Peak romance!

I absolutely loved this show. I've been looking for some nice romance in the past few weeks, and this really hit the spot. It's a classic really, there's a reason this gets recommended every single time anyone asks for romance recs.

The way Lovely Complex explores insecurity is simply beautiful, the constant hesitation, the fear that you might not be enough, and the certainty that begins to come over you as you fail over and over again at achieving your goals. Your fears manifest, a confirmation that your own body, that which you were born with and cannot change, is wrong. But through all that, the persistence of the characters, the way they persevere through these tribulations, is truly inspiring.

The setting is very adolescent, and this is a love comedy so even the most emotional moments are somewhat light-hearted. I think that's good, actually, it keeps the story flowing; the show is incredibly well-paced. I said adolescent, because it is set in high school and that's what the characters life revolve around, but the themes are very mature. I mentioned the insecurity, which the main theme of the show, but many episodes also touch on what it means to be in love, to be in a committed relationship, and what sacrifices one must make to maintain healthy relationships with those they care for.

It's beautiful.

The production quality is top notch, though very much outdated. It's Toei, the animation and music are both great, and the voice acting is fantastic too. Especially Nobu-chan, Higashi Saori might just be the GOAT. I'm not even joking, this was an all time performance by her.

What do you think?

Rating: 5/5

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Pretty good!

Ovrkast. hits us with some nice delivery every time, it's clear this dude really knows his way around a beat. His voice is very interesting too, he puts tons of emotion in every word, and I love it!

The lyrics are nice too, he talks about his insecurities as an artist, his confidence, his goals and ambitions, his life and his art. He's passionate about music, and he says it with his chest. It's inspiring really, it feels great.

The beats are pretty good too, some nice samples... But they're a bit flat, and the drums are just fine. Nothing to write home about really, but they do their job I suppose. The focus is the vocals, so it's not a big issue.

Overall, it's a nice EP. It doesn't have the depth I would like, it's rather short too, even for an EP, so it feels more like a sample of what ovrkast. could do than a full-fledged project. There's some really good stuff in here, but also some very mediocre stuff. Still, I'll be looking out for what he does next.

What do you think?

Best song: RESET!
Worst song: SHUTUP!
Rating: 3/5

Listen on Soundcloud!

Brilliant lyricism with better production.

This album is, simply put, incredible. Earl didn't disappoint on any level, his bars are emotional and packed full of meaning. He really is a word-smith. Topics of depression, loneliness, colonialism, and reflections on culture. And he manages to do all this with his signature flows and delivery; I think there's nobody out there right now that sounds quite like Earl Sweatshirt. He's unique, and that's fantastic.

That being said, the production is just on another level. The Alchemist might be the greatest producer right now. If you don't believe that, I beg you to check out this record, because he really knocked it out of the park. He did a bit of everything, more rhythmic beats, more melody, but all of them with incredible, soulful samples.

This album has 2 versions, the original and the streaming version, which have 3 different tracks. Both are very good, but the original version is a bit better. my brother, the wind is way better than Mancala.

Overall, this is a fantastic project that you should definitely check out, if you haven't yet. The lyricism just blows damn near every other album released this year out of the water, and the production is on another plane entirely. What's there not to love? But hey,

what do you think?

Best song: Vin Skully
Worst song: Mancala
Rating: 5/5

Streaming version.

Beautiful and emotional!

I really liked this show. I was sceptical at first... I think it's very easy for shows that surround something seemingly inconsequential (such as a high-school club) to severely overplay how much people actually care about these things. Hibike! Euphonium did this very well though, from the onset. I guess it's about managing expectations, and what the audience can expect from the characters by showing what the characters expect from each other. I really liked the set up.

I love how distinct each character is too. They have unique personalities and interests, though a bit cliché (the big silent guy, the bubbly girl, the cold beauty). The main character though was just something else. I really, really liked her! I love how she treats the people around her, it felt very human, I think this was just excellent writing. She's cold sometimes and bursting with emotion in the next scene, but it never feels out of place. We really get to explore how she sees the world and what she values in relationships, as well as how much she's willing to sacrifice in her personal life to achieve her goals. I just love Kumiko.

