Haikara-san ga Tooru Movie 2: Hana no Tokyo Dai Roman

The story started off great, with Benio in high spirits while looking for Shinobu. She was as proactive and headstrong as always. Very entertaining to watch her opening adventure. Unfortunately, her pro-activeness ended quickly. As the truth behind Shinobu's disappearance was revealed, the plot became extremely predictable and got tiring quickly. The pacing was way too slow in the middle portion of this film. Every prediction I made ended up happening, even the ones I was really hoping wouldn't. Benio isn't the only one who loses her agency. Things just happen to Shinobu and he's constantly tied up in worry. He's only spurned into action by the words of others. The only two characters that actively caused things to happen in the plot were destined to fail by the laws of shoujo. Obstacles were written out too conveniently. The ending did not feel earned.

I'd like to put in word for this film, despite the low score. Is it predictable? Yes. Is it less exciting than the first one? Of course, the beginning is always the best part. Are its characters' actions frustrating? Frustrating as hell. But you know what? That's just how it should be. I believe that most of the low scores are due to an incorrect point of view: these questions make this movie sound like crap, but only if taken out of context. Here, we are talking about a super romantic love story, one of the most scrambled ones, with lots of love, pain, regrets and guilt. Everything in this film follows the classical love story, but it's still a good content, that's why it is possible to accept all the issues above. If you are able to predict what is going to happen during the film, it isn't necessarily a bad thing, you should just keep enjoying it for what it is. It's obvious that the plot can't be as fresh as the first part, we already know the story, so we can't expect extraordinary changes. Plus, you'll need to bear all the "exhausting" parts (which anyway, are led by excellent characters), to finally see the happy ending we were all hoping for. So, I agree, it's predicable and all, but it's still worth to watch. :)

Initially I was reluctant to watch this series because I thought it'd be depressing, but glad I didn't linger on that assumption. They did a very nice job balancing Benio's fresh personality from the first movie imo, while occasionally revealing her struggles and gradual changes in adapting to a new reality. It's done in a non-depressing manner and fits Benio's character really well; another thing I'm glad about, how they didn't just hop on the typical shoujo depression trend. There's some tropes that would've been annoying, but it's directed very straightforwardly so to speak so it's not dwelled on to the point that brings frustration. Just a heads up because I've been fooled way too many times by shows not having tragedy tags when it really should've been-- this isn't a tragedy. I wish they adapted more from the manga on Benio's interactions with other characters (minor or not) so we see a more wholesome image of her as an individual, but it's understandable they couldn't from the limitations of movies. Overall, it's very relaxing to watch, puts one in a good mood too (at least for me).

The first movie was amazing. A beautiful take on how opposing cultures/perspectives/backgrounds can come together and produce something breathtaking. Unfortunately, halfway through the second one, that was thrown out the window. The one thing I can't stand about the second movie is how they took the concept of death so lightly and just let it be. As if they used death as a convenient way to advance the plot. It's frustrating as hell. The first movie was great, but the second was just so skewed. As a shoujo movie, it's all it's meant to be, and I embrace that element of it, it's great, but the way they just toy with the concept of death really gets to me. It hurts.

Had to create an account just to get this off my chest. Main love interest is very passive in this second part to what would otherwise be an amazing story. While I adore the second love interest and think that he deserves the world, I definitely still prefer the main love interest for our main character. However, I can't help but feel that his actions fall short of how he is meant to feel. I like how things turned out but the things that had to happen in order for it to turn out that way feels cheap. I feel like I've been cheated out of a great ending despite getting what appears to be one. It's almost like Shinobu has forgotten that he is a living breathing human with AGENCY. Benio deserved so much more.