My general thoughts on movies, dramas, anime, RPG games, and music from East Asia.(Japan, South Korea, and China.(Taiwan, Hong Kong, mainland China)
Please note that this blog is not a review blog nor do I clam to be a professional. I just like talking about East Asian pop culture. My opinions are my opinions good or bad. It's no hard feelings. Feel free to comment your thoughts as well.
Youtube/Twitter/Instagram @Rico is 에리코(Erico)
Aesop's Game is the second film directed by Shinichiro Ueda(One Cut For The Dead) who made a surprising splash with his first film that did better than expectations in Japan over time. He soon became an indie director to look out for. The film stars Ruka Ishikawa, Hiroe Igeta, and Guama.
Two girls have interest in the new teacher that takes over their class. One girl is very quiet and the other is super outgoing in voicing her opinions. Their normal days seem to go on undisturbed only losing focus for a family game show…….
This film has two parts. Aesop's Game begins normal enough. Japanese movies always have some dilemma where two girls have an interest in the same guy. These guys always seem to be a teacher or a guy that's out of reach for the girl…. Well, not out of reach. It's just that the relationship would seem inappropriate. You see both girls's everyday lives. One is show more than the other for specific reasons explained later. I could see people finding the beginning of Aesop's Game coming across as kinda boring depending on where your head is but notice that not much information is given about this film online….. There's a good reason why: spoilers. Don't worry. I won't mess up the experience by giving spoilers in my post. I mean - never will I do something like that. What can be said is that both parts are vastly different from each other. The twist isn't one that will set Aseop's Game apart from other mystery thrillers, however, the way the story is executed causes a fun time. Viewers might even feel like they are watching two different films. All this happens in an hour and some minutes too.
I enjoyed all the performances enough to say they all were good at uplifting the script. None was outstandingly award worthy though. There's a certain wackiness in the acting that got on my nerves at times because the comedy felt out of place. Japan tends to have a weird sense of humor. Not much can be said without giving away the story so I'll keep my mouth closed.
Aesop's Game falls in the middle where the film is good enough but not impressive in my opinion. You can clearly tell this is more of a an indie film and it's as good as an high production effort would be. I'm just not rushing to watch Aesop's Game again anytime soon.
Judgement(AKA Judge Eyes) is a 2018 Playstation 4 video game developed by Ryu Ga Gotoku studio and published by SEGA. The game is a spin off to Yakuza series that's well known in Japan and has an adult fanbase in the west. After the initial release in Japan, Judgement was pulled from shelves because one of the voice actors was arrested for possession of Cocaine. If you didn't know, all character models in the game are modeled after real actors in Japan. His part in the game was soon removed from Judgement as well as a a yet to be released Kingdom Hearts III. Judgement gained from the scandal though since sales for the game shot up after the news broke. Judgement would soon go on to win awards for storyline and gameplay. Ryu Ga Gotoku is considering a second game due to the game's success worldwide.
A lawyer must live with the regret of helping a man go free who then killed his girlfriend in cold blood and set her house one fire. A year latter, he lives as a private detective by night in Kamurocho just trying to make ends meet. Little does he know that this city holds more dark secrets than just the workings of Yakuza gangs as murders began to happen where the victims have their eyes gouged out. People refer to this case as the Mole killings……
It's extremely hard to not compare Judgement to Yakuza considering they are both set in the same universe. People who only want to play Judgment and not the Yakuza series are welcomed to. The two games(series of games) don't connect in anyway outside of location, then maybe the mention of the Tojo clan.(Yakuza gang) Playing at least one Yakuza game before Judgement will give you more of an appreciation for the plot. Yakuza as a series shows the development that Kamurocho under goes throughout the years where you get to see the city survive economic change on top of other factors. Seeing what the city looks like in Judgement was sort of a treat as you walk along the city streets remembering events that happened in the Yakuza games. I've only played three Yakuza games but I know enough to feel proud at how far Kamurocho has come. Some things never change when it comes to the Yakuza. Our hero Takayuki Yagami or just Yagami finds himself partnering with a excommunicated Yakuza and running into the ruff men more than I would have liked. Story events have you meeting a lot of different characters who are mostly people from the judicial system or gang bangers. One thing