Tag Archives: Slice of Life

Monsters University Review

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I can barely believe that Monsters University came out over 10 years ago. To me this feels like it was just the other day as I still lump it in with the modern prequel/sequel craze that’s taken over. Well, I can say this one wasn’t a cash grab as it actually works really well as a prequel. I’d even say that it beats the original one. Perhaps that’s a bit of recency bias but the whole movie goes by really quickly and has no real weaknesses. I was entertained the whole way through and the character cast is small but strong.

The movie centers around Mike who wants to be a great scarer. He got to see a professional in action when he was a kid and that has inspired him to choose this career choice. Unfortunately Mike is a rather small monster who doesn’t look very imposing. In order to be a scarer, you have to be able to scare kids under any circumstances. Can Mike really get around this issue? He studies his butt off but it never seems to make a difference. Meanwhile Sully is from a family of elite scarers and is a scary looking bear monster. He doesn’t study at all and yet he still looks scary. Both characters will have to reluctantly team up in order to win the annual scare tournament.

There are a lot of positive things to say about the film but the first one is how it’s realistic about Mike’s situation. A lesser film would have gone the cheesy route and just had him train until everyone found him to be really scary. It might be a fun way to end the film but it wouldn’t make a lot of sense. While Mike does improve on his technique, the film is consistent in showing that he will just never be as scary as some of the other monsters and that doesn’t have to be a bad thing. He’s just going to need to look into some different careers or maybe get creative and do some things to help make him scarier. That could have worked as an alternative ending where he gets a mech suit or something.

Mike is a fun character either way and I enjoyed his banter with Sully. Mike never really backs down which is nice to see. He may not be the toughest monster on the block but he’s not going to be pushed around either. He gets a good share of victories thanks to his book smarts as well. Meanwhile Sully starts out as more of a total slacker but starts to really try later on. It takes a while for the lessons to really sink in though as he initially just goes through the motions without really believing it. Ironically the moment where he decides to break some rules is when he really became part of the team. To be clear, breaking the rules was not a good thing. Even if you do that to help another person out, cheating is still cheating.

Sully learned a lot throughout the film and so that made for a good character arc. If there were any weak characters, well I guess they would be the rest of the team. I think you could have written the film in a way where there would be less teammates even if they did contribute to the character arcs of both Mike and Sully. They had to learn how to work with other characters who seemingly had no potential. I would have preferred for the other characters to have locked in a bit more though. It didn’t feel like they were super determined to succeed. Almost like this was just a mild hobby for them but not something that they were staking everything on.

Meanwhile we had a few antagonists here. First up was the cool Omega club. Those guys were fun and I thought they were handled well. The film kept itself from making them too extreme. Yes they were jerks and humiliating the main characters but they didn’t cross the bridge into being totally evil or anything. Just the normal amount of school bullying that you would expect.

Likewise the principal is abusing her power to be sure and being rather petty in how she handles Mike & Sully, but isn’t trying to beat them up or anything like that. You can also absolutely understand why she was upset since they broke a really precious heirloom to her. You probably should have expected it to be broken at some point though. This is a school for monsters after all….

The animation is pretty solid throughout the film. It’s not exactly going to be winning any awards of standing out a ton but the style works well enough for the film. I enjoyed the glow in the dark challenge as the heroes had to try and dodge some sticky spikes that would slow them down. This isn’t exactly an action film so it doesn’t get to show off with fight scenes but this would be the closest thing to that. There isn’t much of a soundtrack this time around either so I wouldn’t expect any big tunes.

The film’s a little too short to show us all of the tournament rounds but the ones that we did get were pretty fun. I liked the challenge of sneaking up on the librarian and of course the final battle was pretty good with the scares. The twist in there even surprised me when it first happened. The movie handles itself beautifully both in how it sets up the main film and how it works as a stand alone title. You don’t need to have seen Monsters Inc. to be able to appreciate this one.

No film is going to be perfect on the humor but the jokes we get tend to be pretty decent. There is a rushed romance at the end that’ll make you cringe and generally I thought the teammates were not funny. Outside of that, the jokes hold their own. As long as you enjoy Mike and Sully then you’re in a good spot here since their gags tend to be a blast with each one easily being triggered by the other.

Overall, Monsters University was pretty fun. I had a better time with it than I expected. It’s not like I thought it would be a bad film or anything like that but I guess I expected it to be a little less focused. More of a fun prequel with the cast messing around as opposed to actually being rather serious and having a tight story. The school background can be hit or miss in these films but this one worked really well. If you haven’t seen the film yet then I would definitely recommend changing that.

Overall 7/10

The Aristocats Review

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It’s time for a classic film about danger and true love. I’d say it’s a good adventure overall but definitely more forgettable than a lot of its rivals. The movie doesn’t really make any big mistakes but just doesn’t have as many strengths as you would normally expect. So you’ll be kept entertained but give it a few weeks and this one will be a distant memory.

The movie starts off by introducing us to Duchess and her three kittens. They live a nice life as they are owned by an incredibly rich woman who really loves them. In fact she intends to leave a massive amount of her will to the cats. Unfortunately her butler Edgar finds out about this and decides to destroy the cats. One night he kidnaps them and strands the cats many miles away from home. They aren’t exactly used to the outside world though and now their only hope is to rely on a strong cat named Thomas. Thomas certainly seems to know what he is doing but can they really trust him?

You’ve got a bigger cast here than you might expect. Thomas has a few friends, then you have a subplot with two dogs, another plot with a mouse, and of course there are 4 main cats. The movie is pretty short too so you shouldn’t expect these characters to do too much. It’s fairly stuffed so the pacing is pretty good but the film probably could have stood to shrunk the cast and give them bigger roles. Well, ultimately it works out well enough.

I would say the surprise hit here is the main villain Edgar. The guy wants to be rich and is willing to do anything towards this goal. He’s an evil villain through and through but has quite a lot of power. Not only is he able to overcome the two dogs who were trying to get him but at the end of the film he is fighting off a 1 vs 5-6 and somehow holds his own. That’s not an easy feat and Edgar doesn’t give up right to the very end. He has no tearful backstory or secret origins here. The guy is just super selfish and that simple motive works this time.

In part he also stands out because there just isn’t much to the main characters. For example Dutchess’ 3 kids don’t have a whole lot to do. You have the guy who wants to be a tough street cat, the girl who loves romance and tries to act dignified, as well as the third kitten who never got much of a personality. They are a little too young to really contribute to the plot and for the most part are just here to slow down Duchess. You could say they fit the role of being the cute characters but don’t really do anything beyond that which is unfortunate.

Duchess is a decent enough character but gives in to the romance a little too quickly. Thomas starts flirting with her almost immediately and Duchess seems charmed right away. You know I’m always more of a fan of the slow burn kind of romance. A romance moving this quickly with a guy who clearly seems like a player doesn’t make for the strongest romance. It’s not a massive part of the story but I do think it should have been earned more. Maybe we see them start to get closer after he saves her from Edgar or something like that.

