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The drama tells us five different stories, that are nevertheless connected -- how exactly they are connected, is hinted at in episode two and four, and revealed in episode six. And while the reveal and the last story are fine, I love that each of the previous stories can also be watched as standalones: Fine love stories, tightly written, without filler but nevertheless giving us all the emotional connection we need -- which only proves my view that most Thai BLs are needlessy long.
The two main actors, who take on the main roles in every story, show their acting versatility: The characters are very different each story, not only in style but also in mannerisms, and if I hadn't known they are the same actors, I would have had difficulties recognizing them. Both are supported by a capable cast -- I was very happy to see Fiat Patchata again in this production.
I'll keep this review short, because anything more would be a spoiler. Just maybe this: While it's true that every meeting has a parting, it's also true that it's not over until it's over.
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Every meeting means there will be a parting
Time-travel stories are always tricky, especially if you have, like here, several "travels" back or forth in time. Not only needs the fictional world keep its own internal logic -- who knows what, what has influence on what and so on -- there's also the question of whether to explore "timelines" and "alternative realities" and all the technicalities that come with time travel. "Absolute Zero" does this relatively well, by making the time travel a magical one (implicating that there are unknown forces at work) and not attempting to explain how it all works. Some questions remain a bit unclear, especially the "Where did it all begin?" and why the third time someone travelled worked differently than the other two.But overall, the story is quite obviously not about the logistics, it's much more about meetings and partings, love and loss, and the hope to meet each other again.
The drama also caught one of my weaknesses: I love it when the same part of a story gets re-told from different perspectives or when it explores a "What if this one thing is changed?". "Absolute Zero" has both, so the cast and crew would have had to do a lot of things wrong for me to not like it.
I loved quite a few more aspects. What hooked me in the first episode was the use of colour and light; I also loved the sets which looked both cozy and down-to-earth. I liked that the story takes its time to explore the emotions, even if that made the pace quite slow. The pace and the way it is filmed, combined with the surprisingly high acting quality, took me in, and I cried with the characters when they cried, I hoped with them, I laughed with them. But really, there was a lot of crying -- in the end, "every meeting means there will be a parting" (paraphrased from the DVD shop grandfather).
One thing I wasn't so sure about right after watching, was whether I liked that it's not quite clear if this universe is a deterministic one, i.e. if everything is fixed and unchangeable. The first two thirds make it seem like it is -- but then, the ending seems to imply that it's not, that the writer wants us to know that with determination, we can change our fate. But it's also not made explicit, so maybe it was their fate to end up like they did?
After a night of sleeping over it, I now believe that it's a good thing -- that the author doesn't make a clear decision made me question my own stance on it. Would I like to think that these two men are "soulmates", destined to find and love each other no matter what? Do I want to think that the universe wanted to help them? Or do I want to believe that it was their own strong desire that overcame their pre-written destiny, that only with their sacrifices were they able to overcome their previous destiny?
I love it when a story can make me think.
That said, not everything was great. There are some (minor) aspects that could have been better, many of them would be major spoilers, but I can give you some non-spoilery examples:
* I think the drama could have been tightened up in places. Not by much -- because I do think that we needed the time to explore the characters and their dynamics, as well as their developing emotions -- but maybe by two or three episodes.
* I would have been nice to learn more about adult!Ongsa before the first time-travel. I think it would have made the diferences between teen!Ongas and adult!Ongsa clearer, as well as the difference between pre-story!Ongsa and post-story!Ongsa. This would have also had the effect to have more material for flashbacks, so it's even more obvious that Soon loves both the 18-year-old that Ongsa was and the adult Ongsa he will be in equal measures.
* More variety in the music and its use would have been good. I could predict when which kind of music (a capella, non-verbal vocalisations or instrumental) would be used down to the second. It was also always the same music. So, that got on my nerves by episode 9 or 10.
But these are really minor criticisms -- the drama did well in taking me through an emotional journey, and after finishing it, I felt both full and empty, which is one of the best outcomes for this kind of story.
Was it good?
It was, for the most part. The internal logic worked, and I liked that there were things left unanswered in the end. Actors were excellent in making me feel with their characters, which is essential for a character-driven story.
Did I like it?
Yes! I loved it, even with its flaws. It hit a favourite way of mine for story telling, so I am positively biased.
Who would I recommend it to?
