Japanese Romantic Cinema: Shojo Manga Style ~ Part 2

This is the follow-up of the first article concerning shojo manga to live action adaptations.

Kyou, Koi wo Hajimemasu

Directed by Furusawa Takeshi

Original Manga by Minami Kanan

Main leads: Takei Emi and Matsuzaka Tori

This comes after a disappointing two episodes OVA that didn’t serve any meaning for the manga. Therefore, it got a great chance to break through via a live action adaptation. Unfortunately, it went against the manga. It’s fair to say that Kyou, Koi wo Hajimemasu is a failure as a shojo manga adaptation. Not only did it feel rushed (well, most of them are), but it also ridiculed main development points in favour of the running time. The main leads did well but it doesn’t justify how they decided to treat the original work. If you didn’t read the manga, this may come out enjoyable but if you did, it would be a complete disappointment.

Trailer:

Kanojo wa Uso Wo Aishisugiteru

Directed by Koizumi Norihiro

Original Manga by Aoki Kotomi

Main leads: Sato Takeru and Sakurako Ohara

The good side of this adaptation is that it didn’t sound so shojo manga-like, it’s a musical film after all. The extra focus on the voices and music-making reduced some of the load that other shojo manga built up with overwhelming drama or cheesiness. The fact that Aoki supervised the making of this film himself is also appreciated; some mangaka’s don’t even try to help the reincarnation of their work into a film. As a manga adaptation, this is more close to a success than a failure. The manga hasn't finished publishing yet which leaves the screenwriter complete freedom of handling the ending. Overall, Sato Takeru’s name on the film is what sold it. I don’t think it would’ve been well-received otherwise.

Trailer:

L♥DK

Directed by Kawamura Yasuhiro

Original Manga by Watanabe Ayu

Main leads: Gouriki Ayame and Yamazaki Kento

Once again, the downside of adapting a manga is the hideous acting that we have to face. In L-DK’s case, Yamazaki was seriously too stiff for words, not to mention the low chemistry between the main leads. That’s big because the manga was too normal high school romance material that only relied on cuteness, sugar-like relationship and smashing chemistry to move forward. Half of that was exploited in the film, but the other half came out completely wrong. At the end of the day, L-DK became a stereotype high school romance without anything special to portray except for some cute scenes here and there. The manga is still publishing so it’s a relief that they wrapped things nicely even if it was too cheesy.

Trailer:

Sukitte li nayo

Directed by Hyuga Asako

Original Manga by Hazuki Kanae

Main leads: Kawaguchi Haruna and Fukushi Sota

The film was released in July 2014 but we had to wait until recently for the DVD to come out. Sukitte li nayo is one of the most anticipated hyped up shojo manga adaptations for this year. The manga has been a significant success ever since it started publishing and it was already adapted into an anime last year. The story’s not special by any means but it kept the pace interesting. Unfortunately, the film couldn’t do the same, it was too short (even shorter than the average Japanese film length). The live action adaptation couldn’t capture the hidden feelings like the manga even when the acting was considerably satisfying compared to its counterparts.

Trailer:

Ao Haru Ride

Directed by Miki Takahiro

Original Manga by Sakisaka Io

Main leads: Honda Tsubasa and Higashide Masahiro

Ao Haru Ride was released on December 13; it marks the third shojo manga adaptation for 2014 which is a considerably high number. The manga reached five million copies in sales and was already adapted into an anime as a preparation for the live action. Besides being an on-going manga, Ao Haru Ride is not a fluffy high school romance. It’s more emotional, with a scarred male lead, so it will be challenging to make it a successful adaptation. But we all hope that it will be well-executed.

Trailer:

Strobe Edge

Directed by Hiroki Ryuichi

Original Manga by Sakisaka Io

Main leads: Arimura Kasumi and Fukushi Sota

Although this is not a smashing success in Japan, another Sakisaka manga is being adapted into a live action film. It could be preceded by a short anime like in Ao Haru Ride’s case. Once again, the rising actor Fukushi Sota was casted as the main lead in a shojo manga adaptation which is some type of a record. The story of this manga is more than normal to the point of absolute cheesiness but it’s so cute and well achieved. Let’s hope that the live action adaptation will be satisfactory. The film is scheduled for March 2015.

Trailer: