Reviews

"Life is like that"

Tokyo Story is a quintessentially Ozu film. The story about the dissolution of a family was emotional without being dramatic. Every frame was composed with the utmost care as if evoking a painting. Shot from the mat, the camera never moved, only the people, drawing the viewer in for an intimate window into this troubled family’s life.

“Be a good son while your parents are alive. None can serve his parents beyond the grave.”
Retired couple, Shukichi and Tomi, make the long, arduous trip from their southern fishing village to Tokyo to visit their children. Due to the distance it has been years since they’ve seen each other. Instead of greeting their parents/grandparents with open arms, everyone seems put out that their lives and households are being disrupted. Shige, the eldest daughter, pawns them off on the couple’s widowed daughter-in-law, Noriko. Unlike their flesh and blood children, Noriko takes the day off and shows them the town, treating them with great care and respect. Afterwards, Shige and her brother Koichi, pool their money and send their parents to a seaside spa. The spa ends up being a loud hangout for young people causing the elderly couple to return to Shige’s the next day. She’s upset that they returned early because she has a party planned leaving the couple literally out on a curb. Noriko takes in her mother-in-law while Shukichi has a reunion with old friends and goes out drinking and reminiscing. Realizing they are a burden on their children, the couple boards the train the next day to go home. They are able to see their middle son who works at the Osaka railroad when Tomi becomes ill on the train and has to disembark there. Satisfied they have seen all of their children for possibly the last time, the parents state that their children may not have lived up to their expectations, but they are better than most leaving them satisfied.

“To lose one’s children is hard, but living with them isn’t easy either.”
Ozu never truly goes into why the children are not only distant but disrespectful as well. The father drank heavily when they were younger, whether that caused a lingering anger he wasn’t telling. Despite Noriko being a dutiful daughter-in-law and widow, her short marriage to Shoji eight years ago was a difficult one for he also drank heavily. Shige grated from beginning to end, always finding fault, never giving an inch. When her husband brings home expensive cakes for her parents, she scolds him that the delicacies are too good for them and then eats the cakes herself! Yet Ozu and the characters simply accept her as she is, never calling her out for her rude behavior. It is what it is.

“Isn’t life disappointing?”
The grown children’s lives are busy as they hustle to make a living in a town with too many people after the war striving for the same thing. Their children reflect the same attitude as their parents, they are rude and disinterested as well. Every generation of the family is disintegrating, held together by memories and tenuous traditions. The father states, “Life is like that.” Death happens. People forget. People move on. Relationships are always in a state of constant flux as people change, suffer, succeed, fail, grow older. Families, like marriages, require emotional upkeep to stay together and relevant, something this family has neglected. Life was also taken for granted, the thought that their parents would always be around. When death visits, the children still can only think of themselves and their lives with only Noriko going out of her way to help. Stay busy, stay moving, and you don’t have to think about the difficult things in life.


“Isn’t life too short?”
Tokyo Story is one of Ozu’s more beautifully shot films, and one that took the viewer beyond a small world. From the parents’ fishing village to Tokyo, we’re taken along with the parents to discover new sights. The music is subtle, just like Ozu, perfectly setting the tone when used. School children sang just as the story needed a bolus of hope. Often only the rhythmic sounds of nature were used or mechanical as with a ticking clock when a character realized all he had was time left. Despite the larger world the characters inhabited his meditative rooms and pauses still reigned supreme. Ozu’s beloved train began the film as the parents journeyed on their last trip to see their children and a train ended the film as a character was freed from her guilt and allowed to embrace a new future.

Everyone ages. Relationships change. Children become parents and then grandparents themselves. Life involves death, irrespective of age. Loneliness is a harsh mistress. I hope Ozu’s assessment that life is disappointing and everyone will eventually not only suffer from alienation but also cause it isn’t inevitable.

2 February 2024

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so slow

I watched this drama because it has so many good reviews, it was well watched and just known as one of the top dramas in the kdrama world (not to mention that literally everyone is in it in some way or another).

