This review may contain spoilers
This is probably the most sickly sweet movie I have EVER seen... and I really want to unwatch it just so I can watch it all over again. I was hesitant to watch this especially since it was 2 hours long but once I saw Haruma Miura played in it, I knew I *HAD* to watch it, he was such a beautiful actor (I don't think there was anything he couldn't do).I loved everything about this movie because of it's complete uniqueness. Tell me I'm wrong. (I'm not, btw)
The romance in this movie was more like side story to the movie even though it was a main thing. Lol I freaking LOVED how this movie went. I'm so used to seeing the outcast getting bullied and pushed around but here, while they weren't nice to her, they really just avoided her. When they did give her a chance, I'm glad more people saw the good rather than to stick up their noses. I really really realllyyyyyy loved the friendship between her, Chizuru, and Ayane. Dude, their friendship is freaking GOALS! If I can't have a friendship like that, I don't want it. The movie mostly focused around their friendship which I found interesting and new.... fresh, actually. I wish more movies did like this.
And can we talk about how they managed to make the perfect budding of romance and friendship without a single hug or kiss? That is what made me shocked the most. We all know every movie maker is like "okay this HAS to happen to make the movie worth watching" meanwhile the writers for this movie were like "lol bet." They deserve a standing ovation. They did what hasn't been done before........... Okay okay, I'm sure it has been done before and many times, I'm sure. But what matters here is that I haven't seen it. This was my first and I couldn't have picked a better first than this one. Lol
The characters. THE!! CHARACTERS!!!!! There was a little bit of everything here. The popular guy, the outcast, the sporty girls, the popular girls, the broody guy, the hyper one, the silly teacher -- just... everything was here. How in the hell did they manage all these characters with no clashing? eogheohgoher My inner fangirl is activated. Lol This whole movie is the prime example of "don't judge a book by it's cover." More people need to be like this.
I want to keep talking about this movie but I know if I do, I'll keep giving more away and I don't want to do that, but I do hope more people watch this movie.
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What an Innocent Love Story
One thing that's definitely gone over-saturated in the medium is how over-the-top and over-dramatic everything is acted out. Sue, it makes for bugger stakes, larger-than-life storytelling, however, in today's world, there is so much like that's it's daring to stumble across an unassuming, unadulterated adaptation like Kimi Ni Todoke.Kimi Ni Todoke is an innocent, wholesome, and pure romance told through the lens of a high school outcast, Sawako, buried deeply under stacks of rumors and deep-fried gossip. And you know how superstitious some of those remote rural Japanese towns can be. Until that is, she meets this pleasant, loved-by-everything high school sweetheart, Hazehaya, who breaks through the social cage keeping the FL away from any meaningful interaction.
The synopsis seems generic enough to pass you by in an instance, however, the approach and the execution are what kept me engaged. This is a family-friendly showing of innocent, coming-of-age romance with no vulgarity to show. Not even a single kissing scene and you know what? That's fine, in fact, it's what makes it stand out in my opinion because even without any intimacy of that kind, the direction of the movie makes it work, and beautifully so.
What drew me originally to watch this is Tabe Mikako herself, I'm so in love with her acting, she has such a way of expressing emotional frequencies through her talent as an actor but nobody told me I was in for discovering such an amazing male lead, Miura Haruma who stole my heart in this role. Unfortunately, I was hit by the news of him dying a couple of years earlier at such a young age of 30 too.
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Sweet High School Movie
I like the character growth in the FL. It's the typical story, but they covered bullying well and it was mostly about friendship. The first love feels were there too. The music was appropriate and didn't annoy me, which it usually does. The scenery was nice and the production was decent. It's not 10/10 because the friends of FL didn't really have much closure of their storylines, it was left open. This would've been better if it was a series of episodes, to give the storyline more depth and completion.Good watch overall.
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This review may contain spoilers
A beautiful story wrapped with warmth
If you're not sure whether to watch this or not, just drop the hesitation and watch it. It is a feel good drama that reminds you of your highschool love. No unnecessary drama or misunderstandings that frustrates you, just simple and sweet story that makes you smile. The leads did a great job to portray their character very well and although the story doesn't only focus on romance, you'll still love it. Also the unexepected friendship is the drama is heartwarming.And Rest in peace Miura Haruma (Kazehaya). You did well. I hope you are at peace wherever you are.
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And the movie was (I have to say surprisingly) well done!
I didn't expect it to amaze me since I liked the anime so
much and therefore I thought it could only be the opposite.
Boy I was wrong! The acting, the pace, the whole atmosphere.
And the actors are really well chosen. All of them are cute and
really good actors and actresses, plus they really resemble
the anime characters ;) All of it made this a movie worth another
watch. I'd recommend it to every romance fanatic! This is a must!
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Teenage love is hard
Didn't watch the manga and I think I would like it. But I liked this movie.The pace is good and needed.
The story is about a high school student, Sawako, that as almost zero self-esteem and don't know how to handle it. She met Kazehaya in a crossing and he fells in love for her. He's very popular and he will love her and care for her in secret.
Then, two friends of Kazehaya, Chizuru and Ayane, 2 strong and misfits girls started a friendship relation with Sawako.
The movie tells us the evolution of the four friends, the growing of Sawako's personality and self love, and the realization of true love
It is sweet and warm.
For me, even if it deals with teenage love and high school students, I find almost unreal some behaviour, specially Sawako. But I find sometimes difficult to understand how love relations are portrait in Japanese movies.
I find Japanese women beautiful and strong, but often portrait as submissive and that is very strange for me... Even in a male driven society...
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The Ghost Sloth
This is the story about the Sloth like girl who looks like a ghost whenever she gets nervous who after a long time of being left in the dark finally meets some decent people who seem to like both Sloths and ghosts on a Journey to self acceptance I guess...On this journey we meet the typical popular bundle of energy guy, two bad ass girls a very strange teacher and some guy who is there to make others jealous and just look sweet. We alos meet the not so nice girl, some mean girls and a bunch of idiot guys... Who get told off for being idiots.
A lovely story at that with sweet gazes, lovely lines a bundle of self doubt...
Though the romance here is consistent and sweet, the main attraction in this movie is the friendships between the girls and mr bubbly.
I am not really sure about the function of the parants but a tree seems to play a big role in this.
Definitely a movie worth watching... for the awkward, the bubbly and the friendship lovers out there.
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This review may contain spoilers
There are a few slight differences from the manga that make this movie unsatisfying. The way Sawako wears her uniform accentuates her character, but in the movie she wears it differently, which doesn't fit her personality. It seems like they changed it just to make her look cuter, but her true cuteness comes from her personality. There are alsp a few moments when she is out of character. The actor for Kazehaya is good, but in the manga, he is more youthful, more like a real high school boy. They also changed the plot just to make everything more dramatic. The whole point is to express the characters' feelings and development, but this added drama did nothing to enhance that. The last thing is that this movie is missing the comedy that is in the manga and anime, which was one of the things that made the characters so likeable and the story so fun to watch. Though the movie had these issues, it still did a good job portraying the characters. It just isn't as compelling and loveable as the manga and anime. I think people that haven't seen the manga or anime might like it, and that is probably what this movie was made for. Fans of the manga like me might not get as much enjoyment out of this because of the differences. It feels kind of like a different story. Was this review helpful to you?
