Reviews

Excellent Storyline

As Long As We Both Shall Live (My Happy Marriage, 2023) was such a beautifully painful movie. Set in a world of arranged marriage, family cruelty, and hidden supernatural power, it gave far more emotion than I expected. Miyo Saimori, treated like nothing by her own family, is sent to marry Kiyoka Kudou, a man feared for his cold and ruthless reputation. What starts as fear slowly becomes one of the softest and most healing love stories.

What made this movie stand out for me was how quiet the love was. Kiyoka did not love Miyo with grand speeches, but with protection, patience, and respect—things she had never been given before. Watching Miyo slowly learn that she deserved kindness was honestly the most touching part. Their chemistry felt gentle and real, and both Ren Meguro and Mio Imada brought so much emotion to their roles.

The cinematography was stunning, with that soft historical fantasy atmosphere that made every scene feel like a painting. The mix of romance, pain, and supernatural family politics made the story even richer. Sometimes the final conflict felt a little rushed, but the emotional heart of the film never got lost. Reviewers also noted how the story blends abuse, manipulation, military intrigue, and slow-burn romance in a Meiji-era-inspired setting ().

This was not just a romance—it was a story about healing, dignity, and finally being loved the way you should have been all along. Sad, beautiful, and unforgettable.

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Desgarradora. Cruel. Como el ser humano.

Lo mejor de esta película es el control del ritmo, del momentum de la narrativa. No tanto la cara constante de Billkin con la boca medio abierta, pero sí su soberbia actuación. Hubo momentos en los que me habría encantado golpearle… a él y cada hombre de esa familia.

Hay varias escenas que me atormentarán durante mucho tiempo. Amah pidiendo a sus ancestros que se la lleven para no sufrir más. Amah diciendo que ya no le queda nada. Amah en la cama de esa residencia de mayores comunitaria. Amah sola, con su móvil y sus filtros.

Dios, esta película me ha roto un dique por dentro.

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Two Hits and a Miss

The large gap in quality between the segments makes it hard to provide an accurate overall rating for this anthology.

1. Interior Design (Michel Gondry): 4/5
Even though I had no clue where this story was headed, I felt like I was in good hands and I enjoyed the ride. It featured Gondry’s signature surrealist take on themes of alienation and personal purpose, and sparked an introspection that stuck with me after the segment was finished.

2. Merde (Leos Carax): 1/5
The "art" of this one probably went over my head. Between the unbearable main character and a plot that refused to make sense, the narrative was so unappealing that finishing this segment felt like a chore.

3. Shaking Tokyo (Bong Joon Ho): 4/5
Bong Joon Ho has dipped his toes into almost every genre, so I was excited to see his take on romance. As someone who isn't usually a fan of the genre, I appreciated how added a fantasy twist in this exploration of social isolation. The plot was engaging and the visuals were beautiful (some of which felt like visual ASMR designed specifically for A-type brains like mine). Much like Gondry’s piece, it left me reflecting on its themes even after it was over.

Overall: 3/5
Quality: 3/5
Enjoyment: 3/5

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A cathartic experience

A Gentle Breeze in the Village is a cathartic movie. I had no idea what this movie was about and walked into it blindly, but the moment I started, all the pent-up emotional stress just exhaled from my body. It was like a spiritual experience I go through with these types of Japanese movies, where my whole nervous system gets reset.

Plot**
The story revolves around a small group of students in a tiny coastal village where there are only six students in the entire school, ranging from first grade to eighth grade. Everything changes when a new student from Tokyo, named Soyo, joins the eighth grade.

The movie itself is not overly dramatic. The main focus is on the students, their lives, and the little hurdles they face while growing up. The film is divided into small chapters, each centered around a specific time, such as summer, school trips, and New Year festivals. It beautifully portrays their growth, the changes they experience, their adventures in finding love, and rediscovering the world outside, including their affection for their home, all while evoking feelings of nostalgia and the slow passage of time.

