Tag Archives: Slice of Life

Future Boy Conan Review

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This is one of those legendary anime titles that everyone has heard of, but has everyone watched it? I think it’s just old enough where people tend to miss out on it and even for me I feel like I may know the name by association but didn’t really know the show. Well, now I finally got to check it out and it’s a fun title. Conan makes for a good lead and the show looks really good for its age. Some of that is due to the high quality of the release but it also shows that the animation techniques were really timeless here.

The show starts by introducing us to Conan and his grandpa. They are some of the last humans alive after a terrible war shook up the whole planet. The humans had gotten too violent with their massive means of destruction and so this launched the world back into the stone age. One day a girl named Lana washes ashore and it turns out that she is the grand daughter of the world’s greatest scientist, Lao. Unfortunately this means that the army led by Lepka want to kidnap her. This faction believes that the world needs the weapons of mass destruction once more and of course Lepka will be the one to lead the world. Conan must now protect Lana from the forces of evil and is really on his own after his grandpa dies during the attack. Can Conan adapt to the rest of the world?

Now even with something like 95-99% of humanity wiped out, you’ve still got enough people for about 2 cities and 2 villages. That makes sense as humanity will gradually grow again as long as they aren’t 100% eliminated. If anything it underscores how brutal the war was because this happened during the lifetime of guys like Lao, so to see humanity immediately reduced like this was crazy. It actually wasn’t nukes, but a kind of magnetic weapon that caused the problem within the planet.

One of the things that I appreciated about the show is how Conan quickly adapts to things. He naturally knows nothing about the outside world, technology, or any of that. Yet instead of acting clueless or confused he just works on understanding it. This is why I never like the fish out of water trope because often times it feels like the characters don’t even bother using context clues. If there’s something that you don’t know, then you just work to understand it by using tools that you are familiar with. That’s all there is to this in the end.

So Conan does well there and is quite mature for his age. I’m not always sold on the kids being main characters kind of dynamic but Conan isn’t your average kid. The show also gives him a good amount of super strength to the point where he can lift boulders, hold his breath for a long time, run across a moving plane, etc. It’s not to the point where he can become Superman and just save everyone but enough to where he is always really helpful in a bunch of different situations. Conan has a good moral compass about him so he’s always trying to help out his friends.

He’s not some crazy pacifist though and knows when the villains have to be taken down. As the series goes on, he gets a best friend in the form of Jimsy. Jimsy never really grew on me though. He’s another kid who grew up in the wilderness so he has to adapt to society as well. I’d say he just doesn’t do as good a job in that and while he is strong, I would definitely take Conan in a fight. Jimsy is always going to be held to second place in that regard. Jimsy just had more weak moments like ditching Conan at one point.

He eventually becomes a reliable friend but it sure takes him a while. Any adventure is easier with a friend so his presence itself helped Conan but the character could have gotten off to a quicker start. Then we have the main heroine Lana who gets a massive role here. Of course she gets along with Conan really well so you can expect a real romance once they are older. She has the ability to use telepathy to a small extent like communicating with animals or with her grandfather. She is being hunted throughout the whole series and does a good job of keeping her wits about her. That can’t be easy at such a young age.

Lana doesn’t have the physical abilities that Conan has so she often has to stay back during dangerous situations. It’s definitely something that annoys her and she always tries to get in on the adventures. At times she does get used as a hostage so that does put Conan in a tough position. It’s hard to blame her too much since she is a kid but I would have liked an episode with Conan teaching her how to throw a spear or something like that. I think that would have worked out really well.

The other big character for the heroes here has to be Captain Dyce. Now, calling him a hero may be a bit of a stretch. He starts out as a villain and even after that he starts to waver back and forth at times so you’re never really sure if you can trust him. He has a big betrayal at one point as well. Despite that, he is definitely the most entertaining character though. He may meddle in the heroes’ affairs a lot and get into trouble but there is a certain confidence about him. It also may help that he’s an adult so he is able to fight in a different way than the others.

It’s always nice seeing an adult who can actually do something in this kind of adventure. He is tasked with the role of being comic relief a lot of the time but also has his serious moments. This balance works extremely well and he adds a lot to the show. It definitely would not be the same without him and his leadership. I also liked his robot suit. It may not appear as much later on but that gizmo was super handy.

Another one of the villains is Orlo. This guy is a lot pettier than Dyce but also makes for an entertaining villain. You may think that he looks bad since he spends a lot of time trying to intimidate a kid but that’s just how he rolls. I would have liked him to have ended out his screentime still being the leader of his group though. He ends up bowing to Monsley and her crew almost immediately. It’s true that he would have lost any kind of fight there but you at least have some respect for a villain who doesn’t bow the knee in the end. From the way he ended up succumbing to the others, it showed that he was not the main guy in any capacity.

His little sister Tera had even less moments to look threatening here. She is good at talking tough to people who can’t fight back but immediately falters afterwards. She is only a little kid of course but that made her look even worse. You shouldn’t be a villain at such a young age and have to be able to know that you’re on the wrong side of things. Orlo at least had some convictions, she was just following the path that was laid out for her.

Then we have Monsley who is essentially the second in command among the villains. She commands a ton of respect from everyone and has earned her spot at the top. Anytime she shows up, the village where Conan is at tends to take a lot of damage. She captures him a ton of times so we also see how capable she is. In some ways Monsley has to be the most impressive character here. Ultimately by the end of the story she has to ask herself some tough questions about what she is even doing here anymore. She gets a whole lot of character development and it is all handled really well.

Finally there is the main villain Lepka. This guy does one of my favorite villain tropes which is where he will feel a laugh coming and tries to stop it. The attempts are futile though so he ends up laughing as loud as possible and just going along with it. It’s just great when that happens. Beyond that, he just works really well within the role. You always want at least one villain who is just evil and the heroes have to stop him. He has no delusions of being a good guy or anything like that. He just wants to crush everyone and rule the world.

Right up through the end he is still fighting for this. He will shoot random people and murders as many as he can. He tries to punch Conan into the exploding ship at the end which would have murdered him. This guy is absolutely shameless but he did raise up an empire and nearly took over the world. Lepka was a very serious villain and definitely not someone to mess around with. It’ll be hard to top him as a main villain.

We also had Dr. Lao of course but he spends most of his time either captured, knocked out, or missing. He’s not a bad character or anything but I do feel like he could have made things a whole lot better on Lana. I’m unclear on the extent of his powers so maybe he was really just out of range for a large chunk of the adventure of something. I just think he should have helped more. In the end his presence is felt throughout the series but it almost felt like he had given up until Conan and Lana showed up. His disguise was great for staying out of trouble but not for helping the world stop the encroaching threat. I suppose he figured that without him, Lepka would ultimately not get very far. It’s not like this is a terrible plan but it’s far too passive for me.

