As a big fan of the light novels, I have anticipated this movie for a long time.
The movie follows Kudou Kiyoka, a tsundere captain of a unit of gifted soldiers, and Miyo Saimori, a girl rejected by her family for not having a gift/supernatural ability. At the very beginning of the movie, we find out a marriage is arranged for them.
While the light novels, and even the anime, lean a lot more on Miyo's perspective, this movie dedicates almost equal attention to Miyo and Kiyoka. The movie also deviates from the original material, but I cannot be mad at it, for the added action greatly spices up the story, giving it a powerful climax point. The movie also adds the relationship between the soldiers as another arc, and a bigger emphasis is put on the friendship between them, and between Kiyoka and Prince Takaihito (in comparison to the anime). The movie encompasses light novels 1 and 2 of the series, where the central story is the one from novel 2, with significant changes to it. Arc from novel 1, Miyo's struggle with her family, is more of a side story, but it's given enough importance in my opinion.
While I appreciated the changes in the plot for the sake of keeping the movie's flow, the movie was moving fast. Like, very fast. It made me think it should have been a series instead, because it seemed like they were rushing through the material. In comparison, the love story was quite slow, which was kind of helping slow down the entire movie.
While the anime has a lot of pink undertones, this movie is full of earthy colors, realistic settings, so it feels kind of grounding. The scene of exposing the burial grounds is absolutely beautiful, and I really enjoy the creative choices that were made, especially the marks that appear on the skin of gift users.
Imada is absolutely adorable as Miyo, and Meguro is quite dashing as Kiyoka. However, in some scenes, his wig was fighting for its life. They have very nice, comfortable chemistry. Meguro's Kiyoka is more awkward than the novels, and Imada's Miyo has a bit more of a backbone and is more open in expressing her affection for Kiyoka by the end. My favorite scene is the one where he compliments her cooking- the way his face changes and he squirms after she cries, you can tell he is deeply affected.
Two stars down for the questionable speed of the story. I am also not sure if watching this without knowing anything about the original material would even make sense. I think it's ok to make movies based off of anime/manga/light novels, but I am still unsure whether this should have been a series instead. It also seems like they plan to make a part two, because they left the ending open.