The animation was very good too. I guess that's to be expected from KyoAni. What I really appreciated, as someone who has played in a band for many years (trumpet), is that they didn't try to make the performances magical. A lot of sports and art anime (Haikyu!!, Blue Lock, Blue Period) depict their subject as sort of nigh-magical, with colours flying everywhere and cool names for special moves. Hibike! Euphonium leans more into realism, it doesn't try to make music seem magical, it just lets the music be magical, if that makes sense. I thought it was beautiful; in a way, it's the animation holding back, but it's just really well done.

The music of course was just fantastic. Don't have much to say on this subject in particular, it's a music anime, it has great music. I will say that I loved how much silence there was. Especially before and after an emotional performance, they just let the notes hang, letting the emotion build. Beautiful, I say!

The one criticism I have is that it's very short. It's only 13 episodes, and there's too many loose ends. I WANT MORE!!! Well, there is more of course but it's in the next season, which I haven't gotten to YET. This show is definitely worth a watch.

What do you think?

Rating: 4/5

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Visually stunning and a brilliant cast!

The visuals are by far the most striking aspect of this movie. They're absolutely brilliant! I'm sure the black and white color-scheme and the odd aspect ratio play into this, but it's more than that; it's incredible cinematography, and it really helps tell the story and explore the intense emotions of the characters.

More than that, the acting is incredible, especially Frances McDormand, she really blew me away, though Denzel Washington was also fantastic. And Kathryn Hunter as the three witches was absolutely ridiculous, especially that scene where she continuously contorts her body... It really freaked me out, I loved it!

I thought the plot was great, but the pacing was a bit odd. The series of events, and the escalation of the situation felt somewhat rushed and disconnected. I've never read the original play, so I can't say if this is just how Macbeth is or if it's the movie.

What do you think?

Rating: 4/5

Arr 🏴‍☠️!!!

Hilarious and action-filled!

Finally managed to watch this movie, and the wait was worth it!

The music is impeccable (as usual), and the comedy is on point. The action is great as well, with tons of thrilling sequences with interesting character designs and well choreographed fights. The environments were also fantastic, with disgusting, slimy scenes everywhere, which really drove home the whole idea of "perfecting" the world being a complete sham.

The plot doesn't leave anything to be desired either. It's interesting and thrilling. The main villain does a fantastic job of being hateable! I thought it was great acting by Chukwudi Iwuji, really outstanding job.

The only thing I didn't like too much was the very notable lack of stakes. Well, obviously there were stakes, but I never got the feeling they could actually fail to get the job done. I never thought that they might actually lose, for once. On one hand, that kinda sucks, on the other hand, it's a comedy-action movie that has great comedy and action. I don't think the lack of tension is a big deal.

What do you think?

Rating: 4/5

Arr 🏴‍☠️!

Beautiful and emotional!

Such an endearing story, told in such a marvelous way. This is what animation is for, I mean, everything is so beautiful and fluid and whimsical. I particularly liked the mice, but the bears are cool too.

The music is also stupendous, gorgeous strings and piano throughout the film. The little sections when Ernest plays piano and violin for Célestine are so adorable, and it actually sounds great. The voice acting is incredible as well, so much emotion in every word!

I'm a big character guy, and the varied cast really sells this movie. I suppose one could argue that characters outside of Ernest and Célestine are a bit one-dimensional, in that they're stuck in their ways and consumed by prejudice, blind to the world and obsessed with the otherness of the other species. Still, I feel that they serve their purpose perfectly, and they're all HILARIOUS! Once again, the animation shines here, granting these characters a certain absurdity of movement to match the absurdity of their ideologies. It also lets Célestine show how persistent and determined to change Ernest she is with more than just her words, namely with her ability to appear from anywhere after being tossed out, which also makes for some absolutely hilarious scenes.

