Reviews

Ending and overall

So the drama itself was very interesting as we first thought that the FL time travelled from 2025 to 2015 (or something close). The first few episodes were very confusing as we didn't know if the FL was in a parallel universe or not?, (but then moving on it made sense). Episode 7's tense of then the ML's mood suddenly changing towards the ML was very sudden and good but in a way it was too much.

Then moving on throughout the drama, I really hoped for more romance between the male and female leads as yk, the ML found out that the FL is actually the girl from his youth so I thought maybe alot more romance would build up.
The romance was there but not as the way where yk we would be behind our screens smiling ykk, but I do get it as this drama is based on life and fantasy.

Overall, the acting of the leads were very good though, like the crying scenes and ect by the Fl. I don't know why others are saying the ML's acting wasn't good, it was very good. Also its really cool how we found out it was just erased and editing memories and not time travelling. I would totally recommend this drama to those who love plot twists.

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Pulpy Comic Book fiction done right

While he left our beloved Shinji Higuchi to handle directing duties on Shin Ultraman, Anno focused his efforts on Shin Kamen Rider and it's very much cut from the same cloth as its predecessors. Fast, stylish, cartoony and oh-so-charming, it opens with action and never slows down, not even afraid to fully embrace the camp and horrific qualities of its source material.

I'll admit this is the tokusatsu property I am least familiar with (at the time of writing I've seen ZO, J, Shin Prologue and, more substantially, Den-O and Fuuto PI), but even to a more casual fan of the series, you can easily follow what is ultimately re-imaged episodes of the original show stitched together into a movie. I'm yet to watch the original but the number of side-by-sides I was seeing on Twitter after clips of it were leaked, shows that Anno really does take pride in his childhood influences.

Hyped stylised like the previous Shin movies, there's some very overbearing and pretty redundant CGI in places where practical effects would have been preferable and even cheaper, but it fits the same tone and energy of its predecessors. Anno's direction is great and features the same variety of angles and strange composition choices that make these so visually engaging. The hyper-choreographed fight scenes also help immensely, unafraid to go all the way to 11 with squishy violence.

With regular Anno collaborator Shirō Sagisu committed to Shin Ultraman, in steps Anime composer Taku Iwasaki and boy, does he do a stand-up job. I'm definitely gonna have to get the soundtrack to this the moment it's released, so many styles of music all coming together in a seamless blend of beauty.

While I ultimately feel that Shin Ultraman is the best of these Shin movies so far, Shin Kamen Rider is a very close second. Anno goes hell for leather here, amounting to a beautiful love letter to one of the grandfathers of Tokusatsu, having fun but not poking fun and fully embracing his inhuman worldview he's only ever touched upon in previous movies.

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This show was weird…

I dunno what to even say about this BL…
I started out pretty okay I liked the first 3/4 episodes then it started getting weird with the stalking, possessive and toxic relationship.
I wanted it to end so different I really disliked the ending, nothing happened not a lot changed..
I wanted them to become a sweet and happier couple after they understood each other better yet it never happened… I feel so weird about it after seeing the last episode…..
there was a few nice and sweet screen and a few ‘hot’ scenes but it wasn’t enough to make me love this drama… I get that japanese BL’s are a different breed as seen many but this was rather odd if i’m being honest.
I wanted to like it so bad but episode 8 was really weird and not good enough to be the ending it felt empty and uneventful.

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The original Kamen Rider Shin

What could have been a great deconstruction of the Kamen Rider franchise sadly falters due to its bare-bones plot, wonky writing and unlikable stock character archetypes. It's one of the only Kamen Rider productions to feature direct creative input from the original creator, Shotaro Ishinomori, the film takes a large amount of influence from the original manga run as well as Kamen Rider BLACK's manga.

The film was intended as a treat for more adult fans of Ishinomori's original works by Ishinomori himself but due to his death in 1998, the series planned to continue the story of this prologue never developed leaving Shin in a weird limbo of existence. The problems presented in this film could have easily been ironed out had it been given the chance but the final product is extremely stiff and somewhat bland compared to the likes of ZO which would release the next year.

