Completed
Becca256
37 people found this review helpful
Oct 29, 2011
Completed 0
Overall 10
Story 10
Acting/Cast 10
Music 8.0
Rewatch Value 10
So I just read Lian95's review and I realized she(he?) was right, how come no one had written a review of such a good movie? This movie has everything, the right amount of drama, romance, friendship and comedy all blended together to make an awesome movie, a must see. This one of my favorite movies, I've watched it many times.



The story is great, you really have no way of imagining what's gonna happen next, but I won't anything more about it because otherwise I'd spoil it for those who haven't watched it yet.



The acting really blows my mind, I've always loved Tamaki, ever since I saw Nodame Cantabile, and he always plays his part perfectly wether it be here, in Nodame, in Love Shuffle or any of his other dramas and movies. The female lead, whose name I can't remember right now, also plays her part perfectly, her more than anybody because her role was really hard to play. I hate her in real life because she's one of Japan's biggest divas, in the BAD sense of the word, and that's why admire her even more in this movie-because I love her character.



The music always goes according to the scene, it makes you feel what the characters are feeling.



I've watched this movie several times with different people, and every time I watch it again I discover something new.



Overall this is one of the greatest japanese movies that I've ever seen because unlike must jap movies this one actually makes me feel something, this one gets to the heart instead of being overvdepressing, I recommend it for anyone who likes memorable love stories.

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Completed
Lian95
35 people found this review helpful
Oct 29, 2011
Completed 1
Overall 10
Story 9.0
Acting/Cast 10
Music 9.0
Rewatch Value 9.0
I can't believe no one wrote a review on this! To me, this movie is such a great one. I had so much fun watching it. I don't like picking favorites normally for movies and dramas, but this movie is diffently one of my top japanese movies that I have seen before. It is totally recommanded, so don't hesitate to watch it because maybe it will be your favorite movie! All my other friends loved it too. So whatcha waiting for, GO NOW & WATCH IT!
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Completed
StellarJ
8 people found this review helpful
May 22, 2013
Completed 0
Overall 10
Story 10
Acting/Cast 10
Music 9.0
Rewatch Value 10
I finished this ~10 minutes ago so I have to be realy carefull to not spoil this for you.
So, firstly I have to say that this is an amazing movie. Realy. At the moments it's funny, other times it's romantic and kinda dramatic. The whole story is amazing. Even though it can make you feel sad but the sadness is not depressing. I even think it's amazing.

Secondly : the actors did a wonderful job portraying their characters. Tamaki Hiroshi (Makoto)showed all the feelings you can wish. Silly laugh he does when he's with 'Shizuru' is funny and his tears look very sad.
And about Miyazaki Aoi (Shizuru) - I think she was even more amazing. Even as a girl myself I can say that she's a realy beautiful model and yet she succeeded in portraying a girl who looks like elementary school student. So I think that she did a great job with both : outside and emotions.

Lastly I'll just say this - this movie is amazing no matter if you watch it with your lover, friend or even alone. It leaves you kinda sad but not depressed and even. . warm ^^

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Completed
Go-To-The-Extreme
11 people found this review helpful
Dec 30, 2011
Completed 0
Overall 10
Story 10
Acting/Cast 10
Music 10
Rewatch Value 10
Well, this certainly is a different love story. It's different in a good way, really refreshing with the awkward characters and the way the two leads seem to be compatible in their own weird ways. The only thing that annoyed me was the infatuation the male lead had with appearance. He refused his feelings towards a wonderful girl because she wasn't pretty at first...

The fact that he only got to know the new Shizuru was when he met her as a picture on the wall was really something.

aahh, What a fairytale.
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Completed
addicted2dramas
7 people found this review helpful
Oct 21, 2012
Completed 0
Overall 9.0
Story 9.0
Acting/Cast 9.0
Music 8.0
Rewatch Value 8.0
Today, I was in the mood of watching a movie of the 'pure love' genre, so I chose this. It was worth giving a try. In fact, it is not as serious as it sounds. It has a lot of light moments which prevents this film from becoming a bore or too depressing.

I LOVED this movie. The relationship between the main characters is shown so differently and was so cute! Most of all, the complexity of their characters is what intrigued me. The way they fell for each other was quite enjoyable. I liked that this wasn't one of those love-at-first-sight stories. It is about two very socially awkward people getting to know each other and accepting each other's flaws while falling in love. It is more about the journey than anything else.