As for Thomas, well I appreciate his confidence. He knows just about everyone and has made a lot of friends. It’s easy to see why he has so much confidence. The guy has been very successful throughout his life and is the kind of character that you want in his corner. Since his kind of character is fairly well known, the film doesn’t have to flesh it out too much and you immediately have a good feel for the character. It’s a fairly clever way of writing the character.

I’d say he would have really shined if there was more banter between the characters though. That’s where someone like Thomas would have really gotten to shine. Without that element it just feels like the film is missing something. His friends help to establish Thomas’ background a bit but even then they don’t get to appear a ton either. They help by the climax though and still have more of a role than the mouse. The mouse was a good friend to Duchess so you appreciate his efforts though. He jumped into situations that were pretty dangerous for him and took a lot of risks to save the day.

Finally we have the subplot with the two dogs. It was probably the funniest plot in the film even if the jokes could be a little limited. Basically you have the leader and his super loyal follower as they get into a lot of shenanigans. They still couldn’t even defeat Edgar so it’s not like they are super strong but they do their best. Their humor style is either something you like or you don’t though as the leader is constantly bashing his friend who just sits there and takes it the whole time. Ultimately they are good friends but the leader probably wouldn’t admit it. I liked the dynamic well enough but I would have liked the leader to have been a little stronger. Yeah that’s part of the joke but still it would have been since to have seen them get some more solid wins.

The music is definitely forgettable though. None of the songs are particularly strong and this sounds the way you would expect some musicals to sound like. There isn’t much soul behind the tunes and it all sounds like free domain type of music. A song should really have some strong emotions behind it along with a fast beat. None of these songs are ones that will get stuck in your head and you certainly won’t be singing them. That’s an L in my book.

The animation isn’t bad. Fairly standard stuff but certainly nothing bad. You have a lot of movement here throughout the adventure and even some fight scenes. I may even say this was the strongest part of the movie because it was going all out the whole time. It may be the most memorable part of the film overall and part of what would give it some replay value. At the end of the day that’s the position the film is in. I could easily see it again at any time but it’s like eating a sandwich. It doesn’t really do anything for you and just gives you a fun enough time during the experience.

Overall, If you like animated films like this then I would recommend The Aristocats. It doesn’t do anything new or different with the genre but brings you all of the familiar elements that you have come to expect. As long as you enter the film with reasonable expectations then I think you’ll have a good time here. If they decide to make a remake of this someday, I’d say to cut out the songs and just spend more time on the actual adventure. Have them pass different towns with strange traditions and make every part of the film more memorable. It wouldn’t be a super hard thing to do and that would be an improvement here.

Overall 6/10

Blue Box Review

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Shonen Jump has lost another big title with Blue Box coming to an end. At one point it was thought to be the next king of Jump to replace One Piece. Unfortunately One Piece still has many years left to go so that was not in the cards. Box still had a fairly long runtime though and was a fun enough series. I would say that it did start to lose a lot of steam in the second half but that’s just how these things go sometimes. The series was unable to capture the same high levels of energy of the will they/won’t they once the main two were together.

The series follows a boy named Taiki who is really into Badminton and a girl named Chinatsu who is a star Basketball player. They both attend the same high school although Chinatsu is one grade above Taiki’s. He has always had a big crush on her and they see each other a lot as the first two people in the gym every morning. What he didn’t expect was for Chinatsu to move in with him! Her parents will be away for a while and were friends with his parents so they got permission for her to stay so that she could focus on Basketball. Now Taiki has more opportunities to confess but also feels like this is a bad time to do so. It could make her feel uncomfortable…what should he do?

First off I would say that Taiki is absolutely correct here. He may want to confess and everything but to be honest it would be the wrong call. Her parents are counting on this being a relaxing environment for Chinatsu with no distractions. A confession is absolutely selfish here because it puts her in a bad spot if she says no. A confession can’t have any pressure behind it or else the whole thing just won’t feel right. This naturally does lead to a lot of drama though as Chinatsu also likes Taiki but faces the same struggles. They have a hard time getting on the same page and both have other suitors who appear to be interested.

That is much more of a factor for Taiki though. His childhood best friend, Hina, really likes him. She’s not even very subtle about it but Taiki completely sees her as a friend and is oblivious to every flirtatious moment. Unfortunately his best friend Kyo is a professional gaslighter who makes every situation much harder than it has to be. So there’s a lot going on but in a way that’s what makes the first half really intense. It was just really chaotic with a whole lot of players involved.

So lets go with the weaknesses of the series first. One is that the sport matches star to be more off screen as the series goes on. This was never a sports series first and foremost but we still got some really big battles early on like Taiki vs Haryu. By the end of the series we start skipping major portions of matches and even skip all of Nationals itself. You know, the thing that was Taiki’s goal from the start? That was definitely an annoying moment because it would have been so cool. You could easily have cut some chapters from the side characters to make room for that. Chinatsu’s final competitions at least got some screentime even if I would have liked to have seen more.

The other weakness by the end is that the supporting characters were never as interesting. It is pretty much obligatory that you try to pair up all of the side characters at the end but you don’t have a lot of reason to care about them. Not compared to the main two which is where all of the development had gone to anyway. Most of these characters are basically left with rebound options so it’s not like you could say the romances are particularly strong either. It works well enough you could say but it’s why the first half is much better.

As for the art, it’s not bad. It’s definitely not one of the stronger Shonen Jump titles in that area though. In particular there were two characters who looked way too similar and I would constantly mix them up. Yusa and his brother. Now granted, brothers should look alike but they really appeared to be identical at times. The art is still good enough though so I wouldn’t say that I had any serious issues there.

So lets get into the characters. First up we have Taiki and I was really clowning on him throughout the series. He just couldn’t stop catching Ls as most of the drama was his fault. Pushing Chinatsu away while in public because he got scared of what other people would think was something that happened more than once. To be clear, he was doing this because he thought that is what was best for Chinatsu. It still doesn’t make him look much better.

Then he doesn’t handle the Hina situation very well. He actually started out well by initially rejecting her but then Kyo got in his head and Taiki started to hesitate. Taiki initially knew that he only had eyes for Chinatsu and needed to stick with that. Instead Kyo gave him an analogy about coffee and a lot of other crazy stuff. Ultimately Taiki decides to still be close friends with Hina which allows her to try and make another play. That was probably a moment too far for her and he needed to break things off.

It’s extremely hard to be friends with someone who wants you. Especially when they already know that you like someone else. It comes off as really selfish no matter how you slice it. Taiki just lacks in confidence a whole lot and this carried over right to the end of the series. Even in the last chapters he is still acting like that. It’s partially because he is written as the everyman and there is this idea that guys are always going to be a little passive/nervous around the girl. Perhaps it is realistic to a degree but it doesn’t make him a very strong lead. I needed to see more fire out of him instead of learning the same lessons over and over again.

