Reviews

A Story about Overcoming Disabilities... with a Hint of Romance?

Hidamari ga Kikoeru is more of a story about overcoming disabilities than a romance. While the movie claims to be a Boys Love, there is barely any romance. Kohei gives Taichi many hints that he is in love with him, but Taichi is very dense and doesn’t notice. He even doesn’t know how to react to Kohei kissing him, so there is barely any romance.

•❅✧❅✦ Story ✦❅✧❅•

However, just because there is barely any romance, doesn’t mean that it’s a bad movie. Taichi is constantly saving Kohei by not treating him any different from normal, and that is the heart of the story. It’s through Taichi that Kohei learns to love himself and his disability. There are very few films out there that can deal with this type of heavy topic without getting preachy, and this film is one of the few that does it perfectly. There is no special treatment or romance to save the day, it’s all just Taichi being Taichi that warms Kohei’s heart.

That being said, this is a movie and has a very short screen time. The movie tries to cover Kohei’s disability, his emotional turmoil over not being able to adapt to society and his growing feelings for Taichi. Due to issues with screen time, Kohei and Taichi’s relationship end up becoming more of a bromance because it’s not explored much in comparison to Kohei’s disabilities. I wish we had more screen time to show Taichi and Kohei's romance because... well, it is marketed as a BL.

•❅✧❅✦ Manga vs Film ✦❅✧❅•

While the manga is still ongoing as of writing, it’s so much better than the movie. The movie only covers the first volume, but Kohei and Taichi’s romance starts blossoming much later. Taichi starts to notice Kohei’s hints and starts trying to think of his feelings. It takes a while, but he does end up dating Kohei. Once they start reciprocating their feelings, they are an amazing couple. Taichi even starts to think of building a better future for Kohei where he can be included in society without prejudice, so he drops out of college and starts working at a company that helps those that are hearing-impaired. While Taichi may be slow and dense, he really puts Kohei and Kohei’s comfort first.

Honestly, while the Movie is good, the Manga is so much better. The movie feels rushed and unfinished towards the end. It feels rushed because at the climax, Kohei and Taichi have a misunderstanding, which leaves Kohei all flustered about not being able to live without hearing Taichi’s voice. There wasn’t much build up on his personality being very paranoid about not being able to hear Taichi, so it felt like it came out of nowhere.

As for the ending… Well, they kiss… And that’s it. Taichi doesn’t respond back to Kohei’s feelings, which is manga accurate, but he didn’t hate it, nor was he confused about it. He accepted Kohei’s feelings and nothing else. Kohei also just accepted that Taichi didn’t understand the meaning of the kiss and was willing to just have Taichi by his side without any strings attached. It wasn’t a very satisfactory ending, but an ending that screams there needs to be a sequel.

•❅✧❅✦ Film vs Drama ✦❅✧❅•

The drama version was made in 2024, seven years after the movie. The drama follows the plot of the manga more closely than the movie. The drama also covers more volumes than the movie. Due to having more time to explore the characters and the plot, the drama is able to focus on numerous plot points like Kohei’s disability, his emotional turmoil over being unable to adapt well to society due to his deafness, and of course, Kohei’s love for Taichi. The drama also includes Maya, a girl with a similar disability as Kohei. The drama also expands more on Taichi’s friends, family, and future prospects as he thinks of a better future for Kohei.

In terms of plot and romance the drama was better. The movie only had a little over an hour to fit everything from Kohei’s disability to their romance. The drama had 12 episodes to explore all of their issues. However, when it comes to the characters and their chemistry together, the movie was so much better.

The characters in the movie seem to embody more of Kohei and Taichi than the drama. Taichi is more loud and annoying, and literally looks dense, but he shows more expressions of concern for Kohei. Similarly, while movie Kohei is less expressive, he seems to genuinely be in love with Taichi and just wants Taichi to be by his side with no strings attached. It’s because of this genuine side to their characters they have better chemistry.

Overall, while I like how the drama expanded on the story, I personally think the movie was far more superior despite it’s flaws with the plot.

