Reviews

"There's no such thing as easy anywhere these days"

Dokkoi Ikiteru aka I Still Live was a painful look at the most vulnerable in Japan post WWII. Director Imai Tadashi who dove into socially conscious movies after the war, made this film outside of the major studios. I will admit to only grasping the large parts of the film as the only available copy I could find used auto-generated English subtitles which were lacking to say the least. Until such time as someone who watches this who speaks Japanese or there is an adequate translation, I’ll leave a quick review for those who might be interested in this film.

The film centers on a Japanese family of four. They initially live in a small shantytown but are forced to move out when it is torn down. The father rises early every morning to apply for day laborer jobs along with crowds of desperate people. It is a daily struggle to earn enough money to eat and supply shelter. Many of the places where the father works amongst the rubble and ruins had been hit hard by the air raids during the war. At one point in time, the mother and two children take the train out of town. At first it looks like the father may find a manufacturing job and his luck will turn for the better, but alas, not in this melodrama. Everything goes from bad to worse, some of the injuries self-inflicted, until he reaches the point when he thinks they would be better off dead. A precipitous action will determine the course he takes.

While this film highlighted a desperate time for many after the war and has value in edification of its historical setting, I found the film to be too deliberately maudlin for me. The music was heavy-handed and overwrought as the little family suffered misfortune after misfortune. Yet the performances were strong and again, it covered an important subject, though at times it did feel more educational in nature. If you enjoy older films and especially ones set in this difficult time in Japan’s recovery, this would be a film to try.

14 May 2024

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Watchable but Don't Believe the Hype!

I was excited to see a new BL jump up to the top of the MDL BL rankings. This drama currently holds an 8.5 rating and is in the all-time top-ten of BL dramas. I think the problem may the growing popularity of BL dramas and viewers that may not have see many of the BL dramas from the past get excited overly excited about a new show, without the perspective of what some better dramas may be. So before I get into my review, I would ask viewers that love this show, if they really think it's better than other realism style dramas such as Like in the Movies, I Told Sunset about You, The Eighth Sense, Moonlight Chicken or even the unfairly low-rated Kimi no Koto Dake Mite Itai?

[Spoiler's ahead!] The biggest problem isn't the tired trope of the step-brother's falling in love -- although if you want more of that, feel free to watch Stay with Me, Addicted, History 4: Close to You, Gray Shelter, History 2: Crossing the Line, History 1: Stay away from Me, My Bromance or Cherry Blossoms after winter. The biggest problem also isn't the glacial pacing of the series, with way too many dialogue-free montages of the past, or of a character "acting" to demonstrate their emotions. The biggest problem isn't the convoluted story of the gang - particularly when they come back towards the end of the series -- didn't Wei Qian already clear his debt in the the fighting matches years ago? The biggest problem isn't the stalker-ish behavior of the younger step-brother who won't take no for an answer -- over and over and over. The biggest problem isn't the absolutely terrible acting of the Xiao Yuan's teacher who visits Wei Qian (episode 2) who apparently learned that furrowing one's brow and repeating touching and taking on and off your glasses constitutes acting. And the biggest problem also wasn't the over-the-top melodrama of it all -- the trials and tribulations of this family could have been portrayed much more realistically if the director had just pulled back a little bit on a number of creative choices.

No, none of those. The biggest problem with this series is the music. Instead of working harder to find some more unobtrusive music cues to gently support and accentuate the drama that unfolds within this small family, the producers, director and editor chose to use a very limited number of songs over and over too many times throughout the series. The instrumental music with the piano and strings that they used multiple times in every episode got repetitive very quickly. It felt like the acting and the story wasn't creating the desired emotional weight that the producers wanted, so they thought that by playing swelling music that it would lift the scene, but it felt just the opposite like they were forcing the scene to have emotion, instead of just letting the story and actors propel the emotions. It felt overly-manipulated, instead of just supporting. However, the most distracting uses of music were the repeated vocal tracks that they would play under scenes of dialogue. The music was too loud and took me out of the scene every time. Maybe they could have used instrumental versions of the OST pop songs for the show or something. It might have helped, but the bottom line is whoever had the final say on music for this series, shouldn't be allowed to sign off on music in the future.

Now, just in case you think I hated this show, I didn't. I just don't think it deserves the score it currently has on MDL. There were a number of great things about this show. The main actors did a good job, the cinematography was better than many other BLs out there, the leads were quite attractive, and the sex scene, although not explicit, was quite hot. I just think as viewers we should turn the page on the step-brother trope (or at least find a more interesting way to present it), and I think the viewers should start being a little more discerning when it comes to things like logical plots, music aesthetics and melodrama.

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Meh all around

This is probably the most underwhelming drama I've seen in a long time, like a big sneeze waiting to happen but never happening.

The story couldn't decide whether it was a crime drama, a political drama, a mystery, or a romantic comedy. The writers threw everything into the plot turning it into an incoherent mess. It started out as a comedy with an inspector trying to uncover an underground alcohol distillery just to devolve into a mess of political intrigue, mystery, murder, conspiracy, and an extremely boring romance story. All the characters were boring. ML would appologize to FL in every episode after continueing to hide something from her, rinse and repeat in the next episode. The love triangle between the crown prince, ML and FL was completely pointless and boooring. The plotline with the underground alcohol distillery was not even the main story, the main story was political conspiracy.

