Mediocre Film but a Much Better Adaptation of Uzumaki

Because of how shit the Uzumaki anime has been, I'm curious how the 2000 movie faired.

(See my review of the anime: https://myanimelist.net/reviews.php?id=541621

See my review of the manga: https://myanimelist.net/reviews.php?id=541619 )

Note: Uzumaki means spiral so the name for this movie can either be Uzumaki or The Spiral.


§ Overview

The story starts with Goshima Kirie going on her way until she finds her boyfriend's father observing something. This bloke has been obsessed with spirals. Kirie's boyfriend, Saitou Shuuichi, feels something is amiss in this town, which he calls the curse of the spiral. Eventually, his father dies and a series of horrors plague this town.


§ Remarks

As a horror story, this is so-so. It doesn't appear in the conversation of Japanese horror stories compared to the likes of The Ring with its iconic character of Sadako.

It has an acceptable enough use of cinematography, and the motif of spirals appears frequently as it should.

That said, I find this a better adaptation compared to the anime. One may fault this for having been released prior to the completion of the manga and that it's not a complete adaptation. But what it adapts, it executes too well. It does not suffer from the phrenetic pacing of the anime.

The elements of several chapters appear, but they are modified as needed. This movie does not attempt to make a one-to-one adaptation. The net effect is that a select few horrific events are given the full effect rather than being diluted as in the case in the anime.

Also, since the manga wasn't finished when this was originally shown, it had to make an original ending. It's a so-so ending compared to the full impact of the manga ending, but philosophically speaking, one can make the case that it's better.

Kirie's survival is low, but it leaves that possibility. Also, the movie failed to establish that they are unable to leave town. Hence, by sheering coincidence, we don't know if it follows the malevolent universe premise of the manga. This hole is what makes it ironically better.


§ Conclusion

I'm not sure I would recommend this movie by itself, but for those who are already fans of the Uzumaki manga, I give this a full recommendation.

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A Satisfactory Introduction to the World of Nisekoi (Watch the Anime Next!)

Looking at the clips of the actors, this seems to be so-so, which is why I had to drag myself to watch this. Imagine my surprise when I liked what I saw.

I haven't seen the anime yet, so I have no prior knowledge of the story. I read somewhere that this live action movie was made for someone like me who hasn't seen the anime or read the manga. I was entertained so much. It's funny. It's a Yakuza comedy that reminds me of the anime 'Seto no Hanayome' / My Bride is a Mermaid.

But for people who have seen the anime first, this may seem like a cheap knockoff of the original. Keep this in mind as you may or may not like it depending on whether you've seen the anime or not.

Even if some details in this movie may annoy fans of the anime, it has adequately explained the basic plot, and based on the anime's trailer, it seems to be the same, but perhaps with some different execution of events. Also, it has adequately explained why this is called 'nisekoi' or 'false love.' This false love leads to hilarious events that I won't spoil you.

Suffice it to say that I am entertained enough by this movie that I am looking forward to watching the anime. Thus, it achieves its goal.

Some other remarks: As already mentioned, the main lead actors don't look that appealing as far as I'm concerned. (The third wheel was cute though.) If you feel the same way, don't let that deter you from watching it. It's worth watching.

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Review of 'As Long as We Both Live' also known as 'My Happy Marriage' / わたしの幸せな結婚

I first watched this in October of 2003. Later I watched the anime, then I read the first two light novel volumes covering the events of the anime and the movie, and then watched the OVA, which covers the final chapter of the second light novel. Finally, I rewatched this movie. I can tell you that it's a lovely story.

I wrote the following in my thread in X last year after watching both movie and anime:

'@akm_ag先生の「わたしの幸せな結婚」がとても好きです。

Both the movie and anime are one of the best things I've watched this year. It's basically patterned after Cinderella, but what I like about it is discovering midway that it's also an Ugly Duckling story. ....'

see https://x.com/patkarunungan/status/1741487343046119869 for more)

It is a very emotional story. It is touching how she later discovered her gift and became the beautiful swan that she is instead of the ugly duckling the people around her thought her to be.

I believe many people have already written on the merits of the movie itself. I will just list some of the differences between the mediums.

*If you first watch the movie, which was the case in Japan — the movie was released before the anime — you might get confused about what's really happening, but it's good enough as an intro.

On a rewatch, you will appreciate some of the details that you missed on your first watch, but you will inevitably get annoyed at some of the omitted material.

*Whilst the voice actors of the anime did well, the chemistry between this movie's couple is better. It's worth watching just for that alone.

*The ending of the movie is cinematic and in my opinion better than what actually happened in the anime. Both the anime (first season and OVA) and movie covered the events of the first two light novels. I reckon that the producers of this film made this as a stand-alone and that no sequel will be made, which is probably why they made such changes in the film.

*Since the movie had to delete certain scenes and did not elaborate, I recommend that anyone who loves this movie and wants some more start over at the beginning of the anime and/or the light novels.

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Before you watch Cat's Eye the anime...

When I was young, I watched several episodes of the Cat's Eye anime, but I was never able to finish it. I plan to watch the anime soon. Having said that, upon seeing that it has a live action movie, I decided to check it out.


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The premise of Cat's Eye is as follows:

It follows the story of three sisters, Rui, Ai, and Hitomi. They are daughters of a well-renowned painter who went missing. They are stealing his paintings in the hope of finding clues on where their father is.

Now Hitomi is in a relationship with Toshio, the detective who is pursuing Cat's Eye. How will he deal with the truth once he finds out that his beloved is the one he would love to arrest?
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Both the movie and the anime (and the manga for that matter) follow the same premise. I don't know how the anime and manga end, but the movie ends in a bitter note, a twist that I did not expect nor like.

That said, it's still worth watching this movie if and only if you plan on watching the anime. The music as well as the heist involved are fun and somehow captures what made the anime great, or at least worth watching.

There might be some stuff in the movie that may not be pleasing. Some of the physics seem implausible, such as how did a cat-shaped balloon suddenly appeared in one of their escape sequence? Could they really plan ahead their escape route such that it will appear just in the nick of time? Is it remote-controlled?

The actresses portraying the sisters are just as lovely as their anime counterparts, but their costumes look ridiculous.

As I mentioned, it's worth watching before diving into the anime series. The movie was released a decade after the anime's run, but I can imagine that it was a letdown if you've watched the anime and/or read the manga first.

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