Words of Devotion

 !Warning! This is a Boys Love movie! Don't like the genre? Then just ignore it.

愛の言霊 (Ai no Kotodama; Words of Devotion) is a Japanese Boys Love movie that was released in 2008.

Story: Shinya Ootani and Miyako Tachibana have been best friends since high school and started living together about two years ago. Actually the two of them are a quite cute couple but one day Yuki, a friend from high school, shows up and Ootani starts feeling jealous and somehow insecure.
The movie shows the life of a gay couple and no one around them knows that they actually are a couple and not only close friends.

Cast: Yasuka Saito as Miyako Tachibana has acted in a few other boys love movies before so I think his acting in this field is pretty solid. It's not like I could really complain about it.

Hidenori Tokuyama is someone I haven't seen in any series so far and his acting itself as Shinya Ootani was okay but sometimes as a character trying to hide his jealousy he seemed too calm.
After all the chemistry between the two leads was good and their acting was nice to watch.


My personal rating of this movie is 6/10 though. The movie isn't bad but since I'd say it's rather about a couple's life (and it doesn't even matter if it's a gay or straight couple) with a nice ending but a not-so-deep plot. It's not that exciting though it is a sweet story finally not about how people start dating but their relationship itself.

L: Change the World

Lの本当の秘密 (L: Change the World) is a spin-off and the last movie to be released belonging to the Death Note-series. The movie was released in 2008.

Story: After Watari's death L receives a "gift" - that's actually pretty much alive. L gets to know that the child he received as a gift is the only survivor of an exterminated Thai village. Behind the exermination of the village is the last enemy, the "Death", a virus created by humans with no vaccine yet.
While taking care of the little boy another visitor drops in. A girl named Maki who's father has been working on biological weapons, to be more exact he created the virus himself. In order to stop terrorism he infected himself and destroyed the only vaccine he had created that far.
The terrorists appear looking for the virus and L puts everything on the line, trying to protect the children, stop the virus and solve his final case - while he has only 6 days left to live.

Cast: Basically the only character remaining in this series is L played by Kenichi Matsuyama as always. And what is obvious is, that after two years as L, he did a pretty amazing job in this one again. Even if I don't want to think like that, to me, L and Kenichi Matsuyama are basically the same person.
Youki Kudoh is in this series as basically the main antagonist - while the other members of the group are dangerous as well - her intelligence makes Dr. Kimiko Kujo even more dangerous.
Masanobu Takashima is the second antagonist as Daisuke Matobe who makes things a little more interesting. If I remember right, greed was his main reason though he also claims to be a member of the "Blue ship" but then again the viewer doesn't really know if saving the planet through destroying humankind is really his goal or if it's only about money for him.
Mayuko Fukuda as Maki Nikaido is the key to the mystery around the virus and also the vaccine. While she's after Dr. Kujo for her revenge as well her acting is really good to watch, she's one of the few characters that make this movie for me.

As I don't know that to tell you anymore, I'll get straight to the point: the rating. 5.5/10.
In the very beginning I thought it would be worse but the ending of this movie was actually a good one. However, I do think that this has nothing to do with the first two movies released and that it should have been more clearly seperated. Also, in the beginning, the scenes seemed to be nothing but a mess. Nothing made sense at all, and when those scenes appeared showing that village in Thailand I felt like I was watching a completely different movie.
The movie itself is enjoyable. It is not outstandingly good but then again it does have some interesting scenes, especially in the latter hour. But honestly, 129 minutes were too long for this movie, the story wasn't created to fill two hours but probably 30 minutes left.
That being said, I sometimes just had to laugh about how the events were shown because it was ridiculous and also that enviroment-protection-whatever-group made me crack up. As much as you hate humans for destroying this planet, I cannot imagine such an extreme would ever happen so I just couldn't help laughing about them as well.

Rough Cut

영화는 영화다 (Rough Cut; also known as A Movie is a Movie) is a South Korean movie that was released on September 11th, 2008 with a runtime of 113 minutes.

Story: Gang-pae is a gangster and has risen to one of the highest positions in his gang. He's known for his violent nature but at the same time has a side appreciating arts, especially movies.
On the other hand, Jang Su-ta is a popular actor who's known for his short temper. A few days after beating up his co-starring actor he goes drinking with the director and meets Gang-pae in that bar.
While filming a fight scene a few days later Su-ta beats up another actor again and no one is willing to take the co-starring role after that. When he remembers that Gang-pae actually has been acting in a minor role in a movie before, he calls him and offers the gangster the co-starring role. Gang-pae agrees to this - as long as they are really fighting..