To those who love soulmate fics, who love stories about yearning and the pain of loss. To those who can get on with slow-paced dramas.
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What I loved most:
... regarding the story:
* I loved the characters -- except for a few of them who were hopelessly inhuman in their emotions, all characters have strengths and weaknesses to them. These are not always explored into the minute details but very much obviously there. The characters feel like people.
* All fights for the truth, all struggles for justice are not 100% successful. This is not a fairy tale, where the good guys win and all the bad guys are punished. The system stays firmly in place. Maybe some have learned a lesson, but not all of them.
* And still, things are looking up, at least in the personal lives of the "good" side. There's hope, as long as we are living.
... regarding the technical side:
* The actors are amazing! Facial expressions, body language, all perfectly controlled -- especially hard for the more multi-faceted characters.
* Loved that we get to see the progress of time via the background nature. We start in the bleak winter days and end at early summer -- I wonder if this is accidental or if we may read it as metaphorical.
... regarding the rest:
* No romance! Always a plus for me. Yes, there are two or three scenes, in which there are interactions which could be seen as light flirting or something, and once some short and good-natured heckling, but all of them can be easily ignored and nothing is ever openly acknowledged.
* For a S.Korean crime drama, there are astonishingly few scenes of senseless or exaggerated violence. There is violence, of course, but it always serves the plot in its intensity.
Recommended!
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Light, soothing, slice-of-life
This is an absolute gem among family-themed series. It's feel-good, light and easy to watch on a hectic day with its short 15-minute episodes.Let me highlight some of the things I loved:
* I am most impressed by the child actors. It's no simple feat for a child to portray a character so consistently as they do.
* I love that the two families are not your picture-book families (Mum, dad and their two kids). One is a family of four boys, who live their lives without parents, the other consists of a divorced mother with her two kids who live with their grandfather. Both families are shown as full of love for one another, as they navigate typical problems with school, growing-up, parenting etc.
* While it might not be very common that four boys continue living with each other after their parents passed away, the difficulties in the drama are real-life problems that most of us have had at one time or another -- I think viewers of all ages can find something to relate to here. Problems are always resolved by good communication and assuming that the other person acted not out of malice but well-intentioned.
* While most of the episodes lean into a more comedic style, and there's plenty to laugh (with the characters, never at them) -- the loss of the brothers' parents is not once taken lightly. There were several scenes that made me cry.
* All of the recurring characters are fleshed out, with their own story to tell -- and they are accepted the way they are by the others.
In some episodes, you can clearly see the manga heritage -- there are a few that are more supernatural in nature, which some viewers might find jarring, and there are some episodes that are clearly over-the-top.
I admit, at first, I wasn't too enthused that this is another drama about four male characters -- but after a time I noticed that a) there are more than enough well-rounded female characters with their own story, b) with a girl in the family some dynamics would have changed, and not for the better, and c) it takes the opportunity to gently subvert gender tropes. The oldest brother takes on household chores (cooking, cleaning etc.) willingly, and does them really well without outside help, and the younger borther pitch in. Except for one instance, nobody doubts that a man can care for his younger siblings. The divorcee neighbour is a police officer and while she is at work, her father cares for the kids (and the youngest brother).
Overall, this is a gentle and soothing series, perfect to watch if you need something that makes you feel happy.
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This review may contain spoilers
I usually don't like cats. But the picture looked cute and the series is short, so I thought, why not?What I liked:
* I loved the male lead's acting -- his face was so expressive, and made his emotions, whether spoken or not, very clear to the audience, without being exaggerated.
* Loved the best friend and the editor -- they were supportive and gave some much needed comic relief at times.
* Bok Gil's voice acting was spot on.
* All of the actors were great, and they all did what they could with their roles.
* I also liked the general idea of the story -- a young, traumatized man who finds solace in his pet and during the development of the story the ability to move on. I also loved how during the first six episodes, everything seems to go wrong, and the male lead has to juggle all of these demands plus his worry about his cat. In this, the series is a wonderful slice of life drama. And for the most part, things fit well together -- with the exception of the female lead.
So, before I talk about her, let's count for a minute. When the traumatic event in male lead's life happens, he is a high school teenager, so between 16 and 18 years old. A year later, he finds Bok Gil and lives with her for seven years, until the present day. So, he is probably between 24 and 26 years old. He definitely has finished his university education. The female lead is, according to her, the same age as him.
