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dragynfaerie

USA

dragynfaerie

USA
Completed
The Wandering Earth 2
0 people found this review helpful
16 days ago
Completed 0
Overall 6.5
Story 7.0
Acting/Cast 8.0
Music 9.0
Rewatch Value 2.0

An Unnecessary Prequel

Wandering Earth 2 does not pick up at the end of the first movie or even some time later. Instead, it opts to go a couple decades earlier before the lead character of WE2, Liu Pei Qiang, met the mother of the lead character of WE, Liu Qi. WE2 shows us what happened on Earth prior to movie 1 and how the plan to move the planet was initiated and accomplished. The problem with that is that I don't think anyone was really asking.

The story drags, especially around Andy Lau's character, Tu Heng Yu, who perfects the A.I. program. The end of WE2 connects us to the beginning of the first movie and to a comment made by Pei Qiang toward the end of WE. It gave 2001: A Space Odyssey vibes. The movie has excellent graphics. Honestly, my favorite parts of the movie came from the suppporting and guest roles. The Chinese excel at making side conversations interesting (or funny) as opposed to mummbles when you know people are speaking you just don't know what they're saying as with most movies. It's an anime trope that works very well in a scifi movie where there is a lot of action and movements going on simultaneously.

The cast is good. There are little scenes that stand out and gestures by some actors. Li Xue Jian plays a politician and his facial expressions and small gestures gave life to every scene he was in. There's a scene where he is just clapping, but the way he claps & his facial expression speaks volumes. That's an actor! When you can command a scene and get your point across without opening your mouth. You're a master. Kawawa Kadichi plays South African astronaut, Herbert Copley, who goes through training with Liu and has a running gag of Pei Qiang not understanding him. Another character (either his name is Chief Wang or I have 2 characters mixed up) was great. The scenes between the Chief and Liu were touching. Wu Jing as Liu Pei Qiang and Andy Lau as Tu Heng Yu were good. Nothing really stellar to write about except for Yu's creep factor. He was a creepy grieving scientist on the verge of maybe becoming the quintessential mad scientist.

The music partly made the music. It set the tone and provided suspense in scenes that wouldn't have had any otherwise. Re-watch is low, but I can see myself re-watching scenes.

Over all, it's entertaining... enough. It's not a movie that I would tell people they had to see even if they saw the first one. If I heard someone saying they were going to watch the WE series, I'd advise them to watch chronologically and watch 2 before 1, especially since 2 is more story driven while 1 is almost non-stop action.

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Completed
Yu Yu Hakusho
2 people found this review helpful
Dec 31, 2023
5 of 5 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 6.0
Story 8.0
Acting/Cast 7.0
Music 5.0
Rewatch Value 5.0
This review may contain spoilers

An Entertaining Fiasco: The Anime is Better, but...

(No spoilers about the Netflix version, but there may be some from the anime.)
It has taken me weeks to write this because I am torn. It wasn't until I watched a review on YT that my feelings about this entertaining fiasco congealed. The "live action" version of YuYu Hakusho, easily one of the best, most well written shonen anime/manga of all time is not a true adaptation. Rather, it's a re-telling of the story I've loved for almost 30 years. It has aspects of the anime and manga, but it's its own beast all together. Fans of the story may be torn. Those who have never seen the anime will probably really like it. I mean there's nothing to dislike. I can not see anyone hating it though. I have dubbed this retelling YuYu Hakusho: Netflix hen.

In case you don't know Yusuke Urameshi is a 14 year old yankee (Japanese term for teen thugs, gang members, etc.). He's an excellent fighter and e seems hard on the outside, but he really has a good heart. After an accident Yusuke undergoes trials assigned by, Koenma, the son of Enma, King of the Underworld, to become a spirit detective. He forms a team with once rival, Kuabara, and 2 demons (Kurama and Hiei) to rid the world of demons. That's Yu Yu in a nutshell. The only difference, which isn't much, is that Yusuke in the Netflix version is 17.

The good
Netflix's version is fast paced and action packed. If that's all you're looking for, you won't be disappointed. The CGI was a little ify here and there, but forgivable. The cast is good. I only recognized Takito Kenichi, who was perfectly creepy as the Elder Togoro brother, but for the most part the cast is solid. There's no mistaking who is who. While I didn't like the portrayal of Yusuke at first, he did grow on. The actor that played Kubara, however, was fantastic. He didn't necessarily look like Kuabara (his size and hair color being notable), but he embodied the spirit of Kuabara down to the walk. He was truly perfect.

The bad
Why was Koenma an adult from jump? Why didn't they explain the pacifier? They made him look like a damn perv sucking on binky for no reason. What they did to Kurama was a travesty. The cutting of Hiei's story and introduction was equally as sad. That brings me to what is really sad..the rush job. Why did they try to put 1/2 the story into 5 hours? They tried to cram over 60 anime episodes (approximately 30 hours of content) into 5- 1 hour episodes. Who does that? Why? Where's the fire? Why the rush? All questions I asked myself when I realized there was no episode 6. My only hope is that there is a 2nd season and they will have managed to work in some significant arcs and characters they omitted, especially the Dark Tournament. You guys don't know how badass any of them are with seeing the tournament.

