Lovely Complex (Movie)

I recently discovered an anime (based on a shojo manga) that I instantly fell in love with called Lovely Complex. But since the series is currently airing, and is only up to episode 11, I needed something to ease the torture while waiting for new episodes. So, you can imagine how excited I was when I learned there was a live action movie made recently!!

So, as soon as I got caught up with the anime, I watched it.

And wow. At first I thought it was terrible...they add lots of unnecessary original stuff... and rather than focusing on the relationship from both perspectives, we're given Risa's angle and little else. The main thing that kept me watching was the awesomeness of Teppei Koike who played the role of Otani: he had the character down perfectly and did an excellent job bringing the character to life!! ^_^

The girl playing Risa, however...

Err, well, she certainly looked the part, and she was very cute.

Her performance on the other hand...

To be honest, it kind of annoyed me. For one thing, the way they had her over-acting drove me crazy. I realize that's probably the way the director wanted it... especially since there were certain scenes where the other characters mimicked the same kind of gestures. But still, it was distracting, looked bad, and was really unnecessary. It was like, with every line she delivered, she'd shake like crazy, and make weird motions with her hands. And her movements were over-exaggerated and looked staged--part of the reason though, is probably because they had her wearing high heels for a majority of the film. Which, by itself, didn't make much sense to start with. I mean, she's supposed to be at least a little self-conscious about her height, especially when standing next to Otani... and yet they have her wearing high heels to make her look even taller!

I just thought that was funny. Especially since being tall and being a good actress should have been the only requirements for Risa's actress... and yet, the girl they chose, didn't have either.

Throughout the entire movie, I just couldn't picture her as Risa--not like I could picture Otani. But that's just my personal take. I've heard of a LOT of people who loved her. And to be fair, her accent is adorable.

But still... was she the ONLY semi-tall girl in Osaka with an accent, or something?!

Oh! And it was cool how they had Maity narrating... though I really wish they would have had him doing it in Japanese instead. His English really wasn't very good, and half the time, I couldn't understand what he was saying. If they really wanted to include an English speaking narrator, they should have at least chose someone who can speak it fluently. Why else include Japanese subtitles, when the language you're translating can't even be understood by native speakers?! Though I do like how they saved that "revelation" until the end. It was funny, on hindsight, that it was that crazy teacher speaking all along, lol.

I did NOT like that strange guy in the chair though--the one who kept popping up at random moments, to point out something really obvious or stupid. What was the purpose...?! Because it definitely wasn't funny.

And what was with Risa's sister?! That whole bit was annoying, disturbing, unnecessary, corny, and stupid. Instead of wasting time with made up story-lines and over-used jokes (their teacher's "wig" anyone?) they should have concentrated more on developing Risa and Otani's relationship. Or in the very least, developed Otani's side of the story a little more. We never got a good look into his head, so his revelations at the end practically came out of nowhere! I wish they had stuck more closely to the manga Maity-storyline instead. It wasn't quite as corny... and much more romantic.

Plus, the whole "height" issue which is the staple of the story, wasn't as powerful in the movie. She really wasn't that tall. In the anime, you can DEFINITELY see the difference between them in height--same goes for the manga--but in the movie, there really wasn't that much of a difference. Not enough to make such a big deal over anyway...

And (this is me, totally being nit-picky) but I really wish they would have had the kids wearing school uniforms like in the anime. Normally, I really wouldn't care, but the clothes they had the girls wearing (particularly Nobu, Risa's best friend) made them look like junior high delinquents pretending to be grown-ups--not high school students. It was so annoying! Plus, I didn't like how they tried to portray Nobu and Chiharu's relationships, into something dirty.

Prime examples: Chiharu blushing as she admits to her boyfriend that she's not wearing any panties underneath her kimono. And at the beginning of the movie, Risa's other friend, asking her bf to buy her something, and in exchange, she lets him do stuff to her body--

They sounded like lines out of really bad fanfics!

At least make it subtle!

Overall, it was a pretty average adaptation of a wonderfully, funny, cute, romantic story. They could have done so much better with the script and the casting though...

But again, Teppei Koike definitely held this movie together: in my mind he IS Otani. Of course, I'm in love with the japanese seiyuu for the anime too, so it could just be that I love his character period. Risa is one lucky imaginary girl, lol.

In the future, I have (and will) watch this again... simply because I have an unhealthy obsession with this couple, and need to see them in whichever form they happen to embody. If, however, you could care less about Lovely Complex (or most high-school oriented romantic comedies, for that matter) I'd suggest skipping this one all together. But for shoujo fans, you're sure to be entertained. Just ignore Risa's shaking, concentrate all your energy on Otani, and enjoy! ^_^

My Rating: