This review may contain spoilers
Who was this made for?
That's what I'm wondering after watching this.
Was it made for the manga readers? NO.
Was it made for the general public? I don't think so, since it's a collection of scenes without any reason or sense whatsoever and unless you have read the manga you won't be able to link things and fill in the gaps.
I was watching some random show days ago and the plot made me remember Parfait Tic the manga because it shared a couple of similarities and I fancied rereading it. I found out in the process that there was a live action version of the manga. I decided to watch it after rereading the manga, what shouldn't have done.
I need to point out that the manga is not great despite its popularity, and I hadn't reread it since I did first back in the 00s as it came out. My expectations were already very low with this adaptation before starting it because it's a trend with adapted mangas, I think I've only seen a couple of good ones ever. Alas, what made me reread the manga was mostly remembering Daiya as a character because I liked him and because it's one of those rare occasions where the main character chooses the secondary male interest instead of the obvious more main one.
I feel I need to sum up a bit the manga to point out at the same time why this adaptation is so pointless and bad.
For starters, they have, I guess, tried to fit in 10 episodes of around 20 minutes (and they repeat scenes what it's the cherry on top of insulting if you ask me) a total of 22 volumes of the manga. Sure, the manga, especially in the second half slows down and goes melodramatic and dragging but the funny and ironic part is that they have focused here on the more drama and melodramatic moments of the whole series than anything, it's a whiplash of melodrama scene after another. This show, like it has happened with many other shōjo manga adaptations, has gone for a dramatic take on the plot instead of the romcom it should be. Most of the manga, taking those dramatic moments, are more pure romcom, with a clear comedy inclination.
I was trying to think what they have done right in here but it's pretty much nothing. I guess they deserve some praise for not including homophobic and fatphobic comments as well as keeping the gender stereotypes a bit on hold (barely). I thought they would avoid them completely being 2018 and considering everything they cut from the show but hey! there is always space for some gender stereotypes in the mix! I guess they also made Ichi surprisingly more bearable (what might come as a surprise to people but he's one of the worst romantic interests in a manga ever for me).
This show is like it all happened in about a couple of weeks, it's very cheaply made and acting is pretty bad too. I thought the timeline was already fast enough in the manga (about a year and a couple of months or so) but here they said "hold my beer".
Now, a simple sum up of the plot of the manga will already highlight the many things that this adaptation gets wrong (and sorry it's so long but it's 22 volumes!!):
Fuuko is in many ways the typical shōjo manga main character, she's clumsy, bad at studies and yada yada. One of her characteristics is that she's very passionate about her hairstyle, hair in general. It's the reason she has it long and wears a different hairstyle every day (shoutout the day she wore it in a poo shape) . She's also very fond of children and keeps the local kids entertained and plays with them constantly, she's almost like a part time volunteer nanny. I guess that this alone can already explain why she chooses that career path in the end, she specifically wants to work with hair and with children. The show made a terrible job at showing this. Her age at the start of the manga is 15, 16 at the end before the 2 years time jump.
Now, although the series did show the key points of the manga, the more melodramatic moments that is, it misses way too much for the timeline to make sense. Fuuko gets a crush on Daiya first (no, they don't go to the snow, they actually make their way to where they were supposed to go, the zoo, and find their classmates there). It's a crush!!! not a deep love or anything. Fuuko kinda gets pressured by people around her to confess to Daiya even though she was not feeling ready. Daiya rejects her saying, like in the show although in a different way, that he doesn't know what love is and doesn't seem interested to know, he has fun messing around with different girls. I can't even start to illustrate what a womanizer this guy is, he's constantly flirting and getting attention of girls, and it's something that in shōjo makes of him quite interesting as a romantic interest since it's not (or wasn't at the time) very common. Fuuko cries for a few days and feels down about being rejected, but since it was a crush it's not more than that. Soon enough she's able to get back her relationship with Daiya to friend level and it develops from there. This is important, their friendship, to understand the development of the plot later on. Point here that the show managed to give a few of the actions and lines of Fuuko to other characters, especially Daiya, what is kind of annoying as development of the main character. Sure, she's the kind of damsel in distress more often than not, but she's also stubborn and is able to stand her ground and show a lot of initiative. The dog situation in the show is not like in the manga, what would be fine if it wasn't because they tried so hard to make it so much more melodramatic and give points to Daiya that should go to Fuuko. In the manga the dog is abandoned, it's not anyone's. Daiya helps Fuuko the same way, but also she's aware the poster was made by Ichi (after Daiya pushed him to do it btw) and it's Fuuko who receives a call from someone interested and tells the other two that she achieved it (and no sad daddy issues story here, Fuuko's father is present in the manga). This is important because Ichi would until that point heavily underestimate Fuuko's willpower.
