beailoveyou's reviews

I've been meaning to watch this movie the moment I found out Yamapi was going to star in it; although I wasn't a fan of the manga (I never knew the story until recently when I actually got to watch the movie).

Ashita no Joe's about Yabuki Joe (Yamashita Tomohisa), a delinquent who lived in the slum area. He was chanced upon by this ex-boxer Danpei Tange (Kagawa Teriyuki) when Joe sort-of helped him fight off some thugs/yakuza who were after him and his debt. Danpei-san noticed Joe's 'talent' in boxing and bugged him into training under him. But because of Joe's rebellious past, he was sent to a youth detention center. There he got into a fight with a pro-boxer named Rikishi (Iseya Yusuke) and badly lost except for the fact that he actually got to hit Rikishi with his jab which he learned from Danpei through his letters.

A match was set between the two while they were still in the center, which ended in a double knock-out with the help of Joe's amazing cross-counter taught by Danpei-san. After some time, both got released from the detention center, with Rikishi continuing his career and Joe finally starting his training under Danpei to become a professional boxer.

After all the odds and ends, the two rivals finally got to fight each other again in the ring, resulting in one of the best, most painful scenes I've ever watched in a movie.

At first I really just wanted to watch this movie because of Pi and his wooooow muscles!!! abs!!!~ (yes I'm that kind of fangirl). I don't really care much about boxing (I'm from the Philippines, where Manny Pacquiao's from), and I've never lasted watching one boxing match. But this movie was really amazing. The story's so heart-felt and though I, myself, haven't experienced the kind of life the characters have gone through, I know in my heart how true their stories are.

The acting and the roles were superbly done, except perhaps for Karina, whom I didn't really see much acting from. I was a little surprised with Pi's acting here-- he was really great. I'm a big Yamapi fan but I don't really regard his acting as something good; this movie proved otherwise.

It's a wonderful story done more wonderfully in the movie. A highly-recommended watch.

Rating: 9.5

I loooooooooooooooove this album! ^_____^

I can listen to the whole album non-stop without skipping any of the songs; yes,  even the intro sounds awesome. It has twelve tracks, each with their unique style and different sound, but amazingly they just go well together.

• Love Faith Live /說愛就愛 : Great danceable song.
• Is This All (feat. Ryan Tedder of OneRepublic) : one of my favorites in the album, written and composed by Ryan Tedder. This is the theme song in Vanness’ latest drama series, Material Queen.
• Do it (feat. 仔仔) : Another danceable track. It has this power to stay and play inside your head even after listening to it.
• Destined /命定 : I’m not really sure what genre this falls in, but I love it. Has a slow-danceable tempo.
• When You’re Near /有你在 : Ballad, simple but great vocal.
• Happiness /只要她快樂 : It has this happy, positive feel to it; but it’s not as good as the others, in my opinion.
• Love Grenade /愛的手榴彈 : I can’t help but move in time with the music of this song.
• Don’t Leave /愛沒走 : Another ballad, sounds a little sad.
• Aiya /哎呀 : I think this is my favorite out of all the songs in this album. It’s simple but it just, kinds of… gets to you.
• In The Limelight /透明愛 : This isn’t my type of music but I have to admit it’s still good.
• Knockin’ : Another one of my favorites. Really great song. Can’t stop listening to it. It’s in English, by the way, written and produced by Bruno Mars.

As expected of Vanness. If you haven’t listened to it yet, well, you should.

Rating: 9.3