped in addiction, trapped by poverty, trapped by violence, trapped by gaming and virtual worlds that give players a greater sense of control, a greater sense of value that they lack in real life. Even the robot vacuum cleaner is trapped … even it cannot do what it was made to do.

Chapter 2 - Goddamned Asura … the aftermath of the shooting. We see how all the characters are connected to each other and the effect their actions have on each other and how that fuels their future action. Powerful stuff … talk about degrees of separation.

Jan Wen is in prison but he doesn’t want to be imprisoned for life like a dog … he wants to die. His best mate Axing, who has an unrequited love for Jan Wen, is totally distraught with Jan Wen’s situation … he is deeply struggling to understand how this all came to be, he wants him out of prison. He thinks if he had of gone with Jan Wen then none of this would have happened. Axing’s “IF” is an “IF” that all the key players are thinking … if I had of … but Jan Wen tells Axing, “Don’t you know me? That day I just reached a critical point. I couldn’t take it anymore. I forgot how it started. However, I felt that it was the first time I gained control of myself … If I hadn’t done it [inadvertently killed Sheng] would things have been very different?” Such a profound questions ... that gets answered later on in the movie.

Everyone has a critical point … most don’t do what Jan Wen did, some do, most don’t as they numb themselves out before hand with alcohol, drugs, sex, games, bullying etc ... theirs is a kind of 'delayed' self destruction ... but even that has knock on effects to those around them. Jan Wen does not want this kind of delayed destruction, he just wants to die and Axing takes extreme measures to help him and to help himself understand Jan Wen.

Chapter 3 Bridge to Hades. WOW … just the smallest of things … the flutter of butterfly wings … can literally change a person’s life … this chapter is like a kind of “Ground Hog Day” … we go back in time to when Jan Wen, packing his pistol, walks down the stairs to go to the market place. One his way down the stairs he sees the robot vacuum cleaner … it was stuck before but it now manages to get itself unstuck and starts to vacuum up new places. At the same time, different place, Lin Lin’s drunken mother gets a pain in her ear and doesn’t throw the bottle at Lin Lin. These two changes in the lives of Jan Wen and Lin Lin have a domino effect on everything else causing a surprising change of events.

Sheng got to send the message to his girlfriend who came to see him in the marketplace … ironically their conversation ended with her hoping he got carved up by a nutter.

Jan Wen posts about Oreo who cannot escape from the cage, how he is 18 and fed up and that something needs to be done … and who comes walking by … Oreo. Jan Wen then sees “Zero” aka Lin Lin walking on the other side of the street … he calls out to her and she comes over and the reminisce about their days back in school.

After talking with Jan Wen, Lin Lin catches up with the reporter Mold and talks about the rage she feels about her poverty stricken life. Mold mentions his mother who was beaten up by her husband and died in jail. She had reached her critical point and nearly killed her husband … did the father go to prison for his constant assault on his mother … idk .. probably not. In just a few minutes of conversation the utter unfairness of life is laid out bare. Mold says that anyone could become Asura by chance … and so it was.

At the end of the day instead of ending up in prison, Jan Wen ends up in Axing’s tent … a changed man. He had made up his mind to be himself, not to go abroad, not to depend on his father, and retake the exam again so he can go to the same college as Axing … he might fail again but he will give it a go… a whole load of options Jan Wen couldn’t even conceive of under the previous circumstances of chapter 1 and 2.

Talk about the insane effect the vagaries of life can have. The smallest of changes - a robot vacuum cleaner getting unstuck … a bottle not thrown - can make such a significant difference … but it is not necessarily all for the good … sometimes it is enough to prevent a person from reaching their critical point … but for others it tips them over the edge.

For example, Lin Lin says to Jan Wen, “since you showed up, a lot of shitty things in my life have seemed to disappeared. So I want to thank you. You’re my angel”.

