yourxstardust

Sample Screencaps: 
   

Rating (out of 5):

The General Idea:
Hopeless romantic Sayuri Honda likes to imagine herself as a shojo heroine about to meet her Prince Charming. He'll sweep her off her feet and bring her to the most perfect place- July 24th Avenue in Lisbon, Portugal. In reality, the clumsy, homely Sayuri is a typical office worker residing in seaside Nagasaki, far from Lisbon and even father from romance. As Christmas nears, she runs into her high school crush Satoshi Okuda, who has just returned from Tokyo, Sayuri decided that this time, she can't love pass her by. Can she create her own miracle on 24th Avenue? 

The Good:
It's plays out just as you'd expect any classic holiday cindrella tale would. Though I have mixed feelings about it, I really enjoyed the first half of the film. Sayuri's awkwardness that always seems to be getting her in trouble is charming. The manga refrences and CG effects are cute. Some okay preformances are given by Abe (Sayuri's brother), You (Sayuri's father's girlfriend), and especially Sato as Yoshio, Sayuri's long time friend who has a secret crush on her. There is one perticularly touching scene when Yoshio shows Sayuri a flipbook he made of them and asks her to come up with the ending. Murakami, who directed "Densha Otoko" earlier (about a geeky guy who gets the girl), seem to be flipping the tables this time making a geeky girl the heroine of the story.  

The Bad:
It feels forced, like they were just trying too hard to make it work. Nakatani (Sayuri), and Osawa (Satoshi) have very little chemistry together, as a result the romantic scenes fall flat. I found myself rooting more for Yoshio than Satoshi, and it was rather fustrating when he didn't try harder to win her over. Throughout the movie we a reminded over and over again about how Christmas is a "lovers holiday" and no refrenences to the other more important meanings of the holiday are made. Also it may just be the feminist in me, but I disliked how Sayuri had to completely change her whole image in order to gain the attention of her "prince". Finally, the pair of Sayuri's dream characters, the Portugese Grandfather and Grandson, pop up at the weirdest times and I found them extremely annoying. 

Overall:
If you're looking for the cliche, you've got it. Too many things just fell through for me to give it a full 3 in rating, but i gave it a 2 & 1/2 for effort. As holiday movies go, cheerful carols, humor, and a happy ending make it an watchable season treat. 

Where I Got It:

jdramas