Reviews

Yasuko and the men she loved.

Inspired by the story of actress Hasegawa Yasuko and her time with the famous poet Nakahara Chuya and prominent literary critic Kobayashi Hideo. The movie transports us to early showa and tells us the complicated story of the bond between Yasuko, Nakahara, and Kobayashi.

Starting with the 20 year old Yasuko and 17 year old Nakahara, both spending their youthful days struggling in their craft as they carry a heavy sadness from their childhood. They are eventually drawn by each others' impulsiveness and start living together.

As Nakahara continue to pursue his literary career, they move to Tokyo and there Yasuko and Kobayashi meet through Nakahara himself. Kobayashi was captivated by Yasuko's beauty although his interest on Yasuko started because of his complicated admiration towards the genius Nakahara.

In the movie you could see how Yasuko uses a red umbrella at first which was handed by Nakahara. Further, the two enjoys a persimmon fruit. The flawless persimmon symbolizes the prosperity of each other when they were together—Nakahara recognized as a genius by his colleagues and Yasuko finally getting relevant roles as an actress. They seem to not struggle financially at all. However, the red umbrella symbolizes the intense and turbulent relationship between the two. Nakahara loves Yasuko but he is often immersed in his poems. They always quarrel and turn violent with each other. Nevertheless, he shows his appreciation of her through little things like praising her food despite it being actually bland. Nakahara could also easily match Yasuko's youthful playfulness as shown in the scene where the three dances together.

The shift of Yasuko's love for Nakahara to Kobayashi was marked by the bruised green apple eaten by Kobayashi. Eventually in the scene where the two decides to be together, Kobayashi hands a white umbrella to Yasuko. These two also symbolizes their relationship and life together. The bruised green apple is akin to how the two started to struggle individually when they started living together. Yasuko drowning in her love for Kobayashi, halts her career as an actress and spends her days at home waiting for Kobayashi to come home. Kobayashi on the other hand, struggles to make ends meet as he starts pampering Yasuko too much. Opposite to Nakahara he recognizes that Yasuko can't cook and so they either eat take outs or he cooks for the two of them. Like the bruised apple, they are slowly rotting each other as they spend more time together. On the other hand, the white umbrella can be compared to their relationship. A love that seem calm and clear. However, they could only love each others' good sides.

It is arguable if Yasuko did love the two and vis-a-vis or are these three just dependent on one another. Kobayashi compares him and Nakahara to be Yasuko's crutches—she needed two of them to walk—and removing one will break her balance but removing both would make her strive to walk by herself.

Ultimately, the movie is a visual feast; Hirose Suzu dawning all sorts of costume and really bringing us the undeniable charm of Yasuko; the passage of time clearly depicted by the changing of sceneries through the seasons; numerous center shots; and that showa era yellow lights.

The main cast delivered well as expected of two seasoned movie leads and a promising rising actor. They even got the talented Emoto Tasuku for a very short part of a man who isn't even named. The director usually has famous actors for his movies so this isn't surprising.

The flow of the story on the other hand is a bit inconsistent. It starts with Yasuko clearly being the main lead, the focus was on her. However, as Kobayashi enters the picture, the focus shifts on the complicated relationship of the three. The time skips also sometimes feel too huge. The ending also felt a bit flat and somewhat makes the movie more of a tribute to Nakahara because of how it started with Yasuko meeting him and ended with Yasuko saying goodbye to him in his funeral.

I think the material is good. Although, there aren't that much source of what really transpired between the three, the only fact is that Yasuko was with Nakahara and she eventually left him for Kobayashi but the relationship also did not last. This lack of details in the material may have made it hard to make a cohesive story. They were grasping at Nakahara's favourite poems to find clues about his relationship with Yasuko. However, they made Yasuko the lead and the story isn't told on the point of view of Nakahara so it felt weird with all the poems inserted in the story. The poems may have made more sense if the story was told on the point of view of Nakahara. I would love this to be about Yasuko as told by Nakahara through poems.

Nevertheless, this is a good watch. I liked the dynamics between the three. There are scenes I really loved and overall I enjoyed this.

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They not only combined two different fighting styles...

they also combined two different movies into one.

Here's the thing: was it entertaining? Yes. Was it good? Ehh. I like both ideas of the plot they tried to fit into one, but you just cannot make it happen in one hour and thirty minutes. "Underdeveloped" was the theme.

Let's start with the story the synopsis describes, the ultimate fan service. The second half is THE Karate Kid movie you are expecting to see. Li Fong being trained by Mr. Han and Daniel LaRusso in a painful, but entertaining fashion. All to get him ready so he can defeat "the bully". The core of the franchise is to never give up, always get back up and use that secret move you've been training during montages to give the final blow.

