Reviews

Realistic portrayal of two flawed people and their relationship

This review is conclusion of both the S1, S2 and the movie and haven't read the novel.
I remember watching S1 last year but I hated the series and thought Hira was very boring and a very unlikable character and hated him, and dropped the series. But suddenly I wanted to watch the series again after coming across good ratings for the series, and I now, I absolutely love HiraKiyoi.

The first 5 episodes of S1 are a bit unlikable mainly cuz Hira isn't such a likeable character and he might seem like a very creepy guy. Nd hein borderline is. But after you get to the 6th ep, you will begin to immerse yourself in the characters.
The writer of the novel did a great job in developing both of their characters. And If your open-minded, you would find the characters of both leads described in a very realistic way instead of identifying them with cliche character notions. The director and the actors too did a great job in portraying the characters with authenticity. It is not very easy to make a completely character based series.

Personally, it felt like both of them are real people and I was watching the portrayal of two real people and was travelling with them in the journey of their relationshipI would say their relationship both imperfect and perfect and bothe of them completely balance each other. Both of them are self aware as well as understand each other in and out. In the first season, it may seem like their relationship is toxic and both of the leads are toxic in their own way- Hira being obsessed with kiyou and Hira liking such a creepy person may seem unreasonable, and the way kiyoi was ordering around Hira might seem like bullying or taking advantage of Hira, but when you get to know Kiyoi's pov, everything made real sense.
I personally think Kiyoi doesn't understand Kiyoi as much as Kiyoi understands Hira, I would say Kiyou is a very mature guy, in the way he patiently handles Hira.
And as for Hira, one cannot judge a person based on his actions alone, if you are to understand Hira's pov and his wierd thought process, he actually does makes sense.
And I liked Hira's photography master, he understood about Hira apart from Kiyoi. He was a very sensible man.
Scenes I liked :
1. The confession scene in the 10th ep
2. And the last scene of S2, where kiyoi asks Hira about his hobbies to understand him better
3. The bathtub scene - Actually when Kiyoi tells Hira that he can kiss, I was expecting him to kiss on his lips, but the way kisses Kiyoi's hands made much sense and shows how hira values Kiyoi beyond his life. And the way Kiyoi turns away embarrassed, showed his emotional depth. The scene didn't seem like a normal kiss scene or a making out scene, it was much more than that, we get to see the deepest emotions of both the characters in this scene. I couldn't sense a bit of lust while watching all I could feel was deep emotional connect between the characters, vulnerability,love and desire to be there for eachother, cuz that was how perfect the execution was. Even though Hira just says Kiyoi is beautiful, it seems like he was telling Kiyoi much more than that which is hard to put into words. That scene was very beautifully executed, I could feel the emotions of both the characters. This is my favourite scene of all.
4. Their fight in the movie, when Hira tells his parents will never know if Kiyoi.
5. Anna's rain photoshoot
6. Kiyoi's photoshoot by Hira

I liked the opening and ending theme songs of S1.
Ps - Kiyoi is very handsome I would rewatch the series for him.
But apart from Kiyoi, I would definitely rewatch the series for their relationship growth, and character development. I might read the novel to understand their characters better
Actually, I am not that good in expression through words, but there's much more I feel for both of their characters. HiraKiyoi have grown in me as characters I would never forget.

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When the Hong Kong police force is faced with an undead drug trafficker, who are they going to call? Lam Ching Ying of course! Magic Cop aka Mr. Vampire 5 could be considered a fifth (unofficial?) installment of the franchise even though there were no hoppers in this one. DARN!

Police officers Lam and 2237 are faced with a bizarre drug mule when they stake out a bar. The problem? She was dead and deadly dangerous. Uncle Feng, a cop stuck out in the sticks is called in to help on the case by Capt. Ma, an old friend and police comrade. Lam doesn’t believe the woman was dead before she was killed (again) and works overtime to drive Feng away. Feng is a supernaturally talented Taoist and supernaturally stubborn. Before long he has used his skills to track down an evil Japanese sorceress and drug trafficker who uses animated corpses to do her bidding.