As for Axing … well his angel was Jan Wen whom he loved (unrequittingly) … after hearing Jan Wen and Lin Lin have sex and their post sex conversation … he sees his critical point so he goes off with the gun. He gets busted for shooting female mannequins through shop windows … Jan Wen gets busted because it is his gun; Lin Lin gets killed by Shining because she won’t give him back his money and Mold gets a flogging for the articles he posted. My god what a turn around … doesn’t matter what you do there is suffering one way or another. I am not a fan of any religion but I have to say Jesus Christ saying “the rain falls on the just and unjust” … and the Buddha saying “all life is suffering” comes to mind.

Is that the end … no … because it was all part of Raging Zero comic which Axing finally finished 🤣 … BUT I am sure that this all went down in some other parallel universe.

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Profoundly brilliant - what manner of man is this ɿ(･ه･)ɾ

WOW ... . this was a deep and mind blowingly good movie!! It reminded me a little of Blank 13. I thought I was going to watch a bit of a mystery but it turned out to be so much more than the mystery of a dead man's back story. It literally was an existential 'man hunt' ... a hunt for what it is that defines a man ... a person ... a hunt for identity.

This was not apparent to me at first. The movie moved slowly and I wondered why are they going so slow ... hurry up and get to the juicy mystery bits. Then it jumped some years ... and then there were flashbacks ... and I was wondering what the point of it all was ... and then it hit me ... this was not just about "a" man hunt ... but a multiple man hunt and not just for the men but for their identities, both from an external point of view and an internal point of view. The movie then became entirely fascinating for me ... nothing was irrelevant ... the script was so good it allowed a gloriously deep dive into the existential ﾟ:･*･:◝(ᵔ‿ᵔ)◜:*:･ﾟ.

"Identity' ... in one sense it is such a concrete thing and yet in another sense, it is elusive and ever evolving ... before we are even born we are automatically assigned an identity:
▪ identity from genetics of your biological parents
▪ identify from the time of your birth e.g. before/after marriage; the year / month / day
▪ identity from the order of your birth compared to your siblings ... even the order of birth of your parents in the broader family context
▪ identity from the geographical place of birth ... even the place of birth of your ancestors e.g. born in Japan but your great grandparents were Korean ...
▪ identity from race
▪ identify from culture
▪ identity from your gender
▪ identity from social institutions e.g. the school you went to, the religion you have, the occupation you have; the clubs you belong to; the music you listen to; the hobbies you have
▪ identity from your physical body - the 'perfectness' of it or the 'imperfectness' of it; who/what you look like ... I am the splitting image of my father ... you look like a Korean etc
▪ identity from your state of mind - sane / not sane; smart; stupid;
▪ identity from what your parents do/are - son of a murderer, daughter of a prostitute, son of a doctor etc
▪ identity from where you live, what you wear, the food you eat
▪ identity from your experiences - parenthood; singleness; military service etc
▪ the identity that others assign to you - "hurry up and go back to your 'old self'"
▪ the identity that you think you are ... or should be ... or want to be ...

"Identity" ... so abstract and yet it is such a very heavy thing ... a blessing in its inclusiveness and yet also a weapon of separation and destruction ... something innate and yet something thrust upon you without consent ... what choice do you have with it ... how much of it can you mold and how much of it do you just have to accept as is ... can you escape from it and thereby escape to a different way of life, a different way of being ... how many times have we modified our personality throughout our lives without even knowing ... how did we do that ... is it necessarily a bad thing (˙_˙)ゞ.

I loved the scripting ... as well as the symbolic imagery used throughout ... and the clues that were set up right from the beginning. I liked the different perspectives of a person's identity given from the children to the adults, to friends and family of the main characters ... even to that of strangers. It was very nicely done and the actors did it credit. The scripting was so loaded ... so mind blowingly good. For me this movie is definitely rewatchable. As for the score ... I got so consumed with the story line and all the thoughts that that generated in my mind, I don't even remember the score of the movie ... but I gave it a 10 anyway because whatever it was, it did not detract from the story line at all.

The final scene showing Kido's back as he looked at that painting ... profound. A brilliant movie ... I loved it.

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It put the "over" into "overkill" and the "E" into "evolution"

WOW this was an awesome ... bl00dy and gory ... but mind blowing movie.

