The Paradise Kiss live-action movie can be viewed two ways. For folks unfamiliar with Yazawa Ai‘s brilliant source manga, the ParaKiss movie starring Kitagawa Keiko and Mukai Osamu is likely just a frothy harmless shallow piece of fashion coming-of-age entertainment that is easy to watch. Akin to one of those formulaic Hollywood rom-coms that comes and goes and no one ever remembers. For folks who have read the source manga and loved its complexity, refusal to give any easy answers, unlikeable yet strangely real leads, plus a perfect ending that made the journey unforgettable, the ParaKiss movie is a soul-killing destruction of everything held dear in the manga and then spat out to resemble a cookie-cutter dime-a-dozen romance movie.

I fall into the latter category, so I think the ParaKiss movie sucks donkey balls. The movie tramples on a story that had brains, heart, and soul, delivering so much pain to me as a viewer that I’ve taken off my gloves and it’s no holds barred anymore. This movie is the very definition of insipid and pointless, and to make matters worse, we get across-the board horrible acting by everyone other than Yamamoto Yusuke playing the second male lead. I hate this movie with so much passion this is a straight up ranty review. If you love the movie, just stay away to preserve your own dreamy happiness. Everyone else, let’s get down to business. Continue reading →