Karinanose

When someone dies, are they really gone?

Well well that was a visually pleasing ride.

Story: I think the coffee being a large part of the story makes sense thematically. Coffee is an acquired taste that to some can taste very bitter. But some people have the ability to be able to discern those bitter flavors. It's a learned skill to understand the positives of the acidic and bitter flavours. Finding the positives in an otherwise negative like Yusuke said. Not to mention the circular motion you use to pour drip coffee for a perfect cup. This is another nod to Yusuke speaking about how the world is a circle and you eventually everyone ends up together again. The apples representing longevity speak to the movies message about the courage to live on no matter how many seasons pass.

Another thing that was enjoyable for me was the reinterpreted dialogue . I like that they came back to lines to really tug on your heart. As the story progresses it gets muddy in a good way. You can't really root for anyone here. It's actually so hard. You just want them all to be happy somehow. There just needed to be some creamer and sugar to really make this special.

Characters:
Saeko is immediately likeable with her struggles at the forefront. Kasumi always chooses to play characters who are gentle but will lock in and berate you when need be. It's a trait I look forward to in all her roles. Not to mention how her decisions are made with just her eyes. With her expressive and long dialogue cues, Kasumi is the star of the show.

Yusuke's consistent laughter felt a little fake, so it was hard to like him at first. I think they needed to build this character a little more to make the overall feeling more intense. I think this is one of the reasons why I didn't feel too strongly about the plot.

Naruse's character starts out kind of bland and boring but he opens up as the series goes on, as it's one of the plot points lol. Although he says he changed personalities, but it doesn't feel like it at all lol. He's at his best when he's conflicted. I think his character got better midway due to the various imposing forces on his mind but it didn't sit well with how sometime his dialogue was just “ah“

Miki, Nauruse's wife, seems to just all of a sudden be worried about change without much happening. It seemed kind of sudden. I felt that needed more time before her reactions. I can understand if you are seeing little changes and start to worry about your SO. But the initial worried reaction she had didn't feel deserved yet. You feel so bad for her though throughout the story. And also half the time you wonder where she is lol

Cinematography:
The show has movie quality shots.
I like how they chose Hawaii to film the initial episode. Not only is it beautiful, but to me it's meant to be a little insight into the feelings of the characters. A vast endless gorgeous world, yet it feels a little lonely and isolated. There was a mirror like shot on the beach in the first episode that showed this sentiment. Throughout the episodes they go back to this feeling a lot with these scenic shots. It really establishes the mood of the series. There's also great balance of night and day sequences. I cannot stress how good the lighting is in so many shots.

Set design and music:
I enjoyed all the sets. I just wanted to mention how lived in they looked. The cafes, coffee plant and both homes were very picturesque with so much set dressing. Each set didn't feel barren, they were brimming with life. I loved the piano motifs in the movie. I'm sure many of you will now feel nostalgic hearing Jackson's fives "I want you back. " I enjoyed the theme song too.

Overall a decent series but I think some of the characters needed more scenes or dialogue to flesh out their motivations and impact.

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For the most part just filler

This is only to be watched alongside Umi No Hajimari really. It can be watched at the end for added value. It mostly follows Yamato's interactions explaining the situations that led to his family life.
We get a glimpse into his dad telling him they were going to get remarried, Yamato's secret relationship with Mizuki(not romantic) , Yamato and Yayoi's relationship and finally his and Umi's bond.
I liked Mizuki's and Umi's extra little bits as they made more sense why Yamato was so supportive in the show.
Yayoi's and his relationship also allowed a little character growth in his understanding of different types of families.
It made me like his character even more then what I already saw in the main show. Although it felt like they should of added this in small flash backs as hardly any of this is really that important for a spinoff. I wonder if this was just cutting room floor stuff they thought they could use still?

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Fairly passable watch but it has so many faults

For the foremost, the movie itself is shot well. It has great action sequences that are focused and well choreographed. Things are easy to follow and it has great sequences. However that cannot save this movie from it's lack of cohesion. The movie itself could of been much greater with many tweaks. It felt like all the great parts of 80s 90s action movies but without the soul to make it so.

The plot is very rushed. We have a simple motivation set up in terms of revenge for fallen family members. Then we have a hero who rises again to seek revenge. Ok great. However we had little to no build about this family or this guy in general so we have no attachment to him or his family at all. Then we hit the back in action plot point. Ok he's been living 12 years in prison, barely aged and somehow looks younger coming out then in lol. We have him gathering intel in the silliest way possible with a guy just randomly telling him he took this one off video that he kept for whatever reason showing crimes. Ok but why didn't you do anything with this evidence??