The animation is pretty clear like I mentioned before. I also think that all of the environments really stand out here, whether it be the highly technological city or the small villages. There is a lot of movement in the fights which balance the visual humor well with the actual blows being felt. There are a few times where Conan is beaten quite thoroughly and the show doesn’t shy away from it. It doesn’t end up being super violent or anything but it’s clear that he’s taken a lot of damage.

The cartoony style ends up being beneficial for characters like Dyce as otherwise it would be harder to forgive him. Conan is super forgiving of everyone but the viewers won’t be as kind. The soundtrack is decent but it can be repetitive. It doesn’t seem like the show had a ton of budget allocated to it so the selection is small. The opening is decent, but I would say it looks better than it sounds.

If there was ever a show where I would say that it’s all about vibes, it would be this one. I think the show’s greatest strength is just that it has a fun atmosphere. It’s nice to see Conan just travelling the world to save Lana. The whole show feels very calming. Yes there are the big climaxes and danger moments but most of the time you’re just seeing what it would be like to live in a world without a lot of people. As far as post-apocalyptic worlds go, this one just seems rather nice. It’s good to have a more optimistic look at one for a change.

Overall, Future Boy Conan is a pretty good series. It has a very low key feel to it even with the end of the world stakes. Treat this as a slice of life adventure type story and you should be satisfied. The story wraps up nicely here so it’s definitely going to be interesting to see how the sequel fares. Could be a while before I check that one out though. There isn’t anything to really dislike about this show. It’s a pretty safe option that you can really recommend to anybody. As long as they enjoy a good adventure then this one will be a winner.

Overall 6/10

Horimiya Review

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Horimiya is one of those titles where I was always a bit skeptical of the main romance. When I read it through the manga, I was really not convinced. Hori could also be a bit weird with what she was into which didn’t help matters either. That doesn’t really factor in here until the end of the series. Ultimately it’s a fun title but more for the humor and the banter. The romance itself is going to have to be a little more on the weak side. I suppose it does work better than the manga though.

The series starts off by introducing us to Hori who is a really popular girl at school. She has plenty of friends and a lot of the guys all have crushes on her. What they do not know is that she has to take care of her little brother all the time and basically transforms into mom mode while she is at home. One day she ends up running into the shyest kid in school, Miyamura while she is taking care of the kid. Miyamura and Souta (little kid) get along really well and so he starts to come over. He’s also quite different outside of school as he has to hide all his piercings and such while there. A romance begins to blossom, but can they really hide it from their classmates? Should they even bother hiding this?

The contrast from the most popular to least popular students meeting up is certainly a classic one and that’s really what the series is going for here. Thanks to Hori, Miyamura is eventually able to make a lot of friends of his own here. They both have their friend groups with a lot of overlap between the two and so their school days become a lot more fun. The show has to move pretty fast with setting up the romances and development so the pacing here is really fast.

So lets talk about the good parts first. The animation is definitely solid. The colors are sharp and there is always a lot of movement. It all really stands out and gets a lot of credit there. The soundtrack is more on the bland side. It’s not bad or anything but you won’t be humming any of the songs later on. They are good but definitely not game changers. The openings also don’t sound as fast paced and intense as you might have expected.

Horimiya is a pretty fun series where the humor really stands out. I definitely tend to enjoy any scene where her father Kyousuke shows up. Some titles may go a bit too far with the slapstick but I would say this one has a good balance. Hori may throw him around a lot but is still happy to have him around. On the serious note, you do feel like he could have done a better job of being in her life. So there is a lot of resentment in the background as well but at the end of the day his scenes tend to be really funny. He’s able to play a lot of roles depending on when he needs to be serious or not.

Good humor will always get you far in a show like that. Hori’s mom gets far less to do this time around but it’s clear that she has been really supportive and helped get Hori this far. Without her it would have been much more difficult in the early years. Each of the characters contribute to the fun banter and humor of the show though. I’m not saying every joke is going to land but more often than not you can bop along with the jokes.

The weakest plot is Hori wanting Miyamura to be more assertive. This goes back to why I was not the biggest fan of their relationship. Basically she wants him to get upset at her more and even hit her. She’s into some really trippy stuff and he does his best to accommodate her but naturally this is a bit out of his wheelhouse. It felt like a less persistent plot than in the manga but you will be wincing a bit at that. Their dynamic is a whole lot better when that isn’t a factor.

Aside from that plot, Hori is definitely a good main character here. I find it rare to have the main heroine be such a popular person in these romance shows. Usually if anything you would see that from the guy right? It helps allow for more fresh dynamics and she never wavers either. Miyamura is the guy she likes and she doesn’t show real interest in the others. This allows her to have lots of friends without things getting awkward or anything like that.

I definitely appreciated this. Additionally, looking after Souta every day shows how responsible she is. Hori never complains about any of that and managed to still have a really good social life. Now that is impressive I gotta say. As for Miyamura, well he is more of a mixed bag. On one hand, you can definitely see how he had a tough time of things. The guy used to be bullied and then hanging out by himself only served to double down on the issue and everyone left him alone. Thanks to Hori he makes a lot of friends and he’s generally a good person.

In general the only tricky thing for him is how he treats his old best friend: Shindo. Now like I mentioned with Kyousuke, you have to walk a tight line between the humor being funny or just a bit mean spirited. I feel like the dynamic with Sanada always went a little too far. He was Miyamura’s only friend from back in the day and I feel like that should mean a lot. Sanada would look out for him and Miyamura’s past would have been a lot tougher without him. Sanada is just a good dude and while he makes a whole lot of mistakes, it would have been nice to have had a few genuine scenes where Miyamura acknowledged his friendship.

Ah well, Sanada is doomed to be a pure comedy character. Either way I liked him quite a bit and he’s one of the highlights here. Ultimately Miyamura is still a good character too. Even if I have that issue with him, it doesn’t take away from the fact that he is generally there for his friends. While his romance with Hori can get a little odd, there are still no rebounds or anything like that. It is still a romance that I can actually get behind as a result.

The main couple aren’t the only characters with more than one face though. We also have Iura who plays the class clown at school but is then the responsible older brother at home. In a way that’s similar to Hori although she isn’t the comic relief like that. I definitely empathize with Iura’s character the most because these are roles he has to play for a long stretch of time. It’s just easier to play the clown as you can stay relaxed at school and then save the energy for later on. He does a good job of always defending his sister and making sure that she’s okay.

He gets one main episode/segment to himself when helping his sister study and it was a really good episode. Iura is technically around all the time but we rarely get to see a whole lot of him so that was handled well. Then we have Tooru who initially liked Hori but never really stood a chance with Miyamura around. Perhaps he should have made his feelings plain earlier although it wouldn’t have ended up making a difference. He ends up being rather popular anyway with two different characters liking him.

