(Review Jmovie) Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun (My Little Monster)

There are many reasons why I have watched the live action version of manga couple of times.

1. Masaki Suda. None doubts his quality of acting. I used to be unattarcted to this actor one. But I admit, his acting is extraordinary. I see his acting in many film genres or drama. Starting from romance drama like Drowning Love which is very dark, and he played as a woman in Princess Jellyfish. All he can play really well. Even as Yoshida Haru, Suda-kun can appear very innocent, naive, honest but can suddenly be violent. The comical style can be so strong that the sad face is so touching.
2. Tao Tsuchiya. I admit, her acting is getting much better. And I also began to like the choice of drama that she selected. Tao-chan is very comical at Tori Girl, so stifling when acting as a seriously ill fiancé at The 8-Year Engagement, but annoying at My Brother Loves Too Much. For some reason, I don't like the film. 😖As Shizuku Mizutani, actually she is not that serious compared to the anime version. But as soon as I saw her in this live action, apparently it fits well with the role of a serious girl who doesn't need any friends, and only focused on her studies.
3. Friendship. Most of the manga targeting teenagers, on average, are dominated by the themes of friendship, bullying, puppy love, and other teenage slice of life. Here, you get a friendship theme that is touching as well as funny. How someone like Haru, the rioter craved a friend. He even thought that friends could be bought with money. Innocent thinking tends to be stupid, indeed. His meeting with Shizuku opened his mind to a healthier and more colorful world of friendship.
4. If you watch the anime version, you will look for some silly scenes, such as when Haru kidnapped Shizuku just for the sake of wanting to feel out with a friend after school 😀😀😀 In the movie trailer I didn't find the chicken found by Haru and then raised together with his newly found friends. But the live action version is quite loyal to the manga version.
5. The ending of the anime is very hanging, and the lack of romantic scenes, you can be somewhat satisfied with this live action version. I myself did not finish reading the manga version, but the ending of the anime was very annoying. Many comments are the same about the end of Haru-Shizuku's relationship. Fortunately, the live action version answered the dissatisfaction of the anime audience.
6. Still need more recommendations? Come on, watch the live action! I have  watched it many times, in some funny parts of course, and the romantic part 😉😉.

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