If you know me at all as a blogger you know I'm going to spoil the shit out of this 2018 movie so just let this be your warning now.
So I am a little late getting to this one on Blu-Ray....I was originally supposed to see this in theaters as a Fathom Events show with ticketing by Atom Tickets. But AMC 24 was undergoing renovations at the time and cancelled their screening.....but failed to let Atom Tickets know....so I drove myself to AMC 24 expecting to see this movie only to find out its screening was cancelled with NO TIME left to get to another theater....FUUUUUUCK!
Anyway, supremely miffed by that I defiantly ordered the Blu-Ray for this movie when it came out and then it....sat on my dresser collecting dust until today....
In the meanwhile this film's reputation permeated throughout Anime Fandom....total tear jerker, it will wreck you, etc....I was steeling myself for the experience.
But I have to say having watched it..........I was kinda underwhelmed. I don't blame the dub actors....it might've been more impactful in Japanese, it's hard to say.....but actors can only deal with the script given to them.....and this one wasn't particularly well written.
And the twist ending sucks. It totally undercuts the reality of facing a terminal illness. Seriously, fuck that. 山内桜良, Yamauchi Sakura deserved better. Released from hospital and suddenly murdered by a random psycho....like, okay I guess.....like you could't even tie it back to the asshole she kicked in the nuts in the market street?
Also, I don't like how Sakura expects Haruki Shiga (志賀春樹, Shiga Haruki) to also be or become friends with her BFF Kyoko Takimoto (滝本恭子, Takimoto Kyōko) who clearly hates him. It's not up to you if your friends are also friends with each other....that's on them and has literally nothing to do with you.
I wish Shiga had better defended himself in the cafe the year after Sakura's death when meeting Kyoko formally for the first time.....she gets mad at him for not telling her about Sakura's illness but he should've told her to her face that he was honoring a solemn promise he made to Sakura and that she (Kyoko) should respect it also.
I suppose that a Japanese audience probably more deeply appreciated this film and responded to it....that to them a figure like Shiga is more relatable and not so alien. But for me to feel for and sympathize with Shiga, the script in English should've been done differently. He wasn't angsty enough, I guess? Honestly, he was a blank canvas, a nothing. How am I supposed to feel for a character who seemingly feels nothing, doesn't WANT to feel anything and keeps his distance? Like Kyoko, I am mystified by what she saw in him. He's not a bad guy, for the most part (except for the unsuccessful attempted rape /sexual assault?)...just...I mean, I guess Sakura put a lot of stock into it being him who read her super secret diary about her impending death from pancreatic cancer....it meant so much to her to have him as an outlet without disrupting her other friendships. I am sad she didn't actually have sex with him....I think part of her really wanted to....but she didn't need to tease him so cruelly like that....but his response also was completely out of line and he only stopped because she started crying....
Sidebar, Hentai is often disgusting and indulges in a lot of gross out humor...it's too blatant and shocking. Ecchi is often a lot hotter because of how much it teases, walks right up to the line or else crosses the line with grace and sex appeal. But I think an honest love scene between Sakura and Shiga could've been a thing of beauty if done right....letting Sakura have her first and only sexual experience and orgasm with him.....it would've made for a much better movie. Horimiya, Scums Wish and Kare Kano are willing to "go there" but not this movie, alas. Those series at least acknowledge that teen sexual relationships exists and happen...but this movie can't bring itself to. It's frustrating and annoying.
That aside, this isn't that I'm some cold fish incapable of crying during a sad movie....it's that this particular sad movie was badly written and the dialogue and characterizations awkward....it just failed to move me very much. I just didn't understand Sakura's attachment to Shiga and we aren't privy to her inner thoughts until he reads her diary...note to the writers: it's okay for an anime character to have quiet soliloquy by themselves where they pour their hearts out to us in the audience....it's fine....real people really do that in the private darkness of their rooms. This story would've packed more punch to deliver such revelations while Sakura was still alive and drawing breath...her fears, her hopes, her desires, her LUST even....she was a sexual being with sexual feelings. It's okay to express them....perhaps more poignantly so while wrestling with a terminal illness.
Again, the twist ending merely sets up the drama between Shiga and Kyoko later....but I frankly hate it. I would've much preferred Sakura succumb to her terminal illness naturally....being at her bedside until the last would've given Kyoto and Shiga a more legitimate reason to bond and grieve together...maybe even holding each other, crying together, kissing then one thing leading to another and.....well, y'know, the old Thanatos / Eros dance number, eh? I mean whatever, the script is what it is, and it's mostly incompetent. A lot of fans seem to hate Kyoko but I for one do not. Kyoko is under no obligation to like Shiga....and Sakura kinda did badly by Kyoko, arguably. Post credits, Kyoko decides to at least be civil to Shiga. Which is, y'know, fine, I guess? I dunno. It's a weird movie and I definitely felt let down by it. I was hoping to be emotionally gutted and I just wasn't.
Your mileage may vary.
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