In comparison Chinatsu is the much better character. She basically has to initiate every interaction between them. She never loses sight of her goals or waves in the slightest no matter who approaches her. I also appreciate how defensive she gets when anyone makes fun of Taiki. She is very quick to fire back and that’s the kind of loyalty you like to see. Chinatsu’s a very well rounded character and continues to excel in Basketball/school even outside of the romance. Taiki may be her goal but he isn’t the only part of her world.

Even as someone who was more on team Hina in terms of character, Chinatsu is one of the best parts of the series. There can be no doubt on that. She even gets her own rival later on in the series which was pretty cool. No, not a rival in love but an actual Basketball rival so I really appreciated that. She’ll likely have to continue leading the relationship with Taiki but is more than willing to always put in the effort there.

As for Hina, well I may have liked her a lot but some of her actions are pretty indefensible. She continues to go after Taiki even once he has a girlfriend which is really not cool. I know that some will say it’s all fair game until marriage but that’s not a very healthy outlook. Do you really want a guy that you can steal away so easily? To be direct, you should give up if the person you are interested in is already taken. Nothing good can come from going down that avenue but there are certainly a lot of bad things that can arise.

Once you have moved on, then it’s possible you will find someone else but it will take time. The series presents at least two more options for Hina after Taiki and both feel like they would have just been emotional rebounds. For that reason I am glad that the series didn’t force anything at the end. The door is left open for this to succeed and it’s certainly implied that she will eventually make a choice but at least it wasn’t instant. Hina was taking her time and that’s important.

Her final character arc of realizing that she actually wasn’t over Taiki was actually a really good one. Aside from the misstep of telling him about it, it makes sense that she couldn’t just snap her fingers and be over him. A lot of times in the movies you will see a character just immediately move on when they are rejected but things don’t tend to move that fast. The feelings will take some time to dissipate.

Then we have Kyo who is a particularly weak supporting character. By the time he starts to get more screentime at the end, it is too little, too late. It felt like he was mainly around to just sabotage Taiki for a while there. I want to be clear that he never did this intentionally but has a bad habit of talking way too much and he always just has the wrong takes. The guy is a bit too quiet otherwise and then in his own romance he ends up being passive. Even in the moments that are supposed to make him likable, they never seemed to land. Ultimately I had to give him a thumbs down.

Taiki’s parents were far better as characters. It’s not like they have a big role but they were consistently solid the whole time. They mostly kept a hands off approach but Taiki’s dad would remind him to always do what’s right. Then the mom would always do her best to help out in the background by prepping for events, supporting Taiki, etc. Chinatsu’s parents are much the same way with her father very reasonably not being a fan of the setup once he found out that Taiki liked her. That’s just responsible parenting after all since that opens the door to a lot of tricky situations. He ultimately allows it but I wouldn’t have faulted him even if he had made Chinatsu move out.

Haryu works well as the first rival. In a way he is the older what if version of Taiki. He got to play at a high level and has a good relationship with his girlfriend. Ultimately he chooses not to pursue Badminton past high school though while Taiki wants to keep going. The parallels are fun and he even starts to get spooked about playing Taiki. He worries that losing to him will forever change their dynamic. That was a bit petty since they’re on the same squad and should still be playing each other a whole lot. Not playing because you’re scared will only hinder your growth in the long run.

His girlfriend Karen is a strong character as well. She was always quick on the uptake and wasn’t as oblivious as most of the other characters. She doesn’t get to appear a lot but makes sure to set strong ground rules for her relationship. With Haryu she explains that this can never be an excuse for either of them to fail. It’s a pretty good rule if you ask me although any real character should never be using something like that as an excuse either way.

Hyodo takes over as a new rival for the end of the series. He’s even more powerful than Haryu and is basically unbeatable. He has done that by making Badminton his life. He has pushed aside all other interests and has no interest in getting a girlfriend. You could say he’s the other extreme as a possible Taiki future. It may be possible to surpass him but is the cost really worth it? It just feels like that is not a good idea. The manga never makes Taiki tempted by this approach though which is a good thing.

Then we have Hyodo’s younger brother Yusa who is also super good at the sport. Initially he also believes that it requires a ton of sacrifice but then learns from Taiki that you can still live your complete life along with it. I’d say he just needed some more screentime. His romance with Hina is pretty weak and came too late to really make anything out of it. He would make for a solid character in a sequel story though. There’s nothing really wrong with him but it just feels like the guy came on too late.

Ayame is another character who was a bit of a late inclusion. Not as late as Chinatsu’s next door neighbor who just exists for potential drama but still pretty late. She basically goes through guys really fast which makes a few of the characters worry. What if she sinks her fangs into Taiki?? The story never goes there though and she’s actually a bit of a romantic as she tries to get Hina and Taiki together. Her own romance plot with Kyo is a bit forced though and doesn’t work so well. I appreciated what she added to the dynamic though.

Finally there is Yumeka who is a solid character. She may not have a ton of screentime but I did think that she made for a solid rival to Chinatsu. Her skills were definitely on point and she really managed to keep up. This also worked as a way to give Chinatsu an extra plot that wasn’t directly tied to Taiki. That was a really strong move all the way and also gave a reason for the show to include more Basketball scenes.

While the story beats are all fairly straightforward from the start, this is not a series that is being built around twists. The whole idea here is that Taiki and Chinatsu will get together and you’re just seeing how that happens. In a way you could say that is true for most romance series. It’s all about the adventure, not really about the ending. So you hope against all odds for the underdog to win but know that it will be futile. I just think sometimes the authors accidentally make the backup love interest more interesting than the main one. Hina was just more fun to have around even if you knew that she was doomed. Such is life and the appeal of the doomed romance.

The series still had a light tone throughout and just makes for an easy read. I’d say that it is a series which can really appeal to anyone. The only way you’d dislike this series is if you really just don’t like romance drama. Drama is basically inevitable for any long running romance series though because that’s how they extend the runtime. Blue Box stays pretty safe throughout though with no character making mistakes that I would deem to be irredeemable. Drama goes too far if a character actually cheats or something like that and fortunately we never even approach that point.


Overall, Blue Box is a good series that I can recommend. The romance is well written and the sports dynamic helps to add in a bit of extra flair as well. The ending isn’t the strongest and on a petty note it was kind of annoying that they couldn’t genuinely end by noticing that the gym was like a blue box. Adding a correction that it was actually orange was wholly unnecessary. I’d say the series will especially work well in a binge format so you should just start reading through the series right away. As long as you enjoy romance and/or sports then you will have a good time here.

Overall 6/10

Cats Don’t Dance Review

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It’s time for a classic animated film. I wouldn’t say that it ever got all that big since I don’t really remember it. I may have been in the wrong circles though. It’s a perfectly pleasant film but one that seemed to really lack a hook the whole time. By the time it ends you feel like the film never had much of a high point. So it is a good adventure from start to finish but it never really stuck out.

