So, Kaguya-sama: Love Is War is the latest anime that got a live-action
film adaptation. The movie retells the
most notable events of the first season of the anime series. Moreover, it also borrows some plot points
from the second season, but takes them toward an entirely different narrative
direction.
Just like most live-action film
adaptations of anime, it is significantly inferior to its source material. But even though this fact was already expected, I still chose to see it. It’s because I really love season 2 of Kaguya-sama – it’s even my favorite
anime of the year so far – and the high I had from it spilled over to fuel whatever
“push” was required for me to watch this movie.
When compared to the excellent
anime, this live-action adaptation is lackluster. However, here’s the thing: I think that if I
hadn’t seen the anime, and thus, had nothing to compare this movie to, I would
have probably liked it a lot. It’s
because there’s competence in how it delivers the source material’s fantastic
premise. But more importantly, although
it ultimately falls short, it really does its darnest to capture the comedy and
energy of the anime. The casting and
acting, particularly, is most admirable, as they bring about the best possible
live-action depictions of these endearing, zany characters. The effort put into the visual presentation and
production design is worth praising as well.
Thus, I’m not gonna lie, the film
put a smile on my face on a couple of occasions. There are scenes that are genuinely appealing
and fun.
Furthermore, it’s worth noting
that it makes the eventual decision to deviate from the source material’s
plotline and run something different with some of the story elements. There’s some cleverness that came out of it,
although it didn’t really work for me (I still prefer the things that unfolded
in the anime). Still, I can appreciate
the attempt for some originality.
In the end, although
it has its charms and chuckles and by no means bad, this live-action film adaptation
is still ultimately underwhelming as a whole.
Its inferiority to its source material couldn’t be ignored. The anime as benchmark is simply critically
detrimental to it.
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