The music was good at least I think it was. To be 100% I don't remember it. Re-watch? Hmm I'll probably re-watch it. I mean why not? It's only 5 episodes!

Fans of the anime: Netflix hen is decent. It's not the story you know, but it's not not the story either. It's a solid 6.
New YuYu fans: it's good. If you like fight scenes and action, you'll probably enjoy it enough to give it 7.5-8. However, you do yourself a huge disservice by not watching the anime.

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Completed
Hometown
0 people found this review helpful
Dec 4, 2023
12 of 12 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 5.0
Story 4.0
Acting/Cast 8.5
Music 5.0
Rewatch Value 1.0

A Convoluted Mess!

Hometown starts fantastically and jumps the rails around episodes 5 and 6. The crew from writing to directing did not have the skills to pull off the myriad of genres they tried to push into the story. After episode 4 it becomes plodding and slow. Had they stuck with the psycho-thriller/serial killer aspect and dismissed all things paranormal, it would have been better. I'm not saying this because I couldn't figure things out. I'm saying it because I lost complete interest in doing so.

Have you ever watched or read something that annoyed you because you could see the lost potential to the point where it bored you? Or you started re-writing it in your head to make it better? If so, then you'll understand my feelings about Hometown. It's boring. Straight up. No chaser. Boring. The crew couldn't bring it home. The lacked the ability to weave a cohesive story and make it entertaining. Instead they went for the WTF. They probably wanted the "mind blown" WTF but what they got was the "WTF happened" WTF.

The cast pulls this story along with sheer will and determination. It's not like they're phenomenal, but they deserve something better than what they received, especially Yoo Jae Myung who played Detective Choi. He was wasting his talent. Three of the 5 stars I'm giving this title are his alone.

The music was ok. I guess. I don't remember it. There's a negative chance that I'd rewatch any parts of Hometown without a paycheck and liquor.

Overall, it's a waste of time. The writing and directing are poor. Don't watch it.

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Completed
King the Land
3 people found this review helpful
Nov 27, 2023
16 of 16 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 7.5
Story 5.0
Acting/Cast 8.5
Music 9.0
Rewatch Value 5.0

FINALLY Leads With Chemistry!

Let me be straight right up front. King The Land's plot, or lack thereof, is nothing new. The character personality types are ones we've all seen time and time again. I only started watching it because of the hotel setting. I'm a sucker for some settings and luxury hotels is one. In my opinion the story would have been better had it concentrated more on the inner workings of the hotel. With that being said what KTL has the almost every romcom (and every drama with a needless romance) doesn't have is chemistry between the the leads.

It's painful watching a drama where the supports carry every episode because the leads suck. Trust me. I've seen way too many of them from several countries. Luckily, KTL's Lee Jun Ho and Im Yoon Ah had chemistry to spare. In fact the entire cast worked well together and the character bonds leapt from the screen. Animosity and hate also jumped the screen. I have to give a special 'well done m'am' to Go Won Hee. Damn did I hate her. She played one of the biggest witches that ever witched. Her character, Oh Pyung Hwa, was a nasty spiteful piece of work. Go did a damn good job portraying her. The girlfriend chemistry was wonderful and I enjoyed the every 6 sibling scene.

The dialogue is good but there's no substance. The editing is excellent. The end of the episodes had you guessing what was next (usually incorrectly) making watching the next episode a must see. The star behind the scenes is the costumer and whoever picked Lee's 3 piece suits. *drool* That man looked good. Honestly, all the men were keenly dressed. The work uniforms were well fit as well. The only failures were the suits worn by Go. All, but 1 were ill-fitting.

Typically, I pay no attention to the music, but a couple of songs in KTL caught my ear. It has no re-watch value for me unless I just want to watch some well dressed men. ZZ Top did not lie.

King The Land is fluff. Plain and simple. It's an easy watch that you don't have to invest much in. You can turn your brain off and just watch it. No need to figure out a mystery or guess what someone is thinking. It's obvious. I'm not saying that's bad. We all need some fluff sometimes. I needed a break from my murder mysteries, supernaturals, and thrillers. King the Land provided that break. All in all, I enjoyed it. If you need a break, give it a shot and enjoy it for it's simplicity.

