Japanese Romantic Movies that I've watched and their reviews

Lovely Complex

Story: Girl is really tall and has a complex (is insecure) about it. Boy is really short and also has a complex about it. Girl really wants to find a boyfriend who is taller than her and boy really wants to find a girlfriend who is shorter than him. And in that class they always avoid each other because when they are together they look funny and people laugh at them. But due to various situations, they end up having to hang out together a lot and over time they fall in love, but struggle through their complexes.

Versions: Actually I haven’t seen the live action movie (live action means having real people as opposed to anime which has cartoon characters). I’ve only seen the anime.

Review: The anime was good but I didn’t love it because of the whole tall girl short guy thing. (I guess I like my dramas to have the typical tall, handsome badboy and sweet kind-hearted poor girl type characters.) But other viewers might like it because it does have a very sweet love story. Also I think I would probably like the live action version more because it’s easier to look past their complexes and feel the emotions if they are human instead of animated.

Rating: No rating because I haven’t seen the drama version yet.

Recommend: Maybe

Kimi ni Todoke (From Me to You)

Story: A sweet kind-hearted high school girl has no friends because she looks like the ghost from the horror movie "The Ring". So everyone is scared of her. But she aspires to become friendlier and make people happy like her role model, the most popular guy in class. This guy is the only one who treats her normally and isn't scared of her. It turns out, that is not all. He is in love with her, but she is too clueless to know that. The story is about her slowly learning to make friends and find love with his help. 

Versions: Manga, anime and this live action movie. The anime is really good. Its longer so it has more details.

Review: If you like romantic movies, this is one of the best I've seen. It is sooooo sweet. The fact that the girl is so clueless about love, and doing simple things like making a friend is such a huge accomplishment to her makes this story really interesting. And the fact that she accidentally scares people all the time makes it really humorous. This is my all time favorite Japanese movie.
Rating: 9/10

Recommend: Definitely, yes.

Paradise Kiss

Story: A girl just finished high school and does not know what she wants to do with her life. A handsome fashion designer asks the girl to become his model. The movie is about her exploring this new career and her romance with the designer.

Versions: Manga, anime and this live action movie. 

Review: This is another famous romance movie of Japan. Its anime and manga also did really well. But I didn't like it much. The love story wasn't that deep. The whole story was just okay.
Rating: 6/10

Recommend: No.