It started well, the historic background really gripped me and made me watch further. The main story as well as the sub plots were all very interesting and made me want to find out what would happen next.
But then the story started to slow down, like reaaaally slow down.

Before I get to the rest of the story, I just have to say the main love story just did not convince me at all. Their scenes were poorly written if you ask me because at some point they were just in love and for the life of me I couldn't figure out why it happened or when. And their scenes were unnecessarily dramatic. Their long gazes, the dramatic music... it would work if I had been convinced from the start but I wasn't so it was just boring and skippable. However, the last episodes changed a bit and from the moment they get fake married, I really like the couple. Their heart wrenching ending also made me bowl. But again these were the last episodes.

The rest of the story is kind of the same. Starts interesting, especially with Eugene assassinating that minister, the smuggling of that one patriot etc. but then the story sort of forgets it's potential for exciting moments. There were some funny moments, some interesting ones but they hardly kept my will to finish the show intact. I honestly only finished it because of the historic background which was really interesting, especially in those last episodes. And there we are again, those last episodes saved the show to me. They were exciting, the love story was finally interesting, things started moving along and I finished those episodes with no problem.
Also, someone here said the historic background doesn't feel as meaningful for a global audience but I fully disagree. The story about the rebels was my favourite and it was incredibly touching to see how many people from different life paths all came together to try and save their country. I feel like I learned a lot and was just moved by the resilience Korean people showed in the faces of their oppressors.

All in all, this drama was okay. The cinematography is amazing, the casting was obviously great and the OST has some gems. But it should've been shorter, 24 episodes all longer than an hour is just way too long to keep the audience gripped (although many would disagree i guess). But I still think if you have a good attention span that you should watch it.

Some other things that annoyed me:

- Hina finding out about her mother's death. I don't know why the minister had to use her only to tell her her mother passed away. I know he gave his reasoning but it felt dry and just lazy idk
- all the men being in love with one woman while not even properly knowing her and who she is. Very unnecessary.
- we get zero closure for Hotaru. Plus we don't really learn anything about her until the end and the story felt cliche when i feel like it could've been way more meaningful to the whole plot. Idk she's just there and then she's not and that's just lazy writing to me.
- Hina dying??? like I know she wanted to but then she didn't want to but then she did? It would've been a lot more meaningful to let her die in the hotel or let her live. The way it happened was only so that she could confess to Dongmae which at that point felt unnecessary. Why did they even start that love line?????
- Dongmae having 309403924 battles and dying several times until actually dying like ??????
- the French... girl

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Good Enough

Japanese Drama '' My Second Ao Haru '' is a drama about second chances in life.

The drama has a pretty enjoyable main story, with an impressive plot and many sweet moments. The relationship between the main female lead and her new friends was enjoyable and adorable as well as they helped each other overcome their problems.

The love story, on the other hand, was not as enjoyable. And that was not because of the age gap, which wasn't that much of a big deal. But, the way it was pace and the tropes that were used, it was eye rolling and boring.

Also, the female lead often acted a bit too much and she was too loud, but, other than that, she gave an enjoyable performance. The rest of the cast did a good job as well.

So, overall, five out of ten.

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Not Good Enough

Korean Drama '' My Man is Cupid '' is a fantasy romantic comedy.

The concept of the story, though unique, was quite idiotic overall. It wasn't well executed, though the group of fairies offered many funny moments and their chemistry was spot on. A chemistry that, unfortunately, the main couple didn't have. Therefore, their romantic moments were awkward, which was aided by the absorbed behavior of the main female lead who often acted out so strangely towards the main male lead that more often than not baffled him and the audience as well.

Other than that, the mystery case was pretty intense and interesting.

The performances were okay as well.

So, overall, three out of ten.

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A great starter for 2024!

