Reviews

"I just need to balance myself once, and I'll be safe forever"

This film shattered me in ways I cannot describe.

Absolutely breathtaking in every way and suffocatingly lovely with excellent cinematography, colours, script, and acting.

The English title of this film is linked to the novel of the same name that refers to the structure of the story. It tells the parallel time and space that the man encounters many years later (2020, autumn: daegu, seoul, and busan) and brings him many references and dialogues to stimulate his inner reflection, especially in every parallel time and space will be interspersed with the memories of the mother on the sickbed or the only friend he was in love in the past, but no matter what, the movie buries the most secrets or the big event between him and his first love, which caused the two to go their separate ways and meet again. Even decades later, this also caused the man to suffer from the mental torture of the incident and the repressed personality shaping in these decades.

What remains unchanged is the fact that his mother passed away and his sister suffered from cancer. He learned to accept the pain he must go through. The constant possibility and modified memory are intertwined together, bringing rich and unique meaning of the same nature, when pointing and is linked to the latest meeting from the last parting between the two, the man will finally take that step, rush to the person he loves, and go with him no matter what. He didn't want to hold back any more, that "see you tomorrow" was a long, long time.

A must watch for it tells us that you can just embrace the one you love, tap your nose with your fingertips, turn your wrist around and make a gesture of praise, even if all the stories end in the same way, the one you love will exist in every universe.

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If, like me, you hate all those crappy singing/talent competitions on TV, just don't!

I'm a big Johnnie To fan.
Sadly, this is quite unlike anything he's ever made before: utter trash!

Some girl owes a loan shark a ton of money and an MMA fighter takes her under his wing, rather than pimping her out of selling her off to cover what she borrowed.
It sounds like an interesting drama only, the MMA fights are really bad, the male lead comes off as a chimp on a crack-energy drink high and, well, I just really hate all those singing shows!
Worse: there's utterly needless wire-fu - and I mean utterly useless: some girl spinning and floating in the air while playing a guitar in front of judges!

Honestly, pretty much everything about this rubbed me the wrong way and, having zero interest in a film about singing competitions when there's one literally on right now in another room(!), I couldn't motivate myself to even make it to the hour mark.

Definitely not recommended.

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Not the best

It wasn’t horrible but it was slightly challenging to follow, the acting was okay. my main reason for watching it was Nijiro otherwise i probably would have dropped it half way through. The humor wasn’t too bad. I most likely will never watch it again, when i watched it I was looking for a Japanese dubbed show and thought this sounded good. But it isnt really. Some parts are bad others are really good.

There is literally like no Japanese except when Nijiro, his friend, and the mom are talking to each other. The actual English people speaking English sounded a little like good translate or them reading something off a really boring paper they don't want to read. Overall they sound like they dont want to be there.


The only part that I could say that really got my attention was when the one guy was being really rude to them and later on Nijiro flipped him off and after that it wasn’t too bad. But it pretty much contained the mom getting out of her depression and walking around all the time because of something Nijiro said before never showing up in the movie after that. So if you want a show that mainly focuses on Nijiro then this is not your show.

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well..

This movie is very interesting to say the least 😂 I've watched it a couple times but only to show it to different friends and show them the bad wigs and crazy characters, but the more times I watched it the more I understood what was happening. Its overall an okay movie, definitely not award winning, but okay. I think the three "love interest" are all bad lol, I mean, one CONSTANTLY belittles her, another drugs her, and the last is her step brother. it's all very odd, and the first time I watched it I thought the best option was her brother, because all of the other ones were just so bad, but now I think she shouldnt have gotten with any of them. who she picks in the end is just... not it lol. I didnt like the whole ending scene, it was long and drawn out. it was a weird movie, I mean, if you like weird definitely watch it lol

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They took inspiration from the manga and made it their own

I saw the anime ages ago and found it a quick cute watch so why not watch this.

Whoever plays Serinuma Kae is so cute, she's so expressive lol

Just a couple minutes in and we already had my fav 'legendary prince' Mutsumi! The actor is a pretty boy!

Why was the intro song kind of good...

Achan I love her the way she calls her cute Kae-chan<3 literally same person different fonts also her deep voice ahh~

'New' Kae is actually gorgeous, how come she has perfect white teeth and a beautiful smile like give them to me!!

MUTSUMI WITH GLASSES!!! also Shinomiya has always been fashionable, love both of their styles.

