Marmalade Boy (2018)

Wow, this movie was a roller coaster! The first part was really cute and funny. The second part nervewracking for sure. May I add here a huge SPOIL ALERT and say to anyone who might be wondering, that this movie does not have insest in it. It just a major twist in the movie, but they just played with it for a while, having you wonder why the hell this one wasn't under the drama-tragic ending category.
On the other hand, the first part was really adorable, manga like movie. The love story was cute and the family matter, confusing, but funny. The movie is well made as well and the performances very good.

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i like how the story run at full speed, going straight to business. really i wish all romance is even half as fast paced as this movie. i dont wanna spend two hours watching frustrating silly misunderstanding just to ssee the leads being together in the end.

also its really commendable and hilarious how they managed throw all those 'wrong', 'guilty' cards from the beginning to right until near the end. i couldnt hold my cringy laugh when they face their parents at the end. tho i ddint expect the truth to be more complicated than i thoought.

the music isnt something i would listen outside the movie but its done its job for the movie.

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It doesn't live up to the manga's fame

I was so hyped with this movie. Marmalade Boy is one of my all-time fav mangas, and the anime was my childhood frame by frame. I alway craved for a live action, because the taiwanes adaptation was an absurdity. So I was looking very forward to this. I've been aware of everything that came out from the movie, shooting pictures, the official promo, sneak peeks, trailers... Absolutly everything. So I was very hyped with this. So the half year of waiting between the cinema realase, and being able to watch it was incredibly long. Did it worth the wait? Well... let's see it in the review!

First of all, let's talk about the casting choices and charectization. I think overall the cast wasn't bad. For me the most important was the choice of Yu. He was my childhood crush and I remember myself being horrorified when I found out the taiwanes version. So I was very happy to see that in this adaptation he was a tall, solf-looking blond guy like in the manga. I have to admit that in the film Yoshizawa Ryo couldn't bring out all Yu's charisma, but the expectation was just way too high. For Miki, the actress choice was also alright. Although, for me it should be a little bit more tomboyish. In the manga Miki is an energetic girl, always in a ponytail, that never really pays attention to what she wears. I kinda miss Miki's energy and stuborness. In the film, the only time when we see her stubborness is in being against her parents re-marriage.
The parent's were so-so. I always picture them as two very young and lively couples. Always happy and noisy. In the movie we see a more mature and quite version of them that I didn't particulary enjoyed. They are very funny characters, that in the film pass to a second plane.
Also, I wasn't 100% happy with Meiko's character or actress choice. I always pictured Meiko as an stunning beauty full of elegance and very mature for her age. And even though Yuki Mio is super pretty, I don't think she fits as Meiko. Also Meiko's character depth is not visible. Meiko is a depresive character that pretends to be happy and have a perfect life when she doesn't. In the film we can not see this side of Meiko. In the manga I like Meiko more than Miki, but the film does not do justice to her.
Also there were three characters that I wasn't completly happy with. They where Ginta, Miwa and Arimi. In the manga they are three of the main characters, and in the film they are just in a few scenes. They are three of the best characters, and their impact in the movie is null. Specially Arimi, that looks only like Yu's fangirl. And even though she enters the story like that, she's one of the characters with more development and shows how strong minded and powerfull girl she is. And in the movie, if we don't pay attention, we don't even get to know that there's a character named Arimi. The same goes for Miwa. He has a strong relationship with Yu, that we can't truly see in the movie. As for Ginta, he's kinda the same as Arimi, but fancing Miki. It's true that he has more presence in the film, but we don't get to see the funny and clumsy Ginta that everybody loved in the manga.

Regarding the plot, I think it was very messy. Marmalade Boy is not a super long manga, it's only a 6 books manga. And for a manga that means short (just remember that mangas as Naruto are over 70 books). I understand that not everysingle detail can do it into the movie, but the plot was so tasteless. It didn't have any depth. It doesn't pay any attention to other main characters (in the movie minor characters), as I mentioned above. But even the main pair story was poorly told. The development was fast and out of nowhere. They didn't give any clue ahead of the acts, they just pop out out of nowhere and leave you confused. Even knowing the story, I was confussed watching the film. There were a lot of disconnected things, so I can imagine people who are newbies in Marmalade Boy being kinda lost.
I think they had a funny and emotional story in their hands, yet they didn't knew how to transfer that into a movie. I think they centered it way too much between Yu and Miki's relationship. And even though they are the mains, for me the best point of Marmalade Boy is the six young characters relationships between them, that, as I said, we don't get to taste in the movie.

So, is it worth it? I don't know. The act is not bad neither the movie's horrible, but it just doesn't live up to the manga fame. Maybe I have way too high expectations when it comes to Marmalade Boy, but I ended up with a very bittersweet feeling. I like it because is a Marmalade Boy adaptation, hence, I didn't like how they portrayed Marmalade Boy. If you watch the movie without reading the manga, then maybe you will like it slightly more. Even though I 100% recommend you to read it after finishing the film. If you did read it, then I think you will end up with the same feeling as I did. I think we will still need to wait for the perfect live action for the shoujo manga by excellence.