The film begins by introducing us to a cat named Danny who is really excited to make his big debut into Hollywood. He’s always wanted to be a huge star and knows that he has what it takes. Animals and humans have long collaborated on a bunch of movies in Hollywood. What Danny doesn’t realize is that this is a two tiered system where humans get all of the money and credit while animals get the worst roles without any of the accolades. Danny may be able to change this but he will have to get past the number 1 human prodigy….a little girl named Darla.

Now one question I did have about the whole premise here is how Danny didn’t know about the animals having such a small role. I figure as a big Hollywood fan he would probably have realized that from watching the movie? It sounded like very few animals ever got big roles so that seems like it would have been noticeable. I think the film should have made it so they have decently large roles but just don’t get much money. That would have made a lot more sense on why he wouldn’t have realized this.

Maybe Danny just didn’t actually watch many actual Hollywood films. He did mention at one point that things were different in his hometown so perhaps he mostly just saw local stuff and figured it would be the same in Hollywood. There are ways you could answer this but I was pretty skeptical. Danny’s a good main character though. It takes a lot to get him to start doubting himself near the end but before that he fights as hard as he could. He does inspire a lot of the other characters including Sawyer so without him things never would have changed.

Naturally I didn’t think the romance worked all that well though. It’s a bit rushed especially considering what a rocky start they had. He really put her in a lot of jams without realizing it at first. Sawyer was also pretty content with her situation initially so it’s not like she was coming from a bad situation. All in all Sawyer was a quality character as well. I would have preferred if she had kept more of the fire she had in the first scene but overall still looked good. She just mellowed out rather quickly.

One character who did not lose any of her edge was Darla though. She was really determined to be the heel the whole time. It’s easy to see why it would be tough for her to change since it looks like the entire world was really spoiling her the whole time. The movie’s director and staff were downright scared of her. Then she has a huge bodyguard named Max who can beat up anyone in her way.

Darla was quite literally the star of every show in Hollywood after all. If they ever made a sequel, I could see her returning as a villain. She’s clearly no hero yet by the end of the film. We also get a timeskip where we see that the animals have really overtaken the humans near completely as they star in all of the movies. So there are a lot of interesting things you could do with a sequel. That might not be the direction they go with though but it’s an idea.

The music was one of the strong points of the film and was actually a bit better than the average musical. It’s all pretty fast paced with a whole lot of instruments going on. It reminded me a bit of Aladdin at times. The opening song about Hollywood may have been my favorite one but in general they were strong.

The songs also match the really fast paced, crazy action of the animation. It’s all very expressive and the kind of animation style that you miss from the old days. You could probably watch the movie on mute and generally understand each of the characters personalities. That’s always a good sign on the animation front. There are a lot of strong colors and they didn’t spare any expense here.

The ending is a bit sudden which isn’t all that rare for these classic animated films. The idea seemed to be to tell a good story and get a message across, then just end real quick. The film is shorter than half an hour so there isn’t a whole lot of time. While the story is good, I do think having the film be a little bit longer could have helped give it that hook I was talking about earlier.

That or make the characters stand out more. While I thought that the characters were good, none of them quite have enough character to make them pop out the way someone like Aladdin does. You just aren’t going to remember these characters too well by the end. It doesn’t take away from their quality at all but it can be the difference between a good film and a very good one.

Overall, I would recommend checking this film out. It is a fun film and there are no serious weaknesses to it. It’s a very safe film and one that anybody could watch at any time. The pacing is good and there is a solid amount of replay value. The messages hold up as well as the technical aspects, that’s just about where its limit is. Maybe throwing in more of a real fight against Darla could have helped. Doesn’t have to be a physical one but maybe a fight of ideals or something. That might have helped give the film some extra closure. These re all fairly minor points though, we’re just talking about the difference of a single star. As long as the film is a good one, that’s still the most important part.

Overall 6/10

Father of the Bride (1991) Review

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It’s time for a remake of a very classic movie. The premise for Father of the Bride is pretty solid right away. Anyone can empathize with a father who wants to make sure that his daughter doesn’t end up marrying the wrong guy. Along the way we have a lot of crazy shenanigans going on but at its core this is an uplifting movie. I do think that the end of the movie becomes a little more mean spirited than it should have been though.

The film starts off by spoiling the ending of the movie which is always a horrible way to kick things off. George talks about how he was initially against his daughter’s wedding and it was a real tough event but he hopes to laugh about it in the future. It’s a rather long monologue that tries a bit too hard to be funny and you’re just really waiting to get to the start of the actual adventure. So from here we get a flashback where George’s daughter Nina shows up and explains that she is engaged. Moreover, she plans to marry this guy named Bryan right away. George’s wife Nina is super excited so it looks like George is the only one left to add some rational thinking to this situation. Can he do this without alienating his whole family?

Right away there is a big problem with this which is that I don’t understand why Nina was immediately on board with this. I get the whole trusting your kids judgment thing but you do need to put that into a bit of context. Annie and Bryan have not known each other for very long so you just have to be practical about this. The film could have still had Nina be supportive without being blind about everything. I’m betting they just wanted a strong contrast to George being 1 billion percent against the wedding but it does end up hurting Nina as a result.

She gets her big victory against George in the end while she forces him to make a long apology after he is arrested. After that George is still punished further by running into a string of bad luck and having to miss every important event. He also loses so much money as a result of this wedding and that’s where you just have to be rooting for him the whole time. The wedding planner is clearly a hack and is overpricing them on everything. George is the only one trying to stop him and it’s portrayed as a bad thing.

George made his share of mistakes to be sure like snooping through the in law’s checkbook, general snooping, and being a little overly mean to Bryan. The guy isn’t without fault but half the time he is saying some reasonable stuff and the film is making him out to be the bad guy. Bryan’s job definitely did sound fake and I would have assumed he was lying too. Bryan tries to say all of the right things but I can also see how it would all sound fake. Bryan didn’t make the best first impression.

At the end of the day it’s George’s job to look after Annie and I’d say that he did a good job. I also don’t see why he should have to waste so much money on such a fancy wedding. It doesn’t make sense and anyone can recognize that he was being used here. They were wrecking his house and making a true spectacle of things. Nobody was thinking about George at all during this and that’s what felt bad. He was cut out of the celebration in the end and so the film felt rather sad there.

Now while I have all this to say about how the film treats George unfairly, the film does succeed in being an entertaining experience. The dialogue tends to be really strong and I enjoyed the humor. George’s various internal monologues are handled really well. I thought they were definitely funny the whole time and the film’s absurdist style makes for a lot of funny moments throughout the wedding. The pacing is good as well and the writing is solid.

Also while some characters can annoy me, they are ultimately all still likable except for the wedding planner. Annie may seem a little overly emotional and defensive throughout the film but deep down she also knows that the whole situation is crazy and a little absurd so that makes sense. The scene where she and Bryan decide to break up was super rushed and completely unnecessary though. That made both of them look bad but mostly Annie for being the one to rush out. I get the feeling Bryan was no being aggressive or doubling down at all.

