Reviews

Fun and light fanfic-like reverse harem movie: a bit frustrated by the ending cop-out

This movie is about a fujioshi (= a person who has a strong passion for Yaoi stories and shipping male characters from anime/manga together) who becomes very popular at her highschool after undergoing some drastic physical transformation. This film is an adaptation from a reverse harem manga with the female lead being pursued by 4 male suitors. After watching it, I must say I would be interested to read the manga, especially given the ending of the film (which felt a bit like a cop-out) and to discover the end game in the original version.

The message and morale of the story is a bit unclear and blurry. The scenario seems to denounce some toxic behaviors but reinforce/affirmate some others. The saving grace for me is that there are wrongdoings on both sides of the various relationships/pairings: both female and male characters are flawed and excert some eyebrow-raising actions. The whole script is lighthearted, so despite the cringe factor and the predictibility of the tale, it is also super fun...Almost like a fanfic becoming alive. There is a lack of subtlety for sure as well as too much levity and naivety regarding some situations, which did not prevent me to really enjoy the watch.

The casting was adequate. The MVP was clearly Yoshino Hokuto playing the role of one of the suitor: senpai Mutsumi Asuma. I might be biaised as he played my favorite character, in any case, I will be really looking forward watching this actor in other works. The two actresses playing the heroine were fun as well, despite some overacting. There were not a lot of opportunities for any of the cast to have strong and deep moments, so acting was suitable but not impressive overall.

The production was okay for a high school movie, it felt a bit cheap at time but there were also some good sequences, particularly for some of the musical numbers / theatre moments. The OST was not memorable but very pop and fitting with the concept of the film.

I would recommend this to people looking for a fun and light high school movie with a reverse harem trope. It is really not deep and there are quite a bit of problematic elements not addressed at all, the morale/message is unclear with an ending that feel like a cop-out...But despite all the flaws, it is a really entertaining and enjoyable watch.

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A smuggling story about betrayal, friendship, and justice

As the title goes, it's a story about smuggling. But more so, it's a story about betrayal, friendship, and justice. The story was well-written and some scenes can be improved but all in all, I can say this is a good watch. Could have been better but definitely not a waste of your time.

Around 30-40 minutes into the movie, I was ready to quit watching. But I can't believe that an all-star-cast will just have a nonsense movie. So I persevered. Around 20-30 minutes after the hour, it gets exciting. As the American saying goes, now we're cooking gas lol. It might be a slow start but it really gave a satisfying ending. We already know that the cast are high-caliber actors and actresses so their performance is to a T. The story is well-made. The first part was a bit slow but it might have been caused by poor English subtitles as well. Good thing I know a Korean or two so I was able to persevere lol.

The slow start also made me not expect any big twists. But fortunately it did. And surprisingly, things turned out really well. The diving scenes were really majestic. And the fighting scenes are good. What more can you expect from Zo In Sung? Though I wished they had made more fighting scenes.

My wish now is to see Yeom Jung Ah and Zo In Sung work together in a project where they interact more, which, unfortunately, this film didn't give.

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New Concept

Just finished watching this movie and shoud I say it's a fresh concept? The storyline sure feels like a typical kdrama but the concept of directing is a new feeling. This is my first time watching this kind of directing and some audiences may feel like the director and the crew didn't put much effort in making this movie, but NO. This kind of movie is so well-made and it makes me feel like I am in this situation too. Or should I say POV?
Anyway, the acting of the casts is no doubt, the brilliant one. I mean, it's Jang Dong-yoon. Of course, the movie is good since all the dramas he's in has been excellent until now. Park Yoona also did great in this film. This drama focuses more on Jang Dongyoon's pov but that don't concern me since there haven't been a lot of dramas or movies that focus more on man than woman. I feel irritated a bit with James Han character since he's the one that led to things happening between doha and taein. But everything's worked out well in the end. So, there's nothing to be disappointed for.
Personally, I think everyone should try to watch this kind of movie. It feels refreshing to watch this kind of POV concept movie, so, why not try it?

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A really great picture from Taiwan. But there we got used not only to the quantity, but also to the quality. I was impressed by the processing and the music. Likeable actors probably reached the bottom of their strength, because there were quite a lot of kissing and semi-nude scenes for such a short footage, and if the actors are straight, they had to properly grit their teeth. I appreciate it and put it in the group of shorts that I want to watch again in the future.


