Koizora (2007)

Koizora is one of those movies that everybody seems to love but I just simply can't appreciate. So it makes me wonder if there's something wrong with me or with my taste.

Last week, I found my rant about this movie hidden away in one of my drafts. I'm not sure why I never published it anywhere. Probably, I was scared that Koizora loyalists would attack me for the things I said. Hehe. After reading my review, I decided to give the movie another try. I mean, so many people love it! So there's a chance that I'd end up liking it too, right?

But after scanning the first half movie, I realized that there's no way I could watch it again, unless I want to raise my blood pressure. Heh.

Here's what I thought of the movie two years ago:

Koizora (Sky of Love) is the portrayal of unrealistic youthful love. What started as a sweet and innocent relationship between two Japanese high school students ends up in a chaos of conflicts only meant to happen in movies. Now, this negative perspective only occurs since the movie is claimed to be based on a true story. But the flow of events would make any viewer question the validity of this claim. 

The story is predictable for anyone who has watched enough Asian love stories. Though the movie is entertaining at first, it still ends as a disappointment for what is quite a well-known Japanese movie. 

The only thing that didn't disappoint in the movie are the lead actors. Miura Haruma (Hiro) and Aragaki Yui (Mika) are eye-candies and can quite capture anyone's attention. They showed off good acting skils and portrayed their characters quite well. 

The first part of the movie is enjoyable and will leave any girl smiling from ear to ear. It is delightful to see how Hiro and Maki, the lead characters of the movie, get to know each other and eventually fall into mutual "love." But once their feelings for each other is established, the development of the plot goes downhill from there. 

What could have been considered as deep conflicts that demands resolutions are shrugged off and treated lightly. Such conflicts include rape, teenage pregnancy, and bullying. It is easy to say that the characters aren't fully developed for even if they experienced inhumanity, they themselves seem to show unrealistic reactions and emotions towards their circumstances. 

Though watching Koizora is not completely a waste of time for I also enjoyed some scenes, I can definitely say that there are better Japanese movies out there. This movie, however, is recommended for anyone who likes movies with teenagers who have uncontrollable hormones faced with a string of unrealistic events.

I was planning to write another review after watching the second time, but it turns out that there's nothing new to write about. They say that I should stop analyzing movies and just enjoy it for what it is. Well, it's a hair-pulling, eyebrow-raising movie so I can't really enjoy it as much as I want.

But Miura Haruma's blond hair makes up for it so I guess it's still worth a watch.