23 August 2024

My proper trip to Korea. Day 1

23rd of August. 

15:43, Donghae station 
KTX espreess to Seoul looks very modern and even has both USB and wireless charging box. 

18:46, outside Jonggak station
I am greeted by high rise buildings of Jongno and a beautiful sunset. Big city vibes feel nice. 

20:49, restaurant
Korean dish sizes are... impressive.

22:03
The moon is big today. Why cannot cameras capture the true size of it?

18 December 2023

IMHO. "Joou no kyoushitsu" ~ school days

Force the children to deal with a manipulating, ill-treating teacher, and they immediately develop a Stockholm syndrome!
Give them a cruel commander, and they become a perfect army, full of camaraderie and eagerness to be punished!

Despite what the main character was saying, the "queen"'s attempt to provoke the children was rather unsophisticated. To make them choose the right side you need to show them both, not only the worst one. In fact, the happy end where the children solved their problems and the class became united is rather a miracle than a logical consequence of such treatment. Good for those kids in the drama, but real kids don't cope with bullying on their own, don't become inspired if the see no inspiration, don't build a safe world if they're not brought up in one. And even if Kazumi's mother says her daughter is more adult than she thought, it doesn't make her adult.


Better look out not to become 'another brick in the wall'.

If you want a story about a nonconforming teacher who changed the entire class, go watch Great Teacher Onizuka.

04 December 2023

'Good omens' ~ rest in piece

It's clever. It's so clever. Now anyone who says anything against the 2nd season can be instantly blamed as homophobic and ostracized.

However, reducing the discussion to this level is not only an offence to me, because it would mean I can see no further than this, but also a pretty unflattering signal that those who do it cannot see past this fence too. I'm sure the show was supposed to be more beautiful than this. It was supposed to be art.

I could write more, but looks like other people have said enough already, even making the same comparisons and using the same terms I would. So I'll say nothing more.

There are times when words are not necessary.


31 August 2023

IMHO. Hikaru Utada ~ could she keep a secret...

https://youtu.be/pKbPKxlh3Yo?si=N24rOicg6eTMcD_y

There should be a limit to how bad a person can sing when he or she is aiming to be a professional artist. False notes, no vocal control, same plaintive melodies only occasionally rescued by unusual approaches of, I assume, different composers. However the most impressive fact for me is that she didn't learn it even after all these years.

29 August 2023

'Star Driver' ~ Galactic Pretty Boy

We've already established that the Earth is best saved by Japanese schoolchildren, even if, or rather, especially if they need to pilot gigantic robots brought to Earth by another civilisation and equipped with weapons of mass destruction.

It's also clear that galactic problems are nothing in comparison with the problems people experience in their youth, such as love, friendship, school club activities, applying sunscreen on gilrs' backs...

Actually, the more girls - the better. Let's have more of them introduced in the middle of the story even if nobody saw it coming.

If singing voice actors are engaged, much attention is paid to theme songs, with the characters singing everywhere possible, including not only karaoke, but also beaches, school corridors, bus tops, and who cares where else. My personal suggenstion would be, however, not to make 3 out of 4 important songs just happy cute pop hits, so that you don't have to use the remaining one as your only option to add drama when necessary. My personal wish - start searching for decent opening and ending songs, or the art of anime music will be lost.

The final battle will easily fit one episode, with the decisive fight taking no more than 3 to 5 minutes, depending on the remaining budget. Why not turn on theme songs here again.

And at least one furry animal to accompany the story, remember.

There is something new established by 'Star Driver', though. Seems like you can be a Galactic Pretty Boy even if you're a girl. We live in the modern age, no discrimination, okay?

At least they didn't forget about the humour, that I do admit.

23 July 2023

'Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency' TV series ~ I remain quite firm on the signage

'Wait, so there's basically no relation to the original left?', asked sponsors.

'But I remain quite firm on the signage', answered the director.

Nobody asked me, but I'd give this show and this character an absolutely different name. The main character could be just a disciple of the holistic crime-solving method with no damage to the story.

Actually, it would have been even better, with all these shiny characters of the TV series.

Time loops, explanations given only in the last episode, an englishman in New York, and even ridiculousness blended into violent reality - we've seen it. What makes this show watchable are the characters. Well, watchable until the crew gets carried away with their own holistic approach to filming in season 2.

Probably good that they stopped this holism before it went the wrong way, and I even doubt Adams would approve. However, if we forget about the book, it's a nice take on




19 October 2022

IMHO. 'The Pursuit of Love' ~ seems like love is more elusive than you'd think

One of the two main characters is a whimsical woman who spends her life sincerely searching for love and meaning, and just as sincerely displaying remorse after realising she did not succeed. Time and time again.

The other is a prudent woman who spends her life envying the other, while at the same time disapproving of her, but forgiving her as soon as she shows up. Time and time again.

Their friendship that's described to be so lofty and survive all that happens to them is nothing else but mutual realisation they don't have anyone else. And even though they repeat so many times they love to chat, I can't imagine a single topic they could discuss.

And now that I've managed to write whole 3 paragraphs describing them I'm actually surprised that I squeezed so much out of myself because there's so little I could say. Every other character could be easily described with just one or two words. Only lonely Andrew Scott managed to breathe some life into his character despite how little time he has on screen.

So it puzzles me just where exactly you saw any friendship, any women's point of view, or, to start with, any love in this 'Pursuit of love'.



associations. cosmos...

After all, synesthesia may be not that strange and rare. I mean, space-themed things are so frequently accompanied by something like this

or this


or...



17 September 2022

"Автостопом по галактике" - если хочется момнухнуть

Где-то слева от этой книги - "Алиса в стране чудес", справа - "Космический денди", внутри - забористая клюква, озеро из джина с тоником, а то и тот самый "пангалактический грызлодер". В общем, да? Да. Но осторожно. 

08 September 2022

associations. 'Human life' by Naomi Tamura and 'Treat or Goblins' by Megumi Hayashibara

I don't know why but sometimes I have this feeling that two songs have similar aura, even though they may be completely different objectively