You could even say that his plot is a whole lot more dramatic than the actual main romance. Ultimately he needed to be more confident and stop taking a backseat at every turn. He’s a good guy and takes the loss well so I can respect that. He ends up moving past his initial feelings to be a good friend. That’s not always easy but he pulled it off. Then you have Yuki who is Hori’s best friends and has confidence issues of her own. Mainly she just overthinks things too much. She spends a lot of time helping others out but not really taking into account that she should be looking out for herself as well.

Yuki makes for a good friend although I would have preferred if the show didn’t throw her into the romance drama. It feels like Chika from Kaguya Sama is the only sidekick character to escape all of that. I’d rather Yuki have just been one of the gang rather than jumping into the whole mess. Ultimately she gets a whole lot to do in the series and has to confront her own feelings on more than one occasion. It was not an easy journey but she made it and I would say that she is probably the best out of the heroines.

Then you have Sengoku who grew up with Hori and really got terrorized by her for a very long time. He’s a fun character but you feel bad for him after a while. Hori definitely gave him a bit of a complex and the poor guy can never move forward without being reminded of the past. It makes sense why he would gravitate towards Remi who is basically the opposite of Hori. Remi s way more traditionally girly and gives Sengoku a chance to act a bit more manly. Remi doesn’t always think things through and gets people in trouble like in the opening episode. That first instance made her and Sengoku both look a little rough with how aggressive they were being but they managed to rebound after that. Their romance plot isn’t bad but when neither character is particularly aggressive, you have to be ready for more of a slow burn.

Sakura is a classic case of a character who is too timid and waits until her only possible result in love is defeat. I actually think she had a real shot at landing her guy if she had been direct. Ultimately she beat around the bush too much and it cost her big time. She’s not my kind of character as I would prefer her to have been a lot more outgoing but baking the cookies and such was still a bold move. Then we have Yanagi who is probably the most pointless character in the show. His eyesight’s not that great and removing him from the show wouldn’t change much.

In a way he’s just a stepping stone to get Yuki’s plot to move around. Otherwise he doesn’t have a ton of agency of his own although maybe that’ll change in the next season. I don’t remember too well if he had other stories. Tanihara is a former bully who gets a big redemption arc so he was a lot more important. Ultimately it took time but he was able to get a good connection with Miyamura. A plot like that shouldn’t move too fast so I thought they did a good job on the balance there.

Finally there is Sawada who is a fun character. She gets a good fake out early on and from there continues to be one of the more endearing characters. Sawada is an example of a fun character who gets a lot of good humor but also does have a very serious plot of her own going on in the background. She doesn’t appear as much as you would expect but always manages to be a fun wild card in the dynamic. She can get some good banter with any of the characters even though she initially has to get past some fears.

The cast of characters is wide and varied with a lot of fun ones in there. That’s a key part for any comedy like this. A slice of life show will only be as good as its characters. The show also stays classy and mainly avoids any issues with fanservice and the like. Horimiya has confidence in its character writing to get the job done and so that works out. As for the romance, it can be a bit touch and go depending on the plots. I would say this isn’t the strongest romantic show but it is far better than others. So that’s why it stays fully in the green as a show.

Overall, Horimiya is a pretty fun show. It’s impressive how much they covered in a single season. Yes, the pacing will feel fast but Hori and Miyamura basically get together early on and then they still have time to hang out. The show balances 3-4 different romance plots along with backstories and everything. So it’s all crammed in and you will feel like you saw about 20 episodes. The character developments are important and so this is a show with good production values that I can recommend to anyone. Hori is a great driving force throughout the series as a proactive heroine who knows what she wants and has better communication skills than most of the classic anime characters you will see. The show fully delivers on its share of funny and emotional moments.

Overall 7/10

Little Women (1994) Review

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It’s time for another Little Women adaption. It’s not exactly one of my favorite stories but it’s certainly an iconic one. I believe this is the third version that I’ve seen. How much you enjoy it will all come down to how much you enjoy the antics of the main characters. Can you identify with their situation or will you just find it a little dull? Personally I don’t find any of the characters to be super likable so that does really hold things back. The romance doesn’t help.

The 4 sisters are the main characters here. Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy. They live in a rather tough situation with finances not being very good. Their father is always out working and their mother does her best to keep things together. There are only so many ways to entertain themselves in such days but at least they have each other. Well, one day after the usual neighborhood party/dance they meet a rich guy named Theodore. He seems to have taken a liking to Jo but she’s not really in the market for a boyfriend at the moment. Will he win her over or is she going to get away?

So I can’t fault Jo for deciding that she didn’t want to mess around with romance. It’s not for everyone after all and she still wanted to enjoy her usual fun times with the gang. If she were to get a boyfriend then naturally that would end. Well, things get a bit more complicated than that as everyone else continues to move on with their lives. Theodore even decides to rebound with one of Jo’s sisters. Now Jo will have to find a man but who is left?

Ultimately Jo leaves home and by expanding her horizons she meets someone but the romance is pretty fast and not all that developed. It just never worked for me and I also think her sister Amy shouldn’t have gotten together with Theodore. Yeah, he claims that he is over Jo but that’s a bit hard to buy and even then it’s like you were the second choice. That’s how I’ve always felt about the romances in this movie and that hasn’t really changed over time.

This film also takes place in the very olden days and as a result there are all kinds of customs and such that feel dated. The girls can never make the first move, they must be prim and proper at all times, etc. Not to say that it’s all bad but a lot of these things just make them look way too passive as characters. I would have liked more direct action here, maybe in terms of trying to earn money or perhaps jumpstarting the romance on their own.

Jo is the only one who acts rather impulsively in general like selling her hair for money. So she gets more credit there. The writing is good as the old time script holds up but it doesn’t really solve the problem of the main characters not being super interesting. I don’t really know what you would do in order to change that though. Not without changing the story as a whole.

I’ve said this before but I like a good slice of life story, it just needs a touch of comedy. That is what’s missing in this one. The story is all fairly serious which is fine, but where are the scenes that will help me break a smile? There aren’t really any laugh out loud scenes here. Dreary would be the wrong word to describe the film but it just takes itself so seriously.

I guess I’d say the film is like watching a bunch of people who don’t have many hobbies hanging out with each other. It can be fairly wholesome but doesn’t really do much for you. The film also ends up being on the loner side and the pacing can be really slow. A lot of things are all going against the film here and as least one character gets a rather sad ending.

Maybe the next remake can focus a little bit more on Jo’s journey as an author. Focus on the last part of the film with her being abroad and make that a much larger part. You could also use that time to try and develop the romance with the professor but I dare say that might be a waste of time so perhaps you just focus on the writing bits. Or maybe show us what her father was doing at work and add some kind of trial there. Show why the job is so hard. Both of these plots would be immensely more interesting than just staying at the home for longer periods of time.

Overall, Little Women would have benefited from adding a few light scenes with gags and fun jokes. Something to just make the film itself a little more fun and it would also add to the replay value. Throw that all in to the mix and things would improve. Right now this is essentially a film that is lacking a hook. Of course at the end of the day that just means this film wasn’t really for me. I would say to only check it out if you want to see what life would have been like if you had grown up poor in a small town. Otherwise, you’re better off with one of the old sit coms instead.

