Tag Archives: Comedy

Divorce American Style Review

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A film about divorce is definitely something that you don’t see very often. Showing this as a comedy is also something you probably would not have expected right off the gate. Unfortunately it doesn’t work as well as it could have because both of the main characters just go away too far so by the time everything is said and done, it’s hard to see them being together again. You just can’t believe it and that’s not a good sign since they’re the main characters here. I think if they could have stayed off the rebound then this could have really worked.

The movie starts off by showing us a lot of couples having a ton of fights every night. We then cut to the main duo of Richard and Barbara who are definitely not having a fun time at the moment. They fight about everything and the rift between them is only growing larger and larger. They used to be so close so it’s a shame o see what has happened to them. They just can’t have a single conversation without something going wrong and so they end up going for a divorce but who will ultimately win? Barbara and Richard both want to keep as much of the money and assets as possible but only one can have a favorable deal.

Lets dive right into why this film doesn’t ultimately end up being as good as it should be. When the two characters split up, you figure they’ll be back together by the end of the movie. That’s just how these things go. The real problem is that you then have to make sure that both parties don’t do something they’ll regret like having an affair. Unfortunately they do, both characters immediately go back onto the dating scene and seem to be incredibly desperate. They date quickly and move on with their affairs without any delay. So as soon as that happens its just hard to look forward to the ending because they were so quick to have a moment with someone else.

If the two were really as close as all that, they should not have dated anyone even after splitting up. If you were going to have them do this then they shouldn’t get back together at the end of the movie. It all just doesn’t track well and hurts the two characters quite a lot. It even puts a bit of a damper on the humor itself because the characters just aren’t likable anymore. Maybe you should just root for the rebound characters to win instead at that point although you know they’re doomed from the start.

Now on to who was responsible for the issues. Well, it seems like Barbara was the instigator from how the film picks up. Of course we know that they’ve been having a lot of issues so it’s hard to say who really started it but from how the film makes it appear, Barbara is at fault in most of the circumstances. She’s overly critical when Richard comes in and really just keeps going at him the whole time. Richard was at least trying to ask questions about what was wrong so they could talk things over but she didn’t seem to want to talk most of the time. It takes ages to get anything out of her until Richard starts breaking dishes.

It was interesting to see that the kids even had a scorecard because of how often this happens every night so they would tally up each fight. Clearly this dynamic has been the same way for a very long time at this point. From there things only escalate as this goes into court but even then Barbara’s demands are all outrageous. Richard basically has to pay for everything even though she owns it now in addition to making the regular payments. It doesn’t seem very fair and of course this is part of the humor but throughout the film it felt like Barbara was delivering gut punches to Richard while he kept holding up the white flag.

She would act apologetic at times but it doesn’t mean much when she’s still having a blast out there. So no matter how you slice it, Richard was really getting the short end of the stick here. He’s lucky that prices were so low back then because otherwise he would have really been doomed. Seeing him order a full McDonalds combo for under $1 was crazy. It reminds you just how much prices have changed over the years. Nowadays even with the app that would probably be close to 10 bucks.

Richard was a fun character but he wasn’t without his faults either. The guy did get drunk quite often and that would put him in sticky situations like when one of his friends tried to get him to have an affair. That would have really been a bad move. Fortunately he was able to get out of that in time but he should never have been in that situation in the first place. Then later on he does break down and gets together with Nancy which was also a shame.

As for the rebound characters, both Nancy and Big Al seem decent enough but you know that they’re doomed so it’s hard to get too invested. I’ll at least give Big Al some credit for not getting involved until the divorce was actually complete. It seemed like Nancy was ready even while this was in progress which is really not a good look for her. She also seems quite well off so why even get another partner? Apparently she still likes her husband but can’t get together officially again or it would cut off her finances. Why not get together unofficially though? Seems to me like that would be easier.

The writing and dialogue is fun as always though. I always liked those old time scripts with everyone talking in such a dignified way. It’s something that you can’t really capture in a modern title. Not in the same way at least, people just talked differently back then and it was very entertaining. The humor works well in some scenes too. It’s definitely not their most entertaining picture but Richard really manages to sell his scenes. I think his booming voice definitely works well for when he’s shocked and starts yelling about it. Even the scenes where he and Barbara are fighting tends to be entertaining as a result.

I’d say the film is fairly long but doesn’t really end up dragging out. It just boils down to the fact that the romance was really on the weaker side here which ends up impacting the whole experience. This is not a film that should have had a rebound romance at all and including that in there ends up weakening the film a lot. It’s a film that should have focused more on the comedy aspect of their being single again. You know, as much as I’m glad that the kids didn’t have a big role here, it might have been better if they were fighting to impress the kids instead of focusing on the romance angle of it. That would have been an improvement.

I’d say the weakest part outside of the romance is the scene where we are introduced to the guy with a ton of kids from various marriages and the hypnosis scenes. Both of these scenes have a common factor which is that they are extremely stretched out. The best humor scenes are the ones where you’ve got a witty retort or some quick gags to run through. When you take that same gag and just keep on going it ends up losing its steam immediately and that’s what happens here. I’d have cut the hypnosis scene out entirely and for the multiple marriages guy I’d have just reduced that by about half of its screen time. Instead give more time to the friends of each main character so they can dish out more poorly thought out advice. Hearing bad advice from the friends can always be entertaining in its own right as its a test to see how gullible the leads can be.

