Opening in Philippine cinemas today, this is a film adaptation of the beloved light novel My Happy Marriage by Akumi Agitogi. This fantasy melodrama is set in the Meiji, in a world where there are families with bloodlines that allow them to possess special abilities [inou] to help rid the world of dark entities called paranormals and abberations.
Miyo Saimori (Mio Imada) belongs to such bloodline but is treated badly by her father who remarried as well as her stepmother and half-sister, because she's considered a disgrace and an imbecile for not having any powers at all. She's betrothed to Kiyoka Kudo (Ren Meguro), a cold-hearted soldier who possesses the power of fire and is rumored to have been left by his previous fiancées within the span of three days.
The storytelling for me was a little too fast-paced and there was information overload at first. However, as Miyo and Kiyoka interact with each other, causing changes in one another, that is where the movie goes interesting. I like the way the film tackled the development of romantic feelings without any physical intimacy whatsoever.
I was a little worried for the CGI at first when I saw the bird which was a little unsteady but the visual effects was satisfactory throughout the movie, especially during the climax in the dream world.
My favorite part was when Kudo had to rescue Miyo and he had a one-on-one magical battle with one of her captors.
An area of improvement would definitely be the pacing, which could have been resolved by splitting the movie into two parts or making it longer, allowing more character development. The acting could also use some fine tuning but of course the Japanese are not really the best in that aspect so there is not really much that can be done about that.
Nevertheless, the film, as an adaptation, fulfilled its goal for me as an audience member with no background of the source material whatsoever, to be interested in it.
Does this need or deserve to have a sequel? Definitely. And I will be around to watch it.
RATING: 3.5/5
The film premiered in Vista Mall Taguig last November 27.
For Southies like me, here are the cinemas in Makati, Alabang, Las Piñas, Taguig, and Parañaque where it is showing:
Vista Mall Las Piñas
Vista Mall Taguig
Ayala Malls Circuit
Ayala Malls Manila Bay
Glorietta 4
Market! Market!
Robinsons Place Las Piñas
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