Reviews

Psychological drama framed though a thriller-mystery

Right off the bat, I'd like to say as a disclaimer that I just finished this film a few minutes ago, so all of my thoughts are VERY fresh:

Before watching "12 Suicidal Teens", I read several reviews warning potential viewers that the marketing for this film wrongly portrayed it as a murder-mystery thriller, when in reality, the story primarily circulates around the psychology of the situation. With these reviews in mind, I kept my expectations fairly low, unsure of what to expect both in content and quality. I had even considered skipping the film as a whole, with many other reviewers calling it boring and tonally inconsistent, but personally, I'm really glad I didn't. "12 Suicidal Teens" pleasantly surprised me in both its execution and premise, and despite some minor issues, I overall thoroughly enjoyed it!

If you're debating watching and want to remain spoiler free, (which I would recommend), I'll summarize my main opinions here: If you find the initial premise provided in the summary intriguing, don't let the reviews claiming this film lacks the mystery elements it claims to have scare you off. This movie, in my opinion, 100% delivers in its mystery elements, so long as you keep your expectations realistic. For those who are interested in the premise from a psychological standpoint, I'd encourage you even further to give "12 suicidal teens" a watch too, as the characters discussions unpacking the complexities behind suicide and their own personal reasons behind their decision to commit suicide is incredibly interesting and well written. Overall, it's an entertaining watch that will likely not be what you expect (for better or for worse lol)

Alright spoilers from here on out!:

Story: The clean cut premise was what initially drew me to this film. I thought the concept of 12 suicidal individuals having to solve the presumed murder of a stranger was incredibly fascinating, and what's more, the story takes place in a bottle setting, which is one of my favorite storytelling methods. Of course, if you've seen the film, you'll know the "murder" isn't all it's cracked up to be. I think this is where a lot of people lost interest in the film, as many had come expecting a high anxiety murder mystery thriller, when in reality, the mystery only really serves to push the theme forward. Disregarding the themes however, I personally still believe this movie presents a really fun and engaging mystery, where the more you think you know, the less you actually do. The more you learn, the more you question the rest of the characters and their trustworthiness. The final conclusion was a little anticlimactic in my opinion, but it kind of cemented the main focus of the film as the characters, not the story, which I appreciated.

Characters/cast: This is where "12 Suicidal Teens" really shines in my opinion. The characters in this film are so incredibly well written and well acted, it felt almost as though I had known them in real life! In particular, I think Furukawa Kotone, Kuroshima Yuina and Kitamura Takumi did a phenomenal job portraying their characters, with Furukawa specifically really standing out to me. Honorable mention to Hagiwara Riku, whose character was unfortunately not given much screen time in the last 2/3s of the film, but really stuck out to me in the screen time that he did have, with him having one of the more heart-wrenching stories out of the group in my opinion. This leads into the one major unfortunate problem w/ the characters in this film, which is that, due to the sheer number of characters, some characters, such as Funichino Yuto's character, fade into the background and are not given much screen time unless it's to move the plot along, which is all fine and good, but in the context of a character driven story such as this, it's a little disappointing. Again, overall though, all the actors truly hit their characters out of the park.

Rewatch value: Like I said earlier, I only finished "12 Suicidal Teens" for the first time a few minutes ago, so I have yet to rewatch it, but based on the way the mystery unfolds, I'd say it's good for one rewatch, but after that, it would start to feel a little repetitive and slow.

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Supernatural, Nothing More...

STORY: It's quite an interesting premise, one guy sees dead people and gets tangled up with another guy who can exercise ghosts, all tied together by a mysterious girl who can curse people to death. The guys develop a bond, but this wasn't even a light bromance. Absolutely nothing to see here. I thought I read somewhere that the manga had some BL elements, but NONE of that made it onto the big screen if there ever was any.

ACTING/CAST: Basically only 4 characters dominate the entire screen time, and they did a fine job. I couldn't get past how much Hiyakawa reminded me of the Grim Reaper from Goblin... maybe it was the hair...?

MUSIC: I didn't really find the music interesting or even fit this movie well... seemed out of place for such a dark movie.

REWATCH VALUE: Nah, not now that I know the ending and there is no cuteness between the guys to bring me back. Typical supernatural thriller, nothing more. Good once though.

OVERALL: Was hoping for BL, or even some bromance, but none of that was here. Moving on...