Give kbls enough budget and a good writer then we can have this kind of masterpiece again in the future. Also, let’s normalize casting mainstream actors to play in bls bc they know what they’re doing i mean look at lee taevin?? Nothing against nugu idols or rookie actors, they can still be casted and they’re the backbones of kbls but having mainstream actors in this makes so much difference.
As for the series itself, i found it really interesting, a romance fantasy genre that works really well without having to look lame and cheap in execution? Who would have thought! Japanese bls are usually the experts in this area but i can see the future for kbls to excel in this kind of genre too, just give them enough budget and good writing also good actors if it’s not too much to ask for.

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Good Enough

Korean Drama '' My Demon '' is a fantasy romantic comedy with enough comical moments, beautiful cinematography, and an enjoyable love story.

The drama has a strong start, with pretty scenes and impressive cinematography that blends nicely with the comedy reliefs that the drama adds here and there. The family drama is quite enjoyable as well, with many melodramatic moments. The crime case as well has some intense moments.

The love story, on the other hand, is basic and predictable. And yet, it is a guilty pleasure, with enough romantic moments and cheesy scenes to keep things interesting.

The performances, in addition, were all great by everyone in the cast.

So, overall, seven out of ten.

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What the show lost in plot, the characters and cast made up for AND THATS OKAY.

To begin this review I would like to say that although this show is FAR from perfect and it has it's faults that I will delve into further as this review continues, I want to appreciate how much I feel like the cast and characters storyline CARRIED this and was able to build an exciting experience.

In my opinion, I felt like the plot was messy- it was a simple plot and yet there was too many plot holes and things i feel like could have been WAYY better and built up to perfection but it wasn't long for me to recognize that although the show had a messy plot, the characters and the cast were AMAZING. Every character had their own storylines and in a sense I never felt like a single character was forgotten or dismissed. This drama's strength IS ITS CAST and its characters, the acting was amazing- the raw emotions displayed by every single character had my heart.

I felt as though there was so much loss potential that could've been utilized in this show to build SUCH A PERFECT PREMISE and that was why I was left feeling slightly disappointed but I truly enjoyed the episodes that were character driven and it somewhat made me forget the faulty premise and I think that is the reason I was able to give this show an 8/10. Would I recommend this show to others? Depends. If you're in it for a flawless premise- then no, but if you're willing to ignore it's faults and to appreciate the characters then you WILL have a blast.

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Good Enough

Korean Drama '' A Good Day To Be A Dog '' is a cute fantasy romantic comedy.

The drama has an adorable love story with a couple that oozes chemistry and has many romantic moments together.

The melodrama was enjoyable as well, though, towards the ending, it got a bit too much. The past story was boring as well. But, the main one had enough thrilling moments, action, and a nice pace, that balanced the rest.

Finally, the performances were all enjoyable by every actor and actress in the cast. The CGI, on the other hand, were bad.

So, overall, seven out of ten.

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Everything should be started within ourselves

To be honest, I'm still a bit confused about the storyline since anything related to sc-fi thingy is really not my forte.

But overall, I can understand the big moral story here, that everything should be started within ourselves.

We should love ourselves before loving others, should be happy before making others happy, because how can we make other happy and loved if we don't have those feeling in ourselves?

The acting was great, I love to see Lee Tae Vin specifically because he could portray his character really well, the sadness, frustration, depression, and happiness, all those could be seen in his eyes, in his expression.

His chemistry with Cha Joo Wan is something that make this series loved by many. It is no wonder that this series has got such a high rating here.

The kissing scene at the beach is actually sweet and romantic but somehow the background music was kinda annoying for me.

It's really a worth to watch series, highly recommend it.

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had hoped for more from this premise

Overall: an interesting premise that wasn't developed enough. 10 episodes about 20 minutes each. Aired on GagaOOLala & Viki. Note, there are extra scenes after some of the end credits.

