Reviews

Fun true love story, lighthearted warmhearted and uplifting

This is not one of those masterpiece movies, it is rather simple and lightweight, BUT it is also rather profound. Simple is beautiful :) The story is about true love - the dude does everything to help her, lets her go and lets her come to him on her own.

The plot is fun, the actions are righteous, and the resolutions lead to everyone growing up and changing for better... So, I say, this is one movie to watch.

The only problem with this movie is that the FL has done NOTHING for her character growth except to go away to fulfill her dreams and then come back to him. She is oblivious to everything that happened LOL
ML did all the work.... as usual in most kdramas :(
The second most of the emotional work and growing up was done by the "demon" LOL who luckily responded to all the work of the ML. FL's dad and sisters stayed consistently great.

As for technicalities:
Hm, FL lead got an acting award for her role here... "The 29th Chunsa International Film Festival was held on December 23. Lim Yoon A, who played the lead character Jung Seon Ji in the film Pretty Crazy, released this past August, received the Best Actress award for her movie role. "

I saw the FL aka this actress in question in King the Land and in Bon Apettit your Majesty and she acted THE SAME in both - exact same facial expressions and body language..... It was OK in Bon Apettit bc it fit the ML acting style and the two of them did some great comedy together. She has a talent for finding comedic moments.

But ... the point is, she acts the same every time.... And she acts that SAME as the Daytime FL in this movie too. The only difference is acting crazy at night. She did that part fine, but anyone can act that... acting crazy is easy.... and .. even some of those demon faces are repeats of her SAME "angry look" from all other dramas.
So ... why did she get the award... ? bc her dramas brought in a lot of money and had lots of viewers?

So that's why I gave 9.5 for acting. Bc FL is the same old repeated herself. I really dont see different characters when she acts.

The Dad - that famous actor - should get an award for his role, he is great...

ML in this movie is great and should get an award for acting too.

This is the first time ever I saw ML actor. I was pleasantly surprised.
ML is incredibly handsome! Esp since he doesnt look like a "plastic flower boy" but like a real person, he even has wrinkles from frowning, had real color in his face, clearly he was not indoors all the time, and he is a genuine healthy athlete, not just a couch potato lifting weights, and he has genuine black hair. So refreshing!

So many models taking up acting and being terrible at it.. like... ML in Would you Marry Me, etc etc etc. Many cannot even smile, or have artificial "gym" bodies, like ML in Dynamite Kiss... Many are so pale, it is clear they have not been outdoors forever, like... ML in The Real Has Come or ML in Spirit Fingers (at least they acted very well there, but a pale bloated face is just .. not a healthy sight.)

After writing this, I read the bio of ML actor and found that I was correct, he is a gold medal boxer. Ok, I got that! I am an athlete myself so I could tell he is an athlete and moves correctly from the core. All right, score in investigation, inspector megre!
But I know nothing about plastic surgeries.... so... am I correct that this is not (at least not big) plastic job? Maybe I can only detect only huge distorted plastic looks, like... Cher, mom of FL in Graceful Liar, etc.

In any case, ML is one handsome guy who looks like a real guy to me and is a real athlete, and also acts well. Wow refreshing!

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Ten dance? Tense dance.

A lavish banquet for the eyes, ears, touch, and senses—a fusion of light, melody, lines, color, and raw passion. 10Dance carries the searing heat of a Latin rhythm and the refined elegance of a Waltz’s fleeting touch, all layered over the underlying aches of possession, distance, and the icy chill of the Reaper.

It is no secret that the entire film revolves around a single central theme: the dance. The characters are dancers; the soundtrack is a medley of waltzes and Latin beats. Yet, dance here transcends its objective definition. We do not watch this as a documentary on technique, nor do we merely see two performers moving to a beat on stage. We see two people in love. A viewer might not grasp the mechanics of a routine, but they can feel the music and the movement, getting swept away in every sequence. It is simple, really: dance is the vessel for love. Like the interlacing of fingers, the sway of a hip, the drive of a step, or the locking of eyes, the dance pulls them into a world of passion and affection. Music becomes the catalyst that turns humans into a fuse, where skin-to-skin contact transcends to become the most primal of longings—a burning heat ready to consume these entranced dancers, even when they are performing a gentle waltz meant for the most refined gentlemen.

