This review may contain spoilers
Somehow More Fukuda Yuichi Than Fukuda Yuichi Movies
This was just an underwhelming mess. As a fan of the original, this adaptation was incredibly disappointing and felt like a completely different story wearing Romantic Killer’s skin. I was genuinely really excited for this adaptation despite already expecting them to change some things from the original, which honestly made the disappointment even worse. It failed to capture the humor and character dynamics that made the anime enjoyable in the first place.
This review is going to be HUGE 😭 but honestly, there is just SO much to unpack here because the movie changes so many important parts of the original story.
One thing I did actually enjoy was the references to famous romance anime/manga. They were funny and easy to catch if you’re familiar with shoujo media, and I did laugh at some of them. But honestly, those jokes felt more like something out of a Fukuda Yuichi-directed comedy movie than Romantic Killer itself. They completely overshadowed the original story. At that point, they should’ve just made a different parody romance movie with an original plot instead of adapting Romantic Killer.
The acting also didn’t help. Some of it was decent, but a lot of the male leads genuinely felt like they were just reading lines. I’m honestly tired of live action shoujo adaptations constantly casting idols who cannot act. I understand they do it because having popular idols means their fans will watch the movie no matter what, but it feels like that becomes the entire point of the adaptation instead of actually respecting the original work and at least TRYING to make a good movie. At times it felt more like a promotion for the actors and their groups than an actual adaptation, especially considering the movie included multiple theme songs from the male leads’ idol groups. Of course there are idols who are talented actors, but this cast was not convincing at all. The exaggerated anime style acting might not bother people who are used to Japanese live actions, but even then, some scenes were painful to sit through. The visible green screen edges and cheap-looking CGI somehow made the whole thing feel even more chaotic. The casting choices themselves were also strange. A lot of these actors looked way too old to be playing high schoolers, and some characters didn’t fit their original counterparts at all.
The biggest problem, though, was the writing. The screenwriter and director completely lost control of the story by the end, which honestly shocked me because I’ve seen and enjoyed a lot of works from both of them before, so I genuinely do not know what happened here. The final act was an absolute mess. Suddenly Anzu is yelling “I love you!” to all three male leads, alternate timeline versions of Anzu that ended up with different love interests show up, random male characters from earlier in the movie are fighting Riri and the “fake” Anzus so the “real” Anzu can run to the airport for Kazuki who randomly decided to leave for Paris because he wants to become a chef, which was an arc that was not in the anime and was never even properly developed beforehand. It just felt like they kept throwing random romance movie cliches into the script without thinking about whether any of it fit the story. Some cliches are obviously necessary because Riri is literally forcing romance scenarios onto Anzu, but the way this movie handled them became chaotic and excessive.
And that’s another issue. This should have been a drama, not a movie. Romantic Killer works because of its character arcs and slow relationship development, and there simply wasn’t enough time for any of that here. Important storylines were either erased entirely or rushed beyond belief. Saki’s arc especially suffered. In the original, her struggles with harassment, bullying, and being valued only for her looks were actually meaningful and helped build her friendship with Anzu. Honestly, she had really good chemistry with Anzu in the anime, which made me wonder why Riri never even tried setting her up with any girls when she ignored the handsome guys, since the whole point was supposed to be getting Anzu interested in romance by any means necessary. Here, Saki was reduced to a background character with almost no importance.
Other arcs were also butchered. Junta and Anzu’s childhood friend storyline went nowhere after the reveal, making Junta feel incredibly shallow as a character. Kazuki’s stalker arc, which was one of the most important parts of the original story, somehow turned into a bizarre action sequence involving the stalker with gang-like men showing up at their school play and fighting students in the audience. Then the stalker almost stabbed Anzu, Kazuki stopped her, and Anzu barely even did anything despite the movie trying to frame it like some heroic moment for her. She stepped forward saying she would protect Kazuki, immediately froze when the stalker pulled out a knife, and ended up needing Kazuki to protect her instead, even though this was HIS stalker in the first place. In the anime, Anzu actually got hurt while protecting him, which made the scene emotionally impactful. Here, the whole thing randomly ended with everyone praising Anzu and acting like she saved the day when Kazuki was the one who actually handled the situation. Then right after all of that, everyone casually watched fireworks and partied like nothing even happened. The tonal whiplash was insane.
Even the reason behind Riri setting up romance scenarios was changed for no reason. In the original, the whole “cupid” concept was tied into Japan’s declining birth rate, which was already ridiculous, but at least memorable and internally consistent. Here, they changed it into romance somehow being the magical energy that keeps the cupids alive, and because Anzu doesn’t care about romance, that energy is apparently declining and causing the cupids to starve. Even the movie itself seems to forget about this premise halfway through because it contributes almost nothing to the actual story, and she still doesn’t even properly choose someone in the end. It also makes the entire situation feel weirdly forced because the movie acts like the cupids running out of energy is specifically Anzu’s fault for not being interested in love, even though there are probably tons of other high school students who aren’t actively trying to find a partner because they’re literally still in school and focused on other things.