You could also have more fun with some of the supporting characters like the two attorneys. I liked those guys right off the bat and how they knew this wasn’t personal. They may have been opponents in the court room but were still friends outside of it. It was a fun dynamic and that’s the kind of humor that the film is best on. Focus on that and you’d have a stronger experience all around.

Overall, This film certainly shows how expensive divorce can be and why you want to make sure that you’ve found the right person so you don’t have to be going trough this process. While likely not as exaggerated as it was depicted here, things can definitely go quite poorly for you if you get divorced. These two characters ended up causing each other a whole lot of damage so even once they are back together again you can’t help but feel that things will take some time to get back to 100%. If anything it’s like nothing has changed so they’re one step away from doing it all over again. Check the film out if you want some laughs and don’t have a better comedy film on the docket but you can do better than this one.

Overall 6/10

The Long, Long Trailer Review

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This is a film where the title is definitely very accurate. The whole movie involves the long trailer from start to finish and the journey along with it. That said, I thought it was a bit weaker than I was expecting it to be. The movie just drags on a bit and while it’s still a fun adventure, there is less variety than in the average comedy type movie like this. At its core that’s what the issue with the movie is. It needed more unique moments.

So the movie starts off with Nicky in the rain looking for his wife in a trailer. The whole thing looks rather odd so an older man tells Nicky to wait in his little house since it’s impossible to pass by it without being seen. Nicky then decides to share his story and almost the rest of the film is a flashback. He and Tacy had a reasonably solid marriage and things were going well but she desperately wanted to move into a trailer. Nicky was completely against the idea and I can’t say that I blame him because this does not sound like a good move. They shop around but ultimately end up going for a really small one that still breaks the bank. The trailer has a lot of things wrong with it and may even destroy their marriage. Can they overcome this vehicle?

Now it’s nice that Nicky ends up relenting so Tacy can get her trailer but he was really right and should have stuck his ground here. A trailer is a ton of work since you need to drive it around, find a place to park it, find utilities, etc. It’s not like you just have running water and a nearby town to get supplies from. It seems to me like you usually only live in a trailer as a last resort but not because you really want to be there. This is probably the first time I’ve seen a character actually want to make the change.

It makes even less sense when you consider how good the house that they were living in was. It wasn’t some run down little apartment or anything like that, it was actually a pretty solid place to live. Deciding to leave there was a big mistake. Well, they end up getting the trailer and they do their best with it, but it just doesn’t work. The whole thing shakes, you can get stuck in the mud, etc. I have to say that living in a trailer seems like even harder work than I would have guessed. There are just so many things that you have to take into account in everyday life with this.

One scene I did appreciate is how close the community apparently is. Everyone jumps up to help when Tacy isn’t feeling very well and apparently they have whole communities for the people with trailers. It’s nice to see that they’ve got some kind of support network going and honestly they probably should have just stuck with this group. I know the main two wanted some privacy so they went out again but maybe they should have just stayed long enough to at least pick up some tips and tricks.

Ultimately I have to mainly give a lot of grief to Tacy in the end though. So the heroes end up having to cross a huge mountain to get to their destination and this will be extremely dangerous. To help their odds of survival increase, Nicky lets Tacy know to toss out her random rocks that show every place they’ve been. Tacy agrees but secretly keeps them which almost results in their death. If you’re going to keep the rocks then keep them but lying about this nearly ended up being fatal for both of them. It’s easy to see how there was a lot of friction here as a result.

Now this is one of those crazy comedies where both characters will have their unreasonable moments but I think it’s fair to say that for most of the adventure, Tacy was not handling this very well. She really wanted the trailer but wasn’t going to be able to make it work. Not to say you can blame everything on her since she couldn’t have known what was going to happen. She just ended up putting them in this dilemma.

As for Nicky, well he tends to get overly emotional at times. It comes with the territory of trying to roll with these crazy schemes but he does nothing to help the tension between him and Tacy. Throwing out the rocks and running off just serve to amp things up even more. All in all I still liked the banter between the main two and the humor is what carries the film. It may not make both characters all that likable individually but the strong dialogue will ensure that they are both memorable.

Where the film falters as I mentioned is that it just feels like not much happened. Just look at the plot description that I used, it pretty much encompasses the entire film and that’s not very long. It’s all about the characters riding around in their trailer without ever making any real progress here. I suppose the drive up to the mountain was decent but in a way I just wanted some scenes outside of the trailer. So in a sense the premise itself limited the film. There just wasn’t a lot going on and it shows that there are only so many jokes you can do with a trailer.

Overall, The Long, Long Trailer is a good movie but not a very good one. There’s not a whole lot of replay value here and while the movie doesn’t drag on or anything like that, it won’t keep your interest quite as much as it should. There’s enough world building and potential here for sequels that have a completely different plot though. If you want to watch a retro comedy film then this isn’t a bad watch. As a one and done it’ll do the job even if you think it could have been better. The moral here is that the grass is always greener and sometimes you gotta be satisfied with what you have.