To be honest, I have always adored the metaphor of love as a dance. A performance requires two people, and within that space, they truly inhabit a world meant only for themselves. There might be couples crowding the stage, or just two souls dancing in a back alley; they might be under a blinding spotlight or shrouded in total darkness. Some dance with a partner; others embrace an imaginary silhouette to take their long, sweeping strides. To complete the dance, all one needs is emotion and the courage to follow the heartbeat. A dancer has the right to invite a partner, and the moment they extend a hand to take another’s—stepping together into the light—that is the moment most akin to love. It is an invitation: Step into my dance, and we shall move in rhythm until the music ends. Because, quite simply: love is an intertwining.

Sugiki and Suzuki are far from a conventional pair. One is the embodiment of Standard perfection; the other is the raw, sun-drenched fire of Latin dance. One moves by the book through rigorous discipline; the other dances like a sudden eruption of heat from a desert wasteland. It is as if while the Queen of England is being served Coronation Chicken, Castro is igniting a revolution in Cuba. The distance between an International Standard runner-up and a Japanese Latin champion is not just the distance between two sides of the globe—it is a spiritual chasm. And yet, ultimately, no heart can beat only as it wishes, no body can defy the music, and no soul can resist love. Just as the opulence of a royal coronation differs fundamentally from a revolution blooming in a colonized land, who is to say the frantic thrum in the chests of those two men is any different? At this point, these two strangers surrender their bodies to the heart's command, to the notes, and to the dance.

10Dance is beautiful because it cherishes the most exquisite aspects of being human: both carnal desire and deep emotion, the sensory vibrations existing in every muscle fiber, every sound heard, every touch felt, every gaze, and every breath. Love here doesn't just spring from sentiment and head straight for the soul; it is grounded in these very "human" facets. These two strangers are drawn to each other before they even realize it, and from start to finish, every opportunity for contact is placed on a high-tension wire, vibrating as if it might snap at any moment. That tension feels like an electric current charging the air between them; they are unconsciously pulled together, yet neither speaks of it. Indeed, neither Sugiki nor Suzuki says "I love you" even once. We only know their love through their eyes (often dark and searching in the dim light), their locked kisses, their gestures, and most explosively, through their dancing. The film offers no definitive conclusion to the feverish love hidden beneath the distance of these parallel universes—perhaps because the original manga is ongoing—but as a standalone piece, this open ending feels like the perfect answer. It is an invitation for an honorary dance, sweeping Sugiki and Suzuki into an embrace across every rhythm—noisy, melodic, vibrant, and intoxicated. Finally, they have truly merged. When the dance concludes with a fleeting kiss, their final words are a promise to meet again in a competition where both are at their best—loving the way they love, dancing as their bodies tell the story. They have found their own answer.

If forced to choose between the Latin and Standard styles, I find 10Dance leans slightly more toward the color of a Standard dance. The passion and noise of the Latin influence feel like blood pumping beneath a detached exterior—the silent suffering and yearning one often finds in a soft melody. Instead of letting the heart speak, the love in the film is expressed through high-wire nervous tension (sexual tension). The primal instincts of the Latin dance are guided by steps that are sophisticated, slow, and noble, carrying the manipulative and terrifying aura of a Reaper rather than a gentleman. The production is incredibly polished, making the film as poetic and artistic as intended: the fierce, wild fire of the Americas; the noble, romantic elegance of the West; and the reserved, thoughtful sentimentality of the East. Whoever conceived the idea of two dancers falling in love through the dance itself is, quite frankly, a genius.

