[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.

[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] Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind / Kaze no Tani no Nausicaa 風の谷のナウシカ

Another Studio Ghibli film's review streak, Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind which was released 1984. This is the first Studio Ghibli's film I think. Now, let's just get started.

Nausicaa is a princess from a kingdom Valley of the Wind. She is so great in flying using a glider.

So, the setting is in a world with so much toxic caused by a war. There is a poisonous forest named Sea of Decay, which has so many giant mutant insects. One of them is Ohm.

Ohm is an insect which eyes would turn red when they are angry. Its shell is very hard and could break swords made of iron. No one could survive if they are attacked by the raging Ohms. The Kingdom of the Valley of the Wind could make weapons from a died Ohm's shell though.

The toxic are getting worse day by day. People from many kingdom are anxious and try to find a way to save themselves. One of them is the Tolmekian which are led by Princess Kushana. They invade the Valley of the Wind and want to use the Giant Warrior to harm the jungle.

Believing that the best way to handle the poisonous jungle is not with force, Nausicaa tried to stop them. Well the story continues until it ends with a happy ending of course.

I can't actually believe that it's the first film ever made by Studio Ghibli because it's super good. Compared to other movies created by them, I think I could say this is one of the best. Well, most of them are the best though, lol. But, recently I found one of the latter movies is not that great, and this is just the contrary.

I could give this anime 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] Howl's Moving Castle / Hauru no Ugoku Shiro ハウルの動く城

Another writing about one of Studio Ghibli's film, Howl's Moving Castle. This film was released on 2004 based on a novel written by Diana Wynne Jones. Well, let's get started!

The film setting was on a war period. Sophie, a girl who lived in a small town, was a hatter who tried to make the best hat. One day, on her way home, Sophie met some soldiers who tried to tease her.

In danger, suddenly there was an unknown blonde man who helped her. Later, she would know that the man is Howl, a witch who lived in a moving castle near her town.

While in other hand, a witch of waste, who had a one side love with Howl, started to get jealous and put a curse on Sophie. Sophie became an old grandmother, and because of that condition, she left her town to find a place for her to stay.

On her way to find a place, she met a moving turnip. That moving turnip helped her in finding a place to stay, which was Howl's Moving Castle.

Old Sophie met the Turnip

Howl's Moving Castle

In that castle, Sophie met Markl, a little boy who lived with Howl, and Calcifer, a fire demon who was the source of energy to move the castle.

Together, they faced problems related to the war. Sophie helped Howl in many ways.

Based on what I watch, the animation of this film is no doubt. Studio Ghibli, as always, is stunning and amazing. However, it's quite hard to understand the line of the story. The story is a little bit abstract and hard to understand. I could say that this is the worst Studio Ghibli movie I've watched so far. Even though the story is not so clear, especially from the middle to the end of the story, but it's still entertaining and not bored to be watched, as expected from Studio Ghibli.

Well, I still could give this film 6.5 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.

[Dorama Review] Iryu Sosa season 1 / 遺留捜査 1

This time, I'm so interested in a dorama called Iryu Sosa which the first season was aired on 2011. I read a brief synopsis of the dorama, and got interested in it since it's a mystery dorama, one of the genre I love most.

Itomura Satoshi (played by Kamikawa Takaya) is a part of the Metropolitan Police Department First Investigation Scientific Criminal Unit. He is in charge of personal effect of the murder victims, where his job is to identify the victims' items to help the investigation. He is not supposed to investigate the case or the murderer.

Itomura is a very curious person, even for the smallest thing, which always makes the detectives annoyed and angry. He believed that every single thing could deliver a message which the victims want to convey. His curiosity always led them to find out the truth, the real truth behind a murder case, and sometimes also led them to find out the murderer itself.

Oda Miyuki (played by Kanjiya Shihori), a rookie detective is also one of the detectives who gets annoyed with Itomura. Slowly, when Oda knows that Itomura is helping the victims who cannot speak anymore to convey their messages through the items, Oda started to feel moved and helped Itomura a little bit I guess. Muraki Shigeru (played by Komoto Masahiro), a scientist who always helped with the research of the items, is always forced by Itomura to help him in various way, which is sometimes quite funny.

Even though the story is nice and amusing, the character of Itomura which is very calm and slow became a minus point for me. A detective, mystery genre dorama usually has a very active and quite aggressive main character. Well, actually this makes the dorama unique, but just I prefer a mystery detective dorama with more action scene.

I gave this dorama 7.5 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

[Japanese Movie Review] MARS ~ ただ, 君を愛してる~ / MARS ~ Tada, Kimi wo Aishiteru

Just before, I write about the dorama MARS ~ Just, I love you. Now I'm going to write a little bit about the movie. This movie was also aired in 2016, and it's the continuation of the dorama.

For the dorama review, you can find it here:
MARS ~Tada, Kimi wo Aishiteru dorama

Okay, the first thing I will say is I'm very impressed with this movie.
I wonder when does it start to change from a romantic, high school genre into something quite mysterious and thrilling?