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Completed
Vivant
6 people found this review helpful
Nov 21, 2023
10 of 10 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 8.5
Story 9.0
Acting/Cast 9.5
Music 7.0
Rewatch Value 6.0
This review may contain spoilers
Vivant is a spy thriller that harkens back to the old thriller movies that take place in more than one nation with twists, turns, and intrigue around every corner. It takes place in Japan, Mongolia, and the fictitious Balka, a poor country that's home to one of the world's biggest terrorist organizations, Tent. Agent Nozoki, a Japanese Metro Police's Public Security agent (kind of like the FBI with CIA clout in the USA) stationed in the Balkan Japanese Embassy, gets wind of a possible attack on Japanese soil. Meanwhile, mild mannered businessman Nogi Yusuke gets himself involved as he tries to track down some missing money. The paths of these 2 men cross and become entangled as they both continue their investigations. That's just the tip of the iceberg. Actually, that's pretty much just episode 1, maybe part of 2.

The writing is well done. Toward the end it could've probably been a little tighter (or maybe just less confusing), but everything is explained, except for the very end which leaves it open for a sequel. The cinematography was very good. In my decades of watching Japanese tv, they've never had a show like this. Not that they weren't capable of making one, they just didn't. I think Japan has finally realized there's a global market for things other than anime & manga. I for one am here for it. Let's go!

The cast was stellar. I am a huge fan of Abe Hiroshi (Agent Nozaki). To me he's never better than when he's investigating or being investigated. I'm now a fan of Sakai Masato (Nogi). He was brillant. Meek one minute and kick ass the next. The rest of the cast was also talented, especially Mongolian actor, Barslkhagva Batbold (Balka Police Captain Genghis), who held his own in every scene , especially against Abe; and fan favorite Tomisakae Drum, who played the lovable mute, Drum, Nozaki's assistant who aided him at every turn. I hope to see both of them again.

The music was good, especially the main theme that let you know you were in for an adventure. The re-watch is fairly high, which is something rare for me. I say that because the subs were hit and miss depending on the source. I will probably re-watch to see clues and things I missed.

Was Vivant perfect? Nope. What is? Was it an entertaining watch? Yup! It's a good solid watch for those of us who enjoy spies, thrills, and murder. I recommend getting snacks first because although you can pause, you won't want to.

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Completed
Cold Blooded Intern
4 people found this review helpful
Sep 18, 2023
12 of 12 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 8.0
Story 7.0
Acting/Cast 9.0
Music 7.0
Rewatch Value 6.0

LOVED IT...until the end

Before I start let me say this is not a comedy.. It's more of a dramedy. It's good, but f you're looking for laughs, this isn't the show you want. Cold Blooded Intern has a very interesting story driver. Personally, I enjoy seeing social issues. I find it interesting seeing socio-political views and policies of other nations, especially ones I've never visited. CBI takes on maternity leave and working mothers. Honestly, I get angry a lot in Asian dramas when I see women forced out of the workforce just because they're married and/or a mother. While CBI doesn't delve deep into the topic (the episodes are only 39 minutes), it gives the viewer a clear picture of the trials women and some men may go through.

Go Hae Ra played by Ra Mi Ran is returning to the workforce after a 7 year absence now that her daughter is 12 years old. She's met with ageism at every door. After running into an old colleague during an interview she's given a chance with strings at Market House. The story revolves around Go Intern and how she maneuvers at work while juggling her home life (to a point). The writing is passable, not good nor bad. The writing excelled in small light hearted scenes. It has good pacing up until the end where it seems rushed. One of the subplots dealing with our MC's husband never gets resolved. They take us up to the door only to slam it in our faces. The rest of production is solid from directing to cinematography.

The cast sells CBI. Ra is perfect as Go Hae Ra. She's likable and dogged, which is a character archetype she seems to do very well. Um Ji Won plays Choi Ji Won our co-MC and she does effortlessly. Honestly, I didn't like her writing much. She was too one dimensional compared to other characters. However, Uhm pulls it off and makes the writing seem better than it was. Actually, the entire cast makes the writing seem good, which is a testament to how good they were. The scenes between Go Hae Ra's husband (played by Lee Jung Hyuk) and daughter (Kim Min Seo) were fantastic. The 2 had chemistry like a real father and daughter. The supports were all very good especially Kim Im Kwon (Go Hae Ra's boss) and scene stealing expert Kim Won Hae, who I thought had turned down his scene stealing ways until turning it up in his last scene.

The music was pretty good. I liked the ending theme. I rarely re-watch, but if there is a season 2 I may watch the last 3 or 4 to jog my memory.

Overall, Cold Blooded Intern is good. Like I said the cast sells all 12 episodes. It's marathon worthy. It has some great scenes and some that make you scratch your head. It does have light hearted scenes that may make you smile, but you may also find yourself muttering why to yourself. It has it's issues and the end made me want to strangle the writer, but it's entertaining nonetheless. It's greater than the sum of it's parts. Score: 7.5 up to 8

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Completed
Eye of the Storm
7 people found this review helpful
Aug 18, 2023
Completed 0
Overall 7.0
Story 6.0
Acting/Cast 8.0
Music 5.5
Rewatch Value 1.0
This review may contain spoilers

What Eye? There is no eye!

