It’s not often where you find a series so good, that you’re willing to sit through the anime, the manga and the live action film for it. Yet, Library Wars seems to convince its fans to do so, almost too effortlessly.
Indie films were never really my cup of tea, but Call Me By Your Name —directed by Luca Guadagnino — might serve as the catalyst that changes all of that. I’d desperately like to refrain from labelling this film, and inadvertently limiting it, by categorising it as ‘a great queer film’ because it’s truly more than that. Call Me By Your Name is a beautiful story of a wonderfully passionate and seductive summer friendship turned romance.
It has been way too long. You have no idea how many reviews I have planned to write however, none of them have been successfully published. I had initially planned to write an incredibly detailed post as to how my anime hiatus came to an end but I realized that if I worried too much about those details, I’d never actually get down to writing my actual reviews. Hence, we’ll be leaving that area for another day and right now, we’ll jump straight into this review because this anime is literally an ‘all for one’ and once you’ve witnessed its heroism, you’ll be ‘plus ultra’-ing all day long.
That was incredibly lame but I’ve just completely blazed through the first season and all I can think about are its incredibly lame yet ridiculously amazing catch phrases.
Hello.
It’s been quite a few months since I’ve reviewed anything on this site. I’m not going to make any promises but I am thinking of writing a review for the new Logan film as well as an animated film which was recently retitled as Leap, that I quite enjoyed. Obviously it was crucial and expected that I review Logan, fair warning, it completely ripped out my heart and had me wailing in the cinemas. Hey! Twenty bucks completely warrants the freedom to cry in a public place. The only thing shocking about it all was how everyone remained thoroughly composed about the whole thing and walked out of there so nonchalantly. Did nobody else just have their childhood stripped away from them?
I’m sorry, I’m getting rather carried away and we’re not even writing the Logan Film Review right now.
Itazura na kiss. It’s been a story that has been told so many times before. We’ve seen an almost impossible amount of versions of it from almost all of the known Asian countries. It is a rather ridiculously overplayed storyline, however it’s almost become some sort of a classic in the whole romantic comedy community. The story is absolutely timeless.
Hello.
I’m currently in Malaysia and still completely behind on my blog post uploads however, the official Spider-man trailer for the 2017 film was finally released yesterday and I felt like since I was already running late for the other posts, I should just take the time out to write this one up whilst it’s still relatively new. I had previously intended to upload a post about Tom Holland on my other blog: Linn Tells A Story, however due to my week being incredibly hectic, I didn’t have the luxury of just sitting down and writing it all out. I will however, definitely upload that post sometime next week. It’s going to be great so please check that out here, when I do post it.
Yesterday, was an extremely long day for me.
The night before, it was announced that the new Homecoming trailer would be released on Jimmy Kimmel Live at 11:35PM (LA time?) and obviously my being in Malaysia means that it would be towards the late morning before I would be able to watch it due to the time difference and everything. For those of you who are not yet aware, I’m currently in Malaysia and I’ll remain in Malaysia for around 2 months where I’ll be working as an intern for a company. Therefore, during this time yesterday, I was stationed at my office desk during work and I was completely unable to watch the new trailer because it would be rather unprofessional to begin watching Spider-Man trailers whilst stationed at the office desk.
It’s here. It’s finally here. The Chihayafuru live action movie that most of us have been waiting for, for at least 6 months, is finally here.
As you all know, I shouldn’t be doing this.
However, the whole manga/anime industry feels the need to throw this kind of crap in my face. You know what I’m talking about. You definitely know what I’m talking about. Bleach Chapter 686, also known as ‘the last chapter’. If you haven’t already read it, please leave right now because there will be no limits on how far I go today. I’m so emotionally damaged right now that my whole emotional switch-breaker has completely been rendered useless.
Hello!
I literally have no time but I just had to pull myself away for a little bit to write my own personal review on the latest anime movie 君の名は。It was sensational. Just right off the bat, it was absolutely incredible. Within the first 15 minutes, I was hooked and it immediately climbed to the top on my list of favourite anime movies. I know that I’m not usually this thrilled over anime movies but this was incredibly beautiful.
This might be my very last review before my last year of being a high school student begins. Therefore, I thought I should send this whole thing off with a huge hit. So, I’ll be presenting the big solo debate. How do all of the popular Hana Yori Dango versions stack up? Which one is the best? And which drama had the best cast? I’m going to break it all down for you and go as in-depth as I possibly can. So for the past two days, I’ve somehow been dragged into the whole Hana Yori Dango craze again. Now just to bring you up to speed, this hasn’t happened since 2006- 2009. So I’m just as shocked by this.
