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tinybatmaster
Reviews
Romantic Killer (2022)
I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this
Okay, the first episode is a bit strange. The premise is strange. But I'd be lying if I said I didn't enjoy watching this show immensely. I feel like the message (that is only really clear closer to the end of the season) was nice, even if the series is a bit cheesy. It's good cheesy. Usually I'm not big on the character trope the heroine portrays, but I loved watching her. The animation is very pleasing, while still being funny at times. There were quite a few times I laughed out loud at the dialogue and animation. The series also allows itself to be wholesome when it needs to be! It's a nice satire of romance anime tropes, while still managing to be more than that. I definitely recommend this one for anyone familiar with romance anime (especially if you, like me, were once obsessed with trashy harem anime as a tween).
A California Christmas (2020)
It's weird that the actors are married but the characters don't have any chemistry
When we saw that the two leads had the same last name, we immediately assumed it was because the actors were siblings forced into an uncomfortable role. But no. The characters have almost no scenes where it's believable that they would like each other. The female lead threatens two different people with a shotgun. The justification for this is that her dad and fiancé died, which is to be expected at this point from a romantic Christmas story (though the fact that it's Christmas doesn't seem to matter at all, almost like they wrote a regular romance but then quickly decided to mention Christmas once or twice for marketing reasons). She also is struggling to run a ranch in wine country, despite apparently having incredible wine that she just chooses not to sell for... whatever reason, something about her dead dad and dead fiancé. She refuses to do anything that would make her family money, despite having a mother dying of cancer and a young sister who relies on her, all because her dad and fiancé died. Did I mention that her fiancé and dad died? Don't worry, this movie won't let you forget because it's constantly used to excuse her mean and selfish behaviors.
The male lead is average, but not to a necessarily offensive degree. He's just the "rich man comes to the country and falls in love" trope through and through. There's really not much to say about him other than the fact that we all could not ever remember his name.
The one saving grace of this movie is Manny, the ranch hand the male lead is pretending to be, and Leo, the male leads driver. The two spend their time together, Leo helping Manny realize he has a talent with wine and bringing an endearing sophistication to the table, and Manny showing Leo the joys of letting loose. They had much more chemistry than the leads and we were rooting for them to fall in love the entire time. Though they never did, they are absolutely the silver lining of this movie and the only reason I am giving this 5 stars instead of 3.
Overall, this movie is ok. The leads are bearable enough, some of the lesser side characters are unmemorable but fine, and Leo and Manny own my heart.