Eye Of the Storm is set in a Taipei hospital that has a SARS outbreak trapping employees, visitors, and patients alike within. It starts off pretty quick introducing all of the main players, while also showing us some suspiciously ill people. The eye of a storm is placid, calm. No one and nothing in this movie was calm. We barely see any time before the SARS outbreak and none after. Can you say poorly named?

The cinematography and flow of the film reminds me of movies from the mid to late 90s when the Coen Brothers were at the height of their popularity. (I've never been a fan of the CBs.) I think it was supposed to give the movie a more realistic and serious feel. Personally, I think that was a failure. It's a hospital with an outbreak. The plodding slow nature of the movie doesn't work. The story is insufficient. It does not concentrate on any one aspect of the story line. There's the treatment of the sick and people on lockdown which is barely explored. The investigation into where the outbreak came from is lacklustre. What's interesting are the main characters and how they navigate the outbreak. Unfortunately, that aspect is not sufficiently explored. Somehow the director managed to take all these skimmed upon topics and made a fairly watchable 2 hour movie. Here's the spoiler... ready? It doesn't end. There is no tidy little ending. No rainbow after the storm. We have no clue as to the fate of the lead characters. We have foreshadowing, but no real answer. END SPOILER

The cast sells the story. They do a great job at emoting and make you care for their characters. Out of our 3 leads: the overly caring nurse, Tai He An (played by Jing Huaa Tseng), the spoiled/selfish surgeon (Edison Wang - never noticed he kind of looks like Gong Yoo), and our intrepid investigative reporter (Simon Hsueh), nurse An is my favorite. I found him admirable and An great a job with this character.

I rarely rewatch, but I can't see anyone wanting to watch this twice. The music was good and supportive.

Eye Of the Storm is not your normal outbreak movie. It's not action pack. Hmm maybe the placid title. It's a character driven hospital drama that does not delve fully into any aspect of it's subject. I don't recommend this to anyone seeking anything like the move Outbreak or even the level of excitement from a typical hospital drama. For all others there's nothing to like or dislike. It just is. It's 2 hours of something if and when you need it.

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Completed
Zombieverse
11 people found this review helpful
Aug 10, 2023
8 of 8 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 8.5
Story 8.0
Acting/Cast 10
Music 7.0
Rewatch Value 6.5

Stupidly Entertaining

The title of this review should be Stoopidly Entertaining but most of you would probably just think I couldn't spell. For the 1 person that understands <3. I had not a clue what Zombieverse was when I started it. I read nothing about it. I had a tough day and wasn't feeling well. All I wanted was something to vegetate to so naturally, NETFLIX! First thing I saw was Zombieverse. I laughed and cringed...a lot.

Zombieverse is a variety show. If you've watched Korean varieties like Running Man, Infinite Challenge, The Escape, or more recently, The Zone: Survival Mission, etc, you know they make up scenarios for the cast to act out while accomplishing missions. Almost all of them, especially the ones I mentioned, have had zombie episodes. Zombieverse is one of those zombie episodes/stories turned into an 8 episode series. The premise is 4 celebrities escape Seoul as the Zombie Apocalypse hits. They pick up a few other survivors a long the way as they head out of the city with no particular place to go. Is it too long? Depends on what you're looking for. It was a great length for me. It maybe could've cut an episode, but it didn't put a pall on my enjoyment. The production was good. I appreciated the direction and editing. The quality was above your average variety. I loved how it began. I'm still not sure if the cast knew what they had truly signed up for. Their shock as things transpired seemed a little too real. Admittedly, if you're not a Dr. Noh fan, you probably hated the ending. I think it was leaving things open for a season 2. It also let's you know that the zombies may be evolved and perhaps a little wacky.

The cast was great. I love Noh "Dr. Noh" Hong Chul. I missed him when he left Infinite Challenge. His crazed energy and how others react to it is the stuff of legend. I was surprised to see Lee Si Young in a variety for more than 1 or 2 episodes, but she has established herself as a monster queen with her role in Sweet Home. I don't know much about the others. I've seen most of them before as guests in other shows (some like Na Rae more than others), but that's about it. That being said they were great. From time to time they had a hard time staying in character, which is understandable when you have comedians in the cast doing "their thing". Since they were all playing themselves, they had a little leeway in their behavior and reactions. I now understand Dex's popularity. You want Dex on your side in any apocalypse. At one point I yelled out "Now that's a man!" I also never knew Din Din was funny. With a name like Din Din I don't know how I missed it. The zombies for the most part were great. I felt a little sorry for them when they were on a certain amusement park ride, but I couldn't help but laugh.

The music was supportive. I'd say it was good. Re-watch isn't high, my usual, but it's not low either, especially the ending. It was so silly I watched it twice.

Overall, I liked it. As the title suggests it was stupid and entertaining. It was exactly what I look for in Korean variety to tell you the truth. If you like Korean variety of the type of mentioned, I can't see your not liking this.

