Much like my fellow bloggers, I was given the privilege not too long ago of reviewing Dave Boyle’s to be released movie, Big Dreams Little Tokyo. Much unlike my fellow bloggers, this review is late for a variety of reasons, all too embarrassing to mention here.

I digress. To say that BDLT is a comedy would be like saying that Hayao Miyazaki makes Japanese cartoons, or that Akira Toriyama draws Japanese comics. Nevermind how it’s true, the deliberate phrasing in conventional terms make for something that’s a little awkward on the ears (as opposed to “makes anime”, or “draws manga”).

Even if you have to grudgingly admit that BDLT has comedic trappings, of course, there’s always the weighty subject material it deals with which makes the journey through through issues of displacement and cultural identity a heartfelt, if understated, experience.

from left to right: Rachel Morihiro as Mai, Dave Boyle as Boyd, Jayson Watabe as Jerome, and Drew Knight as Andy

In my idealist world of adaptations, movies like the abomination that was the Death Note live action would never exist. It was good as a movie for movie’s sake, but not good enough for my higher standards. Neither was it a case of source material fan bias — for what it’s worth, the only thing an adaptation should do is contain the essence of the original, the brilliance that made people sit up and gape in wonder, and this is where the Death Note movie didn’t work for me.

If it isn’t obvious already, neither did the Honey and Clover movie. Sitting down to watch it with a small group of close friends, I viewed it again through the eyes of a newcomer to Chika Umino’s colourful little world. Yes, it’s very pretty, but what does it do? A convoluted, dizzying effort that tried to cram in the heartbreak of 36 episodes or 10 volumes, which just didn’t seem right to me. Maybe it’s the cynical bias, but I’ll leave that to you to decide.