Karinanose

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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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 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 confliction 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 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 an earnesty. 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 classicly shot drama really. There were some flashback sequences and the lighting made these scenes throughly 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 rememberance.

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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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How did I end up here? I dunno.

I picked up this show on a whim because of Nanao. I randomly saw her in Jigoku no hanazono and was like: "she seems cool."

How can I talk about this show. Honestly not much really happens. However all sorts of misunderstandings make this show fun to watch. I mean would you have expected their to be giant A.I controlled robots solving war by the end of this show?

I would have not either.

The main positives is Nanao true to her aura is fantastic as the ever so ditzy Takano. She perfectly plays the airhead with good heart. Sometimes she comes off way too dumb but it usually smooths out with the scenario playing out. I found it great that in the end Takano had such an impact on everyone. If they didn't resolve her whereabouts at the end I would of assumed she was secretly a guardian angel sent down to help everyone when they needed it. It's true you mainly get fixated on her the entire show but I came to like most of the characters.

Hatoyama was a really nice manager. I enjoyed his fatherly attributes to the other staff and how he was controlled. Ukai's compulsiveness to document and ascertain all knowledge at first seem to be confrontational. But then it kinda just turned into a neurotic quark. Kijitani had a great arc I thought. He became someone who didn't care to someone who realizes the impact everyone has on him and his responsibilities. Suzaku had a pretty good arc too despite it being so short. I really enjoyed the development team, especially Yumi. She had the overall best kill me now faces. There was an interesting dynamic as well between each group of work buddies. How each group approached the same problem was a nice look into the mindset of different age classes at a large company.

Now if you are wondering why I didn't mention Hiwada, that's because I felt he was the weakest main character. Honestly he barely had growth. Even when presented with big moments of him growing as a person, he reverts next moment into the same type of person. I also felt his character was somewhat annoying with just how wak they made him look. Him and Karasumori had really unlikable characters. I never felt like i was rooting for Hiwada but for everyone else I was. I also think they didn't even spend enough time to explain him. The other characters became more focused to wrap up story arcs which made his weaker overall. I assume this was due to the short run time of the series. If he was a little more interesting the score would be a little higher.

I suppose this mirrors the status of a new worker vs established workers. Where seniors take center stage and the newbies get drowned out.

One aspect I like about this story was how their were little moments of hope between all the companies. I enjoyed the fact that so many of the business people had epiphanies about how they viewed their employees and goals. I thought that was cute. It was cliche but cute. It kinda made each episode feel like a hallmark christmas movie. I think that's the best way to describe it.

A few small things to round this out. Opening theme is very interesting as it's in French. I liked the unique style intro. It felt kind of like a high fashion photos hoot parody. The ending theme was typical of this sort of drama. I didn't find the type of melody didn't suit the idea of the show. Ending themes really set the mood of a jdrama's impact and I found this one not be the right feeling. I wanted upbeat but more mellow of a flow. It was a song that felt like their were many hardships in the show but their really isn't lol. A good example would be Hope by Tota from the new Anne Shirley anime.

The show also randomly did interesting shots every now and then which were surprising in the moment. The under walk shot of Suzaku and tomato cam come to mind.

Overall the series ends with a sweet note. I half expected it to happen so it wasn't surprising. I bet they were snickering to themselves with the end shot being like a bird flying away from them.

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Wrestling is real

As someone who watches both wrestling and jdramas, I feel I'm uniquely suited to review this one.

My knowledge of Joshi(female) wrestling isn't the greatest as I mainly watched north american wrestling growing up. I dabbled in bits and pieces of Joshi wrestling as in the last few years. As such, I found this dramatization to be an instant showstopper for people who want to get further into the Joshi scene.

The story of this drama revolves around redemption, self worth, growing pains, family trauma, sexism and feminism. I thought they handled the subjects with care. There were times were I was moved to tears to what I was witnessing. This may not happen to everyone, but I found that the show had a visceral feeling of self loathing and weakness. Many people do not understand the toll wrestling takes on people over the years and how much effort goes into maintaining their status.I found that this put a spotlight on the fears and trauma wrestlers face. In the older days and even still now, women's wrestling was seen as second rate and not worth watching over men's. The women constantly had to prove themselves in a sport run by men. The trials wrestlers face such as changing crowd sentiment, physical abuse from senior wrestlers, unrecognized skill and bodily damage are all in focus in this series.