that brings the story alive is the characters who all add a piece to the puzzle. Many mechanics features in gameplay are exclusively for this game. Players have the ability to investigate areas and people in active mode, use a drone to spy on people, take on side cases, build friendships, etc. What you need to focus on the most while transversing the city is making friends with the locals and earning money whatever way you can. There's a lot to do outside of these two things that's also featured in the Yakuza games(excluding certain in city games) however, you can come back to them after you finish the game if you're a completion perfectionist. Battle controls are taken from the Yakuza 0 game where you can switch between two battle fight styles. Which one you choose will depend on your enemy(s) you face. Make sure you upgrade your skills across the board frequently so latter on in the game you will be super powered up to the point that your battle style won't matter so much. In order to do this you need SP which you receive after you make correct choices during interrogations or from just completing tasks in the story. Healing yourself constantly is VERY important as well. Judgement has damage called mortal wounds that effect Yagami if he's hit by a bullet or a boss's special EX move. The only way to cure these wounds is to have medical kits on hand. MAKE SURE TO ALWAYS HAVE MEDICAL KITS ON HAND BEFORE PROCEEDING IN THE STORY! Otherwise you will be in for hell unless you're really good at dodging/running the fuck away. Learn to be quick to react while fighting because pressing the correct button on time makes a difference in special moves you preform. Bouncing off walls gets real precise out here folks! I do agree with the reviews saying that certain game elements are too easy. Chasing people isn't really a challenge. You can literally bump into a bunch of people and still catch up to the person you're chasing. I've only had difficulty on some chases that didn't have anything to do with the main story. Investigating in active mode was a bit harder if you don't have keen eyes- at least for me. Picking locks took me a bit to get used to but I got the hang of it though. My honest opinion after looking at all the qualities Judgement has to offer it that I don't think that Yakuza and Judgement are better than each other. They both exist to compliment each other instead. Judgement made improvements on some issues that were frustrating in a few Yakuza games similar to a futuristic version of what already was. Nothing more nothing less.
I decided to play Judgement using the English voice acting since Yakuza has always used only Japanese voice acting. My experience wasn't disappointing for the most part. There was few choices that made me scratch my head really hard. A stereotypical Chinese accent used as a character voice made my ears perk up twice. A stereotypical gangster voice that you could hear was clearly performed by a black person recorded for a gang leader. "THIS IS YAGAMI" being said at random during non voice acted section of conversations like he's answering the cellphone. These exampled bothered me the most, though it wasn't deal breakers that affected the overall brilliant storytelling. The main English cast actually did a damn good job on keeping the same strong emotion that the Japanese voice actors have. Also a big plus is that the English cast actually had Asian voice actors. Alexandros provides two theme songs for the game. Both taken from their latest album: Sleepless in Brooklyn(They recorded Judgement's opening theme on the rooftop of a New York Studio.) and I'm really not mad at that.
Judgement is a good game that will hook you like the characters are hooked on the never sleeping life in Kamurocho. I felt a sad happiness when the game's credits started to roll down my television screen. Another group of game characters that made me feel a connection….GONE…. Man, let's pray a sequel gets made.
WARNING: BELOW IS A VIDEO OF GAMEPLAY THAT MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS. CAUTION IS ADVISED.
Better Days was directed Derek Tsang who is mostly known internationally for his 2016 film titled Soul Mate. The script was based off a popular novel called In His Youth, In Her Beauty written originally by Jiu Yuexi. Lan Wing Sum along with many others rewrite the story for film and it's release would go on to be very successful, grossing over a 100 million yuan in China alone. Main actor and actress, Zhou Dongyu(Soul Mate) and Jackson Yee(From Boyband FTBoys) were recognized strongly for their performances at award shows during 2019. Who would have thought that this film had so many problems being released because of the film's subject matter? China's censors kept the film in the vault so long that I didn't think it would ever see the light of day. Remember what they did to the BL web drama Addicted when the viewer ratings got too high… The Chinese government claimed the film would cause a negative reaction for students during exam season before deciding to release the film latter. Better days also stars Fang Yin, Wu Yue, and, Huang Jue.
