Saturday, April 21, 2012

Moteki movie: Moriyama Mirai is one lucky bastard.


Bframe5 talked this movie up a bit so was looking forward to it. The movie starts with a short recap of the dorama series. I was like 'how could they abandon the 4 characters so easily?'. Then its like Yukio is still the same dude at the start of the series, except he's no longer fat. Is this movie going to retread the same stuff again where lots of things happen but nothing really happens because Yukio never progresses?


Then Masami shows up and I am reminded why the dorama series was so enjoyable in the first place. Moteki is quirky, wacky, has great music and its a harem story that doesn't feel generic. Lots of Tenga product placement in this movie. Yukio's internal monologues are not as funny anymore because you can guess what he's gonna say from watching the dorama.


I wonder how many takes did they do for this scene? I kind of forgot about how disappointed I was with Masami's acting in Bunshin. There is one scene near the end where Yukio comes to her room soaked from the rain and there's not enough 'pain' in Masami's crying. Other than that, she did a great job.


The movie gets rid of the pacing problem from the series but the new problem is that there is not enough time for all four girls. Its a problem I'd rather have. Moteki the movie has all the good things from the dorama except for the time travel. Lots of funny scenes, great music and a much better ending.

Must watch movie. It is not necessary to watch the dorama. Some characters from the dorama make an appearance but it is not necessary to know Yukio's history with them.


One thought that occured to be while watching was what if you replace Yukio with Suzuki sensei? What would Suzuki sensei say/do?




I thought I saw something white.

And it turned out to be shorts.

7 comments:

Jung said...

omg wth...

maiku said...

Spoilers...

I'm glad they expanded on the drama instead of going for a loose remake. (I got a little nervous when they recreated the run away scene at the music festival.) It was good to see Yukio drawing from his relationship experience and analyzing things a bit rather than falling into obvious traps. This time around he seemed willing to follow his emotions and speak his mind, even if it hurt others or let to awkwardness. Older, wiser, but still fun to watch.

I thought the non-Masami girls (B'z girl and hostess) were much more interesting, both acting and character-wise. I loved the scene where the B'z girl breaks down and offers to change her tastes for Yukio. Very intense. Kumiko Aso is damn good. I thought they would've been a more interesting couple since they had contrasting tastes in music.

Anonymous said...

it was ok. drama is way better, i guess my expectations were too high and it was a let down for me. the perfume appearance wasnt fun anymore. the music was great but it feels like the vibe has already been done in the drama. especially that mirai added four women on his list got me jealous. he must have jerked off when he found out that there was a movie, do the deed again when he got the script, and again when he found out the cast, then all over again. what a lucky guy. he must have done the acting for free.

Jung said...

Thanks for the tip. This was very entertaining to watch. I agree with maiku... Kumiko Aso was very good, the begging scene was heartbreaking to watch.

Of course, can't neglect to mention all the great music in the movie, though I'm not sure if it is smart interlacing with the storyline, or over-commercialism.

I'd watch this again some time down the road, as I wait for my second moteki.

Akiramike said...

Agreed on Kumiko Aso. I feel like she's the girl you get to know the most in the movie because she lays it bare before Yukio.

trish said...

where can i watch this online? Arigatou ^^

Shane said...

Sorry this is late, but I just watched this movie for like the 10th time so felt like leaving a comment (since this is where I found out about the movie in the first place)

Obviously if you've seen the drama like I have then lots of what is funny about the film will not be as funny as for new viewers. But that shouldn't take away from the fact that this is such a watchable film! Every now and then I tell myself, "okay I'll just watch that one scene" only to get sucked in and watch the whole thing all over again.

My only gripe is that the movie gets bogged down in drama towards the end...things get depressing and it kind of kills the pacing. Still, anyone who hasn't seen it yet...just watch it!