Forgot how much I enjoy Nishina, she is so androgynous and that was some beautiful dancing between her and Kae. Wish they had more of them like in the anime.

Still a fan of Igarashi, even though he was forced, him as a Prince got Kae fangirling so I'd say that was worth it.

Their reaction of her gaining weight is such an overreaction and fatphobic, makes me feel bad for her. Shinomiya literally fainted, y'all rude af. Plus the theatre kids are evil disqualify her cause of her weight I hope she doesn't help them ever again!

She should wear her hair down and no glasses more often though I kinda like the round glasses.

The little smile and nose scrunch Mutsumi did is so adorable when Kae showed interest in his historical wall, he is actually so good looking!

This is definitely different to the anime the foundation is kind of the same so I liked it nevertheless but Kae being a fushoji is a big part of her and the anime yet they left the bl like moments to the last 30 minutes of the movie, cmon!! Those moments was what made the anime weirdly unique and funny!!

The way we have a GoNana hug and the other 2 boys sit on the floor mesmerised they're actually funny.

Shinomiya and Nana forehead kiss!! Then bad boy Mutsumi with forward Shinomiya YESSS!! These girls have taste!! I'm glad they changed Shinomiya from the anime because he was annoying though I had a soft spot for him, this Shinomiya though... even I want to give him a chance.

I liked the quiz thing not gonna lie but she should've asked harder questions especially the last one, I thought Mutsumi was going to say Shion and be right lol.

I thought Mutsumi was going to win and tell her to take her time to pick who she likes as he'll be waiting and I was correct!! Love how understanding Mutsumi is <3

This ends in an open ending which I hate but the anime was the same, just gonna go read the manga I guess.

I don't want her to help the theatre group but I'd do anything for Nishina <3. Can't believe she turned the play into a bl... actually I can lol

I don't know why people were shitting on this though there are fatphobic comments and can be derogatory, the message is still somewhat pretty, you have to go with and open mind though. I think it's pretty good movie but that could be because I wasn't the biggest fan of the anime, it was just a short comedic anime to watch and also because I haven't seen in in years. again I need to re watch the anime but don't they give Mutsumi and Kae many scenes together not that I'm complaining, he accepts and understands her so well I could already tell she will pick him from the start but in the anime I was between him and Igarashi and only chose Mutsumi towards the end (which she ends up with in the manga by the way, first time I didn't pick the secondary love interest!!?)

This is different from the manga/anime if the plot wasn't the same I'd say its a completely different show. They took inspiration from the manga and made it their own, still enjoyed it as much as the anime and liked the musical like aspect and dancing! Wished they kept more of the comedic scenes that appeared in the anime.

The best way to put this is 'Kiss Him, Not Me' is the anime as she has these new found friendships while still being her perverted self and tries to literally get the guys to kiss each other not her but ends up falling for one of them while the movie is more 'Watashi ga Motete Dousunda' aka What am I going to do with this popularity? where she guides new friendships and relationships that she didn't have before and learns things she only ever witnessed, to her she'd always witness the world from a 3rd person perpective now she is in first. She learns new feelings and now has to be able to define them into categories like platonic and romantic while dealing with her new emotions, image and pretty priveledge.

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it's just okayy

It's a good movie, but it lacks some stuff.
First, it is unclear what kind of relationship boksoon and Min-hyuk have. We will never know who Jae-young’s father is. May be its Min-hyuk but at the end, sending that iPad isn't something a father does.

And boksoon sure loves her daughter, but when Jae-young reveal she is homosexual and tells her about issues, boksoon leaves her alone and doesn't pick up the phone at all. and before that, when boksoon went to kill that student Jae-young calls her saying she was sorry and her voice was shaking. If it were me, I would run to Jae-young thinking she was gonna do something like suicide assuming the issues she had been facing recently. and who wouldncall that much just to say her GF broke up with her. It just doesn't make sense. It's true she is facing some issues, but in my opinion, it doesn't make sense.

Despite flaws like this, and if you are looking for a good action movie the film is enjoyable to watch.

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It's exactly what it says on the box. If you like the packaging, the movie will satisfy.

ᴍʏ ʀᴀᴛɪɴɢ ꜱʏꜱᴛᴇᴍ: 9 = [ᴇɴᴊᴏʏᴇᴅ ɪᴛ ᴀɴᴅ ʟɪᴋᴇ ɪᴛ ᴀ ʟᴏᴛ, ɢᴏᴏᴅ ꜱʜᴏᴡ]

The movie trailer for this pretty clearly implied what it was about. Basically, it's about a small faction of people working together trying to gain the advantage to win a war/battle for their side. So that's on point. This particular genre is not for everyone, you either like this kind of story or you don't, so my review will not focus on the genre of film.