Overall 4/10

A Very Brady Christmas Review

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It’s time for the return of the Brady Bunch. I saw the show a lot when I was growing up and it was pretty fun. I wouldn’t say it could compete with the older old time shows like Twilight Zone or the Odd Couple but it was good wholesome fun. The film brings them all back to give you more of the same but I have to say that a lot of the characters really don’t look good. As a result you will have a hard time rooting for some of them in their sub plots.

The film starts with Mr and Mrs Brady enjoying their retired life. At this point the house belongs to just the two of them as their families have fully grown up. It’s peaceful this way and they each plan a big Christmas trip but ultimately decide to invite all the kids over for one last adventure. The kids get ready to arrive but what the parents don’t know is that they are all dealing with some issues. Looks like the parents are going to have to play the role of the guardian one last time here.

Like I said, the problem here is that a lot of the kids don’t look particularly good. Lets look through their problems for a minute here. The first guy is feeling embarrassed because his girlfriend makes more money than him and is actually his boss at the job. This is one of those issues that I will never be able to sympathize with. If your girlfriend makes more money than you, that’s great. You two can put that in a nice 401K and in the meantime can live a much more luxurious life than before. It takes a real sensitive ego to be upset about that. So as a result he decided not to propose to er for a very long time until she was finally forced to consider doing it herself. Definitely the most petty out of all the issues.

The next kid’s problem is that her husband got fired right before the holidays. So he’s still feeling rather sore about that and has a hard time containing this. He grumbles about the situation rather loudly even when he’s already at the Christmas party with his wife and daughter. It’s the most serious problem since losing your job is a big deal but I just wish he would have taken it a little better. Maybe not make such a big scene and all that. Ultimately his ego is a problem like the first kid’s and so Mr. Brady has to effectively trick him into getting a new job. She probably could have chosen a guy with a little more courage.

I’ll say now that Mr and Mrs. Brady were definitely the standout characters here since they were having to clean up all these messes while still having a fun party. It may make them reconsider doing this next year though. Their housekeeper also had some drama of her own as her boyfriend left her for a younger woman. This subplot was handled rather poorly as she quickly accepts him upon his return. He likely got dumped by the younger girl he was after, why would you just let him return so easily? Definitely a bad look.

Back to the kids, the one’s problem was that he dropped out of school a while back to become a race car driver. This was a super reckless move and so he doesn’t want to tell his parents until he is already winning races. Well, I think it’s a bad decision but it’s his life and he’s not grumbling about it so I much preferred him to the other two. This guy understood the consequences of his actions.

The next kid’s problem is that she was in the middle of a failing marriage. They are quickly falling apart because she feels like she does a lot of things without any appreciation and he is rather oblivious. The fact that it got this far was pretty rough. Yes, the party has them squash their differences but I don’t think it can ever be the same after their relationship was strained that hard. The husband in particular looked bad here since he left things get to this point and somehow didn’t notice all the extra work he was causing her. That’s a bit baffling.

Then we have one kid where his wife chose to visit her family instead of his for Christmas so that takes some of the fun out of it. What fun can you really have at a party without your wife? Technically it might be the smallest problem after all but you can still feel a little bad for him. In a way at least they had the healthiest dynamic here which is nice to see.

The final kid’s problem is more that she is still treated as the youngest. She is seated with the kids at the party instead of the grownups and doesn’t know how to say no. She shows up at the party when she already had plans with the other teens at the dorm. Meeting with your family is probably a better idea anyway but it would be nice to have presented this as her actively making a decision as opposed to just not knowing what to do.

You can see the problem here which is that there are so many problems that a lot of the kids just don’t look good by the end of this. There’s quite a lot of drama and not enough laughs to really take it over the edge. It’s a decent gathering and the build up to the reunion is fun but I do think it could have been more explosive. It’s still a good film but one without much replay value. I actually think it might have been better without all the kids. Make it just about Mr. and Mrs. Brady as they prepare their Christmas gifts and crazy shenanigans ensue. That is a winning formula.

Overall, A Very Brady Christmas will deliver an extra punch for folks who grew up watching the original show. It’ll definitely end up being nostalgic but that’s mostly what the film has going for it. Remove the Brady names and it’s a film about a lot of problem solving that doesn’t get quite as emotional as it could have been. I will say that the climax at least did its best to increase the stakes right at the end. We got to see a true hero in action and that is the kind of explosive plot that I’m talking about. If we got that for more of the movie then this would be an even higher one. Still, I would recommend it to anyone looking for a Christmas title to set up the season.

Overall 6/10

Journey Back To Christmas Review

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It’s time for a classic Hallmark Christmas movie! They always tend to do good work with these titles and I’m happy to say that this one is no exception. It even involves time travel which is absolutely a massive W. I always like to see that in any film since it adds some interesting concepts. Now the romance may not have been particularly strong in this one but the rest of the adventure is still solid overall.

The movie starts by introducing us to Hanna who has had a rough time of things since her husband was sent off to the war and is presumed to have been killed in action. Hanna has watched everyone go to these wars and feels like she has not really been able to contribute as much. She does get to save a dog who got lost in the cold though and does her best to help keep a kid stay cheerful even when he’s in a rough condition. Well, a time travelling comet shows up and brings her decades in the future to 2016. Now Hanna sees that her actions did lead the way to a whole lot of good changes. Is she stranded in the future?

Hanna’s a fun lead but I do have to say that she was a little slow on the uptake when it came to realizing that she had time traveled. Usually you get one or two freebies from me but after that you need to lock in. She was still running through stores and wondering where her house was after there should have been enough time to see that things were different. Even if she figured time travel was impossible, then she needs to consider that this is some kind of government experiment or aliens are around.

In any of those events, it would be in her best interest to act normally and play her moves carefully. Ah well, at least she was still a nice person and did her best to help the others with their own issues. She brought a good amount of cheer to the neighborhood and showed everyone what an old fashioned Christmas was like. We didn’t get the usual amount of Hallmark baking moments in this Christmas movie but we did get some caroling.

The main guy here is Jake and he’s not the most professional guy here. I did like the fact that he didn’t want to arrest Hanna straightaway the way the rest of the police wanted him to. He pointed out that she wasn’t dangerous and they could figure this out. Nothing wrong with that but where he faltered is when he actually fell for Hanna. You really can’t be getting involved with the suspects and it also meant that there was no way to root for him to get along with Sarah afterwards. It would make the whole thing a true rebound.

Jake tried to tell everyone that he was just being polite and that’s how the film should have played it out. Instead you have the jealous childhood friend doing her best to get Hanna out of the picture and it ends up making her look really petty which make the ship even harder to root for. That’s why the only good romance here was between Hanna and her husband since that one had a lot of development and you wanted the happy ending. The other plot didn’t really need to be included to be honest.

