Looking at the comments, I seem to have an unpopular opinion of this film lol. Surprisingly, I honestly really enjoyed it. I first watched this film about 3 years ago but I only got to the second song before I was thinking 'what kind of a weird ass film is this??' lol. Of course, I didn't finish it. However, for some reason, I decided to give it another shot and I am sooooo glad I did.

Before I really get into my review, in my opinion, this film's MDL description doesn't do it justice. The description actually seems to be closer to the plot of the original manga that the film it is based on, rather than the film itself. The film does have the basic outline of the manga's plot, BUT this film is a Takashi Miike film, so you shouldn't expect this story to be told in a relatively normal or straightforward way. It also should be noted, since it's not tagged on here, that this film is a musical and also a comedy. With plenty of delinquent school boy (and girl) fights.

When watching this film, I think it's important to remember the title, which in English is referred to as 'For Love's Sake' and in Japanese is called 'Ai to Makoto', which translates to 'love and sincerity' (which is not so coincidentally the names of the two main characters). Throughout this film, love is depicted in its various forms through each character - unrequited love, new love, lost love, naive love, lack of love, love, love, love, love, etc. When you think about love, one of the most popular forms of expressing it is typically in song, right? I mean, aren't most songs on the radio specifically about love? I could be reaching here, but for that reason, I believe that that is why the singing/dancing wasn't some pointless or distracting thing. Having each character express their feelings and thoughts on love through song, was actually pretty fitting. Yes, some of the songs and dances were weird but I honestly felt that that was all apart of the satire. Personally, I thought each song was hysterical, more so, than annoying.

Even when you take out the singing, this is still a pretty solid film. The overall plot was entertaining and despite it being relatively outlandish at times, it does get pretty touching towards the end. I felt that there were quite a bit of interesting and diverse characters - each character having pretty much their own background and purpose in the film. It's my belief that Ai (who, ironically, most seem to find annoying) represents that kind of naive, ideal and cheesy love that is usually depicted in shojou manga, anime, films and dramas. Makoto, on the other hand, he's violent and filled with anger and pain (mainly because of his past) and doesn't seem to have a real interest in love, but despite that, there is still a sincerity.

I believe the actors did a great job in this film. Tsumabuki Satoshi was a pleasure to watch and did a beautiful job at portraying Makoto's complex feelings. Takei Emi also did a good job as I thought she brought a perfect amount of clichéd cuteness to her character. The supporting cast as a whole were very good as well. Since it is a musical, I guess it's pretty obvious that I should talk about the music too, huh? Lol. Well, for me, the songs throughout the film were representative of each character and I felt that they did their job giving the viewer a taste of that character's personality and mindset. Some of the songs were corny and some were pretty over-the-top but they fit their character so I didn't have a problem with it. Honestly, I'd bump the soundtrack to this film if I had it (just another musical soundtrack to add to my playlist - move over West Side Story!). This film also deserves kudos for having great cinematography and set design. Each shot was beautiful and well thought out.

To summarise, I thought this film was funny and entertaining. I think there's definitely more to this film than what first meets the eyes. But hey, I've been told I have weird tastes and I do tend to overthink. But, I mean, if you like some cheesy songs and dance numbers, can suspend your disbelief for 2 hours, and just wanna laugh, then this film might be for you. It's definitely a guilty pleasure lol.

Leia Mais

I was going to write a simple comment but it ended up looking a bit too long, so I guess it'll just have to be a simple review instead :)

The story was decent - it's very much your typical spy/action film. The writing didn't really give me anything new or interesting which made many of the events throughout the film pretty predictable. There also didn't seem to be much focus on characters or character development itself, so I didn't really connect or empathise with many of the characters, including the protagonist. I also wouldn't really consider this film a thriller, but it definitely is action-packed. Speaking of action, however, the fight scenes didn't have much of an impact on me. They looked TOO choreographed and calculated, so it lost some of its realism and oomph.