Overall 6/10

Spy X Family

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Spy X Family has proven to be quite the hit so far and it’s easy to see why. The setup is really quite solid and the characters are all a lot of fun so far. I definitely see this being a great light hearted adventure all the way through and hopefully it can keep up that energy for a long while. I’ll have a review up for the series as soon as it’s completed.

Overall 8/10

Black Clover SD – Asta’s Road to the Wizard King

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Black Clover is one of the premier titles of our time so it’s fitting that it would have a comedy spinoff. That said, this one’s not all that great so far. The crude humor can be a bit much and takes away from the fun of the journey. I’m really early on at just one chapter in so far so we’ll see if this improves. I’ll have a review up for this series as soon as it is complete.

Overall 5/10

Forever, Darling Review

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Forever, Darling is definitely one of those old school comedy films which isn’t afraid to get really crazy. It feels like the movie just keeps on changing the scenery and having the characters go from adventure to adventure. As a result it’s a film that’s very busy in a good way so you won’t get bored or stop being entertained. I had a good time with it. I won’t say it’s a game changer in the genre but sometimes you just want a classic comedy film and this one will do the trick there.

When the movie starts the two leads are not in a great spot. Their marriage used to be incredibly strong but over the years they’ve grown tired and each person is doing their own thing. I would say they’re still in a fairly decent spot but the main disagreements come from the fact that Lorenzo does not get along with any of Susan’s friends and he tends to take shots at them causing a bit of a rift with Susan. Unfortunately Lorenzo’s job causes him to not be at home very often and it deals with bugs so it’s not really Susan’s cup of tea. That’s when a guardian angel shows up to put the fear into Susan and help get them together again. Will he end up being helpful or just get in the way?

The summary may make it sound like this guy’s the main character but honestly he doesn’t do as much as you would expect. In fact I dare say that he does get in the way most of the time. Seriously his stares and popping in randomly only serve to create more misunderstandings. After all, only Susan can see him and she is not very good at being subtle on this. In fact she is extremely slow on the uptake I would say as she puts herself in so many bad situations. Eventually she stops calling attention to herself but that takes a long while. I still think the Guardian Angel could have helped out more. The only message he really gives is that Susan needs to follow Lorenzo through thick and thin instead of going on her own path.

In fairness, I do think Lorenzo tended to be on the right in these things. Susan’s friends would always be badmouthing him right from the start. From how the film picks up it certainly seems like they tend to start the fights so I can see why Lorenzo would resent them. They are always giving Susan a lot of bad ideas and the problem is that they are always at home so they have hours to trick her while he is away. Getting away from those guys is the best decision he could have made. Perhaps he could have been more subtle in his insults but isn’t it better to say something directly than to beat around the bush? I’d say that’s true in many instances at least.

Lorenzo’s also just a fun character. Naturally he and Susan have their share of issues but most of the time you’ll just see Lorenzo laughing and having a good time. He tends to see the bright side of things and it takes a lot to get him upset. Susan definitely pushes him to that level but I thought he was really patient up until that point. It just so happened that even he had a limit by the end and when your whole experiment is ruined and things have been going wrong nonstop, it’s easy to see how that would happen.

Meanwhile for Susan, I’ll give her points for trying her best to take an interest in what Lorenzo does. She may not really understand a lot of it but the attempt was certainly made. Additionally she did go with him on the trip and left her friends behind. Unfortunately she just tends to make a lot of mistakes and this was all amped up with how comedic the film was so she tended to make a big mess of everything. It certainly did not help her bond with Lorenzo more. If she had just ignored her guardian angel when he was in the background she could have made this film a whole lot shorter.

Ultimately Susan’s still a good character but she just made things really hard on herself. There weren’t too many supporting characters to note. Of course you had Susan’s friend who was always being very dramatic. She works well as an antagonist I suppose. Susan’s father was at least always on hand to try and help Susan explain her side of the situation. I thought he was a good character who at least meant well the whole time even if his explanations didn’t always serve to help matters at all.

I’d say the biggest positive for the film is that its so chaotic the whole time. You’re in for a roller coaster experience and while the movie may not be very realistic or anything, it’s the kind of light hearted comedy that makes for a good watch. The movie is interesting from start to finish and you go through the story beats quickly. I personally wouldn’t have minded if the characters stayed around the house instead of heading to the great outdoors but that’s just how the plot went. I would even say the dynamic is strong enough where the plot could have gone in many different ways while still being effective. That’s when you know that you have two solid characters here.

Overall, Forever, Darling is a fun film. It’s a fundamentally sound movie that doesn’t have any real weaknesses. The characters are good and the writing is on point. The humor tends to land more than it does not. Sometimes the jokes can be a little stretched out but when you’re running with a quick pace like this film you’ll likely forget all about it in the next scene. The long jokes are more the exception than the standard, most of the jokes are quick so we can jump onto the next one. The main characters are put through a lot but ultimately the ending is satisfying and you’ll have a good time with this one.

