Yobi is a mythical fox living in the forest with some shipwrecked aliens. In Korean folklore there are stories about foxes with nine tails that can transform in order to lure in their prey - humans. However, Yobi only has five tails and isn’t so much into the killing of humans. She is however, still hunted by the fox hunters. One day one of the aliens she lives with gets captured by some humans in a village near the forest. Yobi decides to transform into a human and attend the school originally in hope to free her friend but becomes interested in understanding humans more after meeting Geum Yee, a student there. However, can she survive with dark forces at play and the fox hunter hot on her trail.

These days Koreans are out sourced by Japan and the US to work on animations but I rarely get the chance to see a animation feature from a Korean studio. Yobi, the five-tailed fox is really aesthetically impressive with it’s watercolored painted backgrounds, fluid 2D animation and stunning 3D work. The score too is worthy of mention adding immensely to the atmosphere. The story was enjoyable and moving at times. Let’s hope Korean studios can push out feature animations more regularly.

The rain is back. I’m sat in my room under my skylight as a cold, empty light descends to touch upon my hands and reflect into my eyes. I too feel cold and empty as I sit here with nothing to do but wait for a visa. While waiting like this with nothing to do, I sympathize with the teenagers who must have nothing to do all day, everyday. It’s not like they have big parks they can just stroll down to or even a place to hang out. If they want to do anything fun it costs money. Some blame this as the reason that they turn to crime or why they sit indoors playing videogames all day. In my youthful days it was different because it cost next to nothing to join clubs, we were sporty and always had something to do. Everyday after school we’d run home, get changed, grab a bit and then we’d head outdoors and play football against foreigners, race on our bikes, play in the play parks and do anything we could get away with. However these days kids don’t get what we had. They have no play parks or mediocre ones at best. Why? Because their parents sue the council every time their kid gets hurt failing off a swing. The kid just gets on with it but the parent whose been watching the TV with compensation ad, after compensation ad stating “no win, no fee” they think “why not? If I don’t get anything out of this it’s no loss.” So the council decides to take away the parks so no one can get hurt and sue leaving the kids with nothing. If they want to be sporty then they have to pay a fair amount for it these days as costs continue to rise.
Also I think we need danger when we are younger. We know we might get hurt but it’s all part of the fun. In fact when I was younger we used to try to hurt each other and ourselves. It was fun and exciting. We’d build insane ramps to ride over, jump off swings in mid-flight facing a concrete landing pad below, slide down wet hills in a black bin bag and so on. Kids here just don’t do that any more.
There’s way more too it than what I’m saying (young pregnancy, unemployment etc.) but I really worry for the future generations, I’m worried how they will grow up and what they will become. I hope the government does something for our youth before the crime rate spirals further out of control and children miss out on a great youth.

This is a film from 1999. Actually, I watched it a long time ago but revisited it last night. Some thugs, who are haunted by their pasts, are bored one night and decide to attack a gas station. After a robbery they go back again but the boss has hid the cash. So instead of just leaving it and going elsewhere for money, the thugs stay for the night and decide to work at the station. Their plan is interrupted by some high school thugs who are connected higher up and a short tempered delivery boy who is part of a large gang. Can our protagonists survive the night?
imdb - Cine21

I actually really like this film. It’s a bit silly in parts but it’s simple humour, action scenes and developments of the hostages in the flat all kept me interested. For me this is a feel good film: watching some thugs realise their past has messed them up and maybe they can go onto better things if they actually bothered to try.

I’ve been oddly busy at home. Busy in a way that I haven’t got much to show for it but busy enough not to be dying of boredom. Actually, I guess these days it’s pretty hard to feel bored. I mean I always have something to do: I have to keep on top of my Korean, practice design since I have some work coming up; design for fun because I’m not doing enough of that recently; exercise for the same reason; and finally organize the mess of stuff I’ve gathered over the past year or so whether it be digital or material.

Anyway, hopefully this weekend I’ll be back on my way to South Korea. I’m just waiting for my passport to come back from the embassy. It’s going to be a different life from what I had there before but it’s no doubt going to be exciting nevertheless.