Kimi ni Todoke (2010)

I’m still reading the Kimi ni Todoke manga, which I’m enjoying immensely. I’ve purposely avoided any of the anime, as I realise it skips ahead the Viz translations of the manga and I don’t want any spoilers. But I figured this recent movie would probably ‘reimagine’ things to get a nicely wound up ending, without giving away the real plot. And besides, it’s got Mikako Tabe in it ^^;

Straight up, this is nothing amazing. The film is so-so, mistaking a snail’s pace for ‘breathing room’ and character development. It’s also full of the overly cheesy tropes (such as god awful piano/string music to overemphasise the ‘heartfelt moments’) that plague most Japanese mainstream cinema. But it’s not altogether terrible and not quite as much of a travesty it might have been.

The story stays largely covers the same ground as the first 7 volumes of the manga, rejigging some bits so they can all fit into a 2 hour running time. The ending could maybe have been done better (why did they just gloss over the Xmas bit and instead opt for a New Year ending?).

The protagonists are ok. My darling Mikako Tabe is, for once, not playing the same ditzy clown she does in almost every movie/drama and she makes for an effective Sawako, though as some have pointed out, not quite as goofy as the original character is. Miura Haruma’s Kazehaya isn’t quite as I would have imagined him, but is decent. However, the casting of Chizu, Yano and Ryu are spot on, with Misako Renbutsu particularly brilliant.

Overall, it’s not going to have anyone raving about it, but it’s enjoyable enough for fans of the manga or anime.