It is already settled and pretty much old news that Japanese scriptwriters, producers, and the entire entertainment industry are willing to push boundaries and actually release some of the strangest stuff.

Hirano Sho, who you might probably recognize from the 2022 thriller J-drama Kurosagi is our male lead here and Sakurai Hinako who starred in the romantic high-school Japanese drama Mairunovich is our female lead.

We Love is just another stereotypical Japanese high school romance movie about an awkward and super shy girl who has a crush on one of her best friends, who is, of course, the most popular guy in their school.

Yuu is very bashful and clumsy, and she embodies the usual Japanese girl traits (at least from their movies), while Rin is cross and super bold, and he’s not afraid to say whatever is on his mind (most of the time). 

The twist of this movie is that he actually has feelings for her, but both of them are unable to admit it to each other because they are scared of rejection.

While Yuu is more comfortable hiding her feelings and following him around like an idiot, Rin is much more proactive in that he intentionally berates her, scolds her, and essentially does whatever he can to diminish her self-confidence so that someone else doesn’t fall for her. 

I should also mention that there are two other people in their friendship group – Koyomi and Keita – so the four of them grow up together. They are all childhood friends who love each other in their own way, and even though Koyomi and Keita were aware of the feelings of the other two, they never really sat down to have a conversation about it.

So, by the time the movie starts, we know that this is very typical for them. Yuu runs after Rin, and then he throws his bag at her and all that, but this doesn’t remain the same for long because soon she moves to her parents’ house and meets her neighbour, whom her mother hires as her tutor.

And just as you are expecting, the neighbor dearest falls in love with her, and of course, his strategy is much different from Rin’s strategy– he is more about uplifting her and making sure she knows her strength.

It is at this point that Rin realizes that his hold over her won’t last because now she has someone who has genuinely stepped up to confess his feelings to her, and he is so panicky it was almost funny.

And the story continues from there, and eventually, Rin and Yuu get together after a dramatic reunion in the forest, and that’s where the movie ends.

One thing I’m going to tell you right off the bat is that this movie is so strange because I know that they are all supposed to be teenagers, and teenagers are prone to being selfish and inconsiderate, but I simply couldn’t wrap my head around Rin he was so comfortable manipulating her personality.

We eventually get something of an explanation when we are shown where her father tells her that she should be wary of kind men and that the ones who are rude to her are the ones that care about her, and this boy is aware of this and then just sort of takes advantage of it, and Yuu who doesn’t know better just continues like that.

I thought this movie was going to do something like what happened in Good Morning Call or even Kimi Ni Todoke where the girl eventually came into her own and stopped being a blundering mess and took charge of her life and learned her self-worth and confidence, but that didn’t happen.

Perhaps it was because of the limited time (this is why I don’t watch movies) or perhaps the budget didn’t allow for this, but it just felt so silly and unfair to the main girl because she literally doesn’t realize anything aside from the fact that he cares about her.

In fact, I wished that they had not ended up together because I feel that would have been a preferable outcome because them being together is simply ludicrous.

I also really need to mention that there were so many times in this movie where I genuinely forgot that they were kids because it just felt as if they were actually adults talking.

This is the same way I felt when I watched Boys Before Flowers because when the main leads are teenagers but they are dealing with adultish problems, they can sort of feel too grown.

Anyway, I’ll recommend this drama to anyone who is just bored because it isn’t fluffy and seasonal romantic, but it is just the standard Japanese movie, and it is chock full of stereotypes, so you might cringe.

So, you guys, watch this movie and let me know what you think in the comment section. Do you think I’m being a little harsh? Did you love this movie? I’m waiting for your comments.