As always with the Hallmark films, this one has good pacing and quality writing. It’s why you can overlook a lot of things because you’re just having a lot of fun here. Even the main antagonist is fun as she keeps trying to encourage the cops to take Hanna away. She’s just being petty for no real good reason and acts like a real life grinch. Her husband tries to mind his business while he enjoys his dinner but it’s clear that she takes the flavor out of it. Some of these supporting characters don’t have much to do like the kid who finally learns to put the phone down but it’s to make the town feel very large so it’s probably worth it.

It’s also fortunate for Hanna that she wasn’t warped 100 years into the future. There are still a few people from her era who are still alive like Tobias who helps to add a lot of credibility to her claim. He was the kid that she helped from a while back so it’s also another way for her to see what a difference she made in so many lives. Without him, I like to think that the perfume would have still helped a lot because it was a discontinued model but I think it still wouldn’t have been quite as convincing.

So in the end my only negative would essentially be that Hanna was a bit too oblivious to all the context around her. It’s a small issue though and one you can look over. I wouldn’t have minded a proper confrontation with the one lady who was trying to stir up trouble as well but it would only work if you gave Hanna a different personality. She just wasn’t the combative type here. Maybe if you scrapped the backup romance plot, that would have left more time for a full character arc like that.

Overall, This won’t go down as one of the all time Hallmark titles but I had a good bit of fun with it. They could have done more with the time travel but the film was fairly short and I suppose they didn’t want to complicate things too much. If you like the formula then you should check this one out. It’s a reminder that every action has consequences even if you don’t get to see them in your lifetime. Hanna did a lot of good even if she would have never know it if not for the time travel. The ending itself is also very wholesome when she goes back to the past so I can appreciate that. A perfect film for Christmas season.

Overall 7/10

Night Parade of 100 Demons Organizing Committee Review

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It’s time for a quick one shot adventure about how the demons organize their 100 year event. It’s a quick slice of life story about how the process goes while staying nice and uneventful the whole time. I was expecting some kind of a twist the whole time so at first I was a bit confused but in the end it makes for a light hearted story. More on the forgettable side as there isn’t much of a hook or overall message to it but you get to just enjoy the scenery. Sometimes a story doesn’t really need to have a hook I suppose, although it could have made this one more fun.

Neko and two other demons are chosen to be on the Committee this time around. Every demon wants to participate in the event so they have to make sure to pick only the best. Despite the name of the festival, they can choose more or less than 100 demons if they want to. So the story has them talking to a bunch of demons and then they launch the festival. The twist if you can call it that is that despite the suspense, the same thing happens every 100 years. The same 3 demons are always picked, it’s always the same contestants in the event, everyone is chosen, etc. Since the demons are fully immortal this is all old news to them at this point but since it is every 100 years, they tend to mostly forget by this point and that itself is a running gag.

Although it’s also implied they do remember and just enjoy the gag or acting like they don’t. You can interpret it in a few different ways. The chapter is even shorter than the average oneshot adventure because of all the big splash pages and scenes to show off the artwork without having any real text in there. So this is the kind of story you want to read through on a rainy day and just appreciate the vibes. It doesn’t have much in the way of replay value though because there just isn’t much to the story.

I’d say the best oneshots are either ones with a memorable twist, or some kind of an emotional message. Those are probably the easiest ways to get someone to really notice your story. Otherwise if you’re more going for a classic story, there’s no time to develop the characters and everything. This one wasn’t going with that approach but the artwork alone won’t be enough to make this the next big thing. It probably did need some kind of twist.

The artwork is solid enough though. It definitely has that subtly scary feeling about it with how the characters look and of course that absolutely matches up with the fact that they are demons. You won’t end up forgetting that part anytime soon. The main character is fun enough as well. I do like the idea that she acts extra reluctant and forgettable to make the event more fun for everyone. It’s the little things that really count.

Overall, This story was decent but it is the kind of story you will quickly forget. You won’t have a bad time with it but it won’t leave any kind of impact on you. Check it out if you happen to come across the story and se if maybe it can surpass that for you. Obviously you do have to keep your expectations in check for any kind of oneshot as you don’t want to set the goals too high but this one probably could have done more. I can always appreciate a wholesome story though and maybe if they ever made this into a series, they could have fun taking the concept to the next level. The festival to end all festivals or something like that.

Overall 5/10

Summer Ghost Review

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It’s time for another one of those shorter anime films. Summer Ghost is a pretty solid title although the short length does mean that we don’t get to see a whole lot of each individual character. Instead they all just get a small intro and we jump into the main plot. A longer story probably could have helped to elevate the emotional punch for each of the characters but it is still a good story.

The movie starts with Tomoya, Aoi, and Ryo heading to an abandoned area to light up some fireworks. Their main plan is to summon a ghost named Ayane to see if ghosts are actually real. The plan works and they meet her. Aoi and Ryo are satisfied but Tomoya continues to visit her because he wants to learn more about ghosts. Can it be that they have a more enjoyable time than he does in the real world? During this adventure he must contend with what it means to truly be alive.

The element that keeps all 3 of the main characters together is how close they are to death. Ryo in a physical way, Tomoya in a spiritual way as his soul is dying, and Aoi who is being bullied so hard that she is thinking about ending both sides of herself. Meeting Ayane and each other is what will help them all conquer their inner demons. So this is really a film about not giving up and certainly about not checking out of life early. This is where the short length starts to creep in though as we just don’t have a whole lot of time for their backstories. I would say Aoi probably gets the shortest end of the stick here. You still do understand the context and everything here but the film has to move really fast.

It’s always good to see films with an anti suicide message thrown in with how many people are depressed nowadays. Some circumstances certainly feel like they can be hard to escape and you need a fresh perspective to even begin to escape that. For Ryo, it might be the toughest since he is literally dying. There is nothing that he can do to stop the effects and so within a year he will be gone. He really just has to do his best to come to terms with it. For part of the movie it seems like he has already done so, but it’s more of a facade while by the end he is actually okay.

There’s not much you can really say to someone like that as you don’t know how you will react until it happens. In some ways I would still consider it the easiest fate of the 3 since you at least know that the end is near. You have time to knock items off your bucket list and all, many would wish they had some kind of advanced notice like hat. Of course he’s so young that he still wasn’t able to accomplish as much as he would have liked to have done. I appreciated how he was careful to still support the other two though. He was my favorite of the three main characters.

Then for Aoi, naturally being bullied isn’t easy and it’s something that happens constantly around the world. We don’t see enough of her story to know what steps she tried to get around it or more details but the point here is that it was quite bad and she had no real escape. Ultimately her message is just about sticking up for herself which is always useful but in a way you would have liked some more tangible steps to making her situation better. We just have to hope that it all worked out.

