Reviews

not awful, but not good

Could've been worse, but definitely also could've been a lot better. The story wasn't terrible but it wasn't particularly engaging either. I was only moderately entertained the whole time - enough not to turn it off, but not enough to really recommend it.

The music and visuals are somewhat decent, though the effects are pretty bad. The acting is okay, not great. There isn't even much to say about this movie except that somehow, I've seen worse, so it still gets a 6.5 from me.

Needs more mermaid content though, for a movie with mermaid in the title. Now THAT was the real disappointment.

Leia Mais

Relates to my life experience.

I really liked this movie, most of all I can really relate to the story of this movies. I've had really similar experience as shown in the movie, the only difference is that ML and FL both got a happy ending in the movie whereas in my case well you would've already guessed it.We do still keep in touch, and she is happy with her ML so, I guess it's all good...
While watching the movie I could actually see myself in Joon soo and I felt that my feelings were being portrayed by him towards her, how hurtful it was and how much I wanted her to respond to me , recognise my efforts , see me in a different light but not everything goes like the dramas in real life.
We have been friends for about eight years now and I think I have sorted out my feelings but I don't actually know.
So, this movie showed me the happy ending that I always wanted but was never able to reach to it.

Leia Mais

An anti-romance between two very broken people who “complete” each other

6/10 is my rating. This is a 2020 Japanese Romantic Drama with a run time of 3 hours and 52 minutes. Known under the Japanese title "Honki no Shirushi: Geijoban". This is an adaptation of a 2000 era manga by Fukada Koji that originally aired as a 10 episode mini-series.

First I provide a unique synopsis then review.

Synopsis

Tsuji Kazumichi (Win Morisaki) is in upper management at a business that sells toys and fireworks. His daily existence is very calm, ordinary and too predictable and he has several casual relationships. His life takes a dramatic turn when he encounters a troubled woman and saves her from tragedy. While he could have turned away after his heroic act he is drawn to the little bit of chaos that surrounds the beautiful and intriguing stranger. What follows is a tumultuous, and at times dangerous, romantic interlude that leaves them both forever changed. Prior to his encounter with Hayama Ukiyo (Kaho Tsuchimura) he spiced up his existence with romantic interludes with a couple of his office co-workers. He has a flirty relationship with his 24 year old Minako (Fukunaga Akari) and allows his more steady friends with benefits co-worker, the older woman, Ms. Naoko Hosokowa (Kei Ishibashi) to play housewife.

Review

This film was ranked among the top foreign films so I thought it would be heart-warming or at least an emotionally compelling romance. But you wind up asking yourself what you just watched. Early you may form an impression of Ukiyo as a damsel in distress and Tsuji as a knight in shining armor but that does not characterize either of them well. So you start out thinking you are watching one kind of movie and, mid-way, you realize it is not what you originally thought. It is an emotional ride but not, in my opinion, in a good way. I would not watch it again nor would I recommend it to anyone that likes romances or dramas on the lighter side. It has been termed an anti-romance and I would agree with that assessment. Some people like the darker content, exploring difficult topics, and/or experiencing many different realities. If you are okay with weighty emotional content and fractured personalities, you may like it. It just wasn't for me. I avoid these types of movies when I can as I am an empath, so I absorb a lot of the emotions. Which is okay when it evokes light-hearted emotions but not so good when it elicits darker emotions.

Spoilers

From the title you might think that Tsuji is going to move from the rather shallow relationships he has been participating in, to a deeper, more genuine connection. But you would be wrong. Actually, the bond between Tsuji and Ukiyo is toxic as neither of them turn out to be as noble as they first seem. They play this long push and pull game that is often as frustrating as it is un-nurturing. There is nothing wholesome or heart warming about the two of them together. I do not like dramas or sad movies and this is very dramatic and it is actually sad to see two people who are broken in so many ways bring out some of the worst aspects of each other. The movie attempts to show that only the two can truly understand one another as they come from a similar mental place but, from a psychological perspective, that type of relationship is always unhealthy.

The portrayal is the main characters are the users, but a closer examination reveals that the other people take advantage of the vulnerability of the two. This is alluded to when others say Tsuji is "too nice" and how Ukiyo is always compliant and apologetic. Tsuji and Ukiyo are both damaged in that they do not know themselves well, allow themselves to be steered by people and events, and are not happy in their current lives.

