Natural acting from two brilliant actors. While Suda Masaki is arguably a romantic chemistry killer, here he only needs to portray friendship. Ikematsu Sosuke, on the other hand, is impossible not to have chemistry with. So of course they manage to portray a warm friendship that sustains an entire movie worth of dialogues.
When I was young and reading Death Note as it was getting published I thought that the character designs were very stylish and realistic. L was wearing jeans and a t-shirt, it seemed very sensible and normal. But in the recent years, for some reason, every adaptation of Death Note aims to have really corny designs for its characters.
Yamazaki Kento may be the cutest tootie-patootie in this drama but can you look me in the eye and tell me that he looks like a character from the serious crime drama? With that hair? And that clothes?
Kubota Masataka, though, bravely ignores all the corniness around him and acts as if it's all real, as if he indeed possess the power to take a life with just a few strokes of pen. His phenomenal acting and strong plot keep this cheaply made drama together.
I recommend to watch it if you ever wondered how CLAMP characters would look like in real life (spoiler: like Higashide Masahiro) or if you've been wondering about toxic masculinity and the way we often perceive men like Watanuki to be lacking. It is especially interesting how high-strung, often unable to protect himself Watanuki with his unrequited crush morphs from the CLAMP protagonist (a plucky but vulnerable bishounen) to the typical looser character (or harem anime protagonist).
The story is all over the place but the plot is actually quite engaging. How something so corny can be watchable? Right?? But it is. The charismatic characters (Narimiya Hiroki and Kichise Michiko especially) chew the scenery with aplomb, so once you stop shouting "not another Japanese story from the days when internet forums were thought to be sinister places with every other post containing word 'kami' and predictions of apocalypses" you can enjoy it quite a lot.
Kubota is a kind of an actor that can play characters like Gollum without an ounce of shame or restraint. Whatever shade of pathetic, revolting, or debased you want, Kubota would give it to you. Perhaps, Kaneki from the manga is a more fragile, vulnerable character than Kubota's Kaneki. But who else would convincingly retch for half of the movie and flawlessly act out all of the "my precioussssss" moments?
Kubota Mastaka, my friends, is an anime protagonist to rule them all.
This was so bad, such a waste of the great cast. I watched it at the film festival with the friends I roped to accompany me, they still resent me. The First Love (2019) by Miike was much more enjoyable.
Suda Masaki gives 300% in here. This is a very high quality production, don't let the genre scare you away. It is also "a jerk with a heart of gold" kind of movie and some scenes are really touching and poignant. If nothing else, you should definitely watch it for the fanservice (a true ikkemen paradise).
I was completely blown away by Yamada Takayuki's charisma and the chemistry he had with other characters (especially, Kiritani Kenta). An acting genius at work is always a pleasure to watch.
It pains me to admit but some parts of this movie were messy and problematic. There is a lot to enjoy though! I am especially thankful that Fukuyama Masaharu agreed to play Kenshin's master.
It is too sad the female characters weren't given enough to do. Otherwise, it is a great sequel. Where else would you see Kamiki playing Fujiwara's underling? Or action scenes that didn't age a bit?
I really like Chinese court drama (like Nirvana in Fire) and epic fantasy (like The Lord of the Rings) but this movie is neither. It is instead a shounen manga adaptation. So if you sneer at Rurouni Kenshin because it is not an accurate portrayal of samurais' struggles during the Meiji era or think that real ninjas would never wear orange, Kingdom might not be for you. As a shounen adaptation, though, Kingdom is outstanding; it received several nominations at the 43rd Japanese Academy Awards.
This is a shounen live action we all have been waiting since Rurouni Kenshin proved that shounen manga could be successfully adapted.
Yamazaki Kento may be the cutest tootie-patootie in this drama but can you look me in the eye and tell me that he looks like a character from the serious crime drama? With that hair? And that clothes?
Kubota Masataka, though, bravely ignores all the corniness around him and acts as if it's all real, as if he indeed possess the power to take a life with just a few strokes of pen. His phenomenal acting and strong plot keep this cheaply made drama together.
Kubota Mastaka, my friends, is an anime protagonist to rule them all.
This is a shounen live action we all have been waiting since Rurouni Kenshin proved that shounen manga could be successfully adapted.