The show would've been so much better if the writers just kept the plot simple, a romantic comedy where the inspector is trying to uncover an illegal alcohol business during prohibition with FL being the ring leader. Instead, we have this mess.

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GREAT DRAMA. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

"The drama tells the story of a group of individuals with different backgrounds who were unexpectedly drawn into a mysterious treasure-hunting journey during the late Qing Dynasty. Amidst the grand and tumultuous historical tide, they gradually strengthened their ideals of saving the country." 4 opposite side groups of people; Loyalist of Qing Imperial Guards lead by Irgen Gioro Mu Qing / "Men San Dao" (Qin Jun Jie), ambitious little RongTian Sword Sect lead by Zhuo Bu Fan (Liu Yu Ning), Single unnerving Dagu County Yamen constable Wang Jia Luo (Pang Han Chen), plus Japanese agents. In the beginning these people meet like domino effects: Men San Dao's people are pursuing traitor the WuZu Reformers, Wang Jia Luo is pursuing killers in his jurisdiction which're RongTian Sword Sect people, Zhuo Bu Fan's sect are pursuing treasure map helping Prince Qi, as wells as Japanese agents for treasury map. They're colluded as their case are interconnected and interference in each other throats. They out smart each other, work in their group with each dilemmas and love interest.

So far, I only watch up to ep 11 and still going on but....

What I love about this drama is the opening credit: Genuine videos of Chinese lifestyle in Shanghai incorporating with drama, historical facts about concession of Japanese, English, France, American authorities in 19th century Shanghai. All actors acting remarkable good the Main Leads and supporting actors, scripts is flowing flawless great, awesome action, subtle romances, setting and costumes are beautifully appropriate century, great angle cameramen, love the OST. Liu Yu Ning is very good in here....I think his expression is on point.

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Something was just not right

I really really liked the overall idea of the drama and the acting was perfect, I loved it very much. However, it just did not make sense after a certain moment. I don't want to spoil anything so I will try to keep this part pretty dry, but at a certain point, which was supposed to be the "turning point" or idk how to call it, things went south and I felt like I was watching a wattpad story but in video. Maybe it was because it was very short and there was not enough time for the story to be developed properly. Other than that, I don't really have something more to say about it. It was a short, sweet drama and great for people who just start watching BLs. Maybe it did not look good to me also because of the fact that I've spent more days watching bls and reading wattpad than I'm comfortable sharing and I am expecting certain things to happen that are quite predictable.

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Enjoyed the first four episodes

Alright, I watch this series without really knowing about the premise. When i got into the first episode i got attached. It is good, the chemistry is over the top for Songjam and Aksorn.
It's only 6 episodes, so i understand about the fast pace of the story. However, when the 5th episode come out i was like... Errr seems like what i thought is happening. And boom! That happened. Coz I actually found the similarities between Songjam Kyo. But i just can't accept it, sorry. I was so attached to songjam, that actually unable to fully enjoy the ep 5 and 6 coz I couldn't really saw him as Songjam. Coz I was taught from the early episode that he (Kyo) must be the 2nd lead. So, i got denial when i first had thought that he is who he is. And when it is actually true, i still unable to grasped it.
The actors are great, the acting is actually good. Aksorn could really maintain his chemistry with both actors. But, the way he easily accept him is a little bit too rush. Like, how could you easily accept that your lover is actually someone that has been on your side but hes actually in another form a few hours ago?
My review is a mess, but I actually make an account just so i could rant about this series. Coz i love it but also dislike it at the same time. I enjoyed it but skipping most parts toward the end 😅
So overall i love the first 4 episodes.

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I kept praying time would go slower so it doesn't end XD

I love everything about it from the outstanding cinematography to the perfectly "balanced" plot, it doesn't bore you with giving too much information and background story just enough to understand everything, and keeps you excited throughout the whole movie. I prefer these types of horror movies with eerie and gut-churning scenes with an interesting plot over movies with repetitive jumpscares and meaningless plots. The emotions the cast conveyed with their brilliant acting made me drown in the movie as if I were watching a real-life event live.
Sadly I had to watch this at home I wish they displayed it at where I live I would 100% go watch this at a cinema.