As for Bryan, well he seems nice enough. The guy is moving rather quickly which is usually a red flag but if you think that you’ve found the right person then it makes sense not to hesitate. No reason to go slowly at all from his perspective. So while it looks harsh to everyone else, it doesn’t make him a bad guy. Likewise I think Nina’s being naive here but I get that she wants to support Annie. So even the worst characters have motivations and actions that make sense from their point of view.

Overall, Father of the Bride is a pretty good film. It can be a little frustrating at times because there are several scenes and moments that could have been a whole lot better with just a little tweaking. At the very least you have to remove the opening scene because spoiling the entire movie is never a good idea. How can you feel any drama for when the wedding gets called off when you already know that it’s going to happen? This is really filmmaking 101. I would also have at least given George a small win at the end to show how he finally learned to let go and is rewarded by seeing the wedding up close. The writers had other ideas this time but either way I would recommend checking this one out. I’d give the older adaption the slight edge but this one is impressively close.

Overall 7/10

Baby Boom Review

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It’s time for one of those films that tries to explain why you don’t want to be team corporate. Unfortunately, it does not make a strong argument and the film doesn’t live up to its full potential. The ending comes across as more tragic than wholesome and you will have a hard time rooting for the characters by the end. That’s just how it goes sometimes I suppose but you do feel like the movie could have really gone for a bolder ending that would have landed a better message for the film.

The film follows JC who has had a very solid career so far. She works for one of the biggest companies in the market and is getting close to being promoted as a partner within the firm. Her personal life is going well too and so JC feels like she has conquered life. Unfortunately a distant relative dies and now JC is inheriting a baby girl. Her boyfriend says that JC should give the baby away to an orphanage but she can’t bring herself to do this. Unfortunately this baby is quickly destroying her career and everything JC has spent her life building is being knocked to the ground. Her boyfriend runs off as well and so JC realizes that she may have to restart her life in a small town. Fortunately there’s a rebound guy here but can JC really be happy away from the rat race?

Unfortunately I am going to have to start this review by defending corporate here. Her boss actually seemed like a decent guy but of course he had to cut her off from the big projects. JC completely stopped being reliable after the baby entered the picture. JC would end up being late to meetings, forgetting deadlines, etc. At first the incidents weren’t major but they kept getting worse and worse so the boss had to give JC’s junior the position instead. Now it’s clear that this junior had been waiting for the day to get all the jobs over JC but at least he wasn’t cheating or anything.

He evidently still did the work and did it correctly. So JC just needed a better balance here. It makes sense that it would be tough to deal with a kid when she has absolutely no experience but that wasn’t the company’s fault. I won’t fault JC for wanting to take care of the kid so in this case there wasn’t really a villain. Things just went the way that they were bound to in a situation like this.

The small town plot tends to fall a bit flat though and in general the second half of the film is a bit weak. So JC heads into this town but unfortunately the house that she bought was a complete dump. Nothing works and so she has to spend an enormous amount of money to fix it. Then the local vet falls for her and they hook up rather quickly. I guess the relationship with the old boyfriend wasn’t all that strong eh? JC just goes a bit too quickly here and same for the vet.

He basically says that nobody else in the town is within his age range which is probably meant to make JC feel better but it sounds to me like he’s just desperate. JC is somehow able to make her own business in this town to start getting money again and that was good. It showed that she was still a creative genius who could continue to succeed in any environment.

Now where the next issue of the film comes in is when corporate calls her over and makes an incredible offer. JC basically turns it down to prove that she doesn’t need anyone’s help and this feels like a really bad decision. Striking out on her own like this just doesn’t make any sense. In the film it is portrayed like she made the right move and that would have only worked if the offer was more narrow. The problem here is that the company went above and beyond in making an incredible offer so it just makes her look bad for rejecting it.

JC just makes it a bit hard to root for her. She’s too quick to act like a victim in all of this when she gave corporate no choice but to sack her. The romance is really weak in general but only makes her look worse when she protests a whole lot only to quickly come over to Jeff’s side. (The vet) If that’s how it was always going to be, then maybe she shouldn’t have been so antagonistic the whole time.

Then while she may have made the right move in looking after the kid, the kid was not very likable here. She was constantly getting JC into trouble like with all of the crying and throwing the toys around. JC gets more of the blame for not being able to control a toddler but there is enough blame to go around here. It was just one of those very unfortunate things. The baby may not be the main character as that would be even worse but she gets enough screentime to be annoying. The film was at its best during all of the work scenes.

Ironically I would also just say that the movie makes small towns look bad. Sure, it worked out to get together with the vet but before that we see how the whole town is super unhelpful. Nobody is too bothered by the fact that JC bought a scam house where nothing works. They all just leave her alone to her own devices and barely even offer any sympathy. I would have ditched that town so fast because it just seems like an absolute nightmare. The whole point of a small town is the strong community and I didn’t see any of that here.

Overall, Baby Boom is not really my kind of film. It is going for the classic Hallmark feel to an extent but with a bit less of an upbeat attitude. It is going for more of the “realism” angle which can work sometimes but not in this case. I also have to admit that the baby brings things down at times too. She’s just too messy and causes too many problems for JC. If the baby had just been a bit older then maybe that could have been different but as it stands she just ends up being an obstacle the whole time. Check this one out if you want to convince yourself that working for corporate is a super terrible thing. Otherwise you can do better with any of the Hallmark Christmas movies.

Overall 4/10

Annie Hall Review

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Woody Allen films are consistently about a whole lot of rambling and characters talking in a way that just doesn’t make sense. They fill the air but none of the lines have any real substance behind them. They’re just creating more and more problems where no character ends up being likable by the end. There’s not a whole lot of plot going on here either so the story is forced to throw in a bunch of flashbacks and third wall breaks. You’re definitely in for an adventure of some kind here.

The movie starts with Alvy reflecting on when he used to have a strong relationship with Annie before things fell apart. He has already been married twice but in both of these relationships things did not go well. Annie was someone who actually understood him and they had some fun but it seemed to be very surface level. After some time had passed, they would grow further and further apart. Wait…so we already know the ending? Yes, this is one of those films that spoils the ending immediately so the movie is about the events that take you there. I never liked that cinematic plot device but what are you going to do right?

From the start you can see why it would be hard to stay with Alvy though. He is constantly depressed and complains about everything. He tends to be a complete doomer and you can barely even tell when he is having fun because he is still finding time to complain. That’s not the kind of attitude that is really going to get him far. Alvy’s a comedian but one who lacks in confidence so he gets stage fright and panics about every little thing.