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A beautiful film about depicting confusion and joys of a teenage girl and those who are around her

''regret only comes after taking action''
The movie opens with hour female protagonist (Tsubame)dropping a letter to her neighborhood crush and waking up next morning only to regret it. While she lives with her step mother who is expecting her child and her father , they are a sweet family at first glance. But confusion soon arises around her while she feels conflicted about the new family she will have to live in with her new sibling. Then one day she meets a mysterious granny on the roof of the calligraphy class she is taking and a new part of her life begins.
from here on , the movie takes us on a feel good journey. I am always captivated for this type of element in the slice of life movies and dramas. granny and our FL goes on having journeys around the city and their conversations develop. while she asks for advises from granny about her family , crush and so on , our granny talks strange at times but her words are worth pondering upon.
the next part of the story advances when our Tsubame goes around searching for the grand kid of her mystical granny who lives in a crimson colored tiled roof house, while tsubame takes walk around the city with toru ( her crush) this part of the story is filled with her joys of being with him , in an innocent way. But in the end times of the movie when its discovered that makoto ( tsubames classmate) is actually the grand kid of the granny and after that she disappears telling her new things are coming her way she have to treasure them all ; only after that its shown that she was not alive after all . Now we may think was she the imagination of ... or is a mystical element shown in the movie ? its upto viewers interpretations
now coming into the cinematography of the movie - its excellent . with wide shots and closer shots of the characters it emphasizes the characters expressions as well the stories they are thinking and talking about. color tone of the movie enhances the impact of it. the graphics are fairly beautiful and gives you the magical vibes if not perfect. the sound track goes all well with everything.
now as a whole , this a movie you can watch if you don't want anything stressful , something light about a life of a normal teenage girl with her thoughts. It doesn't lead us to think much about anything or it doesn't make us choose between anything. it's just tsubame , her conflicts and her way of solving them and living in her time , as a normal teenager. but honestly the more i am not fascinated by its story , i am fascinated by the cinematography of this movie , its totally outstanding for me . to point out , the montage when tsubame returns from tokyo in rain and toru has an accident chasing his sisters boyfriend , this part of the movie was so subtle, i would like to watch more movies from the same director.
i read the japan times review that this movie lacks impact and sparkle and i somewhat agree with that however it doesn't make me feel like this movie could have been better. sometimes we need a movie where life is shown through someones normal eyes , general thoughts and with less conflict and average confusions. Though world is filled with so many problems , we need movies where life moves around an imaginary granny , family reconciliations after small disagreements and where joys come from writing letters to your crush ( and also i am not justifying her crush on an older boy or anything , they could be good friends and good influence on each other and she can move on when she grows up) . over all , its a very likable movie with likable characters and houses !

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A well made, feast-for-the-eyes scenes here & there, deserves a big TV-viewing.

What I didn’t realize is that a large chunk of the movie was going to be in an Agatha Christie-style whodunnit. Which I don’t mind at all, but the fact that they were all stuck in the palace setting for all that time was a little underwhelming. It just did not feel very expansive—and unbalanced. I wanted it to be less insular, and I think that still would have been possible without it being too long and complicated. It's like, they did not give me a reason to care that the Imperial City was being attacked. The writers just relied on viewers to come into it with "big monster attacking city bad" and not have to do any establishing work there.

I watched it in two sittings. It took me a long time to care about the characters, but I wasn't ever disinterested in figuring out what was happening. It's definitely not a favorite, and I would only rewatch it if a friend wanted to, but I don't regret watching it...The two lead actors were good and and seeing their characters’ dynamic progress an hour into the movie was finally what engaged me. They definitely set it up for a potential sequel at the end--but based on the narrative of this film, I would want to watch it for the two main characters rather than a rematch with the giant monster snake or whatever. I would definitely love to see more of them working together and learning more about the lore of this world in a more engaging way that leaves me rooting for them and knowing exactly why and what I'm rooting for.

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Relentlessly dark and tragic, Killer Constable lives up to its name. Chen Guan Tai gives a strong performance as the constable who plays judge, jury, and executioner to those he is called upon to hunt down. Few characters are likeable and those character s who are learn at a terrible price why the Killer Constable is so ruthless.

The action choreography is not intricately laid out. The early fights were done at night making it almost impossible to see the action. Instead of it feeling claustrophobic, it was more frustrating. This is an ugly hack at each other with swords with blood spewing and body parts flying kind of fighting. Fire is used in some fights and bodies are shown badly burned. It’s a war of vicious attrition between the handful of constables and the seemingly endless supply of bandits. I fully expected KC to cry out a quote from another movie, “Worse! How could it get any worse? We’re at the threshold of hell!”

