[Movie] Boku no Kanojo wa Cyborg

2008

Starring: Ayase Haruka, Koide Keisuke...

Kitamura Jirou was a lonely young man who had always celebrated his birthday by himself. He bought a present for himself, all nicely wrapped up and he ate spaghetti by himself at the same restaurant every year. But it was different the year before the storyline began as a flashback told us that the year before, Jirou met a a sweet, active, smiley happy girl when he was buying an Ayanami Rei figurine for himself. The two had a large meal together and escaped without paying. (Well, the woman ate, mainly. Jirou had his spaghetti and that was probably it.)

After escaping the restaurant's maitre d' who chased after them when they left without paying, Jirou spent a few strange but joyful hours with the girl and then they never met again. That was until his birthday the following year. He had a hunch that he would meet her again and meet her, he did, at the same restaurant. But the girl seem different, more frigid and unfeeling. The smile she was carrying around with her the year before was gone.

When the two were eating at a restaurant, a gunman attacked the restaurant and with superhuman strength and speed, the mysterious girl managed to get rid of the gunman. After they reached Jirou's house, the girl, through hologram produced by her eyes, sent Jirou a message from an old man who turned out to be Jirou himself, 65 years later. According to the future him, Jirou was supposed to be heavily injured that night, by the gunman's bullets, but he build a cyborg in the shape and form of the mysterious girl the year before and sent her back to save her. The future Jirou encouraged Jirou to live his life without regret and also that he could make the cyborg more human-like as they interact more. He also learned that he will face another great disaster in the future and it was hoped that the cyborg will help him overcome that as well.

And so begins the story of Jirou and his cyborg girlfriend.

*****

I heart Ayase Haruka. I'd kill to look like her. Spoilers begin.

Koike Keisuke's character in this movie is very endearing. Koide Keisuke has never been memorable for me. I have seen him in three movies and four dramas and because he is not hot in a way that stops you in your steps if you see him pass by, I missed him in everyone of these works as he played the sidekick dude or some minor character in these works of his that I have watched. His character in Nodame Cantabile was~ uh, you won't know it was him unless you look it up. xD Anyways, it is not that he's a bad actor, but probably a bit understated.

That aside, this is a really nice movie. I haven't seen a nice movie in a while. A nice movie that stands by itself with no strings attached (no prequels, no drama version.) I truly enjoyed it. It is sweetly romantic and very heartwarming. Irrealistic but the human-side of it is very moving. You get attached to things, even if you know you shouldn't. I got attached to crap like my textbook from past semesters, so it is very reasonable that Jirou would be attached to a cyborg who helped made his life so convenient and looks like Ayase Haruka and does so much for him. Despite her being... not human. I'd understand his disappointment when she doesn't understand his feelings.

And Ayase Haruka's acting in here is not bad at all. It is not like the pretty girl, but the pretty, fake expression cyborg. Some of her body actions are verging on robotic, which is good, considering the fact that she is playing a cyborg. You can see how her character grows more humanlike throughout her stay with Jirou. I love this character so much. She was created to serve and save this man. And she did so without fail. Even if the man vented his frustration of not having his feelings reciprocated by her on her. It is not like she did not want to feel for him. She's a freakin' cyborg for goodness sake.

My favourite scene is the one where the Cyborg girlfriend brought him back through a timeslip, to his hometown before it was burnt to ashes. Jirou was just looking around, reminiscing old times, seeing old friends and family when the Cyborg girlfriend just stood by and watched with a look of satisfaction on her face. It is as if her joy is to watch Jirou be happy. It was a very touching scene.

The ending is a tear-jerker and halfway through, I was wondering, who was that girl in the flashback who appeared so much more human than the cyborg and the ending explained everything perfectly. I love these movies where when you start to wonder if some scenes are just not going to be explained and then in the end, you go "AH~~~".

I love, love, love this movie. I love these moving romance flicks. OH MY GOODNESS I LIKE CHICK FLICKS. I LIKE CHICK FLICKS. I always thought I didn't. I read crime, mysteries instead of romance. My copy of "Wuthering Heights" is gathering dust on my shelf. I watched "Pulp Fiction" repeatedly and not "Titanic". But... that means squat because I now realize that I love chick flicks. That is a freakin' revelation.

I bawled like a five-year-old spoiled brat whose daddy wouldn't buy her a Barbie doll. What a disgrace. T_T But then it is not like it is unprecedented.

Just one thing. The timeline thing is confusing me. It is because of the earthquake and gunman incident that Jirou sent the cyborg back to save himself. Had Jirou not been hurt because the cyborg saved him, Jirou would still recreate the cyborg because she was and is clearly, the love of his life. But had the girl from the future who looks like the cyborg came back after the earthquake to live with him, then Jirou would have no incentive to recreate the earthquake. Which means that the cyborg would not have been created and subsequently could not be sent back to the past (2008) to save Jirou which means that Jirou would have had to be shot by the gunman AND suffered a lot of injuries in the earthquake right? But then, if we look at it from another perspective, the cyborg already saved Jirou and thus the past is the past. But then~ like, okay, you know? I give up. I think a lot of these crap everytime I watch a movie that involves traveling through time. Mostly I just confuse myself even more.

Perhaps I just have to kick back and enjoy the movie, which I did, tremendously. I would categorize this among the must-watch. I haven't watched such a good movie in a long time. I thoroughly enjoyed it and would recommend it to people, that is, if they asked for recommendations.

Reitings: 4.5/5

P.S. I know I am supposed to go on a hiatus or something. But I had a really tiring day. So I slept through the evening. Now I am wide awake. So I watched a movie. And it turned out to be this movie which is too great to not blog about. xD