Overall 7/10

Rango Review

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Rango is one of the rare titles where I played the game before watching the movie. To be fair, this may be the best way to do things. Eh, I suppose it’s about the same either way. I wouldn’t say Rango is able to hold its own against most of the animated films nowadays but it’s still decently good. If the character designs were all improved and the bird got to fly away then I think this would have bumped the film up a notch.

The movie starts off with showing us how Rango has slowly gotten to be a bit crazy. It makes sense since there is nobody for him to talk to and he’s basically trapped inside a little jar all day. After a while it makes sense that you would crack under such circumstances. One day he ends up falling out of the family car and is on his own at the desert now. This allows him to have a fresh start so he tricks everyone into believing that he is actually an expert gunslinger and they even make him a sheriff. The position does come with its own set of problems though like the fact that the town is incredibly corrupt and he really needs to be watching his back at all times. One wrong move and he may be down for the count.

Like I said, the film’s main issue at times is that it just doesn’t look great. The animation isn’t bad per say but the style’s really not all that pleasant so films that are decades older end up looking better. This is a film that’s carried more by the writing angle as the graphics are just out of luck. The best animation here is when the bird is flying around after Rango early on. That was fairly intense at least.

The soundtrack isn’t very memorable so we can bypass that. There are a few comic relief villains running around the whole time who aren’t that impressive but the main villain was pretty good. His name is Jake and the guy really knows how to put fear into the cast. They absolutely do not want to mess with him and are pretty much traumatized by the guy. It’s easy to see why as you get the feeling he would crush any of the heroes in a straight fight. I’ll also give the mayor some props here as the guy also had great ambitions on his side and really did well to last as long as he did. In the end the guy almost ended up winning out.

On the heroes side I guess they were okay. First up is Rango and I do like his quick way of talking. The guy’s one of those classic con artists who tries to distract you with how quickly he’s talking the whole time while adding lie onto lie onto lie. He does have a lot of confidence in his own way and is quick to bury his mistakes. I did think he was a fun character. Perhaps not someone you could use as a role model but someone who is a fun character to take the lead. On the other hand along with this comes the fact that he does choke under pressure and can be a bit of a flirt who gets distracted easily. Those qualities end up hurting him a bit.

Then there’s the main heroine Beans who has a glitch within her where she just goes completely still and is unconscious for a little bit. It’s a unique character trait and so I would say that it works pretty well. It does tend to happen at inconvenient moments of course but I would have it no other way. Beyond that I can’t say that she is super memorable though. In a way you’ll remember that trait more than the rest of her character which I would not say is a good thing. Particularly as the main heroine here although it’s fair to say that her role isn’t huge or anything like that. I think the film could have focused more on her and Rango not getting along at all like in the opening and doubling down on that.

The opening villain here was a character I was rooting for though. When the bird showed up I was ready for him to take down Rango so it was unfortunate when that didn’t end up happening. I think he should have survived, burying the bird was a bit much. The scene’s played for laughs and all so it’s not like the movie’s trying to be dark but it still seemed like a bit of a downer.

Ultimately Rango does have a lot of humor built in and I’d say that it ages well. It is a light hearted western kind of film after all and I want to say that just about every scene has a joke in it. Usually this is at Rango’s expense as he messes up over and over again but I guess you can give him some credit for always getting back up again. I’m sure that by now a lot of other characters would have given up. It just goes to show you that Rango was really made of sterner stuff.

Overall, You’ll have a decent time with Rango so if you’re looking for a fun film that you haven’t seen before then this should be up your alley. There’s no reason to watch it over a number of better animated titles out there but if you’ve seen them all by this point then you may as well watch Rango. So it’s more of a half hearted recommendation on my part. Rango is a good movie but I just felt like there were enough things going against it were there is not a whole lot of replay value. You’ll watch it and then it’ll get buried as if it was never around. I still blame a lot of it on the artstyle and to be fair, that should be a big factor to think about in an animated film right? Just throwing that out there but it makes sense if you think about it.

Overall 6/10

Voice Over! Seiyu Academy Review

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Time to check out a manga about voice acting. It’s a fairly unique premise to build the series around and works well with your classic rom-com setup. If anything I thought this series really could have been quite a bit longer. I’d have liked to see Hime get to progress more so we could see her in the bigger productions. The series really seems to end just when she has broken out of her shell with the inevitable big time skip. 12 volumes is nothing to sneeze at but something like 16-20 would have been good. All in all, this is a fun series with a satisfying conclusion.

The series focuses around Hime who is a girl that really wants to be a talented voice actress. She attends Seiyu Academy for that one goal but she does have a big weakness. The problem is that her voice…makes her sound like a gorilla. The higher pitch she tries to use, the deeper and rougher the voice comes out. It’s all frustrating for Hime because she has been practicing for so long but has not even come close to her goal. Ultimately she wants to be a “Lovely Blazer” which is what the fighters in a popular anime/music group/vocal group are called. Meeting one in person was what inspired her as a kid.

Still, dreams are only dreams until she can get close. At the school she meets up with the popular boy at school known as Senri. Senri is the opposite as he is extremely talented in any role and is seen as a prodigy. Unfortunately they don’t get off on the right foot so he really dislikes her now. (His fault because he starts off by insulting her) When a play reading for Snow White goes wrong, Hime discovers that she does have exceptional voice acting talent…for male characters. This isn’t exactly her dream though and she wants to keep it a secret. She meets up with a voice coach who makes a deal with her. She has to keep performing as a guy in secret by dressing up as a guy and living a double life. If she can pull this off for a while then he promises to make her a big star as a girl too. Hime’s double life has now begun, but how long can she keep up the act!?

