Botanical Books (2016) User Reviews

Conventional but attractive romance

[mjkarlin · 6/10 · 2 October 2018]

Two luminously attractive stars, Takahata Mitsuki (the girl) and Iwata Takanori (the boy), make this easy to watch. But it's very frothy, with the tropes of Japanese cinema, and specifically romantic comedies, on full display. The characters are never really challenged - Takahata has a typically annoying boss who repeatedly chastises her unfairly until she finally plucks up the courage to stand up to him; Iwata's character, a great cook who knows a lot about obscure herbs, is sweet but of course has a secret which separates the lovers. The secret turns out to be pretty benign and not much of an obstacle to a happy denouement. There are some standard, but very low-key, misunderstandings but no fireworks and a complete absence of real drama. So you watch this just because the stars are so pretty and you know all will be right in the end. You may learn a couple of things about plants - that's about it.

Good enough

[PennyReviews · 5/10 · 7 January 2017]

It started weakly, and ended weakly, but the middle part was strong enough to keep you entertained. The story is kind of strange, a woman who lives a boring, lonely, life, find a man passed out on the street and agrees to let him live with her for half a year. In return he cooks for her and teaches her to appreciate the plants that grow free in the nature, and especially the weeds. The performances were really good and that made the romance quite strong as well. The chemistry was there and it helped the drama to develop to a point that you can't help but feel sorry for the female lead. At the same time, the mystery is very interesting, surrounding the man's true identity. However, the conclusion, and thus the explanation, was very unsatisfying, almost idiotic. Maybe, it was due to the fact that the movie was based on a book, but still, it should have been better. Other than that, the movie is good.

The woman takes in a stray

[l-35072 · 5/10 · 27 August 2017]

But when I say woman, despite how she wears a suit and has a job and looks official (well mostly we see her eating at her desk), she actually looks like she is 14 years old. She looks like a middle school girl wearing a suit. Anyway, the woman takes in a stray, falls in love, spreads her legs and then he leaves. It is rather predictable past the opening premise, but the acting is not too bad and the stray keeps flashing his white teeth like he's a by band pop star, which he is. Too bad this woman is not too attractive and does not flaunt anything. My goodness woman show some legs or breast or something. I prefer actresses like Nozomi Sasaki to her. Actresses like Nozomi make me happy.

Sweet love story

[mister_bateman · 8/10 · 9 September 2020]

The romantic way our two protagonists meet each other is a bit fairy tale like, but it's a quite original story without many of the usual cheesy rom-com clichés. If you like food and cooking it's a plus since that plays a central role. Overall it's a nice, wholesome and enjoyable feel-good movie.

One of my favorites

[knkjma · 10/10 · 24 December 2017]

I like the story and Takanori Iwata's performance is awesome.