The acting overall was okay. I think Kamenashi Kazuya did a good job but it wasn't really a stand out performance for him (or the film). For the the amount of time Iseya Yusuke was in this film (which I swear was only about 10% of it), I thought he did a very good job. His portrayal definitely gave me more of an interest in his character more so than anyone else's. Fukada Kyoko was okay. I wasn't very interested in her or her character which is pretty sad considering that it seemed like the writer wanted her character to be the more mysterious and alluring one in the film, but I don't think they fully achieved that. Everyone else in the film did a decent job as well, especially considering that there wasn't really much to go off of as far as characterisation (obviously not including the more stereotypical/archetypal roles that were present).

As far as the other technicalities go... the cinematography was very good, the music was pretty typical (that of a spy film), and the direction probably could've been a bit better as well.

I know my review sounds pretty negative but it was still a relatively enjoyable film for me. It's biggest issue was lack of impact. It wasn't bad, it just wasn't very outstanding in any way.

Leia Mais

This film was visually amazing. The cinematography, the set, the choreography of the fights - beautiful! The acting as a whole was good, a bit exaggerated at times, but not unbearable. Honestly, I was on the fence about the casting of Sebastian because I'm not the biggest fan of Mizushima Hiro's acting, however, he - more or less - impressed me in this film.

The concept of the film was very interesting. I like how they didn't just go with the manga/anime storyline, but it was still pretty predictable. My biggest problem, however, was how each character was introduced, which felt pretty lazy. If you haven't read the manga or watched the anime, I don't think you would get a full appreciation for each character and the full extent of their personalities, which I don't think is fair.

I ended up watching this film for a second time with my friend, who's not really into Japanese pop culture, and through him, that's when I noticed that character traits weren't that focused on or elaborate enough, so some jokes fell short for him - for instance, Sebastian and his cat obsession. For someone like me, who has watched the anime, I was able to enjoy and find moments like that amusing, but not so much for my friend. However, I might be able to excuse this if they elaborate more on the characters in the squeal (because yeah, I do have a feeling that there will be a squeal - or at least there should be).

Overall, from the looks of it, it was mainly just the writing that overall lacked a bit for this film. It's definitely targeted more so at the Black Butler fandom than general viewers, but I did enjoy it... regardless of the doubts I had before watching it.

Leia Mais

I dove into this film completely blind - not knowing what it was about or what to expect. The only thing I knew was that it had Saito Takumi in it lol. This film is a coming-of-age film mainly focusing on a young boy who moves to new town with his newly widowed mother. He soon stumbles upon a cute and strange creature and quickly befriends it eventually finding out that he is not the only one to have one of these 'FRIENDS'.

What I liked about this film was that it conveyed some very pro-children/pro-imagination themes. It also tugged a bit at issues such as the Fukushima disaster and religion/cultism and their impact. After watching the film and finding out that it was directed by Takashi Murakami (who is personally one of my favourite artists), it was not much of a surprise that this film explored those themes and was filled with interesting creatures. I think for many watching this film, its overall storyline will have you raising your eyebrows, but make no mistake, this film was intended for children and will definitely require some suspension of disbelief. However, even with it's /interesting/ plot, I think the film still kind of fell flat in its execution of the story as it wasn't fulling gripping to me, as well as the pacing felt a bit all over the place.

I did think that the acting in this film was good, especially by the child actors. Sueoka Takuto, who played Masashi, definitely has the potential to become an outstanding actor. It was also just great that you can tell that the child actors had a lot of fun filming this. I also thought this film had some pretty good shots and cinematography as well. The CGI wasn't the best, but hey, it's all about using our imagination anyway, right? This was Takashi Murakami's first live-action film and I think it was good considering. I'm hoping he will venture into the filming world a little more often because I think he has potential to be a great director. (Especially for those of us who like the more outlandish kind of Japanese films.)

Honestly, I don't think this film will suit everyone's tastes and most will just think it's weird, but it does have its charm and is filled with some sweet and touching moment. It is definitely interesting.

