Jun

23

2008

Sky of Love (Koizora)

Posted by luna6


Movie: Sky of Love / Koizora
Release Date: November 3, 2007
Country: Japan
Director: Natsuki Imai
Starring: Yui Aragaki, Haruma Miura
Runtime: 129 min
Editor Rating: 3.0
Users Rating: 7.86 1 Star2 Stars3 Stars4 Stars5 Stars6 Stars7 Stars8 Stars9 Stars10 Stars (36 votes)

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Warning: If you are averse to ultra-sweet love stories, “Sky of Love” may be hazardous to your health. (think uncontrollable laughter all the way to the urge to upchuck your lunch). The film is based on a super popular mobile phone story that had a reported audience of 11 million Japanese readers. If true, I can just imagine all the packed Tokyo subway trains filled with commuters crying into their mobile phones while reading Koizora. Scary thought indeed.

In “Sky of Love” high schooler Mika has yet to encounter true love. She runs into Hiro, a rebel with white hair, during class break but is of put off by his unusual demeanor. Mika then loses her cellphone only to find it again with all her contacts deleted. Then a mysterious person calls her daily, serenading her with his witty observations. This does the trick and Mika is floored by this mysterious person. Finally, the person on the other end of the phone asks to meet Mika in person.

The next day Mika is shocked to learn the guy calling her daily is the punkish white hair kid she ran into earlier. Yet, it doesn’t take long before they become a couple and more. Tragedy soon strikes when Mika is raped by three guys, hired by Hiro’s ex girlfriend. This tragedy only strengthens Mika & Hiro’s bond and makes their relationship that much stronger. Then a few months later, Mika becomes pregnant with Hiro’s child. The teenage couple decide to have the baby and ask their parents to accept their marriage. But, things turn for the worse again when Mika has a miscarriage.

The next semester, Hiro inexplicably gives the cold shoulder to Mika. Mika even finds Hiro kissing another girl at a house party, in which she only learned about through a friend. When Mika confronts Hiro about his recent behavior, Hiro tells her that he wants to break up. The devastated Mika then wallows in isolated pity until she comes across nice guy Yu Fukuhara. Mika slowly opens up to Yu as they become closer. Before there relationship has a chance to develop further, Mika uncovers a startling secret about her first boyfriend Hiro.

“Sky of Love” starts out better than expected. Topics like rape and pregnancy are not what you normally expect in a saccharin sweet jun’ai pic, which worked in the movie’s favor. But, with the episodic nature of the original cell phone novel, the movie then quickly devolves into choppy chapter like segments riddled with every single cliche from its genre.

By the time the big secret is revealed towards the end of the film, most viewers will likely find that they just don’t care. During one particularly excruciating scene, I could only guess that there was a laundry bag of stinky socks placed under the hospital bed to make these parents produce such classic expressions of grief.


The film does feature two likable leads; Yui Aragaki and Haruma Miura. Yui Aragaki having impressed this reviewer in “Tokyo Serendipity,” does what she can to make the script passable for non-diabetics. Haruma Miura, burdened with a ludicrous blond mane and way too much makeup, still gives enough of a performance to make many teen girl’s heart flutter in glee. Visually, the film has the look of a daytime drama rather than a feature length film. This is likely due to director Natsuki Imai, having previously directed many popular Japanese television dramas like “Midnight Sun” and “Orange Days.”

For this reviewer at least, the end credits just couldn’t come soon enough. The film feels a lot longer than its runtime and literally moves in slow motion during its lengthy middle portion. What starts out as a promising “All About Lilly Chou-Chou” like film, degenerates quickly into a heap of ultra-sweet sentimental crud. If your craving a genuinely touching jun’ai pic you have a lot to choose from. Recent films like “Heavenly Forest,” “Tokyo Serendipity,” and “Rainbow Song” are all worthwhile and infinitely more enjoyable than “Sky of Love.” Now, excuse me while I go barf.

Cast:
Haruma Miura - Hiro Sakurai
Yui Aragaki - Mika Tahara
Keisuke Koide - Yu Fukuhara
Karina - Minako (Hiro’s sister)
Yuko Asano - Yasue Tahara (Mika’s mother)
Yosuke Asari - Nozomu
Yumi Asou - Akemi Sakurai
Aki Fukada - Saori Tahara
Haru - Aya
Aoi Nakamura - Nozomu
Asami Usuda - Saki


If you like this movie you may enjoy: Heavenly Forest, Tokyo Serendipity, Rainbow Song, Tears for You, Virgin Snow



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2007 Movie Reviews, Japanese Movies, Movie Reviews, Movies |

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3 Comments so far

  1. 3 .... Says: September 30, 2008

    I really liked the start of the movie, it was nice and sweet…but then it really started to go downhill. She gets raped and how does he make her feel better? He makes love to her in the library! That was way out of character for me.

    By the time it came around to her getting proposed to by the tutor, I had already guessed what was going to happen and guess what? I was exactly right (big surprise). I spent the latter half of the movie making fun of it with my friends through MSN. I really wish I could get those two hours of my life back…it was such a good movie that really went downhill.

  2. 2 Jamie Says: July 21, 2008

    I absolutly loved the beginning of the movie, but once it went more into the middle it gradually got slower for me. I also believe that her family is wayy too calm about the rape, did they even mention putting those people in jail? I thought that this movie was EXTREMLY depressing I was literally balling towards the end of the movie. I really like the main girl actress, the guy actor was pretty good, although he wasn’t the best actor when it came to the crying scenes I don’t think. Although I did enjoy this movie, if i ever feel like crying I’ll come watch it.

  3. 1 KRRJNN Says: June 30, 2008

    The early portion of the story tells a good tale of how a pair of teenage couple fall in love (despite the fact that I have reservation about how ready the innocent Mika agrees to have sex with Hiro after barely knowing him, about the guys who rape her (this part is un-necessary…) and about Mika and Hiro again have sex in the library (gosh….library in broad daylight!).

    Another thing which raised my eyebrows is how calm the mother is when she knows Mira is raped (she simply lets go of the case? I cannot believe such a parent!) and how easy the parents accept the fact that Mika carries Hiro’s child.

    When the truth reveals (re: Hiro’s secret), I almost lost all interest in continuing it. I would have expected something more “unexpected”…. maybe something related to violence, something related to his ex-girlfriend, something related to a dark secret in his family……whatever which I guess is better than what it says in the story……

    No bias against anyone dyeing the hair white, but it’s a tad unconvincing to me that Hiro is such a man of responsibility and devotion while he appears so rebellious and plays cool all the way….!