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A live action that missed the mark on so many points, not true to the original source material
This movie was such a disappointment as I love the manga. It is certainly not an easy story to adapt as it was foremost published as comedic vignettes / Otaku slice-of-life format rather than full chapters (at first at least, as the story progressed, the storyline became more full fledged in the manga but the short comedic pages kept being what make the salt and fun of the manga).
Still, despite the fact that it is not so easy to adapt "as such" that kind of work, I feel the adaptation choice were done without understanding what was the main point of the source material. It was about friends-to-lovers but also learning to accept yourself through the eyes of characters sharing the same passion, even if it is deemed as strange / out-of-touch with real serious adult life. It was not just about romance, it was much more than that : fun and heartfelt at the same time.
I have 3 main criticisms:
1)I don't understand the choice of making it a musical. The main actress sing pretty well but it was not the point of the story. The various songs made little sense in the context of the manga. It feels like a cope out to make characters sing their feelings rather than having dialog and directing driving the point.
2) I also felt that the directing point of view lacked of love for the Otaku culture. The humor which worked so well in the manga, did not work here. It felt almost critical of the quirks of the characters, showing them as flaws for the relationship rather than taking a more tender approach, underlining how well they fit together which is too bad.
3) In the source material, the main couple interact with another couple also deep into Otaku culture (even if it is quite different for each of the 4 main characters) and here the second couple was totally set aside, while their dynamics was so good in the source material.
I would not recommend this to people as it was such a disappointment for me given the fact that I love the source material. Even my huge appreciation for Yamazaki Kento cannot redeem the movie to my eyes.
Still, despite the fact that it is not so easy to adapt "as such" that kind of work, I feel the adaptation choice were done without understanding what was the main point of the source material. It was about friends-to-lovers but also learning to accept yourself through the eyes of characters sharing the same passion, even if it is deemed as strange / out-of-touch with real serious adult life. It was not just about romance, it was much more than that : fun and heartfelt at the same time.
I have 3 main criticisms:
1)I don't understand the choice of making it a musical. The main actress sing pretty well but it was not the point of the story. The various songs made little sense in the context of the manga. It feels like a cope out to make characters sing their feelings rather than having dialog and directing driving the point.
2) I also felt that the directing point of view lacked of love for the Otaku culture. The humor which worked so well in the manga, did not work here. It felt almost critical of the quirks of the characters, showing them as flaws for the relationship rather than taking a more tender approach, underlining how well they fit together which is too bad.
3) In the source material, the main couple interact with another couple also deep into Otaku culture (even if it is quite different for each of the 4 main characters) and here the second couple was totally set aside, while their dynamics was so good in the source material.
I would not recommend this to people as it was such a disappointment for me given the fact that I love the source material. Even my huge appreciation for Yamazaki Kento cannot redeem the movie to my eyes.
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