wow itās like my mind has been read I loved the movie deeply but I also had all the same thoughts you had. The…
just a little more romance wouldāve made it absolutely perfect š But still overall it really was such a beautifully put-together film. I love that we experienced it the same way š«¶
While I share your sentiment about being left wanting more, I didnāt feel that the romance itself was lacking.…
Thank you so much for such a lovely and thoughtful response š¤ I genuinely enjoyed reading your take and I really appreciate how kindly you shared it.
Your point about the inner monologue is such a good one too. Japanese dramas usually arenāt shy about letting us sit inside a characterās head, so skipping Sugikiās thoughts at that exact moment felt like a strange restraint š
The sequel bait was definitely intentional and I hope it actually leads somewhere. If they do continue, I think it could really elevate the whole story in retrospect. Fingers crossed š„°
Obviously we all rate shows and movies based on our own standards and preferences, but I must admit it bugs me…
I think this is where we fundamentally disagree on what a rating is supposed to represent.
I donāt think ratings should be about honoring intention. Thatās what analysis, essays and film school discussions are for. A rating, at least for me is a gut-level summary of the experience I actually had while watching. How engaged was I? How often was I bored? Did I feel something? And this isnāt about me throwing a tantrum because I ādidnāt get enough romance.ā That framing kind of flattens the critique. A slow burn only works if the burn is doing something to you. Here, I understood the emotional restraint, I saw the tease but it didnāt land emotionally for me. Frustration can be an artistic tool, yes, but itās also a risk. Sometimes frustration is productive. Sometimes it just disconnects the viewer. For me, it was the latter.
I did appreciate the art. Thatās why I spent so much time praising the performances. But appreciation and enjoyment arenāt the same thing. I can admire a painting and still not want it hanging on my wall. My rating reflects whether I wanted to stay in that experience and honestly, I didnāt.
Also, I donāt think ārate it for what the creator intendedā is a neutral standard. Youāre saying people should rate a film based on the writer/directorās intention rather than on what they personally wanted out of itā¦ but then you literally docked points because Machidaās facial expressions annoyed you. That has nothing to do with intention and everything to do with personal response which is exactly what youāre criticizing me for.
If weāre being consistent, someone could just as easily say, āWell, maybe those expressions were intentional, meant to convey intensity and you should appreciate them as part of the artistic vision.ā But you didnāt because they pulled you out of the experience. And thatās valid.
Thank you! Now I can skip this. I don't watch Jbls, but was ready to give this a try anyways. Now I don't have…
Thatās totally fair! It really depends on what youāre looking for and if romance and a satisfying payoff matter a lot, this one might just feel frustrating rather than enjoyable. Glad my thoughts helped you decideššš
Soooo agreed!!! I absolutely wholeheartedly love love LOVE the dances, cannot even imagine how long it took the…
Honestly, the dances were the strongest part for me, they carried so much emotion on their own. I think thatās why I kept craving more in-between moments to balance all that intensity š The story feels like itās building toward something bigger which makes the cutoff frustrating. It left me curious rather than satisfied, and I really hope that curiosity gets rewarded someday with a sequel šš fingers crossed š
Yes! All of this! I couldn't say it better! I wanted more romance! It was barely visible and it felt like such…
Right?? Their chemistry was absolutely electric, itās such a shame it wasnāt explored more. I wish we couldāve had just a little more of that spark šā¤ļø
I think that āemptinessā you felt with the ending can be more attributed to the fact that the manga this movie…
Idk how you rate movies/shows but itās pretty clear we are working with very different systems and thatās fine. Iām extremely harsh with my ratings on purpose. I donāt hand out high scores just because something is well-made. I literally have two things rated a 10 and thatās for a reason. Acting, cinematography, technical quality, I can absolutely praise all of that without it automatically translating into a high rating for me.
What I actually rate is my enjoyment. Full stop. And my enjoyment here was low.