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Completed
Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead
2 people found this review helpful
Aug 4, 2023
Completed 1
Overall 6.5
Story 8.0
Acting/Cast 7.0
Music 5.5
Rewatch Value 2.0

Warning: Anime Onlies Stay Back!

Right off the bat let me just advise those that are watching the anime and have not read the manga to skip this movie. Aside from the fact that more than half of the movie is a spoiler, there are many differentiations. I have not read the manga. Kept saying I was going to and never did. I don't know which adaptation is closer to the manga if either are. However, there were scenes I was looking forward to that were skipped and character changes that are unclear to me. l will probably make some slight comparisons to the anime without giving details. If that's ok with you, read on.

For those who have no clue about Zom 100 here's a better synopsis: Akira Tendou graduated college and lands a job in his dream company. Unbeknownst to Tendou-kun, this dream company is a exploitive and treat their employees horribly. A year later the once effervescent, happy go lucky Tendou is but a shell of his former self. Without the courage to quit he lives each day dreading his job until one morning a zombie apocalypse hits and while people are running in fear Tendou is running with joy in his heart because he never has to report to that job again. The now happy Tendou has a new lease on a life and begins his bucket list of things to do before he becomes a zombie. That's it in a nutshell.

Although the anime is only on episode 3, I admit I think it's better than this movie. The movie tries to pack in too much information and moves too fast. Because of this I think little things are lost, especially some of the laughs. For instance Tendou and Kencho's escape from the roof is cut. It's completely different and no where near as amusing as it is in the anime. A few of the characters have been tweaked and or changed for reasons unknown. Honestly, I thought the Zom100 live action was a series not a movie. I would never have watched it. Even as a movie it shouldn't have outpaced the anime the way it does. They should've either held it's release or made a 2 part movie. The production quality was ok for Japan. One day I have hope that they will stop their traditionally bad habit of filming through yellow lenses. To me it cheapens their movies. Unfortunately, there are only a handful of Japanese directors that can command the budgets to film how they want and the director of Zom100 is not one of them. The makeup and special efx were pretty good. The ending was little too condensed for lack of a better word. (To be true there are a plethora of better words but at 2:30am my brain is refusing to tell them to me.) It's as if the director is saying 'we're hoping for a part 2, but if not at least it's an ending.' The thing is Zom 100 is still being published. No one knows the ending except the mangaka, maybe.

The cast was good enough...I guess. To be honest I don't feel like we got to know them well enough. Don't get me wrong Akaso Eiji was very good as Tendou, but I just didn't care about his friends. They didn't give us the backstory or the development needed to care about them. Had they not changed the end of how Tendou and Kencho escape the zombie's we would have had more background on Kencho and learned much more of his personality. At the end when Kencho reveals his dream, it comes out of no where because they skipped everything that would have let the viewer know this fact about him. Make sense? (Sometimes not using spoilers is a difficult thing.) Here's one thing that was just asinine: they changed the college sport Tendou and Kencho played in college from rugby to American football. No offense to Akaso, but he's way too scrawny to be a lineman. My grandma could blow him away and she died 30 years ago. It made me chuckle when he said it and it really made me giggle when they showed a flashback. Little leaguers are more buff than Akaso. Mind you there's a tackle scene that looks pretty damn good, but it's obviously a stuntman. Granted, rugby probably wouldn't have worked either due to this actor's build. They probably should've changed the sport to hockey, soccer, or flag football maybe.

The music is eh. It wasn't used as artfully as it could and should have been. I have no intentions of watching this again. I may re-watch a scene or 2, but there was nothing in this that excited me and made me want to see it again.

If this was a theatre, I'd tell you save your money. Since it's on Netflix, all I can say is watch the anime. Three episodes of the anime are more entertaining than 2 hours of this movie. At least wait so you don't spoil things for yourself. As an adaptation of a story I'm enjoying, this movie gets a 4.5-5. As a stand alone movie. I'd say 6 to 6.5 and that's generous.

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Completed
Cool Doji Danshi: Bokura no Koibana
0 people found this review helpful
Aug 3, 2023
4 of 4 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 10
Story 9.5
Acting/Cast 8.0
Music 9.0
Rewatch Value 5.0

Enjoyable Shorts

Cool Doji Danshi: Bokura no Koibana is less of a spinoff and more of a special. They're 4 shorts (about 10 minutes or less once you take out the themes and preview) of new content. It's almost like a set up for season 2. Wishful thinking? Maybe, but I have hope.

Motoharu-sensei has a 30 second love encounter that makes him decide to write a love story. Just one problem, he needs to gather research. What better way to gather research than to interview his 4 closest male friends. You see where this is going right? Through these mock interviews Moto starts to realize (as if he hadn't already) that his 4 friends are pretty clueless when it comes to the ladies. Though it's not said it appears to me that he decides to switch gears on the subject matter of his next book. This is why it seems like a setup for season 2.