And now to the "What I did not like" part of my review:
I think who ever wrote the script did not do well in writing the female lead's character.
In the first half, or rather, three-quarters, she is dramatically emotional, clinging to every cat she sees and bawling her heart out. She does not know boundaries, courteous distance or privacy but rather barges into the male lead's life, even though he tells her to stay away several times. This behaviour would have fit better with a teenager, not with a woman in her mid-twenties. If she had been a teenager, I would have liked that better than what we got. It would have fit the story better, and the writers would also not have forced another lukewarm heterosexual romance down our throats.
(They could have left out the romance aspect regardless, since it only played a minuscule role in the story. I really don't know why writers think their dramas must have a (het) romance.)
One explanation for her behaviour could be that she was so traumatized by her illness and the disappearance of her own cat at the same time, that she now acts that way. If so, the show should have gone deeper into her past, into her life and that could have given her a real character development. Instead, she mainly serves as the catalyst for the male lead's character development instead of getting her own character progression, which unfortunately happens all too often in all kinds of dramas.
All of this, plus the completely uneccessary love-triangle, made this drama hard to watch. The slice-of-life storyline was nice, and you'll probably enjoy the cat scenes, if you are seriously into cats.
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Mr. Nietzsche in the Convenience Store
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Most of the scenes are relatively unconnected, there's not much plot development (and certainly no character development), and apart from the last episode, most of the scenes could have been swapped around without any detriment to the whole.
These unconnected skits remind me of the best of British comedy of the 1960s to 1980s in the heritage of Monty Python. The absurdity rivals skits like "The Cheese Shop" or "The Dead Parrot". It certainly wouldn't have been out of place in shows like "Not the Nine o'clock News" or "Fry and Laurie", only that the humour is, of course not in the English style but very Japanese.
The characters -- obviously caricatures -- are excellently done by the actors, and, if all of them did not have the great comedic timing they have, I'd suspect a lot of ad-libbing, this feels just so fresh and spontaneous.
You might find it too weird if you're not much into the surreal and absurd side of life, but if you are, you should give this series a try!
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Kabe-Koji-Nekoyashiki-kun Desires to Be Recognized
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This review may contain spoilers
Don't let yourself be fooled by the comedy
This is one of the queerest BL dramas I've watched so far, a hilarious comedy with two people who find their way to self-acceptance. [more on that with spoilers below the ***.]The comedy is strong in this drama, so much so that I was completely thrown when things got much more serious near the end of episode 3 when I first watched it. It has the Japanese-typical style of acting for comedies, wonderful side characters, and a lot of funny moments. I love how they decided to put strong manga elements in -- like the onomatopoeic word like for the ringing clock, or certain style elements like the extended bellies after overeating. Also, though not part of the comedy side, I loved how the flashbacks are initiated by "opening" a manga-like panelled page.
All of the characters have their comedic moments -- best of them all is, the bearded beauty, who is just so kind-hearted that even Mamoru can't help but to like him.
The script and the directing is very tight -- there's not a second of irrelevance in this drama, it's either for a comedy element or for the plot development. I liked the use of light and darkness to accentuate the feelings of our protagonists. And the intro song has become one of my favourites!
Acting is great all around. Even after several rewatches, I've not found a flaw. Especially Issei's facial expressions are so spot-on,that I just looked at his face for a whole rewatch -- when does Issei use a fake smile, when a real one; when does he stop smiling, and does he look relaxed or menacing when he does that? Really, I've only seen one actor use smiles of a similar calibre, and that was in Beyond Evil.
***
And this is the spoilery part, but also where I explain why this drama goes much deeper than I thought at first:
Mamoru, who is our main character, has felt like an outcast since ... maybe forever. He is a gay man with a love of drawing gay erotic muscle doujin -- both things that define him and which he feels are to be ashamed of, to be hidden.
And which queer teenager hasn't at least once felt like that? (Well, minus the gay muscle doujin, perhaps.)
Only, for Mamoru, this feeling of being alone, of being someone with a shameful identity -- this feeling transforms his whole sense of self. Only during the ComiKing, where he can sell his work alongside same-minded people, and only when his work sells well, is this dark cloud lifted for a short time.
He is not able to understand that his family's indulgence is not indifference, that Yamada is not just someone who likes reading his doujin but also his friend, and he is not able to hear that Issei's "I like you" is not the same "like" as in "I like my fans".
