Orange - JMovie

Again movies about friendship just have something really ‘tear-jerky’ about them that make you take a second look at your life and those around you. In my recent venture into watching such movies I came across a Japanese movie that was brought to life from manga. After watching this movie I can see why it grew so much and became something that had to be shown in other forms of media.

Orange is a movie that somewhat caters to two of my current favorite genres as it covers a bit of sci-fi and romance and creates a curious story that is relatively simple in nature though it actually has a powerful impact in terms of message and feels. At least that is my humble opinion. The story follows Naho Takamiya who has received a strange letter that that seems to be from her future self. In the letter, it details various things that surprise and slightly scare poor Naho who isn’t sure what to do with it at first, but slowly begins to take it seriously as she realizes that in the letter are the regrets her future self has and wants her younger self to change, if possible.

Amongst those regrets Naho discovers that Kakeru Naruse is amongst the most present in all she wants to change and as she slowly begins to learn more about him and eventually, as the letter predicts, falls in love with him she decides to make sure she clears all the regrets around him. It is here she discovers that Kakeru has an ominous future that creates many regrets for her and her group of friends who venture to take Kakeru under their wing.

It is upon finding this out that Naho and the others strive to change Kakeru’s fate as they work to create various memories and experiences with him, in hopes that they can change the future that the letter predicts. However, things don’t always go smoothly as things seem determined to stay the same as predicted and the group of friends struggles to find various ways to stop it. Especially Naho who refuses to let Kakeru go as she realizes how much of a regret it is as it affects her after so many years later.

In the process we see as these teens work to change the mind of a troubled young man who hides his pain and tries to struggle forward without letting others see as he thinks he needs to do everything on his own. Seeing the change as he begins to rely and trust the friends he has pushed aside makes for quite an interesting change in psychology as you witness what a few little things and experiences can do to change one’s mindset and potentially stop them from making very stupid decisions.

I like that the story turned out to be one where active help was sought for a troubled and depressed mind that was growing wary and dejected. Sure it could be seen as a bias way of looking at things as we see things not from the troubled man’s point of view but instead from that of Naho who is effectively a random third party that only gets introduced into his life after things have gone south. Still I feel it’s a relevant point of view as it shows us that those afflicted with their troubles aren’t the only ones who suffer silently and greatly.

The actors did a great job portraying that characters and the mood of the film stayed light and altered accordingly as the story moved along giving you the appropriate idea of how things were meant to be felt and experienced.

Unforgettable / Pure Love - Kmovie

Friendship is an amazing thing. However there are not many people who are privileged enough to fully experience such things, or at least that is how they see things. Still stories about these kinds of ideal friendships make for very entertaining and heart-warming experiences that have you cheering and balling your eyes out all at the same time. It’s these types of stories that have graced my screen recently as I jumped into watching a few movies from both Korea and Japan.

The movie I’ll speak of is the definite tear-jerker movie from Korea that follows the story of a few teenage friends and their one summer experience that changed their lives and had echoing effects into their adulthood where the movie starts and slowing begins to reveal. The movie was named Unforgettable (internationally) but is also known as Pure Love and though it seemed like a romance from the poster and many hints throughout the movie, it turned out to be a movie about relationships and those people we never can forget who shape us and change us into who we are to become.

Starting in their future we see as Bum-Sil, a radio host begins his interesting show about talking on other’s lives and their memories and as he begins the most recent story, he unknowingly begins to talk about his own past. The movie then shifts focus to a few listeners who follow his retelling of the past and they just so happen to be the friends he speaks of, all who have moved on into different directions in their lives.

The moving story focuses around the group’s one friend who seems to be the anchor that keeps them together, Soo-Ok, a bright and happy girl with a limp that limits her movements greatly. We see how these friends still enjoy their youth and time together despite Soo-Ok’s disability and we experience the memories they make that summer, unaware of the ominous things to come.

It comes across as your average teen drama that even has a low-key love triangle that affects the lives of these young souls, while also showing us some carefree messing around that makes you want to join in on the group’s fun as you see their bonds form and grow. But like kdrama law demands things don’t stay all sunshine and roses as the group have a minor fallout due to misunderstanding and miscommunication and soon drift away from each other at a critical time for the innocent anchor of the group, who gets devastating news that takes her to the edge.

Before you know it reality slams into our teen’s lives and tragedy strikes, scarring the group for many years to come. Move forward many years later and we see our group crying as their friend tells the world of this friendship that suffered great loss in their youth. But low and behold closure comes in the form of a simple, old-school, tape. It’s this incident that has our group, though older, gather again as they reminisce and say their greetings in that old backwards village where they spent their summers so many years ago.

The story is very meaningful as it covers the dynamics of friendship and all the emotions that are associated with it. The experience of the group is very raw and brings home the reality that not all memories we hold consist of the sunny days and happy moments of our youth but also the sad and ugly things that just happen. But despite that we should treasure each moment and the people that are with us while we have the chance.

