Hidamari no Kanojo ~ 陽だまりの彼女

[spsn]

So, today I went to see Hidamari no Kanojo, the much buzzed and glorified Matsujun movie (well, from the mass amount of promotion they did in Japan *over promotion as usual*). Unlike the origin country, there's almost zero buzz in Singapore on this movie, except for the very undeserving movie review that I came across on Strait Times. The review makes me think whether the person actually did watch the movie or just write what he (or a very sour she) thought of the movie based on Hanadan stereotype and just slap in the rating and worse, got paid for it. Anyway, I once again made a mental note to not to read movie reviews on newspaper. It almost equals to those short comments of 'OMG, he's hot!', 'Kakkoii!!!' comments on youtube clips or on YesAsia or CDJapan reviews (yes, you know what I mean), only longer. Surprisingly, although majority of the audience are Arashi fangirls (including me) and Japanese families, there were also male audiences. I'm not so sure whether they're actually really interested on the movie or being conned or dragged by their girlfriends, but I do hope after they watched it, it'll be the first.

OK, enough of the rattling, what's the buzz on the movie besides being it's Matsujun & Ueno Juri's movie? From the trailer, you'll just see a happy looking couple on a date with no actual story line hints. Most of the articles covering the movie will tell you that this movie is about a boy coincidentally met with his former middle schoolmate on the job and they fell in love, but she's carrying a secret... what secret would it be? We've seen countless similar movies of this love story, not exactly same plot, but similar line of love story. Examples that I can think of are Tamaki Hiroshi's Heavenly Forest (Tada, Kimi wo Aishiteru) and Takeuchi Yuko's Ima Ai Ni Yukimasu. So, what makes Hidamari no Kanojo different? For me, it'd be how they capture moments, eg. when Kosuke saw Mao for the first time again or when Mao lied down with Kosuke on their bed while Kosuke reading a book. Those moments are captured in dreamlike scenes, so light and beautiful. Well, most of the movie scenes felt fluffy and it's like you're watching a dream towards the end, and you're back to reality just a few minutes before the movie ends, and I'd think that's the intention. In other words, it's a damn beautiful movie! On top of the overall beautiful scenes, they inserts lots of beautiful close ups Kosuke and Mao's. It's as if they capture most of Kosuke & Mao's feeling by points, hence it'd required good acting from both of the leads, which leads to the next point.

In Hidamari no Kanojo, you can see how much Matsujun has grown in the acting department. Ueno Juri is a good actress no doubt about that, and she proves it here again with the fluffy Mao but at the same time carries deep emotion and thoughts. But, I can't say the same with Matsujun because to me, there are times where I'm not sure about his acting, although I'd still swallow all his drama anyway, and off course swooning over it. Kosuke here is something different for Matsujun's resume. He's quiet but not the kakkoii type, but when he loves, he loves wholeheartedly. Not much of a stand out for a lead character, but Matsujun nails wonderfully with his expressive emotions at the right place. From the looking at Mao with adoring eyes, love at the first sight look, the shock, confusion, fear, and many more emotion, it's so clear in here, and they make Kosuke memorable for me.

Not so critically important but I'd applaud the make up artist who's done Matsujun's make up. It's so flawless (look at those cheeks, they're so smooth) and not look cake-y on close up considering Matsujun's skin condition XD, which is why they're so confident to have so much close up shots on Matsujun. So, yeah, beautiful scene, beautiful camera angle, beautiful lighting PLUS pretty and beautiful face = mesmerizing :).

I hope people take this movie more than just a face value of an idol movie and look more to the content and the package overall.
And from now on, it'll never the same again for me whenever I hear The Beach Boy's 'Wouldn't It Be Nice'...

PS: I'd think Nino should watch his back if he still wants to keep his 'Best Actor of Arashi' title because Matsujun is catching up on his acting skill, PLUS Matsujun is a damn good kisser on screen (Tokyo Tower and Shitsuren Chocolatier should be enough proof on that).