As for Tomoya, his is the trickiest issue. He just doesn’t feel like he is alive and that life is essentially pointless. It’s why he is tempted by the realm of the dead since they seem to have a more carefree life. Ayane isn’t particularly helpful in proving otherwise since she puts on a cheerful front and flies around a lot. At least she did flat out say that dying isn’t a good idea so I’ll give her some points there.

Ultimately Tomoya just needed to find a reason for life. If your life doesn’t have a purpose, you definitely need to find one right away because of course things will feel empty otherwise. You need that in order to move forward. He definitely could have spoken up for himself more in terms of schoolwork and telling the others about his journeys with the ghost. He is definitely too withdrawn for his own good. I didn’t think he stuck out as much as the other two characters and was a bit bland for the lead.

As for Ayane, she definitely had the toughest journey of the group since she literally died and in a rather painful/scary way. It was good that she got to have closure thanks to these characters. Her mother may not have had a smooth closure on screen but we can assume that everything got properly reported afterwards so that’ll come in time. A little epilogue would have been nice to confirm this though and maybe even find a way to trace the crime back to the driver and get him arrested. That may not have been the focus of the film but it would have been a great way to end things with a lot of well earned justice.

The animation is fairly good. I liked the use of the shadows and it helped to make the characters stand out. It’s definitely not quite as impressive as some of the other anime films that I’ve seen but it is certainly good enough to hold its own. The soundtrack is a lot more on the bland side though. Nothing particularly noteworthy at all and so you will end up forgetting about the tunes very quickly. The film really ends up having to stand on its own with the story and writing.

Overall, Summer Ghost is a solid film. While the messaging it solid, I don’t think the movie ever gets quite as emotional as it was hoping to be. You just don’t know the characters well enough for that and while they grew up with some rather difficult circumstances, we don’t see enough to really determine just how bad they were. Aoi’s was the worst out of the 3 and even then we do have to make some assumptions on our side as the viewer. If you’re up for a good film about exploring what it means to live, then this is still a solid one to check out.

Overall 6/10

Lonely Castle in the Mirror Review

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I can’t say I was familiar with this story back in the day so now I finally get to see what it’s all about. With 5 volumes it is a fairly short adventure but a good one nonetheless. It’s really about a group of characters who all have their own struggles and it is just long enough to see what they are all dealing with. Although not quite long enough to go into details here as they have to blast through the last volume really quickly.

The story starts by introducing us to Kokoro who was badly bullied in school to the point where she has become too traumatized to even leave her home. Her parents have done everything they could in order to support her but the fears are only getting worse. They hope that giving Kokoro space will help out and they are considering other schools. Part of the problem is that Kokoro won’t come clean to them about what really happened. Well, one day a mirror in her room glows and stepping through it takes her to a castle with 6 other kids.

A little girl named the Wolf Queen announces that somewhere within the castle is a key and whoever obtains it will be able to make a wish. This wish will come true but afterwards everyone will lose their memories of this whole situation and the castle will vanish. Each of the kids have some issues at home and so they all agree to not use the key even if they find it until the very end. It will stay open for the whole school year until March. At the same time, will the others actually stick to the plan or will they look for this in secret?

A key that can grant any wish is very tempting after all. It can really turn your life around without a doubt and each of these kids can use it. The castle is also not particularly large so it shouldn’t be too hard to find the key. I would say this is the only part that does require you to suspend disbelief to an extent because when we find out what the location was….it ended up being incredibly easy to find. I would argue it should have been found on one of the first days. I suppose almost any spot would have been hard to picture the characters not finding.

The characters all being able to finally have someone to confide in is definitely a solid way to address the pain they’ve all gone through. Where the series really succeeds is in showing you very convincingly how bad the characters had it. I certainly wouldn’t say it was completely equal or anything like that but they all had a tough time in different ways. The stakes were also rather high in a lot of cases so you can see why they might be willing to risk their lives.

Yes, one thing I neglected to mention is that if you stay in the castle past 5:00PM, then you will be eaten by wolves. Additionally, they will eat anyone else who was in the castle at any point during that day. So all it takes is for one kid to mess up and then they will all be dead. At the same time, if you may die by going back to the real world, then of course you may as well stay and fight. The Castle makes for a solid retreat for the characters but of course not being able to stay there is a rough weakness in itself.

The art isn’t all that good so the story does have to survive on the writing all the way through. It’s just not very detailed and at times almost feels a bit abstract. The more intense scenes like the Wolves showing up tend to get a whole lot of detail but the average scene isn’t quite able to match up to that. It does make the volumes take a bit longer to read since the art isn’t super clear.

I also appreciated that some of the adults were allowed to be really helpful. Sometimes in these things the adults are all clueless or unavailable but here you had a mixed arrangement. Kokoro’s parents were on the ball from the start after all and only got iced out because of Kokoro herself. Otherwise they would have been able to have gotten involved a lot sooner to help out and make a difference. The main teacher from the hearts school was also good and trying to make things work. She never gave up. The other teacher wasn’t as good and easily manipulatable, but I also don’t think he was downright terrible. He was just out of his depth.

Of course then you also have some really bad adults who are active antagonists. It can come from parents who neglect their children or more directly from a predator in one of the character’s trials. Those get quite bad of course and you also have the bullies on the kids side. It definitely shows how much trouble is right around the corner and the characters aren’t really able to help each other out no matter how much they try. While the mirror united them, it also ends up making them more alone than ever before.

Now lets talk about the main characters. First up is Kokoro and as the main character we definitely see more of her journey than anyone else. Basically the bullies put her as a target and even went to her home to further threaten her. Kokoro felt that her life was in mortal danger at that point and just got lucky that the doors were locked or they would have gone in and murdered her. Kokoro’s only friend at the time did not step in to help at any point and so a large gap between them widened. As a result Kokoro was completely isolated and worried that ever leaving the house would be fatal.

I don’t feel like Kokoro was even exaggerating this. When bullies are in a group they will naturally get a lot more confident and bold. They will do things that they wouldn’t have even contemplated when they were all alone. In the heat of the moment, it would have gotten really bad. I do wish she had told her parents though. That would have moved things along a lot sooner and they would have no reason to think she was lying. Of course that isn’t easy, coming clean never is. It’s just rough that Kokoro basically had to just stay home and take it for so long. It’s not the biggest or smallest challenge among the main 7 but it was a considerable one.

Kokoro did well in trying to stay strong throughout this. It’s also clear that because of all the isolation, she isn’t quite able to act as naturally around others as the other kids. She tends to overthink it when there are problems and gets really awkward while the other kids just make up and keep it moving. This does ultimately help her to finally be at peace and gain her inner strength. It leads up well to the climax and so she was a solid character.

Subaru isn’t one of my favorite characters but basically he begins to act out because nobody really gave him any attention. He was neglected by his family the whole time through and only had bad influences around him. This definitely caused him to grow up rather jaded compared to the others. It means that for most of the series he isn’t the most sympathetic character to the others but it’s not like he’s a bad person either. Subaru still does help out when it counts, he just has more guards up than the others. I’d say he had it a bit easier than some of the others but not having any bonds certainly does hurt.