The pacing of the movie strikes a perfect balance; it’s not too slow but also not too fast. It encourages viewers to sit back and enjoy the beauty of everyday life in Japan.
The cinematography was stunning, capturing that sense of nostalgia, and evoking that desire to escape to rural Japan to embrace this simple living. The visuals are stunning, with great attention to nature; the greens and blues of the landscape, and a spacious composition around the subjects that allows for an appreciation of the setting. The houses, roads, and buildings blend so harmoniously that at times they resemble a beautiful painting. The editing is also very realistic with no use of heavy filters, maintains strong realistic feel, making you feel as if you are truly in the village, experiencing the warmth of the sun.

Throughout the film, I found myself completely relaxed and fully immersed in the experience. It was a beautiful reminder to appreciate a slower pace of life, free from the distractions of the modern world. The scenes are peaceful, without anything overly stimulating. Even when certain scenes are set in Tokyo, the camera primarily focuses on the characters, minimizing the chaotic background of the bustling city. This contrast is particularly evident when Soyo first arrives in Tokyo and finds herself in a crowded station, surrounded by people moving at a frantic pace, like a swarm of bees. That was the moment when I truly noticed the how incredbly peaceful the pace of the movie been and the contrast between the two settings..

Overall, **A Gentle Breeze in the Village** is an exquisite piece of art. If you enjoy watching slice-of-life stories set in Japan and seek a soulful experience, this movie is definitely for you.

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Actor is hot. Main idea is good. Subplot is boring.

Gotta admit I come here for the ML after watching "Perfect Crown". He’s still hot in this one, but in "Perfect Crown", he's hotter with that restrained, mysterious vibe.

The FL is good too. But honestly, neither of their roles is that demanding in terms of performance, so there isn’t much for them to really show. That also makes things less interesting. So it’s up to the story to be interesting, but...

Let me first say that I can see what the main plot is trying to do. It’s aiming at gender issues in Korea - things like homophobia and patriarchy - which are serious topics. So I do give them credit for that. There are also some moment that lands well at the right time, like the ML’s dance scene which I actually enjoy.

But the subplots, which probably take up around 75% of the movie, feel mundane, repetitive and nothing new. It’s just another retelling of familiar stories that once you’ve consumed enough media, it starts to feel dull. And it leads you to the point that you'd rather detach from it all rather than sit through it again.

So yeah, to sum it up: good actors, extra points for a hot ML and a meaningful intention behind the story. But overall, still quite boring. Definitely not something I’d want to spend money on or sit through for two hours in a theater.

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Note 1 :
If the full score is 10 - it's 5.5 from me.
But when the full score is 5 - it's 2.5 from me.
There's still much room for this movie.

Note 2 :
Someone on Douban said they liked the drama version more, so I gave it a try. But for me, the movie version is more engaging and easier to sit with.

𓂃 ✦ 𓂃

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stuck in self proof

Before commenting on my review, I should note that I watched Kill Boksoon first, so I was already familiar with the world this show created. Since Mantis is a sequel/spin-off, it wasn’t difficult for me to get into the story. Kill Boksoon mainly focused on the life of assassins — their training, missions, and how they deal with the aftermath of killing. It’s the type of story that requires audiences to be emotionally prepared for dark and intense themes. Because Kill Boksoon focused heavily on action and fight scenes, I was curious about what direction Mantis would take.

After finishing it, I think it makes sense that the show focused more on the emotional side of being a killer rather than only the action. The story explores the characters’ emotional struggles and insecurities, which I know some audiences may find difficult to connect with. Personally, though, I really liked this aspect because it allowed me to understand the complexity of the characters’ inner feelings instead of only seeing their surface-level motivations and performances.

One of the most interesting parts of the story is how Dok Go projects his own emotional insecurity onto Jae Yi. This becomes the main reason Jae Yi traps herself in the mindset that she will never be as good as Mantis. What makes this even more tragic is that this belief is not originally Dok Go’s own idea — it comes from MK. Dok Go admires MK so much that he accepts his opinion without questioning it. Because he sees similarities between himself and Jae Yi, he ends up passing that insecurity onto her as well.

