Zíza

I hadn't seen the previous two TV specials, but that didn't bother me that much, I was able to figure out what was going on relatively well, plus they showed a flashback here and there, so I got an idea of what the two episodes were actually about. So it’s not so necessary to watch them as well. On the other hand, without them, it feels too rushed, because it's really the culmination of some arguments and a rethinking of who's with whom and how much. But otherwise it's a classic teen romantic comedy, although every element of it is toned down a bit. But I still haven't figured out why. Maybe it's the feeling of hurriedness. It's already clear from the poster who's going to score with the girl, so there are no surprises. Anyone who wants to see all the typical stuff that goes with it should watch the two specials; if you just want to see how it turns out, or you don't have that much time and you just want to fly through the story, just watch the film.

A Kimura performance like always, I’m amazed he’s able to keep the same level for over twenty years – i.e. quality output, nothing for the viewer to roll their eyes at. Each episode has its own story, but towards the end, what has followed Yukio through the entire series emerges and we finally learn who she is and what happened. It's not a bad discovery, so you don't feel disappointed. Considering it's a 90's series, it's basically bold for today, you even see boobs in there. Nobody plays the saint, everybody is quite reasonable, even the message that every Japanese product simply has is not forced on the viewer. I thought it was a good diversion. Nothing pretentious, but nothing primitive either. It's just a pity it can't be found in a better quality version. What must it really be like to lose your memory? Enviable? Sad? Cool? A better 3 stars.

I just have a soft spot for these types of movies. There's this bittersweetness that runs through them, and you don't know if you feel good after watching it or sad that it turned out the way it did. For being a film based on a song, I think they did a good job; despite its length, the film is definitely a good watch. A weaker 4 stars.

Well, let's all settle down. :-D It was such an interesting idea and I was looking forward to it so much that I left very disappointed. The beginning was still good when it followed certain rules. But then the rules started to bend, suddenly there were no more boundaries, but a limitless deus ex machina (we need to nudge it in this direction, so suddenly this is allowed; we need to stretch it, so let's make it harder and give new powers to this one and that one, we’ll just "slyly" explain it somehow, the audience will fall for it). Even though it seemed to have one twist after another, when you start thinking about it, you realize that basically the main puzzle was already solved after seven episodes, but because they needed to stretch it to 16, we suddenly ended up with more "plots". If you ignore the fact that we are moving between two worlds, where one of them can be influenced in a rather brutal way, we end up with another ordinary romance with love through life and death. But because we don't unlearn that, we don't get anything proper and everything is half and half for me – the fight against evil, their relationship, the fantasy element off the leash. And then I had a personal problem – Jong-suk Lee is fine, but as soon as he put on that wide smile of his, I had a weird feeling about him, just that the smile wasn't genuine at all and it all went a creepy direction for me. So I couldn't find my way to his character, or really to any character at all. In the end I found the assistant cartoonist the most interesting, he seemed the most genuine to me. Admittedly, I wondered for a while if maybe it was also a parody of all those deus ex machina, weird twistplots that you find in these shows (I had that suspicion the moment the author of W talks about how he created the killer), but in the end it took itself so seriously, unfortunately. I can't give a higher rating, it wouldn't be fair and the series is incredibly overrated. Just don't overthink it and you'll have fun. Although it's possible that you, like me, will still have a lot of questions after the last episode ends; because after all the mess it made, the series still doesn't answer them.

Slightly better than the live-action version, but still... the illogical to annoying behavior of the characters kills almost all the action, and when there is no action, we’re just watching the lives of people who are dead. Or are we? It's not until the last episode that we actually get a philosophical moment, but I feel like it's coming from the mouth of a rather inappropriate character. Finally, what I took away from the anime is the alternating between characters whining and assuming a heroic can-do, go-for-it, you can do it, pal! It's got violence, the anime doesn't mess around, and it kills indiscriminately – I appreciate that a lot. But other than that, I have no idea what else I could praise further. The story? Not a good one. Characters? Ha ha. Animation? Not impressed. Opening? Ending? Same impression as the animation – almost none. On the other hand, it's true that it wasn't so boring and it went by quite briskly. A weaker 3 stars.

