Reviews

Bite-sized Mini Drama <3 featuring Wallace pulling up in a yacht!

To preface, I infact have NOT watched ANY source material or otherwise of this story! (I just watched for Wallace Chung so I kind of went in blind lol. Mid-movie, I kept wondering to myself "Man, this would make a good drama!" then I realized I had the OG kdrama covered in cobwebs sitting in my PTW & then everything clicked...) Anyways, yes, this film is basically a super speedy, bite-sized drama lol. The plot is cute/funny and gives off 2000's and "Freaky Friday" vibes. As I watched, I was a little shaken by the pacing and how quickly the two leads fell for each other - it almost feels like you're getting hit with too much at once as the movie races to the ending. If anything, this movie is good precursor to it's drama counterparts; like a little taste or an appetizer to the complete meal. I'd say it did a pretty dang good job at making me want to watch a fuller, more in-depth episodic version of the story (feel like it might even make me cry since this movie almost did!). Overall a solid 7/10 - definitely a one and done but I will forsure be moving the kdrama up and/or trying out the Thai version! xx

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beautiful and touching movie ever seen

it is such a beautiful and touching movie, both the main actresses and the main actor
played their roles well! i was so immersed in the movie and felt the joy and sorrow together with the characters as the movie proceeded, and i like the interesting and thoughtful dialogue, also i like the background music and photography, worth watching again and again!

(note: i find the ending is ingenious, you can think ann has left the old friend and flat to
freely pursue her life goal or she succumbed to her fate and lost the will to do so, depends on whether you like/tend to think positively or
negatively)

i watched the movie multiple times, and most likely you will agree with me the two pretty young actresses are so lovely and acted so well and natural as if not in a movie

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Waste of time

I liked the concept of the janitor protecting the leader's daughter. However, the plot was weak with little character development. The actual villains were greedy and cruel. This story had more potential, but there was just not enough to make it a good movie. So, why did I watch it? I kept hoping something about it would have real merit. It never came to fruition. Anyone who has a child in the daughter's situation that they don't teach basic self defense and personal safety is stupid! The high school students looked like middle-aged wannabees who acted like morons. This is the first truly contemptuous review I've posted. I really think it did a disservice to the Japanese people.

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Sad But Meaningful Movie

Do you like sad movies, then you need to watch this. It’s as sad as it gets. It has a mixture of everything…crime, sarcasm, love, frustration, resentment, sadness, sadness, sadness, happiness and on and on. Every kind of emotion a human can feel while watching a movie. I haven’t written a review in a long time, but I feel like I have to let people know about this masterpiece. I’ve watched Asian dramas for many years, and I’m finding it hard for anything to keep my interest anymore. I’m sure a lot of you feel like that too. I thought I would give this one a try, and I’m so glad I did. I am in tears right now writing this review. It’s not that I’m suggesting it because I like to feel sad, I’m suggesting this because it’s the best thing I’ve seen in a very long time that moved me like this. Believe me, it’s worth the watch.😢 But, prepare to be sad depressed after you watch it.

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"Prison made me want to draw more!"

Utamaro and His Five Women told a fictionalized account of the famous Japanese painter who was arrested for not following the censorship laws in 1804 and was manacled for 50 days. The title stretches the premise thin as most of the women were far more involved with other men.

Koide Seinosuke is furious that Kitagawa Utamaro has disparaged the art haven he works for and challenges Utamaro to a duel. Utamaro instead challenges him to an art duel which Seinosuke loses causing the young man to leave his art school and his fiancé whose father runs the famous school. He begins to follow Utamaro and experiences the floating world from an artistic perspective as well as a carnal one. Utamaro is utterly devoted to his artwork. Unlike others around him he is not consumed with love affairs that drive them to break hearts and even murder.

I’m always keen to learn about historical figures and Utamaro was an artist who works have survived through the centuries. He also heavily influenced the Impressionists in Europe. His incarceration shone a light on the detriments of censorship and artistic restrictions. While the film did focus on his compulsive need to be inspired by beautiful women and to paint, it strayed into obsessive love amongst his circle of friends. Two different love triangles developed which ended in tragedy.