For some movies there may be a bit of a mystery on why the big romance falls apart but it’s obvious from the start here. They are just way too different. Annie is more sociable and wants to hang out while Alvy’s idea of a good time is staying cooped up indoors. While some modern couples think it makes their relationship stronger to be able to still flirt around with other people to make the partner jealous, it’s just a terrible strategy in reality. They were both friends with people who were definitely the type to mess around and that increases the chances of it happening to them as well. You become the kinds of people that you hang around after all.

Towards the end they can’t even be intimate without Annie having to get high the whole time. They just have to casually use drugs and there doesn’t seem to be anything romantic about the relationship. They satisfy their physical desires and that’s it. You’re never going to have a meaningful relationship that way. None of the side romances are any better in this film.

As for Annie, well I can’t really give her any props either. The way she and Woody meet just makes her look a bit desperate. She clearly has ambition and drive in her life so staying with someone like Woody who has already given up on his future is not a smart play. Annie also tends to be a little too scattered like how she starts seeing a psychiatrist because Woody recommended one and then takes all of the advice in without thinking about it. She starts attending school classes because Woody suggested them and that leads to meeting with the teacher and starting more drama. She kept on starting new tasks because Woody would recommend them without really thinking about it.

Needless to say, it’s hard to picture either character being a reliable friend here. They would both just be annoying you to bits the whole time. You could also rest assured that they would be talking about you behind your back right away. That’s just how they operate and again that’s not the healthiest kind of personality to be associated with. I’m sure there are people like this but these are the kinds of social circles that you want to avoid. Everyone is two faced and fake with no real sincerity anywhere.

Now that isn’t to say that the film is devoid of humor. I actually think that Woody’s fast way of talking has some appeal to it. It certainly tends to miss a lot more than it hits but there will be some fun moments in the dialogue. A few jokes that will hit or a wisecrack that feels good. I tend to like fast, snappy kind of dialogue for humor and that is what this film is going for. With a stronger writer then this could have been a good recipe for success. To be really funny you should be hitting on around half of your jokes though, not 10%.

Also the film really needed more of a plot. To me this feels like an Abbott and Costello setup. Woody Allen films I mean. They all have him being really nervous and panicking the whole time but so far without much of a plot to back it up. Abbot and Costello would be about two guys joking around with some light plot in the background but it works because they are really funny. Additionally they would also tie the plot into something throughout the movie even if it was slight. I’ve got a mystery review coming up which addresses this to an extent at least.

So if you had some cool hook like the main two were stuck on a boat or travelling to space then you would have something there. You could keep the same tone but at least there is a real story to sink your teeth into. It’s not like this would have totally saved the film or anything like that but it would absolutely be a whole lot more watchable. As it stands, the film just doesn’t have any reason to make you watch it and you are desperately waiting for the characters to get more likable but it never happens.

Overall, Annie Hall is not a film that I would recommend. It’s a bit of a dreary watch with no real end point in mind. There can be a kind of humor in the way the dialogue goes but for every laugh you will have a number of groan worthy moments. This kind of film desperately needs direction and an end point. Without that or a good romance, there is no reason to get really invested in the film. I would definitely advise staying away from this one, it’s just too mindless the whole time with a lot writing standard. I’m still waiting for Woody to deliver on making a really good film.

Overall 2/10

Interiors Review

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It’s time for one of those dreary films where all of the characters are unlikable so there isn’t anyone to really root for. This film was really doomed on arrival as a result because I can’t really see any way that it could have turned out to be good in the longrun. There are definitely ways that it could have been a little better than the end product but not too many ways where it could have landed in the green. You at least need some humor or positive story beats other than the drama. This one didn’t really have any of that and your only chance of enjoying it is either ironically or if you also think that people are super annoying so the film wins back the realism points that it loses very quickly otherwise.

The film introduces us to Arthur and Eve who have had a very rocky marriage for a long time. Eve appears to have gone completely crazy and Arthur seems to want a fresh start. Well, it turns out that they are getting a divorce so now it is time for the three sisters to see how they can handle the situation. I can tell you that it won’t be easy because none of them are really having satisfying lives of their own either. The situation only seems to grow worse and worse so without even the possibility of a happy ending here, what can be done?

First off even though this is about the 3 daughters, the youngest one doesn’t get much of a role. It takes a long while for Flyn to even show up into the main story and nothing goes right for her there as well. She is attacked in her van by Frederick, one of the drunk villains who had a lot of red flags from the start. Aside from this being a needless scene that hurried to keep dragging the film lower and lower, it doesn’t make sense that nothing ever came of this. While the characters are all in toxic situations and seem so worldly that they may let such an attack go, the film ought to have at least addressed it.

Flyn never really gets any wins in the film and ultimately it seems like her decision to be far away from the others was probably for the best. In general if she had not come home, that would have ended up working out way better for her. There’s nothing much more to say about Frederick since being a villain is really his only role. He likes to insult everyone constantly without taking any responsibility for his own actions. He just keeps on getting more and more drunk as the film goes on and you wonder what Renata ever saw in him.

Renata is the oldest of the 3 daughters and constantly fight with her younger sister Joey. There’s always been a one sided competition here as their father only ever wants Joey’s opinion and Renata can never really seem to match her. No matter how much success Renata gets, it is ultimately used against her. Now she is in a toxic marriage of her own and so things are not looking any better. Her way of coping with these constant issues is to essentially encourage her mother in the delusions that the parents may get back together again. Not a good idea but in general no response would be very helpful there.

Joey gets the biggest role out of all the characters but does end up being one of the most annoying characters as a result. She has done her best to get close to her mother over the years but all of the attempts have been futile. She is stabbed in the back every single time so her problem is essentially the flip side of Renata’s. Clearly everybody is just in a tough situation here.

Joey’s problems are largely self inflicted though. She tends to get bored of all her jobs and so she jumps around a whole lot. Joey seems to have a lot of confidence issues and also doesn’t want to start a family with her boyfriend so that starts up a lot of fights as well. Joey just allows her mother to call the shots at all times even when it means wasting a whole lot of money. She then takes her frustrations out on the new step mom. There’s just nothing likable about Joey. You understand her actions during the story and see why she is upset but Joey always manages to handle these situations in the worst possible way.

Mike tries to be the most reasonable one around. He isn’t a pushover like Joey and the others but at the same time he does want their relationship to last so he does his best to make her happy. He just can’t seem to do enough as she always has a bunch of complaints around. I don’t see how they can possibly be happy long term but he’s trying so I have to give him some credit there. It’s definitely not an easy circumstance.

As for Eve, well I’m afraid she loses the sympathy points rather early on. She is going through a lot and that is sad but she just never stops complaining. You can see where Joey gets it from. Eve is never happy and will always find the negative in a situation. She’s the kind of character where if you helped her out 99 times but couldn’t do so once, she would always bring up that one time. She’s the kind of person you would generally try to avoid or at least make sure you weren’t in the same social circles with. So it’s no wonder that Arthur wanted to get away from her, although he is far from blameless. Ultimately Eve makes the wrong decisions all the way to the end.