Double lives tend to be fun because it just opens up so many possibilities for story telling. It’s part of what makes superheroes fun as well. Hime has to keep on deceiving everyone as she pulls off her skills to the point where she has to even live at a different place temporarily so nobody knows what’s going on. She has some family issues at home though so this is easy. (Everyone has family issues in this series) Ironically enough, she gets along with Senri really well in her alter ego but the longer she keeps up the secret, the harder it will be to tell him the truth.

So there’s a ton going on here which is part of why I said it could have been longer. For starters, she’s in her boy form so long that “Hime” can vanish for whole volumes. It becomes very rare to see her at all sometimes to the point where you get used to her other design more. Each plot also has its own set of characters. As Hime she hangs out with the dropout group where the voice actors/actresses were just not big enough to be popular. At school they all help each other to be better. As “Shiro” she hangs out with the expert music stars and directors and also meets Mizuki, a guy who ends up liking her and is quite possibly the worst character in the series although I do not think this was intentional by the series.

So lets go through each side here. I would say the Shiro plot was the strongest one since it’s really the meat of the series. Having to assume a whole new identity and keep the bluff going allows for a lot of shenanigans to occur but also shows how versatile Shiro is. She is still able to make friends quickly and everyone respects her work ethic. She is still a newbie to all of this after all but begins to improve very quickly. Even the tough director gives her a pass after a while.

While I don’t like him, Mizuki will also stick up for her. This storyline also allows us to learn more about Senri’s situation which is certainly complicated. You know that this alter ego will have to end at some point but it’s fun for the duration of the series. I think Hime should even have kept that as something to use if she’s ever in a tough spot trying to find roles as herself. Or maybe reveal it by being in a show where she plays both roles but I’m not sure how feasible that would be long-term. The more the years go by the more her Shiro disguise likely wouldn’t work. It’s the kind of thing that mainly works because she’s still a kid, well I guess teenager at this point but still on the younger side.

As mentioned, Mizuki is just a character I didn’t like at all. The guy’s a big star who is really timid after things didn’t work out with the first girl he liked. He tried his best to help her out at every corner but ultimately this caused her to think he was stifling her development and she had an outburst before dashing off. Honestly I wouldn’t say he did anything wrong there and the girl just should have spoken up. Regardless this traumatized Mizuki so with Hime he is really trying to have a balance where he helps out but lets her do her own thing.

So that’s good but then he ends up trying to make some moves on her and this is where he faltered badly. He’s the kind of character who is nice one second and then quite rude the next. You were never rooting for him to win with her at any point. His origin was sad so you want to cut him some slack but he didn’t make the double life any easier on her when he starts up with the drama. At least he gave her the glasses which could help her get into the prince voice easier.

Senri gets a big role in both sides of the plot. While he doesn’t get along with Hime at all, he does form a quick bond with “Shiro”. After all, for him it’s just easier to hang out with another guy since he at least has some experience there. Senri easily has the biggest character arc in the series and it’s one that was handled well. He slowly breaks out of his shell and learns how to live normally. I thought his plot was usually the most engaging so I was always ready to see what was going on with him.

He also has the most tragic backstory of the group. So his mother Sakura is the world’s greatest actress. She didn’t start out that skilled but had a drive like no other. She ultimately had Senri as a kid but had stopped being an ordinary person long ago. So she raised him as if they were in a movie. Every action and moment was according to the characters they played and so she didn’t see him as her son. Senri grew up with this rather twisted view of the world where everyone was faking their actions and playing roles. This led to a lot of friendships being broken and his becoming a loner.

It’s easy to see how he doesn’t know how to connect with anyone in the present. It’s not like you pick up social skills automatically. How you’re raised plays a big role there and so he was completely broken since he was raised in a way where he didn’t know what was an emotion and what was the role. In the present it makes for an interesting character trait since he really can’t tell if he is in a role or not. That’s definitely a high level of trauma.

So while Sakura’s skills are very good, this hurts her as a character quite a bit. You like to think that she would have been able to raise Senri a little better than she did but he never ended up becoming her top priority. She would always choose work first and of course work is important but Senri’s life was very nearly ruined as a young age. Without Shiro he would have only grown worse.

Shuuma is Mizuki’s friend and he wasn’t very good right from the start. He jumps right towards bullying Shiro from the start to drive him away from Mizuki. It’s the kind of petty tactic that you can’t really come back from. So while this was short lived, it’s not like he had any great moments after this to improve his character further. Fujimori is another character from the agency plot and he’s much better. The guy is rivals with Mizuki but doesn’t randomly go after Shiro to make himself feel better.

In fact, he quickly learns that teamwork is good and is very supportive the whole time. He does end up getting caught in the romance crossfire between the other characters so they’ll randomly attack him but the guy meant well. He’s a rather minor character overall but he was always entertaining.