Utamaro and His Five Women was an imaginative glimpse into the master’s work near the end of his career. I wish they would have explained more about his arrest and life which were glossed over. The melodramatic relationships were less enthralling to me as they showed the destructive nature of unrestrained desire. Okita’s desire was to experience love like Utamaro’s obsession with art, passionate to the point of death. Other women in the film thought of her as a role model while I viewed her as a cautionary tale. Seinosuke became a prisoner of his physical desire, something his artistic endeavors failed to live up to. Within this torrent of hormonal cravings or perhaps in spite of them, Utamaro found the inspiration for his paintings.

21 June 2025
Note: I could not find a restored version of this film. It could be quite blurred at times making it difficult to see the action or who was talking.

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An action comedy movie about five (six) people suddenly get a superpower after getting an organ transplant. One person is trying to acquire all of the superpowers while the others are trying to stop him, seems like a classic superhero storyline. The story is mixed between action and comedy, but somehow this create a confusing situation whether this movie is tend to be realistic or silly-ish. For an almost two hours long movie, the storyline is quite shallow. Some of the decisions made by the characters are bizzare and come out of nowhere.

The CGI is so bad, intentional or not. Even if it's intentional, their original intention may not worked. Good thing to take is the main character's performance. They all have done an excellent job, especially Lee Jae In. On the other hand, the villain(s) don't bring enough evil aura though.

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"don't all homosexuals deserve to go to hell"

This movie was really beautiful to watch. It conveyed a very deep message and was a reminder of the pain and struggle homosexuals had to go through before 'being gay' was normalized. The impact was so deep that at a point i LITERALLY started worshipping and FRANTICALLY and HYSTERICALLY started thanking all the people in the past all the ancestors who fought and fought and fought helplessly against homophobia. Due to them we have a world which is at least a bit more accepting.

i got into this movie knowing beforehand that it had a sad ending. I did not know how exactly it'd end but all i knew was that it's gonna be sad. The fact that i already knew the ending is sad made me more emotional (than i normally would've been )each time there was a sad scene coz i felt that this sad scene brings me a step closer to the doomed ending and it made me teary.

Hardly 10 minutes in the movie and i could already feel the chemistry between the two characters it was pure love. We could see their love for each other through their actions and their EYES,

The scene between jia chang and the priest screamed HEARTACHE.. The way jia chang was literally begging to be understood and accepted. The way he was LITERALLY suffering because he could not have the one he loved because it was a 'sin' to love a mann ahhhhh , The way he was begging to be sent to hell coz people would understand him there and also coz he would suffer less. As someome said in another review "how heartbroken you have to be to wish hell upon yourself" and that too JC was religious and a religious person longing for hell not heaven? Ah god how he must suffer....

The scene between birdy and jia chang at jia chang's house was my most favorite scene especially these particular dialogues
JC; "so we are only best friends now?"
B: "what do you want then?"
JC: ....
MOM: blah blah
B: " what if he never has a girlfriend?"
JC: "WANG po te..... stop being an asshole. How is it your business if i get a gf or not?"
B: " so who doesn't have the balls now huuh?.............. can you stop bothering me?"

I love this scene the most because it clearly shows where they are standing rn. Birdy is trying to show JC that they cant be together. He challenges JC to reveal that he is gay (twice) before his parents, knowing that JC wont do it thus he will be able to show JC that they should not take it any further coz its 'wrong' and coz they simply CANNOT

I SHATTERED at the scene in their old age when the priest said "you look alike. your smiles and the things you like." ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh shiballlllllllll that really hurttttt


This was the very first movie.. rather first piece of entertainment media (out all manhwa manhua manga anime and other dramas movies ive watched) that i consumed where i literally analyzed every second, every scene of the movie. I literally tried to deconstruct analyze every scene because i knew it'd be heartbreaking and i wanted to make sure that my heart not just breaks but SHATTERS into pieces.

This movie has basically left a deep impact on me and i dont have words to express my feelings (im bad at doin tht anyway)
about the ending, ngl it was a bit meh i like the fact that they reunited after so many years
Also i'd like to mention that the timeline of the story was quite hard to understand i was always confused, wondering wether its the past or present. And there were also manny random cuts between scenes which made it even more difficult.

