Lets talk about one of the best action films out there casting the best of the best action hero Tom cruise, this tale is a two part movie, it starts off with the story of the antagonist of the movie which is actually an artificial intelligence being which is good since they have actually kept up with the current scenario. They show what this entity is capable of doing and then they cut to the hero who receives a suitcase from the Impossible mission force (IMF).
The suitcase contains a brief of his mission which includes him tracking down Ilsa who was the double agent in the previous movie Mission Impossible Rogue Nation. The entity itself is controlled by a key which is divided into two halves and sources tell that one of the halves is with her and Ethan hunt is on the chase in the middle of the desert in Abu Dhabi to look for her.
Upon reaching the location he realizes that there are bounty hunters who are also after her looking for the key, he obtains the key and realizes it is too strong for any single person to have control of, so he decides to destroy it himself and goes after it with his gang, its soon after that he realizes that all the moves that he has taken was actually predicted and pre planned by the entity and he has to find a way to crack the probability and find a way to destroy the system.
2. CHARACTERS
First lets start off with the protagonist of the show Ethan hunt, he is your typical hero, he is brave and chivalrous, he can handle himself in any kind of tight situations, he knows all kinds of martial arts and considering its played by Tom cruise, he does his own stunts and thats got to be given some credit. Tom is more than 50 years old and he is able to keep with the stunts and does it without being scared of losing his life, just so that he can entertain the viewers. That kind of actors who put their hearts and souls in the acting are hard to find.
Next lets talk about Grace played by Hayley Atwell, she is the new character in the movie and considering this might the last Mission Impossible series she seems like the next protégé to Ethan in continuing the franchise. She is a thief and she doesn't trust anyone apart from herself, they only showed a part of her backstory in this movie, I am assuming the rest of her backstory is going to be portrayed in the next part. She is cunning and betrays Ethan on multiple occasions and the fact that Ethan continues to believe in her abilities is a surprise to me, but there must be a reason for that hopefully explained in the next part.
Moving on, we see Benji Dunn who is the most iconic character in the mission impossible series apart from Tom cruise played by the lovely Simon Pegg is the "Guy behind the chair" character. He is the hilarious member of the gang and handles all the work that is related to hacking and getting Ethan whatever technological aid he requires during his missions, he has also been part of the mission by physically doing some spy work in previous movies which brings a little more of a character development.
Talking of the one of the antagonists in this movie we have white widow played by Vanessa Kirby, she is a rich girl protected by her brother Zola, she is a recurring villain from Mission Impossible fallout, where she did an amazing job of acting and played her role really well, considering the entity is the main antagonist, she is just a side show in this movie but still plays an important role as well as gets played (The irony) by Ethan in a rather hilarious way.
Finally lets talk about Gabriel who is Ethan's old nemesis as well as unfortunately or fortunately based on how you see it, is the human form of the entity, although not much information has been given as to why he is working for the entity, he does an incredible job by staying one step ahead of Ethan and trying to trick everyone around him in such a way that the events to occur is almost exactly predicted by him. He is a cruel man who doesn't mind killing people if he gets what he wants in the end which makes him the perfect antagonist.
3. CINEMATIC APPEAL
The shooting scenes in the movie are like a video game because they are unrealistic and over-the-top. It seems very staged as if Ethan knew where the enemies were coming from before hand. Ethan Hunt is able to shoot down dozens of enemies without being hit themselves. This may be entertaining for some viewers, but it can also make the movie feel less believable and more like a video game. This gives me vibes of all the old movies which had extremely staged fight sequence, although all fight sequences are usually staged but in this case its seems very obvious.
The chase scene in the movie is well written, Ethan Hunt is being chased by his enemies through a crowded city, and he has to use all of his skills and cunning to escape. Especially like in those Jackie chan movies where he uses all of his surroundings to make the best out of the situation. The scenes are also well-shot and edited, which makes it even more engaging. The graphics and animation are great wherever they were included since most of Tom cruises stunts are real it really brings out the creators and the actors love for the movie itself and it is exciting and suspenseful.
The movie is not as good as other Mission Impossible movies because it has fewer cool dialogues and the action sequences are not as interesting. Infact it has a couple of scenes they are no dialogues at all, you see the actors making head signs to each other and you are just staring at their facing expecting something to happen, but this head signing goes on for like 10 seconds just to see a very dud scene, which I felt was a little bummer. This may be because the filmmakers were trying to keep the movie similar to other Mission Impossible movies, but they were not able to achieve the same level of quality.