Better Days was a film I really wanted to watch after I saw the trailer be shown while I was watching another film. The tailer looked like a film that would show characters going through a lot of pain before the make it out toward something positive. I ended up waiting months to hear any news about the film cause of all the problems surrounding it's release. Then I found out the the same Director who worked on Soul Mate directed this film and I knew I was in for a treat. Better Days is a film that presents itself as a film tackling topics about bullying. Going by what Soul Mate turned out to be, You have an idea that Derek's projects don't ever just have on layer to peel off but several that lead to a main core topic. Bullying is defiantly at the center of Better Days, however, you also see the characters deal with other problems dealing with society. Events that come to happen as you watch makes it painfully apparent that a lot that starts the fire behind bullying or suicide has to do with society pressure to be on the beaten path. If you don't find yourself on this path, you are considered a failure: a person even lower than trash on the street. So you see two characters deal with the cards that they are dealt. That's the life they are given. They are taught that the only way out is to get into a good school and move away from the slum's walls from which they were born. A quote from Better Days is "Be the Bully or get Bullied". What's sad is that the characters automatically think they have to choose one. There's no in between. I related to this film's situations as a black man because if you come from poverty as a minority, you absolutely understand where this mindset comes from. Black people tend to have the same mentality in the black community. We have been taught this mindset that screams only one can be in the spot that will take you up. Many of us who live in or have come from poverty don't realize that there's room for everyone at the top. Living in a place where everything seems hopeless will do that to a person. Better Days goes into this topic hard hitting like a sling shot. Every instance you see is very realistic raw portrayal that's just real life. One genre isn't big enough to hold Better Day's story. Things start off as a drama then heads into a dark thriller which was welcomed nicely thanks to the consistent anguished tone throughout the film. If you're looking for a film that will super coat romance for you to the point of causing cavities, then Better Days isn't for you. All problems are handled with solid solutions but I would be lying if I said the process wasn't shaky- all most heartbreakingly so. Still, I would without a doubt place Better Days on the list of Best Chinese Films from 2019. Zhang Yimou's Shadow is on there somewhere too….
Jackson Yee and Zhou's performances make you want to go give both of them a hug. There were many times during the film where I want to reach my arms through the screen and take both of them in my arms. Both character's suffering is endless. Then when they do find momentary happiness, that's ripped out from under them cause of outside forces. Characters like these are hard to act out if you don't have the talent. conveying internal emotional pain to viewers without being over the top takes skill. I was surprised when I watched the behind the scenes that shows both leads having doubts about their performances. You would never know after watching how well both of them stumble along in a world that puts a value on their worth since they come from the ghetto. I really have to eknowledge to whole cast for seeming as human as possible. The performances made me feel sadness, frustration, hatred, etc. Fang Yin's character was like a reflection of an adult who survived through bullying that never threw away the emotional baggage. I've only felt so strongly about a cast a few times in my film experiences. Better Days was one of those times.
Certain mental notes I made about the shots while I was watching was the usage of unconventional filming methods. Most was little things to invoke emotion. For example, a close up shot of a twisted foot leaning to the side as a chapter sits in a hospital waiting room. A super shaky camera shot shown before cutting to a scene of the leads riding on a motorbike. Even the constant close up face shots that have the viewer staring onto the eyes for each character as they talk. These little things are sentimental triggers that would not be possible without the great performances and the perfect shots.
Better Days is a film that the realists will enjoy. This story isn't here to make you feel good. Instead the director wants to open your eyes to a important subject matter using brute emotional force.
Milet is a singer that is said to have origins in Canada and Japan. I honestly just found out that she had lived in Canada which makes sense as to why her English pronunciation is so good. We not talking about in a stereotypical way either. She sounds very clear singing in English and the only other person who has done this is Taka(ONE OK ROCK) or maybe Anna Tsuchiya off the top of my head if we taking about Japan born vocalists. Milet has been on the move since last year, releasing songs that were used in a Japanese drama, an Animated film, and Anime. Her best selling single is Prover from the anime Fate. Thanks to the high anticipation of Milet's debut album,(I mean they made a whole bunch of Music Videos) Eyes debuted at the top of the Oricon Charts. She's the first female singer to do so in a long time with her debut album.