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Not bad, but also not good enough to validate its existence.

There are two reasons to make a remake - different time period/culture (cultural changes between countries that are vital for the plot, or modernizing older titles), or significant changes to the content that explain the reason for retelling (changing genres, changing the pov of the story etc.). Sadly, Tanin wa Jigokuda is just retelling exactly the same story, without additional nuance, stripping a lot of depth from the characters and their relationship to fit the plot into a movie format. Basically, all the changes made it actually worse.

Yes, I do understand it's unfair to judge a movie by comparing it to the original drama, but when the movie is so similar and fails to stand alone, it's hard to ignore existing bias.

One of the things that made me disappointed is how this movie was just a horror, while the original story was clearly a psychological horror. Yu was not this guy who from the start we can see has some issue, and we are just waiting for him to finally snap. Yu was just a normal guy that was driven mad by the environment.

Because there was far less focus on Kirishima compared to his character in the Korean version, he never had this unnerving presence. He did not feel like a psychopathic wolf in sheep clothing, he was just full on psycho. Him and Yu also barely shared the screen, so the movie more or less completely skipped the depth of their relationship, dynamics and how they affected each other.

I also feel like the ending was less vague - here some people might like it, depends on the preference. One plot twist got me giggling though, I did not think it made that much sense.

On the bright side - if someone prefers less of a tension, and more of the actual creeps, the Japanese version for sure presents more of a horror style. Less subtle, more weird. The acting was also solid. Even if I was not completely sold on Kirishima as a character, Yanagi Shuntaro's portrayal was dreadful and dire, which was exactly the point.

Directing wise - they knew how to make you uncomfortable. Close up to chewing, quick cuts between the shots. sometimes showing more than I might have wanted to see.

Overall, it's the type of movie you kind of enjoy, but there is nothing really unique about it so you will forget it in a week.

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"Let's Go, Jets!" (original title: Chihayafuru: Chihayafuru Musubi), released in 2017, is a Japanese comedy-drama film that tells the inspiring, feel-good story of a high school cheerleading club in Fukui Prefecture. Based on a true story, the film follows a group of unlikely aspirants who, under the guidance of a tough-love coach, aim for an unprecedented goal: to win the National Cheerleading Championship in the United States. The narrative centers on Hikari Tomonaga (played by Suzu Hirose), a seemingly ordinary high school student who joins the cheerleading club, primarily to be close to a boy she likes. However, the arrival of their strict new advisor, Kaori Saotome (Yuki Amami), quickly shatters any illusions of an easygoing club activity. Saotome sets a daunting target: to reach the USA National Cheerleading Championship within a few years, demanding intense discipline, grueling practice, and complete dedication from the girls. What makes "Let's Go, Jets!" compelling is its classic underdog story executed with charm and genuine emotion. It's not just about the cheerleading routines; it's about the personal growth of each character, their struggles with self-doubt, inter-team conflicts, and the sacrifices they make. Hikari, initially unmotivated, transforms into a determined leader, pushing herself and her teammates beyond their perceived limits. The film effectively portrays the power of teamwork, perseverance, and the importance of having a dream, no matter how audacious it seems. The performances are a significant strength. Suzu Hirose delivers a charismatic and believable portrayal of Hikari, embodying her journey from reluctance to fierce determination. Yuki Amami is excellent as the stern but ultimately caring coach, providing both comedic relief and a grounding force. The entire ensemble cast contributes to the film's vibrant energy, making their collective struggles and triumphs feel authentic. Visually, the film is bright and energetic. The cheerleading sequences are well-choreographed and dynamic, showcasing the athleticism and synchronization required. While the plot follows a familiar trajectory for sports dramas, it's executed with enough sincerity and heartwarming moments to keep the audience engaged. There are moments of humor, but the film's core is its uplifting message about ambition and the bonds forged through shared adversity. In essence, "Let's Go, Jets!" is a delightful and motivational film. It might not break new ground in storytelling, but its earnest performances, engaging characters, and inspiring true-life basis make it a thoroughly enjoyable watch for anyone who appreciates a story about chasing dreams against all odds. It's a testament to the idea that with enough hard work and belief, even the most improbable goals can be achieved.

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