Eye Love You (Netflix)

Yee Siyeon: Yuri Motomiya (Fumi Nikaido), the CEO of a chocolate shop has the telepathic ability to hear other people’s thoughts. She is a master salesperson who literally knows what her customers want and is the perfect manager who gently reminds her staff when the due date is when they mistakenly believe otherwise. This ability isn’t all daisies and rainbows, however. She gets hurt after listening to malicious thoughts, and she struggles in the dating front. But one day, she meets Yoon Teo (Chae Jong-hyeop), a Korean student who came to Japan to study. All of his thoughts were in Korean. The two people share nothing in common —not nationality, line of work, or personality—barring their love of Korean food. Teo who delivers food as a side gig leaves a note for Yuri that says, “This is a secret, but the bibimbap at the place called Ondol Sikdang is better.” This entices Yuri who has a love of food that is second to none—so much so that she gets irritable when she isn’t fed on time. When Yuri is served buchimgae, rabokki, japchae, and soondubujjigae that anyone would shamelessly salivate over, Yuri’s belief that Teo is the god of food doesn’t seem so exaggerated after all. “I feel comfortable and happy around him because I don’t know his deepest thoughts.” Teo, who thinks in Korean, is an enigma to Yuri, who is exhausted from the constant awareness of everyone’s thoughts, and at the same time, is someone whom she can love while completely staying immersed in her own emotions. Teo, who can quickly sense how people are feeling, constantly romances and dazzles Yuri who cannot help but get butterflies in her stomach. This romance combines Korean food and superpowers to “Power up!” its viewers—sweet like chocolate, but hearty and substantial like a warm meal.

Between Two Worlds

Jeong Seohui (Cinema Journalist): The incident happens not in “two worlds” but “in between” them. Recently divorced journalist Marianne (Juliette Binoche) visits a port city where she has no ties. She hunts for a job, posing as a recently divorced homemaker of 23 years. She assumes the guise of a temporary laborer to delve into her new investigative piece on the precarious state of the most marginalized working class. When the consultant, recognizing Marianne as a well-known writer, confronts her, Marianne replies, "This story is stronger than doubt." She firmly believes that she is fighting for the right cause in her reportage. Marianne begins the grueling task of cleaning the public restrooms and the ferry for minimum wage, persevering through the challenging hours, when friendship blossoms in the most unexpected way. Chrystèle (Hélène Lambert), and Marilou (Léa Carne), who lived in the “world” that Marianne stepped into with her strong sense of calling behind her, accepted Marianne as one of them and their friend. But Marianne scrubs the toilets with only one foot in this world while the other is planted in her own. She is only there temporarily, and undercover, assuming a false role. Is her conversation with Chrystèle that she typed out, really the voice of the people, then? Marianne believed there was no room for guilt in the face of literature. However, she couldn’t shake off the sense of irony that she was becoming more "fake" as she grew more comfortable playing her role in "their world." Marianne starts to have the risky hope of remaining friends with her “sources,” and ends up telling Chrystèle and Marilou that should like to talk candidly about their lives. The tears that Marianne sheds aren’t out of repentance, but from the realization that if she indeed was purely a writer, then her book was nothing but a superficial echo that could never quite reach either of the “two worlds.” But she isn’t solely a writer when she hangs her head under the weight of the close connections that she formed before completing her task as a writer. The “truth” of Marianne’s identity is revealed not by her confession, but in the worst way possible—being caught—but her book contributed to improving the lives of the cleaning crew. When Chrystèle and Marilou pelts Marianne with “affronts” she feels a complex, gaping gap instead of getting hurt. If Between Two Worlds is boiled down to the clash between elitism and being true to oneself, then the only thing left standing is the rigid social class. The “two worlds” that could have stayed where they were forever overlapped somehow, and sparks flew where they met. These sparks cannot be measured from either one side. The event occurred somewhere “between” them.

TOMOO - “Present” 

Hwang Sunup (Music Critic): As an avid follower of the Japanese music scene, I tend to keep a close eye on the Japanese music show Kanjem Kanzennen Show (関ジャム 完全燃SHOW) yearly best. Three panelists including Junji Ishiwatari of the alternative rock band SUPERCAR and one of the most sought-after producers Koichi Tsutaya each introduce 10 of their favorite songs of the year. It is an influential show that serves as a path to success for new artists, and a window into understanding the local trends.

TOMOO who landed high on two of the lists in the 2023 wrap-up episode that aired early this year became short-listed to be the new rising star of 2024. She became a sensation on social media immediately after the show, her album streaming soared, and people scrambled to get last minute tickets to her concert. It was only natural that she was booked for more live events and added to music festival lineups. This sudden popularity is well-supported by her bulletproof music skills that she has honed for a long time.

Just like Gen Hoshino who endeavored to combine J-pop and black music a few years ago with the likes of YELLOW DANCER (2015) and POP VIRUS (2018), TOMOO’s first studio album entitled TWO MOON (2023) gently, and seamlessly superimposes this rhythmical musical heritage over Japanese sensibilities. The lyrics that stem from unique ideas don’t disappoint either. They are best illustrated in the upper tune number “Super Ball,” which talks about how true strength isn’t abrasive ostentation, but gentle tolerance; and “Grapefruit Moon,” which sings about how you are able to absorb more when you feel a thirst for something. When you listen to these works, you’ll soon realize that opportunity comes to those who are prepared.

TOMOO’s latest work entitled “Present” that came about amid the sudden rise in her popularity, effectively highlights her strengths as a musician. The song is largely your pleasing-to-the-masses pop music, but with a complex structure and rapid shifts in the instrumentals and chorus in every measure. It tells us that her identity that she has been cultivating since 2016 is near completion. The lyrics are compelling. We all have one experience or other picking out a gift for a love interest, fretting over whether they would like it or not. This ubiquitous experience becomes the motif of the song that sings about how the connection between two people is held together not by objects but by how much they care for each other. The firm, stable quality of the vocals that stay comfortably low-pitched adds to this sentimental letter of a song. TOMOO successfully harnessed her deep voice that was once criticized by people in the industry, which could serve as a guide to many singer-songwriters today. 2024 is the year of TOMOO.

All the Beauty in the World: The Metropolitan Museum of Art and Me by Patrick Bringley

Kim Boksung (Writer): When life grows unpredictable and we start to feel down, as has been the case for so many of us in recent years, it’s often our instinct to reach for a book of fiction that can whisk us away to a fantasy world and heal our wounds. How unexpected, then, that a memoir about the loss of a family member and spending 10 years in near silence to reflect on the experience should prove so comforting.

All the Beauty in the World: The Metropolitan Museum of Art and Me, by former Met guard Patrick Bringley, is ostensibly about the famous New York museum and the many pieces of art it holds, but his spontaneous decision to drop his magazine job and take up a post surrounded by painstakingly crafted beauty is really just a framework for the author to reflect on life, from the depths of sadness in vibrant paintings to the joy of hearing stories from millions of tourists and a team of colorful coworkers in a seemingly mundane daily routine.

What the book lacks in a plot, it makes up for with careful research, the odd amusing anecdote, and above all, a quiet meditation on how “what might be excruciating if suffered for an hour or two is oddly easy to bear in large doses.” While Bringley’s memoir is the kind of work that can help you both work through and move on from your own troubles, those seeking just the lighter side can also visit his website and browse the beautiful works directly that he describes in greater detail across so many pages.