[Anime Movie Review] Weathering with You / Tenki no Ko / 天気の子

Another animated movie review... Another popular animated movie directed by Makoto Shinkai which is said to be the next Hayao Miyazaki...

Well, I don't mean to be offensive, but in my opinion it's way too overrated. Of course this is super subjective, but for me who actually don't like animated things, Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli could make me interested with their film, while it's not happening with Makoto Shinkai. Let me explain in detail on the review below...

The story start from a high school boy named Hodaka who ran away from home to Tokyo.

 When a rainstorm struck the ferry he was riding, he is saved by Suga. Suga sensed that Hodaka was on a runaway and gave him his name card, in case Hodaka needed helps.

Searching jobs in the capital city of course without graduating from high school of course not easy. Hodaka ended up searching Suga for help. Suga lived with his niece, Natsumi, and they worked as some kind of publisher, and Suga hired Hodaka to help him with his work.

As they were working on some weather article, Hodaka met Hina, a girl who is actually a Sunshine Girl. She could make the weather sunny if she prayed.

 Hina and her little brother were orphans. As they needed money, Hodaka suggest to use Hina's power to make money. And they did it.

 But as Hina prayed and prayed, she started to lose her body... A sacrifice had to be made for the weather to be sunny again...

To tell you the truth, the animation is actually super good. It is super detailed and feels so real. I don't doubt the animation at all, it's perfect... However, the problem is the story... It is quite boring for me. I'm not sure which one making it a little boring, but maybe the pace of the story sometimes is too detailed and too slow.

While a too detailed animation makes it perfect, a too detailed story makes it boring. The big picture of the story was actually not bad, but how they wrap it into the +- 2 hours movie making it so boring.

Japanese movie, anime, film, anything, usually give us a good morale lesson, but in this movie... Of course, there are always something to learn, but just... I barely feel it. Maybe because I can't relate to it? Or maybe because they don't show it significantly? I wonder...

Well, I'd gave this anime movie thing 6 points out of 10 points.

[Dorama Review] Switched / Sora wo Kakeru Yodaka

Hello guys! I saw that my last post was on July 2019, so it's been more than a half year since my last post. Actually I watched some doramas between those days, and it's quite good too, but I'm just too lazy to write any review and comment.

Also, recently I started to watch netflix, and I found a lot of good doramas there, even though I couldn't finish some of them because it is so boring in the first 2-3 episodes and I decided not to continue watching it.

Well, tonight I want to write a little bit review and comment about the dorama I watched on netflix: Switched. This is a super good dorama for me, even it made the-lazy-me to wake up and write on this blog after ignoring it for more than half a year, lol.

This dorama is about a beautiful-famous-girl named Kohinata Ayumi (played by Kiyohara Kaya), who was super friendly and smart, and also kind-hearted. If you ever imagine a perfect girl ever, then maybe she is the one.

 She had two bestfriends, bestfriends since childhood to be exact, and they were boys. Kaga Shunpei (played by Shigeoka Daiki of Johnny's WEST) and Mizumoto Koshiro (played by Kamiyama Tomohiro of Johnny's WEST). Beautiful girl who has two handsome close boyfriends, what else can you expect? It's just a perfect world for people who see them, isn't it?

Then it turned out that Koshino confessed his feeling to Ayumi, and they were dating. Umine Zenko (played by Tomita Miu) who was believed to be an ugly and fat girl, loved Koshino because Koshino had helped her before and she started to get jealous. Umine found a way to switch body with Ayumi.

Umine which was in Ayumi's body was super satisfied. She would never go back to her old body. On the contrary, Ayumi who was trapped inside Umine's body started to cry. Ayumi experienced being Umine, who was bullied, a broken home kid, and all alone.

But their bestfriends found out about the body's switchover. They were bestfriends after all. Kaga was the one who was beside Ayumi when she was trapped inside Umine's body. On the other hand, Koshino was always beside Umine who was in Ayumi's body.

So many things happened in the search of finding a way to switch the body back. But let me write only some important things that I learn from this dorama.

- Ayumi who was inside Umine's body started to live her life with all her might. She started to shine inside the class, being liked by her classmates and of course by his bestfriend Kaga, despite having an ugly appearance. She was struggling at first, of course, having people bullying her and even her mother was body-shaming her, but in the end, inner-beauty shined the most.

- On the contrary, Umine who was inside Ayumi's body was falling apart. She didn't like the fact that the new-Umine could gain attention from many people. She was even being asked:
"Cute appearance, wonderful friends, kind and caring family, but despite all of that, you don't seem very happy, do you?"
Despite having all of the perfect things in life, she was not satisfied. It's because all were in her own mind, always felt lacking of something.

