Review of Paradise Kiss (movie)

Before watching this movie, I had certain expectations of it. This is the burden that comes with knowing the source material beforehand but on the other hand, this pre-knowledge offers a different perspective as to whether the adaptation is better, as good as or worse than the original. Having seen the anime which I was rather impressed with and read the manga which I liked better than the anime, I was hoping for the movie to lift the bar higher.

To be frank, I was quite worried about the fate of this movie when the casting list was announced. Mukai Osamu as George? Would he look exactly like George? What's going to happen to his hair if he plays George? Kitagawa Keiko as Yukari? Erm...she doesn't look like Yukari and her acting skills aren't that impressive (at least to me). How would they handle the adult material e.g. the classic scene of George and Yukari's first night together? Are they going to follow the manga's ending? All these reservations made it difficult for me to feel excited about watching this movie. And when I finally watched it, I must say my worst fears have been proven.

Just a note of caution, from this point on, there will be spoilers about the story and remarks that fans of Mukai and Kitagawa probably won't like to read about. I must declare that first of all, I have nothing against them. In fact, I do like Mukai but for Kitagawa, I have to admit that I've never been keen on watching her dramas and movies. If you feel uncomfortable about reading spoilers or my views on the cast in this movie, I really recommend that you should skip this post now.

The biggest issue I have is with the story. I'm not sure whether it's because the target audience is teenagers or the producers wanted to avoid a restricted rating. The movie seems to have the intention of describing the relationship between George and Yukari as something very fairytale-like and well, to put it bluntly, very platonic. The manga and anime shows the attraction between them as something sizzling, passionate, spontaneous and possibly destructive (because Yukari left home just to be ParaKiss' model and stay with George instead of focusing on her exams like she always did). However, I get the feeling that Yukari's (Kitagawa) feelings for Tokumori (Yamamoto Yusuke) are stronger than that of what felt for George (Mukai). True, George did appear to Yukari in the movie as someone really fascinating and hard to fathom but it felt more like curiousity towards George rather than love. The kiss scene backstage before the fashion show didn't quite have the desired impact of showing their feelings for each other. As such, when George and Yukari finally met and got together in NY, I didn't get the feeling that they really wanted to be with each other or that I should feel happy for them in any way.

I can understand if the scriptwriter, director or producers wanted a fairytale ending so as to attract female audiences or to increase the sweetness factor to make them squeal in delight. However, the very reason why I liked ParaKiss' anime and manga was that it is reflective of the real world, no matter how harsh the truth can be or the regrets people have to bear with as they grow older. I have no doubts that Yukari and George did have very strong feelings for each other no doubt it seemed too fast and the intimate scenes gave the impression that lust was more obvious than love. However, the truth is, their circumstances at that time were not conducive for them to continue being together. George had to go to NY so that he could let his talent develop without inhibitions while Yukari had to stay in Japan to achieve her dream of being a model. That is why they had to let go of each other despite not wanting to. Somehow, the movie tries too hard to show the message that true love can overcome everything (you know, the usual drift of time and distance doesn't matter in true love) but there is always another take to the situation. Being in love sometimes doesn't mean having to stay together for the sake of doing it. If I am still a teenager or someone in my early twenties who still harbour dreams of a fairytale romance AND I did not read the manga nor watch the anime, I would have accepted George and Yukari's reunion at the end of the movie more readily.

It was also a waste to see supporting characters like Arashi (Kaku Kento), Miwako (Oomasa Aya) and Isabella (Igarashi Shunji) being relegated to the sidelines because there was simply not enough time to spend on them. I would have loved to see the tension and awkwardness between Arashi, Miwako and Tokumori which was an interesting arc in the manga. Isabella's story with George was also brushed away too lightly which was a pity because Isabella and George shared an unspeakable bond due to their ability to understand the struggles with being different from others.

Talking about whether the main cast fitted the characters they were playing, I feel that they were all lacking in their own ways mainly due to the story and limited character development.

I admit that I've not been impressed by Kitagawa's performance so far in various dramas or movies. And all along, I've held the notion that Yukari = Yamada Yu. This opinion was strengthened when I watched the anime and Yamada impressed me with her delivery even though my response towards her acting in general is lukewarm at best. It is more difficult to act without the aid of body language and seeing the actor's expression so I thought her effort was very commendable. It may seem unfair to write Kitagawa off just because of her past track record or my preference for Yamada Yu but As for why Kitagawa was chosen, it could be that she is popular these days (a sure bet for high box office takings?) or she's two years younger than Yamada. It felt rather awkward to see her acting as a high school student though. Personally, I didn't think she potrayed the emotions in Yukari very well and the chemistry between her and Mukai Osamu was really lacking. On hindsight, maybe Kutsuna Shiori would have been a better fit.

George could have been a very good charater for Mukai to build on his high popularity these days (just like what Chiaki did for Tamaki Hiroshi) but too bad the chance wasn't there in the first place. The story didn't help in showing George's multi-faceted character even though Mukai is capable of doing better. The brooding parts were too much so it would have been better to show a lighter side of him to achieve a better balance. Appearance-wise, I was secretly hoping for Mukai to shave his hair like George but that may be asking too much of him if there are contracts whcih require him to maintain his hairstyle.

As for the other main characters, I think Igarashi looked quite good as Isabella while Oomasa was a tad too tall to play the petite Miwako but her kawaii-ness was bearable. I couldn't recognise Oomasa until I got to the credits section because she looked too much like someone of m I felt that Yamamoto didn't seem to match Tokumori's image (a little lacking in nerdiness?) while Kaku's potrayal of Arashi was a bit too loud for my liking.

Having said all that, it doesn't mean that this movie is something you definitely shouldn't touch. If you haven't seen the anime nor read the manga, in the mood for some fluffy onscreen romance (meaning, don't let logic rule your emotions) or like the leads, you should go ahead to watch this. Otherwise, if you feel strongly for the characters or the original story, you might as well skip this and save yourself the agony of getting angry over the butchered plot and the gap between your impresssions of the characters and the actual delivery in this movie.

And my ratings for this movie...
Story: 1 out of 10 (I felt like giving it a zero but decided against being too brutal in my assessment of this area)
Acting: 3 out of 10 (None of them really stood out partly because of the limited character development except for cameos by George's dad and mum!)
Theme song: 4 out of 10 (Yui's song is nice but didn't really mesh with the theme nor was fully utilised to bring out the intended effect)
Visual effects / Scenery: 5 out of 10 (Thumbs up for the fashion, not the fashion show in the climax. Scenery-wise, nothing that I particularly remembered)
Teamwork / Chemistry: 2 out of 10 (If this movie is a sign of things between Kitagawa and Mukai, the rumours about them being an item during the filming of this movie feel like a big fat lie to me.)

Total: 15 out of 50