Old_Anime_Lady

Shota Matsuda and Kuroki Meisa back in the day this romance story is sweet with out a lot of hard drama.  Drama exists just not joltingly like Hana Yori Dango or Itazura Na Kiss.  I still like it and I happy I watched it.  Not sure I would re-watch it as it was a very light story, almost Hallmark story-ish.  I am trying to not say anything bad cause it wasn't it was more good than bad. CUTE thats the word it was CUTE. Quaint would be another. Make sure to watch until the very end for a snippet with the actors on the beach.

this is just my opinion, yours may differ

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REVENGE!

REVENGE! that is the theme of this drama, so watch as karma removes bad people in the way of revenge, but do not look for a strong plot outside of REVENGE! cause there isn't any. Not super memorable out of any of the other female revenge killer movies. This is supposed to be the inspiration for the Kill Bill movies.

This is like a super hero origin story. "Born in dark prison, father unknown, her destiny to carry out her mothers revenge for the death of her husband and son" . (Make sure to say that previous line with movie trailer voice over). She is then sent to train with JiJi hard-ass, master of making little girls stay in moving barrels. The Deaths are super hilariously over acted. Like VERY BAD. The blood color and thickness off even for the 70's.

Watch it if you liked Kill Bill or you crave ladies with Katanas and lotsa fake blood.

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Revenge At ALL Cost

I have not seen the anime but by the previous review I need to.

The story revolves around revenge which starts out with the scarring of a woman's face. The MOST HEINOUS crime of all of Asian culture. Her attacker provokes her by saying she deserves to live the scars cause she will always think of him when she sees them. She will get revenge in exchange for her own soul going to the same place she is sending his.

Thus begins the never ending cycle of revenge Japan loves to showcase. "When seeking revenge, dig 2 graves".
There was no lead time between each incident, thus it felt cramped and hindered by the short time span of the movie. I had no context who the four harbingers were that accompanied lady death. Its Time passer, but only if nothing else is available.

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I am huge fan of Kung Fu movies (any martial arts for that matter) and in the early eighties devoured tons and tons of badly dubbed ones. This movies reminded me of all that and more. My dvd is currently on loan to someone because we love to share and discuss with our friends.

I watched this with out watching Dragon Inn first and was able to follow the plot line relatively easily. If you are looking for a serious movie this isn't for you. if you like well choreographed, slightly plausible fight scenes tied together with an okay premise, watch this and enjoy. It is actually one of my favorite action movies out there ..It does have Donnie Yen in it after all.

Also don't be decieved by dvd titles I had this review on the wrong title for 3 years until someone pointed it out be cause the Dvd was title "The new Flying sword at dragon gate inn"

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Ghengis Khan with the Edged Smoothed Down

This is a romanticized version of the historical figure that started out as Temujin and became Gengis Kahn. This is the story of him uniting the Mongol Tribes into a cohesive war machine, that we now know took over 90 % of Asia. The movie comes across as a "best of " reel of Temujin's life. Also the battle scenes were a side note but the individual stunts were very well done.

The acting is really good with all the mains pulling their weight to bring these historical figures to life. For those familiar with his story this story includes most of the important people around him, that a lot of other version leave out.

Overall this gets an 8 from me and hubby for including everyone, but not higher for defanging the wolf.

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First of all rating : I give this a 10. The Main Characters, if not the cast are all under 20 years old. Forced to live in this city after a meteor hit and all the adults started dying off. They are quarantined by the government, who is covering up why the city is walled off to the rest of Japan.

While it has "Lord of the Flies" elements, the violence never gets too out of hand with only one child deciding to take the easy way out rather than endure (trying not to spoiler or trigger with that sentence).

The acting was phenomenal in this, age not withstanding. The commentary on the Japanese society (at the time this was made) that once you hit 20 you are dead anyway, becoming a wage slave and heartless only following orders is poignant.

