Reviews

rather boring ...missed opportunity

the starting point of this movie wasn't so bad.
a "time machine" connecting 2 people in different time lines always intrigues me but I feel they could have add a lot more of drama.

this whole plot was basically the push the FL needed to confesses her feeling to her sunbae🤣.


spoilers




maybe my mind is twisted but at a certain point I though the ml was her actual father and by interfering she was dooming her own existence. maybe her mother was pregnant with the writer but then ended up with the other guy.
I also came up with the thought that the ml was gonna die and that the girl basically was a testament that he 'll never end up with his girlfriend regardless of his actions.

I know it's a movie but I wish they explored more.
I wouldn't recommend it even for "cheesiness" because is not worth it.

Read More

“Protective, Possessive, and Unexpectedly Sweet — My Take on A Girl & Her Guard Dog”

Isaku
When I first saw her, I honestly thought this movie would be like every normal romance series. But no — this one surprised me in the sweetest way. Isaku gave me a fresh, soft perspective that I didn’t even expect. She wasn’t dramatic or annoying; she was calm, cute, and easy to root for. She made the story feel light and warm instead of stressful.

Now… let’s talk about Keiya.
Oh. My. God.
Be serious.
This man is fine — like dangerously handsome — and he knows it. But it’s not even just the looks. He is protective, possessive, obsessed, clingy, and STILL cute at the same time. How does that even make sense? I don’t know, but he did it perfectly.

I also love that the movie didn’t drown us in the usual Yakuza danger and violence. Considering the genre, I expected more bloody scenes or heavy drama. But instead, we got a surprisingly sweet, high-school style romance that felt refreshing. I didn’t even know it was going to be that type of vibe, but it worked so well.

Keiya’s character especially carried it — the smile, the flow, the quiet intensity… everything. The way he could literally shape his whole life to fit hers? Too sweet. At first, I thought he was just some older brother figure or senior guiding her, but realizing he had been protecting her for years made it even better.

Honestly, this movie had me grinning the whole time. It was cute, warm, romantic, and unexpectedly addictive.
I’m giving it a big high-five and a big heart from me. 💗👏

Read More

Good action, bad story

Same as Kill boksoon it's a very entertaining action movie but also same as it, the story is the weakest part of it.

I believe you have to watch the first part to fully understand the plot and the characters as some from the previous one are mentioned here and mantis himself was hinted at in the first one so to get the whole picture, watch the first movie before this one~

Now the story is all over the place because it's not very consistent, and generally not that interesting, the characters are just too humbled considering they are killers, sometimes they show them as emotional and sometimes devoid of any feelings Mantis himself was a bit obnoxious to some extent so no interesting characters, and no well-written story, this is only saved by good action sequences, aside from that I wouldn't recommend this at all ~

Read More

Innocence of high school love and maturity of adult love

To anyone who is put off by the idea of student-teacher relationships, this might not be for you. However, I would still suggest to everyone to watch this and keep an open mind. This is far from the casual depiction of that trope. Considering this was Kanchiku Yuri's debut film, it was risky. However, she pulled off one of the most taboo tropes and turned it into a beautiful film. Yuri preserved the playful innocence of high school love while adding in the mature nature of an adult relationship. The development of the characters was a sight to behold. It wasn't forced, but out of pure reasons why they did it.

This is one of the best depictions of love in a romance film. Yuri didn't need to write a lovey-dovey, showy, in-your-face couple to make the audience feel love. She showed it through Rio and Kouki; her innocent and cheerful approach to win Kouki, and his mature and reality-driven way of wanting to be with her while tittering along the lines of society-approved and too much. I can go on for hours explaining parts of the movie and what it meant to the whole story, but I'd rather everyone watch and share their thoughts with other people.

Do search what this kanji means (愛染明王). I'd say it is one of the few easter eggs that I loved, and I give props to Yuri for thinking it was necessary to put in the movie. This is a definite must-watch and repeatable film.

じゃあね

Read More

Sad story of a freelancer

If you want a light, funny, heartwarming movie, this is NOT one of those. The way this story is narrated is full of humour, as if it were a romantic comedy, but it's not. This is a poignant picture of a society where people do not work to live, but live to work, and can never be satisfied, because it seems that it's always possible to do their work better. We see companies sucking life out of freelancers and freelancers willing to give up their health and human relationships in order to keep the deadline. As a freelancer, I saw my younger self in a broken mirror. This movie should be a lesson to anyone: work might be your passion, but set your values straight and put yourself and people close to you above that.

