Let's start this review with adressing the title; the treatment of Sakura's best friend Kyoko is just appalling. Sakura is totally fine with this MC dude she never talked to before knowing her secret but can't tell her best friend. I get that she has her reasoning, but let's look at it from Kyoko's POV: you find out your best friend had less than a year to live, and confided about that in a new person in her life that basically replaced you as #1 friend. I would feel extremely insulted and just seeing the MC would feel like a slap in the face. But we gotta have a happy ending for this generic terminal romance film.
And yes, it is generic terminal romance, Sakura and MC being friends and not actually dating does not change that. I see how this is an intriguing idea, as the minutes 60-85 (between the uncomfortable r-scene and the dragged out fantasy sequence) are really good and have some very strong moments. But the rest of it is just painfully boring!
The first hour, MC and Sakura don't seem to actually get along. She's hyperactive, which is unrealistic given her illness, and the MC is boring and doesn't show any emotion towards her. And because the MC doesn't seem to care or enjoy himself, I don't either. Even though he's an introvert who has issues showing emotions, we see this plot from his POV and I just didn't feel it.
Here's how you write this plot correctly; MC finds Sakura's 'Living with Dying' They agree to hang out and do stuff together during her remaining time on earth, just to have fun with no emotions attached, as a dying girl can not afford to bond with someone. Their classmates-with-platonic benefits situation leads the MC to gradually grow attached to Sakura nonetheless, resulting in for instance, the scene at the fireworks where he asks if she's really going to die and she acts uncaring about it, forcing him to hide his emotions (prob the best moment in the film).
All that criticism aside, I have to reiterate minute 60 to 85 or so are good. I also like that the message is more nuanced than the usual 'live life, be social', in that Sakura learns the other side of the coin to not define herself solely in relation to others. And the fact that generally, Sakura the terminally ill girl is not portrayed as some patron saint Mary Sue guardian angel (looking at you YLIA) already gives it a lot of leeway. So it's about a 4.5/10.
And yes, it is generic terminal romance, Sakura and MC being friends and not actually dating does not change that. I see how this is an intriguing idea, as the minutes 60-85 (between the uncomfortable r-scene and the dragged out fantasy sequence) are really good and have some very strong moments. But the rest of it is just painfully boring!
The first hour, MC and Sakura don't seem to actually get along. She's hyperactive, which is unrealistic given her illness, and the MC is boring and doesn't show any emotion towards her. And because the MC doesn't seem to care or enjoy himself, I don't either. Even though he's an introvert who has issues showing emotions, we see this plot from his POV and I just didn't feel it.
Here's how you write this plot correctly; MC finds Sakura's 'Living with Dying' They agree to hang out and do stuff together during her remaining time on earth, just to have fun with no emotions attached, as a dying girl can not afford to bond with someone. Their classmates-with-platonic benefits situation leads the MC to gradually grow attached to Sakura nonetheless, resulting in for instance, the scene at the fireworks where he asks if she's really going to die and she acts uncaring about it, forcing him to hide his emotions (prob the best moment in the film).
All that criticism aside, I have to reiterate minute 60 to 85 or so are good. I also like that the message is more nuanced than the usual 'live life, be social', in that Sakura learns the other side of the coin to not define herself solely in relation to others. And the fact that generally, Sakura the terminally ill girl is not portrayed as some patron saint Mary Sue guardian angel (looking at you YLIA) already gives it a lot of leeway. So it's about a 4.5/10.