Then we have the daughter character who's grown up and secretly survived. Ok great there are now heightened stakes. Ok but we aren't going to do much about her personality at all and show barely anything about her. Now dad and her meet but don't have any sort of dialogue. What is even going on here? We know that he's shocked and exhausted but to say nothing of the sort in this moment? So when we have final confrontation showdown, Ryo goes with them isn't even questioning what's going on and is just quietly freaking out in a waiting room...

This is the main issue with the story, there's no dialogue really except the villain talking about little to what happened this whole time. When there is dialogue it's mostly throw away that doesn't matter. Sure it sets up the fact that they made the city prosper but there's no real stake in this or tension. How are we supposed to fell when nothing feels at stake? There's no family conflict, there's barely any villain motivations next to wanting to grow Ryo up to assault her.

It's frustrating because many elements of this movie are cool but it needed so much more in terms of storytelling.

Mini rant:
Also guy who saved our hero with the gun...why didn't he just help and attempt to shoot the boss?? He clearly had enough bullets. And this isn't hyper anime, no way does he reflect that many bullets at that speed. And what was up with the random close up of the firefighters arriving as if there was something important there?? Was there a significance of the manju?? Did it tie to the family in the manga??

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Meeting and partings

I wanted to enjoy the idea of this movie. However the pacing and emotional core personally weren't built strongly leaving a somewhat lacking experience.

The main gripes I have with the movie was the way the story played out. Each character had reasonable reasons for you to feel like it matters but for some reason I felt a total lack of chemistry between everyone. I'm not sure what it is but all the couples didn't feel like couples. Kozue and Tsuyoshi had a really surface level romance that felt like it was just going from scene to scene.

The best example would be how they reminisced about them meeting each other. I felt like Tsuyoshi couldn't make me feel like it was an actual memory. Their banter was like it was meant to be playful digging but it didn't feel as if they knew each other for that long. The worst part about this is the emotional scenes at the end don't really hit because you don't feel that love beforehand from these scenes at the beginning.

Ruri, Akira and Ryunosuke also had this same issue. I'm not sure if I'm just not getting Ren Maguro's range yet seeing as how he's so popular, but I felt like he barely had any real connection to Arimura's character in this. I think it might have to do with again the scripting and general transitions from scene to scene. Akira felt really one sided and just sorta there. No real reason for them to even be so in love, next to making Ruri feel needed. Which is not a bad thing but in this movie it does not come through.

Arimura as well felt off more then usual. I didn't feel like she was her usual depressed character. She seemed to be struggling with the direction and line deliveries. Again I think this came down to what the director wanted. I don't feel like they understood relationship building. Kei and her also had barely anytime to set up their relationship and their fight scene was extremely poor. It felt so undramatic!

Music was also really off in this movie for me. They kept playing the John Lennon song in place where they wanted reactions but it ended up just being sorta annoying. I also felt like the movie had an extremely mellow Soundtrack that didn't help the movies scenes. There were also scenes that should of had music but didn't, like the home chase scene. It was very head scratching.

The camera work was fine. I could see they tried to infuse some unique angles to make it more interesting, like the first time they went to Akira's house with the overhead sweeping shot and the train ride home in the Final scenes. But either then that it was serviceable. The colour grading was good.

I think the main problem everyone will have is how the plot unfolds. The focus from story to story I think hurts the flow of this movie. I don't feel like it was balanced. Most of the time it was only Akira and Ruri's scenes. But as I mentioned these scenes didn't convey well enough what was going on between them. So then the rest of the movie also suffered due to lack of cohesion and connection. By the end of the movie it's hollowness is apparent due to the unbalanced use of screen time. Nothing really resolves. I wanted to really get a message of: "someday we will surely meet again, no matter how much time passes."

It was really off when Yui was at the grave with Tsuyoshi. The reveal felt out of place due to the previous scenes lacking any sort of indication that this happened already. I know they were trying to do a surprise reveal but it felt super flat. Like when Ruri convinced the father that it was her. They missed a super opportunity to redo the special hand bumps to reiterate its her! Something as simple as that would of helped immensely. You still get a few tears here and there but it's mostly at the thought of what is happening rather then the act itself. Callbacks in a movie about believing in reincarnation are really important to get that heart string.

I think personally I would retool much of the movie and interactions so they could match up better by the end.

