Sunny_Felix
This review may contain spoilers
Good story, dreadful Directorship & Acting
Reading through other reviews, I see the common excuse for the awful acting as being that the movie aims to replicate the "manga" and "anime-style" acting. Problem is: that's a problem with Japanese directorship lately. Japan can produce very beautiful masterpieces, however, when they try to desperately stick to their anime brand it results with this cringe-filled content that is difficult to watch never mind take seriously. P.S: I can't speak on behalf the manga, but I will speak from the Anime adaptation that in my opinion was amazingly done
Story: I personally loved it. For a movie adaptation, I enjoyed the change from a straight wedding to a same-sex wedding. I also enjoyed that Izumi was the one to comfort Ryoma and that they removed his awkwardness in front of cameras. However, there's no impactful scene in the entirety of this movie like there is in the anime. In the anime, we have multiple impactful scenes from Ryoma finding out Izumi is a boy to Izumi's debut as himself into the showbiz world. Those were amazingly done. In the movie? Well... there's barely any substance and it was hard for me to watch it.... The movie is boring. The director has failed to capture many key moments from the anime, and has replaced them with monotone scenes that don't really provide much of anything.
Acting & Casting: This is by far the worst part of this movie apart from the massacre that has occurred to the characters of this series. I'm not sure whether this is the actors' fault or the director's but this "anime style" acting does not work in live action media, that is not based on a fantasy environment where I feel like it's easier to get away with. The acting strips the characters of all their remaining life in the most ironic manner possible and makes them hard to even care about. Honestly, it's hard to take this movie seriously and it feels like a bad YouTube original. The anime works because it is animation but also the anime doesn't neglect animating the characters naturally when it is needed. Izumi has very serious and well directed moments in the anime, particularly when he explores his sexuality and attraction to Ryoma. Ryoma equally has his raw scenes as he fights for Izumi's affections with the few bittersweet moments between him and Shogo. In this movie, however, the acting is unredeemable and fails drastically to represent the mixed emotions the characters develop throughout the story.
Another things that puts me off is the casting. Though not terrible, neither of the actors or the way in which they're styled represent their characters. Ryoma barely looks like the cool and flashy actor that he is and for a 2020 movie, it has already aged awfully. DISCLAIMER: I am not hating on the actors directly, I am sure they're great but personally I do not see them in these roles. The actors hold no chemistry together and honestly, they should've chosen a different casting. These actors do not sell their roles.
Characters: What happened?! Ryoma is NOT Ryoma! Ryoma in the anime adaptation is represented with a quite puppy-like love towards Izumi and is also represented as naive to contrast his public image of a cool guy. The huge contrast between the on-screen Ryoma and the Ryoma we see interact with Izumi is huge. That's what makes him charming to the audience and root for him. In the movie? He's just a dull, cringe-worthy character that lacks all charm. This issue mainly comes down to the directorship and acting, it's hard to watch. Izumi is honestly the dullest character and it's the reason why the argument of the movie staying "true to the manga" doesn't hold. The characters, the most important element, are not true to the predecessors. Izumi charms the audience because of his naivity but a cutely represented love for Magical Girl LalaLulu that he is often seen to use to boost his confidence in himself In this adaptation, he is a boring character and nothing feel earnest. The only part in which Izumi is likeable when he calms Ryoma down during filming in the first 10mins of the movie.
Rei also significantly has collapsed as a character. From a cool, admirable character to a flat, uninspiring side character who barely gives the same flare to the movie as he did in the anime. More so, his relationship to Shogo is so lazily thrown in! Shogo is quite literally the only character that is true to the other adaptations.
This is the easiest thing to get right and yet this movie completely fails at it,
Music: Boring.
Story: I personally loved it. For a movie adaptation, I enjoyed the change from a straight wedding to a same-sex wedding. I also enjoyed that Izumi was the one to comfort Ryoma and that they removed his awkwardness in front of cameras. However, there's no impactful scene in the entirety of this movie like there is in the anime. In the anime, we have multiple impactful scenes from Ryoma finding out Izumi is a boy to Izumi's debut as himself into the showbiz world. Those were amazingly done. In the movie? Well... there's barely any substance and it was hard for me to watch it.... The movie is boring. The director has failed to capture many key moments from the anime, and has replaced them with monotone scenes that don't really provide much of anything.
Acting & Casting: This is by far the worst part of this movie apart from the massacre that has occurred to the characters of this series. I'm not sure whether this is the actors' fault or the director's but this "anime style" acting does not work in live action media, that is not based on a fantasy environment where I feel like it's easier to get away with. The acting strips the characters of all their remaining life in the most ironic manner possible and makes them hard to even care about. Honestly, it's hard to take this movie seriously and it feels like a bad YouTube original. The anime works because it is animation but also the anime doesn't neglect animating the characters naturally when it is needed. Izumi has very serious and well directed moments in the anime, particularly when he explores his sexuality and attraction to Ryoma. Ryoma equally has his raw scenes as he fights for Izumi's affections with the few bittersweet moments between him and Shogo. In this movie, however, the acting is unredeemable and fails drastically to represent the mixed emotions the characters develop throughout the story.
Another things that puts me off is the casting. Though not terrible, neither of the actors or the way in which they're styled represent their characters. Ryoma barely looks like the cool and flashy actor that he is and for a 2020 movie, it has already aged awfully. DISCLAIMER: I am not hating on the actors directly, I am sure they're great but personally I do not see them in these roles. The actors hold no chemistry together and honestly, they should've chosen a different casting. These actors do not sell their roles.
Characters: What happened?! Ryoma is NOT Ryoma! Ryoma in the anime adaptation is represented with a quite puppy-like love towards Izumi and is also represented as naive to contrast his public image of a cool guy. The huge contrast between the on-screen Ryoma and the Ryoma we see interact with Izumi is huge. That's what makes him charming to the audience and root for him. In the movie? He's just a dull, cringe-worthy character that lacks all charm. This issue mainly comes down to the directorship and acting, it's hard to watch. Izumi is honestly the dullest character and it's the reason why the argument of the movie staying "true to the manga" doesn't hold. The characters, the most important element, are not true to the predecessors. Izumi charms the audience because of his naivity but a cutely represented love for Magical Girl LalaLulu that he is often seen to use to boost his confidence in himself In this adaptation, he is a boring character and nothing feel earnest. The only part in which Izumi is likeable when he calms Ryoma down during filming in the first 10mins of the movie.
Rei also significantly has collapsed as a character. From a cool, admirable character to a flat, uninspiring side character who barely gives the same flare to the movie as he did in the anime. More so, his relationship to Shogo is so lazily thrown in! Shogo is quite literally the only character that is true to the other adaptations.
This is the easiest thing to get right and yet this movie completely fails at it,
Music: Boring.
Was this review helpful to you?