While the film successfully stimulated my sensory nerves and left me in awe of its "purely cinematic" camera work—and while I was mesmerized by the acting (I sighed more than once at their expressions, especially Ryoma’s magnetic presence)—I still felt a slight void in the overall experience. Aesthetically, it is flawless; every frame could be a still photograph, rich in classical style. But emotionally, the fragility and lack of commitment in the relationship occasionally left me feeling restless. The dialogue requires too much "reading between the lines," creating a sense of ambiguity and drifting reminiscent of Hong Kong romance films—distinctive, but at times suffocating, because the viewer can never quite grasp the emotional current. Everything hangs in a state of tension that affects not just the characters, but the audience as well—a feeling of being adrift, unanchored, and fumbling in the dark. The lack of words equals a lack of communication; it seems the film cares less for that and more for how bodies speak. Yet, I still loved the narration and the characters' brief inner monologues. The actors’ eyes know how to tell a story, guiding the viewer so we aren't left lost for too long. The presence of refined language—saying only what is necessary and filtering the rest through a gaze—is an art form in itself.

In short, despite the occasional suffocating psychological tension, 10Dance is a complete, deeply aesthetic, and artistic work. It is slow yet seething, as if stepping right off the pages of a Japanese manga—lingering, nostalgic, and profoundly deep in both beauty and soul.

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Eating Disorders Aren't Funny

**This is just my opinion. I truly appreciate all of the hard work that went into the making of this drama. Thank you.**

I'm not a doctor and I obviously can't say for sure, but the female lead character, Lin Xiao Tong, played by Guan Xiao Tong, appears to have an eating disorder. We see her binge eating huge amounts of food repeatedly and hear her conversations with the male lead, Han Bin, played by Johnny Huang, in which he says that she is unable to control her appetite. They are her habitual behaviors, rather than a rare occurrence. She is deeply ashamed and embarrassed but unable to stop. These behaviors are symptoms of a binge eating disorder. I initially thought less of Han Bin as a friend for not recognizing this and getting her some help since he was her closest friend and her family hadn't stepped in. Then I did some googling online and saw that there is still a lot of stigma attached to eating disorders in China and not as many treatment options available. There also isn't as much education widely available to the public so he might not have recognized what was going on and thought that she just liked to eat. I had pretty severe anorexia when I was younger but it was helpful to know that I wasn't alone and that there were consequences if I kept going on that path. I think it's really important for everyone to know that they aren't the only ones dealing with a particular disorder and that there is help out there. Whether or not Lin Xiao has an eating disorder or is just overweight, I don't like the way that the movie portrays any of the women that are not the "perfect" size.

Most, if not all, of the comedy, was based around the Lin Xiao being "fat" at 80 kilos or 176 pounds (if I recall correctly), how much she could eat and what happened when she got big again. They tried to make her look unattractive when she was heavier. Her hair was unkempt and her clothing was really ugly. She was still pretty though. Unfortunately, they didn't give her a very good personality either. She was selfish, shallow, ungrateful and not a very good friend to Han Bin. She was there for him when they were kids but after gaining weight and being made fun of for a long time, all she seemed to think about was losing weight, becoming attractive and dating a hot celebrity.

I didn't care for the story. I thought that the "White Rabbit" and magic potion were silly. Honestly, the only thing that I liked about this drama is Han Bin. He was wonderful in many ways, even if he was weak and misguided.

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Watch this for MDL challenge. Let’s discuss movies…

The story revolves around Kasane Fuchi, a young woman who possesses extraordinary acting talent inherited from her late mother, the legendary stage actress Sukeyo Fuchi. Despite her natural gift, Kasane lives in isolation, burdened by a large, disfiguring scar on her face that has made her a constant target of bullying and rejection.

Before her mother died, she left Kasane a mysterious magical lipstick. When applied, it allows Kasane to swap faces with anyone she kisses for exactly 12 hours.

At her mother’s funeral, Kasane meets Kingo Habuta, a talent manager, a man who once once worked closely with Sukeyo and knows the dark secret behind the lipstick. Habuta introduces Kasane to Nina Tanzawa, a stunningly beautiful actress whose career has begun to stall due to her lack of genuine talent and passion for acting.

Behind her flawless image, Nina hides a serious condition often referred to as Sleeping Beauty Syndrome. She experiences sudden episodes of deep, prolonged sleep that can last for days or even weeks. During these episodes, Nina is completely incapacitated and unable to work. The illness is chronic and unpredictable, making it nearly impossible for her to maintain a stable career as a stage actress.

