I love mermaids and I think any recommendation you would have of this theme I would watch it, even if it was rated a 6/ 10. After watching the Chinese movie, “The Mermaid” or Mei ren yu” I can’t do the same or at least with the same expectations. I was completely fooled by the cover they present, instead of a humorous plot, I was shocked by the amount of violence, aggressive and sensible visuals and ill-speaking, I can stand this much, but if you don’t, don’t watch it.
The movie starts with a terrifying song while demonstrating the Human’s impact on the environment with catastrophic images of pollution, destruction, and death. While it’s message is noble, to sensibilize people about global warming and Human Greedy Activity and promote environmentally-friendly habits, the plot that follows is a mess, especially it’s development and final scenes. The beginning left me expectant of the romance and drama the movie had to offer.
To the people that already watched the movie, I am ignoring the first scenes about the marine biology tour in a sketchy place where they mention that mermaids exist. I don’t understand what was the objective of this act, it was super confusing and cringy.
Devant…
The plot introduces Liu Xuan (Deng Chao) a powerful, flirty and greedy businessman, who buys the Green Gulf to create more profit, his team develops a project to keep the animals away from the island, a submarine transmitter that sends waves and kills from an approximate distance in a couple of seconds (I don’t understand why they wanted to destroy the marine life).
Because of this project, the rest of the mermaid community is forced to shelter in an abandoned ship by the islands’ coast and, in order to stop their extinction, they send the prettiest mermaid to seduce and assassinate Liu Xuan.
Shan (Lin Yun) enters in contact with Liu Xuan and, as her attempts fail to kill him, she begins to fall in love for him.
At first, when I just had finished the movie I hated it for its simplicity and lack of originality but I enjoyed it nonetheless. Why the contrast? Why did I enjoy it?
My reasons are mostly “technical” aspects of the movie. I am not used to Chinese music but I love it already. The movie’s soundtrack is exciting, I enjoyed to hear it through the movie, the natural sceneries are gorgeous and the special effects are very well done. At times, it feels 3 dimensional with creative and humorous moments and if it was on the theatres it would probably look amazing and funnier to watch.
The plot’s main subject was the environmental problems surrounding Human’s actions and their cruelty to animals and humans. They use the mermaid’s concept very wisely and uniquely to place this subject, although inefficiently, in the end-it only proved how baseless and mechanic are humans-, that made the plot more curious and unexpected.
The development of the characters was also rushed but meaningful, how Love no matter how small it is can change someone’s actions for that individual.
What made my mind go past these positive remarks were:
The lack of Romance: The romance between protagonists was rushed and weirdly placed with a horrible drama in between with a rival so selfish and possessive.
⚠ Spoilers ⚠
I don’t understand her thinking when she was alloying Liu Xuan to see the “prostitute”- Shan’s cover- and when she ordered a carnage and tried to murder him. It just adds so much to how Humans are so vain and despicable, sploit by greed and jealousy.
End Spoilers
The comedy is limited and childish: for example the moment she tried to kill Liu Xuan and when they started interacting with each other. Sometimes, it wasn’t placed in the best moments and others are so violent visually and cruel you are perplexed the movie is tagged comedy at all.
I am not used to Chinese movies nor the language so the movie was already confusing for me, that is my fault, but I also don’t think by opening your mouth so little you can make a big sound. I mean that’s what I saw and heard: uncoordinated lips and volumed voices when their mouths were almost closed. I don’t understand it so I can’t judge it, but I was a bit off by those moments.
Final motive, the ending: a cliché ending.
⚠ Spoilers ⚠
Liu Xuan survived miraculously to two shots in the chest and lived as a new man, free from his greed and married to the mermaid that tried to kill him, while supporting and donating to marine biology research and conservations.
End Spoilers
Do you not recommend it?
Yes and No.
I wouldn’t recommend it to people with better things to watch with a tight schedule, go check out that recent drama series live in Viki Rakuten, read the popular and new weekly webtoons at LINE Webtoon, don’t spend your time on “The Mermaid”. I do value it for its message and the dedication in the scenarios and soundtrack, they are indeed marvelous, I’d recommend for the experience and to learn the new mermaid concept but if you want to watch a good movie of romance with mermaids this option wouldn’t be by far my first recommendation.
