The Ashes of My Flesh and Blood is the Vast Flowing Galaxy (2021)

An amazing but simple movie that now lives in my head rent-free

This movie's summary sounded really bare but the trailer looked good and it was offered at a film festival so I decided to check it out. It was a damn good and I'm kind of obsessed with it right now! The story is about a high school student who witnesses a younger student being brutally bullied by her classmates and decides to step in, admittedly out of a hero complex. One of the most kindest MLs I've seen so far, he is so kind and sweet to her and they get closer... and then the story goes into some dark places but I won't spoil it, since it builds to a really romantic, heartwarming conclusion imo.

The story wasn't groundbreaking or special, I'll be first to admit, all the weird little quirkiness aside, but it was still engaging and resonated with me. It was quite deep and heartfelt - it showed how even in the darkness of this world and human behaviour, there are still good people out here who commit to being someone's light. The acting was top-notch, especially on Ishii Anna's part. I didn't really notice the music that much but it wasn't bad.

Overall, an enjoyable movie, perhaps even one of my favourite out of all the Japanese movies I seen so far and I'll probably rewatch it in the future whenever it is available.

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Compelling genre mix, albeit not without flaws

This movie starts out as your typical high school bullying story, dealing with themes like isolation, destiny and heroism. Don't let that fool you, though. Throughout the whole movie you can feel something is wrong, and once you've reached the half point the story turns into a pretty dark thriller.

I've so much I loved about this, but also a few things that fell flat for me. The first half, although quite predictable, was pretty enjoyable. Mostly because the characters and dialogues were interesting. I thought some of the metaphors they used were quite clever, and the foreshadowing was done well. While watching, you can feel the tension building up.

I enjoyed the atmosphere of this movie a lot. They made some good music choices that enhanced the feeling of uneasiness. The genre mix is definitely one of the strongest points of this movie, and I was ready to give this a higher score. Sadly, the last 30 minutes or so were not that believable to me. Although I enjoyed the magical realism elements, I think they took it a bit too far. It felt like they were trying too hard and it came off rather cheesy than inspiring.

That being said, it was still a great watch. It's certainly not your typical coming-of-age story. It's flawed and I wish they would have made a few different directional choices, but it was an engaging story nonetheless.

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