Tag Archives: Drama

The Little Prince Review

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This is probably one of those films I should be mor familiar with since the book was a big deal but for the most part it really got past me. It’s a pretty decent adventure although at times it can be so focused on the slice of life aspect that it almost gets a little dull. The slow moving nature of the story is what keeps it from being just a little bit higher. I would still recommend it though if you’re looking for an abstract film about adventure. Also props to the film for never actually giving us all the names for the characters. Whenever a film does this organically where you don’t even notice, I gotta give a little shoutout.

The film starts with a girl and her mother moving into a new home. The mother has a very detailed plan for her daughter which accounts for every hour or every day for the next few years. The idea is that this way her daughter will be able to achieve her life’s dreams with no delays. Obviously this is done to a rather insane degree but it really shows how much her mother was thinking of her. Coming up with this plan had to have taken an incredibly long time. It’s sort of the old issue of worrying about your kid so much that you go a bit overboard and end up creating more work for them.

Well, her daughter aims to do her best at each task. Unfortunately their crazy next door neighbor launches a rocket which breaks a big hole into the apartment and this kicks off a series of events that lead the main character to stop following the schedule. She is much too interested in the neighbor’s stories about a young prince in space. the more hours that are used up, the more that the plan can no longer work. Should the girl continue going off script and hanging out with the neighbor or should she begin to get back on track?

I was glad that the film didn’t make the mother overly unreasonable. I think this is one of those situations where if the girl had talked to her more, they could have avoided some of the issues here. Instead by working in secret and dodging the schedule it caused things to get more tense than needed. The mom was trying her best and ultimately just lost sight of the big picture here while she was trying to help. It’s one of those issues where I can feel really sympathetic since sometimes you are trying to help a lot and things just don’t go the way you want them to. That’s just how these things go.

She was willing to readjust the plan to account for a friend after all. Having to totally discard the plan is a bit more of a difficult ask though. It’s why you usually want to let your kid find their own goals through exploration but when you’re really successful it can be easy to want to craft a good life for your kid. So yeah there are a whole lot of things to consider here.

As far as the animation goes, the film looks decent. The scenes on the human world look decently good. It may not be high-end, nor are there scenes to really test this out since this is a very realistic film but I would say that it works out pretty well. The dream sequences within the stories tend to be a little too experimental for my taste though. I’d say that’s a good part of why I would just want the film to return to the human world some more. The dynamic between the mother and her daughter was far more interesting to me even if the stories were more supernatural.

The neighbor was also decent but I don’t cut him too much slack here. Apparently, his inventions haven’t been working for a long while now. He should know better than to still be testing his rockets in a place where they could possibly hit someone. Blowing up part of the house was a gag but a situation that felt dangerous all the same. It could have easily gone lethal depending on where the girl was.

A large part of the film is about the story though so lets talk about that for a minute. The Little Prince had some sheep and flower friend, then he went off to journey through the cosmos. He met many people like a King, a wealthy guy, and more. Unfortunately the story had a sad ending where the Prince got poisoned and died so this leads the girl to try and find him in the real world. Now how much of this is figurative vs literal is up to you but of course I always like to take this at face value. It turns out that things have not gone well at all as the prince is now a janitor and has basically given up all hope. All of the figures from his story appear but in different circumstances than the story had suggested.

This leads to a classic story about not giving up hope and finding your way once again. The Prince eventually gets better but sure takes his time in doing so. There’s nothing wrong with the story itself but the plot on Earth just feels a lot more tangible. You can really empathize with what’s going on and the gravity of the situation. For the Prince plot, well it still feels like a story book even once it’s “real”. In a way the story book intro kind of doomed it. I think there would be a chance to get past that in a longer film where you had more scenes for the second act. This one just doesn’t have enough time for it.

You’ve still got a well written film and I certainly wouldn’t say otherwise. That said, it’s not going to have a ton of replay value here. The film is just too soft spoken for that. It’s a quiet kind of film that tackles good concepts that are worth discussing but you only need to do that once. After that there is no big spectacle or action scenes to carry it through. I should note that the film is also quite serious. Not dark by any means but there aren’t a lot of jokes here which is also something that could have helped the replay value.

Overall, The Little Prince is a good movie. I would recommend checking it out at least on an initial watch. It’s not like every film needs to be watched twice after all. It can be a bit slow but doesn’t really have any bad scenes. It’s a safe watch for just about anyone. If they ever make another film like this, I would say to either incorporate both plots so that they live in a world where there is a prince or go all in on one world or the other. There just isn’t enough runtime to really get into both. I would also forget the experimental type animation and go for something with classic hand drawn instead.

Overall 6/10

The Martian Review

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It’s time for one of those big sci-fi films that reminds me why I would never want to travel to space. It’s just way too scary to think about being in outer space with no way back home. I don’t even like being on a boat where I could be stranded, let alone somewhere out of this world. Of course for those who do want to go into space, this is still a good watch of things to prepare for. I’m sure that not every fact will be correct here but I imagine that most of the details are probably right.

The film is about a crew who go to Mars but unfortunately a strong storm shows up out of nowhere. They are barely able to escape but what they don’t realize is that they left one of their own behind. Mark was presumed dead after taking a bit hit during the escape but he managed to survive. The next ship won’t be back to Mars for several years and the planet is infamous for not being able to sustain any kind of vegetation. Can Mark use his botany knowledge to change this fact or is he doomed to a slow death?

The premise is already a fun one because it gets the gears in your brain churning. Mark has enough food supplies to last for around half a year I believe and so he needs to grow enough crops for 3 years. Even under perfect conditions that would be tough and these conditions are anything but. For starters he will have to worry about the storms. If any big ones like that show up then he is absolutely dead. If he messes up on any of the formulas or math then he is doomed as well. Another condition is that Mark has to find a way to create water and he has a very limited amount of attempts to get this working. There are dozens and dozens of ways for this to go wrong and then you have to factor in how he is all alone. There is no google search and no other people here for advice. If he gets something wrong, then he has to solve it with no help.

These conditions are tough to deal with and it’s just lucky that he is a botanist. I wouldn’t know the first thing about creating water or setting up the planets so I would definitely be dead. As the film goes on Mark is able to find some breakthroughs and even manages to contact Earth. From this point the adventure is a lot easier but that is all relative. He still has to deal with being on a completely different planet and running out of food. The sheer mental stress from this would be intense.

The film is long but doesn’t feel slow because of how much information is coming through. So as long as you enjoy the general premise then you’re going to have a good time. Mark is also a pretty solid main character. He knows how to banter with the other characters and is mainly just doing his best in order to move forward. He does have a few moments where the stress gets to him but that makes sense. Also finding out that his teammates weren’t told about him surviving was something that would irritate everyone. The crewmates get some scenes of their own but for the most part don’t do much until the end. They seemed like a pretty strong group. You certainly hope you will get along with the people that you are stuck with in a rocket for long periods of time like this.

I always wondered if you have to do long personality tests or something with your group to make sure that everyone gets along. Finally we had the plot on Earth which is always a lot of fun because we get to see the politicians debating. Naturally they were not too thrilled at what was going on. There are a lot of risks involved to every possible decision here. If you decide to send another group to Mars, you may double the losses. Of course if you do nothing, then that’s a huge PR blow as well to just let one of your team die on Mars without any help.

There are a lot of debates on the Earth side and one character even has to go rogue to help Mark out. It’s one of those situations where playing it by the book would lower Mark’s chances of survival. However if everyone broke the rules like that, then things would be more dangerous in the long term. You always have to pick and choose when to go rogue and the ends don’t always justify the means. Of course as someone who says you shouldn’t leave anyone behind, I’d say to put the maximum amount of effort to save Mark.

While the film is clearly too fantastical to have been based on real events, I could picture a slightly toned down version of this to happen in real life someday. You certainly hope that nobody would be left behind or that a storm couldn’t derail an entire mission but these things happen. I like to think that a company like NASA certainly practices through scenarios like this.

Now technically I think the film would be more fun if there was a second character trapped on Mars so we could have the banter. That said, the film might have been tempted to squeeze in a romance plot at that point which would be really unnecessary. So perhaps this is for the best. I can also confirm that the situation is a lot scarier because Mark is alone. Even a single other person would take away part of the scare factor since no situation is quite as intense when you have backup.

Overall, The Martian is a pretty good film. It is certainly heavily focused on the science angle here but I thought that worked out really well. In general it’s fun to look at space and so the science around it gets interesting as well. The effects are pretty good and the film doesn’t really make any big mistakes here. I do think that it will lack a lot of replay value because of the nature of the film. It’s long and is all hinging on how the adventure goes. Once you know the ending, the build up will end up feeling a lot longer the second time around. I’d still recommend checking it out though because the first time it what counts.

Overall 7/10

The Fragrant Flower Blooms with Dignity Review

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I’m always up for a good romance title. When handled well you get to really enjoy seeing the characters get closer along with the solid pacing throughout. That being said, executing the story on a high level is always going to be the toughest part. I am glad to say that this anime was able to pull it off though. It is a well rounded show with a good cast and I didn’t really have any issues with it.

The story follows a guy named Rintaro who works at his parents bakery. He has had a tough time growing up as everyone was afraid of him. That made it extremely difficult to make any friends. Now he finally has some friends but still doesn’t really know how to open up to them. These things just don’t come naturally to him but one day he meets a girl named Waguri from a rival school and begins to like her. Rintaro now has a reason to break out of his shell and learn more about how to interact with people. Is Waguri the one who will brighten his life forever?

You might wonder why the rival school thing matters but its actually a pretty big plot point in this one. His school is seen as a place for violent delinquents while hers is for upper class women. Both schools are taught to resent the other one right away and so the students have learned this attitude as well. As the series goes on, the students realize that there isn’t a point to this rivalry and that the students from each school are actually good.

This series is also shamelessly optimistic at all times and that makes for a refreshing watch. Put it this way, if there is a dramatic scenario you can always expect the best possible outcome to happen in this show. It’s pretty nice as a change of pace since that’s not always the case. This is what you can really refer to as a comfort watch. Everything just works out and all of the main characters are very wholesome. They get to go to the beach, study together, etc. It’s the kind of life that many will find nostalgic from their childhood days or will be the kind of life that others have only imagined. That’s not to say there’s never any danger as we do get the occasional creep who has to be knocked out. Those instances are few and far between though.

This is a plot based show as Rintaro and Waguri get closer throughout the 13 episodes but it has a slice of life feel to it. Each episode will just continue their day to day adventures so there isn’t much more to say on the story side of things. Lets talk about Rintaro. He’s your classic nice guy who has a hard time sharing his own burdens. He’s always there to help his friends but they get upset that he doesn’t let them do the same. I can definitely sympathize with that problem because the whole point of helping your friends is to reduce their worries. It starts to defeat the purpose if you are adding onto them right after that. It may not be equal, but it does make sense.

Rintaro learns how to speak his mind as the series goes on like actually initiating a call with Waguri and asking his father how to bake a cake. Rintaro makes significant strides as the series goes on and it’s something that you always like to see. I’d say the final step would be to see him be ready to fight to protect his friends. Instead of always waiting for his friends to do it, there’s a time when you have to be proactive about that too. Still, I have no real problems with him on the whole. Rintaro is a good main character who really gets the job done as needed.

Then we have Waguri as the main heroine who is also a bit on the shy side but definitely has more bravery than Rintaro initially. She stands tall to defend him even when she is physically attacked and she was the one who kept on going to his parents’ bakery in order to meet him. She is the one who made sure that the pieces were all together and that’s not an easy thing to do. She still gets embarrassed which is normal when entering a relationship but is always able to come out on top.

I definitely like the fact that Waguri knows how to eat a good amount. She doesn’t try to hold back when in front of the others or anything like that. She just goes all out. It’s not that she is totally oblivious to things or doesn’t have her own insecurities but she pushes past them and always has on a brave face. So she gets a lot of credit there and without her making the first move in so many situations, the story would definitely not have progressed. This season is mainly about Rintaro’s friends so we won’t see most of Waguri’s until the next season. That said, her best friend does get to have a role.

Subaru has always done her best to protect Waguri. She serves as a shield to protect her from all things. It’s an especially tough thing to do because Subaru doesn’t feel comfortable around guys. So she steps out of her comfort zone in order to protect her friend. Subaru definitely ends up being one of the better characters as a result. Her character arc is also a bit similar to Rintaro’s in that she has a hard time speaking her mind. She tends to just follow the group and tries not to be a nuisance. Of course they’d prefer if she did speak and these issues mainly come from her own head. It’s another instance where it would be better for her to just speak up but it’s tough to overcome those mental hurdles.

Fragrant Flower does a great job of exploring these realistic scenarios. Some people just tend to get way too introspective and overthink everything. Then you have other characters who appear to just go through life without thinking much when that isn’t even the case. Often times from Rintaro’s perspective, it looks like Waguri is not nervous and just having a blast but when we cut to her POV, she is just as nervous as he is. They have different ways of showing their feelings is all.

Saku is one of Rintaro’s main friends who is around and is always ready to defend the main lead. Saku is a bit quiet himself but always finds his courage when it comes time to go up against any bullies. He’s another great character but of course just about every character in this series is great. So that should come as no surprise. He may be the most perceptive of the characters as he is quick to try and make Subaru feel like part of the group when she is lagging behind the others. He may not always have a ton of tact but he means well.

Then we have Shohei who is the most outgoing member of the group. He is constantly having a good time and is ready for endless parties. At first he may seem to just be oblivious to everything but really he is just good at looking at the positive side of things. It’s hard to actually get him down but when he makes a mistake, Shohei owns up to it. He’s the kind of friend that you definitely want to have by your side. You always want to have someone like that on your side to brighten up the room and cut through the awkward parts.

Yorita has the smallest role from the 3 main friends so far. In some ways he may be the most possessive friend as he goes absolutely nuts when people badmouth Rintaro. In another series you may expect him to be the friend who goes rogue but in this case I’d say it’s just to show how passionate he is. This is not a guy who will just turn the other cheek when it comes to his friend. He really treasures his friendship with Rintaro and is always glad to see it progress like when Rintaro finally starts to open up to him and the others.

Then we have Rintaro’s parents who are both really solid characters. His father doesn’t get too much to do until the end but we see that he quietly works very hard. He is passionate about the bakery and has always given Rintaro a very long leash. His family leadership style is all about trust and you can’t really go wrong there. Rintaro’s mother is also very supportive and was glad to see Rintaro making friends. She even dyed her hir so that he wouldn’t feel alone when Rintaro had made the decision to do so.

It’s easy to see how Rintaro became such an upstanding person with such great parents at his side. So like I said, the series is super wholesome. The characters all feel very real with their strengths and weaknesses while trying to do their best. Nobody is actively trying to hurt someone else and when there are misunderstandings, they talk them out. The series is a lot more mature than its average rival in that respect. Things don’t tend to get super dramatic and everything feels like a moment that you could experience in real life.

The only part of the show that feels completely out of tone with the rest is when Waguri is attacked at night by the bakery. The rest of the series is so safe that it feels weird to see actual villains like this running around with rather serious threats. It was good that they got taken down and were beaten up later on. The scene doesn’t ultimately change much so it’s not like you needed it there, but it was used as a way for Rintaro’s friends to know that he was still hiding things.

The animation for the show is pretty good. It’s nothing amazing, I would say basically average in all areas. Romance titles don’t need a whole lot of animation so that’s fine. Animation that is out of this world can help to enhance a title like with Kaguya sama but it’s not like this is really needed. So long as the animation isn’t bad then I don’t have any real problems here. The soundtrack is also a bit on the bland side. So the writing and characters have to carry the series on this journey because the technical elements aren’t going to do it.

The show has fast pacing throughout and so it never gets boring. That would be the only risk for a series like this and that never even comes close to happening. I would say a big part of that is just how likable the characters are. I also just tend to like wholesome adventures like this. Finally, the show’s romance is one that I can actually get behind. There are no rebounds here and the romance is a slow burn. The characters get to know each other first before officially dating. They don’t try to fake it as just being friends or anything like that. From the first meeting, it was generally with the mindset that they could become boyfriend/girlfriend if everything turned out well. Now I may get skeptical for some other romances that may pop up but this main one is really good.


Overall, The Fragrant Flower is a pretty good title. It has a lot of replay value and is just a fun show to watch. It executes on a good level across all areas. There isn’t really anything negative to say about the series and the premise is something that could be stretched across many seasons. When a show like this can even have a great beach episode without a hint of fanservice, then you know it is operating on a high level. The show doesn’t fall into any of the classic traps and is instead focused on delivering a strong story with quality writing. It doesn’t need any lazy hooks to get viewers in because the writer is confident on the product. I definitely hope this gets a season 2 soon and would recommend this to anyone looking for a upbeat show.

Overall 7/10

Our Souls at Night Review

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There aren’t too many films about romance that blooms when the main characters are seniors so this was definitely different. It makes sense that folks can get lonely even when they are in the twilight years. Personally I would tend to advise against entering a relationship at that late stage but you just hope for the best. The film had some potential but it can’t resist adding in a bunch of drama which ultimately hurts things in the end.

The film starts by introducing us to Louis. He’s really old but has a solid routine every day. He hangs out with his friends and then heads home. Life goes on as normal and he doesn’t seem to have any complaints. Well, one day his neighbor Addie shows up and says they should start sleeping together so the nights won’t feel as long. It’s certainly the strangest offer Louis has gotten but she confirms this will be purely platonic. Luis decides to give this a shot but in the most shocking of plot twists, he begins to fall for her. How could this happen and what should he do about this?

Now obviously this was always going to be the end result. There are loads of lies that you can tell yourself but the biggest one is that you can hang out every night on the bed with someone and not catch feelings at some point. It’s why friends with benefits has always been a bunch of immoral nonsense but also why you don’t go to naked saunas or hot springs adventures with your friends. If you want to keep your friends and not succumb to impulses, you shouldn’t be entering spaces and situations that aren’t meant for them.

The instant Addie made the offer, it was clear to both parties deep in their mind that a romance would happen. The whole deal just wouldn’t make sense otherwise. From that point on, if they’re both on board then there’s technically nothing wrong with it. It would still feel like a rebound to me though and like I said before I just wouldn’t recommend a late stage romance. Why not?

Well when you enter into any kind of relationship you have to take the good with the bad. The bad in this case is likely going to involve a lot of medical issues and deaths of friends due to how old they all are. You’re potentially getting super close to someone who is not going to be around for much longer. That happens even in a young relationship since by extension you now know double the people which means more chances of bad things happening. It’s not a great way to look at things but you have to when you have two people 70+ who are going to be getting together now.

Then we also learn that Louis wasn’t the best guy in his youth. He cheated on his wife and while they patched things up later on, his social reputation was destroyed. You can’t full recover from something like that, the trust is just gone. I felt this was a really unnecessary part of the film. One of those classic plots to show how everyone makes a ton of big mistakes. Why couldn’t Louis just be a good guy?

Meanwhile Addie doesn’t have any big moments of crisis in her past but in the present she is the one who ultimately chooses her other responsibilities over Louis. She started this whole arrangement and yet she’s the one to end it? That’s not a particularly good look. Her ungrateful son spends a lot of the film getting drunk and whining but it sounds to me like she did her best. I didn’t have a problem with any of the issues that guy had been raising up.