Even though Jae Yi clearly defeated Mantis during their match, the seniors still believed she would lose if they used real blades. They underestimated her ability and made assumptions without giving her a fair chance. Dok Go later repeats the same behavior. Even when Jae Yi requests a real blade fight, he refuses because he has already convinced himself of the outcome. The sad part is that Jae Yi would rather accept an honest defeat than live with people assuming she would lose. This becomes the reason she constantly feels the need to prove herself until she finally kills Dok Go.

Mantis also suffers emotionally. He feels guilty for being chosen while Jae Yi was rejected, even though she won. He never truly understands why the seniors made that decision. Because of this guilt, he spends his life trying to protect and support her, often holding himself back because he is afraid of hurting her feelings. Ironically, this is not what Jae Yi actually wants. If Mantis had defeated her fairly, she probably would have accepted the result and worked harder to improve openly instead of becoming trapped in a cycle of proving herself.

In the end, both Mantis and Jae Yi are victims of the emotional pressure created by the older generation. Jae Yi desperately wants to prove she deserved to be chosen, while Mantis keeps trying to support her in ways that unintentionally make her pain worse. This emotional complexity is what made the show so appealing to me.

That said, I still wish the series had given Jae Yi and Mantis more memorable fight scenes because their emotional conflict was strong enough to deserve even bigger action moments.

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A Story That Barely Moves

Impossible to Imagine is the story of a woman who has contentedly painted herself into a corner in her life. She's running a business that has been handed down from generation to generation within her family and is on the verge of becoming obsolete due to the cultural and demographic changes in Kyoto. At the recommendation of a friend, she hires a business consultant to try and salvage the family business. He is half Japanese and half Australian and immediately offends her with his openness and willingness to examine what might be going wrong with her business. FL is a rigid traditionalist from the very first scene and to think of doing anything differently than she's always done it is offensive to her. But her desperation drives her to invite him back and continue to work with him. He offers some very workable solutions and she begins to cater to a more foreign born customer base. He serves as translator and emotional support when it's all too much for her, but he also creates the occasional problem by handling conflict in ways the locals find unacceptable. Despite this, they work well together and form an attachment that works for a while.
Eventually, his need to look to the future and to make changes and explore begins to feel like a constant threat to her need for everything to remain the same. The movie finishes with her and her father continuing to run the business with the added changes, but she breaks things off with the ML. Her complaint when they were together was that he wanted change to happen too fast. My complaint after watching the movie is that the character development was infinitesimal and story arc was pea sized. Maybe that was the director's point, to explore the cultural resistance to change that some areas in Japan are internally battling with, but man oh man, I wish there had been a more fruitful exploration. Imagine if the characters had learned that fear is the root of rigidity and that creativity can be employed to both preserve the loveliness of unique cultural expression and develop plans for adaptation to changing cultural tides. Imagine if she had taken the hand that offered to help her out of the corner she was painted into. Ugh. She denied the call to adventure and chose the safe and predictable option.
All that to say, the actors did well. They seemed like regular people that might actually exist. The technical side of the film was fairly amateur, but it didn't intrude into the story.

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there are two different endings for this one

Overall: I took into consideration that this was made in 2016 and from China. No official platform. There are two endings and you can probably guess how each will end. Note the movie and my review might have triggering content.

Content Warnings: intimate partner violence, choking, beginning sexual assault (touching), violence, blood, manipulation, slap, non con kiss turned consensual, homophobia

What I Liked
- there were actual apologies that a character meant, he had character growth and I believe they will live happily
- domestic bliss montage
- bed scene

Room For Improvement
- that slap was not needed
- love triangle
- don't understand what was with the fiancee thing

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servant/master dynamic, there is a second part

Overall: this review takes into consideration it aired in 2016 and is from China. It is also called "Uncontrolled Love". Available on iQIYI https://www.iq.com/play/uncontrolled-love-secret-of-the-valet-2016-19rrlkp87k?lang=en_us Note the movie and my review might have triggering content.

Content Warnings: non con touching, homophobia, (towards the end: beaten up/held against will, blood, attempted gang rape (not with the MLs), choking, self harm)

What I Liked
- acting
- coherent story
- music

Room For Improvement
- cliche wannabe girlfriend/wife
- the ML is controlling/abusive towards the other ML; however, I think he does have character growth in the second part

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