These feelings of worthlessness are perfectly performed by Yuriyan Retriever and her younger self(couldn't seem to find name of actor). I was thoroughly impressed with how much humanity was portrayed by them. From fleeting moments of watching wrestling for the first time to witnessing someone else rise above you. The highs were extra strong and the lows crushing. I felt strongly about everyone's battles in this show. I feel it will resonate with anyone who was ever told they were physically ugly or would not amount to anything. Kaoru's journey from someone undesirable to someone undeniable was a beautiful thing.In a way the show is extremely uplifting in that everyone rises to the occasion to overcome their weaknesses. The backstory of Kaoru and her family really helped push the motivations for her strength. Likewise the glow she observes from fellow wrestlers shining light were very inspirational. It's the job of the pro wrestler to get you invested into that story and they did a hell of a job in this. The standout performances of grit during the wrestling scenes were impeccable.

Speaking of which, I went back and watched a few real life versions of these matches and read about how they trained for this movie. Watching the matches in comparison it's extremely impressive how they mimicked the matches. In wrestling we call real life things "shoots" and fake things "kayfabe." This movie blurs the lines of what was kayfabe and what was a shoot. Japanese pro wrestling is much more "stiff" meaning the hits are usually actually real. Especially in the older days they really went all out to the point of exhaustion. You see this a lot in this movie. So if you are skirmish of violent acts with blood, you may want to pace yourself. The ring cinematography captures the electric feeling of the wrestling world so well. From the audience to the refs, to the ring announcers being hilariously calm while chaos is happening all around them. This is definitely a love letter to the spectacle of wrestling. The dynamic shooting angles and the triumphant musical choruses really give the pacing of these matches a special quality. Wrestlers have this innate ability to draw people in with the simplest of things. An eye look there, a brisk evasion, a strong slam down.. Wrestling is truly an art form in motion.

During some scenes it's hard to understand whether or not things were predetermined to happen or if it really did happen like that. That is something that for years has blurred in the wrestling world. Nowadays we hear a lot about the back end of things and some of that magic is lost. They explore this in the film when we see the owners and bookers(people who work out the match scenarios) discuss how they want the next showing to work. They touch a bit on when things happen like when Jaguar does a german suplex that signals the end of the match. Some wrestlers will audibly call out moves in ring on the fly, while others well choreograph every single moment. I found this series leaned more into the realism aspect in that regard. They didn't really have to talk about it however as the fights felt more gripping. This is truly a more of keeping kayfabe alive.

A small thing I want to touch on is the excellent set and costume design. I heard that they used Stardom's training ring for this series and was squealing with joy. Many of the show's set design were impressive with the hundreds of posters, fans shirts, bandannas and everything were amazingly done. The outfits were also so extravagantly 80s. The bright neons and checkered patterns were great touches. I loved every moment of seeing what sort of outfit would show up next. The wrestling attire was also lovingly recreated and was great comparing them to the originals. The hairstyles were also gorgeous representations of 80's styles. All the actors go through various stages in their life in this and it was really great seeing the progressive hairstyling.

I also really enjoyed how Lioness Asuka and Nagayo were heavily focused on to round out the feeling of this show. I found the three very different perspectives to be a strong core story. The heavy handed nature of wrestling discourse were explored through each one of these ladies. The wrestler who wants to stick to traditional non high flying with no weapon base vs the revolutionary who brings in things that feel foreign to wrestling vs the heel(someone playing the bad guy) who's job it is to make people hate them. Each perspective brings nuance to the sport and I greatly applaud their efforts into designing it this way. They do touch a little on about idol crossover culture in Joshi wrestling. Wrestlers have the same obligations as idols do, especially Joshis. Tv appearances, songs, movies, fashion shoots and merch sales were sprinkled in throughout.

I think this series is a fantastic gateway into learning about the harshness of the wrestling world and may even spur you like it did me to check out some old historical matches or current companies now. Whether you watch Stardom or WWE or AEW etc , it does not matter. All wrestling is valid (except backyard wrestling) and that is the beauty of the wrestling world.

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Strictly speaking from someone who has not read the manga, the movie is generally cute. The teacher/ student love position will likely be a source of contention for people before you even get like 20% into the story. If you can get over that, this is a pretty decent movie.