•❅✧❅✦ Acting ✦❅✧❅•

In terms of acting, the two actors did very well. It felt very natural, and they had lots of chemistry. The climax of the film was a bit difficult to understand since there wasn’t enough time to completely show Kohei’s growing feelings for Taichi and how it connects to his disability, but other then that everything felt natural.

•❅✧❅✦ Overall ✦❅✧❅•

Hidamari ga Kikoeru is a nice movie. It has an interesting storyline and amazing characters. It is a little slow-paced and doesn’t have much romance. But if you can get past that, it’s a nice drama.
From Kohei’s struggles and Taichi’s straightforwardness and willingness to help adapt to Kohei is something everyone needs to see.

That being said, I sadly I won’t be recommending the movie to anyone anytime soon. Instead, I will have to recommend the drama first, before the movie, sadly due to the drama covering more plotlines and having more romance.

It's still a great movie, though so I recommend watching it, especially if you've already seen the drama. Please tell me which Taichi you prefer? I prefer the movie Taichi over drama Taichi~!

Read More

Nothing to see here

Honestly, it is for a challenge that I decided to have a look at this very short movie (less than 3 minutes). As it is very short and helped me completing a challenge I'm not upset to have seen it. I just feel there is not a lot to see here.

The story is almost non-existent, the music is horrendously superposed into the dialogs and the actresses are rather unconvincing in their roles, with some very bad make-up. They don't have much to act on, so not putting the blame on them but I honestly cannot say I was interested by anything happening on screen.

I would not recommend it. In the same vein, a short Chinese movie featuring a same-sex relationship between two women and providing in a very short amount of time some interesting storytelling is "The Fox Spirit and the Little Priest", radically better. I strongly suggest you watch it rather than this one.

Read More

AV with training wheels

I can't really explain why I watched this. Between episodes of Racket Boys and My Holo Love, neither of which I adore, I started browsing random crap on MDL and found, well, about as random crap as random crap gets. I've no idea if it's been subbed in English pero lo encontró con subtítulos en español and that's good enough for me.

Since it does say "ecchi" in the listed prequel title, it's a bit of yeah well, what was I expecting and why was I not paying attention. My only excuse is that My Holo Love really numbs the mind and I was side-watching a football match on another screen. But mostly I think it was because the 6.2 rating felt like a challenge.

So it's less about the plot and more about the fact that it features two women in their 20s who look very nice in lingerie and a handsome guy who takes his shirt off maybe twice. I used the fast forward button a lot since most of the dialogue featured their friends giving the couple of virgins, and then beginners, bad sex advice, and most of the sex was in the dark or behind an aquarium. Much of the discussion about the lead couple's sex life took place between the office, nomikai, and the yoga studio as a matter of public interest.

Assuming that I was looking for something light and dumb to watch between episodes of something else, I was right on the money. The only thing lighter than the, uh, action was the plot. It's not that you expect to "read these things for the articles" but this is thin.

Should you watch it? Well, unless you have a thing for live action adaptations of manga with busty ladies, probably not. No, make that definitely not. Or even good God, no!

Read More

Close Encounters with the 3rd Kind °7.7° °VG°

He'll /try/ his /best/ to be faithful to her, he says. “There's only 2 kinds of men: Those who cheat and those who want to,” he qualifies, just so she knows how noble he is and how very, very difficult it will be to follow through on this intention. That's one prospective boyfriend's pitch for her affections. Zixin is looking for the “3rd kind”.

DGBMH is a 2011 125-minute Hong Kong release that is rated 91 on AWiki. It's an engaging and tasty little morsel that decries the concept of false-choices in relationships. Don't only follow your heart - give a listen to your head as well.

So far, Zixin hasn't used her head enough. “Here, take my seat,” Zixin says to the pregnant lady on the bus. When their eyes meet, they realize who they are; who /SHE/ is. Zixin is the ex. Preggers is the current gf of Zixin's ex-bf. Mr. Ex catches up with them on the bus. When he sees Zixin, his mouth starts flapping: ‘Hold onto my liquor and my other items, and take care of my frog. I will pick them up soon…’ Zixin's ex has no shame. She should have known that already, long before she ever shacked up with him.