In general the kids are the most annoying characters though. Addie’s son Gene is trying to raise his son on his own after the wife left but it seems clear why she did. He gets drunk a lot, isn’t able to properly control himself, and can’t land a job. Perhaps Gene is trying hard but there is really no excuse for when he left his kid all by himself and started drinking. He’s always looking for a fight and is quick to blame others but doesn’t take ownership of his faults. Even by the end of the film we have no reason to think that he has changed at all.

Then we have Louis’ daughter Holly who gets far less screentime but also doesn’t do very well. She comes off as very aggressive during the lunch meeting about how she’s going on her adventure and blames Louis for not being there. Her therapist wanted her to make it very clear to Louis about this so that she could have closure and all. It just seemed to come out of nowhere. Naturally we know that the past events led up to this but it always feels petty to just launch an attack after a long period like this.

Once you’re an adult you have to be responsible for your decisions. Holding onto old grudges is not a good idea but even if you do, just keep it to yourself at that point. Don’t go and set up a meetup just to do more complaining. If Gene was so unhappy, then he shouldn’t be going to Addie for help. Holly could have just gone on her adventure without stopping by to rub Louis’ nose in it. Like I said, the characters are just unlikable.

I also can’t say that I liked any of Louis’ main friends. They’re basically around to be crude and start the rumor mill but that’s all that they are here to do. Louis takes offense at it because he’s the main character this time but from how they were talking, this is probably a regular thing. It doesn’t reflect well on Louis to be hanging out with these characters.

For a slow burn film like this, it helps a lot if the characters are all pleasant. I think that Hallmark could do a really good job with this premise for example. They should have also played up the romance to be more gradual. Instead of the two running to a hotel to try and act like teenagers again, have them do an actual courtship and build up to the end process. Get married first and make it official instead of all this hidden stuff.

As a more minor note, there is a lot of screentime for taking care of Gene’s kid while he is out playing the fool. Louis and Addie do a good job of taking care of him but getting a dog was a big mistake. For starters, both of them aren’t going to last very long so that raises questions on what will happen to the dog. Ultimately they end up giving him to Gene instead. Gene can’t even raise a kid tho, let alone a dog. So that’s the kind of decision that just seems to be very iffy at best.

Overall, Our Souls at Night shows exactly why you don’t want to be getting into any secret entanglements. Eventually everyone finds out and even if you double down, it’s just not going to last. I didn’t particularly enjoy the ending because it felt very avoidable but in a way it is realistic. The situationship worked for a while but now Addie doesn’t need any help to sleep since she’s not alone and so she chose the responsibilities over Louis. Ultimately the biggest moral of the story is, if anyone ever asks you to do something inherently intimate but claims that it will be platonic….listen to your common sense and reject the offer. I did enjoy the small town atmosphere at least, it seemed like a fun area to live in.

Overall 4/10

Barefoot in the Park Review

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Uh oh, it’s time for a romance film. Usually that means you are about to be seeing a really weak romance but of course the film could surprise us? Nah that doesn’t really happen here. There is a good amount of humor within the film but it also gets hurt by some of the characters being really unlikable. It’s the classic example of a film that is pretty fun for most of the adventure but does end up running out of steam before the ending.

The movie starts off by introducing us to Corie and Paul who have just gotten married. Things are going really well for them and right away we see the contrast in personalities here. Corie loves trolling Paul and putting him in embarrassing situations while Paul pretends not to enjoy it too much and so they’ve had a great bond. Well, their bond gets put to the test when they move into Corie’s apartment on the 6th floor which has no heating, almost no room, and no elevator service. Paul isn’t in particularly good shape and so walking up the 5 flights is a real struggle. They also have to deal with an upstairs neighbor named Victor who is not particularly subtle with his flirting towards Corie. How will things turn out?

First off, I will say that the comedy in the film is pretty impressive. I enjoy the banter between the characters and also think that Corie has a good sense of humor. Yes, most of her jokes do have the potential to get Paul punched out or in serious trouble but the high stakes nature of the jokes are what makes them work. I also think those jokes are not really a bad idea at all in strengthening their relationship.

The film also gets a lot of leverage out of the 6th floor part. It’s hard to see why it’s such a big deal to walk up all those flights but I can overlook that because the various jokes are just funny. Then we have Paul trying to keep up with Corie’s energy even if it means trying strange foods. You definitely feel bad for him there because that is a real struggle all the way around.

Now for the romance, it starts out good but does take a tumble by the end. Their relationship should not have been so easy to crush. Surprisingly the film doesn’t really go for the jealousy card with Victor here but instead plays up that Paul feels like a stiff compared to Corie. When she basically admits to that, then they go through a lot of troubles which only resolve with Paul having to play the fool for a bit. Jestermaxing as the kids would say nowadays.

I didn’t think that was a good resolution. For starters, it does play into Corie actually feeling that way to an extent. I would have preferred her to come to the realization that she wants a guy who is very steady and not going to get drunk and such. Have her tone down her own behavior a bit. My biggest issue with the film was how she would act around Victor. It’s one thing to be friendly but I thought she was a bit overboard with him. Victor would really get away with flirting and the way he helped her get down from the AC was absolutely fresh.

The film is mainly content to never make Victor out to be the villain but I would have liked Paul to put him in his place. Boundaries are always important to consider. I say this as someone who does hold the unpopular opinion that you can have really close friends of the opposite sex at all times. Whether married or not, there are wholesome friendships to be had but that is precisely why you need boundaries. If your friend is genuine, then they will respect them and everyone will have a great time.

Then we have a whole subplot where Corie tries to set up her mother Ethel with Victor. Setting someone up on a blind date is always a bad thing to do here and then to see it work can be rather annoying. Victor is introduced as a character with quite the reputation of getting around so why would this possibly be a good idea?

You have to assume that it all works out but it is a strong assumption all the way through. Ethel was a good character though. Romance aside, she did her best to be supportive of Corie and Paul the whole way through. There were plenty of opportunities for her to complain about things like the way the apartment looked but she tried to find the positive side of things.

As for Paul, he mainly did good but unfortunately looks bad at the end when he gets super drunk. Essentially he was trying to prove that he could be fun but in that instant he lost the high ground. I would have preferred that he stuck to his guns and eventually Corie would realize why he was a good man. Some mistake the ability to get drunk and go to clubs as being a fun person when you don’t need any of that. The ability to have fun without being intoxicated is a much more honorable trait.

So the film was pretty solid but really just fumbled when the plot had to get serious. The film probably felt like it needed to have some drama to end things off but this was the wrong way to do it. It just came at the expense of both characters and that’s never a good thing. Additionally, pretty much every scene with Victor just came across as annoying. I would have much preferred that the film be built around the apartment and that’s where the fun comes from. You could have both characters arguing over how the apartment should look and that would easily have enough material for a whole film.

Overall, This is a film that’s pretty fun but does get hurt quite a bit by the end. The end is ultimately what will leave the biggest impact on you so that was a really rough way to go. If you do like a classic comedy-romance then you should probably still check this one out. Just be prepared to see a whole lot of wasted potential here as the film focuses far too much on Ethel and Victor who try to take over the film. You just want to get back to the main duo but they don’t get much of a chance by the middle portion since it leads right to the big fight for the climax. It was a fresh change of pace to have the characters married from the start though rather than waiting until the very end.

Overall 4/10

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Review

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It’s been many years but I am finally getting to rewatch the Chitty Chitty Bang Bang film. I can tell you right now, this is not a film that has aged any better than the first time around. There’s barely a plot going on here and the film just never manages to capture your attention. I have to admit that it was probably better before the film went into dream world and even then the intro wasn’t all that great. It’s a rare mix of a lot of old time story telling devices that just failed at the same time.

The film starts off by introducing us to Mr. Potts who is a really crazy inventor who also happens to be extremely defensive at all times. Quite the impressive combo of traits eh? Well, one day he ends up meeting a lady named Truly who considers him to be a real bore. He doesn’t take proper care of his kids and is far too aloof. Potts rejects all of that and may be right because he immediately wins her over to the point where she’s grinning and laughing less than 10 minutes from their meetup. Potts even works on selling some whistle candies to her father although that doesn’t end up going so well.

Potts tries a bunch of other crazy inventions like an automatic hair cutter and even rebuilds a car. It’s still rather bumpy so he calls it Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. Quite the name eh? Well, this is a perfect time to tell a story about some corruption among the rich and a fantastical kingdom where pirates are trying to steal the car. CCBB is a very unique car after all that can even turn into a boat. It’s all really crazy but can Potts impress Truly enough for them to get married?

Now this film is in an interesting position with the humor. For example, it does have a lot of slapstick and goofy humor with all the characters running around. It’s pretty direct and in your face which is usually a humor style that I rather enjoy quite a lot. That being said, it felt like the film was missing the punchline half the time. You have all the setup for a bunch of jokes but then they all just go through the motions.

The film is also a musical which doesn’t really work out well. As with most musicals, the songs just aren’t all that great. The songs aren’t super bad or anything but none of them are the kind that you will be humming along to. The funniest part of them is really just to enjoy the scenes ironically. This is a pretty good film to watch ironically like if you view it as a super serious product and then go from there. That has its limits though and doesn’t make it a super strong film.

The romance is also not going to be one of the better ones and this is pretty much self evident. It’s hard to see how Truly goes from finding Potts to be super annoying and unlikable to being in love with him shortly afterwards. In context it’s not even like they knew each other a super long time. He was telling a story for a good chunk of the time after all and there weren’t any big time skips to where they were hanging out for a few months or something. She was won over way too quickly.

Yes, this is a comedy film but I don’t think that works as an actual defense here. You still could have had slower pacing and allowed for things to work out gradually. Or just have Potts be likable from the start. Instead of being super defensive about the amount of freedom he gives his kids, have him apologize and admit that she was right. Then Truly understands how mature he is and things go well from there. That would be the easiest fix.

Okay lets talk about the story now. So the Baron wants the legendary Chitty Chitty Bang Bang car and so he has two bumbling agents constantly trying to get it. They try kidnapping Potts, then going after his father, etc. They don’t really know how to do anything so the heroes aren’t often in a lot of danger. Unfortunately the two biggest liabilities are Pott’s two kids. They don’t have much of a concept of stranger danger and so they run into a van for some candy. They pretty much write the book on why I tend to find kids annoying in this kind of adventure.

The whole story also feels like it takes place in the really olden days because of how the town and castle look. In fairness though, the film itself is fairly old so that was just how things went. There just isn’t really anything interesting to look at during the adventure. I also think this might be where I can better explain what holds the story back. It’s just too serious.

Now hear me out. This is a really silly comedy film so that may sound like I’m missing something. Where the story takes itself too seriously is in how the whole kingdom plot is still taking itself seriously even when the actual characters aren’t. We’re introduced to a whole new town with its own lore and the kingdom has a lot of backstory. You could maybe pull this off in a fully serious film but it’s much harder to do that when the characters don’t really care. You either needed to make this a fully serious film, or cut out the story aspect and just keep the film about everyone messing around and getting into trouble.

While the opening wasn’t ultra interesting, I do think the premise was better than the adventure we got. We could have stuck to seeing Potts and all of his crazy neighbors running around and causing trouble while Truly tries to expose them all as being crazy. I think you could do some crazy shenanigans with that or….make the car fully sentient. I think that would have been funny. Ultimately the film is fairly innocent and harmless but it’s just not doing anything. This one should probably not get a remake, I don’t think you can really save it.

Overall, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang is a film that just doesn’t work. Even after waiting over 10 years and watching it again…it’s just not entertaining. The fantastical approach didn’t work here and the characters were not strong enough to make up for this. I would highly recommend sticking away from this film. It’s not as if it does anything seriously wrong but at the same time you’re just not entertained which is a big blow against any film.

Overall 3/10

War Hunt Review

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This is one of those films that really gets into the nitty gritty of how war can really change a person. The soldiers involved in this war are really brought to the brink with one of them completely cracking. Although the film leaves the door open on if he was already broken before the term even started or if the service just widened the gap here.

The film takes place near the end of the Korean war. They are all hoping for peace but in the meantime the US army is tasked with making sure that they don’t lose any ground and that Korea really feels their muscle. Each day without a peace treaty is supposed to feel painful. The main character here is Loomis and he has been assigned to a new squad. Everything seems normal at first, except for on guy named Endore. He routinely goes outside at night on solo missions and seems a little off. Loomis quickly finds out that he is going around murdering enemy soldiers…but what can he do about this?

Now you may be wondering what the issue is. Well, there’s a big difference between taking down enemy soldiers mid combat vs seeking them out at night for private executions. Especially with the war winding down. Endore even runs around their dead bodies for some kind of weird ritual and the whole thing seems crazy. Unfortunately the only advice Loomis gets is to stay away from Endore. Yeah…that’s not very helpful now is it? It’s not like Loomis is a captain after all so he doesn’t have much power.