Watch Suggestions:
- if you want to skip moping/flashbacks start episode 8 at 17:30
- unless you like (in my opinion) poorly done angst stop watching episode 9 at 5 minutes and then start episode 10 at 21:50

Content Warnings: non con picture taking, dub/non con kiss, non con touching, grief

What I Liked
- unique premise with a clear set up
- sweet/cute moments
- funny moments (the dream with the soap was a highlight)
- foreshadowing
- episode 6 Stay By My Side cameo

Room For Improvement
- slow pacing with a ton of flashback montages, also half of episode 8 was moping
- the only 2 female characters were cliches (repeatedly ignoring boundaries), too much time spent on them
- nonsense (and not talking about the obvious), do university students in Taiwan have their professor's personal cell phone numbers, his household supplies were stored in the living room on a bookcase, a supposedly intelligent and caring character is stupid and cruel
- they never really delved/explained the world building, and I realized this was a romance but there really wasn't any examination of ethics, only the human character focusing on himself and how he will be sad
- poorly done/cliche angst, there were many opportunities for drama but the writers chose the most cliche one
- that gap was waaayyyy too long and then there was about 3 minutes at the end???
- some of the camerawork felt low budget

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Youth Xianxia Provides All The Feels

The Last Immortal's Chinese title (and its first title before they changed it) is Hidden God. I'm disappointed they didn't keep it because it was very apt and would have given the viewers clues about the plot.

Hidden God (TLI) has many hidden gems. It starts out with a mysterious ghost/spirit on her way to being reincarnated. She seemed fine with all her unhappy endings, somewhat cavalier in fact, while discussing it with the god in charge. Seeing an image of a handsome but sad young god in a magic mirror which appeared and, upon learning that he was using it to look for the leftover spirit essence of an immortal he once killed, she remarked that if she were said woman, she would never want to see or talk to this god again.

Thus begins the story of Ah Yin/Feng Yin, the hidden god(dess), the Fire Phoenix going through her tribulation of death and rebirth. Her story is easy to follow, the xianxia cycles of innocence and misunderstanding, pain through injustice and loss, and finally wisdom and responsibility. Its complication lies in the nuances projected by its characters, how actions in this drama mirrored each other (and giving new discoveries in each rewatch) and the unexpected pleasure of enjoying the growth of four friends who were the Scooby Gang of the Immortal World, all four reveling in their youth, suffering in their trials and still ending together as four strong immortal friends who helped each other in times of need.

For me, as a fan of xianxia, my topmost demand for this genre can be distilled to one question: does the drama deliver the xianxia feels?

The First 10 Episodes-Youthful Friendship
***
Because a good xianxia starts with innocence and fun. YES THE LAST IMMORTAL DOES. It was humorous and Lu Si as baby hatchling and the teen Ah Yin was funny, sweet innocent but smart FL. Also, the story gave an unexpected twist--Gu Jin, the ML, was equally naive in his expectation of life and love. He was only a few hundred years old at the beginning of this journey and he acted it. He had a foolish boy-crush. He acted impulsively. He wasn't the usual cold and calculating 60000 or how-many-zeros-added-on year-old ML who held all the power. He didn't. He was going to make the mistake of his life as his tribulation as the god of Chaos. He was the other Hidden God of this story.

The other unexpected twist was the 2ML and 2FL. There were no toxic friendships and betrayals. Both were from different realms and had their own challenges, but 2ML was also a naive young immortal who showed a soft heart for those he cared. The 2FL did not play the jealous card, like any number of 2FLs in other historical dramas. She was always the supportive friend, with no other agenda. I LOVE THIS about the drama.

The Second Ten Episodes--Youthful Love
***
Because a good Xianxia must make me feel good about love and to worry about their future. YES THE LAST IMMORTAL DOES. This segment of episodes had a quest-like feel to it as our friends went around the world looking for pieces of FengYin's soul. We as the audience know the irony of the Hidden God: that Ah Yin was looking for herself. Gu Jin was already being shown his fate: he was going to be looking for Ah Yin and never seeing the real her. We could see the horrible thing called tribulation coming up as our couple went about building loving memories.