The acting and cast are all good just as they were in Cool Doji Danji (feel free to see my review on that page). There are no changes in music and the re-watch is nil.

I would advise anyone who enjoyed the 12 episodes of the series to find these 4 because they CCD to a nice end.

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Cool Doji Danshi
0 people found this review helpful
Aug 3, 2023
12 of 12 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 9.0
Story 10
Acting/Cast 9.0
Music 8.0
Rewatch Value 6.0

Adorably Dimwitted

My introduction to the Cool Doji Danshi story was through the anime which I loved primarily because I've done so many of the same absentminded mistakes that it seemed like I had found my people. shut up! Don't judge me. :D

CDD is initially about 4 attractive males of close but different ages and stages in life who become unlikely friends. The 5th is added a little after the story begins. The one thing all 5 men have in common is their absentmindedness, misunderstandings , and their ability to shrug it off and keep on moving as if nothing happened. Not only do I know people like this I am apparently also like this. Raise your hands if you've ever lost your glasses on your head; kept losing your pencils at work or class only to find them later in your hair; put your phone down to look for your phone; lost something only to find it on your person; etc. Nobody? Just me huh? Oh well you're just not cool enough. No matter, the CCD guys have you covered. The production and direction were solid, although, they did cut out a few things like the guys trip to the beach.

We start of with Hayate, the embarrassed played by Yuta Nakamoto, who has no idea that's he's attractive and that girls are attracted to him. He actually seems to believe he repels them. After Hayate we're introduced to the eldest of the original 4, Takayuki Mima, the misunderstander played by Dori Sakurada. Mima is kind of like an idol to the younger guys. Someone to look up to. While they remind him of his youth (he's only 27). This brings us to Shun, the unfazed played by Maito Fujioka, who pretends all his mistakes are intentional without ever "letting them see him sweat." The last of the 4 is Souma, the giggles played Takumi Kawanishi, who faces every blunder head on with a smile and giggles. All 4 actors were cast perfectly and did very good jobs. They showed the characters fun and vulnerability without ever making them seem like fools. Lastly, is Motoharu Igarashi played Toshiki Seto, Mima's childhood friend, who is a little more worldly than the others, but equally as absentminded. Seto did a fine job as the writer who sits back and analyzes realizing that the other 4 are somewhat odd and embracing his oddity as well. You totally want to hang out with these guys, but don't catch a crush because they'll never notice. They're too dense.

The music was good. I really liked the start of the ending theme, Sunny Road by NCT127. I believe it may be the first time I ever heard a male sing Bibbity Bibbity Bobbity Boo. I don't rarely re-watch, but I have decided to move on to the manga to finish.

Overall, Cool Doji Danshi was fun to watch. It won't win any awards for production or acting, but that wasn't the goal. The goal was to bring smiles to the faces of the viewers and hopefully a few laughs and it succeeded.

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Mar 10, 2023
Completed 0
Overall 7.0
Story 9.0
Acting/Cast 9.5
Music 1.0
Rewatch Value 1.0

Not for Non-JoJo fans

JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Diamond Is Unbreakable is the 4th manga in the JoJo's Bizarre Adventure series. It ran from 1992-95 while the anime adaptation was in 2016. I mention this for a few reasons. One: I don't remember very many details so what was omitted or added, is lost to me. Two, while the JoJo's have their own stories, there is a running theme, which is not explained in each installment. Therefore, those that know nothing about the world of JoJo, will lack a fundamental understanding of what's going on. Truly, I don't understand why they chose Diamond Is Unbreakable to adapt as opposed to one of the previous manga installments.

Ok on to this movie! In an exclamation... eh!
It was dull. Not the content, the film quality which is the exact opposite of the JoJo world. I have been complaining about the dullness color of Japanese film for decades. There's no reason for it. I don't know why they film through colored lenses that make their movies almost sepia toned. Their movies look cheap. There are few films that works well with this poorly accepted technique. Movies from 30 years ago have better film quality than J movies today. Only a select few producers and/or directors are afforded the budget or maybe just the ok to actually have color. Miike is usually one. So I'm surprised that JoJo is dull, especially since the anime and manga colors are so bright. What I find perplexing is that J dramas don't have this trapping. It's very weird. They probably should've adapted JoJo as a tv series as they did Thus Spoke Kishibe Rohan, a spinoff of Diamond is Unbreakable.

Even the costumes were lacking. Josuke's school uniform should have had a hint of blue or purple. I did appreciate that the Josuke wig had purple/blue tones to it. Koichi's hair should have been grey or blonde (I honestly don't remember).

Usually, I talk about music at the end with 1 or 2 lines, but the music in the move was unbelievably disappointing. One thing that the animes have is killer music. If they couldn't use the one of the themes from the anime, Miike should've used energetic music throughout. And why for God's sake did they film the one JoJo that was set in Japan, in a European city? Of all the anime adaptations they screw up and don't film in a Euro looking town (or the desert), they take one set in Japan to Europe. WTF?!? Might as well had filmed the 5th JoJo who is Italian. To sum up the production, disappointing. Disappointing for Takeshi Miike. Par for the course for any other director.