It takes a journey through dark days for Mamoru to accept who he is and what he loves.
I love how this drama tackles how living in our world can impact the sense of self of queer people -- and that it shows us that maybe, if we dare to tell the world who we love, light will fill our life and we can find happiness.
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If you miss all of the old detective classics then give this one a try!
This is a classic Whodunnit crime drama, only that the Who is not the question, only the How.It has all the tropes:
* There is the eccentric genius (Enomoto), who is set apart from the world by mannerisms and interests. His personal life and background is mostly of no importance (and in this case, even a mystery),
* He has sidekicks who are mostly there to give a bit of comedy and occasionally provide some important clue
* It's case driven, not character-driven -- There's little to no character development. In fact, apart from some broad strokes, we don't know much ablout the three main characters.
* The cases are presented in episodic format, one case per episode, and in each episode there's the same clear structure.
* The way each scene is set up -- from the way Enomoto inspects the crime scenes to the spatial arrangement of the characters in key moments -- it all feels very old-school.
* And, last but not least, the background music. These new and fresh melodies are used in a classic way -- we hear the "he's thinking hard", the "the important clue is coming", the "this is the introductory scene", the "here comes the comedy part" in the respective scenes.
I am not able to explain this in detail, but it feels as if the writer and the director used these tropes very deliberately to create something new from the old. I welcomed these tropes as old friends in new clothes, rather than roll my eyes at them.
Seems boring? For case aficionados, it isn't.
The cases are, as usual sometimes a bit far-fetched, but always solidly built. If the viewer is paying attention, they can even spot the main clue or at least guess the outline of the solution. During the introductory scene, Enomoto usually gives a hint what to look out for (I only noticed that after eight episodes or so, which is a shame). Only in a few episodes there's a clue we only get told during the relevation scene.
The fresh air mostly comes from the main premise -- even though everything else is a classic "Whodunnit", it's about the "How" not the "Who". All of the cases are locked-room murders; Enomoto is a lock-smith, who is only interested in how the room can be "unlocked". As a consequence, we usually know who the culprit was very early.
Even though the characters are only painted in broad strokes, they don't come across as one-dimensional -- I felt that I knew them like new-ish colleagues, I know how they are at the work place and what to expect from them, and I know a few titbits about their private life. The script and the actors were very good at hinting at a backstory for the characters, implying that there has gone more than a few thoughts into the world-building here. This is enhanced by the excellent acting -- especially the minuscule shifts in Enomoto's face combined with his almost robotic bady language give him more depth than being just a puzzle-solver.
Overall, this is worth a watch, maybe even a second one after a few months to see if I can catch more hints and clues. I like the way the creators took the classic tropes of the detective genre and used them to their advantage to make something fresh.
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[Edit: I have since found out why: There is a special job called "food stylist". With the Japanese eye for details, it's no miracle that they excel at it! https://en.jff.jpf.go.jp/article/namiijima2021/]
Most of us probably know that bartender stereotype -- that you can come to him and tell him all your worries. In this series, this is exactly what happens in each episode: A customer finds their way into the little bar, and with the help of canned food, mixed drinks and the gentle smile of the bartender people tell their worries and find a way forward.
I loved the stories the customers brought into the bar, they were mainly real-life problems, that we as the audience might also have. These problems were not alway solved to perfection, but the customers always went home with a sense of hope for the future.
I also liked how the customers' stories tied into the lives of the three main protagonists and helped them find their own path forward.
Overall, the pacing is slow, which I found appropriate to the setting of a small bar. The set (which is almost only the bar and the street directly in front of it) fits the story, and the mood -- slightly run down, looking towards an end, but still lovingly maintained.
If you like something different, slow-paced and down-to-earth, with great food and drinks, then this is for you.
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This review may contain spoilers
tropes all around
Screenwriter: How many tropes would you like?Producer: YES.
This is a fun, tropey little love story, which has fast become one of my to-go-series if I need a pick-me-up.
What I liked:
* This drama makes heavy use of the one trope I can never get enough of: mutual pining with a side of miscommunication; while still keeping just to this side of frustrating.
* I loved watching the facial expressions of Kaneda -- he's so repressed, and when things overwhelm him, his emotions either explode out of him or he completely shuts down, which the actor portrays really well.