#TheRealThing #WinMorisaki. #KahoTsuchimura #FukunagaAkari.

Leia Mais

it took me 2 tries to finish cuz it was so long, tho the 1st half was too much talk and 2nd half too much action

for me, I was in it for BYH, I'm glad he's winning awards and praise for this, he wasn't portrayed as an evil villain demon, his character was a strategist, war is like a game and sport, there is a thrill in mind games, tho war is pure evil with ppl who don't want it are the ones fighting it and the ones who want it are safe in their castles..
so anyway, I teared up on the battle, it was balanced well in who had the upper hand and it was always heartbreaking when the tables turned. japan is wrong for attacking 1st, but did their soldiers have a say? sure even if 50% and even 90% were psychos, is death the only option for the ones forced to continue the flame of war

that being said, I do prefer historicals like this, doesn't have to be based on real events, breaking away from palace politics is nice. which just shows, in people on the same country/side also want war to gain what they want and they drag the rest with them,,

annnyyway, BYH and his adorable cheeks had more presence and charisma than almost all of the rest ;D

Leia Mais

A small pebble that turned into a massive avalanche.

The story was predictable and took way too long to start the revelation. I actually hate stories that could've been solved/stopped but maybe that person wanted the avalanche to happen
The ml was stupid tho, I mean they all were

His pov never made sense cuz, he's the guy? making his mistress drive, telling her he wants to quit, and she says lets cover it up?

And lawyer saying she met the dad, but he never sused there's more to it? Especially after the guy said she's a reporter not a hotel reception ?
I also hate the "turns out to not be dead but couldn't go back"?
The mood got me, 5, 4, 6, 9, 3, and a 9ish? atleast I'm glad it didn't turn ugly with mass murders at the end, I actually think the villains worse punishment is getting caught

Leia Mais

It was a bit sad for the sake of it. I'm not cruel, it's just the pacing was convenient and he was a 70 ish year old dude there were more than 1 chance to take him down
jason was added for the youthful eye and to give freddie a bit of a soft grandpa vibe which it helped but again they just happened to work at Fridays
I wanted a bit more depth, especially with both their families. I wanted a bigger team to atleast make their schemes believable
Anyway sungmin ahjussi deserves a daesang or 10.. and the writer certainly hit the jackpot with this cute little duo. Since the story lacked relativity, the 2 actors pulled it off well
I don't like sad for the sake of tears, like sure I was heartbroken but they dragged it a bit and the ending felt empty I wish they made a bigger movement

Leia Mais

It was fine, basic, but suddenly near the 1 hour 20min it's getting incredibly dumb?
I mean the writing and dialog is so rigid, like puppets just there to say their lines, and fl, her friend and our psycho all act like dimwitted 20 year olds but as a process of "stealing infos" it is something we're actively advised to take it consideration so it could've been interesting but...

I mean it was stupid when the cop was shown to be ml's dad who suses him right away...
And like sure fl's dad has to tell her new guy is sus but dude is like og tobby Spiderman 2 when he got the black powers and started dancing but girls thought he looked weird, oily cheesy
That's how siwan was being. Over confident in a tiny geek is sus af

But at the 1h22m mark, they stop him b4 he goes into fls house. Rookie cop mistake. But he goes, I'm not him you guys are sus and walks away? A suspect of 7 murders? Walks away with a "nope you're wrong"?

Leia Mais

All ma dongsuk movies blur into one world? mom got sulky when I said I’d watch slam dunk, and I didn’t wanna leave her for 2 hours so I chose this instead
She still sulked ?

It was pretty basic, madongsuk beats ppl, ppl beat ppl and madongsuk still beats ppl that beat ppl
It had a couple of funny scenes,
“-shibal bar? -No, that’s cyber bar”
And the motel scene had me laughing ???
The cinema was small and had a few Koreans so actually with the bad short subs, we were the only ones getting some jokes
I think they need more characters to stand by him, like it became a recurring joke that his partners came in after he beat everyone up, so it was funny but 1on1 will always have a btch slap KO from dongsuk
We laughed at ma ha cuz that’s actually a girl name here, and my uncle’s wife, and ma dongsuk was like “we share the same surname” so ppl laughed for different reasons ?