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I like it until i have watched it

i like this drama and given 9.5
but here i will only point out what i find odd or disliked

1. FL why she dying to help ML ? why she crying like that when she don't even know him properly
2. what kind of mother forgive her daughter killer like that ? Ji Soo mother is total fictional character here...
i know ML is innocent but how his mother in law trust him this much blindly when her own daughter has died, she is telling her son to forgive which mean she doesn't believe in ML innocence but still want to forgive her daughters killer
how she is showing so much mercy for son in law , while being totally ignorant and insensitive toward her daughter and granddaughter ?
i hated that evil granny for her inhuman act, ha ji mala tea soo yaaaa........just die haimoniya,, old granny dream about her son in law not her daughter, what evil bitch

ep7 ending scene he cant say Tae soo to follow that syngkuu and find ha yeon , then acting like a lunatic
ep 8 started with ML started acting like a Crazy Shamin( i like his AAAAA AAAAA )

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Not even fully out and easily took the spot of my fav drama

as of right now there is only 12 episodes out of this drama, and it’s already become my favorite drama. from the first episode it drew me in. Every episode is entertaining, there has not been one second where I was bored. The script is so unbelievably well written, it’s got me laughing, crying, angry, every emotion, which is what I NEED in a drama. the casting is perfect in my opinion… just hoping that Byron woo seok finally gets a Role where he STAYS alive LOL. It’s not even fully out and I’m already planning to rewatch with my friends, I just NEED to share this show with people. It’s so twisted and confusing and shocking and then it isn’t… this is the What makes a show so good to me because it’s constantly making me shocked because i genuinely do not know what’s going to happen next. it’s been forever since a drama has genuinely been this entertaining. The perfect show.

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A mixed bag

This series should rightly be acknowledged for tackling the subject of autism at a time when it was still pretty much a ‘hidden’ neurodivergence. Another plus is that the story is heartwarming, there is a decent character journey and the autistic ML is more than a two-dimensional portrayal.

However, that’s where the positives end. The patients’ stories are often tone deaf in their attempt to portrayal sentimentality. At times it seemed like they were doing their best approximation of ‘feel good’ stories that inevitably came across as clunky and clumsy. On their portrayal of autism, I can only speak as a non-autistic person and my perspective of this show is through the lens of a neurotypical person. So I am sure there are things that I cannot say subjectively whether they are portrayed well or not.

Still, I think it’s safe to say that the views of autism in this show both sociologically and medically were questionable to say the least. The science just wasn’t science-ing and even the ‘progressive’ views that were supposed to serve as the righteous ‘voice of the show’ made me cringe to know that there was a time that this was the ‘academic’ view of autism in Korea (I’m assuming the creators of this series researched Korean academia regarding autism, but I might be giving them too much credit).

What stuck out to me the most, was the notion that autism could be cured. The excessive use of the words ‘normal’, ‘stupid’, ‘crazy’, ‘mentally weak’ etc, coming from a show representing the medical profession was quite jarring. Surely, even ten years ago Korean doctors weren’t this inept in their understanding of autism, the behaviours associated with autism and whether it was something that could just go away. I expected this from the general public as they are less knowledgeable. If these misinformation were mainly being voiced by the characters that were not doctors, I could understand but the prejudice and pseudoscience was coming mostly from the ‘doctors’. I can just imagine well meaning Korean viewers, with very little knowledge of autism, watching this show in 2013 thinking they were actually learning something and gaining an understanding of autism.

Whether that was more damaging than the positives of having autism representation at the time of this release, is something I cannot say either way. But it’s a good question to ask. Of course, portrayals of people with autism have come leaps and bounds since this series was aired. Extraordinary Attorney Woo and Move To Heaven are two such examples.

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Could have been better

The fact that every apocalypse/disaster series seems more and more similar to one previous is nothing new, it may as well be one of the reasons I'm quickly losing interest in the genre.

Surprisingly enough, they managed to keep it fresh while still maintaining the same formula. They accomplished this by incorporating small details, establishing the story and workings early on, and focusing on the subsequent aftermath.

But even subverting the usual "everything is going to hell" trope, the story is bogged down by clichés you would usually witness in the genre, from the act first, think later characteristic that runs amok amongst all the characters, to the one - dimensional characterisation. There's the usual "who's the real villain?", and the darkness of human nature, everything you would usually see in the genre.

What seemed to be innovative started to take the usual, cliched route the minute it hit the halfway mark and just like that I began losing what little interest I had.

I put this on my list for Koo Kyo Hwan but also because despite my recent disinterest in the genre, I wanted to give the drama a try, and while I can't say I'm dissapointed, I can't say I'm impressed either. The short duration meant a perfect binge watch, but ultimately I didn't rate it as high as I thought I would after the first couple of episodes.

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Standard Thai BL

Admittedly, this series is perfectly named. It did seem to continue to go on and on endlessly. It was like being adrift in a rudderless boat floating in an ocean of tropes, clichés, banalities, stereotypes, and platitudes. Sooner or later, you would bump into one of them on your way to wherever it was you were supposed to be going. Unfortunately, this series went nowhere because it had nowhere to go to. Honestly, you have seen this story hundreds of times if you are an avid BL watcher. If not, you will no doubt run across its plot again because it is standard. It is another high school love story between two best friends. I know that many will no doubt like this series, but I found this series wantoned for its shallowness, use of endlessly tropey and cliché storylines, supporting characters that were superfluously infantile and not funny, the main characters never got to be a couple until the last episode and by that point it was too late, and a supposed secondary couple that was never fully developed into anything meaningful. I also found it quite sad that these two guys, who are otherwise solid and successful, could not bring themselves to communicate with each other. That for me is simply not a subject matter I can find funny.

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