My “The Mermaid”’s opinion is contradictory, I enjoyed but I didn’t simultaneously and I hope you understood why. Thanks for reading!
Have you watched “The Mermaid” do you disagree or agree with me? Would you recommend?
Do you know that feeling when you finished a drama and you aren’t satisfied with the ending? That’s what I was feeling when I decided to watch the movie “Kimi ni Todoke”. I thought maybe it would be the quickest way to get over a bad ending and instead the feeling only grew worse.
I had two frustrations instead of one.
“Kimi Ni Todoke” follows Sawako Kuronuma, a high school student who is known as Sadako, a ghost from a popular horror movie, because of her appearance and shy and tense behaviors. A lot of rumors spread around her character and she is unable to befriend, or even talk to her colleagues because they were afraid of being cursed.
In reality, unlike what the rumors say, Sawako is a very kind and pleasant girl that had difficulties expressing her feelings. The only person that noticed that was Shota Kazehaya, a popular and friendly student, who was known and admired by her and many other students because of his charismatic presence.
The movie then begins to change Sawako’s life as she creates her first friendship, develops a romance and integrates into class.
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Information
Movie: From Me to You Romaji: Kimi ni Todoke Japanese: 君に届け Director: Naoto Kumazawa Assistant Director: Kojiro Hashimoto Writer: Karuho Shiina (manga), Rika Nezu, Naoto Kumazawa, Yukiko Manabe Producer: Takahiro Sato Cinematographer: Masayuki Fujii Release Date: September 25, 2010 Runtime: 128min. Genre: Romance / Teen / Based on a Comic Production Company: NTV, Toho Distributor: Toho Language: Japanese Country: Japan
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In this post, I’ll explain my thoughts about the movie “Kimi ni Todoke”.
So first of all,
Why did I like it?
The movie was very assertive with the selected cast. The female actresses are very alike the roles they interpret as well as their performances. They were physically and personality-wise on point with the several actresses. I was very surprised to see Mirei Kiritani as the Rival (I had seen her in “Heroine Shikkaku” and her current role in that plot was sarcastic).
The male cast had a good performance but it wasn’t one of my favorite aspects, which I’ll explain later on the blog.
The soundtrack does capture the essence of the moments and they do fit on each moment they are placed. Besides that, the silence is very powerful as it is constant so when a song plays it’s during agitated moments.
Lastly, I enjoyed was the sceneries even if it was on the school’s campus, I enjoyed the sakura trees moments and the final scene.
But, overall, I was let down by other aspects that had a negative impact during my experience.
Why I don’t recommend it?
I have one complaint about the sceneries: the rooftop. The scenes in the rooftop are so forced and unexplained it made me perplexed. It only contributed as a “different” scenery because it was outdoors but it’s not safe nor it makes the moment more beautiful.
When I was watching and all suddenly they were in the rooftop, instead of being in class, I noticed how there were no railing in the spot they were and a very convenient chair abandoned there. Do you know what Chizuru, Ayano and Sawako were doing? Bandaging Sawako’s knee!
They walked all the way to the rooftop to treat her that it was probably better than going to the infirmary, skipping class with the teacher’s authorization.
The producers purposely put them in the rooftop to be more “Woah”. What the hell. And that’s not the “best” part.
In the original plot, Kazehaya sees them make up and feels disappointed he couldn’t be with Sawako. In the movie, while they were on the rooftop clearing things up, the camera turns to Kazehaya’s perspective, on the ground floor, where he could admire their moment as well.
It’s idiotic how they changed this moment and how creepy the finishing result was. I just couldn’t take it seriously.
Besides changing this moment’s sceneries, many other details were changed for the convenience of thestoryline and location so I can understand but the plot they based it off was so cut off of so many important moments for characters’ development I couldn’t help but wonder how would they build up the ending with 25 minutes left of screen time. They rushed it so much I lost interest in the movie, seeing how different was actually from the original plot.
I know I am comparing a lot and there were changes that really surprised me for the best, for example, the beginning, how Sawako was born. The way they developed the ending was smart and different as well around Sawako’s dad concert in New Year’s Eve.