What was good?
From what I can remember the adaptation of the story was good. There was no mistaking Jotaro (the previous and most popular JoJo) or Josuke. I was shocked to see Iseya as Jotaro, but he's one of Miike's go to actors and probably the only one that speaks English with virtually no accent. Yamazaki Kento is a cutey and was a great Josuke. He believably played an unbelievable character. While Koichi didn't look like Koichi, Kamiki Ryunosuke played him perfectly. He was definitely Koichi. Same with Mackenyu's Okuyasu. He was a perfectly dumb guy with a good heart. I would love to see the end of the story with this trio's friendship. Plus, they're damn easy on the eyes. Of course the vets like Kunimara Jun and Iseya were great as were the rest of the cast. The special effects were pretty good, too. I like the depiction of the Stands, especially Star Platinum.

Re-watch is at a 0. I rarely re-watch anything, but never say never. By Hollywood standards, the movie bombed, but in actuality in japan it didn't. It's grossed over 920 million yen (roughly $620,000), which is common for most shounen adaptations (Ruroni Kenshin being a large exception). If they do a part 2 (please pick up the pacing), I may skim to remember what was covered in part 1, which, if I'm being honest, wasn't much.

So, would I recommend this? Nah. I definitely wouldn't recommend this to anyone who doesn't have a foundation or at least some knowledge of the story. The script sticks to the manga/anime in that it does not explain what you should already know from previous installments or seasons. If you're a diehard JoJo-ster like myself, you don't care if I recommend this or not, you know you're gonna watch it. Everyone in between? Eh! Go watch the anime.

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Completed
Crash Course in Romance
18 people found this review helpful
Mar 9, 2023
16 of 16 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 6.0
Story 8.0
Acting/Cast 8.0
Music 6.0
Rewatch Value 1.0

There's A Reason Why 'Crash" Is in the Title

It's been a few days since I watched this and I feel obligated to write an unbiased review as I am not a fan of either lead. I don't dislike them (never even saw the FL before). I just don't follow them. Also, I don't write reviews of a show I'm watching prior to the ending of a drama or movie.

The story is interesting. A star math teacher (Nerds unite! - sorry a star teacher just makes me happy) suffering from his own demons finds comfort first in the food and eventually in the company of a lady that runs a bon chan take out. Unbeknownst to him, murders that are connected to him are being committed. It didn't seem as if the writer knew where he wanted to concentrate or perhaps bit off more than he could chew. The story can't figure out if the main story is this budding romance, the serial killings, or the slice of life storylines surrounding the high school/secondary school aged teens. To be quite frank the SoL is the better of the 3. I don't know if that's the writer's or the director's fault, but the teens were more interesting and developed than their adult counterparts. They were also better cast.

Don't get me wrong. The cast from leads to support were good. I just feel that judging by the age the lead characters were supposed to be, either they and/or their younger selves were miscast. No, I am not a misogynist or an ageist as I was called just for asking how old the characters were supposed to be by a rabid fan. Not only am I female, but I'm in the same age group as the damn lead actress. But I am also honest and I know damn sure that not many 50 year olds can pass for a character in their early 30s. And when I say not many, I mean virtually none. I don't care how many shots the ML gets in his face, he can't pass for early 30s either. If they wanted to hire their leads, they should've altered the script. If not, they should have hired leads that at least looked the part. As for chemistry, there was none between the ML and FL. I have never seen Jung Kyung Ho have chemistry with any romantic character. The only female I've ever seen him have any chemistry with was a friend in Hospital Playlist. He's fantastic with bromances just not romances.

The music was ok. Nothing to write home about. The rewatch value is negative. I wouldn't recommend Crash Course to anyone. If you love mystery thrillers, not only will you guess way before the big reveal, but you will be ticked and underwhelmed by the resolution. Rom Com fans, you can do better. Yes, there were some good scenes, especially in the last episode, just not enough. If you just need to kill time and have watched everything you could possibly watch, then and only then would I say, check out Crash Course.

OK let all the hate comments commence. I won't read any of them anyway.

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Completed
Joker Game
1 people found this review helpful
Jan 21, 2023
Completed 0
Overall 8.5
Story 9.0
Acting/Cast 8.0
Music 9.0
Rewatch Value 4.0

Literally Sat On the Edge of My Chair

I'm surprised at how much I enjoyed Joker Game. I was glued to my seat. I tried to get up and wound up sitting on the edge of my seat, riveted. D Company, an organization under the purview of the Japanese Military but acts separately for the most part, is assigned a mission to recover secret documents, the Black Note, from what appears to be Hong Kong (the name is never mentioned). The movie follows a spy called Kato (played by Kazuya Kamenashi) as he attempts to acquire the Black Note and send it to Japan. It's one of several attempts by Japanese writers to put another spin on WWII. Unlike in most of the other stories, they are not against the German or Germanesque villains, this time they are up against the Brits, who are quite villainous. If a fanciful retelling or a different view point of history bothers you, then don't watch it. They're spies from the 1930s/40s attempting to avoid WWII would be idiotic.