KC may have been self-righteous, loyal to his superiors and men, and utterly ruthless to his enemies, but his true enemies knew that and used it against him. In his narrow view of the world, he completely missed who the real enemy was.

I thought Ku Feng gave a particularly sympathetic performance as the father of a blind daughter who is being hunted by KC. Chen Guan Tai conveyed a range of emotions as an obsessive constable doing his duty, as a man who cares for his men and also as a man who tastes the bitter bile of betrayal. Director Kuei Chih Hung and writer Szeto On were able to make me care about these two characters who were not easy to care for.

While I can appreciate how this movie tried to show the bleak suffering of the times, I can’t say I particularly enjoyed it. I enjoyed the performances I mentioned. I prefer the lightning fast and well-choreographed fight sequences in other martial arts movies better than these slower fights. Without a clear-cut hero to root for or characters who are on screen long enough to be invested in them, I found myself unable to connect emotionally to most of the characters. Having said that, I can see why some people really like this movie and its bleak message, if you are a fan of martial arts movies, especially from this time and from this director, it is worth giving a try. For me, though a movie I’m not sorry to have watched, it’s one I won’t revisit.

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I want S2 or some movie like this

The writer of this movie seems like a genius. The plot is unpredictable and the story has a steady state, what I mean is that I didn't lose interest in the middle of the movie. I've watched this many times and I still love it, it's fun! maybe for some people this movie is hard to understand but hey come on don't you guys see WHAT GENRE IS THIS?😂😂 if your brain can't get enough to catch it then don't watch it and try to watch another relaxed genre movie. I just suggest you watch movies like this or games or mysteries often because it can train your brain too! actually I think this movie is easy to digest, I like movies that need more brain thinking like this, it's great!

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five unique short stories about ordinary folks and their hometowns

this is an enjoyable film that is comprised of five unique stories about common folks' hopes/dreams/aspirations and their affinities with their hometowns (or place where they were born/grown up in). each story is unique and independent of each other and presented by a distinct set of team of directors/screenwriters/cinematographer/editors/actors/sets/etc.

there are the occasional mild, exaggerated twists in each story, and there are elements of realism that audience can relate to. although each story is unique and independent from the other, there are shared links that bridge them together.

i don't think this film is a comedy. there are certain segments in certain story that has more comic acts and the occasional funny dialogues. not everyone is going to find all five stories equally enjoyable. some might like a certain story more than the other, etc.

a couple of keywords that come to mind regarding this show include: diaspora; collage.

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Such a cute movie!!!

It's been a while since I last watched any gay movies and I have to say, this one was SO ADORABLE

I decided I needed to watch it ASAP after watching the trailer, which was just Yoon Sang Yi running while Kang In Soo sang this beautiful romantic song. I absolutely adored the acting and the little glances and moments both mains gave each other. The story isn't the most creative or even plot-driven but I don't think that's the point of the movie. I felt it was more about the characters meeting, their interaction, the music, and just inspiring each other. And all of that was done beautifully

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Outstanding Performances From an Amazing Cast !

I'm not the one to watch movies, but as soon as I had heard that Hello Stranger was getting a sequel, I just HAD to tune in. What started on some rocky shores ended up being a really nice story about acceptance and love. As much as I did enjoy this movie, I still loved the series better, since it just had certain aspects that shows can do that movies can't. But still, a stellar cast that did a stellar job on this movie, and I'm excited to see them in future projects!

let's Dive In

The first 50 minutes of the movie were a bit slow and felt weirdly comedic. I was going into this thinking that I was already not going to like it, but I still gave it a chance. I was put off a little bit by us being introduced to Xavier and Cytstal and seeing that they're in a relationship since the series left off on Xavier and Mico. Some of the situations that happen felt a bit too cliche, like Xavier and Mico picking the same number and living in the same room. But, this is a BL, so I wasn't too shocked. There were so many circumstances that I felt a little put off by, one being the fact that Xavier pees on Mico to help him with his jellyfish sting. Very disturbing. They were trying to make it look like Mico and Xavier were having an intimate moment when Kookai went looking for them, but this just came off as weird and unnecessary since it didn't do anything to drive the plot. I think the only thing that I genuinely thought was funny was Xavier walking in on Mico after he had just gotten out of the shower. Anything else felt like they were trying to be too humorous and it came off as trying too hard.