The Third Ten Episodes--End of Innocence and Youthful Love
***
Because a good Xianxia must deliver Epic Angst. YES THE LAST IMMORTAL DOES. In heaps. Oh my god, does it deliver. The pain built into a crescendo as the misunderstandings grew through the evil Hua Shu and her father's manipulation. Everything was against our young couple and their friends. There was so much pain, we wonder how Ah Yin was going to make it. We forget that Ah Yin was Feng Yin, the Fire Phoenix. And what do phoenixes do to achieve rebirth? Yes. You got that as a clue.

And our Gu Jin, having giving the oath to accept any tribulation from the Magic Rock to get Feng Yin's soul pieces back, had no idea what that meant. But did he find out. These ten episodes built to a crescendo that kept this xianxia fan clicking to the next episodes. And the tears. Get that box of tissues ready. Zhao LuSi was amazing in these episodes. I don't remember crying while watching her sad scenes in Love Like A Galaxy, but here? She made my heart hurt for her character. As for Wang AnYu as Gu Jin/Yuan Qi who paid the price of being young and noble, trying to fit in his parents' big shoes, he played the role of bum-turned-tragic-god masterfully. A two-hundred year-old master of all five realms who had to learn that being fair and just was a difficult balance in a world where the adult immortals play for power, whatever the price.

The Last Ten Episodes--Rebirth, Retribution and Love
***
Because a good Xianxia must give me back my couple, must make things right, and punish the Big Bad. YES THE LAST IMMORTAL DOES. Everything came back full circle. It's the same and not the same. Our Scooby Gang has grown up. How are they now that 1000 years have come and gone? Are they any better at dealing with these more experienced immortals who played them like a deck of cards?

The surprise of Feng Yin being the cold and more calculating character here was a good twist. Yuan Qi had to figure out how to chase his wife. He was the God of Chaos, whose duty was to sacrifice all for the realm. We learn in these episodes how much he had sacrificed for those he loved, especially Ah Yin. She was the Phoenix Queen now, who had fulfilled her death and rebirth tribulation to rule as a demi-goddess. Having gone through 1000 years of tribulation, she was in no mood for love and Yuan Qi and immortal games. But she knew, to put Ah Yin to rest, she must investigate what had happened 1000 years ago. And thus the Scooby Gang came back together, but no longer the fresh-faced four. They were now the God of Chaos, the Phoenix Queen, the Demigod and King of Demons, and the Eagle Queen. No one could stand in the way of their quest now! Esp. Hua Shu, that Peacock Bitch who was the root of all the pain. Was it fun to see her smackdown by Feng Yin and then, Yuan Qi!

There are two more Hidden Gods in this drama. I'll let you figure it out for yourself. I've rewatched several times as the hidden gems kept coming. And the OST was one of them. It snuck into one's subconscious and although at first I thought it was just all right, I ended up loving it, with all its lyrics.

Way to go, TLI cast! You've made this drama very memorable for this viewer.

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PENDAPATKUUUU

Untuk story nya ini menurutkuu kurang, karena diselipin kasus pembunuhan yang berbeli2 tp disini tersangkanya bener2 gak bisa dibilang plot twist juga karena terlalu keliatan bgt malah jrg ada sceen nya, nahh kalau olahraga ssireumnya oke sih cukup gak kurang gak berlebihan jugaaa, chukaaaee baek duu yang td nya mau pensiun akhirnya juara jugaaa ?? karakter baek du juga pas ngomel ngedumel sendiri fav banget HAHA
untuk warga sekitarnya juga gak diraguin kalo dipedesaan gitu pasti solidaritasnya julidnya gosip nya kenceng lebih2 dari 5G seruuu suka ngidupin dramanya

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a good storyline and plot

to be honest. i would like to praise script writer who come out with that kind of storyline. aside of nudity and sex scenes. all the plot was clearly told us about the difference perspective from each of characters.

