Jmovie review: Tada, Kimi wo Aishiteru (Heavenly Forest)

My name is not Chiaki-sempai!
From the writer of Ima, Ai ni Yukimasu and Collage of our Lives comes Tada kimi wo aishiteru, the story of Segawa, a loner student who is paranoid about the smell of the medicine he has to use and Shizuru, a fellow uni student who looks and acts more like a 12 year old girl. These two 'outcasts' become friends and hang out at the 'heavenly forest'. Its not long before the story becomes a mini Orange Days when Miyuki, the girl that Segawa has a crush on invites him to join her group.

OMFG. What have they done to Hachi!

The best thing about this show is of course, Miyazaki Aoi. Unfortunately, her acting is so good that she really looks like this girl who can't seem to mature. Its a complete transformation from Hachi. That said, the fact that she looks to young makes some of the scenes a tad uncomfortable, though it will appeal to the lolicons out there. Miyazaki Aoi's potrayal of Shizuru is like the JAV Sora Aoi dressing up in kids clothes. Its so wrong but so... appealing. I spent the whole movie staring at her hoping to see some sign that this was the same actress as who played Hachi in Nana.


Its fun watching Shizuru and her childlike crush of Segawa. In a way, its sorta like a more subdued Nodame without the slapstick humour, which doesn't mean that its not funny. Most memorable is the 1st night Shizuru stays over at Segawa's house. I can't help but draw comparisons with Suzuki Anne in Stand Up! They are two similar looking actresses playing fairly similar roles including the ugly duckling bit.


The 2nd reason to watch this show would be Kuroki Meisa as Miyuki. She is super hot and I can't believe that she's only 19. Acting wise, I don't see anything special but hey, that's what Miyazaki Aoi is for. Its unfortunate that they only hint at Miyuki's intentions and her relationship with Shizuru. The most interesting part of the show is definitely the triangle/friendship between Shizuru, Segawa and Miyuki. She is so undeveloped that they should have cut out the stupid Orange Days parts. At least I've got a reason to finally watch Haikei, Chichiue-sama. :)

WARNING: SPOILERS

Good thing Nodame's not here.....

Its hard to talk about this show without spoilers but suffice to say, its like an amalgam of Ima, Ai ni Yukimasu and Collage of our Lives. Sadly, its not as good as either. That's mostly due to the ending. When the revelation about the nature of the disease was revealed, it made me cringe. What a lame way to set up a similar situation to Ima, Ai ni Yukimasu. It felt like such an abritary plot devide. IMO, if the relationship between Shizuru and Miyuki were more developed the ending would have worked better.

END SPOILERS


That said, I'd still recommend the movie just for Miyazaki Aoi. Great actresses in jmovies/dorama are rare. Maybe if the I hadn't seen the two movies based on the same author, I would have declared it a good movie. The concept of the Ima, Ai ni Yukimasu ending is something that can only be used once and the feeling of deja vu was too strong to shake. IMO, the movie would have been better with a straightforward ending.

The only other 22 year old who can look that young is Ogura Yuko. :)

That's more like the Miyazaki Aoi I wanna see. :)