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That was pretty fun

The Layout of this movie feels very western in a good way. The cinematography is reminiscent of 28 days later and the walking dead. I thought it had a better feel then most zombie movies from Japan. This one felt like it was playing homage in a way. From the sweeping high angle shots to the chaotic cuts, I liked the way the film was edited. There was some great pull out sequences and the sets were well designed. Zombie movies can pull off some amazing shots when it comes to desolate building areas to convey scope of the devastation.

The acting was great for Hideo. He felt like he was really a guy who didn't have any direction. Kasumi was super wasted lol. I wonder if they meant to have her in a sequel. I don't know anything about the manga so I'm not sure how emotional Hiromi becomes later. The other characters were like sped up tropes you usually see on this type of movie. The heel, the egotistical leader, the pleasant old man, the girl who is unconfident. It's all there. I can tell there's definitely a bunch of things missing but that's mainly due to the format. The important thing is being entertained for this one.

The movie doesn't shy away from the blood and gore. I enjoyed the practical makeup and also amazing body choreography. Hideo's girlfriend did some seriously crazy body stuff. The types of zombies were also incredibly varied which was a plus. The final scenes felt like a video game lol.

It was highly enjoyable, I wonder if they plan to continue? If not then I'm sure you can just read the manga probably to fill in the gaps.

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Smile, and it will attract all kinds of luck your way

Our childhoods are driven by what we learn from our parents. Some of us don't have the luxury of knowing those parents all of our lives but the ones that take their place have impact on us no matter how small a role they play. "And so the Baton was passed " is a beautiful story about how the young Mitan manages to live a good life despite her various changes in parenthood. Do we then hate the parent for their abandonment? Is there more reasoning to forgive them? Can we call our foster parents our real parents?

That is what this story tries to answer.

The story is a little complex at first as there's many moving parts to Mitan's life. Rika enters Mitan's life as someone who had no aim in life. She drifted from place to place but she found a home. That stability quietly ceases as her secret concerns start to way heavily on her. Then from this place onward, Mitan is moved around to different homes as Rika tries to better seemingly her own life.

There seems little disregard to what Mitan is feeling.Rika is played with such vigor it's hard to hate her. Throughout the movie it feels like the movie frames her in a way that we are not supposed to root for her. But it's hard not to because of the magnetic performance of Ishihara Satomi. When we are eventually clued into the full story, there's a heart crushing sense of understanding with who Rika is as a character. She's made bad decisions yes, but she was only after the best interest of Mitan. Her actions are then redefined in a more positive light adding much nuance to her character arc. These decisions still may not sit well with the audience, but that is the point.

The young actress playing Mitan does a bang up job pulling at your heart strings. We can all relate to her sadness, as I am sure we have had parents make decisions that caused us sadness in our past in some way. The young Mitan has a beautiful scene where she learns of the soothing power of the piano. When they overlayed these stories of the young Yuko in the beginning, at first it was a little confusing. I thought there was 2 stories playing before I realized what was going on. This was probably due to the odd editing in the beginning. But it made more sense after they started revealing more of the backstory.

A teenage Mitan now going by Yuko is played with heart and quiet sadness. Mei Nagano has such a soothing voice, it's really well suited for characters that are a little downtrodden. I thought her portrayal was so strong and she had so many emotional scenes. I admired how she was able to emote sadness, happiness,heartbreak, triumph in all her different tears.I think she is well on her way to become a great actor in her mature years. She's already so strong based on things I've seen in her before. She hasn't hit her ceiling yet and you can tell she's got a lot more in her future career.

Morimiya san had a strong fatherly presence that was well balanced and felt very natural. I enjoyed their many interactions during their eating sessions. A particular scene with them cooking together is where I appreciated their chemistry. The dialogue used between them also felt very natural and had that timing you get when you've known that person for a long time.

The love interest Hayase kun doesn't play a huge role in this movie. But he's crucial to include as he's the reason a few things happen in this movie. His relationship with his parents also show the stark contrast with her own parents. To be honest, he felt somewhat simple as a character. But as the focus was on Yuko this was fine. He didn't distract from the mainline plot. I'm sure if this was a series there be a whole backstory about his single mother and lack of direction.

Once the movie's plot starts rolling in full gear, the movie is hard to put down. We are strung along with hope and faith that things turn out ok for these families. The plot plays a lot with expectations only to throw those out the window. I think that's one good thing about this film. I felt they were pushing the story in a certain direction only for them to remain steadfast and keep you engaged with the reality of things. Japan's dramatic cinema tends to have these melodramatic cliffs sometimes, but I find a lot of the ones I have consumed will include realistic moments of levity. Each time we experience a little joy, there comes a sharp hit of sadness. It makes for high notes and the low notes.