From that point the friendship of the three develops and slowly Fuuko starts to develop more feelings for Ichi (who was already having a crush for her when she had feelings for Daiya). With Daiya there is a development of deep friendship, they're like best friends, always hanging together and playful. They see each other pretty much every single day. Fuuko's feelings for Ichi develop deep for quite a few months, I'm theorising here because there is no a clear timeline in the manga of this, but I would say it's probably at least 4-5 months or so? Anyway, at the same time, Daiya is starting to fall in love with Fuuko too but he's overall still very clueless about what he's feeling and ultimately he's not acting on it nor feeling like he has any right to intervene on Fuuko's or Ichi's feelings, it's around this time he also stops being interested in flirting and going out with other girls. The point where the manga introduces the character of Iori is when it starts going quite messy and weird and not sure what the author was thinking to be honest and that can also be seen in the series, only that the time this happens is way reduced. Ichi and Fuuko have mutual feelings but they're not officially a couple or going out when Iori appears. Ichi completely drops Fuuko, I can't fully explain the level of ice water bucket that whole ordeal is. Obviously Fuuko is heartbroken, we're talking like love level feelings, it wasn't a crush like with Daiya and the guy just drops her like nothing and starts ignoring her for Iori as soon as she appears, he skips class to be with her, stays out until super late, etc (pointing out here once again they're 16, Iori is 21 and because Ichi's family knows what happened is also the reason Iori lost her job in the company). During this time Daiya is there for Fuuko picking the pieces and being with her every single moment and trying to make her feel better for weeks. He's obviously inexperienced and probably his main flaw as a person is that he goes way too strong, and so he confesses to Fuuko and asks her out when she's still mourning her feelings for Ichi, and Fuuko agrees later (not immediately) because ultimately is not like all the feelings she had for Daiya had disappeared anyway, she still found him appealing. So they start dating. Daiya is super attentive, always there (the bracelet was the White Day present for her from him, the "snowflake" is a heart in the manga, he says is "his heart" giving it to her, what highlights a lot more the importance and the symbology she applies to losing it later and she spends so many days looking for it too btw). He's basically like perfect boyfriend material. Fuuko starts forgetting Ichi, who by that point has realised Iori doesn't see him in the same way, like in the show. He was expecting during his peak Iori phase that Fuuko would be there waiting for him or something? Seriously Ichi character is so much worse in the manga than in here. Anyway, Daiya and Fuuko have a really good relationship, they're best friends and a couple, really good if you ask me. But author made Fuuko still have feelings for Ichi and care for him even after all the ordeal and everything and the drama in the last few volumes is so unnecessary of her basically not committing to the relationship with Daiya fully, probably just to create drama. In here not sure what they did with the ending and why Daiya breaks up with her. It's confusing because they haven't explained properly the why since they made Fuuko say things that she doesn't say in the manga, if she had in the manga said those things then the breakup wouldn't have happened, and that's the problem. Basically the whole drama at the end in the manga is based on miscommunication as usual, since Fuuko hadn't said to Daiya she actually loved him, so from Daiya perspective and considering they started the relationship with him fully aware that she still had feelings for Ichi, he still thinks the situation hasn't changed, he can't take being with Fuuko anymore thinking she's still in love with Ichi and not him and that's the reason, as well as the reason he is the one to decide to go to China (in the manga they have to decide among the two of them, there isn't a pressure from the parents other than them having to decide who of the two will go). The scene with the taxi at the end is so ridiculous and not sure why they didn't keep it like the manga, it was in the train station and Ichi getting on is actually a funny moment, especially when the other two say something in the lines of "where is he going, he doesn't have a passport or anything anyway" lol
Now, Ichi, not that we learn much of him here anyway, but I feel the need to point out why he's so problematic, as in his character. From day one he's the incarnation of the trope "boys that make your life hell is because they like you". He spends his days insulting Fuuko quite badly, from calling her ugly, dumb, fat, etc, to being there to provoke her at any given moment. Even after he's already confessed to her he continues this behaviour of berating her, how endearing! Then he pulls the Iori thing what is one the lowest moves ever to then consistently openly trying to sabotage and meddle in Daiya and Fuuko's relationship, telling them directly he's doing so btw. He's a piece of crap to me and I'll always be angry that nor the manga nor this adaptation called him out on his shenanigans and that Fuuko still cared so much about him even after all the ordeal he put her through, made no sense.
