The End of Summer / Natsu no Owari

A year ago, I had to chose between The Apology King and Natsu no Owari during the Japanese Film Festival and I regretted choosing The Apology King. After a long wait, I finally got to watch this Mitsushima Hikari and Kobayashi Kaoru movie.

Mitsushima Hikari plays the mistress of a writer played by Kobayashi Kaoru. Ayano Go is her ex-lover and that's pretty much the plot of the movie cause there is not plot. Its basically a very, very slow movie that indulges in the misery of the characters and their dissatisfaction with their situations.

To be honest, I got pretty restless after the halfway mark. I can see the mistress is not happy but can't leave. Ayano Go's character playing the lover to the mistress is even more miserable but its nothing I've never seen before.

I kept watching in the faint hope that there is some sort of revelation that will turn this story around and make it work. Alas, Natsu no Owari is a study of a mistress trying to free herself from a life that bores her and unfortunately I was dragged into that boredom as well.

The acting was good, movie looks great but I think Mitsushima Hikari was terribly miscast as she looks way too young for the role. I won't call it crap but its not watchable either. The way I would recommend this movie is if you have trouble falling asleep. If you want a great movie about misery, watch The Ravine of Goodbye.

EIYUU DENSETSU: SEN NO KISEKI II

Finally got it today. It arrived in Australia on Thursday and I was supposed to get it on Friday but Australia Post did the fake 'attempted delivery' on Friday. I hate it when they bullshit fake delivery. I'd rather see a 'we're too busy to deliver today but you'll get it tomorrow' when tracking a parcel. I did not pay $20 for delivery to take a week. At least I got to finish Ryu ga Gotoku 1 HD over the weekend I guess.

Surprise, surprise, it came with an instruction manual, albeit a thin one! I hate opening a game case only to find it empty except for the game. The best way to combat piracy is to give people incentive to buy originals, not rip fans off with overpriced special editions. I miss the old thick, instruction manuals with lots of information and artwork.

Its time to kill that bloody traitor but knowing Falcom and anime RPGs in general, there's gonna be a lot of stupid arguments.