Tag: Strong Female Character

IT’S HERE (again)

October 26, 2025

Donovan, my Baby Assassins partner-in-crime (the Miyauchi to my Tasaka, if you will, though maybe there’s a better duo to be), informed me a few days ago that the TV show, Baby Assassins: Everyday!, was eminently streamable on Hulu and HBO Max, and has been since October 16th. I was late. How could I not have known sooner? Where was the YouTube trailer? Where are the outlets meant to warn me? So, I’m here now to pass it along, realizing that perhaps I am one of those outlets. Not really, but seriously, what the hell happened? … More IT’S HERE (again)

K-Drama Report: Ms. Incognito (2025)

October 12, 2025

Oh, this show is delicious. Intrigue, secrets, betrayals; all the ingredients of a howling melodrama, but arranged neatly in an understated package. Ms. Incognito is a rare sort of genre mash-up: the cozy thriller? Even before we move to the idyllic small town, where a mountain range sits in each kitchen window like a painting, there’s such a comfortable atmosphere that pulls ever so gently inward. Even the old abrasive favorites like a deadbeat mom and flashbacks to an abusive father only pause the warm feelings. It’s the product of at least two things: the lush, cinematic style, and the story premise, which is just about my favorite thing in the world – a badass woman who’s pretending to not be a badass. She carries the aura of violence, an unheeded threat or even an invitation to instant karma. … More K-Drama Report: Ms. Incognito (2025)

Palace-Minded Man | Uprising (2024) Review

September 12, 2025

The 2024 historical epic Uprising is about two things: the Japanese killing Koreans, and Koreans killing Koreans. This is literally the experience in an early sequence of two cross-cut battles, when Toyotomi Hideyoshi’s samurai advance beyond the Han River in the first invasion of the Imjin War, and the hungry Joseon masses turn on the fleeing King Seonjo (who Wikipedia notes shouldn’t be confused with Sejong the Great). Fans of the recent Shogun will remember Hideyoshi as the taiko whose death incites the feudal struggle for power, briefly embodied as “Nakamura Hidetoshi” by my man Yukijirô Hotaru, of Zeiram (and not actually featured in Uprising). Apparently, this guy was trying to take Korea all the way till his consequential death in 1598. And fans of Netflix’s Kingdom will remember the Imjin War, the historical backdrop to that tragically short-lived zombie masterpiece. Well, rejoice for now, as Uprising shares the same brutal world of beheadings, cannibals, and funny hats – stopping short at zombies, of course, but not before outrageous political corruption. It’s a timely tale of ancient revolution against a cruel aristocracy. … More Palace-Minded Man | Uprising (2024) Review

Critical Lore Question

September 12, 2025

My understanding of Baby Assassins was that it was, if not “a big deal,” then at least “known.” Using this very website as a record, my earliest awareness of the series dates back to 2022 (see: “Hydra review”), one year after the first movie released, and even by then, I felt late to the party. Note, in that review, I reference the movie without disclaiming that I hadn’t seen it, which might lead readers to incorrectly assume I had. Garsh, I just can’t let myself get away with anything, can I? I’m such a humble guy! I’d learned about it from an entertainment website like Polygon (which it wasn’t, as their earliest coverage is 2024), in an enthusiastic review or discussion. I suppose this is my mistake, thinking that such writing is somehow indicative of the national (or international) pulse. No, outlets like that are pretty small-time, despite all the damage wreaked by unethical games journalism. Regardless, I then assumed that there were tons of people out in the world whom I could chat with about Baby Assassins, or at least pose this burning question: “Who’s older?” … More Critical Lore Question

The Dream | Baby Assassins: Nice Days (2024) Review

August 28, 2025

For two movies, Baby Assassins has been a source of unusual joys. They’re charming even in their deficiencies, with scenes lingering on nothingness for so long that it becomes funny and the lack of plot making for unpredictable sketch comedy. With this third outing, the winning non-formula is finally given structure, which might sound unduly disciplinarian for our anarchic duo, but this was the only ingredient missing. I think that sometimes, filmmakers, film critics, and film students can romanticize the subversion of convention, when so much of the artistry and effect of movies is in the exercise of character arcs and stories which resonate with subtextual meaning. And yet, even with a Baby Assassins set to provide usual joys instead, I couldn’t have anticipated such virtual perfection as Nice Days. I was already a fan, guys. You didn’t have to do all this! A proper coming of age, it’s an optimization of every formerly experimental element; a bloodsoaked spectacle with a cathartic, heartfelt finish. … More The Dream | Baby Assassins: Nice Days (2024) Review