First half thought? Way more refreshing, more interesting and I wish it was used as a completely separate movie (also, it's weird how it was completely hidden from the marketing). It gives a nice twist to the known formula and now the kid becomes the master. Personally I had way more fun watching that part of the plot.

As a whole movie it's not the greatest, but it does have some great moments. Back alley fight behind the pizzeria? Probably my favorite fighting scene - it had that comedy Jackie Chan style to it. Existence of Alan, the most random character in any Karate Kid movie? Perfect. The number of times Li Fong gets his ass kicked by Mr. Han and Daniel LaRusso? Pure chaos and fun. The boxing match and training (yes, there is boxing in it) - awesome.

But then we also have the bad. Conor Day was just painfully poorly written. The actual tournament? Barely existed - they fast forwarded all the fights, we saw close to nothing. Ming Na Wen practically being just a guest role was sad - her character could have delivered some good external conflict. Than we have the trauma that was less than a background.

Somehow, because nothing was truly developed I did not feel the grand victorious feeling when the movie ended. You know how Karate Kid movies make you want to learn martial arts? This one just made me want to rewatch previous movies in the franchise. It just did not have that kick to it.

The casting was great. The cast was criminally underused, but still great. Jackie Chan at 71 still has it. Probably on his worst day he is still better than 99.9% of people on their best. Surprisingly Ben Wang delivered probably my favorite version of "Karate Kid" as the leading character. Good personality with real flaws and fears.

Overall, it was fun. I'm kind of sad they did not make it into two great movies, and instead settled on delivering not that well blended mix.

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I really really liked this documentary.

As a fan, of course it will the best documentary that i watched in this life.
The moments, the live action, the feelings shown are so true and there was not a single moment which I felt they are not doing great. Caroline really showed us what we've been waiting for. The camera director really captured those heartfelt moments. We have seen their tours and behind the scenes but we didn't see how Blackpink was formed and I happy that we got to see it today. The only thing that saddens me is that the video seems so short . It is short but it's worth it. I hope they continue to produce Blackpink's later journey in this form.

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A setup that wandered a little too far

«The Witch 2: The Other One» (《마녀 2》) is the second entry in «The Witch» trilogy, and this time we follow the younger twin sister of Gu Jayun (구자윤), the central figure in the first film.

This sequel expands the world a bit more. We learn what happened after the shutdown of the experiment, and the consequences of trying to erase everything—projects, subjects, and all. Just like in Part 1, it still touches on the question: what happens when you create a superhuman and take away their right to choose?

But unlike Part 1, this time the film leaned heavier into the action. There were more fight scenes, more effects, and more explosions. The problem is, it also meant less of the balance that made the first film stand out. The pacing leaned more into style than substance. For example, the opening road sequence had special effects that felt out of place, almost too rough to be in a movie like this. Oddly, the final act had much better visuals, which made the earlier scenes feel even more disconnected.

The writing also took a different direction. The younger twin was supposed to be the main focus—but for most of the film, it felt like the spotlight was elsewhere. She had significantly less screen time than the supporting characters, and the plot seemed more interested in following side arcs than actually introducing her properly. With a total runtime of 137 minutes, there was more than enough time to build her up, but they didn’t.

That said, the actress did a good job, especially for someone still fairly new. She held her own despite the limited exposure. But again, she wasn’t really given much to work with, which was a missed opportunity.

Production-wise, the quality is still there—sets, props, locations—all were consistent with what one would expect from a Korean film of this scale. No complaints there.

In the end, this film serves more as a setup for Part 3 than a full standalone entry. It introduced new pieces, but didn’t fully connect them yet. Hopefully, the final chapter brings it all together.

9 stars from me. Still solid, just not as focused.

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License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC By-SA) 4.0 International
By: Yohan Yukiya Sese Cuneta 사요한 (YourOnly.One)
Date: 2025-05-29

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Sharp, Simple, and Solid

«마녀» («The Witch 1: The Subversion») is a 2018 Korean film that sticks to what Korean storytelling does best—build around the human first, and then let the plot follow. It’s a familiar formula, but when done right, it works. And in this case, it definitely worked.

The opening was dark and brutal. A failed secret government experiment. Standard sci-fi setup. But instead of staying in that lane, the film quickly shifts gears and zeroes in on the life of the main character. This shift is exactly where the difference lies. A lot of Western productions would’ve stayed focused on the government or the science. Here, it becomes personal—and that’s where it hits harder.

The action isn’t loud or showy. It’s paced just right. It fits within the story and doesn’t try to outshine it. When the fights start, they feel grounded. Even with the superpowers in play, they didn’t go over the top. No unnecessary flips, no overacting. Just enough to make sense for the story and the characters.

