Sekaiichi Hatsukoi Movie: Yokozawa Takafumi no Baai

That was surprisingly much better than I expected. In fact I dare say it is -- by far -- the best of the entire Sekaiichi Hatsukoi oeuvre. It still has typical BL problems, such as feeling incredibly rushed -- or maybe that was a feature of it being a 50 min movie instead of a, say 4-6 episode OVA; I haven't read the source manga -- I didn't keep exact track of how much time passed between Takano breaking it to Yokozawa that there was no chance at them ever getting together, but it felt like at most 2 weeks. Hm. I shouldrewatch to check out the weather, because at the end the cherries bloom; maybe more time passed than I realized. Anyway, it felt much too fast, because it takes time to let go of the old feelings, even though Yokozawa sort of always knew that there was no real hope with Takano, he had just settled into that role. And I don't believe anyone would introduce their new flame to their kid this fast, and leave them alone together. I also didn't like that Yokozawa got ukefied, and into a tsundere to boot; ugh. Why can't more mangaka let go of the idiotic stereotypes? I am pretty sure at this point Japanese women can handle the occasional BL couple who both act like men, and who switch. But at least they didn't have him undergo a complete character change, which means he has now replaced Yukina as the most transgressive Nakamura character -- an uke who doesn't at all look like an uke and doesn't behave like one in public either. Nicely done, Nakamura-sensei. Go on, be more daring! Since Yokozawa got mildly ukefied, of course we needed an über-seme, henceforth the very forceful Kirishima, who didn't shy away from a little friendly blackmail because right after my rapist, my blackmailer is who I'm gonna fall in love with; so much for realism. Well, we can't have it all. At least we were spared a naked apron scene. But it was still better than any of the silly seme-uke pairings of the main anime with their never-ending push-pull antics. Not a lot of time was wasted on superfluous drama and artificially thrown up barriers like random women standing between the men, or their own weaknesses preventing them from actually grabbing what agency they could get, unlike the other pairings. Kirishima was very straightforward, to the point of hurting Yokosawa's pride at one point, which was a realistic problem -- some things, however true, are very hard to hear from somebody else, especially somebody by whom you want to be respected, but Yokozawa pulled himself together without weeks of moping. This is now my favourite pairing because they acted the most like adult men, and actually gave the impression that they could have a healthy relationship, not something I feel is a given for any of the other couples. Yokozawa was a bit of a prick to Onodera in the previous installments, but I never saw him as a true villain, and here he completely redeems himself, in more than one circumstance.

Being a huge Sekai ichi Hatsukoi fan (it's kind of my guilty pleasure), I was very excited when a movie was announced. I remember visiting online anime websites every week just to see if the movie had came out. I finally watched the feature film in December and, well, it wasn't disapointing, but I expected much more. The story itself is VERY previsible. You don't even have to watch the trailer of the anime to know the ending. Also, I felt the plot lacked enough conflict to actually be called a movie. It was like watching a longer episode of a slice of lifeanime at times because of that. So, does that mean that "Yokozawa Takafumi no Baai" is bad? The answer is no, because despite of it's flaws there's a lot to love in this movie: first, despite my initial fear of making a villain-like character the MC of a romcom, Yokozawa suceeds on having a story centered around him, showing a sweeter side without having his personality changed. Second, I think that even people who hate yaoi will be able to watch this movie, because it doesn't have many "innapropriated" scenes and shows a healthy homoparental household with the main couple adorably taking care of Zen's daughter, Hiyroi. This is important considering how many people still oppose the idea of same-sex couples raising children. And don't forget that Yokozawa, despite officially being an uke, doesn't look like one, which is refreshing to see. I recommend it for everyone who wants a light and cute movie to spend a Sunday evening. "Sekai ichi Hatsukoi: Yokozawa Takafumi no Baai" might be a pretty forgettable romance, but is above average to the regular yaoi genre.