The acting was brilliant and the mood of the movie very subtle and real. I think it was a very good movie, especially if you love the stories about real relationships and how they pan out. I won’t lie though; it brings out your emotions as it has you crying at the unfortunate turn of events that occur to these innocent youths who just weren’t ready for what the world was to throw at them. But it’s very moving watching how they deal with it and how it changes them as it reminds you of your own life and youth.

Tokyo Ghoul - Anime

In the many anime that I have been watching recently I have noted a significant amount of them lacking in one thing that has had me quite irritated and that has been character development. Sure they had some decent story and/or surprise plot, maybe lots of fan service or even a bit of moe factor to keep one distracted for a time. But the juicy bits of the trial and tribulation that make up an individual’s character and make you feel for them, has just been lacking… or at least for me it has.

Until this happened…

Tokyo Ghoul blew me away with its first season of which I finished in a day. The struggle we watch the tragic protagonist, Kaneki, go through is rich with so many developing points that build his character and break it down at the same time that it’s hard not to get drawn into his world and mind as you follow his story.

It starts out almost mundane as you watch a seemingly background character get dragged into a dangerous situation that almost costs his life then it turns out that he happens to be the main guy. It’s an interesting twist.

From mundane to suddenly dragged into the strange, we watch as Kaneki is thrown into panic as he begins to realize he might not have survived his attack unscathed as he notices certain changes.

It’s exciting to see how he deals with everything mentally in a world that hates ghouls and here he is, being something in-between. The conflict is interesting, especially as he gets to know more and more ghouls and they turn out to be totally different to what the news makes them out to be.

Then you have that ending of the first season and the sudden transformation Kaneki is forced to undergo. All I can say is…omg.

Who the hell ends a series off like that!?

Anyway, Season 2 followed and I must say I became a little confused by a few things. I felt like I missed some pieces of information.

Character development slowed down in this season, so it wasn’t as good as the first. It was as if the first season built up to this and this was meant as the execution. Whether that execution worked is up for debate.

Personally, I think it was a good season 2. That being said I expect a season 3 to exist simply because I feel like season 2 didn’t explain too much, or show too much other than some pretty cool fighting and some feel moments.

Season 2 focused less on Kaneki as it spread out to other characters and storylines, but I feel like the overall plot wasn’t highlighted enough and if you didn’t read the manga, like me, you’d be a lost fish swimming in a big fish tank waiting to see some coral at some point only to be fed some flakes every now and then and then fished out of the tank suddenly.

But that ending though, I cried. 

It was a good anime to watch. I’m glad it found its way across my eyeballs and I will definitely hope for a season 3, though something tells me I shouldn’t hold my breath for that.

Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso - Anime

I’d like to think of myself as a rational human being. You know, one who knows real from imaginary, but recently I found myself bawling my eyes out as I watched an anime from start to finish in just over a day. It was as if rationality abandoned me and I powered through those episodes like a starved animal who has just been handed a juicy steak.

Watching Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso was an interesting experience as it deviated from all the action and harem anime I’ve been bombarded with lately but I have to admit it was a refreshing change. The anime hooked with both story and visual brilliance, not to mention amazing soundtrack, as it leads into a more real world tone with deep underlying messages and strong character building and without the usual fan service and magical battles here and there.

Though that’s not to say the show didn’t have its own type of magic in the way they delivered the score of classical music that forms part of the storyline.

The story follows a boy who is a genius at the piano but loses the ability to hear himself play, and a girl who is a violist who doesn’t care for convention but instead for the love and miracle that is music. It’s a simple story that has the two meeting under unusual circumstances only to grow close and help each other along the way and grow out of their certain circumstances.

It’s a beautifully written story that draws you in and captivates you with all the colour of its characters and their struggles. It’s been a long time since I’ve been so invested in an anime like this so I have to give props to the creator of such a brilliantly executed tale of romance, drama and mystery.

Following the struggle of the main character, who I’ll affectionately call Friend A, you see a variety of things from comedy to unrequited love and then heartbreak, all of which never gets boring even when the classical music aspect is brought in. But most of all you feel his sorrow and trust me you’ll cry with him, unless you’re a heartless human person.

Then you have the bright love interest that brings colour into our protagonist’s life and you get to experience some more comedy, maybe a few ‘WTF’ moments as you try to figure out the true nature of her relationship with Friend A and then there’s that amazing duet between out pianist and violinist that both moves your heart and breaks it.

However, it doesn’t end there as even our so-called side characters get some decent development as they grow throughout the anime and find themselves as well. This anime manages to break people and build them back up in a matter of a few episodes, showing more character development than some other anime have in whole seasons.

What’s surprising about this anime is you don’t need to be some classical obsessed nerd to love it, or at least that’s my opinion. You just have to want to see something good. That’s it.

So I’d say this is a pretty good anime to watch whenever you have time, and if you don’t have time – make time.