Lam Ching Ying cannot be beaten as a Taoist ghost and vampire buster. Nearly any scene with Feng and his wild eyebrows was a winner, whether he was taking on a bodybuilder corpse, ticked-off ghost, kung fu bodyguard, or sorceress who was nearly impervious to any assault. Lam also proved in his fight against Billy Chow he could still hold his own with fists and kicks. Nishiwaki Michiko as the sorceress could have used more scenes but nailed her magically bonkers role. The second half of the film was action packed with almost non-stop fights both kung fu and magical.

Where this film let me down was the first half, especially when it centered on the two officers played by Wilson Lam and Michael Miu. I didn’t find their humor funny and Officer Lam’s sexist slapping women on the butt made me hope he’d get eaten. There always seem to be inept sidekicks in these films and these two bordered on grating. They weren’t as bothersome in the last 45 minutes. Feng’s niece was inexplicably thrown into the story as a female presence for the two cops to fight over. Ick. And also for Feng to rescue.

Once the action, magical mirrors, and ropes took hold of the film, it was much more entertaining. The special effects were especially low budget, completely expected and part of the fun. I should be bored of the LCY formula, but I line up to watch him fight the undead every time. I just wish there had been some jiangshi/hopping vampires for him to tackle in this film. As always, rated on a curve against others in the genre/time period.

14 October 2025
Trigger warnings: There was a gross supernatural character for anyone squeamish. I hope there wasn’t but it sure looked like animal abuse of a cat. Officer Lam’s sexist swatting of women was never acceptable, but certainly not in 1990.

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Mad Max in Seoul: A Straightforward and Entertaining Ride

Badland Hunters is reminiscent of post-apocalyptic films we have come to love like Mad Max: Fury Road.
The film quickly sets the scene, providing key information about the world so it can swiftly move on to comedic interactions and action scenes.

Being centered around the importance of community, this film would benefit from further character development, as only surface-level information on the main characters is presented. While the action and thriller aspects are well executed, the narrative is tonally inconsistent; appearing uncertain whether leaning towards a comedy or a drama. A more focused approach to its overall tone would have improved the film's effectiveness.

Nevertheless, the various combat scenes sprinkled throughout the narrative and the sympathetic main characters helps to maintain the viewers' engagement. While the action and fight choreography take priority over character and world-building, diminishing its long-term appeal, this film still provides and interesting portrayal of a dystopian future, making for an entertaining watch.

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Mixed review

Flash review--

So apparently if you are a fan of the source material you have to hate this. But if you aren't then you may have fun.

THE GOOD

Pretty fun action

Some interesting setting/story stuff. Some very creative things, and calling it "scifi" or "superhero" doesn't seem to encompass that aspect well enough. Perhaps pushing into creating a new subgenre or at least some new ideas for scifi

Some of the emotional moments landed well. This actually is the big difference for me between it being bad and having been worth a watch.

THE BAD

Way too much CGI, and the CGI looks cheap. Regularly stuff doesn't even look like it belongs in the scene, it is more like its just animated on its own and laid on top of a background.

A lot of the action doesn't even make sense. Just punching stuff because its cool to watch bricks flying, without considering if the character has a reason to punch that. Maybe this aspect is "fun and cartoony" if you are just eating popcorn

Way too rushed. This is clearly an episodic plotline, with separate plot arcs that happen in each location, that should have been an 8 episode series, but just forced into a 2 hour runtime. We could have actually cared about these side characters a lot, but there isn't space to flesh them out enough

That forced pace was also costly when this includes a lot of unique setting things, and its all just kinda forced at you or mentioned in a gestural way without actually establishing anything. Without clarity about the "rules" of the setting, it is hard to feel like overcoming any conflict is "earned"

Yet another kdrama that thinks a bullying plotline is the greatest way to build a hero. But of course it doesn't even handle it well.

Oh and the final fight is corny as hell, empty calories of CGI fighting

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A must-watch concert movie if you are a fan of Arashi !