Side characters? To me, some of the best characters in the manga, apart from Daiya, are secondary, like Akio and Isobe and their cute relationship. Fuuko's friends also have a much bigger role in the manga. I get they didn't have time/money, but almost they could have skipped it all if they were just going to do it this way. If they had gone the romcom like they should there would have been many funny moments, like Daiya and Isobe singing in the festival? or Daiya singing a love confession for Fuuko in front of everyone? the couple's camping? Characters that were also interesting that don't appear here, like Fuuko's sister fully, Ichi's sister, Ichi and Daiya's mothers, the grandparents (the grandfather is like an old version of Daiya, he's a womanizer too, and they're the ones hosting the Christmas party for the whole class! what I found very funny).
I feel the main problem with shōjo manga adaptations is that they don't want to commit to the natural behaviour the characters should have, maybe that's the reason they go drama instead, but it completely loses the charm and they shouldn't bother in doing the series altogether.
I think that bit of banter at the end of the series after the two years jump was more in line of the spirit of the manga than the whole of the series.
I can understand some of the changes that worked better for filming and whatnot (they played tennis, didn't do dancing) but others I simply can't understand and for such a short series they shouldn't even have done it. It's like they wanted to refer to the manga but not fully and the result is a sped up mess.
They shouldn't have bothered, can't recommend. If you like the sum up of the story go read the manga instead.
P.S: As a knitter I have to give a shoutout to the knitting scene, what the hell. I know it's a detail but the manga also did this better. The hat she makes was amateur as it should and the point is that she put way so much effort into doing it and Daiya liked it anyway even though it was roughly made. Here the girl was shown how to knit and two seconds later did a hat with cables and all? Had my eyes rolling.
Was it made for the manga readers? NO.
Was it made for the general public? I don't think so, since it's a collection of scenes without any reason or sense whatsoever and unless you have read the manga you won't be able to link things and fill in the gaps.
I was watching some random show days ago and the plot made me remember Parfait Tic the manga because it shared a couple of similarities and I fancied rereading it. I found out in the process that there was a live action version of the manga. I decided to watch it after rereading the manga, what shouldn't have done.
I need to point out that the manga is not great despite its popularity, and I hadn't reread it since I did first back in the 00s as it came out. My expectations were already very low with this adaptation before starting it because it's a trend with adapted mangas, I think I've only seen a couple of good ones ever. Alas, what made me reread the manga was mostly remembering Daiya as a character because I liked him and because it's one of those rare occasions where the main character chooses the secondary male interest instead of the obvious more main one.
I feel I need to sum up a bit the manga to point out at the same time why this adaptation is so pointless and bad.
For starters, they have, I guess, tried to fit in 10 episodes of around 20 minutes (and they repeat scenes what it's the cherry on top of insulting if you ask me) a total of 22 volumes of the manga. Sure, the manga, especially in the second half slows down and goes melodramatic and dragging but the funny and ironic part is that they have focused here on the more drama and melodramatic moments of the whole series than anything, it's a whiplash of melodrama scene after another. This show, like it has happened with many other shōjo manga adaptations, has gone for a dramatic take on the plot instead of the romcom it should be. Most of the manga, taking those dramatic moments, are more pure romcom, with a clear comedy inclination.
I was trying to think what they have done right in here but it's pretty much nothing. I guess they deserve some praise for not including homophobic and fatphobic comments as well as keeping the gender stereotypes a bit on hold (barely). I thought they would avoid them completely being 2018 and considering everything they cut from the show but hey! there is always space for some gender stereotypes in the mix! I guess they also made Ichi surprisingly more bearable (what might come as a surprise to people but he's one of the worst romantic interests in a manga ever for me).
This show is like it all happened in about a couple of weeks, it's very cheaply made and acting is pretty bad too. I thought the timeline was already fast enough in the manga (about a year and a couple of months or so) but here they said "hold my beer".