I will say you can tell that it feels like exposition is missing due to the speed of character interactions. Like Suzume and Yuyuka becoming friends so fast. Or Mamura liking Suzume feeling like the build up was missing. Especially during the Christmas scene, it didn't feel like it make any sense why he liked her. There was no build up to show that next to a few lingering looks. You hooks argue it was just implied but it wasn't strong enough in my opinion. I'm assuming there's scenes in the source material that shows that. So being one of the main relationships, it felt underwhelming. The relationship between Suzume and the Sensei also felt the same. Not enough definition of why. So this being the main story kinda broke the immersion.

Yukichi's confrontation with Satsuki also didn't feel strong because he spoke as if we had pretense to his and Suzume's relationship. We saw nothing of Yukichi's interactions with Suzume's to indicate if this was true. He totally felt like a throwaway character especially because they never really revealed what him and Satsuki talked about near the end.

Mei for me was definitely the right person to choose for this main role however. She's the perfect person to play a naive but emotional character. She has this perpetual look of confusion. Definitely felt like a manga heroine. She was ahead of everyone in terms of acting capability in this movie. She felt the most believable. There were tons of scenes with awkward interactions but for the most part Mei kept it grounded.

Now let's talk about the cinematography. It's very well done. The one thing about Japanese movies is when they do lighting well it has a totally different feel to western movies. The sense of a special moment or place in time getting captured in isolation was featured really well in this movie. The Christmas tree scene or the night time conversation between Mamura and Suzume come to mind.

I suppose this may also come from the manga panels framing key sequences to emphasize their importance and translating it over to live action. But there are some really pretty shots in this movie. It helps the movie's overall appeal since some of the relationships don't truly have good reasoning.

The music is very cute as well. I can't really remember much of the music but I can tell you it made me cheerful. The race theme was very dramatic though! And the ending theme is very bubbly.

I think if you are just looking for a nice movie to throw on, this would be a good candidate.

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One day under that brilliant dawn

When I was watching this show, all I could think of was "I wish I came across this show earlier in my life."

A story with a title like this, you expect to eyeroll at the contrivances and silly over the top melodrama. However this show felt different in what it was trying to get across.
The show wasn't so much about the love triangles and tension. It was more about the story of moving towards a path in life that you can be happy about.

When the story reached its finale points, I felt that I grew along side the characters. Each one felt like they overcame something large in their lives. Oto gained her independence and strength. Ren allowed himself to express his feelings. Rihoko allowed herself to be herself. Konatsu gained her confidence. Haruta gained self esteem. Asahi gained compassion and understanding. I really enjoyed each characters arc. I liked how each of them were allowed breathing room to expand their characters. No matter how they got there, their actions made more sense as the show went on.

I felt that the characterization was on point for the majority of the show. It's funny because I'm used to Kengo being a heel in his roles and was surprised to see him as a quiet reluctant man. But then the swerve hit and I was like "ahh there it is!" Arimura was my favourite part of the show. But I'm biased towards her. She tends to run a through a gamut of emotions in all her roles. I really liked her chemistry with the cast. Especially with Kengo, they had amazing body language chemistry. Kentarou felt a little scattered but when you start to realize his character's quirks, it makes it more reasonable.

Aoi felt really great in her portrayal of someone who judges others because of her own weaknesses. With Mitsuki, I loved how her character didn't become catty or violent. The fact that she settled into the chill friend was amazing. And finally Takahiro, he felt nuanced. At first I didn't really like him. As the show went on I stayed feeling really bad for him. Then I felt like he was being too uncaring but the I was back on his side later. It felt like a rollercoaster with his character. Special shout out to Issey playing the guy with a chip on his shoulder and Mei Nagano as a cute support.

Also just a mention about the show's great mirroring. There's a good amount of scenes mirroring how similar the stories of Oto and Ren are. From what they are doing when they are texting to how they perceive people. It really showed an unspoken bond between the characters. I also liked how paper played a role in emotional damage.

It was also kinda funny because I heard the piano score and recently came off of "Umi no Hajimari"only to say to myself "This sounds so similar... " only to find out its the same composer. So if you enjoyed that Soundtrack, it's more or less the same.

