Ao Haru Ride Movie Review

Title: Ao Haru Ride
Genre: School, Romance, Friendship
Origin: Japan
Release Date: December 13, 2014
Cast: Tsubasa Honda, Masahiro Higashide, Yua Shinkawa, Ryo Yoshizawa, Izumi Fujimoto, Mitsuki Takahata

When she was a middle school student, Futaba Yoshioka (Tsubasa Honda) liked Kou Tanaka (Masahiro Higashide), who was unlike the other boys a quiet and gentle guy. Kou Tanaka then moved away and they lost contact. At the end of Futaba Yoshioka's first year as a high school student she meets Kou Tanaka again. Kou Tanaka’s name has changed to Kou Mabuchi and his personality seems different from his middle school days. Will he recognize her?

Last time I watched a Jmovie were… a year ago. Wow, I think I’m all “koreanized”, I guess that’s just what I prefer. But it was nice going back to the Japanese screen, and with such a lovely movie. The story sounded quite nice, and I missed those Japanese high school themed dramas, so I thought a movie would be a good comeback. The story was quite charming, and I loved how they gradually expressed their feelings and thoughts whether it be romance or friendship. One thing that bothered me a little, were the dialogues. They could have made the male actor talk a little more and make him explain his actions. It really frustrated me sometimes, but I guess that’s how it is.
It must really be a long time ago I watched anything Japanese since I didn’t recognize anyone, so it felt a bit ‘fresh’. I had no anticipation or anything, so I just enjoyed the movie and it did leave me with a nice feeling in the end. Recommend? Yes absolutely.  

☆☆☆☆ / 4 out of 5 stars

♥♥♥♥½ / 4½ out of 5 hearts