Habuta facilitates a secret deal between the two women. Nina keeps her illness hidden from the public and the theater industry—to protect her image as a rising star. Nina has the "beauty" (a flawless face) but lacks true talent and the physical stamina to perform consistently, she allows Kasane to use the magical lipstick to swap faces with her.

In exchange, Kasane steps into Nina’s life and performs on stage in her place—becoming the face of Nina Tanzawa, while Nina stays in the shadows, resting… or watching.
At first, the arrangement works flawlessly. “Nina” becomes a rising star in the theater world. But as success grows, so does resentment. The lines between identity, talent, and ownership begin to blur.

Kasane, long denied recognition, becomes addicted to the applause, the admiration, the feeling of being seen. For the first time, she’s celebrated—not for hiding, but for shining.

Meanwhile, Nina grows bitter. She watches from the sidelines as someone else lives her life, steals her glory, and does what she never could. She starts to feel empty—beautiful on the outside, but hollow inside. And worse—she resents Kasane, the “ugly girl” who now has everything she lost.

What starts as a practical arrangement soon blurs the line between beauty, identity, ambition, and self-worth.

So, how did this movie end…
Will the two women ever return to their own faces?
Or has the cost of ambition already sealed a far more tragic fate for them both?

This is an amazing movie that truly highlights a high-stakes psychological battle, where the line between the “real self” and the “mask” gradually blurs. It explores how obsession with beauty, talent, and recognition can distort identity and morality.

The way the movie ends strongly reflects Japan’s unique approach to tragedy and psychological storytelling—quiet, unsettling, and thought-provoking rather than comforting or neatly resolved.

If you’re bored with typical films that play it safe or follow predictable paths, this movie is definitely worth watching.

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Watch this for MDL challenge. Let’s discuss movies…

Have you ever lived with an incurable disease—one that makes you feel trapped and hopeless at the same time? This is the story of Ling Min (LM) and Lü Tu (LT).

Ling Min is a young woman suffering from end-stage kidney failure—uremia. She needs a transplant to survive. But with no matching donor in sight & time is running out.

Driven by desperation, she records a video proposing a “marriage deal”: she will marry and take care of a terminal patient’s family in exchange for receiving their kidney after they pass away. At first, she hesitates and doesn’t post the video.

But in a moment of despair, LM finally sends it to a group chat. Almost immediately, she regrets it and deletes the message—unaware that someone has already seen it. That someone is Lü Tu, a quirky and eccentric young man. LT seeks her out—not to judge, but to say: “I’ll take your deal.”

LM later meets LT to explain that the video was never meant seriously and that she doesn’t want marriage. However, for reasons of his own, LT keeps following her and insists on keeping the “deal” on the table.

At first, LM finds LT’s overly cheerful, carefree, and slightly strange personality annoying. But LT never leaves her side, no matter how difficult things become. So, slowly… something shifts.

Eventually, LT reveals that he has a terminal illness—a recurring brain tumor. Believing his condition to be hopeless, his reason for responding to LM’s video was simple: he wants to make sure his mother is taken care of after he’s gone. That’s why he answered her video.

As their bond deepens, LM discovers that LT is hiding something—something he hasn’t even told his own mother. A secret tied to his illness.

So now the question…
? Will LT and LM end up together—not just because of a deal, but because they truly love each other…
? What is the truth that LT is hiding about his condition…
? And in the end, will LM receive the kidney she needs to survive—whether from LT or from someone else…

That's pretty much the story without giving the spoiler. This movie gives us the check in reality for people who wait for help for their incurable disease. Quite worth watching…

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This movie is a lot to process

Before I get into anything else, I have to talk about the cinematography of this movie! The cinematography in this movie is what stood out the best to me. It was incredible! So many of the shots were really creative and I always love to see that! I was blown away by it.

Onto the plot and acting.
The acting was great. I loved seeing Park Hee-Soo because I didn't know he was even in this to be honest, so I was really happy to see him! I loved his character as well as An-Na's. I think they were both complex characters which was really nice.