01 – Again and Again (eyes mix) 02 – Parachute 03 – 航海前夜 04 – Somebody 05 – inside you 06 – Drown 07 – You & I 08 – Grab the air 09 – STAY 10 – Dome 11 – Tell me 12 – Wonderland 13 – us 14 – Prover 15 – Until I Die 16 – Without Your Love 17 – Fire Arrow 18 – The Love We’ve Made
Eyes has a whole lot of qualities working in it's favor. One thing is that a whole line of famous artists got together to work production for the compilation of songs. Take from One OK Rock jumped on the project and his name alone is enough to get people listening. Also, Toru plays guitar in The Love We Made. She's given a free easy path to shine. Does she take what she's given? Oh yeah. Eyes is one of the best produced albums of 2020. Each song is a tribute to where dance Jpop is going in the future but she album jumps into an alternative acoustic space, created by the likes of other artists such as Aimer. Milet takes a evolving genre in her hands to shape something new. There's a lot of dance tracks on Eyes that sound close to Pop tracks done by an artist outside Japan. Then tracks present a slow down side where a dark emotion presents itself in the music. Lyrically Milet is normally very emotional or love struck. Nothing to see in between that. My favorite moments on Eyes are some of the singles released prior such as Inside you, Fire Arrow(A single B-side that I didn't think would get so much love.), Drown, etc. Inside you could be considered the most experimental track on Eyes. The track takes you on a journey containing different layers, from piano ballad to build up on a band playing loudly during the chorus mind way through the song. Some instrumentation hits perfectly at the right time to give Inside you a powerful punch. That trap hip hop beat during the ending bridge was a nice touch too. It feels misplaced, yet unique. Wonderland was another single that songs so pretty instrumentation wise. I wasn't a big fan when I first heard Wonderland because it was a track so far away from where I wanted Milet to go musically, However, the sorrowing violent gives a youthful ability to imagine whatever you want. Hence the film the track is attracted to. A few moments on Eyes weren't to my tastes. These were far too little for me to overall dislike the album though. Surgery pop songs are a good mainstream strategy that isn't always something a latch on to. Grab The Air was the only exception to the rule cause I liked the catchy chorus and the pop rock dance pop mixture.
Milet's wining quality is defiantly her vocals. I'm glad that Japan is finding more unique sounding singers to bring out. Kpop listeners used to either get the super high pitched idol or the high pitched every other group to choose from unless you liked Utada, Namie, Koda Kumi Etc. Milet sounds like no other female singer in Japan right now on top of having a superstar producer team behind her. What's more to ask for? The deepness in her voice is pure gold. She can get far up in her range too. Her range seems most comfortable starting in a lower register before sliding to a higher range. Some moments on the album really show that this girl got pipes. Listen to the vocal notes toward the end of Grab The Air.
I'm excited to see Milet evolve into a more seasoned artist in the future. Normally when Taka gives his seal of approval, that artist goes on to do big things. Just look at Aimer.
Promare is a anime film created by studios Trigger and XFLAG that was released in Japanese theaters in 2019. Hiroyuki Imaishi directed the screenplay while Kazuki Nakashima wrote the story which released in the film debuting in the top ten in the box-office but soon slid down a couple places. Many reactions for the film were positive from most people. Singer Superfly sang the theme song as well as long time actor Kenichi Matsuyama voicing the main character(Billy Kametz did the English dub.)
A young guy fights in his team of firefighters to rid the world of fires brought on by The Great World Blaze where certain people were granted powers called Pyrokinetic. Society gave these people the name Burnish and deemed them dangerous to mankind. Even thought they're still humans.
