Chihayafuru: Shomi no Ku Review!
I watched this LAST monday. It's part 2 to the Chihayafuru series! Part 1's review is here.
I'm just gunna say it straight away: this is movie (like Ansatsu Kyoshitsu) suffers from second movie syndrome where it's much slower and lots of talk and almost all the fun is gone which is what made the first part/movie so great! So naturally I was a little disappointed and I was a little bored at times too. I was like 'I don't CARE! Just get to the comedy and the karuta matches please!'
Which reminds me also; just like the first movie there was a lot of slow mo and I was more aware of it this time. Especially in the opening scene where it wasn't needed and it looked so stupid. Please director! Just keep the slow-mo for when they're PLAYING Karuta please! xD
Another negative: throughout both movies, we're told how amazing Mackenyu's character is at Karuta and that he's probably the best there is BUT... and here's a big butt.... we NEVER see him play Karuta!!! WTF?!?!?!!? You think after spending almost 4 hours on seeing his character we'd get to see him play karuta and see just how amazing he is but NOOOOO!!! The movies stops JUST as he's about to play a game!! WTF?!?!!? RAGE!
The ending to this movie is SO infuriating! It ends with the four main characters on the poster about to go head to head to get the title of Karuta and King and Queen. Now, call me stupid, BUT wouldn't you have thought they would've made this the MAIN battle in the movie?! Not showing them walking INTO the tournament, facing each other and BAM black screen THE END!!! OMG I seriously cannot express my annoyance with this ending.... I wanted to see this BATTLE so much!
Also they never resolve the romance either! The entire two movies you can tell both the boys are after Chihaya but neither of them make a move even though they say they'll go against each other for her but we never see her picking anyone or them telling her they like her or anything! The romance is COMPLETELY left the air!! WTF!?!?!!??! OMG RAGE seriously...
It WAS nice seeing the gang back together and seeing them get closer as a group and it was nice seeing Mackenyu's arc develope and seeing his battle of losing his grandfather and getting back to karuta and Nikuman had a hilarious moment towards the end BUT, so much of the was disappointing and SO much of the main points of the story were just NOT addressed and/or told completely. *sigh*
Visually beautiful though and great music!
The random orchestra scene was interesting too but.... ugh...
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Overal: This is another movie (like Ansatsu Kyoshitsu) where the second movie suffers from 'Second Movie blues' where it's no where near as fun as the first installment and suddenly becomes all serious. Which is a shame cos naturally I was a little disappointed. BUT it's still got karuta moments and it's great seeing their friendship grow and I did share a tear again BUT the ending was also disappointing.
Rating: 5.5/10
I'm just gunna say it straight away: this is movie (like Ansatsu Kyoshitsu) suffers from second movie syndrome where it's much slower and lots of talk and almost all the fun is gone which is what made the first part/movie so great! So naturally I was a little disappointed and I was a little bored at times too. I was like 'I don't CARE! Just get to the comedy and the karuta matches please!'
Which reminds me also; just like the first movie there was a lot of slow mo and I was more aware of it this time. Especially in the opening scene where it wasn't needed and it looked so stupid. Please director! Just keep the slow-mo for when they're PLAYING Karuta please! xD
Another negative: throughout both movies, we're told how amazing Mackenyu's character is at Karuta and that he's probably the best there is BUT... and here's a big butt.... we NEVER see him play Karuta!!! WTF?!?!?!!? You think after spending almost 4 hours on seeing his character we'd get to see him play karuta and see just how amazing he is but NOOOOO!!! The movies stops JUST as he's about to play a game!! WTF?!?!!? RAGE!
The ending to this movie is SO infuriating! It ends with the four main characters on the poster about to go head to head to get the title of Karuta and King and Queen. Now, call me stupid, BUT wouldn't you have thought they would've made this the MAIN battle in the movie?! Not showing them walking INTO the tournament, facing each other and BAM black screen THE END!!! OMG I seriously cannot express my annoyance with this ending.... I wanted to see this BATTLE so much!
Also they never resolve the romance either! The entire two movies you can tell both the boys are after Chihaya but neither of them make a move even though they say they'll go against each other for her but we never see her picking anyone or them telling her they like her or anything! The romance is COMPLETELY left the air!! WTF!?!?!!??! OMG RAGE seriously...
It WAS nice seeing the gang back together and seeing them get closer as a group and it was nice seeing Mackenyu's arc develope and seeing his battle of losing his grandfather and getting back to karuta and Nikuman had a hilarious moment towards the end BUT, so much of the was disappointing and SO much of the main points of the story were just NOT addressed and/or told completely. *sigh*
Visually beautiful though and great music!
The random orchestra scene was interesting too but.... ugh...
----
Overal: This is another movie (like Ansatsu Kyoshitsu) where the second movie suffers from 'Second Movie blues' where it's no where near as fun as the first installment and suddenly becomes all serious. Which is a shame cos naturally I was a little disappointed. BUT it's still got karuta moments and it's great seeing their friendship grow and I did share a tear again BUT the ending was also disappointing.
Rating: 5.5/10