The latter half of the movie was the best. I loved the way they connected the flashback scenes to the present, and it looked beautiful. Mico's What if" scene was beyond spectacular. Talking about Mico, JC did a spot-on job at betraying Mico's grief and hurt. I was left almost in tears at his performance. The same goes with Tony. His performance in the confession scene in front of everybody did leave me in tears since confessions and coming outs are the two things that are a definite tear-jerker for me. I loved how we were hit with the truth, and I could see where Mico was coming from in having a hard time trusting Xavier again. This is why I wasn't too excited about them getting back together so quickly, but again, it's a movie, so they have to give us our happy ending. However, I would've loved it if they took some time to regroup and kind of reestablish their relationship, and then maybe a few weeks later, they could've gotten together. But, the best line in the entire movie was "Hello, boyfriend" a def tear-jerker. I also loved Xavier and Crystal's talk on the beach. I liked that Crystal came to terms with the fact that he just had to move on from her. Parents splitting up isn't easy, but she was too old in my opinion to be acting the way she did. Basically holding Xavier hostage and making him love you is not real love. but in the end, I'm glad she understood. Mico and Xavier's kiss was fantabulous. It had meaning behind it, it was gentle and soft, and I will forever have a love for Mico and Xavier.

Simon's character was a nice touch to the series, but he still felt too coincidental. Mico's favorite author happens to be coming to this small little group camp trip and he happens to be hot and also likes Mico? Again, it's BL, so I get it, but it's too foreseen. However, he does help Mico in understanding his feelings, so I'm not too mad. JunJun once again had my heart. He is such a good friend and I liked that we see something underlying that might happen between him and Crystal. Again, I still wanted to see more of him and see him have his own story besides being the friend that helps everybody but himself.

Kookai and Seph were nice too. I think their situation was a bit frivolous, but I can see where Seph is coming from in feeling bad that Kookai won't be open about their relationship. Speaking of Kookai, her wardrobe in this movie was amazing. Each outfit she had on matched her so well, and I was dying to have every single fit that she did. Their problem was easily solved by the end, but I wish we could've still seen a kiss between the two.

Those two jerks that were Xavier's friend had that punch coming for them. Glad he put them in their place. The other gay couple was cute, even though they served no real purpose to the plot.

Overall, this movie was good, the ending was sweet, and I'm glad that they got to be open with each other in their relationship. I would've rather they made this into a series so we could've gone more in-depth, but at least we got what we could.

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True Love At It's Ugliest And Also Most Beautiful

I had watched the original version of this film wayyyy before watching this, so I basically had forgotten much of the plot. I remembered loving the idea of 2 lovers finding each other in a cute quirky way, which is walking on a streetline trying to avoid something "below" that they imagined. This is still such a unique, funny and adorable way of introducing our two main leads. It literally feels straight out of an anime/manga but adapted into real life which I loved. Though I wish they had visually represented their imagination during this sequences more, because the shark one was fantastic!

There's this real childlike innocence to Yuuki that attracts Akira from the start. Though this becomes a semi-issue later on, it carries on throughout the entirety of the story. Into their growth, sex-lives, careers. We see the story progression done so beautifully with the time jumps and it works really well! Better than I've probably seen done ever. We get so much of their lives, yet so little at the same time. It's perfection. You really grow attached to them together and individually. So when they start having their own issues, it really hurts. It's also now a fast growing apart, its rather slow and realistic. You understand why Akira kinda puts up with Yuuki's difficulties in the relationship and vice-versa because they both have so much love for each other. It's evident and people do things in their own ways to show love and affection. Like with Yuuki searching for the lighter in the dead of night.

Many watch this and become very angry or frustrated with Akira's character. But I totally understood where he was coming from at least. He grew up with a mother who engrained in his head the idea of "normalcy" or heteronormative lifestyle being the basis of livelihood. It's not easy to just unteach that, so he had to kinda live that in order to realize it wasn't what he wanted at all. He wanted Yuuki and luckily he was there waiting for him after the whole mess. It's ugly at times, but the beauty comes out as well. I loved getting to see everything and felt so proud of Akira after he stands up to his mother and fights for Yuuki. They get married, he sees his ex-wife with a new family so they both found happiness apart. It's all amazing. Then...we get to the added ending. Which WRECKED ME. It adds more to their love story and its good. However, the tears I had running down my face were so embarrassing lol. I wasn't expecting to see Akira dead in their 70s and Yuuki in the hospital waiting to die basically so they could be reunited again. Their love is forever and they walk the line again in the end to each other. Really heavy stuff and I suggest being prepared emotionally! Because damn its intense.

