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Human Vapor japanese drama review
Completed
Human Vapor
0 people found this review helpful
by DanTheMan2150AD
15 hours ago
8 of 8 episodes seen
Completed
Overall 7.5
Story 6.5
Acting/Cast 7.5
Music 8.0
Rewatch Value 7.0

Ellie My Love

Genuinely wasn't aware this was a thing until it was seemingly dumped on Netflix last week. An extremely ambitious Japanese–South Korean co-production, Human Vapor does everything a remake should aspire to, utilising Honda's original film as a jumping-off point before going in its own direction to do something radically different with the material. It hits all the right beats, modernising the premise with a darker, more grounded tone that leads into a compelling supernatural murder mystery, gradually evolving into an exploration of revenge and the human cost of scientific ambition. It's just kind of a shame that the whole thing eventually runs out of steam by the end of its lengthy eight-episode run. Visually, however, there's little to complain about; Shinzo Katayama directs his socks off, the performances are superb across the board, while the music by Takashi Ohmama is simply outstanding. The visual effects deserve their own special mention; done by the same team behind Godzilla Minus One, they are outstanding; every transformation is thoroughly unsettling, inventive and seamlessly integrated. Although the momentum slows to an absolute crawl after an opening sequence that literally blows you away, the series never loses you, as you buy into the horror of what the Human Vapor truly is, remaining a hugely entertaining romp that sublimates the atomic-age paranoia and kitschy monster mayhem of the 60s into a thrilling cautionary tale for the modern era, replete with bountiful action, romance, peril and enough renditions of the Southern All Stars Ellie My Love to last a lifetime.
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