Title: 好きっていいなよ Sukitte Ii na yo
English Title: Say "I Love You"
Country: Japan
Language: Japanese
Year: 2014
Cast:
- 川口春奈 Kawaguchi Haruna
- 福士蒼汰 Fukushi Sota
- 市川知宏 Ichikawa Tomohiro
- 足立梨花 Adachi Rika
- 永瀬匡 Nagase Tasuku
- 西崎莉麻 Nishizaki Rima
- 山本涼介 Yamamoto Ryosuke
- 八木アリサ Yagi Arisa
- 三浦透子 Miura Toko
SYNOPSIS
Tachibana Mei is a loner at her school, and she refuses to socialize with her classmates. She's had a traumatic experience in grade school when everyone in her class ganged up on her, and she lost her trust in other people.
Her classmate Nakanishi Kenji keeps pestering her to rile her, but she'd rather run away to avoid a confrontation. But when Kenji pulls her skirt down while she's walking up the stairs, she's had enough and gives him a kick to make him stop.
Except Mei didn't hit Kenji, and she kicked Kurosawa Yamato instead. Yamato is the most popular guy in school, and everyone feels sorry for him so Mei became even more of an outcast.
Yamato is impressed with Mei, and he declared that he wants to be friends with her. He gave Mei his number, and told her to call him.
REVIEW
Sukitte Ii na yo is about young love, and how important it is to not let fear get in the way of being with another person and finding happiness. I wonder why the movie wasn't enjoyable considering that it has a good plot, interesting characters, and even amazing cinematography.
The actors playing the lead characters Tachibana Mei and Kurosawa Yamato have no chemistry whatsoever, and it not only made all their scenes unmemorable, it made all the kissing scenes painful to watch.
There was even a scene where Yamato was kissing Mei several times to show her what different kisses look like, and I honestly don't know why that scene even made it in the movie because all of the kisses look the same: awkward and lacking in emotion.
It doesn't help that since the movie is based on a manga with the same title, it tried to cram in as much material as possible. There's a lot that happened, but everything happened really fast for anything to have much of an impact.
I didn't mind the focus on side characters though, as their stories were fascinating. I love Takemura Kai,and I wish he also had a happy ending. I also like Yamamoto Ryosuke, Nagase Tasuku, Kitagawa Megumi, Oikawa Asami, and Muto Aiko.
Tachibana Mei: You're really strong. No matter what other's say, you still carry on smiling.
Oikawa Asami: Truthfully, it's not like that. If I gave it too much notice, then I'll become even more unhappy. Rather, smiling is the best camouflage.
Oikawa Asamai: But being talked about by people actually made me become stronger.
Muto Aiko: But I don't think worrying is a bad thing. It's like a wall you have to get over to get to the next stage; hitting that wall proves you're progressing forward. But personal matters must be dealt with personally; like you can't move forward without using your own two feet.
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好きっていいなよ Sukitte Ii na yo