I have to say the role of Shizuru was beyond awesome. I became a fan of Miyazaki Aoi. She is a wonderful actress. I thought she was alright in Nana, but here she completely stole the spotlight. Tamaki Hiroshi is an okay actor according to me. He didn't blow me away like Aoi did. But in spite of this, they were adorable together! And Shizuru's character lights up the screen every time she is in a scene.

And of course- I have to mention the camera work. Great editing and exquisite shooting locations. At times it gave me an artsy feel to the whole thing. Plus, I liked how various things were tied up together. The movie didn't feel like a random collection of scenes thrown together to make a movie.

Alright, now the ending wasn't that great but I am willing to overlook that part. Shizuru was definitely twisted and you could say that love made her do a crazy thing in the end. She had her reasons. It was quite sad. Her action kind of infuriated me but at the same time, I can't help but feel sorry for her character. All in all, a bittersweet ending and an overall great movie.

This movie is worth every second (yes, even the dull parts). Definitely recommended.

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Completed
yaddle_t
6 people found this review helpful
Mar 3, 2012
Completed 0
Overall 9.0
Story 10
Acting/Cast 9.0
Music 9.0
Rewatch Value 9.0
This review may contain spoilers
I really loved this movie, one of my favorite movies of all times. It's a sweet story of friendship in which an innocent pure love blooms. The movie is filled with precious moments and sweet laughter. The actors were great. It was such a delight to see Tamaki in such a shy awkward character. It's a really great heartfelt movie, Don't read any spoilers and just watch it and enjoy the ride :)
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Completed
JustBruck
5 people found this review helpful
Nov 10, 2011
Completed 0
Overall 10
Story 10
Acting/Cast 10
Music 10
Rewatch Value 10
This is one of the best movie's that I have ever seen! It is so inspirational and leaves a warm feeling in your heart! I would recommend this to anyone who wants a feel-good movie : )
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Completed
somerando
5 people found this review helpful
Aug 17, 2012
Completed 0
Overall 8.0
Story 9.0
Acting/Cast 9.0
Music 8.0
Rewatch Value 9.0
Story: It’s a beautiful tragic romance. There are some cliche parts, such as Makoto liking another girl while she looks on, but it is so beautifully done that I don’t even care. It’s unique in a way. She lacks a growth hormone, making her look very young when in reality it’s deeper than just that. The two of them are perfect together, as friends and lovers. The ending will definitely make you cry, it made me ball my eyes out.

Music: The music set the mood for everything and the ending theme is so beautifully sung I put it on my ipod right away. It’s one of those songs (for me at least) that whenever you’ll hear it, your heart will jerk because it will remind you of that tragic relationship between the two mains.

Cast/Acting: The leads were all I cared about, honestly. I was too absorbed in their odd relationship to even care about the rest of the cast, who only held a certain amount of air time anyway. They did great getting into their characters and playing the parts. It all seemed very sincere to me. They seemed to

READ MORE DRAMA AND MOVIE REVIEWS HERE: http://dramadevoted.tumblr.com/

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Completed
Melwill28
5 people found this review helpful
Feb 17, 2013
Completed 0
Overall 8.0
Story 10
Acting/Cast 10
Music 6.0
Rewatch Value 8.0
Y do I love movies that make me want to cry? I knew what was going to happen the whole time I watched it, but I was still touched by how sweet & innocent the actors portrayed their characters. It is difficult to say that the ending was either happy or sad. It just depends on how each individual looks at things.

There are several things that I liked about this movie. Not only was the acting moving, but the time progression was well done. I didn't feel like the movie dragged or moved to fast. I enjoyed the main characters b/c the both pulled u in & made u see things from their point of view. I rly enjoyed the honesty from Shizuru. Miyazaki Aoi has an innocence about her that not many actress are able to pull off. I just realized that she was in "Nana". Which if u ask me is an awesome movie also. She should have been in "Nana 2" then I would have watched it.

I think that every1 should give this movie a chance. It was better than expected & left me w/ good feelings. I hope u give it a try. ENJOY!

