Hello, it’s been a little while! I’ve been keeping up with Sota’s blog and it look

Hello, it’s been a little while! I’ve been keeping up with Sota’s blog and it looks like there are only staff updates about TV Appearances. He is probably extremely busy with [Strobe Edge] promotions, so when he does update us, I will be right onto translating!

I present to you today, my recommendations of “Seishun Eiga”s which typically describes the High School Romance genre. Because many dramas / movies are based on manga in Japan, the Japanese theater greatly embraces Seishun Eigas. It’s almost a “stepping stone” for rising actors / actresses to be a part of these dramas / movies. 

First up!
Bokura ga Ita Zenpen & Kohen (2012): This 2 part movie (Zenpen- 1st part, Kohen- 2nd part) chronicles the 10-year love life of Yano Motoharu (Ikuta Toma) and Nanami Takahashi (Yoshitaka Yuriko). I know it sounds really draggy and boring making two movies about one pair, but this one does a fantastic job. Bokura ga Ita is one of the few movies that I felt developed the characters, their feelings, and the different events that shape the characters in a touching manner. Yano made my heart soooo happy I watched the movie 8 times.

Hanamizuki (2010): This one is a slightly older one and fair to say that it was the first batch of Seishun Eigas. Again, this chronicles the 10-year love life of a couple, Sae Hirasawa (Yui Aragaki) and Kouhei Kiuchi (Ikuta Toma). This movie completely tackles a different setting from Bokura ga Ita, so rest assured that these first two are not the same story.

Kimi ni Todoke (2010): Another one of the first gen Seishun Eigas. This one is about a handsome & popular boy, Shota Kazehaya (Haruma Miura), who falls in love with a girl, Sawako Kuronuma (Mikako Tabe), who is bullied by the class. Kazehaya brings Kuronuma out of her shell, and the rest is history. 

Kiyoku, Yawaku (2013): A fairly new one. This one is about two characters, Kanna Seto (Masami Nagasawa) and Roku Akazawa (Masaki Okada) who have lost a significant person in their life as they struggle to carry on with life and eventually love again. TBH, I watched it because of Masaki Okada, and thought it was a well-done movie.

High School Debut (2011): I was like ??? while watching this movie because it was sooooo manga-like silly & hilarious. Haruna Nagashima (Ito Ono) wants to find a boyfriend in high school because she had devoted her entire middle school life to softball. You Komiyama (Junpei Mizobata) is a popular upperclassman who ends up mentoring Nagashima, but instead, falls in love with her.

Sukitte ii na yo (2014): SUPER recent movie. The storyline is a little bit similar to Kimi ni Todoke, as a popular boy at school, Yamato Kurosawa (Sota Fukushi), brings a bullied girl, Mei Tachibana (Haruna Kawaguchi), out of her shell. Even though the underlying theme is the same, this one develops the female character greatly and chronicles her journey as she is coming out of her shell and really learns about loving another person. After watching “Kyou wa Kaisha Yasumimasu”, I went straight to this movie to see Sota Fukushi. Didn’t disappoint me at all. <3

Some others I haven’t watched yet: Koizora,Halfway,Boku no Hatsu Koi o Kimi ni Sasagu,Tada kimi wo Aishiteru. 

Will be doing one for top dramas I’ve watched throughout my years of jdrama experience soon (this one shall be extremely hard….)!

Christina xxx