L♥DK (2014)

Here is my review for my most anticipated Japanese movie for 2014. Whether you watch this movie or not- just don't watch the trailer. The reason for all the hype and expectations I had regarding this movie was purely the FANTASTIC and very cute trailer. Oh boy! Look where it landed me.

For starters, I am a very big lover of this manga. It isn't exactly a very smart story but what drove the entire plot of the manga had been random cuteness and a swooning chemistry between the leads. While the lead actors here are cute they fail to make me love them and rather came off as annoying. I don't know how old both actors are but I'm gonna be harsh and say they did a terrible job of their characters.

Shuusei and Aoi were unrecognizable to me as characters by the end of the film. With a story that originally hardly had any depth, the script of the film makes it shallower (as if that's even possible). Yes, the sudden romantic moments are cute but before you reach half of the film- you feel like you're watching a couple of teenagers' random romantic moments put together. The characters don't make sense and the flow of the story is practically non-existent.

I understand that not all movies have the same budget but for this the acting really ruined everything and not the lack of glamour. The humour, romance and story- everything failed me. Yet for some very odd reason I didn't hate the movie. There was something addictive about it that made me kept going. I couldn't wait to get to know what happened next nor could I wait for it to end. It was like a tug-of-war happening within me as a viewer.

One of the bright sides of the movie was the presence of Kiriyama Renn. Even his barely-there presence left more of an impact on me than the other actors could do. It was rather a waste of this otherwise talented man.

This is a harsh review and my ratings are all low and yet the overall score is fine. That's because I couldn't hate it being a fan of the manga nor could I hate the cliches in the film. As a one-time watch it hurts nobody but does stand as very forgettable in the long run.

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I loved the manga so much & I have been waiting for months for it to get subbed & I finally watched it last night.

Story: 9/10 because it's something we know & love. I love cohabitation dramas/movies. It's different, but I still loved it anyway. I wished it was a drama instead.

Acting: 9/10: I thought the acting was great. I love the lead actress. I thought she was natural in this movie. I haven't seen the lead actor in a lead role & I haven't seen much of his other works. But I thought he great. I think they were great in the second half of the movie.

music 7/10: The music wasn't memorable, but it was cute.

rewatch value: 8.5/10: I would re-watch this because it's so cute & innocent love story. It put a smile on my face.

Overall, I recommend the movie if you have read the manga or if you are new to the plot. I think you should watch this if you are trying to watch a Japanese movie. I think you should watch this if you are also new to Japanese romantic-comedies.

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This movie was very fantastic!!
I was a big fan of kento so i thought this movie was very fantastic because there was kento. But honestly, the story was good, an innocent and cute high school love story, the conflict wasn't that hard but they made it like hard so they could touch my heart (maybe my heart was too soft), and don't forget the comedy, so this movie could make me smile or even cry (okay, i thought i was overacting). The actor and actress were so good at it. Kento was very suit with his character in this movie. But the music wasn't that good. So this movie was very recommended to watch!!

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let me just start off with the fact that I reaaaaaalllllyyyyy love the manga, I'm a sucker for fluffy and asshole-ish kinda badboy that actually cares about the girl (sue me). So I'm going to say that the story is really good though its not that creative because this plot has been done before but meh who cares we will watch it again don't even try to deny it.
Like most japanese movies, or the live-action ones such as Kinkyori Renai, the leads aren't really good together, as in they don't have enough chemistry. This is a thing I've noticed in lots of drama and movies, they just somehow show their inner awkwardness and it just kinda bugs you till the end of the movie.
what I would've normally liked is more intimate scenes such as hugs and cuddles but when you have two awkward leads you just want to slap them into character. I've seen japanese movies with actual good chemistry between the leads and this is not one.
the music was fine, nothing too interesting I suppose it was just there.
for the rewatch value I'd say a 5? I'm not really too keen on rewatching this because it was mostly just talking. I know that you can't possibly put the entire manga in a 2 hour film but that doesn't justify the shallowness of it all.
overall, I'm giving it a 6.5/10 because even though it's slightly shallow I still enjoyed it.

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For starters, I did start reading this manga a while ago so honestly the whole story and some information are kind of a blur in my mind but I do remember the main points. So I'm not really judging this movie based on whether or not they followed the manga correctly.

Story | Kugayama Shusei is a popular student due to his good looks. Nishimori Aoi is an average girl who happens to live alone because of family circumstances. Turns out Shuusei lives next door to Aoi and after a chain of events caused by Aoi, the two end up living together while his apartment is under repair. Typical Shoujo cliche but who doesn't love a good romance?