One thing I really appreciated: the fights didn’t turn into full-on conversations. That’s a habit a lot of Asian productions fall into—talking too much in the middle of battle. This one kept it tight. Minimal dialogue during combat, but everything said still mattered. It respected the viewer’s time.

Set design, props, locations—solid all around. Nothing felt out of place or rushed. You can tell they paid attention to detail and didn’t cut corners.

And the story? It’s not just about powers or conspiracies. It’s about control. About what happens when someone is stripped of their choices and made into something for someone else’s benefit. And how that person decides to take that power back.

It’s clean, clear, and had no unnecessary extras. Just a good, well-made film that stayed true to its direction.

Easy 10 for me.

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License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC By-SA) 4.0 International
By: Yohan Yukiya Sese Cuneta 사요한 (YourOnly.One)
Date: 2025-05-29

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can't stop smiling.!☺️

Man, the way he called her...!! Still smiling about it. It's so cute and funny watching them and how they affect each other's lives. You'd totally love this if you're into lovesick stuff. 💙💜
💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖.
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watch it. 💖

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This is Boring, Don't pick this up

Since I was feeling bored, I decided to pick this one up and my god, it made my boredom even worse.

At the beginning of the movie, you're introduced to these 3 characters. Okay, they're reminiscing, talking about how boring it is in the countryside, why they want to move to a city, and vice versa. Just some normal people chatting, then cut to an out of context ass backstory, and that's the moment the movie started losing me. It kept cutting to different years, with different people, and not even explaining who these people were. I get it, you expect me to understand that these are the other characters that we're gonna follow in this story, but at least someone could've pretended to call out their name and asked what's happening so that I'll know who they are and what they are talking about.

The story is ehh, or should i say, there's not much of a story here, it's more like a slice of life of adults reminiscing about the times. And it's not even interesting, hence probably they kept highlighting it in the movie that "It's okay to be boring" Yes, it is okay, but in this one, it's definitely not okay.

The acting is good, but I'm more amazed by the singing bits because these actors are really singing their hearts out. They can sing SING alright HAHAHAHAH. You can't really see so much of the acting here, because of the way it was filmed, but when it is presented, acting is again, good.

The reason why you can't see much of the acting and this is where we get to the 2nd thing that made this movie even boring, is the cinematography or could that be even called cinematography? In the beginning, i noticed it right away, it was when the first 3 characters were in the car and we have this very long ass one take shot from afar. Most of the scenes from this movie are just long ass one takes, so you couldn't really see much of the acting. The movie felt very raw or unfinished, because the whole time i was watching, it felt like there could've been some close ups that needed to be inserted here and there. But hey, props to these actors, for these one takes, they're all really good for not even breaking when delivering the lines, I'm sure some of these scenes might have been retaken a bunch of times.

Overall, what a boring movie, definitely not a recommend.

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Laugh one minute, cry the next

I watched Post Truth while at home sick and it was exactly the heartfelt pick-me-up I needed. This movie is a seamless blend of comedy and sincerity, with everyone giving their all to the bit.

The comedy element comes mostly from Wei Ping'an's wild goose chase as he hunts down the source of a bad rumour about a dead woman, Hu Lan, who he had briefly met when she had bought her grave plot from him. Special mention goes to Li Xue Win – who plays Ping'An's sister – for her performance in catfishing a guy essential to Ping'An's chase. This gag was extra funny as I definitely have friends who would do the exact same thing if called for.

The heartfelt part of the film comes from Ping'An's relationship with his daughter who, parallel to her father's quest, also grapples with doing the right thing, despite the steep cost. Their storyline was the perfect balance to the absurd hilarity that meant that Post Truth kept strong pacing.

A good romp if you need one.

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Finding yourself in the midst of youthful chaos and lust.

If you wade through all the other things in this story like nudity,underage sex and violence you will find a compelling story of healing,hope and finding yourself in a world where you're alone. Starts out depressing, but it has a hopeful end and you find yourself rooting for the ML. He did a great job, you could feel his pain. ML is dealing with grief and getting over his brother's suicide. He describes his brother as his "real friend" and sees his ghost as a cry for help. His family is fragmented after the brother's bullying and suicide. They moved to this tiny town to run away from bullying his brother still ended up dead. ML is trying to find healing, but our FL is a bit self-absorbed and confused and wants to be the centre of everyone's universe. She was feeding off his toxic energy to boost her own ego.

I'm so glad he healed. Him I understood, her I didn't understand at all. She acted a bit desperate and need but glad she got it together.

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"This too shall pass"

Unforgivable starring Kim Jung Hyun sporting some sexy facial was a dark and tragic story of how one assumption and ill spoken word could start a domino effect of cruelty, death, and gruesome torture.