THE GOOD:
- The acting of the cast is very suitable to the style of the film. For example, one of the first scenes in the beginning, in the restaurant, did a great job of immediately showing the viewer the desensitized nature of the two men when it comes to violence by way of the conversation they're having. It was a good way to set the tone for both of the characters going forward, considering their violent actions in the film thereafter.
- The cinematography is also good, there isn't an excess of music either and the director and actors did well using nuance of facial expressions, pauses, silences, looks and some props in the scenes to maintain the tense, somber aura of the film content. The wardrobe department also did well.
- The dialogue is minimal but fairly intense in most scenes and is delivered well, which again, suits the film style.
- The fight scenes were pretty well choreographed and the cinematography also did well to make it seem more intense. The second fight scene was probably the highest 'action' point in the movie. As someone who enjoys fight scenes (action content), I enjoyed it.

THE (not so) BAD:
- I'm not a fan of non-linear story lines in movies. So the back and forth, out of sync sequence of events wasn't great. I can understand sometimes jumping back to show events that were intentionally meant to be misinterpreted or happened at the same time as other important moments, but sometimes it's not necessary and it has never appealed to me. This movie unnecessarily used it in some places.
- The fight scenes had some exaggerated hitting and impact sounds, which is very on brand for a Chinese film I suppose. However, it unfortunately sounded a bit silly because fighting doesn't sound like that and it's 2023 and everyone knows that.
- The film was predictable. It became obvious quite quickly that the small main cast group were infiltrating an enemy camp undercover, and even toward the end, despite the fight scene with his 'colleague', WY's character was obviously a double agent.

THE (possibly) UGLY:
- I don't like how genuinely 'stray' the animals used in the film appeared, and I can't read Chinese so if there was some notice to say no animals were harmed in the making of the film in the credits (like in western films), someone let me know.

HIGHLIGHT:
- No over all highlight in this one for me. Although, perhaps the fact that the characters constantly had me wondering if they were going to start killing each other was a highlight to the acting, they all felt like they were on the verge of violence in some form or another in almost every scene.

PERSONAL HIGHLIGHT:
- As a fan of Wang Yibo, I think he acted well in this. It's not to be overstated, he's not breaking any moulds, but it's also not be understated, because he does very well in his physical scenes and he also manages to emote intimidation and anger really well. His 'reaction' scenes and his fight scenes were enjoyable and I would definitely prefer to see him in more films like this, where he does more acting, tests his range and where he wears less make up. And let him play a bad guy/villain ffs, he has the face and demeanor for it.

Not bad. If you like this genre, I'd say try it,

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Too soft and not enough romance!

Nothing special, missing this won't effect you. To be honest the series with the build up before they got together was better then when they were together, it was too soft and not enough romance! I almost see them as friends that are almost too close or that maybe have a crush on each other vs them actually dating. It's TOO soft, I actually want to whine *cries* you can do these things platonically what makes you guys be in a romantic relationship?? A relationship like theirs in real life would be amazing cause I love the simple things but that is different vibe to the series with its comedy and basis on intimacy, I guess I want more when it comes to watching a show or movie.

I wouldn't call this bad, I just didn't feel the chemistry or intimacy (at least attempts at it) that I felt in the series. I couldn't seem to be interested or care about the movie as it was basically us following Kurosawa and Adachi around as if it a slice-of-life anime. I'm all for baby steps and taking it slow, I even prefer it but the movie makes it almost unatural where is the tension or chemistry from the series??

This was such a comfort show for me, I'm glad I didn't wait and anticipate this movie cause I'd be even more disappointed. I think if it was its own season rather than a movie it maybe could have matched up to the series.

Don't let my review stop you cause we like different things, I love Cherry Magic because it hits all my soft and happy spots, its my comfort show though the movie is the same atleast similar vibe of the series I just didn't love it. If you're part of the fandom, I believe you'll enjoy this but if you love the series watch the movie anyways cause I believe a continuation of a show you love will never be a waste of time.