The Music: Aisareru yori Aishitai by KinKi Kids was so upbeat in contrast to what the drama was showing it stood out.https://videa.hu/videok/zene/bokura-no-yuki-opening-3YVscemiW9RbpCiz

Would I rewatch this? To share yes. And that makes it a 10 in my book.

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History and the regular people who lived during significant eras is a hobby of mine. This is great slice of life drama Special that doesn't harp on the horrors of war nor does it glide over it. The facts are what they are. This is a story of the descendants of survivors finding their story.

What is great is that it is not heavy handed with blame or propaganda, it is just living and surviving. It covers topics such as Survivor's Guilt and PTSD and Atomic Bomb Disease (aka radiation poisoning). It also covers that is okay to be happy even if terrible things have happened.

Re-watch value low because I know the story.

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I started watching this to see more of Aiba Masaki's acting credentials.  I liked the story and there were no drag times as there are only eight episodes to tell the story.  If you watch this be prepared to watch bartenders making at least two drinks an episode if not more.  Romance, a hint of it, but that is all,  as if there had been more episodes the friendship would have become more.  

Over all the story telling was good, there are some big names in this that you should recognized the second they come on screen.  

I enjoyed it and I hope you do too.

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I write this from the point of a genealogist, which happens to be my second job.  Any time I research any person from any war my heart cries, they are more than dates and places to me.  This movie effected the same emotions in me, it made them especially difficult to reign in due the age of the squad involved.  I made comparisons like, 1868 is just after the American Civil War, where children were also fighting for which ever ideal they upheld.

It portrayed well every angle of war, not just the men's, not just the women left behind, and while it is told from the Aizu point of view, you still see all sides.  The beginning was slow as the set up for the war had to be done to put the rest into context.  The modern framework seemed tacked on, but I guess it is necessary to relate to people 140 years after the incident,

I do not seek out any war movies, due to how they effect me, but I watch this to complete my Yamapi watch list.  I do not think I will ever watch it again, but it is now in my memory and I learned yet another important part of Japanese history.

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I never read a synopsis before I watch a drama I watching just for the actor/idol, because then I second guess watching it like I did with Flowers for Algernon. (that was a big mistake because it rocks).  So that being said I had no idea what type of drama I was getting into with this and after seeing Aiba in Kizoku Tantei I was hesitant to dive into another of his dramas.

This drama was no disappointment at all, it is a believable slice of life drama of single father-hood in Japan.  The child actress was very good and did her part excellently.  There is an unconventional love story here which I will not spoil but I promise you it is there.  The actors did their part of making you believe they are father and daughter, and I totally agree that this drama is totally under rated.  It should be on more peoples favorites list.  And to top it off Episode 10 has a guest cameo of another Arashi member.  

Now off to watch another drama.....

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I was able to avoid having to read this in high school but I did know it by reputation and really wasn't interested in it.  But being the completionist that I am I wanted to bring my Yamapi watched list to current.  I am now sorry I waited as long as I did to see it because Yamashita Tomohisa totally owned the main part in this.  His mannerisms in the beginning are spot on, we have a friend of the family who is autistic and I recognized the signs. As the story and the character changed so did the acting and you believed it.

Yamapi has been criticized in the past for his "wooden acting" but this work just blew it out of the water.

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This hasn't been reviewed yet so I am going to put my 2 cents up .

This movie if you google it will have rave reviews on how awesome the battles were. But that's pretty much all there was. It made me want to pull out my Ikusa board game and stop watching the film.

Yae who was on screen all of about 10 minutes total over 3 scenes was cool. She was a warrior beside her samurai lover, not kept back home.

If you enjoy large fights showing the strategic movements of large battles, you may enjoy this. I on the other hand started to pay attention to they way they treated the servants (nice touch by the way.) For example making the guy who tends you horse stand in the pouring rain while you sit inside conversing with your vassal.

I saw the movie in 2 parts and when part 1 ended, I wound up on twitter instead of jumping into part 2, That's how exciting i found this movie.

My husband might actually love it, but I was bored to death.

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