The beginning of the movie.
They definitely put the "over" in over kill ... it was saturated in blood and guts and bones and brain matter (｡ꏿ﹏ꏿ｡) Initially I wondered where the hell this story was going to ... I decided to stick around for two reasons:
1. Seo In Guk. OMG what a transformation!! He has such an incredible acting range ... it is always a pleasure to watch his work.
2. to see what the go was between Jang Dong Yoon who plays Lee Do Il and the "Korean-stein" ... as there seemed to be some connection there. I am glad I did.

The middle of the movie.
I found this to be quite historical and evolutionary. Historical because of the links to the Japanese Empire's Surgeon General Shiro Ishii and his Unit 731. They were infamous for diabolical and horrendous medical atrocities perpetrated upon civilians and whole villages throughout Japanese occupied territory in WWII. In an International Military Tribunal for the Far East, the United States Government gave Ishii immunity from prosecution of war crimes, in exchange for information and research for the U.S. bio-weapons program. A diabolical act in itself ... one that not only spits in the face of every single victim who was tortured and died at their hands but humanity in general. BUT here is the thing ... it is not just a Japanese thing, or a USA thing ... it is a 'any country' thing (as we find out later in the movie). The middle was also evolutionary as, at the end of the day, evolution is no respecter of persons, it really is survival of the fittest ... be it cerebrally or physically or both ... it will cut through egoic human pretentions like butter. Humans messing with human DNA ... evolution is going to kick in somewhere along the line and it may very well come back and bite humanity as it is.

The end of the movie.
The end was a bombshell. The ship - such a powerful allegory to the world - initially it was humans fighting humans on the ship ... then it was the monster fighting humans ... then the humans were all wiped out leaving monster fighting monster ... it was almost Tolkien, one monster to rule them all. The last scene ... so powerful ... the father of new life emerges from the ocean, as if in homage to that first primordial life form that first set its "foot" on land ... he walks into a new world passing by the refuse of the humanity ... the humanity that he and his kind will replace ... because it is survival of the fittest.

WOW ... this was an epic movie ... a multi-level plot that you could do a deep dive into if you wanted to ... brilliantly acted ... definitely rewatchable ... loved it.

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Drop your ego and find you own Sumo

This is a brilliant series ... 10/10 for me ... the script, the production, the score, the cinematography, the acting was brilliant.

The cinematography was amazing ... the 'stop action' ... the slow motion which allowed the view to see and appreciate the things you don't get to see in the fast and furious clashes in the rings ... like the way the energy from the clashes pass from one body to the other, the sweat, the dirt, the look in the combatant's eyes ... amazing.

The script was nicely put together ... you could watch the series from a number of different levels. For me, the series is not just about the mystique of sumo or the regimentation and ritualism that it has been steeped in for over 1500 years ... it was about Sumo's descent into hypocritical sanctimoniousness ... the brutal dog eat dog world in the Stables which is the seedy underbelly of all that 'noble' ritual ... it is about the personal stories and drivers behind the rikishi ... young men who come to the dohyo with their own individual baggage ... it is about the true spirit of sumo and what happens when ego's are left behind and these big men find their own 'sumo'.

For the few minutes (but mostly less than a minute) of something that seems so innocuous as pushing someone to the ground or out of a circle ... the lead up to those few minutes is brutal, it is a test of heart and soul and body. These big men are amazing ... it is in no way an easy life that is for sure.

I loved that real Sumo Rikishi also stared in the series like Hishofuji Hiroki (1.92m tall and 201kg ... wow) who played the character of Shizuuchi. When he retired from Sumo he moved to the USA. Even as the scarred Shuzzuchi, that man has the most beautiful face and expressive eyes ... wow. Ichinose Wataru (not a Sumo Rikishi) who played Oze Kiyoshi / Enno, was just brilliant and so believable. He blew me away ... the anger, the rage, the depression, the fear and then the passion and exhilaration of finding his Sumo ... just brilliant. The back stories of these two characters ... both 'bad boys' ... had me reeling. Their lives outside of the Sumo Stables were tragic ... it was interesting to see how each man reacted to the tragedy of their lives. Once in the Stables it was another cruel world for them ... again, it was interesting how they responded to that cruelty.

