Peach Girl (2017) – Japanese Film Review

Peach Girl (2017) is a Japanese live-action film based on the manga with the same name.

Synopsis: Momo Adachi is a high school student who is always mistaken as “easy” and “scandalous” due to her tan skin. She doesn’t care what others think about her, as long as Kazuya Toji believes in her. A rumor gets out that Momo kissed Kairi Okayasu, the most popular guy at school. This starts a spiral of complicated matters because Toji is the one Momo is in love with!

The antagonist of this story is Sae Kashiwagi, a girl who pretends to be Momo’s friend but she actually takes pleasure in ruining Momo’s life. I watched the Taiwanese drama of this story in my childhood and to this day Sae has always been my most hated character. Momo is so sweet though, because she still cares about Sae. Sae is played by Mei Nagano, the actress who played Rinko Yamato from Ore Monogatari!! She’s a great actress because she played Sae’s character well, who is the complete opposite of Yamato’s character.

What I Liked: I liked the cast and liked how things were peach themed, especially with Momo’s name (meaning peach). Everyone was very fashionable, which reminds me of shojo manga. I liked the imagery, such as the beach scenes, flower shop and restaurant scenes. Overall, it was a pretty movie and the ending was cute.

What I Disliked: This movie had pacing issues. Things happened too quickly. There were overly dramatic scenes as well and it didn’t feel natural. While this film had its good moments, I would not rewatch this film.

Rating: 7/10

Ore Monogatari!! (2015) – Japanese Film Review

Ore Monogatari!! (2015), also known as My Love Story!! is the Japanese live-action film adaptation of the anime with the same name.

Fun fact: I watched this film years ago. Yesung from Super Junior recently watched this film, which prompted me to write a review.

Synopsis: Takeo Goda is a sweet and thoughtful guy who wants a girlfriend, but he is always unsuccessful because of his scary and huge appearance. His best friend, Suna Makoto, on the other hand, is extremely popular because of his good looks. One day, Takeo saves a young girl named Rinko Yamato from a man who is harassing her. Yamato thanks him for saving her, and wants to get to know him better!

Thoughts: This was so cute! However, it was also frustrating because there were so many misunderstandings. It’s worth watching to the end though. Since it’s a movie, a lot of characters from the anime aren’t introduced. The focus is on Takeo, Suna and Yamato.

This is one of the better live-action anime adaptations. Shojo manga adaptations are generally better than shonen titles because they are realistic and don’t require a huge budget. I think it’s crucial to have a good cast. The cast for this film is great. The actress who plays Yamato is perfect for the role, and Suna is great too. Takeo in the anime is bigger than the actor who plays him, but I think it would be hard to find someone as big as him in real life.

I really enjoyed watching this, and recommend this film if you’re looking for a cute high school romance.

Similarities Between Inuyashiki and Ikiru

Inuyashiki is about a father who develops stomach cancer and has three months left to live. Spoilers: He becomes a robot, which sets off the story in the manga. Before he became a robot, he is on a swing and sings a song. This is after he finds out he has cancer. His family do not have respect for him, so he is unable to tell them the news.

Ikiru (To Live) is a black and white Japanese film from 1952 by Akira Kurosawa. It’s about a father who also has stomach cancer. He has less than a year to live, and is unable to tell his son because his son cares more about his money than him. In the rest of the film, the main character tries to find meaning in his life, similar to Inuyashiki. At 1:39, the main character’s facial expression looks like Inuyashiki whenever he is trembling. Later on at 2:53, he is sitting on a swing and sings a song. Both characters in Inuyashiki and Ikiru are singing the same song! Do you think Oku watched Ikiru and was inspired by this scene?

The biggest difference is that Ikiru is more realistic and there are no robotic elements to it. After all, this is a movie from the 1950s and it has real actors. However, their journey towards finding meaning in life is similar. What do you think? Has anyone else seen Ikiru before?