The cinematography was fine for what it was. I particularly enjoyed many of the overhead shots and nights capes. The opening moments of episode 1 was also an interesting way of introducing everyone. There's some lighting issues with the general Japan way of doing the blown out sunlit characters. Either the that, it was good. A good thing about the camera work was it was always sort of moving. It created an engaging flow. There some conversations hurt by the camera however jumping back and forth so much between characters.

Overall a really piercing watch. I think I cried every episode(The mom's note 😭). But a lot of things just hit so strongly. I think because the main core of the show is the struggle to make something of yourself. And that's something we all can relate to.


P. S that ending song is one of the sweetest songs I've heard. After you finish the series, watch the music video.

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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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A slowly placed uneven drama

The first thing to mention is the plot is a little strange. Is it common to come back to high school to help a old teacher with something in Japan? I know the schooling is very different in Japan and you have you have more obligations but the setup was a little random. I guess from a standpoint of helping out old friends it makes sense but then they added in the random swerve of Yuzuko's story!

I get that it's sort of a parallel to Kudo's story and showing what maybe would have happened to her if Hayama didn't take interest in her. But it's really just a plot device to move the story along. It felt really out of place. The pacing and plot lines shuffle a little bit too much in this story. Thus creating an uneven watching experience. Somethings happen at a snails pace. While others are in fast forwards like the relationship with Ono and Kudo.

Now there are some morality issues in this one. A teacher having a relationship with a high school student, despite things only becoming inappropriate after graduation. It's at first shown that Kudo is the unrequited love but then after the kiss scene all gloves are off.
Some may have issues with this romance situation. Especially during their final scenes together, we have a very emotional sex scene that is stark contrast to the other sex scene. This scene however directly comes after a scene with exposition that would make the sex between Hayama and Kudo controversial.

The movie skirts the line on morality a bunch with how these things play out. We don't need to necessarily feel like these are good decisions but they are there to inform us how these characters are themselves flawed.


And unfortunately the second relationship doesn't fair much better.

The main issue I have with this movie is the lack of chemistry. The two main leads Jun and Kasumi really don't have too much going for them. I didn't really feel like they had any sort of connection. Some actors just don't really get that spark together. They may have acted fine individually but I couldn't feel that rapport. The ending of the movie kinda proves this point that the love they shared was different but it surely will be controversial to a lot of people.

I've watched Kentarou and Kasumi in all their performances together in reverse order and this was by far their most physical but also most lacking in chemistry. But that's mainly due to the type of relationship they have in this. It's very unhealthy. I honestly wasn't expecting that sort of outcome. So I guess that's one positive to this story. That nothing ends positively lol.

The cinematography of the movie is fairly ok. There's a lot of rain shots and sometimes what I consider a few artsy shots. The movie has a fairly nostalgic tone over the film as well due to the flashbacks. There's also the classic blown out white light that's so common in Japanese media lol. The music is mostly nostalgic or sad piano.

Overall I'm not sure this is one worth watching personally.

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Please tell us something about yourself in 1 minute.

A frustrating watch to be honest. Not because of the movie itself. More so the themes behind the movie are so true and harsh.

The theme of this movie seems to be about how we are just expected to be someone as soon as we enter the job market in society. In Japan, it is a big deal to land a good job and if you do it must be with a company. Those jobs pretty much mean you are there for life. It's generally looked down upon taking up jobs that aren't with giant companies and leaving such jobs is also a very big faux pas. Therefor work culture in Japan can sometimes be toxic and leave many people in disarray during the job hunt.

We come across 5 individuals all looking for that release. When they will find the job that will make them a productive member of society. Each one has a goal in mind to find the job but they are extremely reluctant to do so. Many of them end up having to compromise in order not to feel failure. Failure is a large component of this movie. In fact the main Protagonist Takuto somewhat revels in it. And this is where the movie becomes extremely frustrating.

Takuto is always analyzing his peers and making his judgements on their decisions. His character is majorly flawed in that he has totally been crushed by the world and doesn't take responsibility for his own downfalls. This creates a large vacuum of despair within himself. It's as if his self loathing is projected onto his friends. We learn at the end about what he's really been thinking the entire movie and it's awful. As someone who has had issues in the past comparing themselves to others, I can understand where he's coming from. We attack because we lack awareness of our own vulnerabilities. It's one of the reasons it's hard to watch this for me. We know he knows that he isn't amounting to anything but he can't express it himself anymore.
A largely trapped feeling that dwells on past stories.

The other characters are parallels of this journey. Mizuki who has to grow up in order to protect her parents who she feels she owes. Kotaro the drive less musician who has to move on in order to survive. Despite this he continues to head toward a goal that seems almost implausible. Rica who wants to do good in the world and does everything she can to make herself heard. And finally Takayoshi who has already decided that the world is beneath him and he doesn't want to live in such a world that breaks someone's individuality. All of these characters represent many repressed feelings of youth who are growing up in such a society that values you more as a number then a person. The main cast all present themselves in a way that represents a role in Takuto's mind play. People who hide their insecurities and sadness behind walls. They are all equally disgraceful in his eyes. But we watch on as entertainment. So then the question the movie asks is how can we be so blind to these feelings?

Visually the film is well shot and there's some really good tight shots and the stage play shots are really inventive. A lot of the film focuses on subtle little cues. Like the shuffling of a phone or the eyes of Takuto making his analysis of his friends.Body language is also very telling in this story. There's a major difference in how let's say Kotaro, Takayoshi and Takuto present themselves. Takeru Satoh has this innate ability to portray a devilish quality behind his acting. It's kinda like that swarmy evil underbelly of someone . In this movie it makes him pretty unlikable as a character. Kasumi once again steals the show with her distant emotional breaks. I think she had the best scenes in the movie.

I would say this movie is ok to watch when you just maybe feel a little sad. It's mood is definitely subdued with it's warm intense lighting. It uses a lot of techniques that stage plays use I thought. So it has a lot of spotlights and colored lighting to convey tones.

Finally the film expresses the one true thing we all know. Twitter is a dumpster fire.

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Continue on

I want to say what a beautiful piece of media this is! A delicate story of life and balance. Despite what may happen in the story, the answer is always to move forward with a smile.

The actors have great chemistry. Kentarou and Kasumi lead the cast with their amazing body language and melancholic stares. These two are undeniably great together. If you have seen Sayonara no Tsuzuki, it's almost like watching a seemingly parallel relationship play out. Kasumi always has this expression I call the "Arimura stare." It's when she stares off to the side looking down as if she's looking through time and space.

A lot of things happen in this story to poor Toko. Arimura was the right choice in depicting such a flurry of emotional turmoil and strength. I tend to find she takes on roles a lot where her character is constantly being pulled in many directions, only for her to stand her ground and make her own decisions about what's best for her. That's why I'm so drawn to her roles. She expertly has honed this very specialized talent of the listless soul searching for meaning.

Kentarou plays his part with a gentle nature and ease. His outburst feel more emotional as his character is so reserved. I liked that about his acting. Whenever he was dealing with things, his body language would become awkward and stiff. Thus allowing him to fully express his inhibitions.

I was also enamoured with Kang Ji Young as Han. I loved her acting and smoothness. Each of her scenes felt really relaxed. The dynamic she had with both Toko and Kiyotaka was great!

Amane's part as Shinji was a little jarring at first as an insert rival but he came around. I think Shinji and Toko needed more interactions to make me understand the relationship better. Kiyotaka and Han felt more fleshed out and had better layers built upon it. So I didn't quite feel that much for Shinji. He was a plucky underdog that in the end lost but not forever. His tragedy seemed to be an amalgamation of trying to work your hardest but still losing in the end. Which I think is important in this particular story. He didn't get a fairytale ending. He hid things and lashed out due to all the stress. A trait that many in Japanese society can understand I'm sure.

I liked that this story started with tragedy and then ended with bittersweet ending. There's so many things that happen in this story that feels like a train wreck. It's almost just bad news after bad news that these poor people endure. But I appreciated that they handled each story well. I was not expecting the story to feature the Philippines. That segment took such a drastic turn of events!

Each story I felt had a important message about rebuilding and supporting each other through tough times. I think that's what made me really enjoy this story. Hardships we endure and the power to move forward is something that Japan heavily focuses on. It's a strength of Japanese media. Soshite ikiru is trying to tell us to not dwell on the negatives because we are still here in the end. Things may come and go but we can find happiness in how those hardships led us to the things we have now.

In the end we can always strive to move forward.

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Time and time again

Honestly it's hard to really say much about this movie.

At first it's ok and intriguing. Then as the movie progresses it just starts getting silly.
The acting by the young actors are great. The older adults come across as phoning in the roles honestly.