I truly enjoyed my time watching this concert of Arashi. Being a fan, the nostalgia factor was very strong and it moved me quite a bit ! They played most of their iconic songs and it was a real pleasure to see the japanese public singing along with the idols.

If the songs were great, the atmosphere and the view of this huge audience really impressive, I must admit that both costumes and dancing could be better. Most of the dance routine felt relatively easy and similar. It absolutely did not diminish my enthusiasm but I surprised myself several time watching the concert thinking that the moves were a bit repetitive. For costumes, I admit that it is much better than years and years ago, they are not doing as much bulky/box costumes with many layers...But still, some felt a bit plain or simply lacking a wow factor.

What remains a constant in the group and ultra visible through the screen is the friendship between the members, their charisma and their happiness to be there, performing all together. The way they adress the public : they still have the same manner and it made me slightly tear up to see how much fun they had. If dancing did not blow me away, singing was really good. Listening to Ohno and Nino singing, Jun and Aiba specific tones and Sho rap was great and brought me up many good memories.

I would obviously recommend this to people that are fan of Arashi. If you have seen some of their past concerts, you will for sure experience nostalgic and happy feelings, remembering the past. A really uplifting watch !

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Interesting concept that could have gone deeper

This thriller follow up the investigation process of Woo Sang, a popular online streamer, while he is gathering clues on unresolved murders and streaming it live for his audience. While focusing on the mystery, the scenario let the viewer see the behind the veil of the streamer life, the need for likes and the rush to get viral, stay on top, in a very competitive world.

While I liked the approach of the story and the way that it was filmed, I am a bit more doubtful on the substance of the story and the ending itself which felt abrupt and would have benefited from a longer epilogue. The morale of the outcome is left voluntarily ambiguous but I feel that there was a lot more that could have been exploited given the topic and its voyeuristic nature. It is quite a short movie but I feel the pacing could have been better as well and that some of the twists (if not all) were very predictable.

Casting-wise, Kang Ha Neul does a solid job. His character becoming more and more unhinged until a critical point was quite fascinating to watch. The remainder of the cast is good as well, without any weak link. Production-wise, the camera work was quite well done with the way it allows the viewer to feel like the direct audience of the stream. Whileit sometimes may feel a bit too neat and easy to be realistic live-stream but overall, it really does the trick in immersing the viewer into the "live" investigation.

I would recommend this to people looking for a different kind of thriller. The twists are not super astonishing but the way it is filmed, making the viewer follow a "live-stream" of an investigation is pretty interesting. In addition to a better pacing and a longer epilogue, I wish they would have gone deeper on the streaming topic and all its consequences. More than the mystery, this is the aspect I found the most fascinating with all its inherent psychological and social elements.

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Never watch this please

Fist of all i didnt even have high hopes, I watched the first hour thinking it will turn out OKAY the least. But it BROKE my expectations. (In a bad way ofcourse) Lets start it off with Bihyoung (my amazing dokkaebbi), they named him...phil... PHIL?? how did they get PHIL from bihyoung??? And wasnt it a GRASSHOPPER box that gilyoung had in the original storyline? They changed it to..ants. ive never been so disappointed by such a small detail. Anyways, gilyoung turned out to be so rude and mean, he qas the POLITEST kid in the book, like HELLO?? WHERE IS THE ACCURACY. Gilyoung asked dokja to apologize for killing his ANTS.
Like bish HE SAVED YOUR ASS?. And when dokja met Joonghyuk. He screamed. FREAKING SCREAMED?,???? WHY????????and second of all, 2 hours in the movie, the writer still didnt make an appearance , whyyyyyyyy the hell? dropped completely, i hate this, dont watch ts.

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What you can't see can't hurt you...

Komori Chiaki (Katahira Nagisa), a young freshman at Asuka Girls' High School and a promising tennis player, is accidentally hit in the eye by her coach, Hiroshi Imaoka (Yamamoto Shingo ), during practice. The diagnosis is grim: Chiaki risks blindness in her injured eye, which would mean the end of her sporting career.
However, Hiroshi learns through indirect channels that there is a surgeon capable of performing miraculous operations who works without a license, in exchange for generous payment.
His name is Black Jack! (a funny and amused Shishido Jo).
The surgery is successful and Chiaki seems to be able to return to her life before the accident; However, the girl begins to experience what appear to be visual hallucinations: On certain occasions, she claims to see an elegant-looking man (Minegishi Toru, excellent) standing in front of her, but the problem is that no one else seems to be able to see him.