It was different and original its own way but at other, it felt rushed and demotivating.
I was very disappointed with the male cast, not because of their performances, but instead by their appearance. As a high school student, Ryo looked much older then his colleagues and that pulled me off a bit from what was happening. He is indeed very unlike Ryo but I couldn’t overcome that thought. Arai-sensei’s closet is well picked but the actor doesn’t look alike and finally Kazehaya’s actor: I don’t think he is a bad actor but I couldn’t see him as Kazehaya, he didn’t have his aura.
I do admire the resemblance between characters but I couldn’t see past these aspects while was watching.
Would I recommend it?
Yes and No.
You never watched anything related to “Kimi ni Todoke” and you would like to be reminded of its plot, if you like the romance, school life and slice of life genres, a shy, sweet protagonist and “refreshing” male protagonist, I’d recommend this movie but if you are well updated with the original plot, I wouldn’t.
My experience was completely sabotaged by constant reminders how the movie had changed from the original plot but I do recognize it for its merits besides these thoughts. Maybe in a far away future, I’ll watch it again and see if my opinion changed.
Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed today’s post,
When I am in a large group of people, I always end up unconsciously trying to find you. Even if I get the wrong person, I look for you. And when I am trying to find you, no matter how big the group is, I somehow find you first, I wonder if that’s what it is to fall in love.”
Is said that springtime is the time when girls fall in love. Yoshioka Futaba, unlike other girls, prioritized her friends over love because she suffered a broken heart in elementary school by Kou Tanaka.
In her 2nd Year of High School, Yoshioka is shocked to find out that the same boy was in her class but had his last name changed to Mabuchi.
She was shocked by how he had changed, Cold, brute and distant. He warns her about her so-called friends, calling her “cheap”, she ignores at first but when she sees her friends criticizing innocent Yuri Makita with no justification, she defends her.
Her supposed friends abandon her and Yoshioka, in order to turn a new leaf, volunteers as one of the class leaders that will participate in the Spring’s Leader Orientation, where she expects to create her real friends. Besides Yoshioka, Yuri Makita, Shuko Murao, Aya Kominato, and Kou Mabuchi, forced, also volunteered.
From there, Yoshioka develops new friendships and old love.
Plot
The plot is simple but it well planned and paced, making a nostalgic and lovely memory.
I read the manga, watched the anime years ago, and watching the Live Action was a door ajar. The plot was so well cut in the movie, mixed a few and other resemblances from the original plot and kept what made the manga so good.
The main attraction is protagonists development and their romance. It doesn’t give much importance to the side characters that are only present for Yoshioka and Kou’s romance bloom. Nevertheless, the plot is interesting and pleasant to watch.
⚠⚠ Spoilers ⚠⚠
It follows Yoshioka’s memories as in the present time she remeets Kou Mabuchi. She is very happy to see him and as they interact he gets annoyed how she keeps remembering how he was when she met him years ago because that person didn’t exist anymore, he says.
“Don’t try and find the old me” (Edits 2 and 3)
Meanwhile, she comes to learn what happened to him after moving to Nagasaki in Junior High School from his brother. His parents had divorced and Kou moved to his mother’s house in Nagasaki.
Kou didn’t want to have fun, didn’t open up because he felt guilty that he had neglected his mother when she was sick before she died.
Yoshioka is determined to “grab Kou’s smile back”, which she succeeded. They grew closer to each other and, later, she realized she fell in love with him when Yuri Makita told her she liked him (Edit 4).
Eventually, Yuri Makita confessed and is rejected and Yoshioka is stood up in the Spring Festival once again because of a girl he couldn’t let go on Nagasaki.
An old classmate. From Nagasaki, Yui Narumi, as Kou, also shared a traumatic experience due to her parents and in that moment of her life she was too weak to be alone and Kou wasn’t brave to leave her until she “could stand with her two feet”.
This stomper created a very problematic outcome. Yoshioka was desperate, she wanted to be with Kou but that girl was in the way of reaching him so she met with her and told her to stop.
“Time stops for him.”
