9/10 is my rating. This is a 2016 Japanese romance movie 1 hour and 32 minutes in length. There was a short, 2 episode , mini series released in 2015 which was meant to promote the film. It is based in a popular Shoji manga series, “Kurosaki-kun no Iinari ni Nante Naranai”.

First I provide a Unique Synopsis then review

Synopsis

Yu Akabane (Voiced by: Mikako Komatsu; portrayed by: Nana Komatsu) changes not only schools but her entire demeanor after being bullied. Things do not exactly go smoothly at her new school as she immediately gets on the bad side of Haruto Kurosaki (Voiced by: Kaito Ishikawa; portrayed by: Kento Nakajima) when an accident leads her to cut some of his hair. Known as the black night, his punishment for Yu is to make her be he indentured servant. Annoyed with his constant arrogance and demands, Yu knicknames him black demon. Haruto’s best friend, Takumi Shirakawa, (Voiced by: Kensho Ono; portrayed by: Yudai Chiba) is called the white knight because of his fairer looks and kind demeanor. Once he realizes Haruto is actually interested in Yu, he decides to compete for her favor. The boys have always competed with each other in things. What starts as a game becomes a more serious rivalry when both boys determine they have feelings for Yu.

Review

If you did not watch the 2 episode series, the movie seems to start abruptly and you may wonder if you skipped some scenes. While it is not necessary to watch the 2 episodes prior to the movie, it does explain where it picks up. But if you stick with the movie it does return to what happened before and you catch up.

Overall I enjoyed the movie and my main criticism is the abrupt way it begins. Even with the two episodes out, they could have duplicated the story from the 2 episodes in the opening of the movie.

It ended happy and well.

Spoilers

As with a lot of Japanese shows, it is much “sexier” than most Korean and Chinese shows. It was not over done though. There were some intense kissing scenes but nothing beyond that. Just enough shown in the shower scene to illustrate the physical attraction without showing too much and leaving you wondering if you are watching porn. I liked that about this one.

I appreciated that they valued their friendships enough to give up on their love if it meant ending a long term friendship. But I liked that the friends were not so selfish that they expected their friends to give up just because they too liked the person.

#TheBlackDevilandtheWhitePrince

#MikakoKamatsu

#NanaKomatsu

#KatoIshikawa

#KentoNakajima

#KenshoOno

#YudaiChiba