Hana and Alice

I’m not denying that Yu Aoi was the reason I watched Hana and Alice. The more I watch her movies, the more I become a fan. She’s just amazing. Yu Aoi played Alice opposite Anne Suzuki as Hana. Both were best friends in the story.

Plot:

When Alice develops a crush on a stranger at the train station, she offers her best friend, Hana, the stranger’s “half brother,” Masashi. Hana declines, but after watching Masashi from a distance, she develops feelings for him. She stalks him by travelling on his regular train throughout the winter. During the spring, Hana and Alice enrol Masashi’s high school. Hana learns that Masashi is a member of the story-telling club, which prompts her to join as a member. As she continues to track him secretly, she witnesses his crash into a garage door, which leaves him unconscious. As he awakes, he finds Hana leaning over him. She reveals that a blow to Masashi’s head has given him a case of amnesia and that she is his girlfriend. Hana and Masashi soon hang out as a couple while she continues deceiving him about their relationship. Alice becomes involved with Hana’s lies by pretending she is Masashi’s ex-girlfriend. Through a series of events, a love triangle unexpectedly develops between Hana, Alice and Masashi when Masashi falls in love with Alice whom he still believes is his ex. Masashi eventually learns Hana’s lie about his amnesia and reacts accordingly, which tests Hana and Alice’s friendship and their relationships with people around them.

Hana (Suzuki) reminded me of Anna Tsuchiya. They have that “ruggedness.” I liked it though because Hana was not a sweety-tweety teenager, which usually annoys me. Alice (Aoi) on the other hand was a simple teenager but someone who would just follow the trend. I liked their tandem.

Miyamoto Masashi (Kaku Tomohiru), albeit being good looking, did not please me. In a way, he annoyed me. But I guess it only happened when he was with Hana. But whenever he was with Alice, he was like alive.

My favourite scene in the film was definitely the audition of Alice when she danced ballet. I liked it very much. It was calming and Yu Aoi was very graceful, especially with her finale. I also like how they shot the scenes without making it “obscene” because Alice was on her uniform. It was an impromptu performance.

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Originally posted on: 5 February 2013
Reposted on: 2 August 2013