Tito Martinez
Wilmington, NC, USA
Is it better than the anime? No, BUT it doesn't have to be to be Good
Before watching this I had seen season 1 of the anime and read the first volume of the manga, and to me, this story is literally one of my favorites. I liked the anime so much that it made me buy/read my very first manga. So the minute I saw that it had a live-action movie, I had to give it a try. After watching it, I can say that it is not as good as the anime, BUT by no means is it bad. I would say that, if you don't want to watch the 6 hrs of the first season of the anime, this is a great way to get the story in 2 hrs.
This movie covers the overall story of season 1 (anime) in the first hr of its runtime and what I can assume is season 2 in the second hr. To achieve this, many of the individual sections had to be dropped. Honestly, I am fine with that. I will say I am surprised at how the writers were able to combine so many of the sections to flow one after another so well, considering how the manga/anime treats each battle individually. This, however, makes the movie feel rushed in some parts and creates the biggest problem I have with this movie: the little use they gave the narrator. He only appears a few times in the movie. I needed more of that "_________ wins" sections he did in the manga/anime. Personally, I feel that is an essential part of Love is War and shouldn't have been taken away.
Another change the movie did that I didn't mind as much was adding Ishigami Yu from the very beginning of the movie. I think that to anyone that isn't familiar with the source, it would seem natural.
The second half of the movie felt a lot better because it was all new to me, having only seen season 1 of the anime. I was really interested in what they were going to do with the rest of the movie once I noticed they were going to go past the story of season 1.
The actors were great in their parts. The two main leads made the characters theirs and did a great job. Their voices were both very different from the animes but that isn't a problem to me. Asakawa Nana was a different situation. I have seen her in many other works and I know she is an amazing actress, which she was in this movie as well, but her voice threw me off. Personally, I would have rather had her use her natural voice.
Edit: I have now seen season 2, and I now know that the second half of the movie is technically an original plot that follows the student body president elections (Season 2 of the anime also focuses on the elections but adapts the storyline of the manga). This does get me curious as to what the sequel to the live-action plot will be? Is it going to be a more original plot? Follow that the anime will adapt for season 3? Only time will tell.
This movie covers the overall story of season 1 (anime) in the first hr of its runtime and what I can assume is season 2 in the second hr. To achieve this, many of the individual sections had to be dropped. Honestly, I am fine with that. I will say I am surprised at how the writers were able to combine so many of the sections to flow one after another so well, considering how the manga/anime treats each battle individually. This, however, makes the movie feel rushed in some parts and creates the biggest problem I have with this movie: the little use they gave the narrator. He only appears a few times in the movie. I needed more of that "_________ wins" sections he did in the manga/anime. Personally, I feel that is an essential part of Love is War and shouldn't have been taken away.
Another change the movie did that I didn't mind as much was adding Ishigami Yu from the very beginning of the movie. I think that to anyone that isn't familiar with the source, it would seem natural.
The second half of the movie felt a lot better because it was all new to me, having only seen season 1 of the anime. I was really interested in what they were going to do with the rest of the movie once I noticed they were going to go past the story of season 1.
The actors were great in their parts. The two main leads made the characters theirs and did a great job. Their voices were both very different from the animes but that isn't a problem to me. Asakawa Nana was a different situation. I have seen her in many other works and I know she is an amazing actress, which she was in this movie as well, but her voice threw me off. Personally, I would have rather had her use her natural voice.
Edit: I have now seen season 2, and I now know that the second half of the movie is technically an original plot that follows the student body president elections (Season 2 of the anime also focuses on the elections but adapts the storyline of the manga). This does get me curious as to what the sequel to the live-action plot will be? Is it going to be a more original plot? Follow that the anime will adapt for season 3? Only time will tell.
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