Adding onto the previous issues is the fact that he ends up twisting his foot and is out of action for a bit. Loomis completely froze up during his first fire fight and had to be saved by Endore. Things really couldn’t get much worse for the lead. Meanwhile there is a kid named Charlie who shows up by the camp. Loomis tries to be friends with him but Endore gets in the way as he doesn’t want Charlie to be having any fun. He seems to be training him as a future soldier of war.

It’s all a rather grim state of affairs. Even when the war is just about over, you still have more characters dying. It’s a mix of letting their guards down and just the tough luck of war. Until things are actually resolved, there is always going to be some danger. The captain did his best to stress this but it still didn’t result in a perfect outcome. You definitely can’t say that the film was trying to glamorize the war at all.

This movie is fairly quick so it all goes by rather quickly. After all there is only one-two main fights here and most of it is about the characters just trying to survive. At one point the Koreans launch a fairly big offensive where they just start bombing everything. They unleash massive amounts of firepower while Loomis and the other soldiers have to hunker down. It’s a tough mental battle as well because you don’t know when the enemies will run out of ammo and stop firing.

I think this probably would have been enough story to fill in the plot but I suppose adding in the crazy soldier helped to add more explosive drama in. It’s really hard to deal with a villain on your side during war time. There just isn’t any time to worry about that. The captain did good in taking decisive action when he had to. Loomis was yelling at him to stop and all but that was a moment of kill or be killed. I don’t believe there was any time to waver there even if it did result in another death. It was regrettable but his hand was forced at that point.

It just would have been nice if they could have saved the kid as well. I don’t think the orphanage life would have been great but Loomis was right that it would still be worlds better than trying to survive in the middle of nowhere on a war torn path. At least the kid would have had a chance and could have learned how to be a kid after that was stolen away from him. Letting Charlie remain in the wilderness definitely added onto the tragedy of the story. Made this into a full on sad ending rather than being ambiguous.

I was surprised that Loomis didn’t really have a big final scene though. After he froze during the first battle, I kind of thought that he would be the one to land the final shot. Show that he was now ready for what war entailed and that could be the mixed message about how war changes everyone in some way. Instead he was mostly helpless at the end anyway. I know it was a tough moment so I’m not trying to blame him too much but he really never got to step up.

Overall, I would definitely recommend War Hunt. It’s a pretty good film. It’s intense without being exploitive or anything like that. You can understand the grim tone and what has happened to the characters without the movie having to go all out in spoon feeding the answers to you. I would also say that the short length of the movie helps prevent it from dragging on. I don’t think you would have benefitted much from an extra 30 minutes as it would have really just been more detailed moments for the plots you already had at the ready.

Overall 6/10

The Way We Were Review

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Time for what is apparently a legendary romance film but I am left thinking that it is incredibly overrated. This is one of those jaded romance films where everyone acts absolutely terrible and the characters would have been better off staying single. You gotta wait for the perfect marriage and settling early will usually end up in this kind of scenario. The ending is saddest for the rebounds who are really stuck as being an after thought.

The movie starts off by introducing us to two characters. Katie who is openly joining communist groups and has very unpopular political opinions and Hubbell who basically just enjoys his life and doesn’t think about politics much. We get a lot of contrasting scenes in the beginning where Katie is basically miserable for decades as she makes politics her whole life while Hubbell is having a blast trying out a ton of hobbies. It is a really striking contrast right there. Well, in the present Hubbell is serving a term in the army while working on his books while Katie works in more of a live radio setting while still doing her protests. They meet up again and decide to get together. Can their physical attraction to each other get past all of the numerous red flags that stay in the way?

Usually the answer to that question is going to be no. The reason is because passion can fade over time. Usually one or both people are going to have reduced drives over the years, they will get older and less attractive, etc. There are whole memes about why this is a bad idea and that’s why you can’t fall for someone on physical attraction alone. That’s what crushes and one night stands are made of. A true love goes beyond that to personality and really loving every part of the other person. That doesn’t have to be literal of course as it can be 90% or something even if that’s not ideal. The problem is that these two tick each other off from the start.

For Katie, it’s clear that her politics have a higher place than Hubbell. She feels like his positions and attitude towards current events are wrong and so she would be compromising by not standing up in defiance every time. That is already a dealbreaker. When your side is right and the other is “wrong” then you won’t have true synergy at that point because now you have yourself on a higher pedestal. She doesn’t even try to analyze her worldview and just makes a scene at every party and event. Katie won’t be quiet about this and moreover she will lecture everyone else.

Katie was absolutely not fun at parties. Now, parties aren’t for everyone but if you’re going to marry someone who loves being at parties, then that’s not going to be a good development. Often times people aren’t going to change a whole lot for marriage. She put herself in a bad position and as the film goes on, her position gets worse and worse until there was really no hope left except to go grab a rebound guy to take care of the kid and go from there which is naturally another bad decision.

Meanwhile, as drastic as Katie was, Hubbell is decidedly worse. He is the one who decides to go and cheat on her. Ultimately while fans of his character can try to come up with a number of excuses, the truth is that there are none. Cheating is breaking the covenant of marriage completely. That is much more serious than fights here and there or disagreements. He already made the oath of for better or worse after all. So as annoying as Katie was, Hubbell was the one in the wrong here and ends up being the worst character here.

He ultimately goes for a rebound later on as well. As the ending shows though, Katie and Hubbell still like each other and are basically only kept apart thanks to social customs. It makes the situation even worse for their new partners because they are clearly second fiddle and this comes close to emotional cheating. So that is why both of the main characters are just really terrible the whole time so you can’t root for any of them. The film doesn’t try to hide this though.

The first time they get together is when Katie took advantage of Hubbell while he was extremely drunk and didn’t know what was happening. If the roles were reversed this film would have really been seen as pushing the envelope back in the day. It’s just a terrible way for their relationship to start. Yeah Hubbell made a lot of bad decisions to put himself in that position but Katie was the one to take advantage of this. It is played up in a romantic and even comedic way afterwards but it was a rough scene.

So with the romance already in the toilet, could the film come back from that? Well, this isn’t a comedy so you don’t really have the laughs to balance it out. Instead you have more drama like a bunch of Hollywood figures being taken to court and that puts more friction on the relationship. What I can say for the film is that the pacing’s pretty decent. I didn’t think that the film dragged on or anything even with the characters not being fun. So I think that is definitely a credit to the movie.