As for the Ensho Stable ... the evolution of the Rikishi from brute savages to Rikishi who found their own Sumo, was hard to take at first but then became inspiring.

The side stories were interesting too, and while they were not fully explored, it provided the driving context to what drew these big men, Shizuuchi and Oze to Sumo and kept them there. Enya's retirement hair cutting ceremony was very moving ... for something that these men eat and breath for so much of their lives, retirement must feel like a form of death for them ... the hair cutting ceremony for Enya had me in tears as did Ensho Oyakata's response to him just before he finished cutting Enya's Sumo top knot.

All these different aspects ... the best and worst of Sumo, the ritual and spirituality of it; the association that regulates it and the individual stories ... makes this a very moving and compelling series. I especially loved the end ... when I was thinking of Shizuuchi and Enno I was worried about how it would end with these two ... but the end was exactly what I hoped for ... it was a perfect ending◝(ᵔ‿ᵔ)◜

This is an amazing story, brilliantly acted and produced ... I loved it.

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The majesty and cruelty of Life ... inseparably intertwined

:･*:･ 10/10 MAJESTIC･:*:･ﾟThis movie was based on a true story written by Yang Liu Song. He was the first person to ever attempt to cross the Qian Tang uninhabited zone horizontally by foot. Zhao Han Tang plays "Yang" and Jiang Yi Yan plays "Lan Tian", who is also a real person who runs an inn in Lhasa. The scenes from the Qian Tan uninhabited zone were actually the real deal and my god, the cinematography of them was absolutely magnificent ... it was mind blowing awe inspiring. The landscapes, the vastness of land and sky ... some times you could not tell where one ended and the other begun ... the colours and the majesty of it all WOW ... profoundly beautiful, rugged and harsh and so 'true to itself' at the same time. The score matched the majesty of the vistas and the human struggle ... it was so in tune with it all ... magnificent and hauntingly beautiful ... such a visual and auditory feast
╰(*´◡`*)╯

The story itself was very thought provoking ... human existence ... what the hell is it ... why do we exist in the first place, for what purpose ... how long should a person 'keep trying'. Some dialogue that I thought was thought provoking ...

All my life I've wanted to do something that I actually want to do. Just like the old saying, many people die at 30, but they aren't buried until they're 80. I just want to feel like I'm still alive.
(Yang)

I have nothing, but I still have to give those inspirational speeches. I have to pretend to be optimistic! I know I am lying to myself, but what else can I do?! What else can I do to move on in life? ...I'm so tired of living. I'm just so tired ... ... You should have let me end my life, not help me achieve my dream. I've tried so hard in life, but I'm still full of despair. I can only use death to defy my cruel destiny. What's wrong with death?
(Lan Tian)

Lan Tian's spirit could survive and thrive in the wild but her body found it very difficult ... her body could survive in civilisation but her spirit found it really difficult ... what a sad and tragic contradiction ... Yang knew what she was going to do and I think he wanted to help her achieve her dream before she took that path. Lucky he did because it was a path she did not end up taking.╰(*´◡`*)╯

Yang later reflects: Why cross the wilderness? Perhaps I have been searching for what is right in front of me. In this vast universe and in this short life, building up the courage, doing what you want and becoming the person you want to be.

It is an amazing and magnificent story ... I whole heartedly recommend you give the movie a go, even if it is only to behold the magnificent vistas that were so beautifully filmed. Watch to the end for some interesting behind the scenes shots.

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The futility of rebellion ...

WOW ... this 1992 movie was very thought provoking and really really well done and is as relevant today in 2023 as it was in 1992 ... 31 years later.