Speaking of which,I would also like to mention the moving piano pieces in the movie. The graduation sequence will probably hit everyone hard. The movie's title I felt should of been something more to do with the musical motif the film had. However in context of the actual plot the baton is more apt. I do think they sort of shoehorned in the reasoning for the name right at the beginning. But it made sense in terms of Morimiya's character trying to make up for his own failures with Yuko's upbringing.

The passing of the baton is a responsibility that is entrusted to the your next teammate. It is within this trust that we work together and pass the finish line. It is important that we strive to carry this baton with our utmost care, just like the passing of you from your parents to the world ahead.

It is in that regard that I hope this movie doesn't pass you by.

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The most important thing is we remember.

What a trip of emotions this show is.

I initially tuned in for Kasumi Arimura, but I stayed for the young Rana Izutani. She was a standout in this drama. The story narrative is a strongly written drama . I thoroughly enjoyed the focus on responsibilities and guilt. Many of Japan's dramas focus on sudden death and trials. Sometimes these stories can be a little bit melodramatic, however this story was done just right.

When we journey through each characters path of life after the loss of Mizuki(Furukawa) , we experience an emotional train through the cast. Natsu's(Meguro) struggle to voice his emotions at first annoyed me. It still kind of does. But after learning about his past history it made all the much more sense for you to want things to turn out ok for him. Being the main lead, I kept on yelling at him to do something! Haha. His character grows stronger in concept as the story unfolds. Stunted expressions and ambiguous ambition
slowly reverses as he meets his daughter. Umi(Izutani) brings the best out of him and I was very impressed with the little actor. She had a beautiful way of communicating with the older actors that felt was realistic. I think her journey is one we can all understand. As a child
we are told many things we do not yet understand, but we feel it. I think this was important in how they portrayed Umi's character. Umi knew her life was a point of conflict and her struggle with that was really powerful.

I honestly cried for so much of the main cast. It was hard not to every episode. I even cried for the brief scene with Shohei(Riju) Mizuki's father, when he felt like the least likely to have an emotive scene. Akane's loss of a child that hardly agreed with her felt so nuanced. Otake San(Akane) had so much depth in her performance. During all the scenes of overwhelming memory and guilt, I felt her emotions. The pot scene broke me. Paternal instinct and vanity feature heavily in this story. Sometimes when we try to protect the people we love, we make assertions about how they feel. But only they truly know how they feel about things.

Yayoi's(Kasumi) character development I thought was the most interesting in this regard. She was thrust into a situation where she feels conflicted with her own well being. I respect that this drama allowed her to take the right step and not fall into a trope about love conquering obstacles.

As the show plays out, it was increasingly hard to watch Yayoi's and Natsu's relationship. It was an important point about self awareness and self worth. Even though the relationship ended, I think the way in which it happened was thoughtful and endearing. It teaches us about the importance of listening and understanding everyone around us.

That also includes Tsuno San (Ikematsu). His character brought in such unique angle to the story, being one of unrequited love and respect. I loved how he was portrayed with such earnest. His intentions and interactions were for the people who never really thought they brought anything to any relationship they had. You feel bad for him but at the same time, you had respect for Mizuki's reasoning on not wanting a relationship. His character could of easily become a major enemy in the plot. However he was smartly used as a vehicle for trust. Someone who truly cared even if it meant he did not fit into a title.

I think from the perspective of the show changes when you realize life is not so much about these titles. Everyone involved, whether it be blood related or not, raised Umi. We are the sum of our experiences and we should never take for granted those who helped us on our journey. No matter how much we thought we knew about that person or how little we think we know. It does not matter. They all changed us in ways we rarely think about.

Along with the moving story, we had a musical score that enriched every scene. The theme “Umi no Hajimari" plays throughout and each of the other themes have callbacks to this main theme. It allows for important moments to really hit. The music is comforting and sadness all rolled in to one.

Cinematography wise, it's a classically shot drama really. There were some flashback sequences and the lighting made these scenes thoroughly sweet. I think the overall feel of this screams summer watch. With warm the warm summer lighting and tones, it creates a sense of nostalgia.

I'm looking forward to watching the small spinoffs that are part of this series. I love these characters and will take to heart the message of strength, love and remembrance.

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A haunting film that needs contemplation

This film is probably more so in the category of Art House. It's message and themes maybe up to debate and won't be for everyone. Many of the central questions asked in the film don't really get answered. It is more up to interpretation by the audience.