I didn't like Satoru's depth at all. His acting didn't seem believable and I just couldn't get behind how he was reacting to situations. Like when his mom was killed what sort of reaction was that?? Katagiri was also just kinda there and the ending had no impact due to their undefined relationship. There was not enough build to make it matter. They all felt too mellow in their scenes and it made the movie feel like nothing significant was happening.

I also don't understand how situations played out. We have an adult in a kid's body, yet his logic during key scenes was like not to speak up or defend himself. The acting of Kayo's parents also seemed to be so dissonant from the scenes. I don't know how to explain it. They weren't acting at the other actors, they were just playing out the scene if that makes sense.

The pacing and plot were ok for the most part but as everyone else said the last 20 mins is just absurd. Let's just go to a super high roof alone with the killer.

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We never should feel bad for a life we lived.

I fell in love with these characters over the course of this 10 episode series. Despite the main theme of the story being something that is brought up a ton in Japanese media, this story felt fresh and unique.

Having the story set up about the life of struggling comedians was a great idea. I loved Haruto's blunt nature, Shunta's infectious spirit and Junbei's unwavering quirkyness. Each of these characters felt so natural in their interactions with their banter being the highlight. Sometimes the dumb jokes were nonsensical but that's what makes this more believable. The fact that the jokes they had with each other didn't seem that funny to me spoke volumes about how realistic the friendship was. These are stupid little jokes only they would find hilarious. I really liked that aspect and was able to laugh along as they really made no sense to me. The sketches were beyond crazy. I had no idea what I was watching half the time lol. Make sure you stay until the end of the credits as they finish the sketches.I did find comfort in them just like how Rihoko did however.

Rihoko and Tsumugi had an important part to play as well. I resonated with both of their struggles as they hit really close to home. Rihoko is brilliantly acted by Arimura Kasumi and Tsumugi by Kotone Furukawa. I've seen these two together in so many shows now, it makes sense why they are paired together. They have wonderful chemistry. Rihoko probably has the most dramatic scenes in the series and steals the show whenever they pull one out. Tsumugi felt a little more one sided until they opened up about what her character was experiencing and it felt all too real. I thought her character had the most interesting reason for being the way she was. I will include Natsumi in this as well. Natsumi was a cutie, and I want all the best things for her. Her character motivations and demeanor were so wholesome. I really liked that there was practically no drama with her relationship with Everyone. I was half expecting a burst of emotion at the events but it was tempered with the story.

I also liked for the most part that the series is so light hearted despite such heavy subjects as suicide, life goals, mlms and failures. The themes resonate with anyone who are now in the midst of their adult years. I felt joy, sorrow and appreciation for how they depicted so many different subjects with pillowy tact. The show respects that things aren't really bad or good in all aspects and that was a core takeaway. We don't need to normalize taking the opposite route of everyone else is a bad thing. As long as we have faith in ourselves, it wasn't for nothing.

Sometimes it's ok to take the road less travelled if it means getting you closer to who you want to be.

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This is just all over the place

Quick preface by saying I have not read the manga.

I tried to give this movie the benefit of the doubt. Sometimes we can take movies at face value and just turn our brains off and enjoy, but this movie is messy in its execution.

The acting is all over the place. Momo the main character is carelessly thrown about with no real reason for character growth. Her goals and grievances are very haphazard. It doesn't help that her acting is not very believable. It's hard to root for her when you don't feel any sort of attachment. The crying scenes especially felt very off. Like the crying was good the emotion seemed misplaced if that makes sense?

The movie also seems to focus way more on Kairi then her. Kairi's story is decently ok but he is extremely irritating. His family acts so hilariously like typical drama family that none of it feels like it matters. The father especially feels like a completely different story is going on. Toji is extremely just there to be cool. And Sae is just a maniac with no good reason to actually hate Momo. I like both Mackenyu and Mei so it was disappointing seeing their characters so one sided. I also think the cast had really bad chemistry together. Every interaction felt extremely forced or awkward.

Each plot point just goes so quickly and there seems little build up to these characters. It's like they were just rushing to get to each plot point. Every new plot introduced just made it feel like this would of been better as series. There seems to to be a lot missing perhaps found in the manga. This hurt the pacing quite a bit as they tried to cram so much into the movie.

Not recommended at all.

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