Leia Mais

Tokyo Tribe tells the story of a group of gangs in a dystopian Tokyo constantly fighting with each other, that is, until a bigger threat makes its way to the city. Being that this was a Sion Sono film, I was not surprised that this film was pretty much a visual masterpiece. The camera shots and cinematography were beautiful and the sets were colourful, fun and just breathtaking.

However, I felt that those great visuals and the film's overall erratic execution kind of distracted from what the film lacked. Even with the hysterical ending (finding out what actually initiated the beef between Merra and Kai), the main plot was still pretty generic and calculable. Usually Sion Sono films, as outlandish as they are, have very conceptual plots with sometimes intense/insane curveballs thrown in, and typically have an underlying message that leaves you thinking. This film is definitely more straightforward than some of his other films (not that that's a bad thing). Ultimately, I also felt that the film lacked character motivation/characterisation, part of the reason why I didn't really connect with most of the characters. Sure, there were a lot of fun, cool, over-the-top characters but they felt pretty one-dimensional to me.

Back to the good things... Apart from the beautiful visuals, I also felt that the film's music was good. I mean, I'd bump this soundtrack in my car any day. And to be honest... this film was basically Japanese rapper porn for me lol. If you're a fan of Japanese rap/rappers, just know that you'll be seeing some pretty familiar faces throughout this film. For those who probably won't know who the Japanese rappers are when you watch the film, don't worry, they'll be pretty obvious. (They're the ones who had some of the dopest and more natural flows in the film.) The fighting throughout the film was great to watch and well choreographed, as well as the acting which I thought was also very good. Yes, some are very over-the-top, but it's very fitting with the film's atmosphere. This film is also littered with some pop culture references that had me fangirling or literally laughing out loud.

Overall, this film had plenty of hysterical moments and did grab my attention, but the writing was a bit lacking for me. However, this film is still a pretty exciting watch.

Leia Mais

For me, I found this drama quite enjoyable, however, I don't feel that it was at its fullest potential. As far as story, I thought that this drama had a very interesting concept - focusing on the mindset of murderers. However, even with that interesting concept, I was still left with your run-of-the-mill crime/mystery scenarios. They were also pretty predictable, though weirdly enough, I felt that as each episode got more and more predictable towards the end, they also somehow simultaneously got more exciting. (Well, that's how it was for me anyway lol.) I also didn't like how the overall writing felt dumbed-down. When you have an interesting subject that dabbles into psychology, I think the last thing you should do is dumb-down the writing. Something like the mindset of a murderer is complex and I feel the writing should've reflected that.

When it came to the cast, I thought that Saito Takumi and Kubota Masataka and the characters they portrayed had great chemistry. They were honestly, the main reason I kept watching. I thought that Hideo Himura was an interesting character and was immediately intrigued by the relationship dynamics between the dark Himura and the brighter Arisugawa. Besides the leads, I thought that the rest of the supporting characters and cast were also enjoyable, minus Yamamoto Mizuki who portrayed Kijima Akemi. I felt that Yamamoto's potrayal of her would fluctuate between dull or very exaggerated and that became pretty annoying to watch. There were also a handful of lesser characters that I thought were a bit over-exaggerated by their actors as well.

Sadly, where I also thought this drama fell flat was in cinematography and editing. The amount of scenes in this drama where the actor would be placed in front of a bright window or light, so bright that the actors' faces would be washed out so you couldn't see their reactions, was annoying and happened way too frequently. That is like a filming no-no to not be able to see your actors' faces, yeah? Yes, a silhouette effect here and there can be awesome and add to a scene's tone, but if they were actually trying to go for that effect, I think they failed horribly. It just looked amateurish. As far as editing, I thought some of the scenes were edited awkwardly, most of the time I understood that they were trying to add tension to certain scenes, but most of the time, for me, it was too exaggerated which made it look amateurish and awkward at times.

Overall, despite some of the negatives that I pointed out, this drama was still enjoyable. Even if you're not really feeling the mystery elements, you'll never be bored watching this and you'll probably still stick around for the two main characters anyway. (This was supposed to be a comment, but it was so long I figured I'd just make it a review lol.)

Leia Mais