The setup for the movie is a little strange, A girl who lost her purpose offers to drive two unknown woman to see a friend who may or may not have attempted suicide. That is the question they are trying to answer by this road trip. The quiet and longing looks of the characters are the main plot of this movie. The dialogue is very carefully chosen. It seems deliberate with how slow the pacing is to let the actors body language do most of the talking. This is a special side of Aoi I haven't seen in any of her movies. This sense of melancholy and grief but also subtle gentleness. It's something mesmerizing. Ando's character felt like grounding while Kutsuna's actor felt like an observer. When they finally reach Miki, we see a really interesting sense of dread and regret without going melodramatic.

When the film began, I thought it was going to be about Haraki finding herself on a journey with new friends. But it turned into so much more. It was almost like a story about reconciliation and loss re-contextualized into a vehicle for growth and truth. The movie doesn't hard line examine these feelings really but it's up to the viewer to find meaning and this is what I found.

The movie's scenes are gorgeously shot. The car ride scenes emphasized the closed and withdrawn emotions with the sea scenes acting as a cathartic release of all their pent up emotions. The symphonic music that Yoko Kanno created for the film only enhances the feeling.

Honestly the film is slow paced burn and it might not leave you happy or sad in the end. It just holds a very special atmosphere that isn't like many movies.

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How would you spend your last days?

I will say you will need a few tissues for this movie. There's so much heartbreak and loss. I felt like they really piled it on in this movie lol. But it was worth the ugly crying.

The main story follows a scenario in which you are allowed to live but in order to do so, you lose something forever. It's a really smart plot device that even though it's implications are vastly underscored, it proves a point. The smallest things we take for granted are more important then you realize. We spend the entirety of the movie examining the impact every decision we make has on our lives. That is the important message of this movie. We never really know when it's our time and we never really see sometimes what lead us to that point.

The acting by Takeru is believable and sound. I don't think I really enjoyed his devil persona take. But that's just me. His father and mother are aptly acted and put real emotion into our hearts. The father character is one of those strong characters that didn't have a lot of screen time but you understood his purpose well. It put into perspective strained relationships with family in a nuanced way. Especially with the final scene being so perfectly executed. Having Aoi as a support character is never a bad thing either in these types of movies. I really enjoyed her scene at the waterfalls with her. Tatsuya's scene in the movie rental store was god damn heartbreaking.

The Cinematography is great. There were beautiful consecutive shots and a little humor in between which was great. The shots in the other country were dreamlike and captured that feel of escapism well. There is also fantastic rain scenes in this movie. The mesmerizing piano and organ that plays throughout helped pull the movie together. It was a good use of reoccurring theme to help the main MC's feelings get realized.

The end theme is simply haunting. I think this movie is one that should be watched by many.

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It's the small things that will fill your heart

It's the sum of all parts that makes this movie enjoyable. Just like a Bento, you should judge it on how each small parts make the entire meal enjoyable.

This movie began, to be honest I didn't feel like it was going to be very good. Thankfully the movie shifts gears about 40 mins in and after that point it becomes a really watchable movie. After we are introduced to Kaori and Futaba, you kind of feel like the acting isn't really strong. It feels a little too slapstick or really daytime drama amateurish. Futaba was a hard sell for me to begin with. But as the movie progressed she began showing layers in her character. Kaori also was the same. I didn't quite know what Kaori's feelings were. They made sense on paper but I didn't get that till after that gear change.

The movie felt like it didn't know what genre it was trying to be at first. There was also internal monologuing that threw off the movie's tempo. Because the movie shifted points of views in the first half between the two leads but it wasn't consistent with presentation. It made sense why they did it that way story wise but it made the flow awkward in my opinion.

One beautiful aspect about this movie is it's color palette. It's a very bright cheerful movie with tons of character. Everything from clothing choices to the house with a face, it was very vibrant. The Bento's being the focus helped bring out a lot of fun. The little animations that came with the Bento's and the explanations were very cute. Seeing Futaba's emotions over time really set you up for those final Bento reveals.

I really loved how they ended the movie on a letter calling back to their childhood. Their relationship was fraught with miscommunication and distance but it wasn't lost. Communication is a strong topic in Japanese movies I find because their society is so bad at trying to express themselves to each other through words. That's what's really endearing about this movie. There's a beauty in understanding each other through only food.

Wakaba was also a secret Ace in this movie. She provided so much background support to her family. My heart went out to her when she told Kaori she didn't know how to handle Futaba's crying. I liked how she was so mature and understanding.