I think I will need to watch it again to fully judge, but the truth is thay I don't have any motivation to watch it again any time soon.
Hope this review will help you. And one last time I'm going to repeat myself, I strongly recommend Marmalade Boy's manga. It's short and funny, and a must-read-shoujo manga. Thanks for reading! ^^

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Story: 10
I can understand for people going into this plot with no idea before hand of the story, why it’s awkward and weird. For me, this was one of my favorite Manga growing up. So I had high hopes for the adaption. This was very well done and very well portrayed. The director's vision was very interique and I loved how it was shot. I found myself laughing and crying, just how I did with the manga. For those who loved the original, this one is not to be ignored. It’s a great adaptation and one I hope to be watching again in the future.

Acting: 10
For me the acting was perfect. Everyone was casted to how I would have wanted them to be. The lead actress did a great job in pulling in the audience, (though I would like to talk to someone who was in charge of her makeup. Her lipstick color bothered the crap out of me) THe lead was the right choice and everyone in between. I honestly couldn’t have asked for a better Yuu or Miki.

Music: 8.0
The music flowed with the story very well, it didn’t ever take me out of the plotline at all. I question a couple of the music choices, just because it’s weird to me to have an all english song in a Japanese film, but the lyrics and meaning behind fit well with the story.

Rewatch value: 10
I honestly would rewatch this again and again. It was very well shot, and I loved every second of it. It wasn’t too drama heavy and I think because I knew what to expect, and the fact that I used to re-read Marmalade boy over and over again, I would be willing to watch this over and over again and still be happy.

Overall: 9.5

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A bit more dramatic way of telling the same story.

As a fan of the manga and anime when I was young, I recommend watching this, even if it is just for the nostalgia. I enjoyed the summarized version of the story I used to love.

* The pacing doesn't feel too rushed even if they're leaving out lots of stuff out.

* Also, the main characters are well portrayed. I specially liked that the actor playing Yuu subtly let us know about his feelings, while the manga and anime were more Miki centered POV.

* The story feels a bit more dramatic and serious. I guess the movie has "grown up" along with the target audience from back then (me included hehe). You can still feel the same overall vibe, though.

* I also appreciated Meiko's story being adressed a bit and Ginta being Ginta :) Not bad that also some other characters made a cameo, but left me wanting a bit...

All that said, you don't need to watch the manga or the anime to appreciate this. It's a cute story worth spending 2 plus hours.

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This is a story of two couples who switch partners after university. And then, 18 years later, they switch partners again, divorcing and remarrying immediately. And then, on top of that, they all move into one big house together, the four of them and their two teenage kids, Miki, the main heroine, and Yuu, the Marmalade Boy. The teens start off on the wrong foot but after some time, they become good friends and then they fall in love. But then the real bombshell comes when it seems that Miki and Yuu are actually half-siblings, that they're blood related. But are they really?

Sakurai Hinako as Miki and Yoshizawa Ryo as Yuu were absolutely fabulous! I loved how different they were, Miki and Yuu. Miki was so brash, always saying out loud what she didn't like and not budging. Yuu, on the other hand, kept it all in, all his hurt and everything else, because all he wanted was for their parents to be happy - despite their questionable life choices! - for everyone to be happy.

It's a story about the consequences of miscommunication, really. Because Miki and Yuu were simply trying to navigate the mess that their parents unwittingly created by keeping vital info from them. What I did love, though, was that not for a single moment did the kids think that they were not loved. They knew they were, deeply. Even Yuu, thinking that his dad was not his real father, didn't feel bitterness towards his parents, no, he was grateful that his mom didn't simply abort him and that his dad brought him up as his own child and he loved them for it. It was honestly wonderful.

I loved it a lot. What a weird and not at all normal family, true, but also so full of love!

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once a watch

Note: if one is going to spout nonsense after watching an incest story, they should probably watch something else.

I come from a conservative society where if we call an unknown person brother, he is a brother, its a respectful term. But I have also seen cousin marriages, so I thought to try this movie. Japanese incest-based stories are emotional and delicate, not hurting anyone's sentiments. After finishing the movie, I didn’t feel guilty too, it was a CLEAN MOVIE, about two teenagers who had a complicated relationship. It doesn't storm the emotional guilt but gains pity for the leads.

The story is twisted to create curiosity but the ending is satisfactory.
Lastly, the portrayal of complicated emotions in the last few scenes could have been a lot better. That is a crucial scene but neither old nor young actors did great.

The songs were pretty nice. The lyrics were fine complimenting the mood of the scenes.

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Marmalade Boy is based on the same title manga released between 1992 - 1995. This is the 2nd live action adaptation ever made, the first one being a Taiwanese drama in 2002 therefore expectations were high. To increase expectations further, it ought to be mentioned that this adaptation is a movie and also that there is an anime version of the story comprised of 76 episodes.

