Heroine Shikkaku (Heroine Disqualified) Movie Recap

OH MY GOSH!!! I’ve been squeaking like a duckie for hours now. After the long wait, English Subs for Heroine Shikkaku are out! GAWD, it almost felt forever. I’m glad I didn’t give in to the temptation of watching it raw, or else, it wouldn’t be that satisfying, neh?

This movie is <3! It’s ridiculously funny and amazingly sweet at the same time. It just swells of cuteness and quirky fun. Unlike other live adaptations, this movie is far more relaxed.  The exaggerated manga-like acting adds to its over-all appeal. Kudos to Kiritani for nailing this one. Disqualified or not, she’s still the best heroine, EVER!

PS: Is it just me or is Yamazaki becoming a regular in this blog. Yep, I’m officially fangirling  here. Tehehe!

Movie Recap

The hero in our story is Rita (Kento Yamazaki). When he was 10 years old, his mom eloped with an older guy and since then, he lived alone. He has grown detached to his surroundings and has never shown interest in girls. But what is a hero without a heroine, neh?

Our self-proclaimed heroine is Hatori (Mirei Kiritani). She’s Rita’s childhood friend and sworn protector. She’s over reactive and is prone to silly, unnecessary mishaps. She’s crushing on Rita for 10 years but chose not to confess because she believes the hero should be the one to realize that she is his true love. She thinks of herself as Rita’s rightful heroine and all other girls are just side-line characters.

One day, while Hatori is having her usual chat with Nakajima (Ayano Fukuda) at the cafeteria, a plain-looking girl is being bullied. Hatori wanted to help but since she’s afraid of the goons herself, she resorts to mouthing the words instead. Tehehe! Then comes Rita who chides on the troublemakers. Before the confrontation gets out of hand, cafeteria guy butts in and, using his superhuman strength, tosses the bullies away. Tehehe!

Nakajima notes the blossoming romance between plain-looking girl and Rita, but then again, Hatori is confident. After all, she’s the heroine, right?

But to Hatori’s, and mine’s, utter dismay, the plain-looking, bullied girl, Adachi (Miwako Wagatsuma) becomes Rita’s girlfriend. How? Well, Adachi mustered the courage to confess and whoosh, just like that, they became a couple. Still, Hatori thinks Adachi is just a charity case.

The bullies seek revenge. Unexpectedly, Adachi (and her ninja moves) saves Rita and Hatori from their assaults. Luckily, someone reports the brewing fight and so cafeteria guy in a gravity-defying entrance once again saves the day. Tehehe! Rita gets smitten by Adachi’s courage and Hatori can only watch at his love struck gaze.  She finally takes in that Adachi might be the real heroine in this love story.

Hatori can only drink in her woes and despair. She calls Adachi a thief for stealing her man. But Nakajima differs. For the record, Rita is NOT her man. Unlike Hatori, Adachi actually auditioned for the role and properly confessed. And for someone who never dared go to the stage, Hatori is deemed lesser than a supporting role. With that said, Nakajima advises that she finds a new story and become somebody else’s heroine.

But Hatori thinks otherwise. Nakajima isn’t thinking clearly and is just being her usual foolish self. If Adachi stole her heroine status, then she’ll just simply get it back by taking up the villain’s role. Thinking of her evil ploys, Hatori laughs like a maniac. Nyahaha! While she’s at it, she crashes into Hiromitsu (Kentaro Sakaguchi), a ridiculously handsome guy.

Hatori sets her evil plans in motion. First, she tries to rouse jealousy by showing off childhood photos but Adachi remains unflustered. Second, she parades Rita’s jersey but it backfired when Adachi is surprisingly relieved that she has it. Turns out she was looking for the jersey when it wasn’t among Rita’s dirty laundry. Third, she brags that Rita saw her in her bra but Adachi isn’t even listening at all but rather waving at Rita who is waiting downstairs. Hatori is shocked. The Rita she knew doesn’t have the patience to wait! Yep, she’s doomed!

Skip to the girl’s comfort room. Hatori overhears two schoolmates backbiting Adachi. They too think that Hatori is a far more suited for Rita. Hatori snootily agrees. However, Adachi is also inside the room and hears the conversation. Hatori is scared stiff. If Adachi tells Rita about what happened, it’ll be the end for her. But to her surprise, Adachi pleads not to tell. She knows Hatori likes Rita too and if ever Rita would go to her, she won’t hold grudges. Hatori is rendered speechless. Could it be that she’s experiencing the heroine’s compassion? She tries to have some more talk but stops when she sees the hero and his heroine holding hands. She acts unconcerned and runs off in ridiculous slow-mo.

Suddenly, someone grabs her hand. Thinking it’s Rita, she offers her most stretched smile. But to her disappointment, it’s just a classmate who she never knew existed. Tehehe!

Reality is dawning on her as she talks to herself alone. She has always protected Rita and sees only him. What could she possibly do now? Hiromitsu joins her solitary reflection. She doesn’t have any idea who he is though. He’s rather insulted. How come she doesn’t know him when he was the one who helped her stop the fight with the bullies, and besides they are classmates. He really is transparent in her eyes. Hatori awkwardly defends that he’s not invisible per se but just not a part of the story .