I don't know what the point of the single father storyline was. I'm going to guess it was supposed to be emotional support but it was executed poorly. It looks like they tried to provide some sort of mirror to Kaori so she could see where she went wrong? Like I don't know, it was very unclear.

I also feel like it fell off a steep cliffs after a certain point in the movie. There is a special after credit scene finishing up the story but it was too late. Completely forgot about him by the end.

The soundtrack was fun and engaging. When those violins needed to come in to hit that vibe, they did so. The ending theme was bright and cheerful.

General cinematography was fine. But there were some baffling scene cuts. Like at one point it randomly cut to a loom. Sometimes people talking would trail off into oddly placed scenes. There were some nice scenic shots being part of a Island setting.

Overall good movie though!Lots of micro tears for me. This one will definately hit harder depending on how you view your relationship with your parents.

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The local lawyers at your service

I finally got around to watching this little gem.

When I initially began watching, I didn't really feel like I'd like Haneo's character, but they really helped clean up his image by the end of the show. He was still the same annoying little brat, but his motivations were pure. So he gets a pass from me. There were many times were I was laughing at silly antics. I'm glad they quickly dropped the post it note gags. I liked that they included anxiety into his character to give it more depth. I think they could of gone more into his relationship with his sister and father but I know that would of probably hurt the feel of the show. It just felt like how the father's storyline was introduced as a big deal, then every consecutive scene where he was shown he diminished in importance.

Speaking of tone. I think Ishiko was the perfect embodiment of what the tone of this show was. Heartfelt when it counted, silly when they are discussing matters and introspective about people's plights. One thing that strongly spoke to me was her willingness to support Oba even when he admitted to the arson. Kasumi's banter is always S tier in all her shows and this was no exception. There were general moments were her performance was leagues above anyone else in the show. The linking of her deep judgement of her father coming out over several cases building up was subtle but well timed.

For the supporting characters, I liked that they didn't forget Ishiko's father existed lol. He put in some good scenes here and there. Oba grew on me and I wish their dynamic at the ending episode would of been how it was like the whole way through. But it felt good seeing them working so well together by the end. Oba and Ishiko's relationship was completely shoehorned in and only existed to setup the beautiful final scene. Completely added nothing to the story. The only thing I can think of was it was used to show Ishiko's growth to let people in.

That final scene was a chef's kiss. What a hell of a callback to the umbrella scenes. I guess the message of the show is: We will shelter you from the rain." It's a really beautiful message for a show about helping people. I think my favorite thing about the show were how the cases were handled.

The Yamayoko kids in episode 7 was definately the stand out episode. I felt it had the strongest set of supporting actors. The restaurant review episode was also actually very intriguing from a legal standpoint. It's something I've never thought of as a reviewer. The series asks a lot of good questions and if the info is correct, the legal information was actually really interesting.

Alongside the interesting storylines, I was enjoying the clean cinematography. There's some nice scenic shots sometimes and some scenes involving Ishiko have some fantastic lighting.

One thing I will mention is the theme song is good but personally I didn't think it fit the show. Something about the beat and tempo. It has a good life message but I don't think I'm a fan despite it being Radwimps. I also did not appreciate the dumb gavel drop sounds. It was used very awkwardly and added nothing to the scenes. At first I was like oh it's used as a setback sound. But then later they just seemingly put them in randomly.

Overall great show. I enjoyed my time with the show and wouldn't mind a second season.

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Do you often view the world with rose colored glasses?

I watched this movie initially when I was much younger. But I don't think it fully registered what it was I was witnessing. I remember asking myself why this particular movie was so highly regarded as opposed to other horror movies. Now as an adult who has dealt with life and trauma, I've come to realize how intricate this story is.

With Takashi Miike, you either get a really entertaining movie with obsessive amounts of boundary pushing like Yakuza Apocalypse or you get a movie that has interesting layers like First Love. Now that I fully engaged with this movie, I have thoughts about it's intentions.

First of all, I don't think it's a horror movie in a normal sense. I think it's more of a movie about traumatic events and it's status effect in society. Not only that but the culture of people in Japan in general. When you are watching this movie, Takashi is very deliberate with the types of angles he's using and what they are trying to convey. Many of the early shots in this film are from a very far distance. The imagery is very dreamlike.

I immediately noticed that he was trying to convey this sense of desolation. Like these characters were sitting just opposite of each other at small tables. But the distance felt incredibly large. A reflection of conversations between people who are not actively engaged for various reasons.

