Meu Pequeno Monstro (2018)

Beauty and the Beast

I have a big issue with a majority of manga adaptations which is that often they keep that manga feel: the over the top behaviour, screaming, making faces which, having its place in drawn form, should not be seen in live adaptation in my opinion. Couldn't that be one of the reasons that j dramas are underrated on this site and generally speaking? The rule is: you don't like, you don't watch, nobody's forcing you! I dropped so many J dramas so far!

Anyway they managed to tone down a bit that manga behaviour, not completely but just enough to make this movie watchable.

Shizuku is a high achiever in her high school. All she's interested in is studying, she has no friends nor she's interested in having any. One day teacher sends her to deliver some school material to Haru who hasn't been to school since the first day. When he meets he, he falls for her and goes back to school. The two of them attract attention of other students and soon enough a group of friends is created. But there is mystery behind Haru and his behaviour!

I came upon this movie on Feeds here recently and frankly I wouldn't have watched it if it weren't for Suda Masaki. He is extraordinary here playing Haru as a wild child raised by animals in the jungle something of Tarzan including hunched posture, wild jumps and animal growls. Afterwards we discovered that all this is a rebellion against his father.
Shizuku is a serious, very serious girl, who manages to tame Haru but also makes him run away because she fails to understand why he wants to run away from things she craves to have.

The main theme of this movie are actually the parents who often fail their children: Haru and Shizuku both have serious issues with their own parents mostly the abandonment be it physical by moving away or emotional. The kids' attitudes are direct result of that abandonment.

Since this is a movie, we did not get to see much of the friends group's development and there are some interesting side characters. The first friend Haru & Shizuku make is a girl fed up with her own online popularity but without real friends.

The cinematography is too bright but pale with only red school uniforms standing out. There were a few rather unconvincing special effects. The music is nice but nothing remarkable. Don't forget to watch the final credits: that is the real ending of the movie.

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I have read the manga and watched the anime and I was expecting a complete adaptation, but I must say this is something different. I like how the movie did not completely copy the story of the manga, but only adapted the key parts of it and made this its own version. My Little Monster is cute, funny, sweet, and refreshing. This movie also has more emotions into it compared to the anime, so definitely plus points for that!

The show started off a bit rough especially with the scenes being randomly cut here and there probably because they were trying to follow the original format, but the storyline was able to pick itself up in the middle till the end and I definitely liked what they did with the ending!

The actors particularly the leads were amazing! Their acting was spot on! I'm sure they could have even delivered it better if this were a drama than a movie. Just like the manga, Suda Masaki was just as endearing, and handsome to play the role of Haru, same goes for Tsuchiya Tao who played the character of smart girl Mizutani Shizuku.

Overall, My Little Monster was a nice, light and easy watch. If you like high school rom-com themed movies this one is definitely something that you should watch!

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