Preggers has a meltdown.

Ex asks ZIXIN to leave the bus. His gf is too upset, and /she's/ pregnant, afterall…

After storming off of the bus, Zixin almost gets run over. A bum just manages to snatch her out of the way, saving her life. So she's still alive (physically), but Zixin is not living her best life right about now.

S'all gud, though. At work she's window-flirting with the hottie-in-a-suit across the road. He's been waving, putting up flowers made of post-its, doing magic tricks, and today he asked her out - all by way of sign language from the office building across the way. They are finally gonna meet for coffee.

What Zixin doesn't realize is that the woman in the office under her has also been signaling to hottie dude. Which one of them has he been asking out?

On the way for coffee, Zixin runs into her savior-bum. As a way of ‘Thank you’ she offers to give him all the stuff her ex-bf left at her place. Frog n’ all. This leads to an epic date. It's not a date, officially… But it /IS/ a date. It happens a couple nights later. He approaches her with a wad of cash. Apparently, he sold most of the stuff. He says she can't take the money home. They have to spend it. First, he takes her for a haircut. (‘How long have you had that hairdo?” Did /he/ like your hair long?) Next, it's: “Do you have to wear dark clothes at work?” New wardrobe! Then it's good food. Zixin learns that this bum is an award winning architect who has been trying to dig out of a pile of life's rubble with a shot glass.

She walks Into work the next day with a spring in her step. She's flowing. Everyone & everything else stops. Zixin is a totally new person, overnight. She's officially a hottie. (Never underestimate the power of a good hairdo, and don't neglect your physical self & health). Things go lopsided when half of her firm loses their jobs in the aftermath of the Lehman Bros 2008 collapse. Their new boss is someone from across the street.

Daniel Wu (Go Away Mr. Tumor!, New Police Story) plays Kevin Fong. He was a brilliant architect. Now he's a drunk. Louis Koo Anita (The Road Less Traveled) portrays Zhang Shen Ran. He's a red blooded man, and he likes women. Zixin is extremely attracted to him, but must ask him, based on his description of the two kinds of men, will he become a Martian after they marry? Gao Yuan Yuan (The Qin Empire, City of Life and Death) is the girl, Cheng Zixin. They were all upstaged by Froggy, though.

At the helm we have a team. Wai Ka Fai (Looking Back in Anger, Fat Choi Spirit) is screenwriter/director. Johnnie To, of Running Out of Time, co-directed, and there's two more screenwriters: Ryker Chan (Blind Detective) & Jevons Au (Distinction).

The theme is choosing the right one, not the one you /want/ to be the right one. The right one will naturally have a positive effect on us. The confidence that stems from a positive love relationship will always spur us on to better things. Zixin already did change the right one. And he changed her. And that was all without trying. The wrong one was never going to change.

I used to say that one shouldn't marry unless one feels s/he can't live without the other person. That is not untrue, but it's not a good enough litmus test. Marry the person who feels most like home. That's what you'll be trying to build with the person - a home.

〰🖍 IMHO

📣7.9 📝7 🎭8 💓6.5 🦋4 🎨6 🎵/🔊6.8 🔚7.3 🤗7 ▪ 🌞4.8 ⚡2 😅3 😭2 😱1 😯2 🤢0 🤔5 💤0


AAge15+ sexual content
Language: @$$h0le

Rated TV-PG-13: Parents Cautioned

Re-📺? Would

Read More

Hm... Where should I even begin this...

Story about Archaeological expert Professor Chen who discovered a jade pendant. Since he discovered this jade pendant, he started having dream about a girl and a general.

In this dream, the girl [Meng Yun(MY)] is running from a man (Huduna). Later we find out that Huduna is a king who wants to married MY. Huduna wanted to merried MY not only because she's pretty, but because MY also hold the key to greater treasure that been kept by Great Shaman.

In the real world, Professor Chen also try to discovered this treasure. But of course not because he wants to keep it for himself, but to give it to the country and to learn about this missing history. So how the treasure hunt ends...?

