Our Secret Diary (2023)

Life Note

Une petite review pour un film très feel good et donc très nécessaire pour 2024, si vous ne l'avez pas encore vu en 2023. Avec les plateformes, il est devenu tellement plus simple et légal de voir les adaptations en live action de shojo. Et celui-ci est particulièrement réussi. Sakurada Hiyori colle toujours bien à ses personnages d'ados ou post-ados en difficulté de communication. Même si, ici, c'est l'amour qui la fait bafouer. Très juste et touchante dans son interprétation, nul doute que la cible de cette œuvre arrivera grandement à s’identifier. Takahashi Fumiya est lui-même touchant, même s'il commence à être un peu à côté de son âge supposé pour le rôle. Alors que Hiyori-chan paraîtra encore quelques années avoir 16 ans, lui, doit faire un effort supplémentaire dans son jeu pour en paraître 17 et il y parvient bien mieux que Sota Ryosuke qui en avait 24 durant le tournage du film. Mais étant assez bons acteurs tous les deux, avec un Takahashi Fumiya bien meilleur et sensible que dans Fermat Ryouri tout cela passe parfaitement. Sans dévoiler l'intrigue on vibre avec ces ados qui vivent leurs premiers émois, même si la relation avec Hiyori-chan et son senpai en classe de 2de peut un peu faire froid dans le dos par le jeu de psychopathe délivré ici. Tout est classique dans cette année très School Life. Les examens, les fiches d'orientation, la litre de déclaration et le journal intime toujours très utilisé par les ados japonais nous rappellent qu'on est dans un Shojo. Mais un très bon, à hautement recommander pour ceux qui veulent une histoire assez réaliste et bien réalisée. Pas de réels méchants et peu d'enjeux dramatiques ici, mais un film qui donne encore un peu plus envie de vivre comme un ados au japon à nos ados d'ici. Attention, le film comporte quand même quelques éléments de pression scolaire qui pourraient choquer nos élèves les plus sensibles au travail à fournir.

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A basic romance movie done well

It was surprisingly really fun?
I was excepting the basic high school romance movie, with its cute moments, way too dramatic third part, rushed storyline, and nonexistent secondary characters, while still being entertaining enough, but it was not.

It doesn't reinvent the genre or anything, it was just a really good-quality high-school romance. And it's an original story, so it does not feel rushed, and everything/everybody that gets introduced actually gets a spotlight and a conclusion.

The goods :

- Good pacing where everything is wrapped up nicely.
- The characters were nice, and everybody got a lot of spotlights.
- No melodramatic part where the heroine cries for 15 minutes.
- No "villains" or misunderstandings that come from nowhere.
- Lots of cute scenes
- Nice twist
- Not a perfect hero and is portrayed as such. He is too honest and has no tact, which can be good and bad. He has to apologize for it and does.
- Not the usual "shy" heroine. She is portrayed as such at the beginning, but we see her layers during the movie.

The bads :

- The beginning is a little hard to get into. There's a lot of music, that cuts the flow of the movie, and it's doing "too much". But it calm downs after something like 15 minutes? In the same way, the acting is a little weird at the beginning, then it's better.
- There's a character that I couldn't really understand during the movie, and even if their actions are explained thanks to the ending, it doesn't change the fact I didn't understand them during a good part of the movie. Still cute though.
- Not necessarily a bad thing, but it is still a very basic romance movie. It doesn't change the world or anything.

A really nice movie. I didn't get bored even though it was almost 2 hours.

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A Refreshing Dive into Teen Romance

"Our Secret Diary" is an emotional rollercoaster that begins with a bit of a shaky start with too much music and an initial awkwardness in acting. However, once it hits its stride, it becomes a compelling journey. The characters feel remarkably genuine, breaking away from the cookie-cutter molds often seen in these films. The absence of prolonged tearful scenes and sudden villains is a welcome surprise, making the high school romance feel more authentic. The imperfect yet honest portrayal of the main character adds a layer of realism, and the evolution of the initially shy heroine is a standout aspect. Despite being rooted in the familiar, the film manages to keep viewers engaged for almost two hours, turning a basic romance into a captivating movie night experience.