The plot is...a lot to take in. It starts off as your typical survival disaster thriller, which I love, and that was really great. I liked that there were only a few minutes of calm before the disaster hit. No wasted time that way since it dove right in. Then comes the confusing parts of this movie. It drifts away from being a disaster flood film and is suddenly about how the population is close to gone and needs to be saved using technology.
I understand that all the looping were different outcomes of her trying and retrying the disaster to get a different answer. I also understand that she as well as Ja-In are already dead before the movie even started. I understand what's going on in this movie, but I'd be lying if I said I think it was executed perfectly. It wasn't badly executed but the way they did was also just very confusing as it was happening. After I finished it and sat with it for a few minutes, it was clearer but still not great.

Looking at other reviews, I see a lot of people are in the same boat of just being really confused with the movie overall. Whether it's because of all the loops and crazy plotline, or simply because they thought it was going to be a disaster movie and then it turned into something else seemingly out of nowhere. I appreciate that this movie took a different turn that your typical disaster movie, but I just don't know how well it played out. Maybe on a rewatch it would be easier to figure out, and notice details you can't the first time around.

Even after writing this, I'm unsure about my rating.

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Clever action, standard plot, fun, with a couple weaknesses.

As far as action goes, the action scenes in this are great and particularly clever with the use of spacial awareness in my opinion. Action may not be my main genre of viewing but I very much enjoyed all the action scenes here. The connections between the characters were nicely done and I am very much a fan of the main lead.

Visually the film was also strong, with pleasant cinematography and levels of detail, and good use of visual effects where relevant.

The other major strength is that this film can easily be watched without previous engagement in the Last Man series, as I had no idea there were previous entries. There is a very brief summation of things that sets the ground perfectly for those who know nothing, and could act as a refresher to those familiar with the previous film(s).

While having Rowoon around was fun and his performance was fine, he was not a plausible American agent (linguistically), neither were most of those playing American agents (linguistically). Why? Because while they had foreigners playing the foreign roles, they didn’t pay much attention to their English proficiency. Rowoon in particular was an odd choice because he has a heavy Korean accent when speaking Japanese, and that’s coming from a non-native speaker of Japanese. His English was also reasonable but not great, so him being an American agent that speaks Japanese was an odd choice.

The other nitpick I would have is the strange portrayal of blindness. While I have not seen other entries in the series, the implication is that Minami Hiromi has complete blindness, which is actually very rare and the actor’s eyes are not necessarily consistent with this. Otherwise, things to do with his blindness largely add up and I know this is a nitpick, but most blind people have *some* vision, just in extremely varied iterations. This however is not a main theme of the film, but I do appreciate good disability representation in dramas and films, hence this commentary.

Other than the questionable optics language wise, the entire film was an enjoyable blend of fun, action, human characters, and plot. If it looks interesting to you, absolutely give it a watch!

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This is one of those movies that leaves you feeling confused… and strangely affected at the same time.

This is a disaster drama that leans much more into symbolism and emotional chaos than into a logical, well-structured story. It’s less about understanding every detail and more about feeling the weight of the situation: fear, loss, helplessness, and survival. The flood itself feels almost like a metaphor for everything collapsing at once, externally and internally.

This isn’t an easy film to follow. The narrative feels fragmented, sometimes messy, and often unclear. A lot of things aren’t explained properly, and more than once I found myself lost, trying to understand what was happening and why. But the more I thought about it, the more it felt intentional.

Visually, the movie does a good job creating a heavy and oppressive atmosphere. The cinematography and sound design help sell that sense of panic and disorientation, even when the story doesn’t fully land. Some scenes are genuinely impactful, while others feel rushed or underdeveloped.

That said, this isn’t a movie for everyone. If you like clear explanations, strong narrative cohesion, and answers, this might be frustrating. For me, it was confusing, yes, but also oddly compelling. I didn’t fully understand it — and maybe that’s part of the experience.

