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Just calling it right now Guinevere from nights of Guinevere has such anthy energy

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orv is fun because it says: the love was there, the love was so there that the world had to move around it. the love was there and nothing could stop it... god nothing could stop it.

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ORV Live Action Review

Skip if you want absolutely no spoilers about the upcoming ORV Live action

I just went to the North American premiere of the Orv la, and I just wanted to give my unbiased thoughts as much as I can, as someone so deeply obsessed with the novel.

This is what happens when a moderately good director doesn't read the source material of what he's adapting. Not as an accusation, and it's barely even a guess. He did not read the novel and only maybe read beyond what was adapted in the webtoon.

Why? Because if I was just looking at the beginning of ORV without any context, I would understand most of the changes that he made (excluding the changes to Yoo Sangah and Jung Heewon, that's straight up just misogyny, but I'll talk about that later)

Kim Dokja says at the beginning: I’m just a normal person, there's nothing special about me.

So why would he behave so collected? He should act more emotionally and average, trying to save others, and panic, which makes "sense”. He shouldn't have any special skills. He probably is just made to look cool to Aura Farm for nerds.

Kim Dokja says at the beginning: Yoo Joonghyuk is callous and cruel and does not care about the world around him.

So why would Kim Dokja, a normal person, like this type of character? He should like someone responsible and brave, like Jung Heewon, that makes "sense." he's probably just invested in Yoo Joonghyuk as bl bait.

Kim Dokja says at the beginning: TLS123 is the person who wrote a story of endless suffering that destroyed the world.

So why would Kim Dokja, a normal person, truly like this story? It makes "sense" that he would want a story where Yoo Joongyuk triumphs over everything and the earth is saved.

All of this makes sense if you don't understand that Kim Dokja is a fucking liar.

He is not normal, he's unremarkable, especially in the current world that he is living in; no one is “normal,” no one is “not special,” any of us could be Kim Dokja. Not because he’s just like us in all ways, but because, in the view of the world, there is nothing special about him; all he has is “ordinary trauma”.

You can even tell in the way that the director talks about the core themes and concepts of ORV, saying that the main appeal is that Kim Dokja knows things before they happen, is a fair statement for the first tenth of the novel, maybe, but very quickly the ways in which he’s changed the plot make it clear that he can’t know everything and he moreso just knows a lot about this world and can make fairly good guesses based on Yoo Joonghyuk’s 1863 regressions.

ORV at its core is truly about the connections that people can form, the ways that we communicate and the constant yearning that any person has to be understood. It's about the horror and wonder of being understood even slightly. It's about art as it pertains to this and how in a world where we can never fully know one another, the closest we can get is the art that we make and the stories we tell.

Just like mentioning understanding where Kim Dokja’s knowledge comes from, it's also clear that the director does not know the truth of ORV, he removes Yoo Joonghyuk knowing things that he should not, and makes no mention of Han Sooyoung in the movie. The changes in Lee Gilyoung also make it clear that the director has no idea about his canon home life and his sponsor.

I just want to make it clear… I am fine with adaptations changing things about their source material. If you look at my blog, you can tell I am the world’s biggest FMA 2003 fan, and the only thing that most people know about that is that the series changed a bunch of things from the source material. But if you do change things, they have to be with an understanding of the core concepts and themes of the piece, and they sure as hell better only improve the source material.

In this case, the director has written off the themes of the original novel as trite or pandering without even knowing why things have been set up the way that they were. And in the end, it leads to a cheap flash in the pan sort of story. Character arcs that are compelling enough to only barely support this movie, a plot that compels only to the end, and conflict that has been perfectly manufactured and solved by the end of the first movie. To be completely frank, I have no idea why there seems to be such a push by the director for a sequel when the first movie literally ends with the group having a group hug, celebrating, and all working together.

I truly think that when this director was changing things about the novel, he was expecting us to enjoy the changes. He was expecting that ORV is what it seems on the cover, an aura farming power fantasy that had no real depth. I truly think that he thought that we would appreciate that he was “adding” depth to a story that needed it to appeal to everyone. What he created was okay. If I saw this movie with no context, I would shrug my shoulders, say it was fine, it had some fun moments, and I would move on.

I have been obsessed with ORV for the last three years. I have made my own art and merch. I have picked over this story with a fine-tooth comb, and it has almost never disappointed me. I have never felt that all the effort and passion that I feel for it is undeserved. ORV attracts people who love stories, who love art, and rewards them for their passion by being a story worth said passion. I do not believe that this director loves art enough to even give ORV a chance, and do not think he created a story worth more than passing enjoyment.

