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.