Immediately following his delirious and acclaimed “House,” the great and prolific director Nobuhiko Obayashi embarks on this curious “The Visitor In The Eye,” a comic book-inspired work financed by the HoriPro agency. This company saw in the genius of the director from Onomichi (a prefecture near Hiroshima, central to the themes of his filmography), in his anarchic, completely unconventional talent, the possibility of riding the long wave and attempting to expand his audience of enthusiasts beyond the limits of arthouse cinema.

The movie is a very freely adapted version of a story from the epic manga series “Black Jack,” created by the God of Comics, Osamu Tezuka. Black Jack is a formidable surgeon who operates without a license. He appears cynical and disinterested, obsessed with money (hence his exorbitant fees), but in reality he has a heart that is much more sensitive to the weak and oppressed.

It is impossible to summarize it briefly, partly because in Tezuka's universe, much like that of his American counterpart Walt Disney (there are many comparisons between the two masters), his characters—both in comics and movies-often interact in the most diverse ways, even if only in brief appearances out of context.

A bizarre hybrid of genres, “The Visitor In The Eye” travels on several parallel tracks, with elements of crime, mystery, and even fantasy, with surreal and supernatural touches that evolve into a truly intense and passionate melodrama, almost like old-fashioned Hollywood. The dreamlike dimension, given the film's theme, reigns supreme, in a flood of uninterrupted references.

Free from any limiting formalism, Obayashi, like an abstract painter, throws all his cinematic passions into the mix, creating the ideal atmosphere for the development of the story: The picture is undoubtedly a feast for the eyes, with particular attention to detail, colorful sets, lighting, and a truly immersive use of music, especially thanks to the repeated main theme. There is no shortage of symbolism, such as the recurring reference to water, above all.

While Tezuka's original manga was necessarily condensed (it is, in fact, a rather short episode), ending up depicting what is, quite prosaically, an unhappy (and tragic) representation of the experience of first love, this cinematic variant develops with a broader scope, happily exploiting the theme of visual perception, and therefore also its relative ambiguity, filtered through the eye (the gaze) of Chiaki “inherited” from her “donor.”

It is a sort of “contamination of the gaze” that leads the audience to greater involvement, guided (or manipulated!?), but also to an attempt to confuse them in that blurred boundary between reality and appearance, or dream, perhaps even hallucinatory (in certain passages it seems like being on a psychedelic trip), as, for example, in the almost contemporary (it is from the year before) “Obsession” by Brian De Palma, a faithful disciple of the master of suspense Alfred Hitchcock (speaking of “dreamlike suggestions”...)

And Obayashi, with his lighting tricks, painted scenery, and theatrical effects so dear to him and typical of cartoons (the house on the hill is truly exceptional), first immerses everything in a burning red (the color of passion!) and then gradually slips into a foggy grayness that leads us to the climax of the story.

The past and present end up intertwining, between flashbacks and fantasies, accentuating the evocative power of the images and the imaginative strength of the movie... It may all be artificial, fictitious, or exaggerated, as some critics have often pointed out, but this aesthetic fascination achieves its purpose of engaging and entertaining viewers who are willing to accept Obayashi's rules of engagement.

However, the film suffers from a less than perfect casting choice. Despite the very pleasant presence of Shishido Jo, it must be said that Black Jack's characterization is not as predominant as one would expect. His role in the story is not that of the main character, but he still acts as the driving force behind the plot, first through the miraculous operation that rekindles Chiaki's hopes, and then with the clever investigative insights that unravel the complex tangle, incidentally using a trick that was also employed—curiously—by Italian master of horror Dario Argento in one of his early films.

