review: itazura na kiss (live manga adaptation)

i regret that i called hana yori dango "unmitigated crap", because now i need an expression that describes something considerably worse.

i watched itazura na kiss because the manga by tada kaoru is popular and "ground-breaking" shoujo, and i put it on my list without checking the comments at mangaupdates. they would have probably tipped me off that i would hate it, because most people are enraptured by the "dumb but cute and funny" protagonist. i never, ever, find dumb "cute and funny". i mean, tom hanks as forrest gump is oftentimes (unintentionally) funny, but hanks doesn't play gump for laughs; i can handle that. this, i couldn't.

in retrospect i gather the "ground-breaking" part is that the manga goes beyond the two lead characters getting together and shows them as a married couple, so the "happily ever after" isn't merely implied as is usual in romance. the live action, however, doesn't go there; it stops at the point where they get together. i don't think i could have handled to watch any more; as it is i forced myself through 8 of the 9 episodes and was glad when it ended. ( rantage ahead )

so, no love from me. well, maybe a little love for kashiwabara takashi who's one of the few characters in this show not overacting, and for akashi ryoutarou who plays yuki, naoki's little brother -- he's smarter and more mature than kotoko, and he writes and draws a diary about her which is actually funny.

i won't bother with the manga or anime or the korean and chinese adaptations.