That’s about all of the characters from the Shiro plot. Before going over to Hime’s story, just a quick reminder that Hime = Shiro. Shiro is just the cover for Hime when she has to work as a guy for a while and using the separate terms in the review is an easy way to keep the two plots separate. For the most part the storylines and characters don’t interact nearly as much as you would expect. There is some overlap like how Senri is at school and in the business but for the most part he’s more of an exception.

Hime and Shiro have the same personality so there’s no sense in talking about the character twice. Hime is a solid main character. She may not be particularly talented at the start but she doesn’t let this get her down and just keeps at it until she can be the best. We actually do get to see a lot of chapters where Hime is training and practicing various steps. I would say it’s very rare that we see this level of training so the author really did a good job in showing just how much drive she had. If any character deserved to get good then it was her.

This is also what helped Haruka to be a likable character. So in the Hime plot, he has given her the mission to pretend to be a guy for a while to get her networking experience, connections, and basically because that’s the only kind of voice she can use at the moment. He acts tough on the outside but he really does this to help her out. So when she gets bullied or talked down to, he always has her back. There was one scene in particular where they go to Hime’s house because they needed permission from her mother for something.

In the scene Hime’s mother keeps talking about her other daughter and dissing Hime the whole time. Haruka was quick to take Hime’s defense and publicly support her there. I thought it was a really pivotal moment and you always want to have an ally like that. When Hime gets sick, Haruka helps make sure she gets peace and quiet. He ends up feeling like the parental figure that Hime never had.

While Hime’s mother looks bad the whole time, none of the blame can be put on Hime’s younger sister Akane. Akane is still just a kid and while she is super talented and successful, she is never mean about it. I get the feeling she’d like to be closer to Hime but it just isn’t possible in this toxic household. Between Hime and Senri’s mothers, the series certainly has a lot of broken households where the characters weren’t raised well. At least you’re glad that Akane was able to have a successful life so far.

Then you have Hime’s friends at school who are all in the delinquent/lower class because they struggle with one form of voicework or another. First is Tsukino and her issue is that her voice is just really low. It’s hard for her to use her voice more since she got bullied for it a whole lot. Part of Hime’s role in this group is to get everyone past their fears though and gradually Tsukino gets past hers. I wouldn’t say she gets a lot of moments in the series but everyone got something to do and this was a nice enough plot.

In general I just liked how close knit the group was and how they would all have each other’s backs during the tough times. Shou is the tough punk of the group and basically isn’t doing well because he can seem like a bit of a delinquent. This comes in handy though because he doesn’t let anyone mess with them. Additionally he’s able to be friends with Ume who had a tough time being with others. Ume could be a little stuck up at times and with her talent for writing scripts, she wouldn’t take the voice actors/actresses into account. Gradually she is able to fix this.

That really wraps up both sides of the adventures here. The cast is fairly large here and they’re all balanced well. It does go back to what I was saying about the series being a little short though. With all of these characters I really think it could have been really good to have just had a few more volumes. It feels like there is still so much to do when the series ends. We didn’t really get to see everyone’s reactions to finding out about Hime, her journey into being more successful, etc. You just have to try your best to fit in the pieces when the time skip jumps in.

The artwork here is good. I wouldn’t say it’s one of the stronger Shojo titles that I’ve read in that area but the writing is able to hold it up. You’ll be blasting through each volume because it just ends up being a real page turner. The humor works well enough and balances out the more serious moments here. I suppose the romance wasn’t bad. Any scene with Mizuki in it was always annoying but the rest wasn’t super dramatic nor was it usually the focus so that helped. This way the title got to be more about the various friendships with the characters and how they all help each other to succeed. An academy where you train to be a professional should be a place like that where you can count on others to have your back.

Overall, Voice Over is a series that I would certainly recommend. It’s a fairly unique premise and it’s always fun to see the inner workings of how the voices go. Changing up your voice and doing a lot of roles always seems like something that would be difficult to do. Naturally it’s best when people just like your default voice so you can keep using that but I want to say that most won’t be so lucky. You’ll need to be able to play many different roles. So if you’re up for a light hearted adventure then this is a fun one to check out. Where else will you get a fun comedy with the main character living two lives right?

Overall 7/10

Haikyū-bu!!

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I’m not a super big fan of anthology type comedy series like this but Haikyu itself was a great series so I like to think this could end up being big. It’s certainly a long running title which is impressive. For many titles you do like to see the characters just hanging out (Although more specifically that’s for big action titles) so I give the series credit for that. While the cover art does not do the series any favors, the start has been good so far. I’ll have a review for the series when it finishes.

Overall 6/10

Ready or Not Review

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This review is of the edited TV-14 version of the film. All thoughts below should be addressed as such as a review of the unedited version would be more negative

Hide and Seek was always a lot of fun as a kid. The apartment’s not huge or anything but it was still fun finding a place to hide and seeing how long I could last. In a mansion I feel like the game would always take a very long amount of time, especially since you could keep moving around. Turns out that this makes for a very solid film premise. So much so that you forget this is a horror film half the time. I kind of thought of it as a comedy/thriller the whole time and I’d say that’s a complement to the film. This one ended up being better than I would have expected.

