Jormungand (2012) ヨルムンガンド

Koko was a young arms dealer who sold weapons through an international shipping corporation. she was the company's unofficial weapon dealer, secretly selling weapons to many countries while avoiding the local authorities. she had with her a personal team of bodyguards, and the latest addition to her crew was Jonah, an emotionless yet skilled child soldier. however, he aimed to find the arm dealer responsible for his family's death.

despite the dull colored visual and intense plot of underground groups of weapon dealer, there were tones of humor in the dialogues, sometimes adding a little more craziness, making it lighthearted and at the same time avoiding heavy swearing and excessive gore. times were spent on going in depth on the backgrounds of each character, which had us felt engaged, understanding their starting point.

Never Enough (2012)

Loann and Claire used to be very closed sisters. Claire was pretty and popular, often surrounded by friends and her boyfriend Josh. Loann watched enviously, longing to be her perfect sister. one day Josh started flirting with her and people from the popular group started showing interest in her, even stopping by the cafe where she and her friend, Marcus worked. Loann was eager to step into their world, eager to experience the world her sister was in. but soon she discovered Claire's world was a difficult place and nothing was as perfect as it seemed. at the same time, Clare was rushed into the hospital with stomach problem.

Never Enough (2012) was heart-wrenching to read. i found myself crying in Loann's place, feeling her pain and lost. it was shocking to know how eating disorder could threaten not one life but destroying the whole family along with it. even though Loann was able to discovered Claire's secret, she didn't know how to help nor could understand the extent of the problem. it was also surprising to know that Claire too, was jealous of Loann in her own ways. Never Enough (2012) had my attention throughout the whole book, it was engaging and pulled me strongly into their world. despite having my heart broken while reading, it gave life a whole new perspective, and love is never too far away.

Inkheart (2008)

Mo was a bookbinder, he had the rare gift of reading while things or characters from the books would emerged into the real world. however, he didn't have control over what went in or out. one night, he read a book called Inkheart, to his wife, Resa. he accidentally put Resa into the book n drew some evil characters out. one day after their daughter, Meggie, grew up, she found the book Inkheart, which his father refused to talk about. the moment he started reading that book again, more characters were drew out, n they realized that the evil characters that he drew out from the book the last time he read it had been stalking them.

i heard from many that the adaptation was very loosely based on its book. like most film that was based on books, details were often scrapped, making the audiences felt like something was missing. fortunately, i have yet read the book Inkheart (2003) by Cornelia Funke, thus able to experience the film freely. having Fraser played his typical Hero role was getting a little boring. his expression remained the same like every film, n same goes for the acting. if compared, Bennet was a much more believing daughter. however, it was mostly the mystical creatures that was fascinating in this film. it gave magical atmosphere every now n then, n the CGI was awesome for a fantasy tale! other than that, it was mostly running around, rather confusing since little explanation was given. to me, the film felt Rushed.

Ataru (2012) アタル

Ataru suffered from Savant syndrome, thus having the ability to observe and analyze microscopic evidences of otherwise unsolved cases. one day, an explosion occurred and the investigation team concluded that it was an accident, but Ebina had her doubts. she went to the site seeking evidence, but met with Ataru instead. he mentioned a few keywords that Ebina couldn't understand. she looked up those words and discovered by putting those words together, it became the key of solving the case.

for every episode, a different case was presented for Ataru's analyzing skill to put to use. the processes were absolutely captivating, while the humors were equally entertaining. it was surprising to see Nakai Masahiro (中居正廣) from SMAP portrayed Ataru so perfectly that it was difficult to imagine that he was just playing the character instead of really having the disability himself. as its main attraction, the cases lured us episode after episode, wanting more while enjoying the unique partnership between Ataru and Ebina.