Let me just say that this is my favorite couple out of both Junjou Romantica and Sekaiichi Hatsukoi. This review will likely be biased by the fact that I’ve read all of the novels. It’s likely not as interesting as a stand alone movie or even paired with the anime series compared to when it’s elaborated on in text. The story of this movie is mediocre to decent. It’s cliche, although it’s better than you could expect, or at least I had when I first experienced it. It isn’t high stakes or with any meaningful conflict, but it is satisfying and sweet. The pacing wasn’t verywell executed, but I do have to say that it isn’t hard to watch or unbearable. It gets points for not being creepy or unnerving, which is sadly almost a norm when I find myself sitting down to watch shows of this genre. However, I found that the story wasn’t really the reason I was watching it, after all. More so just enjoying the ride and the characters. (Also the blackmailing thing isn’t that bad, there isn’t anything untoward about the story.) I’ve never been a fan of this mangaka’s style, a part of the reason that I found the novels easier to experience. The anatomy has always been a bit off. This is not to say that this movie is ugly. It’s comparable to the anime, and hey, if you’re into this genre, this movie is the least of your problems when it comes to ugliness in the genre. The sound wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t very impressive. The voice acting was quite nice, which to be fair, I find almost every anime is like. The ost served it’s purpose, and the ending song was quite nice. It’s a bit forgettable, but it wasn’t a big detractor against it. As for the characters, I really did find myself fond of them. However I’m clouded in judgement by the fact I’ve seen much more of the pairing than just this movie. Nevertheless it’s impressive that the main character grew on me so quickly after not being very likable before the events of Yokozawa Takafumi No Baai. It’s not very original in dynamic, just a tsundere uke and the flirty, teasing seme. However I find aspects of it very interesting, such as Kirishima’s daughter, Hiyori, and the impact she has on the characters and their relationship. I might begin to veer off onto novel territory from here on, so if you’re not here for that or want to read the novels without even a word about it, scroll away, haha. I like Yokozawa. He’s stubborn, petty, can be a bit of a jerk, but is also caring and good with animals and kids. He’s a workaholic at times, and really just wants to be loved. He’s trying to get over unrequited love, and is generally likable once you understand him. He’s also of course a tsundere. But he isn’t the worst type of tsundere. Even as a tsundere, he can get over it, such as in the moments where he and Kirishima have intimate conversations. By one of the later novels he says “I love you” to tease Kirishima. He changes. Kirishima is also a nice love interest. First being a single parent, which is unlikely in most shows of this genre. He likes teasing Yokozawa and doting on Hiyori, his daughter. His wife died shortly after Hiyori was born, and Kirishima does everything he can to take care of his daughter as well as he can. He’s not infallible. He’s childish and easily jealous and he drives Yokozawa crazy (but not too crazy) and their relationship feels real. Even with the recycled plots of the novels, the two have a relationship that feels incredibly real. Basically: watch this movie if you’re interested in the genre. I give this a solid 7 of 10. It’s a good movie, especially with supplementary material. Although it might feel a bit rushed, it’s still fun, especially after watching Sekaiichi Hatsukoi. Even if you’re one of the people who hate Yokozawa. Give it a chance.

It's... another story? About Yokozawa moving on? It could easily fit into the regular anime series as another side story about a character who isn't Onodera or Takano. Definitely don't watch it until you've finished the anime because it won't make a ton of sense. The plot is very simple, so I suppose it isn't a major issue if you watch this alone, but it loses a lot of meaning if you haven't seen the anime first, or I suppose read the manga. The art is on the same level or slightly better than the anime series, likely due to the extra budgeting and time typicallygiven to movies over anime. The style is still the same, although the major stylistic issues from the show - front face shots where chins are oddly shaped, ridiculously large hands - are slightly de-emphasized, or in most cases aren't noticeable, which is a good thing. I think the faces are drawn much better. The new character - Yokozawa's new love interest - also has better hair than the usual anime hair given to most characters on the show, so that was a pleasant surprise. There's also an ending section about Valentine's day for all the couples at the end of the film, which was cute. My only major criticism is that I wasn't invested in Yokozawa to begin with - just find him sort of boring and deux ex-we need this character to be against whatever Onodera is doing - and the film doesn't solve that issue. It was nice at least to get more development in Yokozawa's character, even if we're still told very little about him. He's nice to kids and is potentially good at cooking (or at least proficient) but doesn't do it for himself for whatever reason (possibly too busy at work or can't be bothered, perhaps due to a lack of self-investment or post-work exhaustion). He's non-communicative and possibly really mean to all his coworkers? He potentially has no family outside Takano's cat? The upside is that the core plot of the story is really just about a coworker trying to distract and cheer up another coworker. Could have been worse, I suppose, even with the blackmail and potential drunk non-con.

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