Haikara-san ga Tooru - [Movie Commetary + Review]

Haikara-san ga Tooru is a movie duology from 2017 that alternatively adapts manga from 1975. And it shows.

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First thing I want to do here is have a huge ass rant about all my emotions arising during the movie. And just how ridiculous it is. 

It ended up being quite the block of text - so feel free to skip it and just look at the quick review on the bottom of this article.

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The main storyline follows a free-spirited Benio-san, who calls herself a modern woman. That means - not listening to men and doing things the way she wants... Even though it gets her to troubles more often then not.

This is where clichés start. Benio-san is betrothed to Shinobu Ijuin (Second Lieutenant, as she calls him thorough both movies) which isn't ideal for her. So she fights with all she has - being lazy, rude to his grandparents, and does everything that could possibly get her sent home.

She even agrees to elope with her childhood friend who's deeply in love with her, just so she could be the one that made a choice - not her parents.

Adding to that, Second Lieutenant *and* Benio's childhood friend is in love with Ijuin, which makes things awkward. Benio tells him without thinking about betraying her friend's trust and Second Lieutenant doesn't even bat an eye. After all, he has his fiancé that he likes!

More problems arise, like Ranmaru (the one in love with Benio) disguising himself as a maid and breaking old plate - which almost gets him killed. Benio rescues him, obviously and Second Lieutenant shows how awful of a man he is. (Both as a living being and a character).

There is no helping it though -  Second Lieutenant loves Benio already and his grandpa takes liking into her, because she showed a strong character. And so, their new life begins and everything seems to be calming down. 

Until Second Lieutenant's "friend" appears - she is a geisha and Benio has jealousy outburst that drag on for a while. So... even though Benio does what she can to fight her fate, she cannot help but to fall for Second Lieutenant. 

This guys gets sent to war though, and gets into trouble that gets his men sent to front lines where he allegedly dies.

Benio immediately finds a job as a journalist, working for the geisha's friend who is ALLERGIC TO WOMEN. No, really. He has a reaction, rash and all....
Thanks to Tosei Aoe, she gets to travel away, hoping she can solve the mystery of where her fiancé is and prove to everyone (and mostly herself) that Second Lieutenant is still alive.

We have a wonderful scene of her walking towards Second Lieutenant (who's with a beautiful girl) and passing him. The two look back, as if confused but eventually completely miss that it's the other person and continue - Second Lieutenant going home and Benio going to Russia.

This is where the second movie starts and completely disgusts me.

Second Lieutenant has some sort of amnesia or a spell put on him, that makes him "forget" Benio and only remember his wife Larisa Mikhailov, who calls him "Sasha". This woman is a huge twist to the story --- but she is also deadly sick, completely angelic in nature and overall the best person alive.

Which is going to be soooo convenient.

While the first movie dragged extremely, the second one went for ages. Everytime a plot point was solved and I checked the time, I still had *way too long* until the end of the movie. 

Benio had to try and forget her love, because even though nobody approved of Larisa, "Sasha" was determined to make everyone accept his wife. What could Benio do but re-focus herself on Tosei Aoe, promising him that she loves him, forgot Ijuin already and she'll be faithful to him forever.

Tosei Aoe loves Benio, and so they're to marry (leaving Ranmaru in tears). This is where the movie could have ended. The twist was so stupid it actually worked and I was ready to accept this. 

However. During the wedding, earthquake took place - the church fell, fire appeared everywhere... Ranmaru broke his leg, Benio realised she loves Second Lieutenant and Tosei Aoe risked his life for the one he loved.

Larisa died, telling "Sasha" the truth and sending him free, telling him to go after Benio. So he does, the two of them kiss and decide to get married... And they do. Tosei Aoe is unhappy but realises he has family & friends who love him, Benio's childhood girl friend finds love and a vampire appears at the wedding table... thus, we can happily die, knowing that this movie was a waste of over 3 hours.

    

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Story: 7/10

If you're 16 or below, you will live for the drama, romance and twists. But if you are older and have your experiences with these shows - you will understand and see all the bad things, mistakes, and you won't be able to overlook them.

It might be a classic, definitely something that was GENIUS in it's time. I see it, appreciate it and absolutely adore what it represents. I will however be watching the original adaptation - because this one fooled me. xD

Art & Animation: 9/10

    You can definitely see that it's 2017. Now is that better or worse than 1970's art style and animation? I cannot compare.

    I liked how it looked, I liked the animation and it seemed like they really worked on it to make it look crisp & nice. It was really great on eyes, and Benio's clothes especially were beautiful.

    But maybe if we had the older art style... maybe it would help me get into it more? And maybe I'm just saying nonsense because I am unhappy that I didn't end up enjoying it.

Music: 7/10

    Nothing great, nothing bad. It was stitched with the story so much, that I wasn't noticing it - but the emotions were translating. Even if I wasn't feeling them, I could tell what the emotion was supposed to be.
    And that's mostly what music is supposed to do.

Characters: 4/10

Ugh.

    I liked Benio a lot - during the first half of the first movie. Then she became insufferable.

     Second Lieutenant - I hated his guts since I saw him. Talk about unlikable main male character. Insanity.

    Tosei Aoe - I liked him. I thought he was insanely fun, good person & good written character. It's so sad that he got stuck with such awful beings. After what Benio did to him, he will definitely stay allergic to women until he dies.

    Larisa -  a character created specifically to die. Talk about convenient.

    Ranmaru - his whole being was there just to be annoying, cry and keep following Benio like a little puppy.

Entertainment value: 5/10

    Haikara-san ga Tooru movies are definitely not the worst thing that ever happened nor are they bad.

    But I have seen my share of anime and this one just pissed me off with how stupid it is. Had I seen it earlier on, or when I was 16 - I would probably love it much more.

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It is difficult to dislike something so much, especially when you focus so much on details and issues that are on every step. But. I still can tell how good it is, and how it rocked back in the day.

I do recommend it, because it is a good experience...

It just wasn't a good experience for someone who watched it with such critical eye.

Conclusion: mixed feelings 💫