(Forgive my proper use of the English language, somehow after watching so many episodes of Hana Yori Dango after my year-long anime hiatus, my confidence with it has dropped. *sigh*)
I had my first experience with the Japanese Drama: Hana Yori Dango in 2006, when it first came out. My sister and I watched both seasons when my Auntie bought both seasons 1 and 2 for us. Back then, I remember falling madly in love with Hanazawa Rui and thinking that Domyoji Tsukasa was incredibly misguided. (Honestly, you Japanese casting directors can’t just pick the new up and coming pop star to play a role that so clearly does not suit him! I don’t care if he’s the only Japanese guy that somehow has curly hair. You can’t just base it off of that!) However, thanks to Matsumoto Jun, I was introduced to the ARASHI group at the young and impressionable age of eight. (Ohno’s my favourite. My least favourite would be Sakurai. How about you?)
Remember this was definitely way before I went anywhere near the anime version. So I didn’t even have a clue as to what the original characters were like or meant to be. Now that I have finally watched the anime, I have a very clear image of how everything is supposed to be. So let’s kick it off with the character analysis of Domyoji Tsukasa.
Domyoji Tsukasa (Anime Version): Let’s say that this is the template for how the character is supposed to be like. (Because it kind of is..) So Domyoji is egoistical, temperamental, forceful, weird and also… kind of cute. Let’s start it off with: he’s a spoilt brat. Money comes easy to him, he has no real idea of how to interact with other human beings and I get the feeling that his brain is slightly underdeveloped. His stand out characteristics that really pin-point his character is-
2. His lack of language skills – For some reason, his grasp of the Japanese language is off. He tends to speak weird Japanese, reading Kanji wrongly, completely disregarding the onyomi and kunyomi system of it and completely messing up the mood of things by messing up the proper sayings. In a sense, he’s a little dimwitted. But I guess they had to drown out his harsh personality with something… and this is just what they resorted to.
3. His child-like behaviour – Domyoji is very childish, his obsession with Makino should say it all. However, this really softens up the audience to him because it just makes you pity him and sympathise with him. I’m not going to lie, his very innocent personality, despite how he comes off, is very adorable. Especially in the anime because even though he’s such a big-shot. He’s still a virgin that has zero experience what-so-ever. And good for him! If you haven’t already figured it out, the anime is definitely much more explicit compared to the drama spin-offs, I guess they wanted to water all of it down a little bit in the dramas.
4. His violent and almost animalistic nature – Of course, in the dramas, Domyoji is violent. He beats people up for basically no reason. Somehow he has incredibly strength and has no intention of ever controlling it. He’s the biggest bully, not only at school but in the streets. In the dramas, this was not believable at all. However, this was very convincing in the anime. He’s tall, big-sized and he’s just all-round crazy. In the anime, he was definitely very progressive towards Makino. On account of almost raping her. (Don’t worry, I was freaking out too, however after Makino cries he backs off and tells her not to worry.) After that he just grabs her and kisses her a lot. Which is still very shocking for me because I never really thought that Domyoji would be the the aggressive-kissing-manly type of guy. They definitely cut this off in the dramas. However, I’m not going to lie, it brings a whole different dimension to his character which kind of appeals to me.
Tsukasa (Anime) VS. Tsukasa (JDrama) VS. Jyun Pyo (KDrama)
Okay, let’s do this.
Prior to watching the anime version. Jyun Pyo definitely won me over. (Not that it was very hard to, MatsuJun was a wimp) Lee Min Ho (Jyun Pyo) is tall, is relatively stronger than MatsuJun and he’s definitely better looking. And naturally I gravitated towards him more. I do not hate Matsumoto Jun. I have a very deep past with him. I just don’t quite agree to him being an actor. Especially since, I’ve only seen him play roles that were definitely not cut out for him. He’s also not very good at interpreting characters. For me, I feel like the only time he was actually able to accurately portray Tsukasa was when he was embarrassed and even then, it felt a little forced. Honestly, you can’t blame him for not being able to fill the role. His body type wasn’t capable of portraying the tall and muscular Tsukasa. Matsumoto Jun, is definitely destined to have a career as a singer despite his somehow successful acting career. Damn him for being considered the sexually charismatic guy in ARASHI.
Lee Min Ho definitely fit the physical criteria. So he definitely did come off as intimidating whenever he got physical. (However, I do not agree with all that crap of him being afraid of insects and swimming, that was definitely not in the original one and somehow it felt odd that a man of such power would be afraid of swimming. He owns so many islands, what does he do with them if he can’t even swim?) That wasn’t Lee Min Ho’s fault though. Come on you Korean scriptwriters! Step up your game!