I've always been of the mind that the Japanese were master storytellers, but aside from a few outstanding exceptions (like Kurosawa and Miike), poor movie makers. If they ever got it into their minds to actually allot the amount of money into production costs that's needed, their movies would be more popular. Their movies almost always look sepia toned or dull, which is ridiculous when you think of the technology in Japan. That being said it looks like they put more money toward JG. Although the coloring was a bit drab and dull it fit the surrounding and story. The director's use of shadow in many scenes really stood out and made some scenes beautiful. One in particular tricks you into thinking you're watching black & white. When I think back on it, I keep seeing Kamenashi in b & w which he wasn't. I have never read the novel nor watched the anime (just added it to my list) on which the movie is based, but I'm ok with that. I liked it regardless.

The cast led by Kazuya Kamenashi were entertaining. It was odd seeing Yusuke Iseya in such a small role. Colonel Yuki is a pivotal character and Iseya was very good. I would have liked to have seen more interaction between Yuki and Kaminaga (his secretary??) played by Yukiyoshi Ozawa. They seemed to have a budding bromance. Kamenashi, Keisuke Koide, Hiroshi Yamamoto, and 1 other, did fine jobs as the spies on the mission. I wish we had seen more of them as a team. Kamenashi was well suited for the soft hearted Kato. Unfortunately, we barely get to know the other spies. Mores the pity. They were fun to watch in the few scenes they were in.

The music was really good (not counting the ED which was out of place). It was a big component in making scenes exciting. They missed their mark with the ED by using a KAT-TUN song instead of jazz or something that promoted feelings of the time.

I love mysteries. I love thrillers. This was both. However, I doubt I would re-watch it unless they did a part 2 (it needs a part 2). Don't get me wrong. It's a good movie, but it's not spectacular. It's not flawless. I think if I rewatched it, I'd only pick it apart and not enjoy it the way I just did. I rarely rewatch anything so I never consider this value in my factoring my overall score.

Again, Joker Game was enjoyable. It was almost 2 hours, but you wouldn't know it. The time flies by. Rarely do movies fully tell the source material the way a reader wants. I've learned to separate the 2 and judge a movie adaptation on it's own merits. What matters to me is if it's a good movie, and in my opinion Joker Game is a good movie. If you're looking for an in depth character study and/or character development that you can sink your teeth into, then click on by, this is not your movie. However, if you're looking for a bit of "actiony" fun with spies and big boys with guns, then click play.

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Completed
Character
1 people found this review helpful
Nov 19, 2022
Completed 0
Overall 8.5
Story 8.5
Acting/Cast 10
Music 8.0
Rewatch Value 7.5

Compelling

Character is the type of film you want to see in the theatre or at least with 1 other so you can grab a bite to eat and talk about it. You want to inject yourself into the film to come up with motives, figure out what a character was thinking and why they did (or didn't do) something.

Yamashiro Keigo is a talented artist and assistant to a popular mangaka. He has dreams of publishing and becoming a successful mangaka himself. The only problem is Yama wants to draw horror and thrillers, but lacks the experience in which to make his characters believable. He's too nice to get into the mindset of a villain. While on assignment by his boss, he stumbles upon a grisly murder scene and witnesses the murderer leaving the site. This flips a switch for Yama and he uses it to jumpstart his career. The only problem is the killer recognizes himself and uses the Yama's manga, 34, as a blueprint to commit murders. Inspector Seida Shunseke recognizes the similarities between Yama's manga and the murders and begins using 34 as the basis of his investigation.

The production is splendid. The directing and camera work are very well done. I noticed no continuity issues, but to be honest I was too involved in the story to notice any little issues. Script writer, Nagai Akira, did a good job mixing genres and keeping us engaged. You would think since the police were trying to catch a serial killer it would have been a bit more action oriented or at faster pace. But, honestly, you don't even realize it's character driven and psychological. My only complaint is that we don't learn enough about the killer. We're left only supposition. I, for one, would have liked to have some hint as to his resources. He was able to find things and/or people that he really shouldn't have been able to.

Suda Masaki plays Yama and heads a talented cast. Fukase Satoshi was brillant as the serial killer, "Morozumi." He was just plain creepy. The encounters between our 2 leads were uncomfortable for Yama and the watcher. The supporting cast including Oguri Shun as our intrepid Inspector Seida were excellent.

The music really supported the movie and wasn't overpowering. While I'm not big on re-watching dramas, I do re-watch movies. I can see myself watching this again

Overall, this is a great watch. No perfect but it accomplishes it's goal. It's dark, psychological, creepy, and engaging. A very good murder thriller.

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