Much more intriguing, however, is the character of Shiro Kazama (Minegishi Toru, with a look that says it all.…), who dominates the second half of the picture. He comes across almost as a dandy, a charming decadent artist who seems to have stepped out of certain Gothic melodramas of the 1940s, and his crescendo drives the action very well, while Chiaki's characterization appears quite conventional and, frankly, ends up being overly passive in her development, which is nonetheless central and would require greater psychological (as well as expressive) depth.

As befits the subject matter, Osamu Tezuka's microcosm is also well represented, with some amusing appearances (which are a bit like cameos) by some of his famous personages; attentive viewers are left with the pleasure of spotting the references (and the actors involved).

“The Visitor In The Eye” should certainly not be considered one of Obayashi's most representative films, but the overly negative reviews are frankly unfair. Upon its release, it appears to have been a box office flop, and perhaps with a shorter running length and greater attention to the supporting characters, who are a little too stereotypical, the movie would have benefite, but the picture remains a truly remarkable experiment, capable of recreating and conveying that comic book aesthetic typical of its time, still vintage and linked more to artisan talent than to the chillness of contemporary special effects (let us remember that Tezuka passed away prematurely in 1989), which are decidedly colder and more detached.

7 ½

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A parody of an assasin movie

Mantis is an assassin themed korean movie that is supposed to have lots of action and gripping story, but unfortunately it's not. A spin off of Kill Boksoon (which I didn't fancied as well), Mantis is nothing but a kind of parody to this genre.

The movie is full of clichés : a villain cast only for an evil face, slow motion walks and lame dialogues. Also, instead of focusing on the genre, it became a quest of unrequited love. The talent of main leads - Yim Si Wan and Park Gyu Young - were a total waste in the film.

The pacing is slow, the acting mediocre, and what is meant to be stylish ends up as pure posturing. In the end, Mantis is not a thriller about assassins — it’s a catalog of recycled Korean clichés, where real tension is replaced with scenes so ridiculous they feel like a sketch.

To summarise, just avoid watching this movie and watch any of the existing good Korean action movie that is already out there in OTTs.

My Rating : 1.5/5

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ok... i don’t think this deserves the hate it is getting

As a novel reader, I knew this would be vastly different from the webnovel and it should not be treated as an insult to the OG.

You all need to realize that a web novel and live action are two entirely different dishes. The author had the liberty of using many constellations that have some real influence in many cultures and pitted them against each other. There were even instances of turning an actual god into a despicable villain. There were also instances where they used actual historical figures who were part of the Japan vs Korea history (I am talking about Lee Ji Hye). A web novel can get away with all this because the target audience usually overlooks such things when they come across certain sections (I am from India, and the author just off'd a few Hindu gods). A webnovel doesn’t cause controversy at a large scale that would actually impact how it is received/rated/monetized.

Now think of a movie that you want to release worldwide with a star-studded cast, a predominantly CGI-based shoot. Imagine the millions that go into the pre-, during, and post-production. They would need to tread carefully with the historical and mythological figures; otherwise, it might just get banned or get embroiled in a controversy that derails its collections. I wasn’t surprised that they were just showing us the constellation of Jung Hui Won among so many constellations.

Coming to the point of being too fast-paced, it's a 1.5-hour movie, unlike LOTR. If you put too less chapters and focus primarily on character development, you would end the movie at the first station itself.

You need to first understand why such decisions were taken and then give reviews. Game of thrones would have got trash reviews if it were a 3 part movie. This is definitely not a sub 7 movie.

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Not true to the Original Story

There are definitely aspects of this movie that hold true to the original webtoon, however as you get further into the movie you can see where it starts to drift away or reduce parts of the original webtoon.
I actually believe this would have been more liked if the story was made into a kdrama instead of a kmovie. The original story is so complicated and detailed that the drag of a long kdrama would have given some justice than the fast pace of the movie in my opinion.
What really bothers me though is the CGI in this film. You can tell where they put the most effort and practically gave up with the other designs.
If you are going to watch this movie, watch without thinking about the webtoon or just read the webtoon because it is 100% more worth your time.

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