I'll review a live action movie. It's an adaptation of an anime I watched 5 years ago and loved, and I read the manga too. Technically I should only review anime because this is Pinoy Anime Reviews but since this was based from an anime so I think it still counts, but its my blog so I get to decide XD...So here goes...
My Thoughts
I just wanna say first that you should not take a reviewers opinion as the absolute truth whether a movie is good or bad, its really just a matter of personal taste. I'm not saying you should stop reading reviews (I'd be out of readers T_T) I'm just saying you should be open to criticisms/opinions, then mix your own experience and ours, then you decide.
Ok so one of the biggest mistakes I did was shun this movie because I read many reviews saying it was bad, like NANA 2 the movie bad. When I read a review, and they are mostly right, I just agree and move on to find another movie to not waste the time of my short life. AND I WAS WRONG *insert troll face. What I mean is this movie is actually on par with the series (which is great), save for some omission of side characters and the lack of events present in the manga and anime. This movie has very high production values and they successfully captured the heart and characters of the anime and manga. Yukari is very pretty (played by actress Keiko Kitagawa), George was dashing (played by actor Osamu Mukai) but more cute than suave, Isabella was really a realistic portrayal of a cross dresser I appreciated her voice as more manly as it is realistic that way, then there's Arashi who looks better than his anime counterpart because his punkyness was not too much and more fashionable, then there's Miwako who thank God doesn't have pink hair in the live action. She is cute and the actress playing he suits the role without being too over acting. The story plays out like the anime and manga versions with some events being played out faster, in different style, or removed overall. I really think it was necessary as you can't fit everything in a movie, and if you directly copy every frame and event from the anime and manga then there's no reason to watch a movie adaptation if its just a copy and paste right? This movie has also great music, love the OST which I would download later. Then, there are the clothes which are more in fashion to 2011 not the early 2000s like the manga and anime, and I kinda envy all the clothes George has, I want them! 0_0
However, no movie is perfect so unfortunately I have to dish out the cons. First, the fashion show where Yukari walks the blue dress was not really that climactic. It was just ok. The dress looks ok, not amazing like how the anime and manga portrayed it, and I saw that same dress being fan made however it looked way better (click here to see what I mean, they removed the full dress but it is better for me though). There's also the part where everyone was silent and the runway felt empty because of that. Nothing pretty happened. I know its the way its supposed to be shown where the audience was caught aback by her walk, but they could have added bubbles or a confetti of roses at least to make it more dramatic. They also dumbed down the romance a bit by removing the sex scenes which actually made the love between George and Yukari more powerful. I mean I get it censorship and stuff but you know, those were one of the funniest and romantic scenes in the anime and manga. There's also the almost non existent backstory of Isabella. Isabella's backstory was my favorite as we get to know the reason why Isabella is like that and why she sticks with George a lot. I like his/her struggle and stuff, it was amazing. But I get how this movie can't really cater runtime for side characters and decided to focus more on Yukari and George, but you know they could have just squeezed in more than just a short pep talk and flash back. The last thing I want to complain is the ending, its not that bad actually its quite good they showed the years in the future and being reunited happy ending, I mean who wants a bad ending anyway when you payed good money on a movie to feel good? But I found Paradise kiss' original ending more powerful as it leads to a cliffhanger possibility like its up to us to decide which really helps a story linger in you longer. It was also longer than needed to be as they can make that part like 5 minutes instead they made it like 20 mins or something. It just overstayed its welcome.
Overall, Paradise Kiss the movie is a great adaptation to an existing series of manga and anime. It had its own take and didn't copy and paste every content and played the movie with its own pace and original scenes. I watched the anime 5 years ago and it made me remember how great Ai Yazawa is with her mature and less mainstream take on shoujo which is really a trademark and a masterpiece all on its own. This movie may turn off purists but if you keep an open mind and realize the necessities on all the changes done you'll see a wonderful feel good movie, especially if you haven't seen the anime, and it also makes you wanna chase your dreams like how the hopefuls of Paradise kiss chased theirs.
In addition, I kinda stopped watching Jdramas because Kdrama actors look way better but after watching this and fell in love with the actress playing Yukari, I think there's still hope. Also the guys here don't look weird, they look like actual handsome men save for that classmate dude who Yukari likes, he kinda looks like a monkey no offense.
Mood While watching: Like opening a diary you wrote when you were younger, very Nostalgic.
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