REVIEW Movie Review: “Koizora”

[Kłapouchy]

MOVIE REVIEW: “KOIZORA”
Written by: Polaris_Tae

'Koizora: Sky of Love' is a 2007 Japanese film based on a cell phone novel of the same name starring Aragaki Yui and my all-time favourite Japanese actor Miura Haruma. The film opens with the main protagonist Mika reminiscing on the time she spent with her first love, Hiro, where despite the immense pain and sadness that she suffered during their relationship, he also brought her great happiness and she doesn't regret her time spent with him.


We then skip to how everything started: Mika is in her first year in High School when she comes across Hiro, who found her lost phone in the library and took the number from before returning it, he calls it without telling his name at the time and they start getting to know each other over the summer break.


The first 20 minutes plays like a typical Japanese coming-of-age high school film where the main couple meet, start liking each other and have fun together. However, around the twenty minute mark, the film begins to touch on some darker issues including sexual assault and teen pregnancy. Mika, while waiting for Hiro at a bus stop, is abducted by a group of thugs and assaulted under the orders of Hiro's jealous ex-girlfriend Saki. Later in the film, Mika learns that she is pregnant (via Hiro, not from the earlier assault) and she intends to keep the baby. Following her confession to Hiro regarding this matter they tell their parents and guardians, and Hiro makes the decision to drop out of school to provide for his incoming family. Once Saki learns of Hiro's decision, she goes to confront Mika, causing her to have a miscarriage. This film is a constant series of one unfortunate event after another culminating in a tragedy for the main character.

The overall acting within the film is pretty standard for a Japanese high school movie, however the main negative aspect of the film is the fact that a majority of the extended cast are forgettable as they do not leave much of an impact on the overall story. The two main leads are fantastic in dramatic scenes and they are never overly emotional, however, I found that the actress portraying Hiro's ex-girlfriend, Saki, had a continuously exaggerated portrayal of her character. One of the major issues in the film that I found off-putting was where Mika straight up forgives the person who ordered to assault her without addressing the problem at all, which seems extremely unrealistic, even for a film that was released in the mid-2000's.


I think that my favourite aspect throughout the film was the cinematography, which somewhat makes up for the lack of a believable plot structure because even in the most horrifying moments that aspect remains absolutely stunning. One example of this is the scene where she is assaulted, what is an extremely horrifying scene that no one in real life should have to go through is enhanced by the visual display that the scene portrays to the audience: her innocence is crushed, in the same way that the bed of flowers she is assaulted on withers beneath her. I found that the use of symbolism and metaphors through this context helped to portray the message sincerely, and that where the story itself fell short, the stunning visuals and symbolism is portrayed to the audience brilliantly.

In conclusion, 'Koizora' is a tragic yet romantic film that touches on the heartstrings of its audience and, even though there are a number of unrealistic situations within the film, I still found it to be enjoyable as the acting and cinematography were superior. Even with its faults I still found the movie to be a great production and would recommend this film to anyone looking for a movie that is both light-hearted but deals with heavy topics at the same time. Watch 'Koizora' if you are looking to bawl your eyes out.

__________________________________________________

Story: 5/10
Cast: 7/10
Cinematography: 9/10

7/10
__________________________________________________

​

 

[soozie]

This seems to be a lot darker than I thought Sounds interesting though, I’ll check it out

 

[Mimi]

I remember trying to watch it but I couldn't stick to finish it
That review was a good one

 

[lofti]

I remember trying to watch this and dropped it real fast when I realized this was not going to be a cute high school romance. I'm really not fond of angst.

 

[kimsguardian]

first reason to watch : gakki. lmao
I watched this movie like 10 years ago and I like it so much, that videocall scene just
nice review btw :yagotit:

 

[BlueNose]

Thank you for reviewing ~
It sounds interesting

 

[mocha]

oof its one of the movies that got me into the whole asian thing actually would never be here without it

i love it, its been over 10 years and i still think about it sometimes

 

[WithJuyeon]

i love angst and sad shows so i'll probably enjoy this. thanks for the review