That's pretty much the story without giving anymore spoiler. Now what I like and don't.

What I like:
+ Great landscape. Especially in the end
+ Good acting skill. Jackie chan movie never disappointed me with their character acting skill and combat scene.

What I don't:
- Quite boring story. This basically remake of myth with a little different story.
- The joke on the AI generated face. They try to make Jackie Chan younger but this one of the the bad results of the failed CGI. From the comment, the younger general is played by Zheng Ye Cheng. Such unfortunates for Zheng Ye Cheng.

Overall just watch if you're the fans of the actor/ess played here

Read More

Not horror, just, interesting.

if youre looking for a horror bl, this is not your place to be searching. Genuinely enjoyed the cast and how much feel they put into everything. Jumpscares do make you jump but personally it was generally comedic. Gore,gore gore! had to rewatch the second death a few times, cannot be more hilarious. It's a quick watch and is worth it. Story is captivating enough to pull you in. Slightly cliché but you'll just have to put up with it. a few scenes were uncomfortable enough to make you flinch and want to shut your eyes closed. Definitely not for the faint of heart. Not many characters and easy to follow. Murderer's weapon of choice is brutal!

Read More

so wholesome

i really love the wholesomeness, that i got from this. like maybe it’s just me but most of it felt so genuine, like not scripted.they way it seemed so down to earth was what got me. and not like Thai drama(no shade, I still love Thai dramas) I love how it didn’t need like love scenes or anything like that because of house wholeness and genuine it was. it also felt really relatable as well, like i have no complaints about it as well. I haven’t been into Korean dramas since i usually watch Thai drama, but this really gave me better thoughts to get into Korean drama. I just hope i can find more like this. i just hope their would be a second movie or even a series! I hope people can agree with me:)

Read More

not a fluffy BL

Overall: centered on an established couple and it was not a fluffy type plot. I watched this 22 min short movie on Flying Penguin's YouTube channel with membership https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p81bh_UQUow&t=584s&ab_channel=%EB%82%A0%EC%9C%BC%EB%8A%94%ED%8E%AD%EA%B7%84flyingpenguin

What I Liked
- good kissing/intimacy
- camerawork with going wider and making the guy look smaller

Room For Improvement
- too dim, needed more light on actors' faces
- they didn't translate texts
- perhaps in part due to the non-translated texts, I wasn't 100% sure what was going on

Read More

An unsettling watch

This movie has a run time of almost 3 1/2 HOURS! Yup, you heard right. A movie this long better be a masterpiece to make up for it's length and A Tender Place is no masterpiece. I wasn't bored but I wasn't moved either.

To sum it up, the movie was filled with every possible scenario of what could have happened to FL's missing daughter. It became tedious real quick. And no answers are ever given. The story ends open ended and you never find out what happened to the missing girl. I hate when movies do this! It's just lazy writing.

Also, FL is a horrible mother and dare I say person. So it makes it hard to care for her grieving. She has an affair for 2 yrs with a client of her husband. And in the throws of passion, with her lover, she blurts out that she would leave her kids for him. Now this woman said this and was having sex while her husband, her lover's wife, and all of their kids are upstairs asleep. She said this knowing someone was lurking outside the door and could hear her. Like what??? Plus, later FL kept pressuring ML to sleep with her and inevitably forced ML to perform a sexual act to her while he was on his death bed and in severe pain from stomach cancer. In my country they'd call that sexual assault. I was disgusted. The only positive about this movie is the acting from the main leads. They were amazing in their roles.

I give this a generous 6.5/10

Read More

SO WEIRD

NO BECAUSE 4 FOUUUURRR HOURS ... THIS IS A MASTERPIECE everything is so weird, its 4 hours that keep you hooked bc one thing happens after another in the strangest way and you just be there in front of the screen 😯😯😯😯 . Its been a while since i saw it, so the order of events may be messed up, but the wlw was 👏🏻 its cool the fact that the movie handles matters with comedy(but in a mature way yk?), the mix of genres, the characters.... one thing i love about asian movies is exactly that, all the unpredictable things that leave us speechless . this is cinema

Read More