As for Arthur, well the guy got tired of Eve and decided to split up. That’s always going to be the wrong decision there. I can only defend that if there is serious abuse going on, whether physical or verbal. Then to compound the issue he immediately gets married to his rebound pick and brings her over to show off. It all makes him look quite selfish. If he was going to rebound then at the very least he needs to be more discreet about it. I’m afraid the time to show her off to the family may never come but he has to accept that. For what it’s worth, she seemed fine. A lot of red flags with how Arthur would be her third husband but that’s his business.

It’s not as though the relationship seemed any weaker than the others. All of the romances in the film were quite dreadful. Meanwhile the writing is pretty bad as the characters talk a lot but don’t have a great deal to say. The whole film is just so jaded like this is how you imagine people are talking behind closed doors. There are probably some who are like this but they would be far from the majority. The film was also way too determined to be a sad drama the whole time. I get not wanting to have some humor but just a few jokes could have gone a long way.

For any film the main goal is going to be to entertain the audience. You’re not going to be entertained with this one and the pacing is much too slow. It’s also hard to feel bad for anyone because it’s hard to imagine being friends with any of the characters in this film. They would all be talking behind your back constantly and slipping insults into every sentence. The film’s ending doesn’t help matters either as it is an extremely weak one. The film just fumbled everything from start to finish. One little thing the film could have done at least as a fun little easter egg would be to have mentioned there were 4 sisters but the 4th one decided not to show up. I could have at least written a paragraph about how that was the smartest character in the movie.

Overall, Interiors is a film that I would definitely avoid. It’s much too dreary and the characters are so bad. Usually they’d just be bad in a super unlikable way but then you have Frederick who becomes an actual villain and this is never addressed. He should have been in prison by the end at the very least. There were simply no chances to enjoy the film as every moment that would even hint at being light hearted was immediately slammed down. A movie just can’t survive on those kinds of negative vibes. The characters are all written to be as unlikable as possible and that’s already a hard enough issue to get past without all of the other problems.

Overall 1/10

Dragonite and the Special Delivery Review

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It’s time for a fun little Pokemon short. They’ve made a decent amount of these so it’s always fun to see another one come out. Dragonite was always a well known Pokemon for being one of the first ever pseudo legendaries. I would even say that in the present day he still lives up to the hype. This special doesn’t have him fighting or anything but is a fun enough adventure.

The short begins by introducing us to a mail system where Dragonite delivers mail around the world. He can deliver throughout any kind of weather situations and at great speeds so he is the perfect Pokemon for the job. A girl named Hana would like to be out there making deliveries along with him but she was hired as a cadet and has to go through some training first. She finds this training to be absolutely boring but can’t convince her supervisor to make an exception and let her get out there early. It’s all quite depressing but when a letter gets rejected for not having an address listed, Hana realizes that she has a chance to stand out. This is her moment and nobody will be able to keep this from her!

So we see Hana searching the town for a while and eventually she does stumble upon the sender and his sad story. Ultimately Hana realizes that she doesn’t have the power to save the day on her own and needs Dragonite. So it makes for a pretty wholesome story that doesn’t need a bunch of twists and turns. Hana does what she needs to do and we get the happy ending. I do feel like the dilemma was a little forced in a Pokemon world though.

Basically there is a kid who wanted to send a card to his father but didn’t tell his mother ahead of time and so he messed up. That whole thing could have been avoided with a proper address. Additionally though, how come the father can’t travel over there? We have many Pokemon who can learn teleport, others which have hypersonic speeds, etc. This guy also seems to be a big shot in the world of science so it’s not like he would be without the resources to do so. It may be a bit beyond the scope of what the special was all about but I had to think about these things during the adventure. Either way the adventure is fun though.

Hana isn’t the most likable protagonist with how impatient she is but you can tell that she is a nice kid overall. Hana learned a whole lot during this adventure so I don’t think she will take the mail duties for granted anymore. Now she knows that all of the duties are quite important. Meanwhile Dragonite was awesome as always.

On the technical elements, the special holds up. The animation is solid and the pacing is good on the whole. I wouldn’t say that there is a memorable soundtrack but this is a very short adventure so there is only so much you can do on that front. There are pros and cons to having such a short adventure. One pro is that the adventure isn’t likely to drag itself out or make many mistakes but a con is that there isn’t much of a chance to show off either. So this adventure isn’t one that will end up being very memorable but I can easily recommend it to anyone.

Overall, It’s always good to see more Pokemon adventures. Small scale stories like this one also help to flesh out the world and environment as a whole. You can see how day to day tasks like delivering the mail gets handled. A capable writer could easily take this concept and make a nice ongoing series about it. So I’d say to watch this with the mindset of it being a pilot episode and that adds a little fun to it. Regardless I would say to check this out whenever you’ve got about 10 minutes to spare. It’s also a good reminder for any kids watching to make sure your mail has an address on it because the mail office isn’t psychic.

Overall 6/10

Love Through a Prism Review

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It’s time for a classic Netflix romance anime. Romance is one of those genres that is incredibly difficult to master because there are so many ways it can go wrong. Did you make sure there were no rebounds? Did the characters get a lot of time to develop the relationship or did it rush straight to the end point? There are a lot of things to consider and ultimately this one wasn’t quite up to the job. The slice of life parts are entertaining enough so I can say this is a good show but the romances are all rather poor.

The show follows a girl named Lili who has always really loved painting. Her parents run a kimono shop though and she is expected to inherit this in due time. It’s not her passion though and so Lili gets her parents to allow her to travel to an art school in London. There is a catch though, Lili must become the number 1 painter within 6 months or she must return and take up the family business. Lili is rather talented so this usually shouldn’t be a problem, except she must surpass Kit who just so happens to be the greatest painter in the world. Why must this happen to her???

Poor Lili definitely had some real bad luck here. I do think that her parents were a bit harsh though. Specifically her mother since she is the one who is really calling all of the shots here though. I get that painting can often be a dead end career so you don’t want to see anyone get stuck there but at the same time 6 months is way too tight. Maybe they were thinking that she would totally bomb out and lose interest in this hobby.

Lili tries to keep an upbeat attitude at all times and is a fun main character. She also likes to talk about how athletic she is but unfortunately tends to crash at all physical activities. I couldn’t figure out if the show was having some fun with this by showing that she wasn’t as athletic as she thought or maybe riding a bike and climbing a castle are just too difficult for anyone. Lili’s biggest weakness though is in how much importance she puts in social obligations.

This gets to become a problem with the romance as the show goes on. It becomes clear that Lili is not going to be the one to make the decisive move and keeps on waiting for Kit to do something. Then later on she moves to the 2nd choice in Shin and is basically allowing herself to be pulled along into a situation that doesn’t excite her. Romance is not an area where you should ever be settling and yet it feels like that is what Lili does here. She’s not the only character to do this either and it tends to especially be an issue in titles that take place in the past like this one. You have to follow your heart, not some unwritten rules.