* Both Kaneda and Yanase try to respect the other's boundaries (or what they think the other's boundaries are). This is on one hand really nice to see: I really hate this trope of the pushy "top", who pressures his partner into things (and this is one of the things the drama does better than the oringinal manga). Yanase pulls back after that kiss in the first episode since he thinks "It's not like that", that probably Kaneda is straight and is not interested in anything sexual, he also pulls back any other kind of physical touch, since Kaneda very clearly said he does not want it.
* On the other hand, in later episodes, both believe that there are boundaries where there are none, adding to the miscommunication.
* The first half of the drama makes time for Kaneda's feelings to evolve from professional admiration to hero worship to something more balanced. At times it's a bit too subtle, but if you look at Kaneda's facial expressions and the way he talks to his Senpai, I think you can see it clearly.
* I also like these two last episodes (did I mention that I am a sucker for mutual pining?), I feel they make the relationship more balanced. Both have "leveled up" in their profession, and Kaneda does not only need any help anymore, he even has his own Kouhai! We finally get to see more of Yanase's feelings, and how he also has a hard time to express himself. Now it's him who speaks first, if a bit obliquely, of his feelings.
There are only two things that could have been better:
* Kaneda's hair really does not fit his face, a bit shorter or at least a bit darker would have been better.
* I would have loved to see more of how Yanase's feelings evolved, we only get to see glimpses, which is a bit unfortunate.
All in all, I love this drama, and can wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone who likes a bit of mutual pining!
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This review may contain spoilers
Very funny script, excellent comedic acting with impeccable timing and a serious message.
School meals are not just school meals.Eating is more than consuming nutrients.
Giving children food that will be good for them tomorrow, might not be the right thing for them today.
I love how teacher Amarida is so over-enthusiastic about his life passion -- and how nobody in the school bats an eye at his antics.
Ichihara Hayato's teacher is almost childlike in his joy about school meals. He dances in his seat in anticipation; his face, no, his *body* shows every emotion he feels while he's eating. Some call Ichihara's acting style pejoratively "over-acting" -- and if you do too, then you probably won't like this film much.
Like all of the great Japanese comedies, the film has an underlying message or two.
For the message Ichihara Hayato sees: "He loves what he loves and celebrates life no matter how much he's laughed at." (https://youtu.be/aOJa8KjDSA4?)
Maybe this film speaks to me more than to other people because I have been working in education in some way or other for the last 20 years, and I hear things that other people wouldn't. I hear a lot about what education should be.
If we take the "school meal" as the metaphor for the education we give to our children -- it's easy to see the parallels, right? -- they say "food for thought" in English and in German they say "das muss ich erst verdauen", if I get a hard/heavy piece of information, I'll have to digest it first.
We give the children "meals" that we think will be beneficial for them later -- which ingredients we choose, how we prepare them and how we present the meal, we should not only think of tomorrow's benefits but also if the children will even eat the meals joyfully. Why are the children who enter schools eager to learn at six years old -- why are most of those children apathetic to learning some years later? It's because we give children school "meals" that might be nutritious but don't give children joy when they consume them.
There was also a very poignant scene where a student tries to voice his opinion on the school meals in front of a whole room of powerful adults -- and not only do they not listen to him, they also laugh at him. The adult who are responsible for the children's well-being are not interested if the children are really happy. So, there's also this layer of meaning I can find in this comedy.
In conclusion, "School Meals Time Graduation" is what Japanese comedy can be when it's at its best -- very funny script, excellent comedic acting (if you like this style) with impeccable timing and a serious message.
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"The world is complicated and ambiguous. In this world, we mix and connect."
Have you ever looked at a Wimmelbilderbuch? These are books for children, where every page depicts a scene -- a market, a school, a street, a park -- with lots of people. You look at each person and discover a bit about them. Then you turn the page, and there's a new scene. Sometimes you'll meet some of the same people, and can continue their stories. Sometimes, there are new people. On some of these pages, the little people meet (or miss each other by seconds), which changes their course for the next pages. At the end, you close the book, but the stories about the people will never be finished.This show is much like that. We get to see episodes of the lives of several teenagers, glimpse into the wide universe of their thoughts and emotions, turn the page -- and someting new might happen. That something new is more often than not hilariously surreal in this show, but -- like in other Japanese Dramas -- deeper than it seems at first glance.
Release all your preconceptions about how dramas are supposed to work, and look closely.