Opravdu velmi podařený snímek z Taiwanu. Ale tam už jsme si zvykli nejen na množství, ale i na kvalitu. Zaujalo mě zpracování i hudba. Sympatičtí herci si sáhli zřejmě na dno svých sil, neboť líbacích a polonahých scén tam bylo poměrně hodně na tak krátkou stopáž, a pokud jsou herci hetero, museli řádně zatnout zuby. Oceňuji a zařazuji si do skupiny kraťasů, které chci v budoucnu zhlédnout znova.

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Wanted to love it, a bit disappointed

Disclaimer: I watched this as a pick me up on a shitty day, feeling very much meh, so it could be a factor in my less effusive appreciation.

As others have said, this movie deals with dark, heavy themes (bullying, sexual assault, violence, and rape) so watch at your own risk! Also worth to note the autistic portrayal (story wise) may be upsetting so take that into consideration as well.

I watched this for Jin Young (and the whump, fine), and the acting, generally speaking, is consistent throughout, as I've come to expect broadly speaking from Korean productions. I couldn't help but compare the Joo Wol Woo portrayal to Moon Sang Tae from It's Okay Not To Be Okay which I felt was more artfully done, but to be fair it was a series, not a movie, so the range, depth, and exposure was longer.

The themes are nothing new from other dramas and movies exploring violence, bullying, and systemic violence, definitely heavy handed in an "everybody swears all the time" kind of way (on top of all the other dark shit). The cinematography echoes that dark grittiness but it's not mind-blowing good (but it was an indie budget wasn't it?).

I was a bit let down by the story... immersion? It wasn't very clear of the boys' relationships from the start, where they knew each other from, I got confused in terms of places and who went where, when. Maybe that was more the subtitles, I'll never know. I did see a twist coming, which is good (the crumbs they give do lead to the right road), and the ending works for the story they've told.

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What happened to me again after watching the movie The Greek (He Liu) by the same director. Most importantly, don't write anything right after watching! Let it ripen inside you, like any good cheese, which needs time. And that's exactly what I stuck to, and with hindsight I can't choose a low rating, because even this director's film, after River and Days (Riza), left its mark on me. Life partner of the director again in the main role. This time, I also liked Malay Norman Atun, whom Tsai discovered among the food vendors in Kuala Lumpur. It is not worth going into more detail, because Tsai is a controversial artist who divides the audience into two parts, and I also respect the other part of the audience who did not find a relationship with his works. In addition, Tsai's films have solid ratings on IMDb and MDL (here they are under different names) and high on ČSFD.


Zase mě potkalo to, co po zhlédnutí filmu Řeka (He Liu) od stejného režiséra. Hlavně nic nepsat těsně po zhlédnutí! Nechat to v sobě uzrát, jako nějaký dobrý sýr, co potřebuje čas. A toho jsem se přesně držel a s odstupem nemohu volit nízké hodnocení, protože i tento režisérův snímek po Řece a Dnech (Rizi), ve mě zanechal svou stopu. Životní partner režiséra znovu v hlavní roli. Tentokráte se mi líbil i Malajec Norman Atun, kterého Tsai objevil mezi prodavači jídla v Kuala Lumpur. Nemá cenu se více rozepisovat, neboť Tsai je kontroverzní umělec, který rozkládá publikum na dvě části a já i tu druhou část diváků, kteří nenašli vztah k jeho dílům, respektuji. Tsaiovy filmy mají navíc solidní hodnocení na IMDb a MDL (zde jsou pod jinými názvy) a vysoké na ČSFD.

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A historical story from ancient China where something more develops between two men. It was filmed gently, almost tenderly, although the story itself does not lack betrayal, humiliation, cruelty, pain and death. Both main characters, Li Yu and Long Yang, were played excellently, and every small possibility was used to make "something" between them so that it did not exceed the red "gay regulation" (especially in the closing credits on the small screen). Chang Quin, even though she plays a negative character in the story, is also unmissable due to her perfect beauty. Processing very solid.


Historický příběh z dávné Číny, kdy mezi dvěma muži vzniká něco víc. Byl natočen jemně, téměř něžně, i když v příběhu samotném nechybí zrada, potupa, krutost, bolest i smrt. Obě hlavní postavy Li Yu i Long Yang zahrány skvěle a bylo využito všech drobných možností, aby mezi nimi "něco" bylo tak, aby to nepřekročilo rudé "gay nařízení" (především i v závěrečných titulcích na malé obrazovce). Chang Quin, i když hraje v příběhu zápornou postavu, je také nepřehlédnutelná, díky své dokonalé kráse. Zpracování velmi solidní.

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Above all, these "erotic" movies produced by Pinoys from the past years should not be taken seriously, but only with an eye, for entertainment and with the knowledge that they were filmed mainly for the population of the Philippines and SE Asia. For one thing, they are very hard to find (if at all) and the quality of the copies is also poor. Likewise, Pinoy soft erotica tends to make you smile. Mostly it's about half-naked bodies, fish meringue, and if copulation is shown, it's mostly by doing it to each other's backs, navels, etc. Simply naive in this respect as well. If anyone thinks that this is my hobby, they are mistaken. If I really want to, I can look elsewhere for pretty bodies, there are plenty of options. I am rather attracted by the fact that here at GT we have the widest, most detailed, diverse database possible, and also the difficulty of searching, because with this film, if it is listed anywhere on world servers, then everywhere they are waiting for a description, story, etc. And also that what appeals to me about these films is that they are not perfect, they are original and so difficult to access. So it is with this movie. I watched it carefully, because there is only a version without subtitles so far, if there was a passage with text messages, I translated them by hand, I rate it with my eyes closed the way I rate it (as if I were a Filipino watching a movie in a shack somewhere in 2013), the ending is not a fairy tale, but a nice sobering up, I won't reveal more.


Především tyto "erotické" filmy pinoy produkce z let minulých by se neměly brát všechny vážně, ale pouze s nadhledem, pro pobavení a s vědomím, že se točily především pro populaci Filipín a JV Asie. Jednak se velmi těžko hledají (pokud vůbec jsou) a také kvalita kopií je bídná. Rovněž tak pinoy soft erotika svádí spíše k úsměvu. Vesměs se jedná o polonahá těla, rybí pusinky a pokud je znázorněna kopulace, tak většinou tak, že to jeden druhému dělá do zad, do pupku atd. Prostě naivní i v tomto ohledu. Pokud by si někdo myslel, že to je můj koníček, tak je na omylu. Na hezká těla, pokud vůbec chci, se mohu podívat i jinam, možností je spousta. Spíše mě přitahuje to, abychom tady na GT měli databázi co nejširší, nejpodrobnější, rozmanitou a právě i ta obtížnost hledání, protože u tohoto filmu, pokud vůbec někde na světových serverech je uveden, tak všude čekají na popis, story atd. A také to mě na těchto filmech láka, že nejsou dokonalé, jsou originální a tak těžko přístupné. Tak je tomu i u tohoto filmu. Louskal jsem jej pozorně, protože existuje zatím jen verze bez titulků, pokud tam byla pasáž s texty sms-ek, tak ty jsem si ručně přeložil, hodnotím s přivřenýma očima tak, jak hodnotím (jakobych byl Filipínec a díval se na film někde v chatrči v roce 2013), konec není pohádka, ale pěkné vystřízlivění, více neprozradím. A třeba se tady v osazenstvu GT najde ještě někdo, kdo pomůže s dalším dohledáváním pinoy filmů.

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Ultra Exciting

This movie is so much fun. To be honest, I have never been much for Ultraman - when I got into Tokusatsu I was mainly into Godzilla, and when I was considering tackling full-on Tokusatsu shows with substantial length, I decided to dive into Kamen Rider, not wanting to explore many other franchises mainly because of just how much overall time would be spent watching everything of all of these franchises. So, as a franchise outsider, I just have to say this is still quite enjoyable. The story does feel a bit cobbled together, like it's 3 episodes of the show in a movie instead of one standalone thing, but even with that issue the fights that are there are fun and interesting, the CGI is impressive, and I had a smile on my face the entire time.

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Real Clever, No Time to Deliver

This one has a fun concept - a movie with a looming threat that is literally counting down in real time with the movie's duration. I really like that concept! Unfortunately, it means that we don't really get much of a chance to get to know about the villain in any way that isn't uninteresting or rushed. This is also the movie where Zero Two makes its appearance, which I think is a really neat suit. Action is fine, story is a bit rushed but that's to keep it in time with its original concept so I kinda forgive it? Overall with an interesting concept it didn't really have the time to grip me or keep me thinking about it after I was done with it.