Yes, it was beautiful. Yes, the actors were great. Yes, the dance was technically impressive. None of that changes the fact that I was bored for at least 50% of the runtime. And for me, boredom is a way bigger problem than an unfinished ending. If Iām checking out mentally halfway through a movie, thatās not a small issue for me. Also, my disappointment isnāt about the manga being unfinished. Iām fully aware this is an adaptation of an ongoing work. An open or abrupt ending isnāt automatically bad and I never said it was. But āsignaling the start of something newā doesnāt magically make the journey up to that point more engaging. A movie still has to stand on its own within its runtime, unfinished source material or not. Calling my expectations āchildishā feels lazy tbh. Expectations are personal. I went in expecting more emotional momentum and a stronger romantic payoff so I can intellectually appreciate what the movie was doing and still feel emotionally underwhelmed by it. Those two things arenāt contradictory.
If anything, I think itās more honest to dock 1.5 stars or even more while still clearly articulating what the film does well, than to inflate a score just because itās āobjectivelyā good or faithful to its source. So yeah, I stand by my rating. Not because the movie is bad, it isnāt but because it didnāt move me, didnāt grip me and didnāt keep me engaged. And for my system, that matters more than polish ever will.
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Your point about the inner monologue is such a good one too. Japanese dramas usually arenāt shy about letting us sit inside a characterās head, so skipping Sugikiās thoughts at that exact moment felt like a strange restraint š
The sequel bait was definitely intentional and I hope it actually leads somewhere. If they do continue, I think it could really elevate the whole story in retrospect. Fingers crossed š„°
I donāt think ratings should be about honoring intention. Thatās what analysis, essays and film school discussions are for. A rating, at least for me is a gut-level summary of the experience I actually had while watching. How engaged was I? How often was I bored? Did I feel something? And this isnāt about me throwing a tantrum because I ādidnāt get enough romance.ā That framing kind of flattens the critique. A slow burn only works if the burn is doing something to you. Here, I understood the emotional restraint, I saw the tease but it didnāt land emotionally for me. Frustration can be an artistic tool, yes, but itās also a risk. Sometimes frustration is productive. Sometimes it just disconnects the viewer. For me, it was the latter.
I did appreciate the art. Thatās why I spent so much time praising the performances. But appreciation and enjoyment arenāt the same thing. I can admire a painting and still not want it hanging on my wall. My rating reflects whether I wanted to stay in that experience and honestly, I didnāt.
Also, I donāt think ārate it for what the creator intendedā is a neutral standard. Youāre saying people should rate a film based on the writer/directorās intention rather than on what they personally wanted out of itā¦ but then you literally docked points because Machidaās facial expressions annoyed you. That has nothing to do with intention and everything to do with personal response which is exactly what youāre criticizing me for.
If weāre being consistent, someone could just as easily say, āWell, maybe those expressions were intentional, meant to convey intensity and you should appreciate them as part of the artistic vision.ā But you didnāt because they pulled you out of the experience. And thatās valid.
What I actually rate is my enjoyment. Full stop. And my enjoyment here was low.
Yes, it was beautiful. Yes, the actors were great. Yes, the dance was technically impressive. None of that changes the fact that I was bored for at least 50% of the runtime. And for me, boredom is a way bigger problem than an unfinished ending. If Iām checking out mentally halfway through a movie, thatās not a small issue for me. Also, my disappointment isnāt about the manga being unfinished. Iām fully aware this is an adaptation of an ongoing work. An open or abrupt ending isnāt automatically bad and I never said it was. But āsignaling the start of something newā doesnāt magically make the journey up to that point more engaging. A movie still has to stand on its own within its runtime, unfinished source material or not. Calling my expectations āchildishā feels lazy tbh. Expectations are personal. I went in expecting more emotional momentum and a stronger romantic payoff so I can intellectually appreciate what the movie was doing and still feel emotionally underwhelmed by it. Those two things arenāt contradictory.
If anything, I think itās more honest to dock 1.5 stars or even more while still clearly articulating what the film does well, than to inflate a score just because itās āobjectivelyā good or faithful to its source. So yeah, I stand by my rating. Not because the movie is bad, it isnāt but because it didnāt move me, didnāt grip me and didnāt keep me engaged. And for my system, that matters more than polish ever will.