The OS, a simple low repeating tune, and the amazing cinematography created a palpable sense of heaviness and dankness of a decaying world. Everywhere, inside and outside, was so confining ... so chock a block full of stuff but so 'dead' and 'empty'. The built environment, always in a state of decay and repair (which never seemed to make any overall difference), was mirrored in the trapped lives of the characters inhabiting it. Decay and alienation ebbed and flowed in their lives like the drain in Ah-Tse's apartment, like the low repeating tune that played in the background ... ever present ... ebbing and flowing ... every step forward they made, they were pushed back three ... never getting ahead ... always wallowing in decay. The alienated and dead pan looks on everyone's faces ... I wondered how they kept on going on when nothing seemed to make any difference .. not even rebellion made a difference.

The 360 degree "cause and effect" and the interconnectedness of all the events that played out in everyone's lives was very well scripted and very thought provoking ... from that fateful meeting where the taxi mirror was smashed to the same taxi bringing the 'smashed' perpetrators back home ... the Father leaving the door to their apartment ajar after having slammed it in his son's face telling him he was not allowed in ... the hug between Ah-Tze and his girlfriend Ah-Kwei while standing in the overflowing drain water, both wanting to escape but having no idea where to escape to or even how to escape ... it really hit hard ... it felt so desperate and hopeless ... like a terrible oppressive black hole that mercilessly swallows up any joy and pulls you back in every time you try to escape ... the futility of it all.

At the end of the movie, feeling really emotionally depleted, I wondered ... how would things have turned out if Ah-Tze hadn't smashed the taxi mirror and Hsiao-Kang and his Father ended up going to the movies ... hmmm ... sadly, I think it would have only delayed the inevitable ... one way or another their souls will be consumed by the decay.

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Humans who are demonic and demons who are humane ... no "black and white" to this story

WOW I am giving this a 10/10 because it I found it so profound. The pace of the movie is a bit slow so I upped the playback, but still, it is not bad for a 2004 production. I thought the acting was a bit average ... but it didn't bother me because the story line was so compelling (for me anyway). I thought the visual FX were pretty good too for back then. There are slight differences between the movie and the anime (which I finished watching before I watched this movie), so I want to read the original manga (published in 1972) as this story has a hell of a lot to say about humanity; good and evil; god and demon etc. It reminds me a bit of Alice in Borderland ... I just love that kind of in your face mental / psychological challenge. Given the themes to this movie I found it rather ironic that the actors playing Ryo and Akira are brothers ＼(^ᴗ^)／

I thought the movie was very existential ... what is it to be human ... are all humans the 'same' ... should there be some distinction made between them (•ิ.•ิ)ゞ... do ALL lifeforms have the right to live or only 'designated' lifeforms ... and if so, who gets to designate and by what right (•ิ.•ิ)ゞ ... if there is a 'Satan' then who and what is 'god' ... if 'god' hates and has favourites then what kind of god is it ... is it just another entity with its own vested interests (•ิ.•ิ)ゞ ... so much to think about.

Seeing humanity release their own inner 'demons' like crazed rabid animals, makes you wonder who the real demons are ... killing indiscriminately and justifying that with a perverse hypocritical sanctimoniousness and irrationality ...it is just sickening. The devilmen had more humanity than the humans do. The movie is like a conglomerate telling of human history repeating itself ... the witch hunts ... ethnic cleansing ... religious purging ... political purging ... mob murders ... the vigilante groups ... bullying because of 'differences' ... humans have been doing this throughout its history and sadly has NOT learned anything in the process ... not 'advanced' in anyway.

The portrayal of mob psychosis and its blood soaked results is a terrifying portrayal of humanity and how easy it is for people to slip into that demented state. Is there another course of action (•ิ.•ิ)ゞ ... beautiful Miki and Miiko ... human and devilman ... emanate a type of acceptance and kindness that sees lifeforms not by their designation but by their heart ... seems to me that kind of approach to life can go a long long way to reducing the collective misery on themselves and other inhabitants of the planet ... but how come they have it but others don't ... is it something you are born with or can acquire (•ิ.•ิ)ゞ.

The ending was poignant ... the pure demon did not want to lose the human/devilman and the young human child and devilman woman come out from the rubble and walk into the future ... I wonder how they will go ... what will they do differently and is that even possible (•ิ.•ิ)ゞ ... they are kind of like a new "Adam and Eve" walking in hell.

