Laughing Under the Clouds (2018)

This is a live action Jmovie based on a manga. I haven't read the source material so I can't say how faithful of an adaptation this is but I really liked it. The special effects were incredible, the sound mixing honestly outta this world, the music was fantastic... and the themes right up my alley: friendship, brotherhood and family.

It's a story of three brothers who live together in an ancient temple in a village in the country. And, well, there's also this scary supernatural being that might destroy the world if not sealed. But it's mainly about these three brothers. And they love each other dearly. Yeah, the two younger ones are mightily frustrated with their big brother because Tenka is always fooling around and he can't take anything seriously - and he's also a super awesome martial arts master, unbeatable and determined to always protect everyone, sure, there's that.

I loved Fukushi Sota as Tenka. I wish the story delved deeper into his relationship with the other five family descendants, his best friends from way back when, before Tenka left them to take care of his little brothers after their parents were murdered. Alas. It feels like there's a whole another story there, left untold. Too bad...

Overall, a great movie with no romance and all the brotherly love one could wish for.

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I am not typically into this style of movie or drama (ROM COM and WUXIA are more my line). But Seeing the cast I had to at least give it a try! I was glad I did. Lets begin shall we?

Music: Totally great soundtrack to this, they took modern music and blended it with cultural and ancient sounds and seriously nailed it.

Cast: Ok this is where it becomes tricky a bit. Fukushi Sota, Nakayama Yuma, Kiriyama Renn, and even Furukawa Yuki. You would think with the works they have done they would not mesh well. And you would be wrong. They each embodied the person they played very well. Even Wakayama Kirato was amazing with his cute little slingshot.
On a personal note... Sota's smile got a little creepy, and Renn's aura made me surely think he has/had a crush on Tenka ( Sota)

Storyline: I like how they took this to a different level. The Kumo, and the Guardians have to defeat and kill or seal the Orochi which rises every 300 years to destroy everything. Due to it's hatred of humans who only feared it and it was handled wrong. Orochi is guarded (quite awfully so) by the Fuma who killed The Kumo's parents and scarred Tenka who protected his brothers who were toddler and infant at that time. He was captain of the guardians but left to become the family those boys needed, but continued to protect their town. Bad guys, vessels, cults, hero's guardians and backstories. And the fighting was realistic not too extra. I did have to laugh everytime Takamine ( played by Daito Shunsuke) brought out his weapon. Only because it was comically large. Truly a BFS. And they didn't stick with swords or knives, they used long swords, abnormally big kunai, the BFS dual pistols, two sticks, a slingshot and our Tenka and his cute fan. It was nice to have the assortment. Nothing is more boring then non stop sword fights. Finding out why Tenka is so aloof and giggly, really heartbreaking but makes him in my eyes as i hope yours, much more a hero than just the Kumo.

Overall: The only thing I wish is they had showed maybe a few years later at the end and how the younger brothers grow in the roles they now have. And come on I truly think Sosei even had a thing for Tenka. The tension and flirting was there.

Rewatch: YES PLEASE!!!!

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