Now onto the plot. Like all the Itazura Na Kiss remakes, this movie was very fluffy and not to be taken very seriously. There were many overexaggerated plot details that made me laugh because of their absurdity. The romance itself was very cute and light-hearted. I absolutely adored the moments where Zhi Shu would quietly smile to himself after interacting with Xiang Qin. My favorite part was the high school phase. I found it incredulously funny of the school system and how they separated and made a very clear distinction between class A and F. After watching this, I find myself wishing this movie was a drama instead so I could see all the other scenes that the writers left out because of the time constraint of it being a movie. I hope another remake comes out.
To anyone who's watched this: watch their marriage scene on youtube that wasn't included in the movie.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YA-epdtfI7M
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Darren Wang is one of my favorite Taiwanese actors. Him playing the lead role in my favorite Shoujo anime made me watch the show. HOWEVER, I felt so bad not loving this version. Maybe because the Japanese drama version (Love in Tokyo) hit me so hard I couldn't love any other versions. Love in Tokyo was my favorite among all Itazura Na Kiss versions. I couldn't think of any reason why I wasn't so impressed with this movie other than that.
I watched the anime version and read parts of the manga, I'd say they were funny and cute. I tried watching the Taiwanese drama version way back in 2006 but I dropped it because I hated the lead girl. I tried watching the Thai version but dropped it again after the first episode. I didn't bother watching the Korean version tho, due to lots of negative reviews.
So back to this film.. I really had high expectations- because why not? It's another Itazura Na Kiss version, Darren Wang's playing the lead role and it's a Frankie Chen film (She was also the director of OUR TIMES -one of my favorite Asian movies). I thought this film will give me good vibes as the Japanese version did. But boy, I was wrong.
I was disappointed with Jelly Lin's acting, I was disappointed by the fact that Darren's mother was useless in this film (in the anime, manga and other versions, she was the MVP), I was disappointed with the other characters who didn't really play their roles as they should, I was disappointed with the other characters who didn't really match the description and so on. I guess they just want the story to revolve to the two main characters. But hell, didn't they realize that the other characters made a huge impact as to why and how (Naoki) fell in love with (Kotoko)? While I appreciate the effort of making this film a little different from the other versions, I still couldn't find the attachment and I really felt bad about it.
I was disappointed, but I don't hate it. Some of the INK fans may think the same, and this is only my opinion. I don't usually write reviews, I just can't help it. I'd like to send a warning to my fellow INK fans to not expect too much from this film.
Oh, and BTW. No matter how much I adore Darren Wang as an actor, nobody can nail the Irie Naoki role like Yuki Furukawa did in Love in Tokyo (INK Japanese drama version in 2013-2014). Yuki gave justice to the role, he was GREAT in it! It only took me a few minutes watching the first episode to fall in love with him.
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I love Jelly Lin, I loved her in Fights Break Sphere, but I really couldn't get behind her portrayal of Yuan Xiangqin. It just seemed unnatural and cringey in an abnormal way. Also, with an entire Taiwanese cast it seemed like she tried to act with a Taiwanese accent? And her Chinese accent would come out a lot and that just made the entire experience very uncomfortable. I kind of wish she just went with her normal accent. It just made things unnatural and weird.
Overall, wouldn't recommend it.
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WHAT THE FUCK DID I JUST WATCH, AND HOW DO I GIVE IT BACK?
What the fuck did I just watch? The sheets! The attitude! The stalker! The fucker! The leather jacket! The pillow! The fucker!Why is everyone so obsessed over that asshole? He's like massive cunt level 100.
Why did this chick even like him? Bro, I wanna slap her back to reality. Dude is a complete piece of shit.
Such a melodrama and a waste of my time. The ending was so anticlimactic. Sheesh.
You want a good movie? Skip this. Don't waste your time. Watch One Smile Is Very Alluring (2016) instead. I mean, that's probably the best "teen" romance movie I've seen on MDL. Solid 7.5/10 stars. But also, I'm very biased. Whatever, just skip this. Trust me.
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Major drawback of this movie is the "FL"
I really don't know what other people are talking about chemistry between the leads......I gave it a try after reading many positive comments and also it looked very fluffy, easy to watch movie but my god i didn't expect it would be 2 long hours of torture to watch the FL's over the top acting.
There is nothing in the story, you just have to watch for the leads if you are their fans. This is my 1st watch of both the leads so i had no clue how their acting would be.
For 2 long hours, audiences get to see FL chase the ML like a DOG, i am not kidding. She is just chasing him in rain, sun etc. I have seen many girls who are not good at studies, I myself was average when it came to studies. But this doesn't mean a person is dumb. Academical failure has nothing to do with commonsense . God!!! She is bad at studies and also dumb. WHAT A COMBO.