I noticed the small quick cuts that signified later that something was incorrect. I'm not sure if that was deliberate but they seem to happen during the key scenes. So I'm more inclined to believe it was deliberate. The wonders of watching older film lol. The lightning becoming more and more dissonant everytime an ugly truth was revealed was very well done. It was a very stark contrast to earlier more dreamlike sequences. When the true backstories are revealed, we get this up close, angled and harshly lit scene. It was like a small hell. You could see the uncomfortable squirming of Aoyama. Very indicative of how Japan's society views these discussions.

There was a impressively blocked scene in the diner when Asami was talking about her parents and family. Later it was revealed that what we heard was just a lie. A fabrication of memories by Aoyama. When we examine the scene, there was a glass window frame surrounding Aoyama. Everyone is gone. It was as if he was living in a glass box.

He is not only hearing and seeing things through distortion but there's a wall between him and Asami. This can be seen in two ways. First is the lies he is telling about the movie being cancelled to hide his true intentions. The second being what I mentioned above about the narrative flip of the actual story Asami told. And now that I think of it, a third thing is how to Asami feels trying to convey her story to deaf ears.

This story to me, is that it's trying to tell us how we relate ourselves to the plight of others. This is how I interpreted Audition. The society of Japan from my knowledge is hospitable in the open but behind closed doors there's a real disconnect when it comes to truly helping someone. The societal hierarchy creates a very uneven balance of power. Despite Japan's culture of being for the group rather then the individual, it suffers from lack of true empathy. It is a story lamented by many newer generations and foreigners who come to live in Japan.

As with many countries, men are predominantly the ones seen to be in charge. Asia has a real problem coming to terms with outdated male roles in society. It's very abundantly 1950's nuclear family oriented still to this day.

There has a been a greater push to revisit this and change course in many countries around the world and Japan is no exception. This movie being created in the 90s heavily shows that sort of distortion. From the way the auditions are handled to how the men treat the women characters. The damage done in this movie is heavily female oriented.

I want to acknowledge that most of Takashi Miike's movies tend to do this as well. Is he trying to say something about feminist views? Or do scenes of violence against women get included because of shock value? It's hard to tell with Miike sometimes. That's why I find his filmography fascinating.

Now when it comes to the characters, we have a very strong contrast of characters. Aoyama having lost his wife, takes on the responsibility to raise his child alone. You normally would find this to be a noble characteristic, however let's dive deeper.

One thing I found interesting is a throw away line where his son Shigehiko, mentions he is afraid of women. I find this interesting because the role of a single father is to be able to teach things like this. Social interactions are heavily tough when it comes to opposite sex. This is probably my headcanon but how a child reacts to things can be directly correlated to the mimicking of their parents. I feel like this further showed Aoyama's mind set when it came to women.

Of their interactions with women, they seem very much like they are just objects to them. They are there to fulfill a purpose, to be eye candy. It's fairly honest to say the script is definately leaning to the misogynistic side. There's a scene that represents this when Aoyama is inside Asami's home and he imagines the various women he knows trying to pleasure him. This leads to his disgust with himself. It's a visually great concept being shown.

Asami is shown as being weak and feeble. Her quiet voice, her small frame. Even the color choice for her wardrobe being all white, the color of purity. I found it interesting whenever she was wearing colors other then white the context of the scene. For instance her taxi scene with Aoyama. Her red coat felt like a signal of lust. But not her lust, his lust.

By the end of this movie, I felt really sad for Asami. I think that is the heart of this movie. Despite what she had done, her actions seem just. Her final dialogue at the bottom of the stairs was just heart breaking. I have a general theory why she chooses to cut off the feet of her victims. I mean it's obvious but her feelings of being alone are deep seated.

Destroying feet is the only way to stop people from leaving her. It feels like it draws back to her time as a child when she was constantly being left alone, only to be tortured by her (step? I can't remember) father. These ideas resonated the core values of this movie to me. Yes it's shocking, but it has purpose. Tongues because of things people said to her.Ears because they never listened and fingers because of the inappropriate touching.

It's a lot to unpack but I'm glad I can see these things now as an adult. I now can appreciate how the movie is seen. Hopefully my write up stirred something in you to think about when you watch horror as a medium.

This has been my medium sized review through a modern lense lol.

Thanks for reading!

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Just watch it lmao

Honestly the best way to explain this is, the first half is the narrow and straight. Then the last half is just hilarious nonsense. Not all of it will hit good. But the really funny bits are classic Kitano. The plot is basically told twice but with comedic changes in the second half.

Honestly first part isn't even that bad pretty simple gangsta setup lol
Kinda reminded me of like improv shows. You could tell the actors were having fun with the constant snickering. I've never seen Tadanobu Asano act like this before haha so it was ever funnier.