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Head-scratcher as Japan is full of great writing - not this one

It's not feel-good, it's not cute, it's not sad, funny, mysterious, exciting, it doesn't even intend to anger although it ends up doing that. There is a toxic story that is clear on its intention, and then there is this that is lukewarm on every aspect. Just what is the purpose? It portrays yet another weak female who gets taken advantage of because she lacks opinions, and in the beginning she's encouraged to take a stand for herself only for that to later be used as the attractive point (no opinion, doesn't stand up for something = goes with anything = a guy's fantasy). With that you have the male who does with her whatever he wants from touching to kissing, while the female recoils, unsure, and most of all, he made her feel that his affection didn't belong to her. He made her a bigger liar than she already was. Did she enjoy? Yes, with pain and disgust. Did he enjoy? Yes, without realizing what he put her through, and without her realizing what he put her though.

Liars are given an easy pass. They get an ending that I don't think we need more of in fiction.

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a brutally honest review lol

It's a cute movie with many fluff scenes and omg they even include the typical ML teaches the FL how to play basketball trope. (i be eating these scenes up every time despite cringing heavily). I can't lie, I sighed when she tried shooting a hoop. How does someone not know how to shoot a basketball properly? It's like true beauty all over again. The only issue I have is the FL. The FL pisses me off so much, SHE HAD ME SCREAMING AT MY SCREEN. LIKE GIRL SPEAK YOUR MIND, STAND UP AND STOP RUNNING AWAY. She's the type of character that makes you pause your movie just to imagine yourself in her shoes and think about how YOU would approach her situation. I literally groaned every time she'd make that nervous face and be unable to utter words, especially to the ML. How tf are you gon be in the broadcasting club, yet you can't speak a little more confidently? JUST TALK PLEASE AND ENOUGH WITH THE PETITE, SHY, Y/N ACT ITS MAKING ME WANT TO RIP MY HAIR OUT. But that's a part of her character so I can't be too mad, even though I am. It's a love-hate relationship, at times I was rooting for her.. so... anyway. The ending is wholesome, she finally grew a backbone for the last 2 minutes of this 1.5-hour movie and he finally cleared everything up with the whole 'love triangle' thing, but what happened to the FL's announcement school? The ML's dream of playing soccer again? Look at all these unanswered questions. Overall, its a super fluffy movie you have to turn your mind off to watch. It has an interesting premise, the characters are likable for the most part.

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A very comfortable movie

Started this movie because of an FMV on YouTube set to a Taylor Swift song. So happy that it was worth the time. It's soft, it's heart-fluttering, it's 100% rewatchable. Sometimes one does not need a complicated, dramatic and entirely unique plot to make a good love story; sometimes the simpler, the better, as long as it's sincere. The actors did so well to portray the awkwardness, angst, but also joy of youth, especially Sakurada Hiyori (she's so cute omg). And as always, fascinating to watch Takahashi Fumiya disappear into his roles, proving how dynamic of an actor he is.

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A really nice and heartwarming youth romance - a stand-out in this genre <3

This movie is about the development of the relationship between two highschool students, through an exchange of a diary. The premise of the story is super simple and worked very well. It was just a super cute and heartwarming youth romance featuring some lovely friendship as well. The pacing of the plot was good and the evolution of the relationships between the protaganists felt very natural.

The acting was very good: the female lead was a really sweet chipmunk and the male lead was handsome with a lively personnality. Both worked very well together as well as with the secondary cast acting as their friends. I will for sure be looking for more dramas / movies with Takahashi Fumiya because he was really charming and gave a lot of charisma to a role that could otherwise have felt very flat.

The production value was pretty great: the decors are colorful and warm with a lot of details. The soundtrack is really diverse and in line with the story and the love of music of the main characters.

I would recommend this to people looking for a sweet highschool romance. It is pretty classic for the genre but it is really well done and was able to brought me a lot of feelings when I watch it. The filmmaking, the directing and the acting combined to a well-conceived scenario will provide you all the feels.

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So i watch this for hiyori. I like this girl when i watch god's favorite. like i want to see her in actual gl series. but i love her in this movie too. she actually can acting, for the most part im actually anxious with her, the what if he found out the thruth or get annoyed with her because indecisive, or sympathies with her when his crush actually like her besfriend not her. but then the male pov reveale everything. i kinda know it thou when he going to her classroom, everything became so much clear. i just hope the classroom never happen, like i get it, boy, you mad, but you make my sweetheart scared for live. and specially thinking that her best friend and you getting closer. that is not acceptable. so watch it befoe your mmove. even your diary is really teh sweetest guys can ever do for flirt with anonymous girl that catch your heart.

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