Her family is small, just she and her dad. When they loose their house, they were invited to stay at her dad's friend's place (No points for guessing it is MLs house). FL has no goals in life, her only goal is to chase after ML like a puppy. It was really painful to watch her chase after him like a leech. When you don't have your house, one should work hard and study and look after your dad. But she had no such goals. They ended up staying at ML's house for a year or so. I really don't understand how can people be so shameless. She wanted to become nurse just because ML wanted to be a doctor. I mean heights of dumbness. Towards the end she becomes a nurse (god knows how) but she is so bad at her job that she cannot put an injection, gives wrong medicine to the patients. I mean they have showed in a funny way, but it is actually a serious matter. Like that you can kill a person. This profession is not for her, yet she is there just for him. At this point it is no longer romantic. I really thought the character would grow over the years (from school to college to professional world) but no. Trust me guys , even when she grew up old and became mature still she was chasing after him.
Towards the end, when ML confesses , confession i mean he literally said " you cannot stop loving me, you have to love me your whole life so lets get married" i mean what the hell. How can anybody like such a person. I really thought she would at least for a day or two make him run behind her but no she accepted his proposal. I was like , at this time i was so so angry at myself for watching this movie.
VERY VERY PAINFUL TO SEE A WOMAN DROP HER PRIDE AND CHASE AFTER A GUY LIKE A DOG.
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This review may contain spoilers
for those whom have watched the movie...does the movie have the scene at the end credit they get married after the jiang zhi shu read the love letter? coz i just come across the mv theme song darren wang shared on his official facebook at the of the mv they get married?! nooooo why i didn't wait for it... ????????????... damn i hope for sequels so baddddd...i gonna rewatch again tomorrow in hoping they will contribute the box office collection and got a sequel....i ship the pair so much i wish they end up together real life!!! Was this review helpful to you?
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So I don't know if this series has been remade as a movie (I'm only aware of remakes as dramas) so it does speed through the plot quite fast (somewhat sudden time jumps) but still a slow burn-ish romance.
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Compared to other Itazura na Kiss dramas and movies, I finished this one feeling like the two leads loved each other and would make each other happy.
If you like Itazura na Kiss, you'll like this, and if you don't, it still might be worth a try.
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This review may contain spoilers
We all know the story of Itazura Na Kiss so I'll cut to the chase. For a 2 hour movie, they did their best with the storyline. It was nice, cringey, comedic, and cute! The actor Wang Da Lu was quite stiff in this movie? It felt like he was a robot when he walked around. Although, his smile will always be the death of me. You could totally see his various expressions of care and love for Xiang Qin just by his actions and face expressions.
Jelly Jin, the main actress did a great job on her role. Yeah, I have nothing more to say about her. She embodied the character well. As somene who watched the drama since the OG Taiwanese version, its nice to see how well Jelly did in her version of it. She seems a lot more braver than the OG.
One thing that I really love about this was that we didn't have to deal with another love rival - even the girl he was suppose to be married to didn't feel like a love rival to me. At least when I look at it from Xiang Qin's point of view. It's like Zhi Shu like Yang Qin all along.
THE ENDING WAS A.D.O.R.A.B.L.E! The way he set up those posts all about her while she over here like "Who the hell is this new gf of his?"
Overall, this movie may have similar story to the manga but the adaption is quite refreshing to watch.
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I haven't watch other versions of Playful Kiss before, so I can't give a comparison for those who are looking for it. Anyway, I enjoyed this movie very much. The setting, colours, music, and last but not least, the chemistry between the male and female lead. I do wish that they include a little bit more stories about other supporting roles like their friends, but I guess since the movie is 2 hours++, it is definitely hard to include anymore scenes.
Still, it was a nice, relaxing, romantic movie. I am looking forward to watching it again and let my heart filled with the tooth-rotting sweetness for the second time.
(P/S: Anyone knows if there will be any ost released for it other than the theme songs? Your help will be much appreciated.)
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I have really STRONG feelings about this movie and heres why...
Let me start off by saying that I absolutely hated this movie but sat through the two hours of torture, expecting something to be better, something, just ANYTHING.I'll make it short: The cast is cute, they look cute together and altogether beautiful people. Yes.
The plot is one of the most boring effing things I've ever seen/heard. I've heard people mumble more interesting things in their sleep.
Main girl has two characteristics, and two only: She is dumb as a rock and obsessed with the main dude. She has no ambitions or anything even resembling a life other than that. Yes we've all been there, we've all been in love and did stupid shit, but this is just a hollow shell of a person that drove me nuts!
Main dude has two characteristics: he is super smart (????) and cold. There is some halfassed sob story to why he is how he is, but it's about as convincing as my new years resolutions. He is absolutely narcissistic and not likeable at all.
Then there is this side dude who would've actually deserved some love, but at some point he just got in a riksha and never came back?
It was really, REALLY frustrating to watch this toxic weird relationship evolve into A MARRIAGE PROPOSAL OUT OF NOWHERE?!??! If this review is confusing, I'm sorry, but I couldn't find any other way to describe this mess. What I'm trying to say is; if you have the emotional capacity of a >14 year old, you're in for an ugly ass ride.
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