Paradise Kiss Live Action (2011)

Hayasaka Yukari is an average high school student who is trying very hard to be above average.  She attends a prestigious high school, but can't seem to find any sort of meaning in her daily routine.  She feels as though she has not truly lived.  One day, a strange boy approaches her on the street and "asks" her to be a fashion model for a small group of students attending a fashion and arts high school, the school that Yukari views as being beneath her.  Given her snobbish attitude and reluctance to join the project, it takes intervention from Isabella and George, two other students in the group to get her to stay.  Once she's in, though, she's discovered a whole new world where she may just find the meaning in her life that she's been searching for all along.

All right, despite the rumors and opinions floating around out there about this movie and how it "doesn't compare to the anime", I don't care.  I still love this movie, mostly because I've decided already that I don't want to watch the anime (personal reasons), and so this movie is a great stand-alone feature for me.  But we'll get to all that later.  First, the cast.

• Kitagawa Keiko as Hayasaka "Caroline" Yukari
• Mukai Osamu as Koizumi "George" Jouji
• Yamamoto Yusuke as Tokumori Hiroyuki
• Igarashi Shunji as Isabella
• Kaku Kento as Nagase Arashi
• Omasa Aya as Sakurada Miwako

So, let's dive right in.  First up is our leading lady in this story, Hayasaka Yukari, played by Kitagawa Keiko.  Now, unlike ninety-five percent of the actors I've discussed so far in previous reviews, I have heard of Kitagawa Keiko, and I have seen her in a couple of other things.  I was rather pleased to see her in this movie, as I know she is a good actress and quite beautiful to boot.  That being said, however, I will say most of the acting in this movie from her was good, but there were moments where it definitely felt over-dramatized (I don't know, maybe I'm just not catching the spirit of the anime...or whatever they call it).  I don't think this detracts too much from the story, but it did get a little irritating sometimes.

Next...oh, my goodness.  I love Mukai Osamu.  He's so amazingly good-looking (sexy too).  They couldn't have gotten anybody better to play George.  The first time I watched this movie I remember staring in awe when George came on the screen and fangirling every time he had a closeup.  Anywho...on with the review.  George is a somewhat...interesting character, and I think Mukai Osamu did a good job of capturing that.  He has a quirkiness to him that really draws the audience in (or maybe that's just the looks...and the hats).  From what I've seen of the anime (I did watch the first couple of episodes before I swore it off entirely) I think George is actually supposed to be a little bit more...I guess it could be described as assertive...than he is in the movie, but frankly, as if you couldn't already tell, I don't care.

And now, another familiar face...well, to me anyway.  Yamamoto Yusuke plays Tokumori Hiroyuki, the soft-spoken quiet boy that Yukari has a crush on.  This character is one that I think exemplifies just how good of an actor Yamamoto Yusuke is.  This is the only time in all of the things I've seen him in that I've seen him play a quiet character.  Every other character is loud, boisterous, silly, goofy, etc.  It was quite surprising to see him in this role.  He did a great job too, given that the character really isn't all that interesting and he doesn't really do very much.  I still prefer Yusuke's role in Atashinchi no Danshi, but here he did a good job too.

Now we come to a character that honestly creeps me out just a bit.  I suppose you get used to her after a while, but still...  The character I'm referring to is Isabella, played by Igarashi Shunji.  Isabella is the major player in getting Yukari (or Caroline, as they start calling her) to stay with the group and be their model.  I don't know what to say regarding how well this character is done, as I have nothing to compare the performance to and that's that.  As far as I can tell, she is played convincingly and I think for the movie she plays the part well.

Next is another strange-ish character named Nagase Arashi, played by Kaku Kento.  This is one of those times where you look at the character in the anime and you think, "How on earth are they going to find someone who'd be willing and able to play a character like that?"  Well, they somehow managed to pull it off.  Arashi in the anime and Arashi in the movie are honestly so close in personality, character (which they should be), and looks (apart from the hair) it's amazing.  Granted, his role in the story apart from being an art student and being the one that ropes Yukari in in the first place is not much, but I still really liked his character.  He's obnoxious as heck, which is one trait I think it can be difficult to pull off and still make the character likable.  So overall I think Kento did a good job with this one.  I'm just really glad they didn't actually put a safety pin through his lip.

All right, now comes the token annoying chick.  Filling this role in the story is one Sakurada Miwako, played by Omasa Aya.  This character really annoys me.  Her only role it seems is to add a minor subplot and help make clothes, aside from being Arashi's "playmate" (if you know what I mean).  I understand why she's there.  I think were she not there the group wouldn't feel quite as cohesive or realistic (I never thought I'd be applying that term to this story), but still...  She annoys the heck out of me.  As for the acting, it's decent.  It's not stellar, but it's not terribly bad either.  Overall, she fills the shoes of the anime character as well as she can (once again, having only seen two episodes of the anime, I may be a little out of my comfort zone in saying that; still, I stand by my opinion).

Okay, writing.  This is another one of those tricky sort of movies where the source material is regarded as a very well-done story with great characters and good writing.  I can't fairly assess whether or not this truly translates to the movie, but as I mentioned before, as a stand-alone this movie is pretty decently well done.  The writing, while it feels a bit forced at times, is not terrible.  It does sometimes feel like they were trying to cram too much story into too little time, but that is easily understood given the original source material.  This is a rather complex story, so to try to cover every facet of it in two hours is really stretching it.

That being said, the reason why I love this movie so much (apart from George...eeeeeee!!) is mostly because it's about a bored high school student trying to find her place in life.  That is something I can totally identify with and get behind.  The writing in general does convey the difficulties of Yukari's life appropriately and convincingly.  There are certain spots where the melodrama does get a little out of hand, but that's forgivable (again, my opinion).

As for a warning section...  Oh, boy.  There are some rather adult subjects touched on in this movie (far more so in the anime).  Most of it involves sexuality of some sort, but it's not nearly as strong as it is in the anime.  Fair warning has been given.

Apart from that, though, there is a very strong, very complex message about being who you are and following what you feel is your "calling".  Yukari struggles with the pressures of a very strict mother who values grades and academia above everything else, and this pressure is dealt with in a rather mature way.  The message is very much "do what you want to do with your life" and "don't live your life for someone else".  Both of these are things I can get behind.

On the whole, as I said, I love this movie (or rather I'm IN love with this movie).  While it might not be the greatest adaptation in the world (understandably so), it still makes a pretty good stand-alone movie.  The characters are strange, the world they live in is different, and the story overall is very much a sort of coming-of-age kind of story.  Learning about where you want to go in life and what you find meaning in is a rather important thing for teenagers (well, for anybody, really), and I think this issue is dealt with rather well in this movie.  It could've been better, but it could've been SO much worse.  So now go watch this movie.  But don't watch it for me.  Watch it for George.