Learn Hardcore Indonesian: Banyak penggemar menulis ulasan jujur tentang film romansa itu. - Many fans write honest reviews of that romance movie.

Penggemar banyak is not used in this sense. If you hear penggemar banyak, it sounds wrong, or in special contexts it might be parsed differently (e.g. penggemar banyak film = fans of many films, where banyak goes with film, not penggemar).

For "many fans", keep banyak before the noun: banyak penggemar.

Does banyak penggemar mean “many fans” or “a lot of the fans”? Is it specific or general?

Banyak penggemar by itself is not specific; it usually means "many fans" in a general sense.

Banyak penggemar menulis… = Many fans wrote/write…

If you want "many of the fans (from a known group)", you normally add more structure:

Banyak dari para penggemar menulis…
= Many of the fans wrote…

If you want to name which fans:

Banyak penggemar film itu menulis…
= Many fans of that film wrote…

So banyak penggemar alone is closer to "many fans" than "many of the fans".

What is the difference between banyak penggemar and para penggemar?

banyak penggemar = many fans
- Focus on quantity (there are a lot of them).
para penggemar = the fans (as a plural group)
- Focus on the group, usually understood as plural and often specific. It doesn’t say how many.

Compare:

Banyak penggemar menulis…
= Many fans wrote/write… (emphasizes "many")
Para penggemar menulis…
= The fans wrote/write… (emphasizes the fans as a group)

You can also say:

Banyak dari para penggemar menulis…
= Many of the fans wrote…

Why is there no word for “the” or “a” in banyak penggemar or ulasan jujur?

Indonesian has no articles like English a / an / the. Nouns are neutral; context tells you whether they are definite or indefinite, singular or plural.

penggemar can be a fan, the fan, or fans.
ulasan can be a review, the review, or reviews.

In your sentence:

Banyak penggemar menulis ulasan jujur…

can be translated as:

Many fans wrote honest reviews…
Many fans wrote an honest review…
Many fans are writing honest reviews…

English forces a choice; Indonesian leaves it to context.

How do we know if this sentence is past, present, or future? Could it mean “wrote” or “are writing”?

Indonesian verbs usually do not mark tense. Menulis itself is neutral; time is understood from context or added time words.

Your sentence can be read as:

Many fans write honest reviews… (habitual)
Many fans are writing honest reviews… (present continuous, if context says so)
Many fans wrote honest reviews… (past, if the surrounding context is past)

To be explicit:

Past:
- Banyak penggemar sudah menulis ulasan jujur… (have already written)
- Banyak penggemar tadi menulis ulasan jujur… (earlier / just now)
Present continuous:
- Banyak penggemar sedang menulis ulasan jujur… (are in the process of writing)
Future:
- Banyak penggemar akan menulis ulasan jujur… (will write)

Without such markers, the tense remains flexible.

What is the difference between menulis and menuliskan here? Could we say Banyak penggemar menuliskan ulasan jujur…?

Both come from the root tulis (write):

menulis = to write (neutral, most common)
menuliskan = to write (something) for someone / to write something down; often adds a nuance of putting into written form or doing it for someone’s benefit.

In your sentence:

Banyak penggemar menulis ulasan jujur…
is the most natural and common wording.
Banyak penggemar menuliskan ulasan jujur…
is grammatically possible, but can sound heavier or more formal, like "write down / provide honest reviews".

For online reviews, menulis ulasan is what you usually use.

Is ulasan jujur “honest reviews” or “reviews written honestly”? What exactly does jujur modify?

Literally, ulasan jujur = "honest reviews".
Here jujur functions like an adjective describing the noun ulasan.

So the focus is that the reviews are honest, not directly that the writing action is honest.

If you want to clearly modify the verb (how they write), you can say:

Banyak penggemar menulis ulasan dengan jujur.
Banyak penggemar menulis ulasan secara jujur.

These emphasize writing in an honest way. In context, ulasan jujur and menulis dengan jujur can overlap in meaning, but grammatically they’re a bit different.

What is the difference between ulasan jujur and ulasan yang jujur?

Both are correct and mean "honest reviews", but the style and nuance differ:

ulasan jujur
- compact noun + adjective
- sounds natural and smooth, especially in written Indonesian, headlines, and general descriptions.
ulasan yang jujur
- uses yang, like a small relative clause: "reviews which are honest"
- can sound a bit more emphatic or contrastive, often when you want to clearly distinguish these reviews from others.

Example:

Saya suka ulasan jujur.
Saya suka ulasan yang jujur.

Both are fine; the second can feel a bit more explicit. In your sentence, ulasan jujur is simpler and very natural.

What does penggemar literally mean? Is it always “fans”?

The base word is gemar, meaning "to be fond of / to like (a lot)":

Dia gemar membaca. = He/She is fond of reading.

With pe- + -ar, you get penggemar, literally "someone who likes (something)" → "fan / enthusiast".

Examples:

penggemar musik = music fan
penggemar sepak bola = football fan
penggemar kopi = coffee lover

So penggemar is usually translated as "fan" or "enthusiast", depending on context.

Could we say banyak fans instead of banyak penggemar?

Yes. Indonesian often uses the loanword fans:

Banyak fans menulis ulasan jujur…

Difference:

penggemar
- neutral, standard Indonesian
- slightly more formal or textbook‑like
fans
- informal, everyday, common in pop culture: fans K‑pop, fans klub ini, etc.

In a neutral example sentence, penggemar is the more standard choice, but in real conversation banyak fans is very natural.

What does tentang mean exactly? Could we use mengenai or soal instead?

Tentang means "about / regarding / concerning". It introduces the topic:

berbicara tentang film = talk about the film
buku tentang sejarah = a book about history

In your sentence, you can usually replace tentang with:

mengenai = regarding / concerning
- slightly more formal, but very common
- …ulasan jujur mengenai film romansa itu.
soal = about / regarding (literally "a matter / issue of")
- more informal or conversational
- …ulasan jujur soal film romansa itu.

All three work here; tentang is the most neutral and learner‑friendly.

Why is itu placed at the end of film romansa itu? Does it mean “that romance film” or “the romance film”?

In Indonesian, demonstratives usually come after the noun:

film itu = that film / the film
buku ini = this book / the book

So:

film romansa itu
literally "romance film that" → "that romance film" or "the romance film".

Itu makes the noun phrase definite: a specific film that both speaker and listener can identify (e.g. one mentioned earlier).

Without itu:

film romansa
= a romance film / romance films in general (not clearly specific).

In translation, itu can be "that" or "the", depending on English context, but Indonesian just uses itu.

Is there any difference in meaning if we remove itu and just say …tentang film romansa?

Yes:

…tentang film romansa itu.
= about that particular romance film / the romance film (already known from context)
…tentang film romansa.
= about a romance film / about romance films in general (not clearly a specific one)

So itu adds specificity and definiteness to film romansa.

What is the difference between film romansa and film romantis?

Both are understood, but they have slightly different flavors:

film romansa
- romansa = romance (a noun, from "romance")
- often used to refer to the genre "romance film".
film romantis
- romantis = romantic (adjective)
- means "a romantic film"; often used both for the genre and for any film that feels romantic.

Examples:

Dia suka film romantis. = She/He likes romantic movies.
Film itu termasuk film romansa. = That film belongs to the romance genre.

In everyday speech, film romantis is more frequent, but film romansa itu clearly means "that romance film" and is perfectly understandable.