From those two perspective, I can say that indeed a beautiful girl has advantages at first. I wouldn't deny that we live in this world full of sin where most of the people would judge on the appearance first. And maybe you and I unconsciously do that too, but we just don't spit it out. But believe me, beauty on the appearance only wouldn't last long. Body can rot as we grow old. But a good character only knows how to get better.

It was shown in Ayumi, despite of her appearance which turns ugly, she was still being liked by her friends. Of course, not instantly, need more works than when she was having a beautiful appearance, but she can do that. Showing her good attitude make her more charming, make an ugly one turned to be a cute one in people eyes because of her attitudes.

Umine, despite having a wonderful body, people started to look at her in a suspicious way, probably thinking "What happened with her?" Her beautiful appearance can't cover her bad attitudes of being egoistic. "Looking different on the outside won't change what's inside", that's the remarkable sentence that touched me from this dorama.

To conclude, there are four types of people. Beautiful ones with good attitudes, beautiful ones with bad attitudes, ugly ones with good attitudes, and ugly ones with bad attitudes. It's good if you're blessed with beautiful appearance, but don't be satisfied only with it. Shape your characters that people may say "Wow, she is beautiful outside and inside". Ayumi, Kaga, and Koshino were the three examples for this, actually. They are beautiful and handsome, they don't bully Umine, and they help Umine actually, but because Umine was so deep down in her negative thoughts, she can only think the ones who bullied her.

Well, if you feel so beautiful but having bad attitudes (which I believe a few people - or maybe no people? - would admit it), just be careful. People stay with you maybe only because you have something, and eventually they will leave you when those beauty fades. Start to learn to be better.

If you ever feel ugly, don't worry. First, maybe actually you're not that bad. As how Umine was, she just need a single hairpin, and she looks cuter. Not bad at all. Maybe you just need that 'single hairpin' to make you looks cuter. But second, that's not the most important things. Having good characters will make even a super ugly ones turn into the most beautiful person ever, in other people eyes. That's why people say "Beauty is subjective".

In the end, I would give this dorama 8.5 points out of 10 points. I'd give 10 points for their morale lessons though.

[Anime Movie Review] My Neighbors the Yamadas / Houhokekyo Tonari no Yamada-kun / ホーホケキョとなりの山田く

Tonight I will write a little bit review of Studio Ghibli's My Neighbors the Yamadas.

The story is super simple. It is about a family, Yamada family, which consists of 5 persons; a dad, a mom, a son, a daughter, and a grandma.

I could say it is more like to a short story which is compiled together and it becomes a 2-hour-movie. However, it is not bad. It's actually super good. Telling us about some daily life stories from the Yamada family, bringing a topic which might be around us too.

For me, I personally like the story where their son, Noboru, said something like this "It would be good if I have a better parents". His mom and dad replied with something like this: if they hadn't been there, then probably Noboru won't exist too.

Another story I like, is when they tell us what a marriage is. As long as a family sticks to each other, they somehow can face the wildest sea, but not for a calm water. We relax, loosening our hold, and we might not realize that we are actually in danger.

Well, if you really watch and think about it, there are actually some good messages that you can get from this anime movie.

As expected from Studio Ghibli, another amazing movie. The concept is totally different with another Studio Ghibli's movie, and the drawing is also nice, which is more like a manga rather than the usual movie, and it's not even lessen the value of the movie.

I would give this movie 9 out of 10 points. I love it so much!

[Japanese Movie Review] Kimi no Suizo wo Tabetai / I want to eat your pancreas / 君の膵臓をたべたい

This will be the next Japanese movie I'll review. Kimi no Suizo wo Tabetai or literally you can translate it to I want to eat your pancreas.
Just as usual, I will start with a brief synopsis of the movie [Please beware of spoiler!]

Shiga Haruki (played with Oguri Shun - present, Kitamura Takumi - past) was a quiet high school student. He rarely interacted with people, he had no friend, and all he did was staying at the library and organizing the books there, since he was the library committee.

One day, he accidentally picked up Yamauchi Sakura's (played by Hamabe Minami) diary in the hospital. She was Shiga's classmate who was quite popular. It turned out that Sakura had a pancreas disease and her life was estimated only a year left. Shiga was the first and the only one who knew this secret beside Sakura's family.

Sakura wanted to be friends with Shiga, and she tricked him to go to a trip together with her. They became closer and closer.