Narumi didn’t back down, saying she would do everything to keep him by her side. She wasn’t a Rival but a Villain. Yoshioka gave up on him and confessed in order to move on. Staged, Kou rejects her -his anger after he rejected her was silent but it meant so much, I could hear his screams-, continuing his forced relationship with Narumi (Edit 5).
Thankfully, the side characters were there to help. Kou’s friend, Aya Kominato, planned a way to bring back Kou to the group, to Yoshioka, that was seeing Toma Kikuichi- they weren’t dating but supposedly they were on the manga.
The last field trip brought them to Nagasaki, the city where Kou and his mother lived until she died, and he revisited the city, clashing the present with his past while opening up to Yoshioka, who convinced him on the tour.
Visiting a local church his mother usually prayed for her health, he discovered all of her prayers were for him instead. He broke in tears.
The ending was satisfying as well, I mean there were loose ends and a few curious moments I would’ve enjoyed seeing, but it doesn’t overcome the positive opinion I have.
Kou stopped taking care of Narumi (we don’t see how it happens), Kikuichi is rejected by Yoshioka and both protagonists start dating, finally, while the sunrise was occurring. Beautiful.
Cast
Futaba Yoshioka→ Tsubasa Honda
Kou Mabuchi→ Masahiro Higashide
Shuko Murao→ Yua Shinkawa
Aya Kominato→ Ryo Yoshizawa
Yuri Makita→ Izumi Fujimoto
Yui Narumi→ Mitsuki Takahata
Toma Kikuchi→ Yudai Chiba
Yoichi Tanaka→ Yu Koyanagi
Characters
Futaba Yoshioka
With 22 years old, Tsubasa Honda performed as Futaba Yoshioka in “Blue Spring ride”. 5 years later, 27 years old presently, she gained more experience through the years and in 2017 she was part of the “Fullmetal Alchemist” Live-action movie’s cast as Wendy Rockbell.
Tsubasa Honda as Futaba Yoshioka
Yoshioka isn’t very feminine and she eats what she likes when she wants. In the beginning, her friends warned about how much she ate and when she needs their help proving she wasn’t stealing they just sided with the crowd making her feel embarrassed and betrayed. If it wasn’t for Kou protecting her, she would’ve been marked as a thief.
She was super happy and thanked him personally for the gesture.
“It made me happy you would get angry because of me”
He called her and her friends “cheap”, which she later saw it herself when they bad-mouthed Yuri Makita because she was prettier than them.
After being left out, she got out of her bubble and created new friendships. She revealed to be more energetic and honest. She is brave and bold, doing things a normal person wouldn’t do, like dropping honorifics to “strangers”, throwing herself at a guy, because she didn’t like what he said, scream at someone like she was right- she was-, and ask to leave another alone.
She made her own path and she was strongly independent of formalities. She was uncommon to a certain extent which made the plot more engaging.
Kou Mabuchi/ Tanaka
Masahiro Higashide is the actor responsible for Kou Mabuchi’s role, the male protagonist of the movie. He has a wide experience with many roles in movies, drama series, and tv movies. He had received two many awards, one in 2012, “Sponichi Grand Prix Newcomer Award” for his performance in “The Kirishima Thing”, and the second award on 2013, “Rookie of the Year”, a Japan Academy Prize.
Masahiro Higashide as Kou Mabuchi
Mabuchi made it appear he was the strongest and most dignified character with no weaknesses but then it’s proved to be the weakest of all.
Gradually, his character develops thanks to his friends and Yoshioka, who he liked since Junior high school.
When Yoshioka first talks to him, he is cold and rude with an expressionless facade, but he tends to break it as she is around him. As the plot unfolds, he begins to reveal his feelings more to her until he is reminded of his past when Narumi reappears in his life.
⚠⚠ Spoilers ⚠⚠
He had promised to be good in school so he wouldn’t worry his mother, and that he could take care of his mother. Without realizing her disease, he studies while his mother was getting worst and when she was diagnosed with cancer in a terminal stage and eventually died, he was pressured with the guilt and regret of not noticing sooner, not being there for her, not taking care of her like he said he was going to. In any time he felt happy he wasn’t able to express it because of the guilt.