Cast: As for the cast there are only Gang-pae and Su-ta in the focus though there are a lot of other characters we meet from time to time. However, I think it's the best thing to focus on the two main characters.
So Ji-sub accepted the role of Gang-pae and the first thing I need to admit is that I seem to have a weak spot for So Ji-sub in suits. Besides, the gangster image totally fits him. As you might remember I really liked A Company Man, a movie I've reviewed some time ago. While the topic in this one is kind of different, the "gangster" image works well for So Ji-sub. His acting was on spot most of the time showing his soft side as well as his rather cold and serious side.
On the other side we see Kang Ji-hwan as Jang Su-ta, an arrogant actor with a somewhat violent side and he just can't hold back when it came to the movie they were filming. His violent part gets him into serious trouble and his company even gets into financial problems due to the money they have to pay to keep the reporters quiet. While fighting with Gang-pae he seems to grow as a person though and it seems like he's becoming a little more open towards Gang-pae later in the movie, almost as if the two of them became friends.


The movie in itself is strong, the cast is quite good as well and people - THIS is a gangster movie. While there were some things in the background story that seemed too much, this movie still got a 9/10 rating from me which is actually pretty good.
What I found to be rather funny about this movie in general is how they chose the names of the characters. Gang-pae in fact is the Korean word for gangster and Su-ta the Korean pronounciation of "star", and it's actually kind of funny that they did even use the names reflecting the characters that good.

After all a strong movie I'd recommend to those who enjoy exciting fights or just fans of the actors!

Oh, and at the very end - can we PLEASE talk about how everyone in this movie is watching Green Fish? I can't stop laughing about this fact.

Code Blue

コード・ブルー  ドクターヘリ緊急救命 (Code Blue - Doctor Heli Emergency Lifesaving) is a Japanese TV series consisting of 11 episodes that aired on Fuji TV from July 3rd to September 11th 2008.
The special was aired in January 2009.

Story: Code Blue shows the life of four interns in the Shoyo University hospital. Being responsible for emergencies, those four are flight-doctors-in training and work with Doctor Heli, a program involving a helicopter transporting patients to offer help as fast as possible. However, those four work under Dr. Shuji Kuroda, a senior doctor who's said to not really like young people. Mihoko Hiyama is a straight-forward young woman while Megumi Shiraishi seems to be more calm and doesn't want to hurt people with words if she can avoid it. Kazuo Fujikawa is a talkative young person but seems to lack skills sometimes while Kousaku Aizawa is extremely quiet and cold which is why he can deal with emergencies well.
While working together, those four experience difficult situations.

Cast: As I am not one of those who watched many J-Dramas I think it's something special when I can say that I've known a few actors. And well, those are actually two but nevermind.
Tomohisa Yamashita is a quite good as Kousaku Aizawa. Why exactly? Well, I don't really know about his acting in general but this cold character in this series just fits him perfectly, and also the emotional scenes with his grandma (not a huge spoiler I guess) seem to be fine.
Erika Toda is in this series as Mihoko Hiyama. Compared to the movies I've seen her in before (*cough* Death Note *cough*) her role in this one is strong and confident. While I found her sometimes to be the difficult type of person, I did like her acting overall as well and seeing two different sides of one actress is a good thing as well.
As Megumi Shiraishi we see Yui Aragaki. While her rather shy character sometimes was too quiet in my opinion (or just didn't say what she thought), I was a little frustrated with her being careless in the end. Nonetheless I think she was a necessary part of this series, mainly because they wanted to show completely different characters.
The same actually works for Yosuke Asari as Kazuo Fujikawa. While at some point you pity him because he's seriously not that good compared to the others, in the end it seems like he just needed to adjust himself to the team and the new surroundings while following his dream to become a flight-doctor. Since he doesn't seem to be blessed with extremely medical talent, he's working hard to make his dream come true.
My favorite character in this series was by far Haruka Saejima played by Manami Higa, a young and extremely beautiful flight nurse who seems cold at first but warms up in the end. She's an important part of the team itself and she's good in what she's doing, sometimes even better than the average doctor.
And lastly I feel like I need to name Toshiro Yanagiba as Shuji Kuroda. While at some point one might start to hate him he's a good doctor and wants to safe patients in the end. That's also the reason why he's strict when it comes to the interns.

Soundtrack: The music in itself is not bad. The opening, "HANABI" by Mr. Children isn't bad, as an opening song it's quite nice actually. But then again the music in the whole series sometimes missed the atmosphere. This might be only my opinion but especially during those emergency operations I would actually expect something more dramatic if it's about life and death.
That being said, the soundtrack is probably the weak point this drama has.