I wonder if what we think of as 'human' is not so much a human body, but more of a "quality or state of being" that can be expressed regardless of the form an entity takes ... human, demon, animal, plant etc. (•ิ.•ิ)ゞ
Anyway, this was a profound and poignant movie and, for me, definitely rewatchable.

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How to integrate into the 'solar system' of life when we are all on our own planet ? ...

A very poignant movie ... it starts off with humour but quickly takes a deep dive into the sad and often desperate lives of the lost, lonely, struggling and abused. These life experiences can leave us feeling like we are alone on our own planet in some dark and obscure part of the universe. One of the characters ... a client of Chihiro ... said we are all on another planet ... separate from each other. And yet ... does it always have to be that way? I think this movie both agrees and challenges that notion.

Chihiro seems to be a magnet to members of the community that have been marginalised by their struggles etc ... people who are alone on their own 'planet'. Chihiro, a 'marginalised' person herself, brings these people together with her unique sense of playfulness, honesty, kindness and non-judgemental acceptance of people just the way they are ... even though she herself seems to feel an emptiness, that she is 'not from this planet' and separate from 'her kind of people'. It really is a skill to break down the 'interplanatary' barriers, but she does it. I wonder if kindness and understanding and acceptance have a lot to do with that ... it is worth thinking about.

Having connected this disparate group of people with each other, they find their grounding and moments of joy ... and from that place, reach out to embrace and strengthen others. It really is a wonderful catalytical reaction on a human scale, with Chihiro as the catalyst ... and just like a 'catalyst', she herself seems 'unmoved' by the process that has brought them together and uplifted everyone up from the darkness. Chihiro then moves on and disappears out of their lives into another set of lives ... a bit like a cool refreshing breeze ... here one moment and gone the next ...

The last scene of Chihiro gazing off in the distances is moving ... it seems that Chihiro was affected by the process afterall, their seemed to be a 'spark' of life in her gaze ... a thread of connection forming with the world around her ... the gap of separation slowly narrowing. If you are feeling like you are on another planet ... this might be a nice movie to watch ... "you're wonderful just as you are regardless of what planet you come from" ... and at some point ... you, yourself may come to realise and feel that to your core.

I really liked the cinematography ... all those outdoor shots were just beautiful ... the sunshine, the abandoned places ... all really added to the vibe of the story. I enjoyed the actors too ... Arimura Kasumi did a marvellous job bringing out that those difficult human emotions ... Shimada Tetta was so believable as a 'latch key' kid.

The movie was well done, heavy going sometimes, but deeply moving.

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A first class story telling ... you will be saying 잠깐 만요 !!! at the end

A hard hitting 2006 story that takes you on a roller coaster ride. It is powerfully scripted and very, very well executed by the actors and production team. I wish I could add that in BOLD type ... the movie blew me away. Korea has produced a few golden oldies in this genre that are absolutely first class ... and this is one of them in my opinion. I have watched this several times and have absolutely 'no regret' doing so, there is always something to take away from watching it ... how to be a better human being.

It makes me wonder what the hell happened since 2006 that made Korea go all coy on these more realistic life stories ... not that I don't like the current crop of post 2020 Korean BL's but I like these stories too because, more than anything, they cast a powerful light on the human heart and all the complexities of thought and emotion that surround the character's world view of life and love and attraction and struggle and pain and death and what makes you keep on going ... or not as is sadly sometimes the case.

Spoiler: even though I have seen this movie a several times ... it always has me in tears .... those last few scenes of beautiful Ga Ram (Kim Dong Wook played that character beautifully) ... are just heart crushingly tragic ｡:ﾟ(;´⌓`;)ﾟ:｡. Why do the beautiful souls go so soon?? When Song Jae Min is calling Lee Su Min and can hear his phone call in the car park ... I just want to scream out 잠깐 만요 !!! The movie really draws you in ... it is that good ... AND ... and there is a cheeky surprise ending \(‾‿◝ )/

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Truths omitted are as bad as the Lies told

I really liked this series ... I was in the mood for some angst but was surprised with something else.