By the end of the film it’s hard to say who is having a more enjoyable life. Katie continues to fight a losing battle of talking to the masses but at least has the knowledge that she will never compromise on her beliefs. It’ll be hard for her to make friends as you will always need to watch your jokes and be ready for a political lecture. Meanwhile Hubbell is really well off with continued financial success but knowing that he will always compromise and crumble his beliefs for the easier road. He will do whatever is needed in order to get to the next point which will eat away at his psyche even if he would never admit it, potentially even to himself. As the years go by, he will have wasted them with pointless chatter instead of doing anything.

Overall, This is a pretty dreary film about two people who were just completely incompatible from the start. They are just too different and their lifestyles wouldn’t be fun to each other. Hubbell is clearly content to just lounge around and listen to his friends gossip about everything while Katie would much prefer hanging out 1 on 1 or doing something constructive. It’s why you always need to take these things into account as well when going into a relationship. The only context I would recommend this film to people in would be as a cautionary tale of what not to do when getting ready for marriage. You can’t treat it as the next logical step of dating, it is a completely different beast and you better be sure that you know the other person extremely well. You will never be 100% certain but you had better be careful because it will be one of the most important decisions of your life.

Overall 3/10

That Thing You Do! Review

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It’s been a little while since I’ve seen a concert type film. This one does a good job of keeping the music front and center for the experience. You might be worried that the drama will overtake the music but that never happens in this case. You’ve got quite a few characters walking around and while the leads may not be the most likable, for the most part they aren’t terrible people either. Some are definitely better than others though.

The film starts out by introducing us to Guy who works at his father’s appliance store. His real passion is in music but he has to make ends meet. One day, a local band loses a member when he breaks his arm so they go to recruit Guy. Guy can’t pass up this opportunity and the group performs better than usual. This is actually due to Guy messing up the song and playing a lot quicker than the normal tempo. It was a fortunate mistake because the group become local celebrities over night. Their fame continues to grow as they are even signed by a big time company. Will this fame end up corrupting the group? Sometimes when fame hits this quickly, it has a tendency to tear folks apart.

For most of the movie the group is actually fine though. What you see are the cracks that begin to form. Jimmy is a little reluctant about all of these opportunities from the start after all. He feels like this is not following his artistic vision and does a lot of complaining. Even when they are filming a commercial for a big budget movie, he is still upset the whole time. There is no real pleasing him as he only wants to create records.

Jimmy is big on being a musician so it’s fine that he wants to make more music but it does feel like he’s taking the other opportunities for granted. Even nowadays it feels like musicians have to do a lot of things beyond just making music if they want to remain relevant for long. He needed to play ball more but things really escalate when his romance plot doesn’t go well. He was dating Faye for over 2 years but was apparently not planning on taking things further.

That always feels like a waste of time though. Why date someone for a long period of time when you’re not planning to get married in the end? I don’t think you should even date anyone if you’ve crossed off the idea of marriage. Obviously you can’t really know how things will end when you first start dating but the door should be open to the possibility. Then if that door closes at any point, you’ve gotta end things as quickly as possible. In this film it may have been one way but even if you have a relationship where both people are just in it for kicks, it’s going to be a bad idea. It just makes the whole thing futile and pointless.

Meanwhile for Faye, it was definitely a tough situation for her. She thought that things were going well the whole time and didn’t notice that Jimmy had withdrawn. I wouldn’t really put any fault on her there because it’s incredibly hard to discern that. In a way you never truly know another person so those kinds of twists and changes will usually be unexpected. I will say that I do judge her a bit on the rebound though. After a big relationship like that, you really need to just wait for a while before getting right back into the hunt. Rebounds in general are never a good idea because you’re running on pure emotion by that point.

As for our lead Guy, well he doesn’t do too well at the romance game either. He seems distracted by girls initially but his main passion is music. So he naturally needs to be with someone who is really interested in the business. Otherwise those relationships aren’t going to work. If he has fully picked music, then there’s nothing wrong with that, but he should know his limits and not pursue other things. He was always a good sport about tackling all of the musical gigs and leading the group though. When it comes to the band, he was second to none.

Then we have Lenny who mainly serves as the goofball of the group. He is always running around and causing a stir. He’s really good at being in the band but he really wants a girlfriend already. He spends his off hours always looking for one and flirting with everybody. That’s not usually a good sign for a long term relationship so how his plot ends is not really going to be a surprise to anybody. He worked well for the dynamic and seems like a decent friend but he’s not going to be the guy you can count on.

Finally we have Mr. White who was a really good manager. He clearly knew his stuff and pushed the group to succeed. He deserves a lot of credit because he kept it real with each of the members the whole time. Mr. White was cordial and treated them all like professionals while keeping up his boundaries. When Jimmy crashes out, White calmly reminds him of the contract and pushes forward from there. I was glad that he didn’t retreat at all. He’s seen this many times after all so this is just business as usual. You always want to have a boss like that.

The main song gets played a lot so you definitely hope that it’s a good one. I thought that it was reasonably catchy. It’s not exactly the kind of tune that I would be listening to but I wouldn’t be in a hurry to turn it off if it happened to be on the radio. The song is basically passable is what I’d say and that’s not a bad position to be in.

This film mainly excels with the good dynamic between the main characters. They all get along well and it’s nice to see them succeed even if I may not love any of them as individual characters. You do end up feeling bad for the original member who broke his arm though. We see that he got a job at the appliance store but he really missed out on what would have been a fun adventure all because of a little accident. That’s about as tragic as it gets.

Overall, This film shows that the life of a band can be really glorious but also incredibly short lived. It’s not the kind of gig that tends to go on forever after all. You have to enjoy it while you can and then go from there. You hope that the characters saved up enough money to be set for the rest of their lives although we do get epilogue notes for each of the characters. If you like a classic story about bands and enjoy the atmosphere then you’ll certainly enjoy the film. It does a good job of exploring that environment.

Overall 6/10

Vampire in the Garden Review

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It’s time to look at a classic tale of humans vs vampires. This one apparently has quite a story to it but I can’t say that I remember it so well before actually watching the show. At 5 episodes it is quite short so that may add to the effect. I’m not the biggest fan of vampires in general but it’s a solid story. It does end without a whole lot of things being resolved though. In a way it’s like you got to see the main character’s part in it and then you turn the camera off before the inevitable bad ending that is going to happen to most of the cast.

The show starts by showing us the war between humans and vampires. Both sides have taken heavy hits over the years. Most of the humans are extinct and have retreated to a mini city that is protected by a special kind of light that repels the vampires. The vampires have their own mega base where they stay out of range from these weapons. Both sides continue to strike the other but neither have made a decisive blow to end the war as of yet.

