| Language: Japanese Director: Natsuki Imai Running time: 129 min Release year: 2007 |
| Cast: Yui Aragaki, Haruma Miura, Keisuke Koide, Karina, Asami Usuda, Aoi Nakamura, Haru, Ryuji Yamamoto |
Movie Review:
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 of upchucking 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. |
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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 decides 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. 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 works 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 those 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 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. |
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| { Recommended Japanese Movies } |
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Battle Royale (Batoru rowaiaru) |
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Director: Kinji Fukasaku; Cast: Takeshi Kitano, Shin Kusaka, Ren Matsuzawa, Gouki Nishimura, Shigehiro Yamaguchi, Taro Yamamoto |
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Princess Mononoke (Mononoke Hime): Animated feature film |
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Director: Hayao Miyazaki; Cast: Yôji Matsuda, Yuriko Ishida, Yûko Tanaka, Kaoru Kobayashi, Masahiko Nishimura |
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Cafe Isobe (Jun kissa Isobe) |
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Director: Keisuke Yoshida; Cast: Hiroyuki Miyasako, Riisa Naka, Kumiko Aso, Mari Hamada, Toshihiro Wada |
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Love Exposure (Ai no mukidashi) |
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Director: Sion Sono; Cast: Takahiro Nishijima, Hikari Mitsushima, Atsuro Watabe, Makiko Watanabe, Sakura Ando |
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Memories of Matsuko (Kiraware Matsuko no issho) |
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Director: Tetsuya Nakashima; Cast: Miki Nakatani, Eita, Yusuke Iseya, Teruyuki Kagawa, Mikako Ichikawa, Asuka Kurosawa |
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Still Walking (Aruitemo aruitemo) |
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Director: Keisuke Yoshida; Cast: Hiroshi Abe, Yui Natsukawa, You, Kazuya Takahashi, Shohei Tanaka, Kirin Kiki |
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Tokyo Sonata |
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Director: Kiyoshi Kurosawa; Cast: Teruyuki Kagawa, Kyoko Koizumi, Yu Koyanagi, Inowaki Kai, Haruka Igawa |
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