By Tom Wilmot.
In the spring surpassing her first year of upper school, the shy Yuna feels lost when her weightier friend moves away. However, it isn’t long surpassing she’s thrown into the visitor of Akari, a spritely girl who has moved into the same suite building. To uncork with, the two couldn’t be increasingly opposite, particularly when it comes to their ideas of romance, but they hit it off and wilt tropical friends. With Yuna drastic for “the one” and Akari troubled by her home life, the girls help each other overcome the difficulties of upper school and navigate their way through complicated romantic relationships with classmates Rio and Kazuomi.
Toshimasa Kuroyanagi’s romantic full-length Love Me, Love Me Not, based on a girls’ manga, might seem on the surface to be a fun and fluffy affair, but has increasingly to say when it comes to the importance of having our emotional needs fulfilled and attaining personal happiness. The crux of the plot is that old J-dorama staple, a love polygon in which the main notation develop and deal with heavy crushes upon each another. Initially, Yuna is the one most obviously pining for intimacy, as her fondness for romantic shojo manga leaves her yoyo on love at first sight. She thinks she has found this through an worrisome encounter with new classmate Rio, but it becomes unveiled that her somewhat afar peer may take some warming up. Akari, by contrast, is far increasingly relaxed when it comes to her love life, or at least that’s the impression she likes to give. In reality, she’s perhaps the neediest of the quartet but keeps her true feelings to herself, whether out of pride or loyalty. The stark differences between Yuna and Akari midpoint that they’re an odd pair, but their friendship remains compelling throughout and makes for what is hands the narrative’s most fleshed out relationship.
The romantic merry-go-round at the film’s heart is filled with clichés, but there’s an element of recreate that makes it all forgivable. The various misunderstandings and conversational blunders between characters, of which there are many, garner a mix of excitement and frustration. You know that things are likely to work out in the end; it’s just a matter of waiting. However, far from stuff a wholly predictable film, Love Me, Love Me Not throws in several twists and revelations that are sure to surprise those not once familiar with the source material. Watching the story unfold is very much a specimen of enjoying the journey instead of stuff concerned with the destination.
Aside from the romance, there’s moreover a significant permafrost of the plot defended to the importance of families and friendship. Akari’s sometimes turbulent home life ways that the teen is often left without a shoulder to cry on. Similarly, aspiring filmmaker Kazuomi struggles to let his own feelings rise to the surface out of loyalty to his friends. Both notation are deprived of personal happiness, and both suffer for it throughout the film. The exploration of these issues and the way that they’re dealt with highlight how important it is to have caring people virtually that can offer genuine emotional support. Perhaps it’s less the teenage hormones and increasingly a universal longing for unhealthfulness that has driven our tint of notation into each other’s arms.
However, far from stuff a pensive affair, Kuroyanagi’s mucosa is littered throughout with humour that keeps things light-hearted. Unfortunately for Yuna, she finds herself to be the stump of most jokes, which are usually brought well-nigh by nerve-shredding encounters with Rio. Akari doesn’t help in such instances as she’s keen to see her friend find love and so takes every opportunity to gravity her shy hand. There are moreover moments in which Yuna thrills with excitement at the romantic prospects for both her and Akari, which remoter reveals the diehard shojo fan at her core. The mostly jovial tone ways that despite some of the increasingly serious weft issues touched upon, Love Me, Love Me Not is a fun and heart-warming watch.
One zone in which the mucosa impresses throughout is the quality of the animation. The story takes place over the undertow of a year, whence and concluding in the spring. Such a timespan allows for all seasons to be beautifully turned-on by the team over at A-1 Pictures. The romantic escapades of our lovelorn quartet take them from a scorching summer festival through to a cold, yet cosy Christmas as locations in viridity older in the mucosa are covered in a wrap of snow. The volatility moreover captures the butterflies felt by our teen lovers as they’re confronted with intimate situations. One such scene sees a rainy underpass make way for a visculent field as we glimpse into Yuna’s elated state of mind moments surpassing a daring confession.
As far as romantically driven coming-of-age anime goes, Love Me, Love Me Not is well-nigh as light-hearted as they get. The mannerly tint of notation and the heartfelt relationships they develop alimony Toshimasa Kuroyanagi’s mucosa a unceasingly engaging drama well-nigh blossoming love and the immuration of friendship. The increasingly wordy moments of volatility capture the ups and downs of the narrative largest than any live-action version overly could and make this an enjoyable way to wits Io Sakisaka’s popular manga story.
Love Me, Love Me Not is released in the UK by Anime Limited.
.webp)
