Well Deserved Praise

Overrated and overhyped

Memorable, crazy movie

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

This is a story about Kaoru (the pretty and talented actress Yui), a 16 year old girl who lives with her parents and has the condition XP, which means she could die if she is exposed to sunlight. So, every evening she goes to town square and plays songs on her guitar. Also, she watches fellow teen Koji from her window, becoming interested in him. This story is about her dealing with the illness and the relationship between her and Koji. To be sure, there are other films like this (like "A Walk To Remember"), but the film is shot with much care for its surroundings. Also, the supporting cast is good, which makes the film more compelling. Of course its somewhat sad but its also sweet. Its obviously not for everyone but its good, with the actress Yui especially being very believable in the role of Kaoru.

Overall I thought that the cinematography stole the show. The story is very moving if you allow yourself to get drawn into it; though I should say I watched it in two sittings and I imagine many will find it too much of a drag to watch all at once.I thought that the father's part made it quite interesting and elevated is above TV movie status. There is a nice balance between the older/younger perspectives which gives the film some much needed depth. Sometimes this was rather laboured (the beach scene near the end) and sometimes it worked perfectly (when he was talking with the doctor).I'm not sure what the target audience is, it seems to be a vehicle for YUI but the incidental music is a lot better than her songs!

I got bored the first 30 minutes of the movie...to be frank, I could let myself finish this movie. It would be a waste of my time. I actually tried finishing this movie because it got such good reviews, but the better part of me kept me from it. If you don't get bored easily and are persistent watch this movie. She sings so much that basically it could be her concert. Ever notice that all her music videos are like this...yeah, not hard for her to do this movie. The guy that was supposed to be her love interest was so UGLY. He even had wrinkles he was so old. There are minutes of silence at a time. I began skipping parts during the first couple of minutes. Sometimes, it just shows her staring off into space and thats about it until four minutes later she starts moving her arm or something. Anyway, in short this movie sucked.

When looking at the movie poster, I was preparing to expect another one of those extremely sappy, corny Japanese love/romance films. The pace was slow for the first 10 mins or so, something perhaps viewers would take note of to allow them to absorb the general feel of the surrounding. ie. in a quiet, small laid-back, seaside Japanese town and the weaving of the plot slowly into the picture. But what surprised me is that the film is extremely honest, believable and heartrending at the end. It kind of made you believe somewhere out there someone is living such a life. Still, it evokes mixed emotions within me as I was watching the plot unfolds. Perhaps it was the slow pace of development of the story that made it seem so real a story as it allows for natural progression of humour (when the female protagonist (a creditable performance by Yui) is still pining for Koji) into sweet, saccharine love (when they were in a relationship), to the relationship's inevitable conflict and its rather touching resolution and finally to a sad, tragic ending. And before you knew it, you'd be wishing Kaoru was still alive in the film at the end. In short, the movie excellent evokes powerful emotions that makes it a perfect emotional roller-coaster ride in the 2 hours of screen time.