Chisato Gaiden | Ghost Killer (2024) Review

July 22, 2025

Action maestro Kensuke Sonomura finally nails it as director on his third attempt – with a little help from his friends. After a baffling debut, Hydra, and its unremarkable follow-up Bad City, I’d have to be a real sucker to stick around for whatever came next. Well, “Akari Takaishi” is always a compelling argument, the ex-idol actress with a fairly standard career – TV dramas, manga adaptations, animation voiceovers – but for the occasional Baby Assassins title, which intervene on her filmography like a running joke. In fact, it’s Ghost Killer that comfortably proves her participation in Baby Assassins wasn’t a one-off (or a four-off, to be fair). Equally crucial is a script by Yugo Sakamoto, the creative braintrust behind, well, Baby Assassins. As a screenwriter, he may be rough and tumble, but his work here is surprisingly disciplined. Ghost Killer may be the most technically sound accomplishment between either filmmaker. … More Chisato Gaiden | Ghost Killer (2024) Review

Thrice | KPop Demon Hunters (2025) Review

July 6, 2025

I have a friend who’s a bit of a troll. She wanted to watch KPop Demon Hunters and wanted more, perhaps, for me to watch it. Her logic was sound: “You like K-pop!” to which I noted I also like movies, and that doesn’t mean I’m rushing out to watch F1 this weekend. Nor for that matter, Elio, live-action Lilo & Stitch, or live-action How to Train Your Dragon – really, guys? Three at the same time? Anyway, my logic here is sounder: those movies are for babies. Of course, I’ve enjoyed movies for babies, especially when I was a baby, as well as movies empty of thought or weight. One doesn’t need to approach a work of art or entertainment in the exact same way each time, and we understand this implicitly, setting different expectations based on genre, content rating, and so on. Still, a lot of the criticisms I have for KPop Demon Hunters can be brushed aside with “It’s a kids’ movie,” leaving me in the impossible situation of having watched a movie I wasn’t meant to watch. … More Thrice | KPop Demon Hunters (2025) Review

Swan Lake of Blood | Ballerina (2025) Review

June 7, 2025

From the World of John Wick: Ballerina is a strong contender for “movie with the worst title of the year,” and incidentally, the subtitle (supertitle?) is both strength and weakness. My question, from the moment the film was announced in 2019, was “Why does this have to be a spin-off?” There’s nothing about a ballerina-turned-assassin that screams John Wick any more than it does La Femme Nikita or 2023’s own Ballerina, though the lead character in that one wasn’t the titular ballerina. In fact, 2025’s Ballerina starts on the most stock-standard note: her father is killed, and she seeks revenge. That’s every action movie! It’s also why the original John Wick was such a breath of fresh air: action movies are bad. … More Swan Lake of Blood | Ballerina (2025) Review

Automatic Arsenal | Battle Girl (1991) Review

May 22, 2025

It’s true that the movie fully entitled Battle Girl: The Living Dead in Tokyo Bay has a very low budget. As much as I’d prefer to be an enlightened critic who doesn’t discriminate on such bases, in this case I’m interested in how the miniscule production influences the viewing experience. For reference, we can plot this one somewhere between, say, Nemesis and Screamers? The former is so raggedy that it’s sometimes incoherent, not only in the big picture but in the micro, where the camera and editing have to be so judicious, so careful not to show the edges of the set, so to speak. Battle Girl has a little bit of that, though its setting – the zombie post-apocalypse – is easier to render than other sci-fi worlds, where “scatter some trash in the corner” is actually workable. … More Automatic Arsenal | Battle Girl (1991) Review

Japanese Fighting Girl: The New School

April 15, 2025

So, I got into anime relatively late in life, and it was a lateral move, from an existing interest in science fiction movies. As a big fan of The Matrix, of course my first anime was Ghost in the Shell. And I liked Trinity, but wow, the Major? Now, there was a helicopter-wrangling, tank-wrassling straight shooter – and unlike what I was used to, she wasn’t alone. There’s her cousin Deunan Knute in Appleseed, Priss and the Knight Sabers in Bubblegum Crisis, Nausicaa, Battle Angel Alita, Armitage III, the Dirty Pair, Gall Force, Iria: Zeiram the Animation. It’s an embarrassment of riches. An embarrassment. … More Japanese Fighting Girl: The New School