I'll be honest, I like a lot of this film's production aspects, the music is frankly brilliant and it is that nice transitional period between the synth-heavy 80s and hard rock 90s; the gore and practical effects are simply top-notch with a seriously gnarly transformation sequence almost like it was ripped from a Cronenberg film with a design of the titular character being equally Cronenberg-esque.

Overall, the film is a curious example of when early 90's visceral science fiction met a classic Tokusatsu franchise. Still worth watching but with tempered expectations.

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Love a bit of Amemiya

Given that Shin Kamen Rider is coming out next year, I really needed to dive into another of the big three Tokusatsu shows and this was usually the one pointed to as one of the best entry points of the franchise, Kamen Rider ZO is another fantastic film by Keita Amemiya that I can check off my watchlist. ZO feels like the by-product of what would happen if you threw Sam Raimi and Shinya Tsukamoto into a blender together, it's kinetic filmmaking and highly disturbing design that would give even someone like Guillermo del Toro nightmares. Brilliantly shot, written, scored, staged and acted, this is one of the best 48-minute-long films I've ever seen and has me eager to explore more.

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The missing link

Legend of the Stars feels like that missing link between Heisei Godzilla and Heisei Gamera, striking an otherworldly and transcendental balance in re-imagining Ultra Q for a whole new generation and who better to helm it than the franchise's most unique voice, Akio Jissoji. Legend of the Stars could realistically be considered the 2001 of the tokusatsu genre, mainly because this movie is pretty much a metaphysical examination of existence in a similar vein to Kubrick's film, just way more dialogue-heavy. It doesn't always hold together but Jissoji's visualisation is greater than the sum of its shakey parts, his direction and camera work are constantly engaging and ever-shifting with no two shots being the same. Combining aspects of Japanese mythology and a sci-fi mystery, Legend of the Stars is very much worthy of your attention even if you haven't seen the original show, it just drags its feet towards the end as if struggling to fill time and you'll have to put up with some substandard DVD mastering if you want to see it, it's crying out for an HD release. Come on Tsuburaya! Do it!

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Sooo good!!

Oh wow!! I had a Great time with this series. It was delightful from episode 1 and maintained until the very last episode. That has been a rare feat in many of the c-dramas I've watched. And they didn't even managed to avoid the M/FL moving to another country for 1-3 years! Came close but they didn't go there and I love that. I adore the ML actor, Wang. Adore him! He acts with his eyes, face, and whole body. He embodies emotion and is so smooth in his acting. I want to watch everything he's been in. The other actors were also enjoyable.
I loved this series. I'm a sucker for sports romance dramas, enemies to lovers, ensemble casts, best friends etc, so this hit all my buttons. I am not a rewatch kind of person but for those who are, this is a strong rewatch able show in my opinion.

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short, realistic, cozy

cozy small town vibes with all the elements of life and characters that you would expect from such a place. depressing at times, hopeful at others. peace and messages of being content in life, however it is, at times, stories of human anguish and tragedy at others.

watched only for shin eun soo - great job and very multidimensional character for her. really loved FL's acting and character too. she fits perfectly with the realistic plain vibe of everyday life the drama wanted to portray.

although i wish they focused more on her mental health and personal healing too (more than just her helping others through theirs) because the girl did go through some trauma. from work pressure to breakip to losing her mom and then moving to a small town where she was unwelcome at first, seeing death and losing people again. taking care of bom and her bro. all this plot though understandable wasn't very concise or clear. what happened to bom's father in the end i wonder. an alcoholic would always be one was that the message, or should it have been a stress point against drinking work culture and peer pressure to do so in thr country.

good and content ending ig. wish we could have seen more of the ml and the lead couple together. by the end i felt like i haven't really seen him all that much?

their relationship - the initial awkwardness, interactions, mannerisms, shy smiles - all veryy wholesome and realistic.

ofcourse there is a murder solving our lead sherlock couples undertake haha along with some high speed running and chasing ?

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There is no limits for our dreams

No unwanted characters No silly misunderstandings
While seeing love scenes they handled really matured like character
Drama crew done the fantabulous job make it into 26 episodes
Finally we got pleasantful Love, family, comedy, sports & many genres combined story
Without expectation you will never get disappointed/
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Zone Fight Power!