i could relate for both wife and mistress feeling very well. it's just that, after a few times of rewatching it. i still has lingeries feeling with questioning about how depth the husband feeling or love towards his mistress. i do believe, husband does love his wife so much from all perspective that shows in movie although he does cheat with someone's else. But that doesn't mean he doesn't love his wife or less care. he still has a lot of affection towards his wife.

it just, i feel pity towards mistress. from my perspective, even though he love her. but it's still could not surface the love he has towards his wife. i feel a bit disappointed when he doesn't has a firm stance about his child with his mistress. though they make the ML die frozen was a good way to end the stories. so, the main issue about which one he love the most or which one he will choose will stopped when he die.

i like the way, how they make the FL and mistress get to be a good friend and end up with a good way. getting along and handle their emotions maturely. although the mistress seem to be more emotional in the end cos of ML wanna severed their relationship. for me, it was logical for mistress to behaving like that, in her age and life experience.

both wife and mistress didn't act rashly also a good sign of mature and healthy way to educate viewers, to choose wisely if they were facing this kind of situation.

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Disappointing

The story started out great until about episode 17. The humor gave me endless laughs, the adventures of the main characters were fun to watch, and ML and FL had a lot of chemistry. The villains were compelling and gave us plenty of reasons to hate them. Then, the story went off the rails and started introducing new plotlines and characters who didn't need to be there. I normally don't like love triangles because they usually follow the same tropes and deviate from the plot. This show was no exception. Bai Xiaosheng (BX) was a fun and neutral character who should've stayed neutral. Suddenly, we had to watch multiple episodes involving a love triangle between BX, Tianyao and Yanhui because Tianyao and Yanhui had some tension in their relationship. There were better ways to get it resolved and to get Tianyao gain back Yanhui's trust, instead of sticking BX between them for several episodes. In the second half and towards the end, BX mostly disappeared from the plot making the entire love triangle angst completely pointless.

Even the chemistry between Tianyao and Yanhui became stale in the second half. They had no physical or even romantic chemistry although they were married. They kind of regressed from being a dynamic due to an old boring couple. When Tianyao protected her from any threat, she looked at him in surprise like he wasn't supposed to do it. Ya'll are married. Why are you surprised? Thankfully, or not, they finally shared a very chaste kiss in episode 38 after being married for how long? Pretty damn long,

An endless slew of minor characters and their stories, too many flash-backs, and fillers made the story progression very slow. An entire episode was dedicated to some weird demon capturing Tianyao so she could marry him just to be defeated and never seen again. We did not need to watch short lived romances between minor characters, who all died an episode later, or flashbacks from Yanhui's childhood in the Taoist sect. It was all boring and irrelevant. We also did not need to see Suying's sad romance with the general. There was nothing redeeming about her. She was a reprehensible person, so there was no point trying to make her even a little bit sympathetic.

The end boss was incredibly boring. He was a cookier cutter villain without any motivation or personality. He did bad things because villains do bad things, not because he had a compelling reason to be bad. Taoists were much more interesting and complex.

There were problems with the acting too. Zhou Ye was really cute as Yanhui who was lively, dynamic, and funny. Neo Hou was the opposite. This is the first drama I watched with him and I was completely unimpressed with his acting. He spent a huge amount of the time standing around and staring - forlorn staring, sad staring, observant staring, romantic staring, staring, staring, and more staring. In many scenes involving multiple characters, he just stood around and stared like a place holder. It seemed like the actor either needed more lines or the dialogue needed to be sped up. After some time, the constant staring became very noticeable. Tianyao was the main character with the plot revolving around him, but he looked like Yanhui's side kick most of the time.

Overall, I enjoyed the first half of the show because it was funny and engaging. Unfortunately, the story that started out as an interesting tale of redemption, forgiveness, and new beginnings turned into a constipated mess of stale plotlines and a crusade against a cliche villain. I am actually very disappointed with the way it turned out because it had such a great start.

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