Overall, The Great Flood is far from perfect, but it left an impression. It’s messy, symbolic, and emotionally heavy, and even though I felt a bit dumb watching it at times, I can’t say it didn’t make me feel something.

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12 mins of emotional chaos

this went from an acting interview to holding hands to dancing in the park to “never abandon me“ to walking alone in the rain to re-watching the interview video clip to tears and abandonment.
in some ways it’s well done. it says a lot in those 12 mins. and conveys a wide range of emotions in such a small time frame.
I did find the score to be a bit distracting, but I understand the use of the music to help carry the emotions through. I found in particular, the funeral music showed the depth of Jay’s heartbreak.
the note at the end to tell us what a rat imir turned out to be explained it all very neatly.

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I thought you folded cranes not eggs

This was such a cute story about high school romance! I loved all the characters from the main three to the rest of the friend group! I'm not going to lie I was a little sad when Cha Woo-Min's character ended up being the second love interest instead of the main one. I thought him and Shin Eun-Soo had great chemistry together. I personally thought they had more chemistry than the main two together. I was still really happy though with the main two ending up together because they were really sweet. I also didn't like how Se Ri made it seem like Hyeon didn't like her curly hair and weirdness and we saw that he did. Other than that, I really enjoyed it! Highly recommend!

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Let me make an exception this time and put my usual three questions at the beginning of the review:

Was the film good?
Yes, it was a coming-of-age film done with precision, and tied together local history of the place with a positive message.

Did I like it?
I don't get on with the performative SNS of the modern age, and that impacted my enjoyment massively. But I understand that this is my own problem. Now, some days after watching, I find that this *was* an outstanding fim.

Who would I recommend it to?
To people who like coming-of-age stories.



The thing is that I really struggled to get through the first half of this film. Modern socmed and their empty performativity, that is nothing I know or care about. So, to see Masao and his friends fake being handball players and fake caring about their hometown just for likes from people they don't even know, that felt strange to me. How can they love this kind of empty praise? How can they not feel ridiculous when they do this? On an intellectual level, I know that this must be addictive. but I don't (want to) understand.
I also did not understand Masao's gloom and doom attitude, when everybody else around him had already picked up the pieces after the devastation of the 2016 Yumamoto earthquake. On an intellectual level, I know that this film was done very well.
I could see the quality of the story telling and of the actors. I liked that the film was so grounded in the history of the 2016 earthquake and its aftermath (I'm reasonable sure that the places we saw are original locations, especially the temporary shelters). I liked the background characters, the grandpa with the wolly hat, Masao's brother and his girlfriend, Masao's parents -- all of whom were sweet people, who had no idea of what happened with Masao's "dutch ball" and the "SNS". I liked that the boys were realistically boys, not sanitized at all -- rough and hormonal but never mean.

I just wasn't able to bring up a shred of interest, but I know that this is solely my own problem, not a problem with the film itself.

Luckily, this changed in the second half. Or rather, about 35 minutes before the film ended. It was only then that the film showed us its core theme. And the theme surprised me in the best of ways. Earlier, a girl had asked Masao "What are you "striving" for?", and he didn't have an answer. And if the film had followed the usual path for a film like that, the boys would have banded together to win the nationals as underdogs, and would have worked hard and harder, with a lot of "ganbarimasu" -- and they would have beat the odds, or at least they would *almost* beat them etc. etc.
Thing is, this does not happen here. Not quite. Yes, the boys band together -- but they immediately quarrel about trivialities. Yes, they take part in the nationals -- but the focus is on the audience, who came to cheer them on, because, as two elderly people said in the beginning: "It feels good to cheer someone on." -- "Yes, instead of being the ones cheered on." And when Masao leaves for the game in the morning, he tells his mother: "I will have so much fun!"

And I think this is the core of the film.
"To "strive" to enjoy life." Don't live in gloom and doom, after something bad has happended. Live your life to the fullest, find joy in the trivialities. Do what you like, whether it's being a funeral dicrector (like Masao's brother), a hostess (like Masao's brother's girlfriend), or a handball player. Show the world that peace sign and smile into the camera, not for others to cheer you on, but for yourself.

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