Far too many toxic elements in the story

Spoiler heavy. This could have been so much better. Cinematography and technical aspects were good. The mismatched friendship had promise at the beginning and could have been a good start but only to a completely different story. Ai Di's story could have been great if he'd been allowed to stay away and rebuild a better life.
Instead we start with someone barely above the legal age limit but very inexperienced in relationships and an older mafia underling (actors' age gap is 10 years and if the novel made the characters' less it wasn't mentioned in the series) who really should know better. He gives some token resistance on age - enough to show he understands that it is wrong - and then dives in. He doesn't even do that on the risks his criminal family will bring to the kid he repeatedly calls Kiddo.
Add in (fake) amnesia, (not fake) short term memory loss (which they keep saying is temporary but show no signs of that), time jump for prison cause the kid was coerced by the mafia to take the blame for a murder he didn't commit, another young man who gets free from the mafia but is carried back in literally kicking and screaming but it's all fantastic because the man who dicked him around for years finally decided to kiss him.
Seriously? All for an absolute kitchen sink mess of a plot which says EVERYTHING will be forgiven for a first love.
The fandom really will ignore any red flag situation or behaviour if there are cute boys kissing.

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Acceptance of difference and problems caused by those quick to judge

Cho-san has both learning disabilities and autism, needs his routines and works in a supported facility. He also has a great mum and difficult neighbours.

Every bit of this rings true with my experience working and volunteering with people with learning disabilities, including the complicated decisions aging parents make to ensure their sons and daughters are settled.

Please don't watch this to be heart-warmed. Please watch this to better understand a bit more of the extra difficulties so unnecessarily created by those who see difference and look for reasons to condemn.

(The tags currently include mental illness. There is no mental illness depicted in this film. The distress felt by Cho-san and some of the housemates when confronted by loud noises, angry neighbours or disruption to their routine is part of their learning disabilities, not mental illness. These are distinct things.)

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More tragic love story than horror

The first half focuses on village life, Nak and Mak meeting and their early married life. The second half is a mix of comedy-horror, supernatural and tragic love story. The copy I found to stream was (re)dubbed and included strange "space-age" sound effects and much later music.
The end, where they stopped speaking, I found more affecting. I'd very much like to see this with the original sound though that may no longer exist.
Overall though, it was worth watching as part of the history and glimpses into early Thai cinema and how, in 1959, they presented life in the previous century.

Having seen Nang Nak (1999) first made it easier for me, with only rudimentary Thai, to follow the story in this version of the legend. The auto-generated English subtitles sometimes clarified, sometimes confused.

This mix of original and redub makes it hard to choose ratings, so I just gave it 7's across the board. The music in the redub was inconsistent - some of it was traditional and effective, some of it western and out of place. Likewise, I'm inclined to rate the original acting higher, but the redubbed voices lower. I watched this out of interest in the different ways stories are told and this mixture has its own place in that.

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A series worth of feelings

This is a gentle, beautiful story of two high school girls and their feelings for each other. The lead actresses co-wrote and directed it. They're a couple in real life and their connection as friends and life partners shines through. It was lovely to spend some time with these engaging and charismatic characters.

The writing on this is very clever. They were able to work a lot into the 38 minutes without it feeling rushed or incomplete. There's more of Mar & Lei's story to tell, but this was enough. Whether Ward and Klio return to these characters or start something new, I hope these talented writers/directors/actors have many more opportunities to share their vision and talent with us.

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Gentle story of friendship and love

This wasn't anything fancy, just a simple and gentle story of friendship and love between a living person and a ghost. They told it very well. It has humour and genuinely touching, beautiful moments. The two leads were perfect for their roles.

It was filmed in Onomichi and the last half hour or so conveys a strong sense of place in its own quiet, gentle way.

I was fortunate enough to catch this via the JFF+ Independent Cinema 2023 festival. This ends 31st October so it will likely be over before any finds my comments. It's worth looking for elsewhere and I hope to be able to spend time with it again.