If you like Kitano and to waste a random hour, why not lol

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Do yourself a favor, hug your children

I finally got around to watching the World of Kanako. This movie is hard to watch in many ways. The subject matter is tough. The editing is tough. The pace is frantic. The movie feels like a knife dangling above your head at all times.

This movie is like 80% tension. And I love it for that reason. But what I don't appreciate is how it was edited. The major thing I need to address immediately is how the movie is edited in such a way that makes it really frustrating to watch. There's so many cuts and angle changes. It feels like they were definately trying to recreate the pulpy 70s movies but didn't understand quite the reasoning for the cuts.

I really liked the acting. It was extremely well done. Showa was unlikeable but had some redeeming traits. He was a very complex main character and I was not expecting him to be so messed up with his morality. But I suppose Kanako wouldn't be the way she was unless she had parents like that. Nana Komatsu plays the role in a fantastic way. She's every bit as irredeemable as her father and has such a fantastic turn. I liked how her character just gained layer upon layer. It was my first time seeing Nana in a major role and I enjoyed her. Great way to use her. AibHashimoto only appears briefly but you could tell she was a rising star from the little time she had. I wasn't so sure about the main boy. I couldn't really pull one way or the other if his acting was good or not.

All of the side characters were really lived in. The world felt gritty and fucked. Particularly the guy playing the crooked cop. He seemed so cartoonishly evil.

The cinematography was top notch despite the editing. Some really fantastic noir-esque shots and great ambience. There's a really coherent feeling throughout the movie. There's a few particular shots I really liked. Like when the mother or her glass down on the photos or when The dad fell and the blood was black like the wings of death.

The music was too much. Like it felt like the movie never was breathing because of how much music was crammed in. I think the editing and music lengths hurt this movie greatly. Too much style over substance. If they tightened this up I think it would of easily slid into a 9.

I do think it's a ok watch if you are in the mood for some tragedy. It's good but could be better.

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A deeply moving piece about identity

I was holding off watching this movie because I thought it was gonna be deeply sad. What I got instead was a movie about the ideals of morals, self identity and the roles families play in our lives.

This movie felt deeply upsetting. Kore-eda carefully layered all these actions that made it feel like he was leading us to a material conclusion only to swerve many times. I expected many things but I was wrong. It was amazed how he played with our preconceived notions of how we view events without any details. I also think this movie is a little bit of a discussion about the harsh culture in Japan about responsibility, even when it's not your fault.

The acting was superb from everyone. I felt bad for everyone by the end. Saori the mother, felt like she was constantly struggling to understand her child. Hori, the good willed teacher who wasn't even doing anything wrong. Someone who did care about his students and tried to be a better person. His girlfriend I think was meant to show his displeasure of the mundane life he had.(If it is to be believed she's from the hostess club). He also being a child of a single parent household demonstrated another aspect of the story I think is overlooked. Someone who is kind and t to help but in the end gets trampled by everyone else.

And Minato's storyline took such a swing that I didn't even realize what was happening at first. I think his realization of his sexuality is what sealed the deal that this movie is simply incredible. When we understand the events leading up to the main story, everything really starts to click. I was impressed with many revelations such as how dirty ended up in his mug and how he was trying to protect Yori.

As usual Kore-eda focused on a lot of character moments that just tell you so much more without having to say it. The act of spreading of I think cheese (?) on toast. Or how Saori did a slight head tilt as she was going up the stairs to talk to the teachers. The careful ironing of Minato's shirt.. all these moments really make a kore-eda film go from good to great.

The music was peaceful and solemn. They lead you into a sense of quiet melancholy.

Just being able to sit and really envelop myself in this movie, I reflected on how the bonds we have shake the foundation of self worth. Minato had no father and to me it felt like he was lost because of it. Yori had a father but he was mainly absent and treated a child who clearly had some sort of ADHD or autism as scum. The parallels of family households where one is present and the other it's fine have profound effects on our mental states. I felt so bad that Yori was being constantly bullied and his only friend didn't even try to stand up for him. The sociatile pressure of keeping up appearances hit harder once the realization of his sexuality came forth.

It reframed all of Minato's actions in a different context and then the story took on a whole other meaning. Same with the title, "Monster." That could mean more so many things in this movie now that I understand. Society, a slur, a responsibility, anguish, self worth.. it really makes you think about how we see each other.

My only main concern is the ending is very abrupt and I don't like that they left a huge thread about what Saori and Hori did after they didn't find the children.

Either then that, this is fantastic.

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