Akiko easily has the toughest backstory and I’d say it’s not close. It’s why she is afraid to even go back home each time. She has to deal with an abusive step father who is constantly trying to get to her and her boyfriend ditched her when it counted. She needs to find a way to leave the house but doesn’t really have any path out of there. She easily tries the hardest to get the key because it is really a matter of life or death. It’s hard to scale trials as everyone has their own troubles and would each handle them differently.

Still, it’s fair to say that Akiko’s troubles were the most time sensitive and so I couldn’t even blame her for wanting to stay past curfew at the castle. At least with a wolf you’d figure it would be a quick end and potentially the whole situation would be over a lot quicker. She wasn’t always the nicest kid in the castle but she’s dealt with a lot so it made sense. I’d also say she would try to mend the bridge with the others as quickly as possible.

Fuka’s difficulties come from the powerful expectations her mom had for her. She was counting on Fuka to become an incredible pianist and while the kid tried her best, she would keep on hitting a wall. That’s already tough enough on its own but then there is also the economic factor. Her family doesn’t have much money and they are going deeper into debt with her mom slowly cracking under the pressure. Quitting now would make it seem like the last few years were a waste but at the same time continuing to go further into it will just add on more losses. She is also dealing with a global pandemic.

Then we have Masamune who is a big gamer. He loves playing RPGs and is generally easy to hang out with. The problem is that he tries a bit too hard to fit in and so he tends to spread little white lies to boost himself up. He overplayed his hand and it got bad which led to a lot of bullying. Compared to the others it doesn’t seem nearly as bad as most but of course when you’re in a rough situation, it’s really not going to give you any solace to hear that others have it worse. You just want to be in a good situation.

He was definitely one of the best kids though. Masamune rarely stirred up trouble and would try to help the others out as much as he could. He was a nice kid and so you could really appreciate that. If he could just find a way to not slip in little lies here and there, then he would really be al set. It can be easy for them to become second nature if you don’t keep your guard up.

Haruka is my least favorite kid by far. Yes, he definitely had it rough by getting bullied a lot but it really didn’t make sense how he would always be crushing on all the girls. The story tries to show that he’s just really honest with his feelings but it makes him come across as flaky. It was good that he stopped lending money and stuck up for himself even if it made things tough. I think we could have used some more context on exactly how this would lead him to getting beat up though. I get maybe once but after that you’d think it would be over.

If the story had removed the flirty element then he would have just been a much better character. If you ask me, that’s what they should have done as otherwise he would have been very sympathetic. It’s not a character trait that needed to be in there at all. Finally we have Rion. Rion seems to have it all together compared to the others as he is outgoing and very friendly. So why would he be in this castle of troubles? Well, we find out that his sister died and his mother couldn’t really handle this and essentially began to resent seeing Rion so healthy. So she pushed him out to move all the way to Hawaii.

Rion wasn’t bullied or anything but effectively being told that your own parents don’t want to see you is pretty rough. It’s definitely not something that the parents can really come back from and the husband definitely takes some blame here for not doing anything about it. He really should have helped Rion when it counted. So I would still say Rion’s struggles are fairly high on the list even if there was no physical component to it. That would create serious emotional scars.

Of course we also have the Wolf Queen and there are a lot of twists about her or at least involving her presence in the story. The series does a good job of setting things up. You’ll probably at least guess the connection between all of the characters as the series left a bunch of clues on that. Guessing her true identity would be a lot harder even if you might suspect things later on in the series. Either way she was a solid character. Her rules may have been harsh but she did give them all a home. She also helped Akiko when she was in a real jam even though there was no obligation to do so.

On the whole the series is balancing being well natured and good fun for a lot of the journey with all of the struggles making this more of a tragedy at other points. You’ll certainly feel bad for the characters, particularly because they’re so young. The series definitely makes sure of that. Even with the ending as certain things may have been wiped away, but they still happened. It is a rough ending for some of the characters without a doubt and the body counts gets higher than you would expect. I wasn’t expecting the climax to go as hard as it did.

Overall Lonely Castle in the Mirror is a good story about overcoming your troubles and not giving up. Even when it feels like you are all alone and there is no hope, there will be a way to persevere. Of course it’s much easier said than done. Try to find a way to let someone know if you are nearly at the point of giving it all up. Put your faith in God to resist the trials and when things are being pushed too far, calling the cops and other authorities is something you need to be able to do. If you do nothing and let the bad things happen to you, like excessive bullying or being attacked, you will eventually reach your limit. It definitely makes for a heavy series and while this one won’t have a ton of replay value or be the happiest story you’ve read, it was written well. Probably could have just used one more volume to space out all of the characters and their origins a bit more though.

Overall 6/10

The Garden of Words Review

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It’s time for a short anime film about romance and dreams. When you’ve got a film that is this short, you are guaranteed to have some fast pacing. So I definitely appreciated that since I like when things move fast instead of being dragged out the whole time. Definitely worked out well although I wouldn’t say this is one of the stronger anime films I’ve seen. It’s a good story but could have used a stronger cast and more development time.

The story follows a kid named Takao who has a tradition of skipping school whenever it starts raining. He heads to his favorite little hiding spot in the park to do some drawing but it turns out that a lady named Yukari likes that spot as well. She goes there to eat chocolate and drink beer. Not the healthiest combo at all, she would have been better off with pepsi and chocolate. Well, the two of them initially just enjoy the peace of sitting there but gradually become friends and each one looks forward to the rain. They don’t really know all that much about each other but gradually talk more and more. Takao needs to continue his dream of making shoes but will he end up catching feelings first?

The main hurdle for Takao is the big age gap here. Of course he doesn’t know quite how old she is as that can be hard to guess but she is certainly older. Takao is only 15 and early on in his school years so there wouldn’t really be time to get into a proper romance. At least he essentially has his own place with his family all heading their own ways in terms of living conditions. Takao just doesn’t want to be dragged down by schoolwork, he needs to become a shoemaker as quickly as possible.

I would say the biggest problem with Takao is that he does feel rather half hearted though. He talks about how passionately he wants to make shoes but he lets himself be distracted by Yukari rather quickly and of course he is mainly working on the rainy days. He needs to put every effort into the shoes until he has actually begun a real business and then he can worry about the rest. You can’t do everything and his divided attention would absolutely come back to haunt him under most circumstances.

His inevitable blowup at Yukari later on also comes across as completely undeserved and exposes him as being a true child when it counts. He could have handled that situation infinitely better and so you’re not exactly rooting for him here. Takao’s not a bad character, at least he tried standing up to the bullies earlier but on the whole he wasn’t one of the better main characters that I’ve seen.