Now, a simple sum up of the plot of the manga will already highlight the many things that this adaptation gets wrong (and sorry it's so long but it's 22 volumes!!):
Fuuko is in many ways the typical shōjo manga main character, she's clumsy, bad at studies and yada yada. One of her characteristics is that she's very passionate about her hairstyle, hair in general. It's the reason she has it long and wears a different hairstyle every day (shoutout the day she wore it in a poo shape) . She's also very fond of children and keeps the local kids entertained and plays with them constantly, she's almost like a part time volunteer nanny. I guess that this alone can already explain why she chooses that career path in the end, she specifically wants to work with hair and with children. The show made a terrible job at showing this. Her age at the start of the manga is 15, 16 at the end before the 2 years time jump.
Now, although the series did show the key points of the manga, the more melodramatic moments that is, it misses way too much for the timeline to make sense. Fuuko gets a crush on Daiya first (no, they don't go to the snow, they actually make their way to where they were supposed to go, the zoo, and find their classmates there). It's a crush!!! not a deep love or anything. Fuuko kinda gets pressured by people around her to confess to Daiya even though she was not feeling ready. Daiya rejects her saying, like in the show although in a different way, that he doesn't know what love is and doesn't seem interested to know, he has fun messing around with different girls. I can't even start to illustrate what a womanizer this guy is, he's constantly flirting and getting attention of girls, and it's something that in shōjo makes of him quite interesting as a romantic interest since it's not (or wasn't at the time) very common. Fuuko cries for a few days and feels down about being rejected, but since it was a crush it's not more than that. Soon enough she's able to get back her relationship with Daiya to friend level and it develops from there. This is important, their friendship, to understand the development of the plot later on. Point here that the show managed to give a few of the actions and lines of Fuuko to other characters, especially Daiya, what is kind of annoying as development of the main character. Sure, she's the kind of damsel in distress more often than not, but she's also stubborn and is able to stand her ground and show a lot of initiative. The dog situation in the show is not like in the manga, what would be fine if it wasn't because they tried so hard to make it so much more melodramatic and give points to Daiya that should go to Fuuko. In the manga the dog is abandoned, it's not anyone's. Daiya helps Fuuko the same way, but also she's aware the poster was made by Ichi (after Daiya pushed him to do it btw) and it's Fuuko who receives a call from someone interested and tells the other two that she achieved it (and no sad daddy issues story here, Fuuko's father is present in the manga). This is important because Ichi would until that point heavily underestimate Fuuko's willpower.
From that point the friendship of the three develops and slowly Fuuko starts to develop more feelings for Ichi (who was already having a crush for her when she had feelings for Daiya). With Daiya there is a development of deep friendship, they're like best friends, always hanging together and playful. They see each other pretty much every single day. Fuuko's feelings for Ichi develop deep for quite a few months, I'm theorising here because there is no a clear timeline in the manga of this, but I would say it's probably at least 4-5 months or so? Anyway, at the same time, Daiya is starting to fall in love with Fuuko too but he's overall still very clueless about what he's feeling and ultimately he's not acting on it nor feeling like he has any right to intervene on Fuuko's or Ichi's feelings, it's around this time he also stops being interested in flirting and going out with other girls. The point where the manga introduces the character of Iori is when it starts going quite messy and weird and not sure what the author was thinking to be honest and that can also be seen in the series, only that the time this happens is way reduced. Ichi and Fuuko have mutual feelings but they're not officially a couple or going out when Iori appears. Ichi completely drops Fuuko, I can't fully explain the level of ice water bucket that whole ordeal is. Obviously Fuuko is heartbroken, we're talking like love level feelings, it wasn't a crush like with Daiya and the guy just drops her like nothing and starts ignoring her for Iori as soon as she appears, he skips class to be with her, stays out until super late, etc (pointing out here once again they're 16, Iori is 21 and because Ichi's family knows what happened is also the reason Iori lost her job in the company). During this time Daiya is there for Fuuko picking the pieces and being with her every single moment and trying to make her feel better for weeks. He's obviously inexperienced and probably his main flaw as a person is that he goes way too strong, and so he confesses to Fuuko and asks her out when she's still mourning her feelings for Ichi, and Fuuko agrees later (not immediately) because ultimately is not like all the feelings she had for Daiya had disappeared anyway, she still found him appealing. So they