Read More

A Literal Cut-Throat Competition in the Hallways of Survival…

I expected the usual Korean workplace chaos people dragging each other down to climb one step higher but this film tightens that idea into something more focused. It shows exactly how exhausting, competitive and unforgiving the ladder really is…It’s pure Park chan-wook’s madness masterpiece!

What works best is the quiet nod to the future…AI waiting around the corner, not loudly threatening, just silently preparing to take over the jobs everyone’s fighting so desperately to keep.

A neat, grounded reminder that sometimes the system itself is the villain, not the people caught inside it…

Read More

If Love Could Live Again

Wonderland (2024) tells a touching and emotional story that pulls you in right from the start. The movie focuses on several characters who are dealing with loss, connection, and the desire to hold on to the people they love. The casting is one of the best parts of the film, and every actor delivers a strong and believable performance. This movie is seriously underrated and deserves way more positive attention.

The movie has many interesting storylines, but this is also where it becomes a bit overwhelming. Each story is engaging, and many of them feel strong enough to be their own episode in a series. The background information takes a long time to explain, and it would have worked better if it had been given its own separate episode. Because the film tries to balance two main stories at the same time, the focus can feel split and a little distracting.

One thing that stands out is the use of multiple languages, including Korean, English, and Chinese. This makes the world feel more real and helps show how different people connect with the Wonderland system.

Overall, Wonderland is a meaningful and well-acted movie. It has a creative idea and emotional moments that stay with you. It could have been even better as a series, but it is still a strong and memorable film.

Read More

slice of life done as ensemble theatre

The beginning of the film is several vignettes introducing the seven main characters, difficulties in their lives and connections between them. Not understanding what was happening, or being aware that it wasn't conventional film-making, it initially felt disjointed to me until they all began to gather at the party.

It will help to understand the second half as ensemble theatre, heightened in emotion by the camera's ability to show close facial expressions. 180 Degree Longitude Passes Through Us also did this, albeit with a very small cast.

It's slice of life - not everything is explained, nothing is resolved. It's a brief moment in the lives of these characters, individuals who are both themselves and representative of different aspects of gay life within Japan.

If you're open to seeing it this way, rather than conventional movie plotting and development, the ensemble work is excellent - writing, editing, cinematography and performances all coming together to create something which feels like it's approaching chaos but had to have been tightly organised to stay so clear.

(Interview indicates there was some improvisation - if it was in the group ensemble work, that's even more impressive. But it may have been in some of the smaller conversations.)

Read More

Lost in adaptation?

The setup limps along fine at first: she restores relics, she paints, she meets a taxi driver at the police station because he threw hands with her brother. Acceptable chaos.

Then her car disappears from existence, she grabs a taxi—of course it’s his—the car gets stuck, and she discovers he’s an amputee. The source material says she’s an acrotomophile. Fine. Niche tastes happen. But hauling a total stranger into your house at night because he happens to trigger your specific attraction? And then immediately going to sleep with said stranger wandering around your home? That’s not a kink; that’s a missing self-preservation instinct.

I can’t comment on the power level of acrotomophilia, but I’m fairly sure it doesn’t override basic survival instincts. They could’ve crafted any sane, organic meeting. Instead they went with “random taxi guy + unlocked door + vibes.” Blaming it on “movie logic” doesn’t save it.

Then we get the undercover madness. He’s “hiding,” “playing dead,” dodging… someone. The movie refuses to specify who or why. And how he became an amputee? Apparently nobody in production thought that was relevant. The police sending him back undercover into a drug lord’s territory again—despite having one leg—is another leap. And the cherry on top: his supposed absence explanation is never addressed. What exactly did he tell his drug-lord boss? “BRB, faking death, don’t wait up”?
And then he strolls back in later like, “Yeah, I stepped out—anyway, what’s next?” And the drug lord just rolls with it. No questions, no suspicion, just immediate buddy-mode.
Then out of nowhere they “realize” he’s a cop, with zero explanation for how that info surfaced. No slip, no spy, no clue. It’s not a plot twist; it’s an entire chunk of story that never got filmed.

Structural integrity: zero.

Then he dies. She decides to end herself. No thematic foundation, no emotional buildup, just… collapse. Maybe the message is “not everything needs meaning.” Convenient.

The constant flashbacks make it worse. Scenes replayed minutes after they happened, as if the film thinks the audience collectively has a goldfish brain. It doesn’t add depth; it adds irritation.

See, I only sat through this cinematic confusion because I adore Roy Chiu with my whole delusional soul. And the upcoming drama was supposed to have Bai Yu, whom I also adore on a spiritual level (until they swapped him out, traitors). But no, the movie gets zero bonus points just for casting Roy Boy. Pretty scenery doesn’t save anything either—though yes, I’ll admit it doubled as an accidental travel brochure. I didn’t read the book, but I refuse to believe the source material was anywhere near this sloppy. Hoping the drama will be better.

Endnote: it’s not some acrotomophile comprehension gap or cop-plot comprehension gap either. It’s just shoddy writing.

Read More

Ending spoilers!!

Im mostly gonna talk about Seobok so buckle up
(sorry if im wrong about something)

Firstly he is a Clone of his mothers child (i think??) and his father died (later on the mother too). Seobok is Clone that can live forever with the help of some lab. He is scared to die but is also scared to live forever while not knowing how to live.

i think what fucked me up the most is the fact when ki hyun shot him he said he was sleepy. i seriously feel so bad for this kid cause not only was he so scared and curious of death, he destroyed the only reason he was still alive so he had no reason left to live and that made him forget his biggest fear — death.

Read More

Bad writing: Makes you scratch your head at times and lacks scenes therefore the pacing also sucks

Just rewatched it, I do not remember it being this bad. I don't hate this movie, I like watching flustered adorable faces and I liked seeing Shiina do those. I'm saddened that this is like his third and last romcom. Iirc (1; Antique, 2; Artificial Beauty) Fukada is just again often in her usual unrealistic pouty/"cute" faces.

I don't hate the movie but it is just generally unsatisfying and not immersive, that's why it's bad for me. The romance was lacking. Btw, I have put a lot of spoilers below. And I am also sorry, my 'review' is likely confusing. I have a lot to say and I'm just not good at explaining. I wasn't angry while writing this, just disappointed, a bit annoyed, and confused or baffled.

If you like awkward romance like me, you can get through this.
(I thought such genre would be called pure romance but the term is just its literal definition which imo is just bland, it sounds unexciting )
I don't think I would watch this again for the third time. Maybe I will, to see Shiina's acting here again.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------



The writing is terrible, like what do you mean the fictional character you wrote falls in love more because she isn't supposed to. What? Isn't it more like because she's emotionally neglected and have never fell in love for real that she falls in love more.

The love logic or wisdoms the movie mentions are kind of distasteful. Even mentioning 'law of forgotten toys' something, where if someone wants what you didn't want, suddenly you want it. And the female lead says 'love is like that'. I can relate to that but bruh, that's not true love. It's more like realization of the good of the person. In the movie, it showed moments featuring the male lead's reactions referencing that view way before it was mentioned. However, it doesn't work well or properly, because there was only 0.1% chemistry between them that happened before he reacted that way. I am not sure what the movie is saying during those moments. I believe, they were trying to show that he was jealous. Meanwhile, I'm watching and being like; bruh no way, he's probably worried because she's a woman, she's kinda naive and acts brattish (with an understandable reason), and the guy who's approaching her is a two-faced ignorant dude.

I mean, why would he be jealous in those times when there had been nothing yet good shown about her or a moment showing he's catching feelings before. He was just puzzled in the beginning and in the middle, trying to do his job. If anything and I were to rethink, the female lead would be the one catching feelings first when her strong views in love was first challenged---when they had that argument on the boat.

How the female lead writes her 'story' was also stupidly done. The movie wants to show a reality that she actually had written a good story but from the audience's perspective it's dumb---well, the description says it's a 'love comedy' and one of the parts they decided to attribute some of the comedy is to a script within her script that makes little sense. Even the male lead admits some parts were unnatural, but everyone in the end is like, yayy wowweee awesome storyy. The bad writing of her 'good writing' makes the supposed comedy for it, generally unfunny. A few parts, I could see could be laughed at, like the ridiculous appearances of the 'fictional characters' in some 'fictional scenes'.

For clarity; the female lead is writing a story (B) within another story (A). Both stories suck, you really won't care about them or be excited but it still makes you cringe whenever it appears. Story B is supposed to have funny parts, the 'comedy' I was referring to. Story A, is just a melodrama, the romance that happened there kinda makes sense... but let's just dismiss the mentioned reason that heroine in story A fell in love with male lead because she isn't supposed to--- the better and should be reason is that she's in a loveless and 1950s conservative marriage and never fell in love 'for real'.


Another thing, the movie attempted a fake-out. The female lead closes her laptop as she gives up, then a pan to her office without most of her stuff that were present when she closed her laptop. Wait... is the movie telling me she's leaving, going somewhere else far away? Nah, after the almost completed script was approved, we're back to her office and she's there writing for its finale. Girl, what happened? Was there a cut scene? Shouldn't we have been first shown instead that Shiina urgently meets Fukada and let her know of the good news?