Also lee joonhyuk is HOT, but here he felt basic, not threatening enough or as crazy as the previous two main villains, just bland, even my mom was like “all those villains feel the same”

Leia Mais

Heartbreaking heartwarming and devastating
The vague ending did make me lower the point

I need to add, I appreciated the, receptionist(?) the guy barely had any importance but whenever he told the mom it’s ok to talk slowly and take her time, that one move showed humanity

I don’t like open endings

Like was it all the bright side dream hope that the baby gets adopted and she lives her life again
It makes sense that her letter to her cell mates was cuz she’s not coming back anyway as her sentence ended.
And her heartbeat didn’t fade, but then again Koreans love the “it’s all a dream” so I don’t like that move

Leia Mais

Too over animated for a live action honestly the rainbow blood would’ve made more sense than the shark?

They did way too much but it was barely 18 dreams, sometimes it was more cartoonish than the anime eve tho they removed a bit from the 4eps I’ve seen
And the superhero bit also cheapened this

I hate how they whisper then suddenly scream, I’ll increase the volume and they scream… I lower it down and they whisper ?

Anyway he’s doing more of his bucket list here which felt like a mood, they are being “itchi?” with their shots but it for sure is tuned down tho I haven’t reached “ep3” and the motel yet?

There’s one thing tho, Japanese ppl for sure don’t know how to style hair, the fl had a bob but this was such a mop.. not trying to be racist idk they have like soft hair but they style it so badly, idk maybe they have naturally thin hair and don’t like extensions

Also sad the rainbow blood isn’t here, for the anime I wondered if he’s imagining it, so he thinks there’s a zombie apocalypse and he goes around stealing or well killing ppl he hated??‍♀️
And their zombies are dumb af All Of Us Are Dead is crying in a corner ?

Leia Mais

This was actually cute, it became stressful with how funny it was cuz like 6m dollars isn’t small, and their switch and broken hand guy’s journey were hilarious

Tho it got a bit confusing at the end with their conversions, it was a fun watch eventho not much actually happened but it felt refreshing outlook

So like, each got 100k dollars? And did broken hand guy get the money from the lotto or did he sell it to the lady? The miss understanding was honestly hilarious like a crude joke but still funny cuz it didn’t actually go overboard

Anyway again like did they just accept the small amount cuz the big amount would’ve been a burden anyways ?‍♀️?
The villain dying was funny but again like, no one would wonder what happened? And the romance sadly flunking was sad tbh

Leia Mais

failed mom watch, she left after the first five mins and I put on another hani movie which she also didn’t like but we’ll see tomorrow
Got to say tho lee hani has lost a lot of weight I mean it’s her preference if not just for the role but she looks frail with dainty shoulders

The leading ladies were a 1000/10
If we divide this by 3 parts, the first part was a boring table talk that took too long, the second part for annoying when a certain something happened but the last part was great it made me tear up
I high key loved the women tho like ?????? and sure some of their fight scenes especially one on one didn’t seem believable with their tiny frame but they were still hot?‍? the rating is just for them and the third part

Sadom going back didn’t make sense cuz they’d have left faster if she just went up , instead they talked about her name and “come up, no go save yourself”
So her capture was meh and the two mls fighting well I guess it was greed and the need to make the women the heroes so I won’t complain too much
The gathering at the end should’ve been the main event, like they had an among us chat for the first part and a bigger group to sus in the last part so more deaths would’ve made it more heartbreaking

Leia Mais

Emotionally I’d have rated it a 10
Kyungsoo’s acting was so on point
kyungo also acted really well and sungmin ahjussi was a nice surprise

Story wise maybe it was too fantasy in the form off misfortune. Everything had to go wrong
Like idk if you can’t read outer space weather to know about the solar thing
Like they knew about the shooting stars if not know where it was exactly gonna hit
Anyway if you don’t know the things that could go wrong then why even try?
Especially wanting to use the moon dry like aren’t the trees enough? They want to take the moon
Filmography wise and acting wise tho it was on point and even the emotions were played well
My mom at first was like if it’s not a comedy I don’t want it and after a while she was also invested and I told her that’s my exo baby and she was also impressed
tho she thought it was suho and I had to tell her the brief history
Also kyungsoo’s English was a league of its own

Leia Mais