Okay guys, so I just finished watching the whole live action series plus movie. And it was a lot more fun than I expected. So I'm going to share my thoughts. For my own satisfaction since no one else probably cares. :)
I watched the first episode a really long time ago then kind of forgot about it. But I stumbled across some really neat blogs that piqued my interest. Everyone seemed to agree that Kyouya's actor was just *amazing*, so I gave the show another chance, and whaddaya know, I spent all weekend watching it. Everyone harps on the special effects, but they actually aren't even that distracting after the first two episodes. I was kind of annoyed that they changed Tamaki, Anne-Sophie, and Michelle into Japanese characters. I can tolerate the actors looking Japanese, but did they really have to ignore that the characters themselves are European? I mean, Michelle's from Singapore now. And Anne-Sophie is a halfer (the outrage!! how boring!), making Tamaki only one-quarter French. But then they had Michelle speaking English all over the place. ...What was the point of that if she's not European?
About the actors. There seems to be a split down the fandom about whether they are ugly or gorgeous. I happen to think they're pretty good-looking, though definitely not bishounen. Mainly, Tamaki didn't look like Tamaki to me. And not because he wasn't blonde or French. But because he just looks way too masculine to me. And the twins… It really pains me to harp on my favorite characters, but their actors really… show their age. They were 26, which is pretty normal I guess for actors who play teens, but they just didn't look like teens. Still, I could tolerate all that. The one thing I could not accept was Haruhi! She does not look like a boy at all. She's a model in real life and I can see why - way too pretty. She tried to make her voice deeper, but it just wasn't cutting it. And her hair?? C'mon, are you guys even trying? Her hair wasn't even a pixie, it was some kind of bob, which no one is going to buy as a boy's haircut. (OTL) She didn't act like a Haruhi, either. Live action Haruhi was more "airheaded" oblivious than "indifferent" oblivious. Where's her spunk? Unacceptable!!!
This is turning into more of a rant than I intended, so back to what I enjoyed… Honey and Mori were definitely my favorites. Which is impressive, because anyone who knows me knows that I've always thought Mori was a cryptic, underdeveloped, and overall useless character. (Not that I hate him or anything, haha.) It's not like he got any more development in the live action, but he was at least incredibly amusing to watch. We all know he doesn't have many lines, but any time he did, I got really excited! And in the movie, seeing Honey and Mori exercise together and talk about their senior year (kind of - the translation was kind of funky), was really endearing to me. They got a lot more attention as characters in the live action, which makes me really happy since the anime and especially the manga were more focused on the love quadrangle with the twins and Tamaki. Gah, Honey and Mori were perfect! HOWEVER, Reiko really got my panties in a twist. She never even spoke to Honey! Whaaaaat! Why even bother putting her in the script if you're going to ignore her main draw as a Honey fangirl!? They even made up a BRAND NEW character who's a closet Mori fan, and then they totally ignore Honey's predestined fan! I just can't understand that decision. It really breaks my heart as a total Reiko x Honey fan.
A lot of things that I didn't like at first really, really grew on me as the series went on. And it's a short series, in case you didn't know - only 11 episodes (plus a movie). For example, the uniforms. I was pretty outraged at first that the blazers weren't blue. But now I really love those navy blazers and green plaid pants. They're actually kinda geeky, but I really love them. Also, those yellow dresses really annoyed me because they just look cheaply made. And they probably are. But now that I'm over that, I think the cream-black-maroon palette looks really stunning. Really stunning. I'm a happy girl :)
Well, that's a lot of miscellaneous stuff no one probably cares about. Now onto the most important thing - the storyline. Here's where I expected the series to fail, but quite surprisingly, I'm very content. The live action is definitely more than a re-telling of the anime. Often, they merged a lot of chapters and characters into one to keep the pace moving, so a lot of things are extremely out-of-order, but I actually thought they did a pretty incredible job of condensing the manga. It did keep the anime's lighthearted feel by stopping short of the manga's ski arc and Tamaki's family arc, when things start to get especially angsty. But the movie took the risk of making Haruhi realize her feelings for Tamaki, which again, really paid off. (SPOILER ALERT for the end of the movie) At the very end, instead of confessing, she tells Tamaki that after she's done growing up a little, she has a secret to tell him. …Omgyouguyz, is that not the sweetest thing ever? Can we just take a moment to appreciate how NON-cliché that ending is? The same thing *basically* happened in the middle of the manga, but it's an important part of their love story that's often overlooked, so I'm thrilled it got to shine in the live action. So happy~ (/END SPOILER)
Truthfully, there's a lot to dislike about the live action, but there's also a lot to praise. It really comes down to personal tastes. The drama series is rather forgettable, so if you're already not interested, don't bother. However, if you're one of those people who keeps begging for a second season of the anime (it's not gonna happen, guys), I highly recommend the MOVIE. It covers a ton of sweetness that the anime didn't touch on. And there's a lot of fun nods towards the manga climax, whether you've already read it or plan to. I honestly thought I would hate the live action, but it was a joy.
If anyone actually bothered to read this, what are your thoughts? Have you seen the live action or do you plan to ignore it? If you haven't seen it, what is your first impression of it? If you have seen it, did you like it as much as the anime or manga? Lemme know!