The Female Characters

So yeah…

Wanting to give this movie the benefit of the doubt as someone who doesn’t believe that changes ruin adaptations, it’s been kinda fun trying to figure out why the changes that were made happened, but this part of everything just sucks.

When I first read ORV through the webtoon, I was really thrown off by the art style and kinda thought it was a trite power fantasy, but I wasn’t in the greatest place irl, so I kept on reading (kdj much). The first thing that caught my attention was KDJ booking it after almost meeting YJH. The second was Jung Heewon. Seeing a character that was the victim of sexual assault not only be shown as justified in her anger and violence, but also never boiled down to her revenge, laughing and joking with the group. It was one of the first times I had seen such a compelling dynamic female character in these types of stories, and as the story continued, the care and respect that Singsong has for their female characters only became more and more clear. From Yoo Sangah’s deliberate deconstruction of the pretty nice girl romantic lead character trope, to Han Sooyoung being arguably the most compelling character in the entire novel.

This adaptation has none of this respect for its female characters.

Yoo Sangah no longer stands up for the grandmother on the train and tries to save her. She cowers and tries to stop Kim Dokja from saving her. Jung Heewon no longer jokes and has fun with her companions; instead, she’s a stoic action hero (she does speak though I've seen a lot of rumors that she doesn't).

Yoo Sangah's is the characterization that really disappoints me, especially the way the actress and director seemed to speak about the changes. The changes were put in place to make you sangah be in their minds less of a stick in the mud. But why does Yoo Sangah wanting to save the grandmother make her a stick in the mud, while for Kim Dokja, it’s a mark of heroism? Why is Yoo Sangah now constantly saying that they shouldn’t put themselves in danger, when in literally the same part in the novel, she breaks into tears because she thinks she can’t help her companions fight. This Yoo Sangah, who lost her job and says it would probably be better for her if she just accepted Han Myungoh's advances, is a gross mischaracterization of the strength and rebellion that Yoo Sangah is a symbol of.

The Good

Nana, Ahn Hyo Seop, and some directing choices…

I know, right? A lot of this review has read as a bit of a hit piece for this person, but to be honest… when it came to his actual job of directing camera motion and actors, he didn’t do a terrible job. The highlight for me was the opening scene that Singsong mentioned in their interview. It wasn’t exactly how I would have done it, but it felt right and gave just the right tone to start the movie, to be honest when I saw the opening scene there was just a moment that I thought that he really might pull it off, that I might even like the changes and become the pariah of two fandoms. He didn’t. But I appreciate the artistry that the movie started with. I also really enjoyed one of the final shots of the “rooms” scenario where Kim Dokja is breaking the room tile, and you look up as the tile to the crowd of people. I liked it a lot, and it was a super compelling shot. I also thought that overall, the look of the movie wasn’t bad. Especially early in the novel, having a kinda, gamified look to the set, like an mmorpg, isn’t a bad take on it. I know that the CG really bothered some people, and there was a shot or two that were horrendous, but overall, it didn’t bother me.

Ahn Hyo Seop

Ahhh, he and Logan Lerman should really have a coffee together.

I don’t really agree with his characterization of Kim Dokja, but considering the scripted changes to the character, he really did a good job at portraying this funhouse mirror version of Kim Dokja. There were moments here and there where he was allowed to act somewhat cool-hearted, and that showed that he really could have pulled off this role, the way it was meant to be portrayed. But the best thing about his performance is really his physicality. More than any line he said or expression he made, the way he moved as Kim Dokja really convinced me.

Nana’s just a good actor and did a really nice job with her awakening scene, even if it wasn’t given the importance and care that it should have had.

In Conclusion

Overall, oddly, the ways in which this movie was good make it more of a letdown. This wasn’t someone unable to make a passable adaptation; this was most likely a person's ego preventing them from truly connecting to a story, and without that type of ardent connection between a writer and a reader there is no way to create an Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint that is worthy of it's original novel.

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Sorry but I’m on the night shift rn and orv thoughts are the only thing keeping me on this plane, but kdj and yjh are “companions in life and death”

They are accompanying each other in both life and death… if yoo joonghyuk gives up and stops regressing kim dokja would die. And if Kim dokja ever died so would yoo joonghyuk’s story. Literally without twsa kdj would be dead and if kdj was dead yjh would never be written

If one died so would the other

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They're crazy for each other.