Cast | I'm not sure what didn't click for me. I didn't love, like or even dislike Ayame as Aoi. It was more of a "meh" feeling. She had her moments were it worked and I liked her acting as the character, but there was just something that didn't work. Yamazaki Kento as Shuuhei wasn't exactly bad either. I actually liked him. I just don't think he and Ayame's chemistry clicked at all. I don't think the direction of the movie helped either. I loved the relationship between the mains in the manga but in this I honestly preferred Ryosuke and Moe's relationship. Since this was a movie based on a manga, it's hard to show all the important characters enough so I can't really say I liked the other supporting actors since their time on screen was so short.

Music | I love Honey L Days! I love when they make OSTs. Kimi iro deizu is a pleasant song to listen to..I unfortunately worked at a Japanese company they only played Japanese music and this song was on loop for a good while so it's not as enjoyable to me as it probably is to everyone else.

Rewatch | Probably not. I felt nothing from the main couple and it's a shame. I highly doubt I'll come back to watch any of this movie.

Overall | It's a shame. It's a great manga and I never understand why mangas that are quite lengthy are usually only turned into movies. I'm not sure if I would've preferred a drama version of this because I wasn't really feeling the cast, but there was a lot of information in this manga that wasn't used to potentially make this live action better. I get that a movie needs to fit into two-ish hours and for what it was, the movie was decent.

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I feel like the story line for this movie had so much potential I just wish they did it better. It is quite a typical set up but I found the story moved too slowly at times and character developments were too sudden to fit that.

I found the acting okay but I just didn't sense that much chemistry between the two main couples. Like a lot of teen romances there were highly realistic and cringey moments, a lot of which you can see coming. It is typical with lots of build up, main broody guy and innocent girl. Not too bad.

I did watch this on a whim as I'm on a bit of a movie binge lately and I did enjoy it, don't get me wrong, but it's nothing special or mind blowing. If you want something cute to watch then I'd recommend it as long as you don't have high expectations.

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As I watched drama first that's why I think I don't like the movie .theme is same but story is different .I really not found a scene in which they fall for each other .story start with fighting but not a single scene I found that they did something for eachother which make them fall for eachother then he kiss her for repayment then I thought that love story would start but it was look like a one sided love she showed some expression which shows that she fall for him but he was not and then he separate himself from her and at the end they unite .
Story not well synchronise ,some elements were missing and secondly very loose acting by the actors.

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I love a good shojou manga (and Kento Yamazaki apparently...) and this movie had it all! A good romance, a nice story and some funny parts. Sure there was the all too well known firework festival meet cute, but still, it was a nice film. The story is about a girl who is forced to share her room with the rude boy that had rejected her best friend. And, of course, she gradually discovers that he is not as bad as he seems. Okay, the reason why he was being a bad boy was idiotic. But I guess it couldn't be helped, as it is based on a manga. But there was another thing that bothered me: the leading lady's laugh and cry was all too fake. She did an excellent job with everything else, so why those two troubled her? Good performances from the rest of the cast saved the day, and the fact that there was some chemistry between the actors. So, 6 out of 10.

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Is a little chemistry too much to ask?

I found it difficult to suspend disbelief enough to believe that her parents would let her stay by herself to go to school, with Kugayama Shusei living right next door. THEN, there wasn't any build up to their relationship, it was suddenly just there. The main couple was cute together, but I didn't feel any chemistry between them. Poor excuses for kisses, they just looked so fake and awkward. The yelling of the male actors was irritating, it just looks like overacting. Sexism is alive and well in Japanese dramas - the male rating the female on a scale of 1-100, talking to everyone about her looks and lack of boobs - not cool.

Yosuke Sugino as Kugayama Shusei was good. He's got that quiet, deep-thinking thing going on. He was the high point of this movie for me.

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I don't know why, but watching this movie reminds me of "Wolf Girl and Black Prince" plot. The heroine being rejected by the hero, the hero then realize his feeling to the heroine, chase her, give her a necklace, kiss her, the end (^o^)
Well, but this movie have more conflict than that. The funny side when they're share room really refresh. And the part when the girl from the past coming make me wanna throw the table (^_^;)

I found that Yamaken's act in this movie not to stunning, so does Ayame. They did good, but I don't feel chemistry or spark between them.

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