Out of the two dramas, Lee Min Ho’s interpretation of Tsukasa was more believable and so, he takes this round.
However, compared to the anime version. He still loses. I also don’t really like the hairstyles of Tsukasa in the dramas. Both of them didn’t shave the bottom of their haircuts and so… it really looks weird.
In my opinion, if they needed a tall, muscular and tanned man for the job. They should have gotten Rain Bi (A Korean actor/ singer/ dancer), he’s an amazing actor. He has played two action movie roles in America and even got himself up in the the Time Magazine for being in the top 100 of the most influential people in the world. He’s played great roles in many other Korean Dramas. For me, it’s Full House, where he starrs as a man that is very wealthy as well. (Of course, nowhere near the wealth of Tsukasa but still) In that role he was very egoistical as well. He would have done an amazing job, especially since he’s a very physical actor, on account of having to go through all that hard training when he acted in Ninja Assassin. Some may argue that he’s way too old for the job but he still looks relatively young. Especially since everyone in the Korean adaption looked way too old to still be in high school. Don’t even get me started on Jan Di.
Moving on!
Hanazawa Rui (Anime): Hanazawa Rui is the silent type. He plays the violin, he’s wealthy and he has a crush on this beautiful model. Though things get slightly out of hand. (Let’s just say she ditches him and runs off and marries a French man. Talk about being fancy.) In the anime, he looked very stoned to me and I couldn’t really warm up to his character, especially ever since Oguri Shun was the first Hanazawa Rui I had ever met. (and fell in love with) Honestly, I didn’t like that non-approachable feel to him. After awhile, I kind of …. “No wonder Todo Shuzuki left him!” … you know?
Hanazawa Rui (Anime) VS. Hanazawa Rui (JDrama) VS. Ji Hoo (KDrama)
Let’s begin!
Let’s get this straight first, Oguri Shun’s Hanazawa Rui is hands-down the best. No one can compete. I don’t know how he did it but I think… It’s just him. He IS Hanazawa Rui. He’s silent, stoic but also adorable. Ji Hoo’s portrayal of Hanazawa Rui really made me feel like grabbing him, shaking him and then punching him. That long hair, with the long fringe and urgh…. I can’t even go on. Don’t even get me started on his pre moustache stubble that always clashes with his overly brown hair. It was… fake. I don’t know much about the actor, (I don’t even know his name.. so I’m just going to keep referring to him as Ji Hoo) but he seemed to do a pretty okay job of playing Irie from Itazura na Kiss in the Korean adaptation: Playful Kiss. However, he just looked like a very tacky mess in this one. It just wasn’t right.
Now, I understand why I didn’t like the way he acted, I guess he was just trying to follow the anime version by being stoned all of the time. He didn’t bring any character to the role at all and frankly, the love triangle completely collapsed because he was not believable at all.
Back to Oguri Shun’s version.
Oguri Shun filled the physical criteria completely. He was tall, and very relaxed. Throughout everything, it didn’t feel like he was acting at all, it was completely natural. Of course, I fell in love with him. Who cares if I was eight? That’s just how good he was. After doing some research, I have come to realise that Oguri Shun is just that silent, tall and slightly adorable type. Because he brought this personality with him when he acted in the Hana Kimi Drama. (I didn’t really like him in that role because he was a little too silent. But I’ll save that for another day.) For me. Unlike the Korean adaptation, he definitely pulled off the brown hair. It definitely didn’t look unnatural on him and it was a nice shade of brown that complimented his features. And to top it off, he looked comfortable with the violin. Definitely not out of place.
I also like how Oguri Shun brought certain qualities to Hanazawa Rui. Hanazawa Rui in the anime doesn’t smile as often as Oguri Shun does, he doesn’t say “Makino” like Shun does, and he definitely doesn’t make my heart flutter as much. All those little things that Shun did, those nice little ‘Makino’s whenever he called her, how he always smiled at her (Except when he was really supposed to be serious) and how he was just so naturally charismatic.
(Not to mention, he saved her getting raped like three times. Does he have a radar that goes off every time or something? How does he move so fast from one place to another so quickly?)
I can’t express how much Shun has brought Hanazawa Rui to life for me.
I definitely rooted for him over Tsukasa in the Drama.
(I’m actually going down memory lane so much, I’m falling in love with him all over again..)
Back to lightening up the mood.
Shun’s depiction of how pissed off Hanazawa Rui would act was great. I loved how he didn’t give any other girls the time of day (Other than Makino and Shizuku) and he instantly weeded out the bad girls from the good ones. He was definitely the man that conveyed what the audience was feeling. And I really appreciated that. Without him in the picture, I may have very well dropped the JDrama series from all of the misunderstandings and drama.