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Two girls on a date, but backwards

The story of a date, from the end to the beginning and then back to the end. This very short film is more reminiscent of a music video than an actual short film. Still it manages to a story through its images alone as the audio track is just an instrumental piece. It is so short that there is not much to say, except maybe that it makes you want to know more, to see more than just snippets of this date that brought the two girls all over the city.
The directing is trying something, the fact that the film is mainly told via rewind with the images going backwards and yet forwards at time. The editing is really nice too. The warm colours of the images add to the atmosphere. It is not quite a dream, not quite a memory. It feels warm and not just because of the country's heat.
In short, if you want to spend some nice 3 min, why not watch Swirl.

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Something different, different

This was... ehem... what was this? It was a bunch of crackers (I thought one of them was a bunch of trash bags) singing they want to be eaten gently, lovingly and what not... I am not going to say this is good but it is definitely something different that I do believe people should watch for the WTF did I just watch effect that it has.

If you look for it you will find a whole lot of symbolism, if you do not look for it you will see what could be understood as both a love triangle and a poly relationship. Very short, very sweet , very different than anything I have ever seen before.
I enjoyed seeing a young Yoon Park. I am not really sure I actually enjoyed this but as I said it is just something different, and that is worth a lot!

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Slow paced

The drama has a potential to be a good melodrama but overall it became too slow paced and there were unnecessary fillers which felt draggy. The time skips were too fast and the story seems be lacking a solid chemistry between the two. Was excited to see the Main cast together after Goblin, but the excitement faded away 15min into the movie. This was a tough watch for me considering that i liked Jung Hae In's slice of life dramas like One spring night and Something in the rain.
what i liked about this drama: Cast !! That's all!!
what i didn't like: story which didn't connect the time skips, their lack of communication, gloomy music, side characters with no use to the story at all.
Wouldn't recommend who are not into slow paced or the fans of main cast!!

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why?

WTF was that ending. I don't go into romcom to have an unhappy ending where the guy dies just before he was about to reunite with our MC and she spends years not knowing about it and resenting him. The contrived misunderstandings with the bffs stopping them from being together were only bearable if it all led to a happy ending! The genre shift came so completely out of nowhere I was just baffled and ended up checked out. It reeks of the romcom that didn't want to be like the other romcoms and just failed at being anything satisfying. Way to ruin the outstanding performances of your amazing, charismatic, and personable cast!

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Lurking in the dark is but a story of LOVE and TRAGEDY

I don't really know where to start but let me start this review by saying, "this movie was beautifully and wonderfully sewed in the dark"

The beginning of the movie bears lots of promises. A promise of a wild yet perfect cinematography, a promise to touch your innocence with an invitation to enjoy the darkness and a promise of a BL story. Because for all I know if not all there's someone who decided to watch this movie because of the BL ingredient on it.

Anyways let's go down to the business...

MUSICALITY. Obviously as what the title implies this movie will surely involves singing or music in general. For those who enjoys rap, free speech composition with a raw touch of feeling and emotions surely this movie is for you. You'll come to appreciate the unbounded power of music but for those who are not into such kind of genre you'll surely find yourself trying to understand and enjoy it. For me, I'll give it a pass. I'm not so fond of rap but I love writing thus the compositions strike me the most in those scenes than the rap.

CINEMATOGRAPHY. The movie is more likely produced with an indie film touch on it which contains the raw beauty of reality. The color grading is true to its natural form. The settings, location are well thought of except the forest scene. That's the last place for me to do such act. 😉

CASTING. The main leads nailed it all. Their roles are really suitable to their visuals, get up and background. The main leads are drop dead gorgeous especially sensie. I would fall for him if I were there for sure. They're just too perfect.

STORY. This made the movie worth a penny. The storyline. The movie tackled issues that do not usually happen but do happen and how someone's life could change because of it. The story of survival, slavery - on a different level, story of motivations, inspirations and brotherhood. In all honesty I could say lots of good things about the movie when it comes to the story because for me this is the cream of the crop of this film.

BL? Uhmmm. It depends on how you see BL. If you see BL as a lovey dovey story of both men then this movie is not BL. If you see BL as love between both men regardless of how the story goes and ended well this could be BL. So it is really up to you.

NOT SO FAVOURITE PARTS. I don't like the scene before it ended. Don't really like such ending because the story started dark. I do understand that the story mirrors the cruel reality of our world but I'm this kind of person who see films, movies and dramas as an escape to what I am used to. Thus, I don't fantasized such direction for the finale other than that some parts are quite acceptable.


This is but a great movie. 🙂

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