The messaging is on point, of course. This movie is from 2012, which is more than a decade ago, but things really haven't changed. The characterization of society as divided yet equal, and of how, fundamentally, the great divider is class rather than anything else (for which species is a catch-all stand-in), strikes hard. The pervasiveness of hatred rooted in fear, and the initial scenes showing how this fear is nurture rather than nature really struck a chord with me. Ernest and Célestine both struggling with authority figures and their expectations of them, of the role they were meant to take in their respective societies, really pushes this idea that the system is flawed and broken.

The ending was a bit underwhelming, perhaps. That's really the only negative thing I can point out. It felt like things were resolved very easily. It's a metaphor, and really it's a bit on the nose, but I guess I just wanted another chase scene...

What do you think?

Rating: 5/5

Great concept, poor execution.

Everything that relates to the production value of this movie is subpar: the voice acting, the sound design, the animation... There's nothing excellent here, there's really nothing good here.

The voice acting sounds awkward at times. Japanese voice acting is known for being great, but here nearly every line feels emotionless, and the main characters sound like they're whispering very loudly instead of just talking. Which is something I can only assume is an artistic choice? I suppose it fits the theme of the movie, but it sounds bad. Notably, Anzai Chika's performance as Kobayashi was actually pretty great.

The music and sound design on this thing are also not great. It sounds so quiet, so empty. Once again, this must have been by design, as it fits the theme, but it sucks! It makes the whole movie feel bland and faceless. Just because it's about a secret and escaping others doesn't mean the movie should be empty.

The animation is somewhat decent. It's not a very distinct style, and some frames look horrible. There's also some scenes with 3D animation that are very not good. Still, for the most part it's OK.

That being said, this is definitely not a bad movie. It's a very interesting concept. Personally, I love time-related movies (like Tenet and The Girl Who Leapt Through Time), and the idea of being able to stop time for a short duration is cool.

The relationship between the two main characters is also great, and very engaging. Murakami's whole personality, or lack thereof, really made me think... I wonder if there really are people that act this way. Personally, I related to Moritani WAY more, feeling overwhelmed and just wanting to run away. Murakami's whole ordeal felt very odd to me, but it was still very emotionally compelling. I think it was conveyed in a very nice way.

The conclusion was a bit underwhelming though, probably as a consequence of this running for only 1 hour. Still, it didn't leave a sour taste in my mouth or anything, I just wish there was more to the story. I suppose that's actually a compliment to the plot, in a way.

^I^ ^related^ ^to^ ^Moritani's^ ^perverted^ ^tendencies^ ^too.^

What do you think?

Rating: 3/5

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Arr 🏴‍☠️!!!

One of the wittiest movies I've ever watched! It's hilarious!!

The animation is gorgeous, and the soundtrack is also incredible. The voice acting by Chloë Grace Moretz and Riz Ahmed is also spectacular, and even Eugene Lee Yang (of The Try Guys fame) does a very decent job.

The story doesn't leave much to be desired either. It tackles themes of isolation, not finding your place in the world, and discrimination, both on an individual and systemic level.

Though it doesn't actually address the problem of systemic oppression, preferring instead to scapegoat a single character.

Actually, that single element of the story really stung. It's clear that they went to great lengths to have a very diverse cast of characters, and it's obvious they're trying to be progressive, and this is meant to be a progressive story. However, I can't help but think that it's all posturing, if in the end all the systems that allowed such horrible mentalities to fester still remain intact, with only the "top dog" being taken down. You can't fix a system by removing an individual.

There's so much more I'd like to say about this, but I feel this isn't the place. Plus, this is clearly a kid's movie, a very good one with a deep message and complex characters, but still. I suppose the message is still a net positive despite such a massive blunder.

Additionally, there's a dance sequence in the middle that feels so painfully out of place I almost cringed myself to death. Thankfully it was very short.

Overall, I think this movie was good. It's not really gonna blow anyone's socks off, but it might make some people think, and it's very easy on the eyes and ears.

What do you think?

Rating: 4/5

Watch on Netflix!
Arr 🏴‍☠️!!!