As for the painting, at least Lili is consistently able to perform near the top of her class there. It would be nice if she could stand up to the bullies more though. Naturally this wouldn’t be a school based show without a few of those and they do a number on Lili. She does not seem to really have a way to stop them and has to get saved each time. Lili had a hard time standing up for herself throughout the show and unfortunately never really grew out of that. She put up with way too much and that kept her from being a better character than what she was.

One of these bullies is a lady named Catherine who ironically became the better character. Catherine was Kit’s fiancé and so she was quite upset when he started taking a fancy to Lili. Catherine figured she could scare the lead off by being as mean as possible and in a way she was succeeding but only in half the battle. Kit didn’t actually like her and there was no real way to fix that. Over time Catherine stopped her petty attacks on Lili and they actually became friends. By the end Catherine was a fun character to have around and part of the reason for that is because she did have a backbone. She wasn’t the type to get bullied or anything like that.

It’s also tough to be in an arranged marriage where the partner wants nothing to do with you romantically. So Catherine was able to get out of that situation even though the social impact was fairly big. It’s what helps keep her as a really solid character. Lili could have definitely learned a few things from her in that area.

Lili’s other friend Dorothy is also more of the strong-willed kind of character. She is more willing to confront the bullies straight up and is always looking out for Lili. Dorothy does tend to falter in matters of the heart though like when she decides not to go after Joffrey because she feels like their social classes are too different. That’s not a very brave approach to have and settling for another guy is never the answer. By all accounts she still had a happy life and family but I can’t abide by the decision to go with a rebound. That’s never a good idea.

Then we have Peter who is probably the pettiest member of the main cast. He wants to be the best but doesn’t have the natural talent that Kit possesses. This causes him to have a whole episode where he blows up at the cast and blames them for everything instead of taking any accountability. That is definitely not the way to go. He does apologize by the end but never quite goes back to the level where he was at before. In the end not just anyone can handle the stress of fighting for the top spot in a competitive art school all the time. Peter was just another casualty there.

Joffrey tends to try and cut the tension by goofing off the whole time. He’s pretty talented but never tends to sniff the top spot either. He handles this in a healthy way though. Joffrey still studies hard and keeps on practicing but knows that it’s not the end of the world if he loses. He will just enjoy the adventures as they come and was one of the most well rounded characters in the series. He was always a lot of fun to watch even if he may have had a bit of a sadder ending than the other characters.

Then we have Shin who seemed to like Lili early on but seemed to realize that he had no chance as long as Kit was around. So Shin played the role of the good friend for a while until he saw an opening to get married. Unfortunately that is what hurts the character in my eyes. I never liked that kind of character. To me it makes the friendship feel fake because one party is taking advantage of the other. Lili enjoys hanging out with Shin and they have common roots over in Japan but she doesn’t realize that he is in love with her the whole time.

Shin is a nice character by all accounts so it’s not like he’s secretly a creep or a jerk though. He plans to be a great husband and also looks after his younger sister who lost the ability to speak for a while. He does all the right things but shouldn’t be satisfied as the #2 option. He should have been able to move on and then been content as her best friend. That would have been a considerably more satisfying climax to his character arc. Instead I’d argue that the whole climax just forces him to have to run around in a circle and fall back to 2nd once again.

Kit is the main guy of the show and so a big part of the adventure really rides on this guy. Romance aside, I’d say he is a decent character. That said, the romance scenes do hurt him a bit because the guy comes off as being incredibly selfish. He dashes off on his own more than once and almost never gives the characters a heads up. It feels like he only thinks of himself during a lot of these big moments. He may be the best artist out there but that hasn’t really helped his people skills.

He’s never really portrayed as being antagonistic but other people just don’t show up in his thinking process. He is concerned with being the best artist and that’s it. At least until he starts to get close with Lili but even then he tends to ditch her with no warning. It’s another reason why I couldn’t root for the romance. He does his best to watch her back but that’s not quite good enough to redeem him. I liked Kit better than Peter but he’s not one of my favorite characters in the show.

There were also a few side characters who were always around for a good scene or two. I liked the principal of the school, he did a good job of appraising all of the artwork. Art is certainly not my subject so I wouldn’t really be able to do that. After a while it all looks the same to me. He also runs a tight ship and it takes a whole lot to convince him to change his views on something once he has made a decision. Then we have Kit’s older brother Richard. Richard takes life very seriously and does his best to run the company after his father no longer can.

This leads to a lot of conflict with Kit who tends to be more absent minded and doesn’t like responsibility all that much. I was on Richard’s side for some things. He was obviously wrong about the arranged marriage part though. It was good that Catherine stood up to him on that one. Once Kit was ready to start taking the business seriously, then Richard did let up quite a lot. He just wanted to make sure that the company was in a good place which makes sense.

The soundtrack for the show is fairly light to keep in with the show’s tone. None of the themes are going to be all that memorable for you. Meanwhile the animation is decent but nothing special. I would say that the technical elements in general are passable but none of them are going to go down as strengths. The opening song is also okay but also not anything that is particularly strong.

The writing is stronger though since it is trying to mimic the old days with everyone talking very politely. I’m always a real sucker for that kind of thing. It holds up really well and is stuffy in the right ways without being annoying like Shakespeare. The show is also more of a drama than a comedy I’d say. It’s not a particularly funny show even though it does try to throw in some jokes and facial expressions every now and then. You’re not going to be laughing out loud or anything like that. The slice of life stuff and painting scenes are definitely stronger.

Although it does feel like the painting becomes less and less important as the show goes on. Later on in the show we find out about a big war that is about to happen which is part of what causes a lot of trouble for Kit and his family. It just feels so sudden that you feel like the show wasn’t really prepared for this. It was a good way to add more drama but I’d have preferred to end the story with a painting tournament or something. The way the painting plot ends just feels very abrupt. This is probably by design because nobody chooses when a war will take place but it felt like there was a lot of meat left on the bone there. The final episodes have multiple time skips as it is so things were really moving at a breakneck pace.

Ignoring those last episodes though, this one is really what you’d call a calming show. While there are bullies and such, there are no truly evil characters here. Nobody is getting seriously sick or injured either so the show is more about following Lili’s adventures and having fun along the way. You get to imagine what it would be like to live in London as you paint all of the fun sceneries. The show may not be a home run hit but it’s also why this title was never going to be downright bad. It’s a safe title that you could watch at any time and is just short enough at 20 episodes where it isn’t a big investment to watch it all.

Overall, Love Through a Prism is a good show. It’s definitely one of those very quiet ones though. Unless you are really interested in the characters it will run the risk of being a tad bit boring. So that’s one thing to keep in mind here but on the whole it avoids that. The characters are fun and while the romance doesn’t really land, the slice of life parts are good enough. There isn’t a ton of replay value here but the show delivers on what you are expecting in this adventure.

Overall 6/10