After all a 9/10 for the series and an 8.5/10 for the special are still a good and strong rating because of the interesting stories told in such a short amount of time.
While the worst part in fact is the music in general it's not that bad and didn't really make me dislike the drama, that was just something I need to say.
Also, something about the special in itself: I found the talk about separation alright. Yes, it was nice, but not nearly as exciting as that huge accident (should I feel bad for saying this?). The last part of this special episode (actually almost two hours long) was rather slow, there was no major action since emotions were most important then.

Antique Bakery

Sweet Jesus, it has been ages since I've watched this movie.. I think it was back in 2010/2011 but I'm not sure anymore..

If you don't like Boys Love at all (which means gay relationships or something like a one-sided love) you probably shouldn't read this. There'll be some more reviews of Boys Love movies I've watched years ago but want to review anyways.

서양골동양과자점 앤티크 (Antique Bakery) is a Korean movie that was released in 2008.

Story: Kim Jin-hyuk has money, looks and charm but fails to find the right woman in life. So he decides to open up a cake shop and hires Min Seon-woo, a talented patissier, who had a crush on Jin-hyuk back in high school. Together with ex-boxing champion Yang Ki-bum and bodyguard Nam Soo-young they stir up the quiet neighborhood. But except for being careless and happy on the outside, each of the men has to deal with events in the past.

Cast: So at first we have Joo Ji-hoon as Kim Jin-hyuk. A flower boy nonetheless but a good actor, I liked him a lot in this movie but haven't seen him in any other series so far. Secondly, there's Kim Jae-wook as Min Seon-woo and cheers to him for doing such a great job. He had to speak French in this movie and I think acting a gay character is difficult though. But I would've loved to try some of the cakes he made, like.. seriously. Yoo Ah-in is part in this movie as Yang Ki-bum as well. That poor guy has some serious issues in this movie. But actually every character does.. I was just feeling really sorry for his character. Last in the main cast is Choi Ji-ho as Nam Soo-young. A quiet but clueless bodyguard.. he's adorable as well but tends to wear his glasses all the time though.
As for the acting, I think it was really good but then again - I don't think I've criticized too many actors so far. If what they do seems realistic, they probably deserve a 'well done'.

To me, this movie is incredibly cute and sweet. It's not too much of a Boys Love movie, so if you're not looking for such stuff, you can still watch it and maybe just skip some scenes.
My rating is 9/10 just because it's such a nice movie to watch. Rewatch value? Yes, oh yes, it's still funny after watching it a few times.

Death Bell

"One will die

for every incorrect answer"

고사: 피의 중간고사 (Death Bell) is a Korean horror movie that was released in 2008.

Story: The movie is set in a high school were twenty elite students take an extra class to prepare for their college entrance exams. After the heroine Kang I-na is nearly strangled and another student is throttled in the restroom, the screen in the classroom changes to to the image of the top-ranking student being caught inside a fish tank that's slowly being filled with water. A voice announces that her life depends on the exam questions he will set for them, and for every wrong answer a student will die. Head teacher Hwang Chan-wook and English teacher Choi So-yeong are trapped with the students.

The group realizes the students get killed by their ranking. But what's still a mystery is: Who's murdering the students and for what reason?

Cast: Regarding the fact this is a movie, there's a huge number of characters in this movie.

At first we have Nam Gyu-ri as Kang I-na, the heroine. We have Kim Bum as Kang Hyun, Lee Bum-soo as Hwang Chang-wook, Yoon Jung-hee as Choi So-yeong, Lee Chae-won as Uhm Ji-yang and Moon Woong-ki as Kim Hyung-jin.

Of course there are many others but I don't want to list everyone on here. Those are just the most important characters, and I have to admit they did a damn good job. I started watching this movie around 10PM in my dark room and it was actually easy to get caught be the action and the characters who were sometimes desperate to try and safe their classmates but couldn't really do anything.

My personal rating is a solid 8/10 just because there were some aspects that weren't good enough for a better score but it's good. The end is kind of surprising though because - I think I can reveal that much - the students weren't the actual target. They were innocent victims, being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Did this movie really scare me? Well, I'm a scaredy cat but love horror movies - how this works out, I can't tell you either. Usually all I do is turning the light on when walking around in the house at night and since that only happens after watching horror movies or games, I think this movie managed to scare me but I couldn't help but find the ways how the students were killed rather interesting. Whoever got the ideas should probably go and see a doctor.. It's creepy.