Lastly, the confession scene sucks. There was no build up. I mean like, the movie didn't even flesh out further Shiina's feelings near the ending. The confession just seemed random.

Ok next, the main leads: Shiina Kippei and Fukada Kyoko. I am not good at determining the quality of acting. What people find bad acting, I often never thought it was so.

However, Fukada's obviously not good again. The voice she uses is grating to my ears. Regardless, her voice always doesn't convey emotions well when speaking. It was decent in the beginning, her voice wasn't grating---notably, parts where she spoke coldly and clearly conveyed annoyance. But as the movie goes on she's back to her usual low quality. Shiina was alright---like, it's not unsatisfying, it's enough. I love awkward main characters the most and I just love his role in the movie.

Overall, did Shiina's character convince me that he loves Fukada? Yes, but the execution is just so poor.

In the beginning, I don't think he likes her. Especially, when they introduced his 'rival', the movie gives frames of Shiina's uncomfortable face because of that rival to supposedly hint romance but before that, it didn't give us anything that Shiina actually has interest in Fukada. All he has been doing was just his job---including those 'date' scenes, all of it was just for his job. So how could he react like that? If it's because the law of blah blah blah, I find that illogical as I did say that there were no good moments that would bud love from Fukada yet.

In the middle, yes. Bro smiles when Fukada has some establishment take care of his clothes (laundry + new clothes). I cannot tell if it was because of the translation but that action was just random tho. The laundry part and excuse "The assistant of Taniyama should be clean" I get it. However, why would you buy him new clothes? All he did was just watch everything you wrote that he hadn't seen yet. I couldn't make sense of this part but it did not lessen the fact that Fukada has begun budding feelings.

In the end, like I said, the confession was just huh, that's it? Like, what made bro want to confess in that moment?

How about Fukada? It's kinda the same. I have much to say about Shiina's because he had more of the focus. Fukada's character, I think her feelings only began as she saw Shiina's actual genuine efforts to help her, which was the middle.

I don't hate the movie, it had only me stretching my lips like Luffy and scratching my head. And parts that made me do so, I've mentioned here. I love Shiina's character, Fukada's was okay. Both romance and comedy wasn't great. Personally, romcoms are fine even if they aren't actually funny because I just realized something. I realized romcoms are just a type of lighthearted romance and the lighthearted romance is the best part of romcoms for me, not the comedy---Jdrama romcoms only make me laugh a few times.

Overall the movie is not engaging, inadequate to the heart. I don't know how I was satisfied by the ending a few years ago. The movie lacked enough points of which deep dived the internal feelings of the characters. The best scenes for me are just the characters' reactions or the faces they showed.

Read More

"We're all just part of the drama..."

Peking Opera Blues is a classic 1980s Hong Kong film by Tsui Hark. Set around 1911, the film starred Brigette Lin, Sally Yeh, and Cherie Chung as three women with vastly different backgrounds who were thrown together by fate. I'm always happy when women take the main roles and aren't continually shown as helpless victims or sex objects. My kung fu movie loving heart was also happy to see Ku Feng and Wu Ma along with a secret document added to the mix.

Itinerant singer Sheung Hung swipes a box of jewels when the local warlord runs afoul of his men. They’ve learned he can’t pay them because he lost everything gambling with another “general.” Bai Niu works for her father who runs a Chinese opera troupe. She desperately wants to act which enrages her father as women are forbidden from performing. Cho Wan is the daughter of General Cho and has returned from abroad wearing men’s clothes and a cropped men’s haircut saying the style grants her more freedom by keeping people guessing. The women end up working with a rebel who is after proof that General Cho and Yuan Shi Kai are working together in a plot for corrupt power and wealth.

I loved Brigitte Lin in her gender bender outfits. She carried the look off with chic elegance. Her character, Cho Wan, was a boss. Lin expertly showed Cho’s toughness, vulnerability, and also her conflict over betraying her father. Sally Yeh’s Bai Niu had less to do as the frustrated actress wannabe though her turn at Peking Opera was entertaining. Cherie Chung’s Cheung Hung was the weak link for me. I’m going to blame the writers as I enjoyed her performance in 1987’s An Autumn’s Tale. I’m just not a fan of bumbling, selfish, comedic characters. Mark Cheng as the rebel Ling Pak Hoi was handsome and capable in the fight scenes. Speaking of the fights, the martial arts and gun fights were well choreographed but often pushed the bounds of belief. Lastly, Ku Feng flexed his bad guy muscles as Commander Liu.