The movie starts with Alex getting ready to marry Grace. He’s super rich and so his family make a big deal about the whole thing. None of them seem to like Grace very much but she doesn’t mind. After all, she’s going to be marrying Alex so he’s the only one that matters now and he is super rich too so she’ll have a lot of things to keep her busy. That night there is one last tradition now that the two have been married. Grace just needs to play a little game with the family…hide and seek. The rules are simple. The family will try to murder her at all costs and she just has to survive until Dawn. Easy right?…..

Right away you can tell that this family is absolutely insane. It’s also a premise that’s very bonkers but also exciting. To add a bit more context here, it’s not like they try to murder the bride every time, or else they wouldn’t be such a big family. See, the tradition is that they have to play some kind of game and usually it’s one that is quite harmless like Old Maid. The only game that is life or death is Hide and Seek. Also, it’s a game that the family really doesn’t want to lose. Why? Because if they don’t murder her by Dawn then they will all die as foretold by the prophecy. Grace is initially at a disadvantage because she doesn’t know about these stakes but she quickly finds out the hard way.

Now your first question is probably why Alex didn’t tell her this right? The short answer is because he’s a chump and easily the worst character in the film. The long answer is that he was worried she wouldn’t marry him when she found out how insane this whole thing was and perhaps a small part of him believed the curse that they would all die if he didn’t show up with her. I’m sure the greedy part of him figured that a different game would be chosen and so her life wouldn’t be at risk anyway. In that case I wonder if he ever would have told her, or at leas the would have waited until it actually happened.

As Alex spits out these excuses in short order you can casually throw them all to the side. None of this blocks the fact that he’s an awful person and there’s no excuse for putting Grace in this mess. He looks absolutely dreadful throughout the movie and even if he’s not one of the active participants trying to murder her for most of the movie, he’s still the worst character here. So many excuses and so little time.

Grace does well to keep it together the whole time considering how unexpected this is. It takes her a little while to figure out what’s going on but once she does, Grace proves to be a very resilient fighter. She takes on a lot of injuries, including a particularly painful one with the screw, but keeps on going. By the end she’s nearly lost her voice with how frantic the whole thing has become. She thinks fast at the very ending too and also has a solid last line. Ultimately I don’t think she’ll be considering marriage again anytime soon but this experience will certainly have made her stronger.

The rest of the family are all insane. Don’t let some of their calm attitudes and personalities fool you. They may be joking around but they’re all trying to murder Grace so that means they are just cool about doing this. Not a very good look for them if you think about it. The first one here is Daniel and at least he has a bit more of a conscience than the others. He doesn’t actually want to murder Grace but at the same time he isn’t brave enough to openly go against it. So he just makes sure that he’s useless in the chase which indirectly does buy her some time. By the end I had him as one of the best characters.

He certainly puts in more of an effort than the rest of these guys and deserves some level of credit for that. All of these characters are guilty to an extent just for participating though. Then you have Charity who is the exact opposite of Daniel. She is eagerly doing her best in this hunt because she wants to stay in the family no matter once. She hints that she had a rather rough upbringing and so becoming rich was the best things that happened to her. She is more proactive about this than just about all of the other characters to be honest.

Tony is really one of the ringleaders here as the father. He believes they have to follow the rules absolutely although he does relent to using the security cameras to cheat once it’s been a while. So in that sense he is willing to break the rules once it’s convenient. Becky is a little more sympathetic to Grace’s plight but at the same time she is certainly aiming to murder her so it doesn’t mean much. That’s why to some extent you almost prefer the ones who are openly trying to get Grace because the ones who talk tough about how they feel bad aren’t doing anything about it. It doesn’t make them any better, just worse for being half hearted. Daniel’s really the only exception to this as he actually helps out with his meddling.

Helene is the oldest one here and definitely the most ruthless. She absolutely has no qualms about taking Grace down and even thinks they should get Alex to do it as it’ll help him see the light. It’s quite twisted logic but it shows how far down the rabbit hole she is. Helene definitely is insane by this point. Then you have Fitch who doesn’t even seem to take anything seriously. He is still trying to take Grace down though so he’s the perfect example of a character who seems nice enough but has no problem being a murderer so he’s just as bad as the others. You don’t get any points for acting nice.

Finally Emelie is the klutz of the group. She keeps on murdering other people by mistake even when aiming for Grace. It definitely makes for some humorous scenes. Emelie really has a hard time not murdering people by mistake which could be useful in some contexts but of course it isn’t very handy for the villains here. At least it gives them one weakness.

As a part comedy/parody the film has a whole lot of fun with this premise. After all, it’s just a game for the family and most of them treat it like that. Down to how nonchalant they are about the whole thing and people dying. We see a graveyard filled with bodies so while it’s apparently been a while, it’s still often enough for this to have all accumulated over time. It’s disturbing but also very interesting.

Now even if it is for laughs, the film can be quite violent. Some characters are lucky enough to die quickly while others get stuck in an elevator, get shot by an arrow but keep staying alive, etc. These guys can’t catch a break and Grace took some heavy injuries as I said. I think the tone helps it not feel so bad at times but the movie definitely was not afraid to get violent at times.