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Completed
Kachiiing
6 people found this review helpful
Aug 1, 2012
Completed 0
Overall 9.0
Story 10
Acting/Cast 10
Music 8.0
Rewatch Value 8.0
This review may contain spoilers
What a movie. The Japanese can definitely do romance!
I was deliberating whether to give it a 9, because although the story was very cute, it didn't strike me as special. I did half enjoy watching it though. It didn't feel like the actors were acting ;)

But as we moved to the latter stages, I knew this had to score high. It tugged my heartstrings, and a beautiful love shone through. How could I have labelled it as mediocre in the beginning?
I've seen Hiroshi Tamaki in Nodame, and loved him in it. I loved him in this also, albeit a different way, and he gelled well with the female lead. Who by the way, is GORGEOUS, however geeky they make her look.

Enter this with no expectations, and you will be blown away. Thankfully, I didn't read any spoilers beforehand, though I did get an inkling, when she coughed up blood when she lost her baby molars. I was thinking...hmmmm.

Looks up. Did I give anything away there? Nah. Not really :) What a gorgeous movie. For the first time, I truly believe Japan can do romance better than Korea, if they wanted too :)

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Neko13Momoiro
3 people found this review helpful
Feb 25, 2013
Completed 0
Overall 8.0
Story 8.0
Acting/Cast 8.0
Music 9.0
Rewatch Value 6.0
It was a good movie, I found them cute even though the personality of makoto is not that really attractive for me. It is Shizuru that amuse me. She is unique not a freak. In fact, she really amuse and amaze me when she was in the pedestrian lane waiting for someone to stop. Her reasoning amaze me. I thought, she's not ordinary, she is something.

And she did, after everything is revealed, she is Amazing. Because even though her looks was immature, deeply she thinks about her life maturely ^^
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Completed
Maja
1 people found this review helpful
Feb 1, 2019
Completed 0
Overall 9.5
Story 10
Acting/Cast 9.5
Music 9.0
Rewatch Value 9.0
Get closer. stay quiet, center your focus and press the button; that's how you make images - but, that is also how you make memories!
This is a movie made to give you your own best at every minute of watch time. If you have read the comments below, you noticed the word "tear-jerker", and: it's not, not really. What this movie is all about is what people we allow to come into our lives and enrich us as a human being. It's not sad, it's warm. It's not a romance, it's connection. It's not about photography, it's about the journey. And it's not for hopeless romantics, but for hopeless overall - it's a little beacon of light, that shows you the path (as it did to both Makoto and Shizuru).
And, then, there's the KISS.
One.
Because it's not about the kiss. It's about "see you in another place"

WHY I LIKED IT?
Firstly: I love photography. That was, I admit, the reason I saw it for the first time, ages ago (I think it was back in 2009?). I struck me like a lightning. i did not expect that, those feelings the main actors so vividly shown. Many years later, I saw it again, almost forgotten all about it (but the ending, of course) and it gave me the opportunity to see a whole other aspect of it's magnificence. As an adult, I ventured into the "no trespassing" zone with our heroes and got much more than a simple story of a boy and a girl, and why she left. I saw the subtle details, the looks on the faces in the pictures she took, the illumination of life's joy she managed to capture, and the reason she did all that.. as a safe keep, as a way to say "I love you" to every person seeing the pictures at the exhibition.
I liked the pacing, the lack of events. I liked the empty pedestrian crossing and the joy it gave them. I like the beautiful scenery, and the loving friends. I like how the mood changes when they enter in a world of their own in the dark room.
I liked the "peter pan" idea, and the biscuits, and the fact that no one was holding a phone or a tablet... and THAT wall at the exhibition - and, that you will have to see to understand what wall I'm writing about. Yes, the one with black and white photographs.
WHAT I DID NOT LIKE
The fact that I've seen it. Don't get me wrong: I absolutely LOVED it, that's why I would love to erase it, and gain the chance to watch it all over again.
RE-WATCH VALUE
Well, ladies and gents, I have re-watched this almost ten years later, and it's value only GROWN in that time. Just because the date of the movie might not be in this decade, does not mean you should skip it. So, set your search filter a bit more on the left, and take a look at some "older" gems.. like this one. Than, let some time pass, let yourself grow more, and take a look at it again. Like me, you just might notice there's a whole other layer there.
OVERALL
I didn't cry.
I was left with the lungs full of purple. (can't explain, my emotions have colors). It's not sad, it's going to make you step back and want to embrace yourself saying "It's all right".
And it is. All right.

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