Momo is a soldier who has had a tough time with this. She’s not big on violence and the vampires can also be kids and look really unassuming. She is unable to pull the trigger during a pivotal moment which causes shame onto her mother Nobara. Nobara is a high ranking general in the army and doesn’t have time for this kind of distraction. She also finds out that Momo has been hiding some music which is explicitly forbidden to humans. Music is seen as a work of the evil demons. Momo has enough and runs off, only to be taken by the queen of the vampires, Fine. Fine appears to be decent but is she really? The humans mobilize to save Momo while the vampires give chase because they feel that Momo may be corrupting Fine. Is there a way to end this cycle of violence?

I’d say that’s the main theme of the show. Trying to get away from the fact that this war is essentially an eternal one at this point. There will be no true winners or losers, only more bodies added onto the pile. The problem is that when the war involves this many people, it is not easy to stop. Fine essentially says that they should turn their backs on the war but at the same time it will keep on occurring. It’s sort of like closing your eyes to a bad situation. I’m not saying it’s inherently wrong in this context but it’s a short sighted decision. One way or the other, someone is going to win this war and then these two will be hunted again.

Now who is going to win this war? Well, I’m betting it will be the vampires, they just have too many strengths going for them. Yes, the humans have the lights but they aren’t particularly fast and can be evaded. The search towers are extremely lethal but the smaller lights are shown to be survivable. You have to factor in that the vampires can fly, have super strength/speed, and have absolutely incredible durability. They are not going down easily by any means. They will be in the driver’s seat in all the fights. The show tries to make this appear to be relatively equal but I just don’t see it playing out that way.

You can also see why the vampires are wary about Momo. See, this same situation happened to Fine earlier. There was another human girl who looked like Momo and things didn’t end well. The anime slowly peels back the cover on what happened in the previous tragedy but it makes the whole situation a lot clearer. Fine just seems to be walking into a trap from the perspective of all the other vampires. In particular, Allegro is someone who cares a lot for Fine’s safety and decides to take things into his own hands.

He’s a very loyal vampire to be sure. He also points out that as the queen, Fine does have a lot of responsibility here. She can’t just be shirking her responsibilities all the time. In a way she should be using her role to try to change things instead of escaping. Yeah it would absolutely be a lot tougher but it’s still an option for her with how much power she has. Ultimately things don’t go very well for Allegro at all but he ends up being sympathetic.

I liked Fine but she definitely had her faults with trying to run away and all. It was nice to see her fighting and the show actually gave a good explanation for why she couldn’t just absolutely crush everyone in her way. The fact that she refused to drink blood meant that she was constantly in a weakened state. This completely affected her fighting ability and why wouldn’t it right? So that made a lot of sense and I thought it was handled really well. She also helped Momo to escape her shell.

At first Momo was the kind of person who would just put her head down and accept whatever order she was given. After that, Momo would finally speak back and do well. I didn’t like Momo quite as much as Fine. They had similar character arcs in a way but the problem is that Momo was a more naive version of Fine. When they first made it to the sanctuary, Fine immediately knew that something was wrong while Momo was clouded by what she hoped to see. In the end Momo is a child so it makes sense that she would be easier to fool but it would have been really nice if she could have looked a little better in the meantime.

I think this is where the short length hurts a bit. If it had gone on longer, I think we would have had more scenes of Momo protecting Fine, the way that Fine protected her. We saw this briefly when Momo was forced to fight and it would have definitely continued into the next episodes. A dynamic like this is perfect when we really see both characters risking their lives and doing their best to protect the others. It’s a dynamic that I really enjoy and Fine absolutely did her part. She put her life on the line many times. If you are going to make the selfish move of ditching the world to protect each other, then you need a lot of scenes to really sell that. Even just one or two more episodes of the two of them on the run together would have been nice.

As for Nobara, well she doesn’t handle things very well at all. She should be upset with Momo for putting her in a tough spot but she could have more effectively gotten Momo on her side with words. Instead Nobara constantly lashed out and that’s not the right way to brainwash someone. Nobara took too long to really understand exactly what her main goal was. Is it to lead the humans or to protect her daughter? Unfortunately there was not really a way to do both. I think we could have gotten a bit more out of Nobara but she worked as an intense antagonist.

Then we have Kudo who ends up stealing the show a lot. He’s Momo’s uncle and the guy can really fight with his sword. He casually destroys vampires and also holds his own with Fine. It shouldn’t be possible for an ordinary human to be defeating vampires in single combat and yet he pulls it off. This guy has clearly been training for a long time and has more street smarts than the other humans. He has his own tragic backstory which partially explains this.

Kudo is focused and has a chip on his shoulder. That’s a huge red flag for any opponent going up against him. Life is not something you can be assured of having by the time you’re done with that fight. Kudo is the best character in the series without a doubt. He may not really be on the right side but it’s easy to see how he ended up where he is due to the previous events.

You’ll probably notice that I’ve referenced past trauma for a lot of the characters. Well, that is a common element among most of them in this show. Momo is the only one entering the conflict fresh. The others have all already had negative encounters with the other side that has turned them into who they are now. It all goes back to that classic cycle of violence. It’s why the war can’t be ended quite so easily.

The animation is pretty good. I don’t consider it to be anything high end but the show works well and I don’t have any real issues here. It’s all pretty flashy and the characters move well. Action isn’t the highest genre in this adventure but there is enough of it where I’m glad that the show looks good. The soundtrack is a bit on the weaker side. Since music is part of the whole divide, we don’t have a lot of it. Fine tries to teach Momo a song and it’s okay but when you exit the show you won’t have heard any real catchy tunes. I’m also mixed on music being something that was left for the vampires. Shouldn’t the humans use that either as a means to trap the vampires or as a way to take some power back? Just letting the vampires keep it seems like a surrender to me.

For a vampire show it mainly avoids a lot of the blood sucking. It’s not perfect, but it’s better than the average vampire type product. It can get a little violent but never extensively so. I think this would be a fairly safe anime to recommend to folks. It doesn’t have a ton of replay value though so it’s not one that you are likely to go back to. Enjoy it for the initial run and then keep on moving to the next thing. That’s the easiest way to go.

Overall, The show covers a good amount of ground in 5 episodes. It has a happy ending on the surface but you can’t help but feel that it is the calm before the storm. The war will never stop until one side is destroyed, no matter how many small communities appear that try to surpass this. They will all likely end up like the first sanctuary at best. I would have liked to have focused more on the war itself but that was clearly not the focus for this show. You’re going to be here for the drama and the show is written well. It does feel a little confined within the 5 episodes where there are things that could have been more fleshed out but it should satisfy you.

Overall 6/10