Love, love, loved this so much. Please watch it! Also thank you director for adding in the MODC (Make Our Days Count) cameo. That healed my soul from that series a little bit! <3

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Love it

I like this movie because it is realistic and believable. Real love is not what we usually see in dramas. Romance is imperfect. I loved this version of what that means. The story was cleverly illustrated to sympathise with all four main characters, so taking sides is pretty difficult. I found the ending quite interesting, and not expected at all. I was almost thrown off by the rewind, but since nothing changed and it was used to add detail, it was okay. I think it was a bit unnecessary though, as most viewers would have understood the meaning. Either way, it's a good film that casts a shadow on love.

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FL is too annoying

●This was the 6th movie in the series and its as usual disappointing. But this one is more dire

●Ruan qing tian takes hao yu to the hospital. He kidnaps her as he learns that Ren hao ming has found his real identity. Haoming saves qing tian with guns and fights. Later he propose to qing tian and he also receives a new mission from the Intelligence agency. While trying to investigate the case he comes across thugs who attack him. Qing tian is excited to get married but she is more excited about the new mission which haoming keeps up secret. But qing tian doesnt give up and follows him everywhere and while arresting the people gets shot while saving qing tian.

●This part was such a pain to watch. FL was too clingy that would be a sober word she interferes in each of ML work and wants to tag along for a mission. One should earn her place, since ML is getting missions she wants to show some of her fight skills or don’t know what but at last her stupidity befalls again and ML sacrifices himself to save her. Later they both get Email that a key person of the mission has run away so they both will be interrogated. And voila movie finishes.
●ML is good in this part but FL destroys it with her annoying performance. Actually speaking FL has been like this whole time and that's why doesnt let the ML good caring nature seen.

●I couldn’t find the next part. So I would suggest everyone don’t watch as the next part isnt available and no one likes cliffhangers.

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Gay love sacrifice

As i am writing the review there are tears on my eyes . As i have seen thousands gay who haven't move on from their first love , some are called mistress, homebreaker in reality they come first , they stay first but in society only straight relationship is pure
I don't know who's wrong or right here ? The lover who lost his everything twice or a lover who choose normal life or a wife whose husband never loved her , her anger made her harmful for own baby and herself
But if you talk about who loved the most it's Jay . He came first in life but he still called mistress. He sacrifice the most at last he got his loved but that was just person without life . I am happy Xi accept him as step father because he deserves it . I am happy finally lian get help from therapy as she never wanted to accept that his husband never loved her from the start . I don't wanna judge Yuan because he did choose normal life because of society. He leave her because he wanted to spend his last time with his lover .

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Wrap up of the entire series

First of all, I highly recommend watching Code Blue in the right order. From season 1 to the movie which is the official end, this series has a red thread going through.

The order of watching is:
Code Blue Season 1 (2008)
Code Blue Special (Farewell Facing Tomorrow) (2009) (connects Season 1 and 2)
Code Blue Season 2 (2010)
Code Blue Season 3 (2017)
Code Blue: Another Everyday (Spin-Off) (2018)
Code Blue Mou Hitotsu No Senjou Special (2018) (Sequel and bridge to movie)
Code Blue: The Movie (2018)

The Movie is the last adaption and tells the story of the flight doctors until their future paths.
Maybe the story is a bit dramatic but it's not getting to a point of being ridiculous or unrealistic for me. Also from scriptwriters/production point of view it's understandable they want to fill in action and some "blasts" before the end.
I can hardly even think of anything negative because I liked the series from the beginning and the script convinced me.

The drama has a good balance between personal life (and struggles) of the characters and the medical part (which is well written). Not to mention, that the medical accuracy is given here, which I appreciate a lot because I can't stand when even basic things like CPR are portrayed wrong in dramas. Doctors are not "gods in white" in this but they have insecurities, private matters and other problems they have to deal with. Code Blue managed to show the progress of the main characters and how they grow from the fresh trainees to full-fledged doctors that people and fellow trainees now depend on. This depth is a bit shortcut in the movie (due to it's limited runtime) but it's there if you followed the series.

The cast is mostly the same minus some faces we have seen in Season 3. The focus of this movie is on the "main 5" (Shiraishi, Aizawa, Hiyama, Fujikawa and Saejima). All did a wonderful job in portraying their character.

As for the music, you either grew tired of the same tunes by now or they've grown to you. For me it's the second and whenever I hear the melodies, I think of Code Blue.

The movie as the entire series have a high rewatch value. I loved to watch the development of the characters. The medical part is good, the characters likeable, there's a bit of humor and romance. Overall a nice package that will entertain you.

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