Shuuko Murao
Yua Shinkawa is responsible for Shuko Murao’s role.
Shuko Murao is one of the side characters. From all, she was probably the one that received less attention and identity. She was usually tagged with Yuri and rarely spoke to anyone. Her presence felt a convenience so there was a motive for Aya Kominato to volunteer for the Spring’s Leader Orientation and to forcibly bring Kou with him.
She seemed to be very peaceful, all about that world peace, very observant and only talked when extremely necessary.
⚠⚠ Spoilers ⚠⚠
Aya Kominato, the person that likes her, was also as observant and later on the story discovers she likes the teacher, Kou’s brother. She never attempted to be with Tanaka-sensei nor confessed her feelings to him. As other side characters, she lacked development which is present in the manga (Edit 6)!
Yuri Makita
Almost a doll figure, Izumi Fujimoto was the actress that performed as sweet Yuri Makita.
Part of the side character’s cast, she had a very sweet voice and a cute appearance that left boys hooked on her. Yuri was also shy, honest and straightforward to her friends when she was on the screen.
Yuri Makita, a side character lacked development and presence, is Yoshioka’s first real friend and the first “rival”- I can’t consider her a rival even- and her existence is purposely for Futaba’s development and more drama.
Another side character that lacked development but had a positive impact on Yoshioka and Kou’s relationship.
He is very talkative and friendly, the opposite of Kou, creating a funny couple of friends. He is honest and organized, he was the planner in Leader’s Orientation. He worries about his friends and tries to make them happy within a boundary.
Performance
Maybe it’s just me but, sometimes, I didn’t find the performance very believable. I thought “they are grown people in their twenties once again in high school, just to fake fall in love again” breaking off the focus on the actual plot.
Physically (except hair colors), I truly see the resemblance with the fictional characters and how they played their roles was satisfactory but at times I was put off by very awkward moments, fake laughs and somewhat a limitation. At least, to me, momentarily, it just didn’t feel natural. I know the awkward moments, the silence was purposely to increase suspense but they were several and left me bored instead.
Even so, I enjoyed the performance. I was engaged mostly and I really like the cast’ resemblance to the original characters and their way of assuming their character’s personality. There are a few moments I was speechless because of their great performance in those moments (Edit 7).
Scenario
I enjoyed the movie’s visuals. Simplistic yet meaningful at times, other dull and repetitive- fortunately it was where the drama occurred (school).
Sadly, I don’t where it was filmed beside that it was in Japan, Toyama and Nagasaki. There are many landscapes and scenic views over the city as well inside the school they study in and spend most of their time. The Spring’s Leader Orientation was outdoors, they supposedly visited Nagasaki in a field trip and the characters usually hanged out in a very drama convenient café- they sat on the tables by the windows that were see-through on both sides.
Soundtrack
The soundtrack was fitting to the movie.
I enjoyed hearing the songs as the moments occurred on the screen and depending on what was happening it would change from a calming, soothing song to a more agitated one. It was accelerating and exciting in the climaxes and more romantic as the protagonists struggled to be with each other.
The silence is very powerful in this movie, it puts you on the spot from how awkward it can get, sometimes it can be boring, waiting for the person to speak.
Final thoughts
Overall, I enjoyed this movie a lot. It was a different way to spend time, a quicker way too, and I am very happy I watched it. It reminded me of the manga’s plot and it brought those feels back I had experienced while reading it.
But sadly not as strong. I was engaged in the plot and at times I was pulled out by the cast’s performances and the side characters received almost no attention, although they were one of the reasons Kou and Yoshioka were together.
I really liked it though. I have a few favorite moments that didn’t need words to describe how emotional it was, which makes the plot so great as popular as we know it. Without the cast, I couldn’t have experienced those emotions, they were amazing. The visuals are beautiful and the soundtrack is good and enhanced at each moment.
I recommend to people that can’t watch dramas instead- me-, that enjoy “Ao Haru Ride”, that like the genres romance, shoujo, drama, comedy, school and slice of life, a bold female protagonist, a tsundere male protagonist, a forced love square, where the hero and Heroine choose to not be together.
To Otakus 