Hanadan Final Movie

I spent my free time this past week watching Hana Yori Dango 2 (Returns) so that I could go to watch the movie, Hana Yori Dango Final on the opening weekend-- i.e. this weekend. (By the by, I bought the DVD boxset within my first month here, but didn't watch more than 5 minutes of it until this week!)

Then today, after my first Japanese dance lesson (I'm really bad at it, by the way!), I made my way to the Shimoda Jusco to catch the 8pm show. (My first time watching a movie in a theatre on my own!) I was really looking forward to the movie.

Unfortunately, it was a huge disappointment.

The basic plot was that Doumyouji and Makino have finally announced their wedding. As a wedding gift, Doumyouji's mother presents Makino with a tiara that has jewels from America, Hong Kong and some southern tropical island. Apparently there's some sort of story about the wearer's future happiness tied to the tiara, but I couldn't make out the specifics. Anyway, the tiara is stolen and Doumyouji and Makino must get it back before they can get married. But as they travel to America and Hong Kong in pursuit of the tiara, Makino begins to have doubts as to whether she and Doumyouji should really get married...

So yeah, it ended up being completely ridiculous. The plot just jumped from one far-fetched intrigue/mystery/peril to the next. What I've always liked about the series is the characters and their personal and emotional growth, but the tension between Doumyouji and Makino in this movie seemed to have been fabricated solely to drive the ridiculous action of the plot. There was no real heart in the movie.

I'll probably still buy the movie simply because it's Hanadan, but I'm going to wait until I find it at a good used price.