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IT"S FINALLY DONE!!!!!!!!!!! Check out my animation of the title song from Nerdy Prudes Must Die, a horror musical from @teamstarkid You can watch the FULL stage show on their youtube channel!

https://youtu.be/PG3RDdyD_GQ?si=Rhxg6asT0MMoTTXd This clip features Jon Matteson as Richie, Will Branner as Max! The story and script is by Nick and Matt Lang, with music and lyrics by Jeff Blim!

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its just embarrassing when you make a fandom related post and it doesnt get any notes like okay. so no one want to play tuoys with me. no one wants to play with our little guys together. okay thats fine. yeah its cool... puts my hands in my jacket pockets. kicks a beer can that was on the side of the road a little

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me: but the true genius of fma 03 is in how alchemy is first presented as an essential view od the world, but turns out to be a tool of imperialism and dehumanisation much like many early 20th sciences—which is why the amestrian military is directly paralleled to the nazi regime! alchemy's equivalent exchange is really an attempt to justify the systems in place and the cruelties inflicted upon others to maintain amestris's status and prolong dante's life, and alchemy quite literally consumes lives to function! amestrian society's little comforts rely on that dehumanisation, whether it be of racial minorities such as ishbalans and liorites or of groups created by alchemy that are immediately deemed subhuman, like homonculi and chimera and armour-bound souls! the homonculi truly believe they are denied humanity and dont have souls when really they are manipulated to be told they're nothing but empty vessels. which is why lust and sloth's parallel arcs are so important, they both find a point to their existence outside of being homonculi but come to opposite conclusions—because fundamentally homonculi are people!!! lust's reclamation of her identity as an ishbalan woman is particularly crucial as lust has been quite literally objectified and turned into nothing but a vessel of desire, stripped of her name much like scar was, and that's the parallel between the two. the genocide has killed them, they are ghosts walking in its aftermath trying to figure what it means to be ishbalan *now*. lust's answer is to reclaim her identity as a human and ishbalan both, and die as such. but she can only so so once scar has showed the same way, once he becomes the man who crippled the amestrian military and finally gave his people a chance to escape and live without the military on their back. his murder of soldiers is righteous for 03! he is not a terrorist or a monster or a stupid man seeking vengeance, he is 100% correct on his analysis of amestrian power and military might and he ends his life on his own terms, making peace with his brother and handing the stone to al, because al and himself recognized one another as the dehumanized younger brothers who lost their lives and identities and have been defined as less than by alchemy! so really fma 03's true genius is in proclaiming strongly that scar is right and always has been—

the casual fma brotherhood fan who just wanted to know if 03 is worth a watch:

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oh my god its an utena reference

okay so i finally watched chainsaw man, its absolutely gorgeous, sometimes even i get tired of my intolerable hipster taste in anime, and it seemed highly likely to be the new gen i would actually enjoy

verdict -- pretty good, okay for now, have the feeling (like utena) its a show that needs to be watched in its entirety to really show its hand

but holy shit are there utena references, in the first ep of csm denji gets stabbed just like utena and look at the animation

even look at the types of swords and positions of the characters...

both of these stories deal with CSA and its clear that directorial choices were made influenced and referencing utena

CW: for depictions of CSA in the read more

both animes, specifically during scenes of sexual assault place the viewer in the perspective of the perpetrator and have very long drawn out scenes taking place before the assault.

It is also during said assault that the perpetrator begins mooing during her speech, almost definitely a reference to the famous cowbell episode where nanami does the same thing

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Orv thesis statement basically

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Am I right back where I started fourteen years ago?

CW flashing images

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so going on ao3 yesterday and it being kdj's birthday... is his birthday international fanworks day? Does mr reader himself intentionally have his birthday on the same day celebrating people who love stories?

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So since my birthday is a few days after kdj’s I thought I’d give myself a section of the novel formatted and printed!

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Orv Live Action took away his sword rights 😔

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[ID: Sketch of Yoo Joonghyuk with his hand on his hip and holding a gun up. He's wearing a t shirt that says "I never learned gun safety (exempt from the south korean military draft) and I'm not about to start now" in pink sparkle font. He smirks. /end ID]

i dont care how bad the movie is i need to see live action yoo joonghyuk fumbling a gun NOW!!!

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i will never be over this

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this is the funniest fucking thing to ever happen why does yoo joonghyuk have a glock. breaking the sky gun technique, shoot at the fucking sun.