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I do wish it had more romance and more passion and a better chemistry with the leads though. There were some changes but I liked some of them (like the end). I had to watch the end again just because. Not that it was fantastic, it wasn't at all but I was just so happy they changed the ending it didn't even bother me that it was like a minute long and I wanted a more finished thorough ending.
If I hadn't seen the anime I might have been more lost or more disappointed I don't know but you can't pack a whole series into one movie without losing something. Also the actors didn't really look much like the characters from the series either but they were cute. I guess they felt they had to tone it down a bit. George, yeah left something to be desired but I think some of that was because they left out all the sex and touchy feely parts. The anime Georgie was a poker face and I was never sure what he was thinking since he never said how he felt. In the movie I thought he expressed his feeling fairly well considering they never had sex in the movie. I will be watching it again.
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This review may contain spoilers
I was extremely disappointed in this movie. Ai Yazawa is one of my favorite mangakas and her work has revolutionized shoujo manga as a whole, she focuses on characters and gives them a multi-dimensional take that creates complex relationships and realistic problematics. This movie took all of that away. They made a bland romantic comedy out of a complex and interesting story. By changing the ending, they let her settle with the person that Yazawa spent 5 volumes explaining in detail why she wasn't supposed to end with. They were bad for each other, very bad, and no matter how much they tried, they just were not good as a couple. This was never meant to be a cutesy romantic comedy, that's not what Yazawa writes, this was meant to be a manga about extremely different people with very complex walks of life coming to age and facing what lies ahead of high school. Yes, there is romance, but not in a fairy-tale happy-ending kind of way. Not to mention the aesthetic is way off and I saw more fashion in Runway Beat than I saw in this movie (I've seen cosplayers doing better renditions of that blue dress). I also believe the casting choices were very weird, casting an actor with the range of Yususke Yamamoto for a character that is extremely low-key and Osamu Mukai for a character that should be excessively over the top, I don’t know how that happened. I can only appreciate Shunji's performance as Isabella, who is my favorite character in the manga, and who should have had more time to develop herself as a transgender woman facing an unaccepting world, but Shunji did the best he could under the circumstances. I can understand that people who have never read Ai Yazawa could have enjoyed this, but I sincerely can’t look past what they did with a story that was so well written. Especially, after the NANA movies were so well-done, I was really expecting more. If you have read the manga and liked it, I recommend you watch this movie with a punching bag beside you. If you haven’t read the manga and loved this movie, the manga is probably not for you. Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
I found this movie by accident because I had nothing to watch, and what can I say? I really like this! I also read the manga version, the ending on the movie is so much better! I don't want to spoiler anyone but for those who read the manga and get disappointed, I highly recommend you to watch this one!If I'm not mistaken It's about a genius fashion designer who stumbled upon a pretty girl who he sees as "diamond in the rough" but her mother didn't support her to be a model because her mother thinks it didn't have a nice career or something like that. Afterward, there is romance happening, the girl's mother started to support her and so on.
The background, the clothes and everything in this movie are so on point! I remembered wanting to have a basement that looks like their "nest", SO GORGEOUS!
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New Concept To The Same Old Idea
I never read the manga and I'm not familiar with any of the cast, so this review is based on everything being new to me as the viewer.LIKES:
The production and cinematography were both great. I loved the vibrancy and colour palette.
The story concept of art through fashion in a coming of age, school to work theme.
I found the acting of the FL initially a bit over the top (made me think the character was a moron) but she grew on me and I liked her more mid way.
The music was okay, nothing annoying but also nothing stood out.
DISLIKES:
The director failed during some moments with timing, having the FL taking too much time for reactions/actions.
The transformation from high school no-body to beautiful working woman, wasn't as impactful, even though the make-up was pretty.
The supporting characters storylines needed more development, I wanted more storyline from the Transgender/Cross-dresser (Isabelle?).
The high school boy love story could've been left out completely or definitely reduced, since the writer seemed to abruptly conclude it.
There were some red flag moments too, however I understood it was mostly to teach a lesson for the FL.
The family portions of the drama were very choppy, which caused them to loose their impact.
Some time should've been used for showing FL trials and becoming an adult between home and finding work. It all happened too fast.
OVERALL:
The conclusion of the movie was acceptable for the FL and ML, but not for the other supporting characters. It was an easy watch, with not much heartache or drama as the viewer. I would watch it again and recommend it.
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Plot/story: I really liked the manga but I knew not to have high expectations for the movie. The story was good considering that it’s from a manga that was multiple chapters. I think it grasp the overall story :) Of course it is somewhat different from the manga.
Acting/Cast: I think the acting was good, I’m not on to be really picky cause I watch a lot of cliché, romance movies. Though I would have loved more chemistry between the main leads.
Music: It isn’t memorable since I can’t remember any of the music.
Overall, I enjoyed the movie and especially loved the ending because it’s what everyone (I think hopeless romantics) would have wanted.
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Paradise Kiss is the creation of Ai Ayazawa, one of my favorite mangaka who happens to be the same author of Nana. (I just HAD to include that here.)
This movie made me nod my head and say, "Okay, that was good... now next please." It wasn't something special compared to reading the manga. It was so different I ended up getting disappointed and almost pissed off, but I ended up with a complacent feeling thanks to Mukai Osamu who acted as George just because he was so darn hot and also for Keiko Kitagawa as Yukari just because she was such a pretty model.
As for character comparisons, Miwako was supposed to be small! But they used a taller actress for her which was sad because she was a key character too. There is also Arashi who is Miwako's boyfriend. He didn't make much impact here compared in the manga where he was such a laid back guy not the stiff one he portrayed in the movie, then Hiroyuki also ruined it for me. He was supposed to be the-clean-cut-looking-guy, with brunette hair and a killer smile, but they made him sport a blondish hair which made him look like gangster no matter how they made him sport decent looking clothes.
After all this character rant, Isabella finally comes in to the rescue! They have chosen Shunji Igarashi to act as Isabelle. I can't believe they could make him into such a beautiful transvestite. This was mostly the high light of my movie watching along with Yukari/Caroline's cat walk and George's created dress.
Over all it was a fine movie, but not one I would be recommending dearly.
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There's not really any backstory for most of the characters, so some of the scenes have a bit different context than in the book. The ending was also changed from the manga.
Besides that, its a pretty faithful adaptation.It's a fun watch for fans and for people just interested in fashion.
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Je conseille «Paradise Kiss» à tous ceux voulant regarder une romance légère. Avec des personnages intéressants et tous très différents les uns des autres, son exploration de la mode et de la création de celle-ci, une belle leçon de vie, la chose que je regrette la plus, est que ça ne soit qu'un film, et non un drama, où on aurait pu avoir le temps de mieux connaître chacun des personnages. J'ai vu ce film quelques fois, et pourtant, je n'ai pas hésité à le revoir encore, et ce fut un plaisir !
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Avis Complet:
https://lamagiedeshistoires.wordpress.com/2024/02/27/fevrier-2024-en-rafale-dramas-films/
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