The scripting for each character was strong ... I think it was purposefully like that so you could form a strong opinion about them ... only to have those opinions broken down when the PoV was changed in the next episode. This technique of revealing the inner mind of the characters by changing the PoV was really clever given the title of the series. I couldn't help but wonder over and over at how drastically our opinions change when presented with the truth ... it is not just the lies that alter perception, it is the truths that remain unspoken that alter perception as well.

The zigging and zagging with what the main characters told each other and what they didn't tell each other, was super frustrating but instead of ending up in an abyss of misery it was heading somewhere. There was a lot of personal evolution going on with the characters and I liked watching how that unfolded and seeing what the catalysts were that moved that personal progression.

I was over the moon at how the ML Ichikawa Kazuya found himself ... he leveled up from a troubled 15 year old in an adult's body to a man matured who knows his own mind, faces his truth and is willing to put it out there ... and all without burning his bridges ... I was impressed ◝(ᵔ‿ᵔ)◜

Communication is a powerful thing ... truths omitted are just as bad as the lies told ... life is tough enough already with plenty to suffer over, no need to add to that the pain of regret for untold truths and lies spoken ... this story portrayed that theme very well. I was glad for a happy ending.

As an aside ... it was nice to see SatoTaiki and Mikami Ai getting into their kiss scenes ٩(✿ ^ᴗ^ )۶

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Trust & Suspicion ... what if you get it wrong?

WOW ... this was a very profound movie. Trust and suspicion ... it really is a case of walking on a razor's edge. How can you really know when it is safe to trust ... or when it is best to be suspicious ... and what if you get it wrong ... can you survive that, can you move forward or will you be consumed by rage and possibly contribute its perpetuation on to the lives of others?

This movie really plunged into the depths of these questions and the ensuing rage and despair when it goes wrong ... and if the situation is redeemable / survivable. It is gritty, confronting and very raw ... the way it was filmed, scripted and acted was nothing less than masterful ... it is like you are grabbed and literally thrust into the lives of the characters and forced to being a witness to the unfolding events which were so realistically portrayed and delivered to the screen.

TRIGGER WARNING: confronting rape scene. I had to skip the actual rape scene ... I couldn't just sit there and watch it without doing anything (ノಠ怒ಠ)ノ ... I was so wild about those rotten mongrel b@stards ... they were in positions of trust and are supposed to protect civilians ... not to get pleasure from brutally raping an innocent girl. Where is Sha Qing when you need him ... where is Ryuuk, write those b@stards' names in your Death Note and give them a very slow and excruciating death ... how about that for rage at the abuse of trust.

Hmmm which brings to mind something Orson Scott Card (an American author who wrote Ender's Game) said that really nails the connection between trust, suspicion and rage:

"There's a sort of rage a man feels when he's been deceived where he most trusted. It compares to no other anger."

And in the end, after all has been said and done, what is left ... 🤔 ...
loss, grief, rage, death (yours and/or others) <> forgiveness, relief, moving forward, alive

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Curious blend of history, LGBTQ comedy and harrowing battle scenes

An historical parody with a very unexpected ending (for me anyway ... I was watching it after midnight and missed the inference of the movie's name). The comedic effects are similar to that in the two Pee Nak movies. A group of villagers from Kung Raga (part of Asoraya) volunteer to spy on Yasotharavadi to acquire military intel.

The Kung Raga spies are made up of three straight men (Krai, Boontueng and Saeng) and five transgender men (Horm, Duen, Fang, Soi and Gon). Most of the humour centers around Horm, Duen, Fang, Soi and Gon and their antics ... I thought were hilarious and incredibly brave at the same time.

However, the smile was wiped off my face at the very end by some harrowing battle scenes and the fact that for the Kung Raga villagers, it turned out to be a battle to the death ... the 'good' guys didn't win. (´╥︵╥`)

This mix of humour with the blood and guts and death of war and no happy ending left me feeling rather strange at the end as I felt guilty for having laughed so much before the battle scene ending. So, it was an interesting and kind of bizarre experience watching it.

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