An uninteresting romantic comedy set by the sea. It flips from one cliché to another, but unfortunately not in any original way. Basically it's similar to being at the beach, sunbathing, but forgetting your book. Nothing to get you excited about, but again, it's bearable. Basically no twists and turns, just a depiction of one ordinary meeting of two different people who soon become terribly close and the viewer is just watching their ordinary lives. Why not, movies like that can be amazing; but this one didn't quite make it. 50%.

The film didn't impress me in any way, it left not a trace behind it. I guess it's not bad, but it has no magic. It has no sparkle; and the actors at times seem like they don't really want to act. Not the kids, who are "enthusiastic" in every shot, but the adults... pretty boring, they didn't put anything interesting into their performance at all. And then came the fall from the bridge and everything after that stopped making sense. The past was half changed, half not, just a poorly thought-out ending to the film. And above all... the thing on the roof? By that point I was already thinking the filmmakers were pushing it, and that I would consign the film to the "won't watch it again, nothing to watch" drawer. A weaker 3 stars.

Okay, a full round of applause. MatsuJun finally got a role where he proved he can act. I have at last watched a series since Boys Over Flowers where he had a lead role and had fun. I had been starting to think he had bad luck with his choices, but this was good. He shined, but the other main characters played by Eikura and Kagawa were great as well. I devoured it in one sitting and didn't think for a moment that I’d had enough. The episodes managed to keep me on my toes, and even though I pretty much always knew who the culprit was, I was just waiting to see how they would convict him. The plots are simple, the themes have been seen a thousand times, the crimes retold a thousand times; it's just that this bunch of lawyers gives it a whole different dimension. Lots of clichés, but it doesn't matter because they either managed to pull it off brilliantly or just used it appropriately (because who says clichés are bad? it's just the inappropriately used ones). For example, the two lead lawyers meet before they start working together when one of them destroys the other's cell phone by running over it. But it's used well in the end, and you're just watching the concert of these two personalities, these two guys, that it rests on and certainly doesn't fall. It's funny, quite brisk, you're not expecting moral speeches in every episode. Jun is a likable guy, Eikura is a hottie, Kagawa is a seasoned badass. It was just good, a lot. It was fun, a lot. Kind of overdone Japanese, but I had fun. Awesome. A strong 4 stars.

This is definitely food porn loaded with profanity and scenes that cross the line for some. On the other hand, it's an adult cartoon, so it's clear they're not going to be freeing Willy. On the one hand, I appreciate that the film makes a statement about such "weepy" issues as religion, otherness, ethnicity, and so on, but keeps it at the level of fun; of course, nothing deeper comes of it. In the end, basically all those stereotypes are used to entertain or dramatize the scene. Of course, some of the (pop) culture references were right on, ditto the visit from the candy-coated Stephen Hawking. The songs chosen were great and you could see the filmmakers were having fun with it. On the other hand, just bad language and now and then good and playful ideas are not enough to make you 100% interested in a film. Besides, the animation didn't impress me much either. I don't think watching it will hurt, if you don't mind that it's not exactly a story with a moral lesson and that the climax is a real climax. A better 3 stars. After all, even the day after watching it I was thinking about the film, mainly because I had no idea how to rate it.

I honestly liked the second series a bit more than the first. Although everyone was the same and it basically followed a similar structure to the first series, the ending was a bit better and didn't fizzle out so weirdly into nothing; although even here the quality of the last episode is a lot lower than the previous ones (the whole plot "in our world" was generally the weak point in the first series). I think I was most amused when the Beach Boys parody was played, because after all, it's a series after my own heart. So a simple recommendation – anyone who liked the first series will not be disappointed with this one.