Zíza

It's cluttered with so many characters in 94 minutes you really can't get close to anyone or like them. Not to mention that the trio of brothers are quite unmoving and dominated by the one played by Fukushi Sota, who completely forgot how to act here. In fact, he's at his best with a stony expression where he doesn't have to move. Showing any emotion? Nope. And then they just throw all sorts of stuff at you, you don't have a moment to properly deal with it, so it's not hard to lose focus – it stops being fun. The action is mediocre. Music too, though at times pleasantly surprising. The costumes are about the only interesting thing, but that's just not enough. Boring.

The cinematography, the animation, the action scenes: in Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba it is all above average. Even the music doesn't lag behind other Shōnen. But that's the extent of it. The protagonist is basically a kind of boy scout – he's always nice and he likes everyone and everything; occasionally some moral or life advice comes out of his mouth, but it doesn't feel in character since he's a boy scout. His poor sister is pretty much a puppet; the most the fans could make of her is a doll for playtime. But there’s no more to it. Another character pops up, the coward Zenitsu, who actually spends the entire time screaming in fear and trembling. He does swing his sword occasionally, but that doesn't make up for the damage done by his whimpering. Inosuke Hashibira, the “pig head" character, is just another stereotype of the Shōnen genre. The backstories of all the characters are presented so superficially that it ends up being mundane, and fails to hit the mark. Let alone the demons, how can you sympathize with something whose tragic past just quickly flashes by and its owner dies within seconds? Indeed, that's what bothered me a lot about the whole series – characters with no character, no depth, just the kind of characters whose creators gave them some basic set of traits indicating that they should be and didn’t do anything else with it. They're totally flat, and I think in this day and age, if you want to be a good Shōnen, that's just a bit excessive. All that remains, therefore, is a nice package, but not much in the way of content. Like potato chips. A weak 3 stars.

An incredibly forgettable film. I watched it yesterday, but I don't really remember what I liked about it. The animation? The music! Yeah, the music was good. But other than that, it was a mess. The story ran this way, then that way, characters jumping in and out of their beliefs as easily as lights switching on and off. The development of it all was unnaturally fast, unorganized; it doesn't compel you to watch it closely, but instead just bores you. If they had made it into a series, it would have all worked better: it could have been more elaborate; this way it felt sloppier. Plus the unnecessary twists and turns, we could have done without a few of them. There's no need to cram so many things into one film. The world was interesting, the alter ego principle was interesting, but the rest was like the cake cooked by the dog and cat in the famous children’s book by Josef Čapek. It didn't exactly go down well.

Standard Korean stuff – we've got a handsome genius, a heroine who suffers from some ailment so she has trouble socializing, plus they both have trauma with a common root; just nothing original. Luckily this series is only twelve episodes long, so there aren't all these unnecessary drawn-out, stupid twists towards the end of the series. Even though there are the traditional clichéd twists and revelations, it doesn't actually keep you from watching; you don’t mind that the plot is predictable because it doesn't get on your nerves. The narrative unfolded at a fairly steady pace. The music did not stand out, did not overwhelm. The script didn't hide anything miraculous. The performances kept it down to earth. I found the most interesting character to be the vice president of the rival IT firm, Baek Chan Sung, dominated by his father; but despite that interestingness, he didn't break out of the average with his transformation. What are we kidding ourselves, it's a watchable mediocrity that doesn't even try to speak to its audience more deeply.

Such a classic story. Girl goes off to do something, in this case to study fish, tuna, but basically doesn't even really know why. She's surrounded by people who all have their own motivations. She's the kind of girl who smiles at everybody, terribly positive, friendly, and thinks that if she puts her mind to something, it'll just work out. Of course, she has people around her who support her, bond with her, etc. And the viewer watches as she turns from a girl who doesn't know what she wants to do, why she came to study fish, into a girl who really gets it and gains the respect of those who used to look down on her. Some of these stories are awfully fun to watch, but here they were just pushing it all based on clichés; plus I didn't find anyone very likable, not even the main character. Add to that the uninteresting setting of the tuna fish, and I just got a below average TV movie that I'll forget very quickly. It doesn't have anything that can make it interesting. As background, as something undemanding, please. If you're just collecting stories where someone unmotivated for something finds motivation, please help yourself. Otherwise, there's no point in watching this.

I honestly wasn't that interested in the first two and a half episodes. It wasn't bad, but it didn't completely grab me; I didn't care about the characters, I just enjoyed the unusual setting for a Korean series – what other series can say that most of its plot takes place in France? But then, for some reason, I started to enjoy it. The intermingling of two worlds, with one being so different, seeming so laid-back compared to the uptight corporatism of Korean society. It's interesting to see how the relationships develop during the trip – not only between couples who belong together, but also between fellow travelers. It has its clichés, this series is not forgiven for them, but they truly don't matter. If this were a book, I would describe it as readable. I was even very pleased with one twist towards the end: the script had a way of confusing and leading the viewer to swallow a classic story line, but eventually turned around. A bit too fated for my liking, but it was fun to watch and the characters were well drawn, so you could relate to them or choose not to.

Toda Erika and Muro Tsuyoshi in the lead roles. Oddly enough, strange as it may seem, these two make a good couple. And the two have fine conversations and a great relationship together. The only problem is that the main character develops Alzheimer's disease, so it's not going to be a walk in the park. Still, the series is very enjoyable, doesn't push the envelope, and basically tries to enjoy life, even if some want to prevent that. So it's true that the last two episodes are a bit... all over the place, but there are moments that manage to win the viewer over. A strong 3 stars.

I liked the way it was filmed, acted, voiced, performed. I don't care that it's a movie about Catholic bigwigs. Overall, I don't even think the film had aspirations to be a faithful historical reproduction. I think it wanted to show two gentlemen getting on in years and becoming friends, even though they root for different teams. The fact that they both tried out for the papal chair is simply taking advantage of the alluring setting. An enjoyable film, it flows very nicely; the two hours passed like a breeze. I just walked away satisfied, absolutely not wanting to think about everything the Pope symbolizes, how much that circus costs to maintain, what all he's covered up. For me, it's a nice film with no critical overlap.

I don't really like stories with Miss Marple, but here her character is portrayed by an ex-cop who I didn't find so annoying. Of course, she was played by Amami Yuki, who perhaps can't play anyone properly unless they investigate murders or frauds in some capacity. A bit too labored for my taste. Maeda Atsuko was not at all suited to her role, and overall I thought she slacked off a lot; but if you like Agatha Christie stories, this TV movie translated her style quite well.

A more challenging film, fairly well acted, about people where no one is normal. Basically, they're flawed in some way, almost as if to say that Japanese society is pathological. No one is likable. This also makes the film harder to watch. What’s more, it's not straightforward; there’s a lot it doesn't say. It's not romantic. It's cold, but it tries to be warming in the end.