In this round, Shun’s Hanazawa Rui trumps both the KDrama one and even the original anime version. He improved Hanazawa Rui and for that, I am thankful.
Please, don’t even hate on me for not liking the Korean one, did you see that Ji Hoo handed Jan Di a paper towel instead of proper handkerchief? I mean seriously, how rich are you? You can’t even give her your handkerchief? And what kind of rich guy even carries around a paper towel? And just one sheet? Are you kidding me? And do you also lack common sense? Have you never cleaned in your life? How in the world is one paper towel sheet supposed to clean all of the flour and egg off? You can’t even wet it without it tearing! Let me just smack him, please!
Trust me, just go back to episode one and watch that scene again because how do you expect to clean anything off like that?!
Next One!
Makino Tsukushi (Anime): She’s practically the only commoner in Eitoku Gakuen (Eitoku High School). I don’t remember the exact details but I think that she was only able to snag a placement into such an expensive school because of how intelligent she was. (And she needs to graduate from this school to pursue her dream career of being a laywer?) However, I don’t really understand how she’s so smart if she never really studies. In all of the anime episodes she’s just thinking about boys and all of the drama. I really don’t like how she’s so completely loose in the anime. She lets any of the guys kiss her, she really does string Tsukasa on by allowing him to kiss her and it’s just not very appealing. I found it extremely hard to sympathise with her at all. I’m very pleased and grateful that they pulled that quality out of Makino in the dramas.
Makino Tsukushi (anime) VS Makino Tsukushi (JDrama) VS Gum Jan Di (KDrama)
For me, I finally understood why Makino was slightly annoying in the Japanese Drama. It’s definitely not Inoue’s fault at all, she was just doing her best to follow the original Makino in the anime and manga. I definitely agree with the casting director with this choice. Inoue definitely has a resemblance to the original Makino, be it the haircut to her body build. I’m very happy that they chose a girl that looked like a teenager, who wasn’t extremely thin. If you compare Inoue to the anime version, you can definitely see a resemblance.
The Korean choice on the other hand…
Wasn’t very good. They chose a woman that definitely did not look like she was in high school at all, she didn’t even come close! She looked old enough to be Jun Pyo’s big sister. She could easily have been passed off as a thirty-year-old. It also wasn’t convincing watching her play the ‘poor girl’. Especially when she was telling all of the rich girls off for having gone under the knife. Because the actor herself has definitely been under the knife, be it for her eyes, her nose or even her cheeks. Her hair was another factor that didn’t click right. The very essence of Makino would be her signature braids. Which was not even included until the very end…it’s just plain stupid. Plus, what is with her becoming a doctor? You can’t go around changing things like that!
In this round, Inoue as Makino Tsukushi takes the win. She looked like the anime version without all of the super annoying traits and so for that she gets an extra gold star.
Proceed!
Now for Akira and Soujiro, we’re just going to be super quick with it.
I actually really liked Soujiro in the anime version, he looked good and he was a great friend. Now, I’m not sure if I can ever get over Akira’s long hair, but he wasn’t too bad in the anime either.
For both the dramas, I would choose with the Japanese casting for Akira and Soujiro, they just stayed really true to the character and truth be told, they look pretty accurate. Except for Akira maybe, but I don’t think you could give anyone’s Akira’s hairstyle while expecting them to remain somewhat presentable. So I’m choosing the Japanese Akira because the Korean one’s face pissed me off.
Don’t lie, it pissed you off too.
I was initially pretty upset with Soujiro’s hairstyle in Hana Yori Dango 2, however after watching the anime, I understand that they just wanted him to look like the original one.
All in all, I like the casting better for the Japanese one however, I like how the Korean one attempted to stay true to the events that occurred in the manga/anime. Aside from Jan Di becoming a doctor, Jun Pyo being afraid of insects and swimming, Ji Hoo being afraid of driving and Korean Soujiro making pottery instead of tea. You know what SCREW IT! The Korean one butchered it up too, and maybe even more..
Let’s not forget that no one in the Korean Drama looked like they were actually still students
You can’t just get a whole bunch of old farts to play High School students! That’s just not how it works!
All in all, the Japanese Drama wins!
I’m tired now.
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Good day.
I’m here today to review the fourth instalment of J.K. Rowling’s book series: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.
Now if you’re wondering why I’m skipping the first three and jumping straight into the fourth one, it is obviously due to the fact that I’m a rather spontaneous person and therefore it is only natural for me to execute things in a rather spontaneous manner. Henceforth, we shall be jumping straight into the Goblet of Fire.
Only joking, see I’m a forgetful person. I forget things…very easily. And so as to avoid me forgetting certain events in the fourth book, I shall be reviewing it straight away while it is still imprinted in my head. ( I have recently finished reading the fourth book and am now reading The Order of the Phoenix.) However, do not fret, I shall also be reviewing the first three books. All in good time, my friend.
[There will be spoilers- as always]
This is the fourth book. Where things start to get serious. Voldemort’s back. He kills Cedric for pete’s sake!
So it’s not surprising that the books start to get longer from here on out. It took me quite a while to break through this one, considering that the longest it took me to finish the first three equates to less than a week. But I did it and it was awesome.
I’m going to keep repeating this because it’s absolutely true. It doesn’t matter that I’ve watched all of the Harry Potter movies, maybe more than once, because the movies tend to miss all of those tiny details that really ties this whole series together. Therefore, even though I am fully aware of the major events that take place in each of the instalments, everything still seems completely new and wonderful to me.
For example, we really get to see all of those little hints of Ron’s jealousy- not just at the Yule Ball. He’s ALWAYS jealous. Always. It’s adorable and hilarious. Something else that I thoroughly enjoyed were the elves. They talk so much about the elves that serve at Hogwarts. It’s incredible. In addition to that, we are blessed with Dobby’s presence once again. I absolutely love Dobby, I think that he is the most loyal friend anyone could ever ask for.
Speaking of Dobby, did you know that it was him that helped Harry Potter complete the second task with the Gilly Weed? Not Neville? I don’t know how they could’ve missed out on something so completely crucial as that! And since we’re on the whole comparing stage, it was Fred that came to get Ron and Hermione before the second task, not Mad-Eye Moody the imposter. It’s crazy how directors can just change details like that. (Not to mention, James Phelps could’ve received more screen time if they hadn’t done what they did.)
Now onto much more pressing matters- Sirius.
I loved him even more in this book- is that possible? Sirius was … simply adorable. And his love for Harry as his godson is beautiful. He survived off of rats and rodents just for Harry. If that is no love, I don’t know what love is. Plus I loved that Sirius instructed the trio to refer to him as ‘Snuffles’. Because honestly, how adorable is it that he’s a fully grown man that suffered through all kinds of terrors for his loved ones and yet, after contemplating over a secret code name for god-knows-how long, he finally decides of ‘Snuffles’. It’s brilliant!
Since we’re on the subject of adorableness (not a word), Viktor Krum.
Now, don’t get me wrong, I do not at all even consider Viktor as a possible love interest for Hermione Granger. (For one, his English is deplorable and it’s not as if Hermione is capable of conversing in any other language other than English. So there’s our first problem right there.) Plus, they have nothing in common other than Viktor’s primal instincts being conveyed via staring at Hermione while she’s studying.
However, his humungous crush on her is slightly adorable slash hilarious slash slightly awkward.
Exhibit A- Viktor Krum displays his affection towards her by inviting her over during the summer and declares his that she is the only girl that has ever made him feel this way before. Now that line, although cliche, can never really get old. When said by the right person, it is completely timeless. (Not saying that Viktor is the right guy for Hermione.)
Now, onto different matters.
Snape is a vile man. He is completely spiteful and pathetic. I have never liked him one bit! And my feelings of hatred towards this character has only increased as I’ve progressed through the books. He’s a horrible man. His constant need to pick on the trios is absolutely insufferable. It’s pathetic! How old is this guy anyway? Who the heck decided that his level maturity even met with the requirements for this position as a professor?
Example. In the Goblet of Fire, there is a scene where Malfoy and Harry get into a little fight. Harry casts a charm that accidentally hits Goyle instead of Malfoy. And same goes for Malfoy, his charm ends up hitting Hermione- enlarging her teeth. When Snape arrives, Malfoy tells on Harry. SHOCKER. However, when Harry tries to justify his actions by explaining that Malfoy enlarged Hermione’s teeth to a rather painful size, Snape just states that he thinks that Hermione’s teeth look completely normal to him and that Hermione normally looks like that anyway.
Don’t you just want to knock the guy out?
Who cares if he was bullied when he was younger? Serves him right for being such a spiteful person anyway. How does him bullying children that are less than half his age justify anything? It’s pathetic.
And for all those people that despise people like me who do not show any ounce of pity for the man, let’s see how you would feel if the man bullied you- by being a pathetic little snake.
He was selfish man that couldn’t stand that he wasn’t enough of a man for Lily. There’s a reason why he was placed into the Slytherin house. He is spiteful.
Well, I feel that I definitely liked the book more than the movie. It’s just a lot more lovable. With more detail on Sirius, Dobby and everything else.
Honest Linn 