As for Yukari, she’s nice enough. Skipping out on her job isn’t the wisest thing to do but we do get some more context on what was going on there. With Japan being so focused on honor and reputation, you can see how she would be taking some accusations rather seriously even though they weren’t true from the start. Leaving was the right course of action and in the meantime, chatting with some kid isn’t really a problem. She handled everything a lot better than Takao and aside from one outburst, was mature at all times.

As for the romance here, naturally I can’t say that it’s one of the stronger ones. Because of the rain setting and how the two characters know each other for a while, it does avoid my usual complaint of being rushed though. While I do think any romance where there is an age gap of 10 years or more is almost always going to be doomed to fail, it’s probably not something the participants would really be thinking of. The main problem with Takao is not just asking her out if he had the feelings there instead of waiting until the end and then crashing out. You have to be both courageous enough to ask the question and then brave enough to accept the answer. If you can’t do both things then it clearly isn’t the right time.

While Yukari’s feelings are kept more intentionally vague, I would say that she did see him more as a friend the whole time. She was certainly happy to see him each time as a break from all of her troubles but I didn’t feel there were more intentions than that compared to Takao. Definitely some flirting here and there but more in the lines of banter like with the foot measuring. This absolutely would have been perfect as a friendship plot without a doubt but in movie logic it is written that one person will always catch feelings in any dynamic.

The animation was pretty solid here. The rain effects were definitely a lot of fun the whole time. There may not have been any action scenes to test out some energy effects but the main environments and character designs were good. It’s not going to be like your average Shonen Jump film animation but it still works out. The soundtrack is more on the forgettable side though. I don’t think the main song here is really going to stick in your memory.

The ending isn’t the most satisfying this time around but it is going for a fairly bold play. One character seems to be over the events of the rainy season while the other seems to have not changed goals at all. I can only imagine there will be more heartbreak in the future. Although ironically if this ever got a sequel, I’m guessing things might end up working out but since that’s unlikely, I’m going to assume the worst here. Sometimes things don’t work out and that is the melancholy of life.

Overall, This was a good movie. It really ends fast so you have to be interested from the start. I think the film would have benefited more from keeping this as a true friendship though. Both characters needed someone to talk to and it would have worked really well as a way to develop a bond there without having anything more than that. I suppose it wouldn’t have been as cinematic as movies love the romantic drama, particularly when it is either one sided or doomed from the start. It’s handled well enough in the end though and I can recommend watching this title. I do think what the film was lacking was a true supporting character. Someone either on Takao or Yukari’s side who would show up to either be a super negative character saying how being out in the rain is a bad idea, or a rival character who is really good at making shoes and says he has no time for romance. Either one would have added some more drama into the film but in a good way as Takao really has to decide what his number one priority would be. I suppose you’d need a longer runtime for that though.

Overall 6/10

In From The Night Review

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It’s time for another really dramatic Hallmark title and I’m afraid to say that this one is going a bit too far into the dramatic territory. They make the kid a little too unlikable for most of the film and there isn’t much room for resolutions when even with 20 minutes left in the film we’re still dealing with issues. It takes too long to arrive at the happy ending which is a problem that drama films tend to have at some points. It needed to lighten up a bit.

The movie starts by introducing us to Vicky who has been working on a book for 10 years but has serious writer’s block. She has finally been invited to a really prestigious author’s retreat though where she will be paired with an experienced mentor. The only thing she wasn’t counting on was her nephew Bobby showing up unannounced. He seems to have had a tough time of things as he can barely speak and suffers from large nightmares. Vicky needs to find a way to help him but this could end up destroying her career. What can she do?

The film definitely lays out how it can be difficult to navigate the family circumstances here. For starters, Bobby’s parents were insane from the jump and were never fit to be parents. At one point it got so bad that the rest of the family had to show up and take Bobby out of there but eventually they returned and took him back. Many years passed and the damage was done but the parents can still come back at any time. Vicky knows good and well that the parents will have the edge in any custody case so she has to be careful not to provide Bobby with any false hope while trying to keep him safe.

The time factor is also difficult as Bobby is nearly at college age so when you’re dealing with years of abuse, it’s not like you can fix it in an instant. Vicky does her best though and from the start I would say she handles it well. She quickly consults with a lawyer to deal with the legal stuff and on the family level she also makes sure to work on the resources that she has on hand with helping him feel comfortable at her place. When getting him to other nice relatives doesn’t work, she is quick to take him back to her home.

So I have no issues with Vicky. She’s a great lead character. The romance plot perhaps moves a little too quickly with the other author but the film doesn’t dwell on that much at least. Then we have Bobby where unfortunately most of my issues go. Obviously he’s been through a whole lot of abuse so it’s expected that he will be a bit off. He doesn’t have many social cues and makes his share of mistakes in terms of not knowing what to do. That is all fine, but where my issues come in is where he makes a bunch of friends with the wrong crowd. It just didn’t add up to me that he let a bunch of randoms crash at his place. You’d think that would just make him feel even more uncomfortable.

Then he lets them trash the place and also plays loud rock music at times. It’s lucky that there were no close neighbors to cause a problem. It felt like this just didn’t have an obvious correlation with what he endured as a kid so I didn’t know why he was acting out like this. I would have expected him to be really quiet or something which would make sense but standing out in all of these ways just felt weird. It takes him a long while to finally get back into control. So long that we’re at the end of the film by then.

That leads to another issue which is that the film doesn’t have much time for happy scenes. The movie is basically over by this point and so the film definitely lived up to the drama subplot but there isn’t a whole lot else. As a result, the film just isn’t a whole lot of fun to watch and certainly has no replay value. I would have cut out the plot with all the random toxic friends and probably would have removed the rock music as well. Have him be really quiet until Vicky is able to break through to him.

That just seems like it would make the most sense. I also think the subplot with his parents could have been handled better. Vicky’s mother continues to believe that they aren’t that bad and that Vicky should talk to them while Vicky wants nothing to do with them. Vicky has the correct position, especially after we see what they did with Bobby. The film awards too much sympathy to the father where he is broken down by the end and wants Vicky to talk to his wife. There is just no way that should ever happen and I also don’t give the father any slack here. He could have stopped the abuse at any point if he wanted to and yet he did nothing. He’s really just as guilty here.

I would have preferred if Vicky had just told him to get lose and reaffirmed that she would never see the wife again. Both of them just seem absolutely crazy and are well past the point of no return. Yeah they’ve got serious issues but they’re adults and could have taken steps to correct this. The instant they went after their son and gave him such a rough upbringing, the idea of any sympathy towards them was completely gone.

Overall, In from the Night is a film about how tough it can be to rebuild a life once it has been thoroughly broken down. It’s a film that is tackling a rather tough subject. I wouldn’t say it tackles the subject super well though and definitely stumbles to the finish line. There are a lot of things I would change with this film but ultimately the best thing to do is probably to skip it. This one isn’t going to hold a candle to the average Hallmark film. Those tend to be a lot more fun and have the right balance that this one lacks. This one is just too dreary for most of its run.

Overall 3/10