One day, Sakura was hospitalized. Two-weeks-hospitalized-check up, she said. However, she didn't get better and she needed to be hospitalized longer. They promised to watch Sakura blossom together once Sakura discharged.

The day came. She was discharged, not forever but only for a while, because it seemed like her life was not long anymore. She was given a chance to do anything she wanted to do. Shiga planned the trip, they promised to meet each other at a cafe. However, Sakura never came to the cafe. She died on the way to the cafe. Moreover, she died not because of the disease but because of a criminal who stabbed her with a knife.

Okay,
I saw this movie because there was a movie playing in the cinema with a title "I want to eat your pancreas". I was thinking like what the heck? what kind of title is that? it must be a strange movie. However, those catchy title made me curious. I searched the whole internet, and found this live action movie. I guess the one playing in the cinema was the anime one, but since I'm more to dorama and real people, I decided to watch the live action.

Well, I could say this is the best movie I watched recently. The story was truly touching and I was so teary even in the middle of the story, even before anything happened. After watching it, I can totally relate, why the title of the movie is like that. There might be no special things about the theme of the movie; I mean, you can always find someone sick and die in many of Japanese movies or doramas. However, this one is super good with a quite plot twist in the end of the movie. Never even once I thought that Sakura would die not because of the disease =____=

Lesson learned from this movie: We never know when we will die. We can die tonight, we can die tomorrow, or maybe a year later. Even when we are sentenced to die because of our disease, we still have the same chance to live as the healthy one. It might be the healthy one who died first because of an accident, or anything. So, live your life to the fullest, everyday. Cherish the one you love while you still can.

You really need to watch this movie and find out yourself why this movie is called "I want to eat your pancreas". I superrrrrr recommend this movie and give this movie 9 out of 10 points.

[Anime Movie Review] Grave of the Fireflies / Hotaru no Haka 火垂るの墓

Ok, another Studio Ghibli movies streak. Grave of the Fireflies, or Hotaru no Haka. This movie was released on 1988. If mostly Studio Ghibli's movie is about fantasy, this time I could say it's more to a daily life story with World War era setting.

The story is actually quite simple. There was a brother and sister called Seita and Setsuko who lived in a city in Japan in the World War era. The American bombers were flying above them, which led them to go to the bomb shelter. Their mom went to the bomb shelter ahead since Seita needed to secure their belongings. Seita took her little sister Setsuko with him.

Before they reached the shelter, the bomblets dropped which led to fire in the whole city. Seita and Setsuko were succeed in fleeing, however, their mom got into the fire and badly injured.

Their mom died no longer after that incident. Seita decided not to tell Setsuko first since Setsuko was just a little girl.

Having no home due to the fire, Seita asked help from their mom relatives. At first, they were accepted, but as days went by, their aunt kept nagging and hated them. Well, I think it's just as expected since the food was hard to get at that time.

Seita decided to live on their own. Seita brought Setsuko to an unused cave and stayed there with Setsuko.

Things went even worse. Food scarcity led Seita to be a thief, yet, they still didn't get enough nutrition. Setsuko suffered from malnutrition and died.

Seita who was left by his whole family felt hopeless and also died not long after that.

This movie has a really simple story but very touching. In reality, maybe many people who experienced the same as them back then in World War II. This gave me a thought that egoism from the politics could lead a war and made the whole country suffer from it. In the same time I also grateful that I was born in this era, in a place where there is no such a war, and hopefully it will never happen in everyway.

Well, it's a super good movie, even though there are other movies which has the same theme and similar story (like "In This Corner of the World"), but it's still good and interesting, giving us one more alternative life story which might happen in the World War era. It's a must watch movie.

I gave this movie 8 out of 10 points.

[Anime Movie Review] Kiki's Delivery Service / Majo no Takkyuubin 魔女の宅急便

Another review on Studio Ghibli's movie, Kiki's Delivery Service. It was released on 1989.

Kiki is a daughter from a witch family. In the witch's tradition, when children turned into 13 years old, they must leave the house for a year for training. Kiki has turned into 13 years old, so it's her turn to do the training. She left the house with her black cat, named Jiji.

Kiki decided to find a city near the sea because she liked the sea. She found one which was quite a big city and Kiki was flustered at first.

When Kiki tried to find a place to stay, she met a woman who had a bakery. One of her customer forgot something on her store, and Kiki helped her to bring the item to the customer. Later, Kiki was allowed to stay in her place.

Kiki decided to work because she needed money to live alone. Realizing that her only talent was to fly with a broomstick, she opened a delivery service, while trying to get along with the people in the town.