Behind the action comedy, Cho Wan and Bai Niu pushed gender roles for the early 20th century. It was gratifying to watch a film with three women going after what they wanted and weren't reduced to victims. Tsui Hark wasn’t afraid to tweak historical figures and events with some political satire. There was also the subtle emotional tug that Cho was the idealist and devoted to making China a better place through her actions and sacrifice though whether they amounted to anything remained to be seen.

This is one of those films that wildly mashed story tropes together to see what stuck to the wall--friendship, torture, comedy, action, politics, espionage, Chinese opera, familial love, betrayal, defying boundaries, and even hints of romance. Some of it worked for me, some of it didn’t (Sheung’s “comedic” scenes). I’m not a huge fan of Hong Kong comedy yet I will say one scene had me laughing so hard I almost cried and is the reason I bumped my score up a half point. If you like 1980s Hong Kong films or are a fan of Tsui Hark, this is a film worth giving a try, keeping in mind that the production looks dated. Prior to 1990 so I graded it on a curve.

21 November 2025
Trigger warning: a rather intense torture scene
7.75 could be a 7.5 or an 8.0 in my rating system. I've changed it twice now. lol

Read More

Can’t Get enough of these two!

Within 3 days I finished the whole Cherry Magic 12 episode series + 2 SP and the movie. Turns out I can’t get enough of these two as a couple. They are so very sweet together. They are kind and respectful towards each other, show patience, genuine care, and don’t play games. They have their moments of hiding how they really feel but it’s not done out of game playing. They are both sincere. Especially Kurosawa- his love from the beginning is inspiring. What I like about this movie is that even though there are hurdles along the way like Adachi being transferred for 8 months to Nagasaki to become a sales manager and start up the company branch there, and gets into an accident, it all serves to strengthen their bond and relationship. It isn’t drama just for the sake of having conflict. In fact, other than these two things and meeting each other’s family, the movie doesn’t have a whole lot of conflict- in other words, it depicts a good relationship that is blossoming and blooming without drama. A relationship without drama is a good sign! That’s actually what I love about this movie. Even Adachi being sent to Nagasaki for 8 months served to make him more responsible and take on more responsibility and step up to the plate, and Adachi’s accident (though he wasn’t physically hurt) also served as a reminder of impermanence and just the fact that they didn’t contact Kurosawa upon hearing the news, and that motivated them to take the next step forward to meeting each others’ families to become part of each others’ families. I was almost bracing for some horrible conflict like someone dies, and for me to be left clutching my heart J drama style, but that moment never came- it was smooth sailing and even ended on a wedding- like scene even though I don’t think gay marriage is legal in Japan, well this is an anime story so it’s legal in this world! I love it. I love their romance, their love, their relationship.

Cherry Magic gives you something this world rarely offers:
a vision of love without chaos.
No trauma bonding.
No narcissistic hooks.
No ego theatrics.
Just two people who show up for each other without forcing anything.

I saw the power in that and sensed what it means for a relationship to deepen through gentleness instead of crisis.
And because this world is characterized by egoic love, seeing a story that doesn’t do that feels almost unreal, like a parallel world with different physics.

My only gripe is that they didn’t show the two kissing- no smooching needed, just that still kiss they do in the Japanese dramas, but alas there was none. I get that either the actors (especially Eiji Akaso) were uncomfortable with it, or it’s maybe a censor issue in Japan for a same sex couple to kiss? But that’s what we BL fans are here for! That elevator hidden kiss at the end of the series as the doors were closing was iconic. Kurosawa is so badass, and Adachi is so handsome and sweet. Ahhhhh. The lack of overt kissing, the soft, almost shy portrayal of intimacy: Japanese dramas excel at this. They understand that the sacredness of a connection doesn’t need to be shoved in your face. In a way, it keeps the romance suspended in that pure emotional frequency that I love so much, even if part of me wanted just one more quiet kiss to seal the moment.

And it was refreshing to see that the families accepted their son’s partner eventually- they didn’t storm off in a tantrum.. even that part was compassionate and those characters show restraint and emotional maturity. The families in Cherry Magic behaved in a way the world rarely does: they didn’t weaponize shock, they didn’t collapse into melodrama, and they didn’t turn love into a battlefield. They felt the discomfort, processed it, and then chose connection over ego. That restraint, that quiet willingness to grow, carries an emotional dignity I’ve rarely seen reflected in this world. That’s why this pure love lives in an alternate universe and I’m here for that.

For someone who has given up on human love and romance long ago, this Cherry Magic story has turned me into a pile of mush- this is like an alternate reality that shows that in some other reality, this kind of pure love is possible, and I am inspired by that. Daisuki!

Read More