Yuri Paik

I loved Mamoru Hosoda's other films (Girl who Lept Through Time, Wolf Children) so I was really excited about this one. Let me begin by saying that the soundtrack for this movie is absolutely beautiful. It's not technically a musical movie, but the songs are definitely one of the movie's best highlights. I have not watched the English dub, but the English versions of the songs are equally as amazing which is really impressive. I find myself listening to the soundtrack on repeat weeks after I've watched this movie. Second, the animation is absolutely gorgeous. The shift of art style between the digital world and the character's real world is amazing and both styles are equally charming in their own right. The plot was very intriguing but I didn't feel like it wrapped up satisfyingly at the end. You're kinda left with a sense of "that's it?" More details below with potential spoilers. Overall, though, I loved this movie a lot. I wish the plot was handled a little better, but this is a movie I'd gladly rewatch over and over again and have already been listening to the music nonstop. It's definitely worth a watch! POTENTIAL SPOILERS BELOW! In regards to the plot. There's a lot going on in the plot, with a lot of almost mini sub-plots. The "main" conflict is a really nice nod to "Beauty and the Beast" which I love, and the reveal/twist was actually kind of unexpected, although they kind of set up the twist in an obvious way with Shinobu as the red herring. This movie tries to deal with some really serious themes like grief, domestic abuse, and trauma. While I think Suzu's acceptance of her mother's death was done in a very pretty way, the addressing of the domestic abuse was kinda clumsy and not well executed. It wrapped up with a sort of surface-level sentimentality and was not satisfying at all. I think anime in general has never been great at seriously addressing domestic abuse as a theme and Belle isn't much different unfortunately.

I feel like for the first half, I kept having to tell myself to wait and see to where the movie would go. I can say that I'm glad I watched it through, but I can definitely say this movie can DRAG on. It's 2.5 hours long and I think 30-50 minutes of the film could have been shaved off and it would've made it more watchable. I was only 1/3 through the film but I was getting antsy for the ending already. I do think, for such a huge entrance to the MCU, it's difficult to juggle all that exposition into a film that's still an enjoyable and fun Marvel film. But the intro consisting of literal paragraphs of text, followed by long flashback scenes that appeared seemingly at random, followed by ANOTHER long exposition scene of just explanation, is quite frankly a lot to take at once and not very enjoyable to sit through. Some characters had little depth, and don't expect many of them to feel relatable - the main cast is all immortal gods and it's made obvious throughout the film. I felt that the main character falls flat rather than the "nuanced female hero" the director was aiming for. The main romance feels forced and was borderline uncomfortable to watch. There was no character in the film where I really liked or rooted for - they were all fine. It's very unclear to me what the purpose and direction was for several of the characters, including the Deviants who feel forgotten by the latter half of the movie. Overall, I'm glad I watched the whole thing, but I'm not a fan of how I had to force myself to be patient and sit through the whole thing. There were some funny comedic scenes, the action was decently exciting, and the CGI was very well done, but...Forgettable characters, storyline, poor pacing, and lots of exposition dumping bogs down what's already an overly long movie.

I want to clarify that this is a fantastic game with a loyal fanbase. But in my PERSONAL opinion, I dislike this game. I think the open world is beautiful and wide, and character customization is some of the best I've ever seen. For a fairly old game, it still holds up well in terms of graphics. Now, for my cons. - Excessive side/"fetch" quests, most of the side content isn't fun - World is a little too big and spread out, feels empty and void of life - I personally found the combat boring. It's just a lot of spamming buttons without much strategy or tactical thinking. - Also no healing, so you have to rely on potions. This calls for a LOT of grinding as you deplete your potions, run back to refill, rinse and repeat. - If you're new to Dragon Age, the story feels impenetrable and confusing. Not very new-player friendly in terms of lore. - Story itself feels lacking. A lot of plot holes, questionable decisions, and overall meh writing. - The romance, which everyone seems to love and hype up, really doesn't feel at all a major part of the story. It feels like temporary, short rewards in between hours and hours of grinding and combat. - For what's supposed to be an RPG with some FPS/combat elements, it feels more like an FPS/combat game with some RPG elements. And that's fine if you like it. But since I was expecting an RPG-heavy game, I was quite disappointed. Overall, I can see why this game has a lot of love and still does to this day. I just personally could not love it due to the reasons stated above.

Pearl was my first ever Pokemon game, and after seeing how well they remade Ruby and Sapphire (ORAS), I was so so excited for the eventual Gen 4 remake. Unfortunately, I was heavily let down. I don't think it's a bad game, and it can be enjoyable for many - I just personally didn't like it. I think the problem here is people who like the "faithful remake" vs. people who wanted the "mix old with new remaster". I am personally the latter. I'm personally not a fan of the chibi art style, I found a lot of movements and animations very choppy. Even with the Underground, which was one of my favorite parts of Gen4 games, this remake just didn't do it for me. I did appreciate how the Champion battle is, actually, more difficult as it has updated movesets and items - that's one thing that I'm glad they stayed faithful to. Plus, the music is always nostalgic. Otherwise, I just wish this game had more going for it. It's not exciting for me as a remake. Other than a few quality of life updates and the visual update, it's the exact same game as the original. I think the new art style even drags down the games at times: their expressions don't change and again, movements are super choppy (battles are a bit better, though). Plus, for $60, I truly don't think you're getting your money's worth. It's just far, far too expensive for what you get.

Definitely one of my favorite expansions I've bought so far that truly is worth the price. The new clothing and furniture is adorable, and there's actually so much more to do now. I love everything this expac has to offer.