This is surprisingly cute.

The leads were both young enough to make the characters of Kotoko and Naoki work. Their chemistry was cute, nothing over the top, and I really liked Reina Asaki's slightly more restrained approach to her portrayal of Kotoko. Kanta Sato is a warmer Naoki in that he can actually emote and the audience sees him being more expressive when Kotoko isn't looking. It makes him much more relatable.

I've developed a serious dislike of the tsundere ML, so I wasn't expecting much from this film. So to come out of it even remotely neutral, let alone with a positive impression of the story and the characters, was a real surprise. I've never read the manga so I have no idea how accurate it is. And since I have no intention of reading the manga, accuracy really doesn't matter to me. All I know is that the performances by Kanta Sato and Reina Asaki were much more to my tastes than Yuuki Furukawa and Honoka Yahagi in the "Itazura na Kiss" drama franchise. The only actor I wish that I could have switched out in the film was Kinn-chan. I adored Yuki Yamada in the drama series and so the Kinn-chan in the film felt bland. But that's probably more me being a Yuki Yamada fan than anything else.

The casting choices for Naoki and Kotoko's families were excellent. I love the dads, and I did love them in the drama series too. Their friendship is just very fun. Naoki's mother had less time to annoy me in the film than in the drama series, so go her. Plus, she seems less affected in the movie than she was in the drama. I do wish we'd had a chance to see Kotoko's father's restaurant since that's sort of a big thing. Maybe in the next film, which I will be watching asap.

I'd say that if you're not keen on the drama series, but would like to find a version of the story that works for you, then maybe try the movies. They're still utterly ridiculous, but in a good way, the way you're expecting. And the fact that I came out of the film not hating Naoki means that Kanta Sato did his job well. And thank goodness Reina Asaki's Kotoko wasn't so stupidly absurd. It's definitely on my rewatch list, like "One Week Friends," "My Little Monster," and "High School Debut." There's just enough sparkle to make "Mischievous Kiss The Movie: High School" something cute and memorable.