Well first logged movie of 2026 and… I could have done better
I planned on marathoning this franchise some years ago, as I remember loving the first half in my early twenties years and somehow never seen the later half. But a few things happened including the fact I was missing a few of the movies I knew I owned, and those were my favorites! But years have passed, I replaced the copies and the ones I haven’t seen are on Tubi so let’s give this franchise another shot!
Man I know I loved this first movie back in the day, and just liked it enough the last time I saw it, as I seemed to rate it three and a half stars then. But something changed this time, and I realized how slow this really is! Plus how restrained it seems! Japanese horror can be so bizarre and if you read the works of Junji Ito, those can be as well! But this doesn’t get as bizarre as it should be, some moments but I remember most of the sequels embrace the weirdness way more!
Also this time I’m having trouble with the story structure. Our main character doesn’t feel like she gets enough screen time and doesn’t feel as developed when she finally meets Tomie, feels like most of the time is focused on her therapist, the detective on Tomie’s case (really was there for exposition but he seemed like he had potential) and her boyfriend, who was cheating on her but man even that subplot felt underutilized!
What keeps my rating from falling too low is most of the horror stuff we get is kind of cool. Some good kills (that umbrella one!), Miho Kanno shines as the title character, really wish we got more of her. And man, Robbie’s Song by World Famous is a great tune to play in here, setting a great atmosphere from the start! Wish they used it in the other movies!
Just disappointed that I enjoyed this less this time around, and especially since this is my first movie this year! Hope this isn’t a bad omen! I at least know better movies in this franchise are in store! And maybe I’ll learn to enjoy it again in the future, I can only hope.
Well first logged movie of 2026 and… I could have done better
I planned on marathoning this franchise some years ago, as I remember loving the first half in my early twenties years and somehow never seen the later half. But a few things happened including the fact I was missing a few of the movies I knew I owned, and those were my favorites! But years have passed, I replaced the copies and the ones I haven’t seen are on Tubi so let’s give this franchise another shot!
Man I know I loved this first movie back in the day, and just liked it enough the last time I saw it, as I seemed to rate it three and a half stars then. But something changed this time, and I realized how slow this really is! Plus how restrained it seems! Japanese horror can be so bizarre and if you read the works of Junji Ito, those can be as well! But this doesn’t get as bizarre as it should be, some moments but I remember most of the sequels embrace the weirdness way more!
Also this time I’m having trouble with the story structure. Our main character doesn’t feel like she gets enough screen time and doesn’t feel as developed when she finally meets Tomie, feels like most of the time is focused on her therapist, the detective on Tomie’s case (really was there for exposition but he seemed like he had potential) and her boyfriend, who was cheating on her but man even that subplot felt underutilized!
What keeps my rating from falling too low is most of the horror stuff we get is kind of cool. Some good kills (that umbrella one!), Miho Kanno shines as the title character, really wish we got more of her. And man, Robbie’s Song by World Famous is a great tune to play in here, setting a great atmosphere from the start! Wish they used it in the other movies!
Just disappointed that I enjoyed this less this time around, and especially since this is my first movie this year! Hope this isn’t a bad omen! I at least know better movies in this franchise are in store! And maybe I’ll learn to enjoy it again in the future, I can only hope.