To sum up, it's really a simple story but super entertaining. It's easy to understand, really compatible for both children and adults. You don't need to think hard, it's simply entertaining, easy to watch (easier than any other Studio Ghibli's movie I've watched so far). I think it's really one of the best movie produced by Studio Ghibli. I like this movie a lot!

I can give this movie 8 out of 10 points.

[Anime Movie Review] Princess Mononoke / Mononoke Hime もののけ姫

For those who doesn't know yet, last time I went to the Studio Ghibli Museum in Mitaka, and ended up watching Laputa Castle in the Sky which I had written the review before. Now, I want to write a review for another Studio Ghibli movie, Princess Mononoke. It's actually an old film from Studio Ghibli which was published on 1997 and maybe many of you have watched this film, but still, I want to write the synopsis and review for those who hasn't watched it yet.

Ashitaka is a prince, as well as a warrior from a small town, between north and east. One day, a demon boar came to the town and was going to attack Ashitaka's village. To protect the people in the village, Ashitaka had no choice but to kill it.

Ashitaka was cursed when killed the demon boar. There was nothing could cure the curse, except going to the west and saw what made the boar turned into the demon which might help Ashitaka found a way to cure the curse.

Ashitaka started the journey to the west and found out that a village was burning the forest down which made the animals there angry. He tried to reconcile the relationship between humans and animals. He also met San, a human which was raised by wolf, making her in the animals' side.

Even at the first San looked like an enemy, but in the end she and Ashitaka were helping each other. Together, they tried to save the forest from the bad people and also saved the people from the God's anger.

It's just a short synopsis from me, but when you watched it, it's actually so interesting. "This is Studio Ghibli" is all I can say about this anime movie. So far, Studio Ghibli is never disappointing me in all the story, animation, and concept. I think my blog will be full of Studio Ghibli's films review.

I have watched four of Studio Ghibli's film: Spirited Away, Totoro, Laputa Castle in the Sky and Princess Mononoke, and the story of all of them are very different, yet interesting and amusing. I'm really looking forward to watch and write a review for another Studio Ghibli's movie, so please look forward to it!
I gave this anime movie 8 out of 10 points.

[Anime Movie Review] Laputa Castle in the Sky / Tenku no Shiro Rapyuta 天空の城ラピュタ

Last time, I went to Studio Ghibli Museum in Mitaka, somewhere near Tokyo. It made me love Studio Ghibli even more. A big robot statue was in the top of the museum and regretfully I don't know what that was. It turns up to be the robot from Laputa Castle in the Sky film. I decided to watch it after going back from the museum. It's actually a famous old anime which was aired 1986.

The story starts from an orphan girl named Sheeta who has a mysterious stone. She fell from a plane after being kidnapped, and mysteriously the stone make her flying. Pazu, an orphan boy from a small mining town, saw her and took her to his house.

In his house, Sheeta saw a photo captured by Pazu's belated father, which was Laputa, a floating island.

However, the kidnapper was still going after Sheeta. They were after the mysterious stone which Sheeta had, and Pazu helped Sheeta to run from the chaser. Later, Sheeta told Pazu that her full name contained 'Laputa' which means Sheeta was one of the Laputan. Sheeta was caught by Muska, one of those who chasing the stone. 

Pazu tried to save Sheeta with the help of another chaser of the stone, Dola. Dola is a pirate who is after the treasure at Laputa. They successfully saved Sheeta but the stone is dropped somewhere and taken by Muska.

Pazu, Sheeta, and Dola were following Muska who had known the direction to Laputa through the stone, and successfully landed in Laputa. They met a robot in Laputa, which leads them to a big tree with a tomb below it. They found out many robots were not working anymore.

Muska soon landed in Laputa too and tried to activate a weapon mass of destruction which was made by advanced Laputan technology. Sheeta and Pazu worked together to mess up Muska's plan.

After watching this anime, I was more and more impressed with Studio Ghibli. It was a nice story and I barely felt this is an old anime even though it was aired in 1986. Studio Ghibli's film is really everlasting and interesting to watch, even until now. I gave this anime movie 8 out of 10 points.

[Anime Movie] Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi / Spirited Away 千と千尋の神隠し

After watching Kimi no Na wa, I talked with a friend, and she said something like "Kimi no Na wa is not that interesting to me. I prefer Spirited Away".

I got curious and ended up watching this anime, Spirited Away, or also known with its original title Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi. This anime was aired in 2001, quite an old one, produced by the famous Production House Studio Ghibli.

A 10-year-old girl, named Chihiro is moving to a new town with her family. She seemed to be a stubborn and naughty girl.