The music was basic there wasn't much hype, the Mission Impossible theme song was played only a couple of times in the movie which I am not super enthusiastic about, music is a very important aspect of the movie cause thats what makes people more interested and more engaging.
4. PERSONAL OPINION
The beginning of the movie is confusing because it does not provide enough information about the goal of the mission or the details of the plan. This is likely because the movie is part of an old franchise, and the filmmakers assume that the audience is already familiar with the characters and the universe of Mission Impossible movies. However, for viewers who are new to the franchise, the lack of exposition can make it difficult to follow the story. Its not just for viewers who are new, its for people who have watched the previous movies, without the bare minimum context its really difficult for the people to understand the situation.
The fact that Ethan Hunt and his team are fighting an AI that is always one step ahead of them adds to the thrill of the movie. It is good that the franchise is able to explain to the people about the possibility of a rogue AI. The AI is a powerful and dangerous opponent, and it was not clear how Ethan and his team will be able to defeat it. This uncertainty keeps the viewer guessing and makes the movie more exciting.
The fact that it is difficult to understand who is on whose side in the movie adds to the thrill and excitement. The AI is able to manipulate people and make it difficult to know who is trustworthy. A job of a secret agent or a spy which is what we can call Ethan hunt is partially relied on technology apart from his own skills and if the enemy is able to hack into these technologies, then its as if Ethan has lost half is body this great aspect which has been explained this movie. However, it can also be a bit confusing, as the viewer may not be sure which character to root for.
5. CONCLUSION
The final sequence of the movie was well-planned and exciting, and it keeps the viewer on the edge of their seat. The final sequence was the most hype of all the scenes in the movie, its the heroes comeback and it has some extremely edge of the chair moments which is really fun to watch and again since its Tom cruise thinking all the stunts are real and performed by him it just adds to the gravitas of the situation.
Overall, the movie is a mixed bag, I would give this movie a rating of 3/5. It has some exciting action sequences and suspenseful moments, but it is also confusing and lacks the cool dialogues and action sequences of other Mission Impossible movies. The cliffhanger ending leaves the viewer wanting more, but it also means that they have to wait for part 2 to find out how the story ends.
"Oshi Noko" has an unconventional start which immediately grabs the audience's attention, setting the tone for a narrative that seeks to explore an ordinary doctor's life, who is portrayed as the protagonist. The plot is about a celebrity who is living a superficial life and who gets pregnant at the age of 16 and the ethical constraints she has to go through.
The anime endeavors to shed light on how a doctor sees life and death which profoundly shapes their perspective and choices. The doctor builds quite a friendship with one of the patients who has a terminally ill condition, that patient is too weak to go out and have fun like the kids of her age, instead she would begin to adore an idol at that time who goes by the name “Ai hoshino“.
As the patient and the doctor begin to have a conversation about the idol, the doctor realizes that he also likes that idol. Ai would be beautiful beyond compare and would have gleaming eyes which shines bright, captivating any mans mind.
As the story moves on, the patient dies inevitably and the doctor begins to adore the idol as a remembrance of the patient whom he really enjoyed spending time with. A few days later, a new patient arrives, in a suspicious looking outfit while being pregnant, until the doctor realizes that the patient is none other than Ai, he would be shocked out of his pants and he would still take care of her, until the date of her delivery. On that day, the doctor sees a suspicious man stalking Ai.
The doctors suspects the man to be a fan and begins to chase him away through the forest, as he does that he falls off a cliff and dies a painful death, only to realize that he would have been reincarnated as on Ai's twins, but since she was a teenager when she got got pregnant she decides keep her children a secret, aquamarine
As the children grow up slowly and gradually they realize that they have the memories of their previous life and that they can communicate properly even as babies this part of the show includes a little bit of comedy.
The show delves in how a teenage mother would take care of her twins, a couple of years later, the suspicious man comes back and then stabs Ai in the stomach before her big break in the idol industry and the twins end up witnessing this scene, and witnessing the loss of their mother as they stare at her dying happily shedding some words of wisdom to her children.
2. CHARACTERS
First and foremost lets talk about the idol herself, the one with glittery eyes that everyone adores, she is the ideal idol her music and dance skills separate ls her from any other idol, she is an optimistic teenager who would love her fans, she wouldn't have had a family and hence looks up to her fans as her own family that she has created.
Sometimes her optimism gives her trouble and that usually goes on her manager who has to handle her, he has a lot on his shoulder considering he has to manage such an over enthusiastic person. Especially when she goes ahead and becomes pregnant when she is a teenager and he has to respond to all the questioning about her.