If the dorama tells many thing about the male side, the movie tells us more about Asou Kira (played by Iitoyo Marie)

Unexpectedly, in this movie, it will reveal more about Kira's past. If you have watched the dorama, you must be noticing that Kira has some kind of trauma related to a man. I only could guessing in the dorama, but with this movie, it is all clear.

On the other side, Kashino Rei (played by Fujigaya Taisuke of Kis-My-Ft2) starts to change. Doesn't want to hurt his girlfriend, Kashino tries hard no to be violent anymore.

However, it's not as smooth as it seems to be. Kirishima Makio (played by Kubota Masataka) starts to reveal his true face. He, who seems to be a quiet and introvert man, is actually a psycho... It was already introduced also in the last part of the dorama.

If the dorama tells us more to a romance story, in this movie, it's more thrilling, mysterious, and psycho, even though it still has some romance in it. Before, I said the dorama is quite interesting, but with this movie I conclude that it's wonderful. I bet the viewer expect that this is a pure standard romance story at first, but actually it is not. It's just so unexpected.

I like this movie more than the dorama, however, the movie and the dorama completed each other. It's just a package you need to watch.

I gave this movie 8 out of 10 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*

[Japanese Movie Review] Lupin the Third / Rupan Sansei

This time I'm gonna write about a Japanese movie released in 2014, Lupin the Third or it's called Rupan Sansei in Japanese.

Lupin (played by Oguri Shun - middle),  Mine Fujiko (played by Kuroki Meisa - right), Jigen (played by Tamayama Tetsuji - left) are some of the members of  'The Works', a group of thieves who steal valuable objects from wealthy owners.

The leader of 'The Works' is killed when Michael Lee (played by Jerry Yan), fellow member of  'The Works' betray the group due to some reason. Michael took the Crimson Heart of Cleopatra, a very valuable necklace with a ruby stone in it, which is missing. Lupin was angry and tried to avenge Michael.

Lupin made his own allies with Fujiko, a sly; Jigen, a great gunner; Pierre (played by Kim Joon), an IT specialist, and also ask his other friends like Goemon (played by Ayano Gou), a great swordsman. Together, they fought their enemies.

Pierre

Goemon

In my opinion, this movie has an interesting plot and story, however, the movie is limited to around 2 hours which makes the movie is moving too fast and not detailed that make it less interesting.

When I saw the title of the movie, it seems so interesting. Don't mention the actors and the actresses here, such as Oguri Shun, Kuroki Meisa, and even they included foreign actors such as Jerry Yan, Kim Joon which the names are so familiar within the industry. Many other foreigners (which is I don't really know actually) are included in this movie, mostly are from Thailand. Seeing that, I bet no one would not interested in the movie, right? However, I could say I'm quite disappointed with the movie. The movie is not as good as what I expected to be; by seeing the title and the casts. They acted very well and there are some action scenes which is not bad; but to me, this film is only about action scenes which is not that good if you compared it to the Hollywood movies. Well, still, it is not that bad.

I could recommend this movie to those who wants to see many great actors and actresses in a movie, however, don't expect too much I guess. I give this movie 6 out of 10 points.

*This review is just a personal opinion and made by me who is a newbie reviewer, if you find any mistakes, feel free to make a correction*

[Japanese Movie Review] Ansatsu Kyoushitsu / Assassination Classroom

Hello all. It's been a while since the last time I wrote a review. I've been so busy with my work.

Well, this time I'm gonna write a review about a Japanese movie I watched just recently.
It's Assassination classroom, a live action movie based on a manga written by Matsui Yusei. This movie was aired in 2015.

The story start from a mysterious creature which has an incredible power and speed, destroys 70% of the moon. He stated if no one kills him by March of the next year, he will destroy the Earth too.

The government is also forced to open a classroom where the creature will teach the students to kill him. 3E of Kunugigaoka Junior High School are the chosen one. Later, the students called him Koro Sensei (Teacher Koro).

The rules of the class is the student needs to kill Koro Sensei while studying, and Koro Sensei will not hurt the students. The government will give a ten billion reward for those who can kill him.

Karasuma Tadaomi (played by Shiina Kippei) is the government representative as the in-charge of the class 3E. 

Shiota Nagisa (played by Yamada Ryousuke of Hey! Say! JUMP) is one of the student in the class. He seems like a nerd, but actually he is one of the talented one in the classroom. As always, Yamada Ryousuke is a really great actor I think.

Not only the students, but also the other teacher is also trying to kill Koro Sensei. One of them is Irina Jelavić (played by Kang Ji Young, ex-KARA member), an English teacher which is actually a sniper.

Many things happen around the classroom, which makes the movie is interesting with so many action and funny scene.

This movie is a science fiction movie, so, many CG is added in this movie. For those who likes science fiction action movie, this movie is quite entertaining. The movie is to be continued in the 2nd movie, Assasination Classroom: Graduation which is aired in 2016.

I give this movie 7out of 10 points.

*This review is just a personal opinion and made by me who is a newbie reviewer, if you find any mistakes, feel free to make a correction*