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Too bad comparing to the original story

The original story contained many great things. It was built upon a wonderful fictionary world of many events, which are connected with what we are seeing now in old books about Buddhism, or in many statues in the pagodas. It explains the true meaning of the scroll, and many hidden philosophies of the two parties: Jiang Zi Ya represents one party, and Shen Gong Bao represents the other one, and why they became oppositions, why many Buddhas have their animals to ride on (as we can see from many photos in the book or the temples or pagodas). The original story also mentions that a new Kingdom will be born and led by a new King. It is totally different in this movie: the new King will be the hair of the throne of the old one, who is a bad King (King Zhou of Shang / Di Xin).
It is too bad that the team could not keep the story as close as the original one. It turned out to be a very conventional story, nothing is special.
Maybe in the future, we will have a chance to see the original story in the movie(s) rather than a movie uses the characters and some events from another old book.
If you come to see a movie as someone who doesn't know about the original story, you might enjoy it because of the visual effects, actors, and music.
But for me, it is just a movie without a soul!

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the winged man and his wingmen

if you're like me and you were interested in this movie because you wanted to watch a matsuyama kenichi in love, i am happy to report that the concept is indeed as adorkable as it sounds. however, those the romcom elements do not start until literally 46 minutes into the 1 hr 45 min long movie, and they unfortunately don't stay for long. romance is the premise but not the point of this journey. these first 46 minutes are also straight full of matsuyama acting his pants off, and then you realise exactly Why he was hired 1hr 3mins into the film, so fans of his that understand his modus operandi will still find something to enjoy while watching even if you were romcom baited like me.

the entire movie had very noir-esque vibes with WAY more gore than i was anticipating for a movie branded as a fantasy romance. this gritty quality ends up being plot relevant later; and to complement them, the cinematography strangely also /looked/ humid??? besides the light, casual, summery costumes, almost all of the earth-based scenes take place in an okinawan shopping arcade, and there were hundreds of extras and constant parades of traditional okinawan performing groups. the movie was very visually busy and had a very cramped vibe, like these people were wayyy too close together and they couldn't tell if the sweat on their bodies were theirs or someone else's. imagine a baz lurhmann film shot on super 8 whose cartridge has been lost on a beach for three years, that's what this movie looked and felt like. it was impressively visceral but VERY asynchronous with the fantasy romance genre.

the patchwork nature of the story was unique and Might have worked in a 30 min tv show format, but in a movie it is not fun or quirky. it creates terribly awkward pacing and the effect of really lazy storytelling. honestly the whole movie kind of felt like it was different people's half-baked story premises that couldn't hack it as their own movies, so they were frankenstein'ed into one movie instead. (it's ironic that chasuke is constantly slamming his heavenly peers for their shitty 'screenwriting' when i very much am doing the same about this movie xD) i can confidently say this is not a movie i've ever seen before, but i also can't help but feel that that's on purpose

[SPOILER] the ending was TENSE and almost made the entire weird movie worth it if only it were executed better. it was resolved in a deus ex machina that i honestly wouldn't have minded because it could have been an excellent tongue-in-cheek reference if not for the extreme lack of payoff. unfortunately, i did not care about the characters' happy ending because i was not ever led to believe they wouldn't get it. [END SPOILER]

all in all, though, i think i'd rate the film higher if only it were marketed as a fantasy drama instead. my expectations were set in a certain direction, and since they weren't fulfilled, i'm rather disappointed. HOWEVER, i did enjoy myself and can acknowledge the movie for fully committing to the things it did well: maximalism, novelty, and matsuyama kenichi being Fucking Weird (complimentary).

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Very Disappointing

I've been a fan of the Whispering Corridors movies for years and was looking forward to watching this one, but honestly it's so tepid and mediocre that it really doesnt merit to be in this franchise. I was very disappointed. The story is unoriginal, predictable and very unrealistic in all the wrong places. Seriously bad writing. Kim Seo-hyung is an amazing actress but unfortunately, if the material you are given to work with is not up to standard, no matter how well you act, the audience will not be engaged. The meandering disjointed plot, colourless characters and stretched out resolution are a total turn off.

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A Kamen Rider Carrying Anno's Spirit

Shin Kamen Rider is a flawed but incredibly fun movie. The info dumps that come with the story structure can hurt the pacing - Hideaki Anno seems to love scenes of characters explaining powers and lore in long-winded explanations, detailing all the little bits of science that go into his concepts. The structure is also very much akin to Shin Ultraman, feeling like an homage to several episodes in one movie rather than being a movie with a single plot line throughout. However, the music is stellar - either one-to-one pulls or fantastic remixes of songs from the original 1971 Rider series. The fight choreography is fun and exciting, the designs of the villains and the redesigns of Ichigo and Nigo are brilliant. The characters have fun chemistry and all work well together. It is an exciting homage to the franchise.

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