Aquamarine hoshino is Ai's son is the serious kind he was a doctor in his previous life and was the lethargic kind who didn't particularly like his job, but now he uses his previous life experiences and his skills to go on the quest to find out who the killer of his mom is and he does that by joining and going through and meeting different people that knew Ai and working for them in exchange for some information.
Ruby hoshino is Ai's daughter, she is the exact replica of Ai , she would have been heavily inspired by Ai so much so that she would have watched all of Ai's performances in her previous life and would have ingrained each step into her brain.
Although in her previous life she would have been diagnosed with a terminal illness making her weak to even walk properly, in this new life she has the gift of charm and her amazing flexibility in dancing which she intends to use to follow her mother's footsteps and become a idol herself, she creates her own idol group named after her mother's idol group called B komachi and her journey to gather and bond with potential idol group members begins.
Akane kurokawa is one of the co actors with aqua in a romance reality show which includes teenagers in high school, she is the timid kind and she really wants to become an actor her passion makes her more hardworking than all of her fellow actors, she becomes desperate to be seen by the people as her timid quality makes sure that she doesn't. This gets her and her manager in trouble. Her desperateness causes her to fall into a void of depression.
Miyako saitou is the new manager of strawberry productions, she was the wife to the previous manager of the production company that used to take her of Ai, both the children of Ai would be under Miayko's name since they were kept as secret she takes care of them like her own and she becomes the next manager to Ruby's idol group, she realises she can never be their real mother and strives to give them all the motherly love that she could possibly give to them and supports them in their journey and protects them in any given situation.
3. CINEMATIC APPEAL
This surprising twist of reincarnation provides an element that takes the storyline into unexpected territory. This allows the anime to delve into the contrasting lives of the protagonist, transitioning from a doctor to being reincarnated as a celebrity's baby.
Even though there is 1 season of anime yet and it was only 12 episodes long, but the music is bomb in this anime, not only the OST when they show how similar the twins are to their mother but even the opening and ending music of the anime is very catchy. The narrative makes sure to give the viewers a kind of nostalgia when it comes to the specific scenes where you as a viewer begin to realize how much of a similarity lies in the twins and the mother.
The revelation that twins have memories from their past not only adds an intriguing layer to the narrative but also raises questions about the interconnectedness of lives and the impact of past experiences on present relationships. Moreover, it sheds light on the idolization culture, illustrating how fans often overlook the façade of a celebrity's life despite being cognizant of its inaccuracies. They start figuring out what the celebrity has to go through even though she is put up a happy face to her fans.
4. PERSONAL OPINION
The prologue was an hour long episode and it was extremely overwhelming with respect to its intensity and rapid succession of events, especially when there are a lot of deaths in the prologue itself which ultimately sets the stage for the main plot, revealing that the story transpires after reincarnation while retaining the soul of the protagonist.
In the prologue they also mention about the life of a doctor and what kind of relation begins to develop between a doctor and the patient, that doctor being a human and having emotions it is common to get attached to patients and the sadness they go through when they lose them. This is piled on the fact that doctors have to witness death ever so frequently which would affect their emotions and their mental stability a lot.
The concept of reincarnation allows the exploration of ethical complexities, particularly when Ai has to deal with teenage pregnancy. Her youthful optimism and arrogance explains the depth and intricacy of her character, presenting a compelling exploration of human nature.
Being an idol there is so much pressure and so much expectations from them, that the fans become crazy enough for them that they become psychopaths They are not only jealous but also they adore someone who’s life is so ideal, when in reality they never realize that idols have a difficult life having showing nothing but their happy side to the public and smiling even during the painful times in their lives.
Delving deeper, the anime ventures into the film industry, exposing viewers to the often underexplored mental and creative realms of directors and actors. This fresh perspective broadens the narrative horizon and offers insight into the meticulous thought processes and expectations that guide the film industry.
While the anime's fast-paced narrative keeps the audience on the edge of their seats, there is a recurring theme of trauma that, at points, seems excessive and repetitive. This repetition may potentially dampen the viewing experience, making it crucial for the anime to balance its intense themes.
5.CONCLUSION
Nevertheless, "Oshi Noko" skillfully merges romance, comedy and mystery thriller elements, resulting in an entertaining and engaging storyline that seamlessly amalgamates these seemingly disparate genres. The confusion arising from this blend ultimately adds to the allure of the narrative, leaving viewers wanting more and eagerly anticipating what happens next.
I would give this anime a rating of 4/5. This show has a good mix of romance comedy, mystery and thriller, there is often confusion between how so many genre go together but this anime somehow manages to connect the dots and find a way to do so which is quite amusing.