For fans of the story such as myself, who have watched both the drama and the anime, the movie falls short on so many fronts, it's surreal. This is not to say that the movie wasn’t enjoyable; it was but there was so much that was left out and unexplored due to the time length of the film which was normal yet, there is this nagging that after all this time fans deserved more than a movie, fans deserved at least a 10 episode drama to make the story justice instead of putting together a something that felt really rushed on screen, that made secondary characters, third, fourth in the story i.e. Meiko's love story with Shinichi Namura is only briefly dabbed upon and her story arch with Satoshi where they date for a while (when she tries to forget Mr. Namura and then realizes she can't) doesn't appear; Arimi & Ginta's relationship is non-existant - both appear in the movie, of course but their partnership to tear Yuu & Miki's apart or their subsequent feelings for one another are left out and Suzu and Kei do not appear in the movie at all.

Acting wise and of course, here it's a matter of preference when one is a fan of the story. Yoshizawa Ryo was not convincing as Yuu. He wasn't bad but somehow since the movie cast was announced and the movie was released it there has been a continuous struggle to see him as the character, regardless of how much I try. Sato Taiki as Ginta on the other hand looked and felt spot on.

Movies have to be selective. There’s no time in focusing too much on characters other than the main if it’s not essential to the story’s development but fans wanted to see those stories, fans deserved those stories and at the end it was just satisfying because fans got something which was better than nothing, so thank you but far too unsatisfying because the story was too rushed and parts of it way unexplored. So for fans, this movie is not worth it. It’s better to re-watch the drama or the anime.

For those coming into to the story for the first time, the movie is nice to watch. It's cute and the story makes sense, encorporating key elements of the manga. It's a pretty light romantic comedy that one can watch eating popcorn but it's nothing special. The drama & the anime are better so if after watching the movie there is still interest in the story watch those.

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Dopo tantissimi anni ritornano sullo schermo Miki e Yu! Ero veramente felicissima di vedere il nuovo live-action di Marmalade Boy, manga di Wataru Yoshizumi edito dalla Manga Planet e di cui ovviamente consiglio la lettura. La storia dei due protagonisti è molto simile a quella del manga e possiamo riviverla con una trama dolcissima e tenerissima. Peccato che invece, penso per motivi di tempistiche, i personaggi secondari non sono molto considerati (vedi Ginta e Arimi), altri invece non sono proprio nominati.
Un appunto particolare va all'attore che interpreta Yu: Yoshizawa Ryo è stato perfetto in questo ruolo.

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i honestly just watched this because of oryo and didn't expect that it was this shitty. the fact that their parents switched partners and decided to live altogether is already a wtf factor and miki's unexpected relationship with yu adds up to it. how did they even fall in love with just limited interactions? it doesn't make sense. it also has an awfully long and boring flow that i had to fast forward a lot of times but i'll still end up with the same scene. i also don't get why they still want to be together even after they assumed that they might be really siblings by blood. that's just so messed up tbh. i wont recommend this movie at all.

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Lovely atmosphere

I randomly came across this movie (like most things that I watch) and can say that it wasn’t half bad.

You easily get into the story and you can nicely see how the relationships between the 6 family members slowly warms up. It doesn’t really have any funny moments (definitely not a rom-com). But it has more moments that make you think about relationships with other people and how they form.

I didn’t find the acting to be anything particular (it wasn’t bad but it wasn’t exceptionally good either). Nevertheless I think that Miki and Yuu were great actors when they weren’t saying anything. Silence is a powerful method to focus on the feelings of the two main characters during different moments.
So what I exceptionally liked about this movie is that it felt very natural, in a lot of dramas and movies they put too much music so that you can’t really get into the world the actors are in. But here it felt so raw, you could hear background noises and the scenes were often filmed from afar so that you could see their movements from far away, as if you were really there.
Another thing I really liked was the warm and natural lightning throughout the whole movie, they often tried to have a warm yellow light and sometimes orange colours (maybe all to fit better to marmalade).

The two main leads had their differences but understood each other with their heart. The scenes where they were affectionate to each other were the best and especially the hugs were something so important to show their closeness. I feel like there should be more hugs in dramas…

This is probably not a movie I’m going to rewatch, but it’s a good one time thing worth your time if you like a story between two teens complementing each other and falling in love with each other in a confusing family setting.

Ps: This review might be a mess xD there was too much I wanted to mention but it’s mostly such subtle details that I had a hard time focusing on the most important things. Thanks for reading :)

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This was truly enjoyable from start to finish.

I’ll admit, the whole idea of “swapping parents” may be a bit confusing, but you’ll understand it.
The production was just amazing and gave a nice warm feeling with the atmosphere. It’s been a while since I’ve watched a Japanese film that gives off the same feeling as this one.

I’m sure this film left out some parts that were in the anime & drama, but all movie adaptations tend to have to squeeze in the original into a few hours, and this was really good in the eyes of a new viewer of the story like me.

Would I recommend? Definitely! It’s not too cheesy, which can be frequent in a lot of Japanese movies imo. The plot is not too cliche and keeps you thinking about what will happen in the end- which I was satisfied with too!

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