Jul 12, 2007

Hanazakari no Kimitachi e -- Japanese Live Action Version Continued

I found a fansubbed version of the new Hana-Kimi series on Crunchy Roll. Basically, this live action version is, indeed, very loosely based on the manga. The basic scenario is the same -- girl disguises herself to enter an all boy's school to be with the boy she admires. The characters are present, but they are not like the manga. There are elements of the scenarios in the manga, but they had been chopped into small bits and rearranged. Mizuki's reason being at Ousaka is changed too. In this version, she comes there knowing that Sano no longer does the high jump and she has the goal in mind of making him jump again. It also seems that Sano does not realize right away that Mizuki is a girl (or maybe he could know who she is since in this version he gets the injury that ends his high jumping while saving her from street thugs a year before she enters the school). There are lots of other things changed too, which is frustrating if you compare it the manga, so I've decided not to associate this with the manga and take the show for what it is. Once I did that, I have decided that the show is watchable. The scenes between Ashiya and Sano, Ashiya and Dr. Umeda, and Ashiya and Nakatsu are charming but the scenes with the accessory characters are mostly pathetically silly fan service. I imagine as I continue to watch this series, I will be fast forwarding through the fan service. I also find the St. Blossoms girls to be very annoying. Sigh ...