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Spell-binding

This is a story about women.

Parents having to deal with and overcome cultural homophobia is at its core, and there's a beautiful romance between men, but these complicated, determined women using whatever resources they can find to negotiate life within the constraints of cultural sexism carry the lakorn. Li is ferociously strong, Jia's knowledge of herbs is magic, Chan is whatever the moment needs, and sometimes that's a touch of comic relief, Bua's strength is in her gentleness, Pin is plucky and resourceful, Cai is always paying attention.

It's melodrama so everything is exaggerated. Settle into its rhythms, it's a wild ride and well worth it.

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Uplifting

I've seen this three times now. At 32 minutes, it's a beautiful pick-me-up for down days. Every time I see it, I find new interconnections in its meaning. The plot is simple enough but everything else intertwines.

This is a small gem with many facets. One of the characters, Kei, is a painter whose home is filled with "her" work (a commenter on youtube credits them to Takuya Sugiyama). They're dynamic and vibrant and make a great setting for this story about creativity, authenticity and belief in oneself. Their confidence is everywhere in the flat. Kei is likewise visually striking, beautiful, stylish and charismatic.

Riko, the other main character, is in contrast to all of this. She is shy, inexperienced and still struggling to find her voice as a writer and, in many ways, who she really is herself.

Together they tell a gentle love story between two women, emphasising how the support of another can help you find confidence in yourself. It's ultimately about taking risks, both in love and art. As befits a story about a visual artist, there's a beautiful, sensuous love scene too, one many directors could learn from.

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Props or people?

Others have explained the problems with this follow-up so I'm just sharing some ideas from a conversation with a friend about whether the director Golf sees characters as props or people. It was a useful question and came about because of two other series from Golf.

I didn't mind that the Our Skyy was primarily about Wat and the film competition. I would have been happy for two episodes of Ayan and Akk just living their best together life. Or maybe a bit of them figuring out their relationship and themselves post-high school. Something like Khan and Thua got. Why were the 2nd couple given something like plausible consistency with their main series characters and better writing than not-Akk and not-Ayan? Maybe they were just generic enough it was the easiest route?

Given the complete and utter lack of understanding of the main characters though plus the focus on the film maker plus the length of the director's cameo, I do wonder if this wasn't more about Golf than the characters. Maybe it's unfair but it's the only explanation I have for the result. Or maybe it's too generous and the explanation is more a lack of competence. First and Khaotung saved the main series through the emotional depth of their acting after all.

Meanwhile in this it's like First didn't bother with characterisation and just played it as a version of himself. I guess if all you're here for is actors snogging that will do you. But why not fanservice which respects the characters as well? It wouldn't be difficult to keep both types of fans happy.

In short, Khaotung and First made Ayan and Akk people and that's why The Eclipse works despite many moments of questionable writing and plot. Golf made Akk and Ayan into props and that's why the Our Skyy 2 is a self-serving disaster.

Ayan would NEVER do that to Akk. Any director or screenwriter who thinks he would failed to understand the character or how it would destroy Akk.

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If you only watch one het love story this year...

I'm careful in what I watch by way of het romance and initially We Made a Beautiful Bouquet wasn't high up my list for this year's JFF Online. A J-drama fan I follow on social media had seen it before and I liked what he wrote about it so I gave it a go.

It doesn't do the things I dislike about most het relationship story lines. The FL isn't cutesy or ditsy. Shared enthusiasms are central to the dynamic between the two characters and the framing is also balanced between their POVs. It's one of the most equal relationships I've seen. There's something else I want to compliment it on but that would be a spoiler.

All in all, it's an excellent film. Solid writing and acting so natural I managed to forget I was watching a film during some of it. Oh right, this isn't happening. If someone said, "I'm willing to watch one het love story this year" this is one of two I'd suggest.