While I do ultimately feel that Zone Fighter is nothing more than an attempt by Toho to cash in on Tsuburaya Production's territory, Zone Fighter eventually manages to do enough to stand out amongst the seemingly endless surplus of Ultra shows with its family of superhero's dynamic plus some memorable guest stars in the form of Godzilla and company.

The evil Garogas plan to take over Earth with their army of giant Terror-Beasts. They are opposed by the Zone Family, hailing from a planet called Peaceland that the Garogas destroyed. The family uses a variety of exotic vehicles and weapons. Still, their best defence against Garogas is their oldest child Hikaru, who is able to transform into the giant Zone Fighter.

The problem with Zone Fighter comes a lot from the tone, less so the production. It's a show that gets confused often as to what it wants to be. Some episodes are great, others border on unwatchable. It's a series Toho isn't especially proud of and director Jun Fukuda when asked about the show in interviews refused to even comment on its existence. Not really a good sign for the show in general.

The visual effects work stands up quite well for the most part with a multitude of different talents lending themselves to the series. Teruyoshi Nakano for 10 of the 26 episodes. Koichi Kawakita for 8. Yoshio Tabuchi for 6. Shinichi Kamisawa, who also wrote for the series, 2 episodes a piece. The direction is hit or miss, the ones directed by either Ishirō Honda or Jun Fukuda tend to be the more interesting ones and there are even two later episodes directed by Kōhei Oguri of House fame. So the show is hardly lacking in the visual department.

Further problems stem more from its writing and characters than anything else. At times juvenile and childish other times dark and sinister, the more childlike episodes stick out a lot more, it doesn't help one of the main characters is a child and his friends make frequent appearances with some godawful child acting to boot. Kazuya Aoyama, later appearing in Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla, as the titular Zone Fighter does pretty much carry the show for the most part alongside Shiro Amakusa even if his role is massively reduced to that of a mentor. The rest of the characters, especially the villains are very give or take.

The music by Go Misawa is fine overall, the main theme "Zone Fighter" and the insert song "Meteor Victory" however, are massive earworms that won't leave you alone no matter how hard you try to erase them. There's a large usage of horns and brass present throughout and it can get overwhelming at points.

What really got me interested was Zone Fighter's presence in the Shōwa era Godzilla timeline, taking place after vs. Megalon but before vs. Mechagodzilla. It features the likes of Godzilla himself, King Ghidorah making an appearance in two episodes duking it out with Zone Fighter and not Godzilla and ultimately remains the only monster to not be killed by either in the show and finally the final appearance of Shōwa era Gigan. What happens to Gigan in this is almost unacceptable in terms of how he's defeated by the villain's incompetence more than the abilities of Godzilla or Zone Fighter. My poor boy.

Zone Fighter is a very real oddity of Shōwa Godzilla. It doesn't utilise its unique selling point to its full potential, as the show always ensures that Hikaru remains front and centre as its main hero. As much as it would like to reassure you that Zone Angel and Zone Junior are a key part of the show, ultimately it's always Hikaru that saves the day whilst Angel and Junior are acting as support. It's a shame because the glimpses you see of these supporting characters taking centre stage show you exactly just how remarkable Zone Fighter could have been but it seems to have been destined to end on an unresolved cliffhanger which I imagine Toho have no intention of ending.

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So much hair

One of the better kaiju throwbacks I've seen in recent years, Geharha: The Dark and Long-Haired Monster owes a lot to the bigger name franchises containing a wealth of references and homages interspaced amidst its quirky camp. A short made-for-TV production by one of the more prolific modern Ultraman directors, Kiyotaka Taguchi, barely clocking in at 20 minutes in length, it's a fabulous little gem. The effects are a charming mix of old-school tokusatsu techniques and hilariously low-brow CGI which often add to the short's comedic value. While the stock library of music from the late Akira Ifukube fits quite nicely, Geharha is over just as it really starts to get going, leaving you wanting more and ripe for expansion in a feature-length presentation.

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