Chihiro's father took a wrong turn and they ended up finding a mysterious tunnel. He insisted on exploring the tunnel, even though Chihiro kept saying to leave it away.

Inside the tunnel is the abandoned amusement park, or at least that's what Chihiro's father thought. It seemed that there were no people lives there, however, they found a restaurant with plenty of delicious food. Without thinking much, Chihiro's father and mother started to eat. Chihiro was still afraid and rejected to eat the food. Of course, who would eat such a suspicious food =_=""

Give up to persuade her parents to go back to their car, Chihiro ended up walking around the place alone. She found a bath house, and met a boy named Haku. Haku surprised to see Chihiro and told her to run away before it got dark.

However, it's too late. Chihiro couldn't come back, and her parents turned into pig.

The place turned up to be a spirit world. There, Chihiro worked hard to find a way to turn back her parents into human again.

This anime is a fantasy genre of anime, with ghost and other spiritual story. Actually I'm a coward and I'm afraid of ghost the most, so, if I know that there are ghosts in this movie, I wouldn't want to watch it. However, I watch it because at first I don't know that Spirited Away is this kind of movie (￣ε￣;;)
I don't regret watching this anime movie anyway. Even though many ghosts in the story, but it doesn't really make you afraid.
It's hard to make a comment on the story since it's a fantasy story, but for me this anime is entertaining. I like it as much as I like "Kimi no Na wa", even though the genres are different.

I gave this anime 7.5 out of 10 points

[Anime Movie] Kimi no Na wa / Your Name 君の名は

So, recently this anime movie is sooo famous which makes me curious. Kimi no Na wa!

This anime is about a girl, named Miyamizu Mitsuha, who lives in a small town called Itomori city. She is the successor of a temple in Itomori city. One day, she woke up switching place with a boy named Taki.

Tachibana Taki is a boy who lives in Tokyo. He is a normal student, however he is quite temperament. He has many part-time job.

So, once in two days, they are always switching place. Taki woke up as Mitsuha, and Mitsuha woke up as Taki. After they went to sleep, the day after, they will come back to themselves. And so on...

To always continue their routine normally, they keep a note of what they were doing everyday.

One day, Taki is not switching place with Mitsuha anymore. Curious, Taki travelled and try to find Mitsuha...

Overall, I love this movie. The plot, the story, everything. It's a romantic anime movie, however it's not just a normal romantic anime. You barely feel it's a love story, but when you think again, it is. Wrapped in around one and a three-quarter hour, of course there is a limitation in the story. The story about how Taki and Mitsuha switching place is a little bit fastened, but it doesn't decrease the interest of this movie. 

The story is a little bit saddening in the end for me when they don't remember each other. Sometimes when we had a dream, we mostly forget it after we woke up. I think the idea comes from that??

Anyway, I gave 7 out of 10 for this anime movie. 

This anime is definitely a worth to watch movie!

[Dorama Review] Kindaichi Shounen no Jikenbo N (neo)

Today I’m going to write a review about a detective-genre dorama. It’s Kindaichi Shounen no Jikenbo N (neo) which was broadcasted on 2014. This dorama is adapted from a famous manga Kindaichi written by Yozaburo Kanari and Seimaru Amagi, illustrated by Fumiya Sato.

The story is about a high-school student whose grandpa is a famous private detective. His name is Hajime Kindaichi (played by Yamada Ryosuke). Kindaichi often help to solve a lot of case with skills inherited from his grandpa. He has a childhood friend who is also his classmate and believed to have a crush on him, named Nanase Miyuki (played by Kawaguchi Haruna). There is also a kouhai (junior) who adores Kindaichi and follow him around with a video camera, named Saki Ryuuji (played by Arioka Daiki). A lot of cases happened and Kindaichi managed to solve the problem with the help of his friends.

This dorama is made really similar to the manga that I notice no difference between them. The character, the story, the case, everything are just the same! The cast are from Johnny’s Entertainment (again), which specifically from Hey! Say! JUMP group member, Yamada Ryosuke and Arioka Daiki. As for Yamada Ryosuke, I’ve seen a lot of his dorama, and no doubt for his acting skill. For the other main cast, this is my first time seeing them and it’s OK. In conclusion, I can say Johnny’s Entertainment is really producing good actors, musicians, dancers, singers, everything. Multi talents star.

The OST of the song is Weekender by Hey! Say! JUMP, as expected since the main casts are monopolized by them. The song is good even though I don’t think it matches the dorama well.

I give 8.5 out of 10 points for this dorama.

*this review is a personal opinion and made by me who is a newbie reviewer, if there is any mistakes, please feel free to make a correction*