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Cinematic poetry

This is both a family drama of changing times in early 20th century rural Japan and a beautiful, poetic melodrama depicting a romanticised and idealised version of the life of an idealistic young man who, after his death, became one of Japan's most loved poets and writers. It feels a very fitting tribute for Miyazawa Kenji.

So far in JFF Online I've seen three films which include arts and creativity - The Lines That Define Me (sumi-e ink painting), Single8 (1979-era amateur movie-making) and this one. In all of them, characteristics of the art form shape and inform the ways the stories are told. If Miyazawa Kenji had been a different writer, this would have been a different film.

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An ancient dance tradition, a gentle but determined child, and his family

Because there's no synopsis, I'll start with one.

A shy young boy, Orca, becomes interested in Khon traditional dance because of a school art project. His mum is raising him and his sister Fern on her own so money is tight. She also knows how difficult this style of dance is as her mother was a teacher and she has painful memories of that time. Orca is determined nonetheless.

The young actor who plays Orca is delightful. It's a sweet story about the value of traditions, love and family. As Orca learns about the dance, so do we.

Information about Khon dance, which dates to the 1500s if not earlier, via this link https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khon. It is based on the Hindu Ramayana and its style of masked dance combined with music and narration.

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Nakak = Masks

This is going to be a bit vague and brief. I haven't figured out how to touch on its themes without diluting its poignancy or giving important things away. If you're considering watching it, just go ahead. It's only two hours and, in my opinion, well worth the time.

*This review is also written from the point of view of a western viewer who pays attention but still has much to learn. Some of my sense of disorientation came from the combination of a short story's brevity and it clearly being made for an audience who readily understands context I had to piece in from elsewhere, like SOTUS hazing, or wonder about. None of this was a deal breaker by any means - that sense of old but new-to-me things to learn about is lovely - and everything which needed to came clear in the end.

The beginning is uneven. A 40 year old actor plays a 1st year uni student in flashbacks. His SOTUS seniors look like they have lived. A lot. It skips around so it's not clear if it's a bit of a ghost story or what's really going on.* There's a brief touch of tourism promotion for the Dan Sai district (Loei province, NE Thailand) and a decent amount of education about one of their customs, the masks of its title.

As the series progresses though, it more clearly becomes a moving and poignant short story. I'm not telling you about what. If you want to know, watch :)

Perhaps it is also a love letter to the Dan Sai people. I hope to learn much more about them.

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"Let's be afraid together"

A single event brings four strangers into each other's lives. They're all very different and struggling with their own concerns, which leads to friction as well as understanding.

This gentle lakorn takes on serious, heavy issues and wraps them in warmth and kindness. It's about friendship, acceptance and helping each other. It is beautifully done, from the gentle acoustic closing song to the quirky coffee shop with Mackintosh metalwork to the care that's taken with the progression of the characters' growth individually and in their friendships.

The characters feel real and believable, especially the four central ones, along with the issues they face and the changes they make in their lives. All in all, this is one of the most emotionally satisfying series I've seen.

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Realistic, grounded portrayal of young people and some of their difficulties

The film centres around two high school students, Maki and Akira, who are both a bit lost because parents and find friendship with each other. I didn't understand some of the symbolism decided on by other students but it was easy enough to just go with it. Perhaps it's a Japanese understanding, maybe it's idiosyncratic to the director. Motivations are consistent and clear, even when they're not explained straight away. Maki is acting out because of x, a boy does what he does because of y, Akira is kind.

There are many small touches evoking place, like views of the countryside and the beautiful ice cream serving technique of a grandmother. It all feels very real and grounded. This is my favourite film of all the ones I've seen in this autumn's JFF+ Independent Cinema festival. If you like youth drama and film with realistic portrayals of the difficulties young people struggle with as they grow up, this is well worth seeking out. Maki especially is a character I'll remember and I hope to see Nagasawa Itsuki, Nakagawa Tsubasa and some of the others again.

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