The mansion makes for a good backdrop during the hide and seek game. I rather enjoyed it and the place certainly does look fancy. There’s also a very catchy tune that plays when they start the hide and seek game. It helps to set the atmosphere here and when the song plays you know that something’s about to happen. Visually the film is also really impressive as every moment stands out. It just feels very professionally done. The film also has some twists near the end of the movie which should catch you on guard. It’s also possible that you’ll have seen through them but they were executed well either way.

Overall, Ready or Not is surprisingly a good film. The writing is on point and the film really keeps you engaged throughout the whole game of Hide and Seek. Towards the end we get so many “climax” moments that you really don’t know how things are going to end. It’ll keep you guessing that’s for sure and you probably won’t forget the hide and seek song anytime soon. This is the kind of film where a sequel would be different but as part of the parody angle I could see her trying to marry another rich guy and get thrown into a new scenario. Might come off as a bit forced though and I wonder if a sequel could match this one. I feel like the premise would be easy to mess up. Either way, if you don’t mind the violence then I would recommend checking this one out.

Overall 6/10

The Happy Years Review

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The Happy Years is a fairly happy film about a kid who starts off as a troublemaker but gradually learns what it means to be a respectable person in society. It’s a solid character arc that is paced well so you aren’t bored here. The main character himself may not be very likable but the film itself was good enough where you can get past that. The writing is on point and the story is good so you can’t go wrong there.

The story starts with Stover causing more trouble for his family as he messes with the horse and town property. He’s always been a bit of a wild child but this is getting to the point of being a really huge deal. So his family decides to send him to a strict school to see if they can finally knock some sense into him. Stover is determined to go in there and conquer the place, only the kids here are quite tough. Will Stover become a nice guy or will he be beaten up by the competition?

Now, as I mentioned I didn’t like Stover much. His whole thing is that he’s always rebellious and causing a lot of trouble which naturally means that he isn’t exactly helping to make the situation any better. On the contrary, he is often making things worse just by being around. He starts trouble on the ride to the school so he didn’t even wait until he was there to act up. He always talks tough to the teachers but most of the time you really feel like he starts the fights.

The only time he didn’t start it is when he got to the school and started being picked on by the other kids. I didn’t like Stover here either though because he was talking so tough but as soon as he got off of the wagon then he became timid. The other kids intimidated him almost immediately and it would take a while for Stover to really start fighting back. I would have liked to have seen some energy a little earlier than that tbh.

Stover also gets tricked easily and doesn’t even realize that one of the teachers is looking out for him. Even right through to the end he messes up on tests and doesn’t study. I know he’s a nicer kid at the end of it all but the character arc takes a while and so by then I wasn’t really rooting for him. He just never came around for me and should have picked his battles a little more carefully.

There are quite a few kids here but one of the most important ones is McCarty. He was one of the tough kids hazing Stove initially and then after the first semester he was willing to let the kid back into the group. He doesn’t seem to hold a big grudge the way that some kids would and meant well although you can’t really defend the hazing. I liked him more than Stover though, he seemed more mature and wasn’t just picking fights all of the time. None of the kids there are perfect but most of them are at least trying somewhat.

McCarty is really the one who has to do most of the work in getting Stover on their side and he does a good job of that. He’s someone you can certainly root for. By the end of the film the kids are all united and working as a team so it all ends on a wholesome note at least. The school deserves a lot of credit here as their good reputation is evidently quite deserved. No kid stays running on the wrong track while they’re at the school.

The bulk of the credit goes to Hopkins as the teacher who never gives up on Stover. He constantly gives him chances to try and do the right thing. He’s far more patient with him than most teachers would be and it shows why he is suited to the profession. He has a sense of humor and doesn’t really take things personally. I would easily put Hopkins as the best character in the film. Without him I don’t think the film would have had nearly the same impact. Certainly it wouldn’t have been able to have been as much of an enjoyable ride as it was.

For a slice of life film like this you need quality writing and good characters. Thanks to Hopkins these two areas were successful by a wide margin. The film has a satisfying conclusion and it really goes by quickly. I would have liked to have seen more of his family since it was fun to see how his father would react in the opening scenes. They don’t get a whole lot to do in the movie though and really just have a quick role in the middle and ending as they see his progress.

Maybe have them show up for one of the Football games. That would have been fun and a good chance to have seen Stover at his best. The football subplot was a fun one and I was glad that it was in the film. What better way to build up friendship and comradery right? It’s a game where you have to trust your teammates after all and played no small part in helping Stover make the right decisions. The scenes of replaying the final plays may have been a bit cheesy and I would have cut them out but that wasn’t during a Football game so it’s a bit different. In general the only negative for the film would be that some scenes can be very cheesy with the kids so you’re just wanting the story to move on. It’s almost unavoidable for films with kids as the lead though so in light of that the film did a good job in not letting this become overwhelming.

Overall, The Happy Years is a fun enough film. With the main characters all being kids you may not find any standout characters there but the teacher is a lot of fun. The movie also does a good job of showing you the day to day adventures like being in class or on the Football field. It’s not just blasting through the story here and takes its time. So if you’re up for a cheerful adventure then this is a good title to check out.

Overall 7/10