start dating. Daiya is super attentive, always there (the bracelet was the White Day present for her from him, the "snowflake" is a heart in the manga, he says is "his heart" giving it to her, what highlights a lot more the importance and the symbology she applies to losing it later and she spends so many days looking for it too btw). He's basically like perfect boyfriend material. Fuuko starts forgetting Ichi, who by that point has realised Iori doesn't see him in the same way, like in the show. He was expecting during his peak Iori phase that Fuuko would be there waiting for him or something? Seriously Ichi character is so much worse in the manga than in here. Anyway, Daiya and Fuuko have a really good relationship, they're best friends and a couple, really good if you ask me. But author made Fuuko still have feelings for Ichi and care for him even after all the ordeal and everything and the drama in the last few volumes is so unnecessary of her basically not committing to the relationship with Daiya fully, probably just to create drama. In here not sure what they did with the ending and why Daiya breaks up with her. It's confusing because they haven't explained properly the why since they made Fuuko say things that she doesn't say in the manga, if she had in the manga said those things then the breakup wouldn't have happened, and that's the problem. Basically the whole drama at the end in the manga is based on miscommunication as usual, since Fuuko hadn't said to Daiya she actually loved him, so from Daiya perspective and considering they started the relationship with him fully aware that she still had feelings for Ichi, he still thinks the situation hasn't changed, he can't take being with Fuuko anymore thinking she's still in love with Ichi and not him and that's the reason, as well as the reason he is the one to decide to go to China (in the manga they have to decide among the two of them, there isn't a pressure from the parents other than them having to decide who of the two will go). The scene with the taxi at the end is so ridiculous and not sure why they didn't keep it like the manga, it was in the train station and Ichi getting on is actually a funny moment, especially when the other two say something in the lines of "where is he going, he doesn't have a passport or anything anyway" lol
Now, Ichi, not that we learn much of him here anyway, but I feel the need to point out why he's so problematic, as in his character. From day one he's the incarnation of the trope "boys that make your life hell is because they like you". He spends his days insulting Fuuko quite badly, from calling her ugly, dumb, fat, etc, to being there to provoke her at any given moment. Even after he's already confessed to her he continues this behaviour of berating her, how endearing! Then he pulls the Iori thing what is one the lowest moves ever to then consistently openly trying to sabotage and meddle in Daiya and Fuuko's relationship, telling them directly he's doing so btw. He's a piece of crap to me and I'll always be angry that nor the manga nor this adaptation called him out on his shenanigans and that Fuuko still cared so much about him even after all the ordeal he put her through, made no sense.
Side characters? To me, some of the best characters in the manga, apart from Daiya, are secondary, like Akio and Isobe and their cute relationship. Fuuko's friends also have a much bigger role in the manga. I get they didn't have time/money, but almost they could have skipped it all if they were just going to do it this way. If they had gone the romcom like they should there would have been many funny moments, like Daiya and Isobe singing in the festival? or Daiya singing a love confession for Fuuko in front of everyone? the couple's camping? Characters that were also interesting that don't appear here, like Fuuko's sister fully, Ichi's sister, Ichi and Daiya's mothers, the grandparents (the grandfather is like an old version of Daiya, he's a womanizer too, and they're the ones hosting the Christmas party for the whole class! what I found very funny).
I feel the main problem with shōjo manga adaptations is that they don't want to commit to the natural behaviour the characters should have, maybe that's the reason they go drama instead, but it completely loses the charm and they shouldn't bother in doing the series altogether.
I think that bit of banter at the end of the series after the two years jump was more in line of the spirit of the manga than the whole of the series.
I can understand some of the changes that worked better for filming and whatnot (they played tennis, didn't do dancing) but others I simply can't understand and for such a short series they shouldn't even have done it. It's like they wanted to refer to the manga but not fully and the result is a sped up mess.
They shouldn't have bothered, can't recommend. If you like the sum up of the story go read the manga instead.
P.S: As a knitter I have to give a shoutout to the knitting scene, what the hell. I know it's a detail but the manga also did this better. The hat she makes was amateur as it should and the point is that she put way so much effort into doing it and Daiya liked it anyway even though it was roughly made. Here the girl was shown how to knit and two seconds later did a hat with cables and all? Had my eyes rolling.
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