I watched this film knowing absolutely nothing about the plot or the studio that was the creator. What can be said about the viewing experience after I finished the film was one of agreement with all the reviews I saw before I popped the disc in. Promare was nothing less than an epic viewing brought on by the world created from deep storying telling that doesn't try too be so "important". I could see Promare fitting perfectly in a time slot on a Cartoon Network segment. All the antics in the plot such as visuals and character development go together well with a youthful energy where you balance silliness on one side then an important issue on the other. There's a lot of comedy in this film that pops up through a hole like a whack a mole you can hit. It's a feel that pops up at the most random times in the film but nothing really gets derailed which adds up to classic story telling. The deep part of the story talks about everyone being human no matter the circumstance. Issues arise though when not all people see burnish as nothing more than a problem needing to be erased. Two main characters have big development in their change different mindsets as they clash in battle. Some low key Boy Love vibes are sprinkled in there throughout too. I'm sure not complaining. Music is never a aspect that I discuss in films. Premiere kinda makes you pay attention to the soundtracks since most of the event signaling has to do with music. I enjoyed Promare far more than I expected to because it's a film that got me to find interest in things that I would avoid in other japanese anime films. Only a handful of films have done that in my lifetime.
Promare's world is breathtaking. Hiroyuki does what he knows best, creating sights blurring computer generated graphics and traditionally drawn anime. Elements of both come together to balance out the visuals in bright water colors. Cities, ships, and fighting rob arm all had a video game look that moves at a fast pace, all the while not lowering in quality. Character Drawings start to borderline look over stressed to express the emotions coming out, however, this still wasn't a challenge for Hiroyuki's vision. He meshes all components creating one of the best worlds to be presented in an anime in recent years.
I'm a guy that was never a scientific anime fan so loving Promare like I did surprised the hell out of me. Don't ask me to watch Gundam cause I'll refuse straight away. Promare is a film where you don't have to think too hard and can relax. You might want to talk about the film with a friend because of the epic overload though.
Many of you know about the recent events that have been occurring in the world. America is dealing with the fact that the country has to look in the face of the blatant racism and discrimination that formatted their home. Worldwide citizens also still have to deal with protesting while protecting themselves from coronavirus. Hong Kong people were protesting before the virus outbreak and still continue to do so. We all must learn of to put the pieces back together containing the life the we know for better or worst. I still wanted to write a post because I almost decided not to write one for this week but I changed my mind after listening to Vicky Chen's album called I Am Who I Am. The songstress was found through the internet singing covers and her own original music. I've seen single after single from her for a while, so I wondered when her album would drop. She's kinda of associated with the rapper OSN, who I also really like musically.
01.Am I Who I Am 02.煙幕 03.Treasure 04.Just You and Me 05.If You're Really Gonna Leave Me 06.時間的輪 07.炙愛(女聲版) 08.Hands Up 09.社會敗類 10.入土之前 11.生活 12.Nobody Ever Wonders 13.猜 14.Baby 15.Just You and Me (Unplugged)
I Am Who I Am gives listeners a heavy douse of what Vicky Chen can do if she's given the chance to create more albums in the future. What comes from the songs is a feeling similar to releasing stress away from her own problems along each track. Fans who wanted more than a few tracks to listen to got it coming at them full speed. Sadly though, there's many female singers in Taiwan that sing at a high pitch and play the guitar. The one thing that sticks out about Vicky to me is the burning desire to create music that comes from a genuine place but also makes an impact on those who listen. While her sound is nothing new if you listen to Alternative Pop, Much presented on I Am Who I Am proves that this woman knows good material that plays to her strengths. The album opens to a strong track who's title is taken from the album's name then only grows fiercer until the middle of her debut effort. Even some of the love songs that weren't always my taste stuck to my ears. Previous released singles fit into the album well, though, I couldn't help but feel that none of the tracks top her singles such as, Just You and Me, Nobody Ever Wonders, etc. Hands Up and Treasure come close but don't quite make the same solid impact on me. Sounds in production are manly acoustic mixed together with a full on electric guitar band. This fell a little short too. None of the track venture into a rock category like I was hoping for. I Am Who I Am instead chooses to stay relatively safe. Well…. minus all the "Fucks" she sings which I kinda love low key.
Chen has that sense in here voice that sounds like she's sang at a lot of live shows. Her voice is bendable so she likes to play with her vocal runs. Sometimes a bit too much…. I'll let her do her though.The higher part of her range is pretty and used a lot. East Asian listeners love this sound from their artists though. At least her lower register sounds equally as good in my opinion.
I Am Who I Am was a satisfactory album that will bring her new fans. I'm really loving her new image that was brought out to help promote first album. I'll be looking forward to what she does next.