Overall, I just ended up feeling bad for the original creator since this adaptation completely misunderstood what made Romantic Killer special. References to famous works can't save horrible movies. I seriously regret watching it.
This review is going to be HUGE 😭 but honestly, there is just SO much to unpack here because the movie changes so many important parts of the original story.
One thing I did actually enjoy was the references to famous romance anime/manga. They were funny and easy to catch if you’re familiar with shoujo media, and I did laugh at some of them. But honestly, those jokes felt more like something out of a Fukuda Yuichi-directed comedy movie than Romantic Killer itself. They completely overshadowed the original story. At that point, they should’ve just made a different parody romance movie with an original plot instead of adapting Romantic Killer.
The acting also didn’t help. Some of it was decent, but a lot of the male leads genuinely felt like they were just reading lines. I’m honestly tired of live action shoujo adaptations constantly casting idols who cannot act. I understand they do it because having popular idols means their fans will watch the movie no matter what, but it feels like that becomes the entire point of the adaptation instead of actually respecting the original work and at least TRYING to make a good movie. At times it felt more like a promotion for the actors and their groups than an actual adaptation, especially considering the movie included multiple theme songs from the male leads’ idol groups. Of course there are idols who are talented actors, but this cast was not convincing at all. The exaggerated anime style acting might not bother people who are used to Japanese live actions, but even then, some scenes were painful to sit through. The visible green screen edges and cheap-looking CGI somehow made the whole thing feel even more chaotic. The casting choices themselves were also strange. A lot of these actors looked way too old to be playing high schoolers, and some characters didn’t fit their original counterparts at all.
The biggest problem, though, was the writing. The screenwriter and director completely lost control of the story by the end, which honestly shocked me because I’ve seen and enjoyed a lot of works from both of them before, so I genuinely do not know what happened here. The final act was an absolute mess. Suddenly Anzu is yelling “I love you!” to all three male leads, alternate timeline versions of Anzu that ended up with different love interests show up, random male characters from earlier in the movie are fighting Riri and the “fake” Anzus so the “real” Anzu can run to the airport for Kazuki who randomly decided to leave for Paris because he wants to become a chef, which was an arc that was not in the anime and was never even properly developed beforehand. It just felt like they kept throwing random romance movie cliches into the script without thinking about whether any of it fit the story. Some cliches are obviously necessary because Riri is literally forcing romance scenarios onto Anzu, but the way this movie handled them became chaotic and excessive.
And that’s another issue. This should have been a drama, not a movie. Romantic Killer works because of its character arcs and slow relationship development, and there simply wasn’t enough time for any of that here. Important storylines were either erased entirely or rushed beyond belief. Saki’s arc especially suffered. In the original, her struggles with harassment, bullying, and being valued only for her looks were actually meaningful and helped build her friendship with Anzu. Honestly, she had really good chemistry with Anzu in the anime, which made me wonder why Riri never even tried setting her up with any girls when she ignored the handsome guys, since the whole point was supposed to be getting Anzu interested in romance by any means necessary. Here, Saki was reduced to a background character with almost no importance.
Other arcs were also butchered. Junta and Anzu’s childhood friend storyline went nowhere after the reveal, making Junta feel incredibly shallow as a character. Kazuki’s stalker arc, which was one of the most important parts of the original story, somehow turned into a bizarre action sequence involving the stalker with gang-like men showing up at their school play and fighting students in the audience. Then the stalker almost stabbed Anzu, Kazuki stopped her, and Anzu barely even did anything despite the movie trying to frame it like some heroic moment for her. She stepped forward saying she would protect Kazuki, immediately froze when the stalker pulled out a knife, and ended up needing Kazuki to protect her instead, even though this was HIS stalker in the first place. In the anime, Anzu actually got hurt while protecting him, which made the scene emotionally impactful. Here, the whole thing randomly ended with everyone praising Anzu and acting like she saved the day when Kazuki was the one who actually handled the situation. Then right after all of that, everyone casually watched fireworks and partied like nothing even happened. The tonal whiplash was insane.
Even the reason behind Riri setting up romance scenarios was changed for no reason. In the original, the whole “cupid” concept was tied into Japan’s declining birth rate, which was already ridiculous, but at least memorable and internally consistent. Here, they changed it into romance somehow being the magical energy that keeps the cupids alive, and because Anzu doesn’t care about romance, that energy is apparently declining and causing the cupids to starve. Even the movie itself seems to forget about this premise halfway through because it contributes almost nothing to the actual story, and she still doesn’t even properly choose someone in the end. It also makes the entire situation feel weirdly forced because the movie acts like the cupids running out of energy is specifically Anzu’s fault for not being interested in love, even though there are probably tons of other high school students who aren’t actively trying to find a partner because they’re literally still in school and focused on other things.
Overall, I just ended up feeling bad for the original creator since this adaptation completely misunderstood what made Romantic Killer special. References to famous works can't save horrible movies. I seriously regret watching it.
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