not in the kissing mood?
I'm sure most of you know this trailer:
I went to see it today. And I didn't like what I saw. Here's why:
I love the manga, enjoyed anime, and I actually like/respect/both most of the cast. So even though the trailer already hinted most of them were there because they are popular at the moment rather than suitable for their parts, I was hoping to have a good time. Nothing more, nothing less.
Default score 100%, because it's a movie made of one of my all times favourite mangas, and it couldn't possibly get effed too badly, right? Right? ...right?..
Minus points for mis-casts:
Mukai Osamu as George - no blue hair, no resemblance whatsoever to original character, but Mukai proved to be a great actor and believe it or not - he made George his own. Even though I initially expected him to annoy me the most, I must say in the end he was the best. No minus points at all.
Kitagawa Keiko as Yukari - I like Keiko a lot. But her Yukari lacks charisma, and Yukari without charisma is no more than a whiney brat. Even if it's in big part the scriptwriter's and director's fault, she gets -10, because she's the main character.
Igarashi Shunji as Isabella - Isabella is possibly the most difficult part, and they give it to the guy who can't act a half of it?! I know it might be hard to find a guy willing to play a transvestite, but for gods' sake, first visual kei jrocker-wannabe found on a random Harajuku street corner would have more grace than Igarashi's Isabella! -5, because half of this fail is failed styling, and the stylists will get their own minus points.
Oomasa, Kento and Yamamoto as Miwako, Arashi, and Tokumori - they aren't bad actors (ok, Yamamoto kinda is, but I can't help liking him), they are just painfully wrong for those characters. Oomasa has an intelligent and a bit mature look that makes you wonder throughout the movie why the hell is she acting like a 5-year-old. Kento is and will be a pretty, likable boy no matter how much leather you put on him (he didn't get much anyway), while Yamamoto seems childish, cutesy and buried in complexes as if he was a male Miwako, not the level-headed, responsible Tokumori. Their only purpose in this movie seems to be crowding the set, so they collectively get -10%.
Minus points for stylists:
One of the best things about "Paradise Kiss" is that, being a manga about fashion, it is actually drawn with lots of attention paid to what all of the characters wear. In the movie, however, Yazawa's original designs have been simplified way more than necessary. While I can forgive Mukai for not dying his hair blue, I find it hard to understand why Oomasa not only didn't wear a wig even once (Miwako did!), she actually had her hair styled the same way at all freaking times she appeared. Clothes and accessories Miwako, Arashi and Isabella wear leave no impression at all, they consist of stuff you can find in every department store in Japan, simply put: they are boring. In Isabella's case also, and I will repeat it endlessly, painfully wrong. Since I'm pretty sure with some effort I could assemble better getups for all three of them without leaving my room, it's -20 points for LAZY stylists. Because it's a movie about design school students, and the stylists fear sewing machine!
Extra minus for whomever designed the final blue dress. It was supposed to support the purpose of showing how George designs clothes for the heck of it rather than for people to wear - instead it defies it, being by all means wearable. -10 for that dress alone, because Yazawa has drawn something truly breathtaking, and what the movie shows is a cheap excuse if you ask me.
Minus points for the scriptwriter:
BIG TIME SPOILER WARNING!
No, I don't mind the fact the ending is different. I do mind that it's a predictable, unrealistic, sugar-coated ending. Yazawa's stories, be it ParaKiss, or Nana, or even Last Quarter, are very honest in depicting human relationships, with all their ups and downs, in all possible aspects, and with believable outcomes. This movie however, approaches the problem Disney-style: not only is there no sexual relations at all between Yukari and George, there is in fact nothing between them at all for as long as there's Tokumori (who, by the way, gets dumped right after George leaves to Paris, so that him and Yukari could reunite meeting by chance in New York after three years of missing and thinking about, but not contacting each other). Very sweet, very Cinderella, very WTF. I'm not taking away any points for the lack of Yukari-blindfolded-with-George's-tie-and-tied-to-his-bed* scene in the movie, as it is, after all, targeted at high school kids, and as that should be somewhat parent-friendly. But for replacing a really touching, realistic ending this story had with Disney and candy: -20%.
*or maybe just tied and on his bed, or handcuffed, I don't remember, bite me ;P
END OF BIG TIME SPOILER
Out of initial 100% good movie, there is now only 25% good movie left.
What is that 25%? Well, for instance the aforementioned Mukai Osamu, who did a very good job. A simple, easy-on-the-eyes (as much as on brains, but some people will like that aspect) movie about a teenage girl who finds something she wants to do in her life, and falls in love on the way. Good movie for television. Soundtrack is alright. All in all, if you don't know manga, you might actually enjoy. If you like Disney, you will enjoy it more than the comic. If, however, you'd rather have a properly casted, carefully styled movie with a good script, go see something else.
I'm considering Princess Toyotomi.
Click to viewI went to see it today. And I didn't like what I saw. Here's why:
I love the manga, enjoyed anime, and I actually like/respect/both most of the cast. So even though the trailer already hinted most of them were there because they are popular at the moment rather than suitable for their parts, I was hoping to have a good time. Nothing more, nothing less.
Default score 100%, because it's a movie made of one of my all times favourite mangas, and it couldn't possibly get effed too badly, right? Right? ...right?..
Minus points for mis-casts:
Mukai Osamu as George - no blue hair, no resemblance whatsoever to original character, but Mukai proved to be a great actor and believe it or not - he made George his own. Even though I initially expected him to annoy me the most, I must say in the end he was the best. No minus points at all.
Kitagawa Keiko as Yukari - I like Keiko a lot. But her Yukari lacks charisma, and Yukari without charisma is no more than a whiney brat. Even if it's in big part the scriptwriter's and director's fault, she gets -10, because she's the main character.
Igarashi Shunji as Isabella - Isabella is possibly the most difficult part, and they give it to the guy who can't act a half of it?! I know it might be hard to find a guy willing to play a transvestite, but for gods' sake, first visual kei jrocker-wannabe found on a random Harajuku street corner would have more grace than Igarashi's Isabella! -5, because half of this fail is failed styling, and the stylists will get their own minus points.
Oomasa, Kento and Yamamoto as Miwako, Arashi, and Tokumori - they aren't bad actors (ok, Yamamoto kinda is, but I can't help liking him), they are just painfully wrong for those characters. Oomasa has an intelligent and a bit mature look that makes you wonder throughout the movie why the hell is she acting like a 5-year-old. Kento is and will be a pretty, likable boy no matter how much leather you put on him (he didn't get much anyway), while Yamamoto seems childish, cutesy and buried in complexes as if he was a male Miwako, not the level-headed, responsible Tokumori. Their only purpose in this movie seems to be crowding the set, so they collectively get -10%.
Minus points for stylists:
One of the best things about "Paradise Kiss" is that, being a manga about fashion, it is actually drawn with lots of attention paid to what all of the characters wear. In the movie, however, Yazawa's original designs have been simplified way more than necessary. While I can forgive Mukai for not dying his hair blue, I find it hard to understand why Oomasa not only didn't wear a wig even once (Miwako did!), she actually had her hair styled the same way at all freaking times she appeared. Clothes and accessories Miwako, Arashi and Isabella wear leave no impression at all, they consist of stuff you can find in every department store in Japan, simply put: they are boring. In Isabella's case also, and I will repeat it endlessly, painfully wrong. Since I'm pretty sure with some effort I could assemble better getups for all three of them without leaving my room, it's -20 points for LAZY stylists. Because it's a movie about design school students, and the stylists fear sewing machine!
Extra minus for whomever designed the final blue dress. It was supposed to support the purpose of showing how George designs clothes for the heck of it rather than for people to wear - instead it defies it, being by all means wearable. -10 for that dress alone, because Yazawa has drawn something truly breathtaking, and what the movie shows is a cheap excuse if you ask me.
Minus points for the scriptwriter:
BIG TIME SPOILER WARNING!
No, I don't mind the fact the ending is different. I do mind that it's a predictable, unrealistic, sugar-coated ending. Yazawa's stories, be it ParaKiss, or Nana, or even Last Quarter, are very honest in depicting human relationships, with all their ups and downs, in all possible aspects, and with believable outcomes. This movie however, approaches the problem Disney-style: not only is there no sexual relations at all between Yukari and George, there is in fact nothing between them at all for as long as there's Tokumori (who, by the way, gets dumped right after George leaves to Paris, so that him and Yukari could reunite meeting by chance in New York after three years of missing and thinking about, but not contacting each other). Very sweet, very Cinderella, very WTF. I'm not taking away any points for the lack of Yukari-blindfolded-with-George's-tie-and-tied-to-his-bed* scene in the movie, as it is, after all, targeted at high school kids, and as that should be somewhat parent-friendly. But for replacing a really touching, realistic ending this story had with Disney and candy: -20%.
*or maybe just tied and on his bed, or handcuffed, I don't remember, bite me ;P
END OF BIG TIME SPOILER
Out of initial 100% good movie, there is now only 25% good movie left.
What is that 25%? Well, for instance the aforementioned Mukai Osamu, who did a very good job. A simple, easy-on-the-eyes (as much as on brains, but some people will like that aspect) movie about a teenage girl who finds something she wants to do in her life, and falls in love on the way. Good movie for television. Soundtrack is alright. All in all, if you don't know manga, you might actually enjoy. If you like Disney, you will enjoy it more than the comic. If, however, you'd rather have a properly casted, carefully styled movie with a good script, go see something else.
I'm considering Princess Toyotomi.