Detective Lee is called to a bloody crime scene in a public bathroom. Inside the victim’s mouth is wedged a note. Before long Lee and his young partner, Detective Kim aka Professor of Statistics, are hip deep in bodies tracing back to bullying incidents in high school and the military. The person with the biggest grudge is removed from the suspect list as he committed suicide 10 years prior.

Unforgivable once again trod through the national trauma of school and military bullying and how the governing forces are complicit by their inaction. The kind of nightmarish acts that cause victims to commit suicide were difficult to watch. Everyone tied to the case was involved in some manner to Choi Young Hoon, a nice young man who bore the whispers of being gay. Even the hint of being attracted to the same sex was enough for Choi to be ridiculed, shunned, beaten, and eventually driven to his death. Those involved in tormenting him began to be executed by an avenging angel. Detective Lee harbored his own guilt related to Choi that would cause him to break his rule of never becoming emotionally involved with a case.

Unforgivable was in many ways a standard Korean crime drama, which is not a knock, most of them are quite watchable. (Down below I’ll give my reason for bumping it to an 8, above average for my scoring.) Kim Jung Hyun was compelling as the dogged detective and also showing Lee’s downward spiral of guilt upon discovering his connection to the crimes. This film will not be for everyone. The crime scenes were grisly and there was a disturbing sexual assault. In a just world all the tormentors would have faced the legal system and been given serious jail time for their actions. In a better world, Young Hoon would have had access to protection from his bullies and before things escalated, the perpetrators would have been disciplined and deterred. In a more perfect world, there would have been no bullying and people would have accepted Young Hoon for who he was. In Unforgivable’s world, if justice wasn’t an option, neither was forgiveness.

27 May 2025
Trigger Warnings:
Suicides, a rape scene, and gruesome crime scenes

Spoilery thoughts following:

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I bumped my score up .5 for the film following through with the revenge to the end instead of leaving the Big Bad alive to answer with the courts as so often happens. I never had a doubt who the killer was, the person most in need of justice for Choi Young Hoon and who also realized their own complicity in his lonely life.

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I first watched the series Love O2O and then the movie One Smile Is Very Alluring, and while both are charming, I have to admit I prefer the show. The series has more time to develop the characters and their relationships, allowing for deeper emotional immersion. The story arcs are richer, and the subplots have room to grow, which really enhances the overall experience. While the movie serves as a great introduction to the story, the series truly does justice to every detail and nuance of this adorable romance.

The visuals are stunning, especially during the scenes set in the game’s universe. The action is dynamic, and the virtual world is beautifully crafted—it makes you want to step right into the adventure. It’s a lighthearted, fun film with a positive message about the importance of communication and trust in a relationship.

The chemistry between the leads is undeniable, and the way their lives intertwine in both the real and virtual worlds is genuinely captivating. The film captures the essence of finding love and connection in the most unexpected places.

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Violence, Vengeance & Victory – Action and Acting at Its Best

I’ve watched this movie countless times between 2023 and now (2025), and it never disappoints. I had high expectations from the start—how could I not, with Shin Hye Sun and Lee Jun Young, two incredible actors who’ve risen like phoenixes in their career. That alone should convince you to give this film a shot. If not, read on.

Trigger Warning :
This film contains brutal violence, which may be distressing for some viewers. If that’s a concern, it’s best to skip it.

PROS:
➥ Masterfully directed action scenes
➥ Outstanding performances—especially from Shin Hye Sun and Lee Jun Young, as expected
➥ Social Message through the film: Don't Turn a Blind Eye, Stand up to your Bullies, Ask for Help
➥ [MILD SPOILER] Satisfying ending: The film explores bullying, a harsh reality. Watching justice unfold in the end as a gripping action scene is incredibly rewarding.!

CONS:
➥ The story isn’t groundbreaking—just another “good vs. evil” tale in a fresh setting.
➥The FL’s introduction felt over-the-top. The dark tone of the film clashed with her theatrics, creating a stark contrast that didn’t blend well (just a personal take, though).

FINAL VERDICT — BINGE!
Highly recommended—if you’re okay with violent themes. Watch it for the stellar acting and action sequences rather than any new storyline.

♥️ SPECIAL MENTION — LEE JUN YOUNG ♥️
If you haven’t already, take note: this man is talented AF. As the antagonist, he’s despicable to the core—no tragic backstory, just pure evil. His performance is so intense, you’ll find yourself seething every time he’s on screen. That’s top-tier acting right there—so convincing it blurs the line between actor and character. Honestly, every time I watch one of his projects, I feel compelled to write a special mention. He’s just that good. I could go on and on, but I’ll stop myself now!

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