Look at another person, really look beyond what's immediately visible; listen to them, and you may find that you are Captivated, by them.
"Even so, you'd throw yourself into the world, in secret, with all your might, in an ambiguous form, in a complicated straight line."
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This review may contain spoilers
This is so short, it was possible to watch it to the end, without getting too annoyed.What I liked:
* Jang Eui Soo's (Chef Choi) acting. He did what he could with his script.
* The waiter and the sous chef were not just there but had their own characteristics, at least as much as they could within the short time.
What I did not like:
* Almost everything else. Examples:
* Empty scenery: Empty restaurant, empty beach, empty luna park... Where are the people?
* Overexposure does not make scenes romantic if there are no feelings. Same with montage + music.
* I think the main problem is that the script was faster than my emotions while watching. We have the rivalry / antagonistic beaviour in the beginning, that's okay. But when chef Choi acts like an arse during the first meeting and is shown to be the one who will maybe end Chef Yoon's employment, we, as the audience, need something to empathize with Chef Choi. We did not actually get it. I still don't know why Chef Yoon would fall in love with him.
* I have no idea why Laura (the restaurant's owner) wants to get rid of Chef Yoon. She says she wants to expand (he doesn't) but he's the one whose dishes people like?
* There's not enough restaurant and kitchen scenes -- show us how they work together, how they get closer doing their work.
* If the restaurant's so busy that Laura wants to expand, why are there no customers, why do the two main leads have enough time to hang around beaches and amusement parks and so on?
Both the world building and the relationship building is severely lacking in this movie. If I can empathize with the waiter and the sous chef more than with the couple, then something is very, very wrong.
It wasn't bad enough to stop me watching, but there wasn't anything to like it either.
Not recommended.
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Making the world a better place by lovingly preparing one dish at a time.
There's not much plot, apart from the last two episodes. But that doesn't matter, it's just about people cooking, serving and eating different, mostly Japanese dishes.Really, if you're waiting for an explanation for why there's a connection between the worlds, or how the owner can buy things in our world with currency from the other world, you'll be disappointed.
The whole thing is a thinly disguised food appreciation show, with some loveable characters who do the appreciation.
I was reminded of Wakako Zake.
Bonus points for the German, the texts that were readable had actually decent German. (If I wanted to nitpick, I'd mention that the Fraktur font needs a "long s" at the beginning and in the middle of a syllable instead of the "round s" (only used at the end of a syllable), but I won't.)
The isekai the tavern connects to has elements of different centuries -- for example: references to a northern God whose name sounds a lot like "Oden" (early middle ages, maybe around 6th cent.) or the buildings in the town (late middle ages to early renaissance, so ca. 14th to 16th cent.) or the clothing (somewhere in the 17th and 18th cent.) or the mention of Kartoffeln as main staple of food (late 18th and 19th cent.) and the Fraktur font (mainly late 19th and early 20th cent.) -- so it's not medieval, but firmly in the realm of fantasy.
If you just want to see how some Japanese-style food can make a society a bit better, and want to relax watching people enjoy this food while bickering a bit, then this might be for you.
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This review may contain spoilers
The story, just like Death itself, is quite simple and could be told in a few sentences.What makes this movie amazing is how script, settings, nature, music and acting make a whole that is more than the sum of it parts.
The script itself - a journey to self-discovery, a story about leaving and letting go --has some rearkable lines that could sound cheesy but the way they are spoken, feel like profound truths of life. The acting makes as much use of silence as of speaking. The ritual of nokan has few words spoken, but the body language of the nokanshi and the bereaved speak volumes.
The music with it's leitmotif of "the Traveller" bridges the gap between what we see and what we feel.
And nature itself follows the flow of the story. The ending of the dream happens in late autumn, the winter storms accompany the lowest point of Daigo's lfe. Spring brings new hope and new life.
Similarly, the houses tell the stories of their owners: The bath house is run-down but lovingly maintained, Daigo's house where his mother lived is full of her own life and the memories of Daigo's father, and last but not least, the Nokanshi's living space is full of green and flourishing plants.
All of this is done with lovingly attention to detail: The ritual itself, of course. But have you seen that when Daigo washes the bath house owner's body -- the bowl Daigo uses is one of the bath house's?
When so much of the movie relies on silences, on the music and on the settings themselves -- what use is a review that uses the written word? Go, watch for yourself and feel what you see and hear.
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