Hiromitsu conveys disappointment. Too bad because he wants to ask her out and promises to help her forget Rita in the process. But Hatori is resolved. Her love is genuine and she’ll stake her life for it. Hiromitsu then ask what she loves about Rita. And she proudly answers that true love doesn’t need reasons. She walks off but he grabs her to force a kiss. Kyaahh! If you’re asking if Hiromitsu is sincere, well, he’s not…NOT YET that is. You see, he’s your average womanizer who is not into love and stuffs.

Hatori goes melodramatic over her first kiss. But more importantly, she worries if Rita finds out about it. The next morning, she begs Hiromitsu not to kiss and tell. He readily agrees as long as she grants him a favor. He further taunts her discomfort. Unfortunately Rita sees their little banter and tells Hiromitsu to stop.

The next scene we see the quartet on a double date. Yep, it’s the favor Hiromitsu asked. While Hatori is fuming, Hiromitsu is in high spirits. He finds Rita’s jealous stricken glares entertaining. Rita is getting annoyed of Hiromitsu’s schemes and excuses himself. Since it’s rather clear that Rita is jealous of Hiromitsu, Hatori smiles triumphantly.

Adachi is not dumb not to figure things out. She tries to dampen Hatori’s mood, saying Hatori is cruel for hurting Rita. Her words stings and Hatori is on the verge of tears. Good thing Hiromitsu is there in her defense. If Adachi has the decency to say that she’s only thinking of Rita’s feelings, then she should have the nerve to break up with him in the first place. She’s just hypocrite and everything she said were simply lip service. He grabs Hatori’s hand, leaving the musing Adachi alone.

Hatori goes home upset on how the date went. Coincidentally, Rita is also thinking to himself and calls her out. Hatori timidly asks what he likes about Adachi. Apparently, it’s Adachi’s dream of becoming a journalist. It’s her confidence and self-will to share something of herself to the world. At that moment, Hatori admits defeat. She can’t possibly surpass Adachi’s sparkling dream. Compared to Adachi, all she ever did is watch over Rita.

And to everyone’s disbelief. Hatori shows up bald the next morning. Well, it’s her way of saying that she already get rid of her love delusions. Even Hiromitsu nearly bust a gut laughing. Tehehe! But the story makes a sudden U-turn when Adachi ask Hatori to accompany Rita during the summer break.

And Hatori hits the jackpot! Woot! Woot! Hatori finds hope to start anew in this love story. Nakajima is unimpressed because it means she’ll have to deal with Hatori’s fantasies all over again. Old cafeteria guy cuts in and recommends a fool-proof plan to prevail, the “gap” plan. The idea is to keep herself unavailable over the summer. Rita will eventually notice her absence and realize his true feelings for her. Hatori hates the plan but relents as it is necessary to reclaim her heroine status.

A couple of days and one dance number later, Rita hasn’t even called or messaged even once. So far for fool-proof, eh?

It’s already the last day of summer break and Hatori kills time reading manga. Hiromitsu finds her there and convinces her to go on a date. She doesn’t have choice, or else she wouldn’t have any memories of summer. Hiromitsu treats her to ice cream. He’s in the moment and lets her taste a spoon of his ice cream. She isn’t sure how to react but in the end gives in. Suddenly, a group of kids shoots water guns at her. She isn’t going to back down and chases after them. Hiromitsu joins in the fun. He then realize that he’s falling for her. In the end, Hatori is pushed down the pond and the kids win! Haha!

Overall, Hatori and Hiromitsu enjoyed the day. When alone, he takes the opportunity to confess but is interrupted by a drunk girl. She’s Emi, his home tutor and ex-girlfriend. They bring Emi to his place. Emi is babbling rubbish, haughtily announcing that she’s Hiromitsu’s great love. She further implies that Hiromitsu is under her love spell and he would always return to her no matter how many girl he dates. Hatori had enough and raked Emi over the coals. Hiromitsu is cool and she has no rights to downgrade his worth. Hiromitsu laughs at her outburst. After saying her piece, Hatori hurriedly bids her goodbye. After she left, Hiromitsu bluntly tells Emi that he doesn’t her like he used to and right now he can no longer take his eyes off Hatori. Yay!

Hatori yields and calls Rita. In a panic, she invites him to watch the fireworks display. He agrees. Imagine her shock when she sees Hiromitsu waiting for her.

Hatori is torn. She senses the awkward, unspoken hostility between the two guys. She flees, leaving the guys to deal things on their own.

After she’s gone, Rita warns Hiromitsu not to play with Hatori’s feelings. Hiromitsu isn’t the one to concede and dares him to accept the possibility that he’s serious with Hatori. Rita is annoyed and tells him to stop messing around. But Hiromitsu counters it’s Rita who should get a grip. Rita acts like he cares for Hatori but the truth is he doesn’t want to let go of his position as sole receiver of Hatori’s unconditional love. To sum it all up, Rita is just putting up a facade.

Hatori returns to find the irritated Rita alone. Taking notice of his sad vibes, she promises to watch every future fireworks display with him. Rita remains unconvinced, believing that everyone will eventually leave him. Hatori swears she won’t ever do that but he’ still dubious, hinting that she had a fun summer without him. Hatori can’t deny that and so she starts to walk off at a snail’s pace.

She then flips and bows down to apologize for her negligence. She blames the gap plan for this unfortunate misunderstanding. The truth is she wanted to see him badly. She’s sorry for being selfish and vows to be stuck with him forever.

However, he just laughed at her. His response annoyed her and she starts to hit him but he catches her hand and draws her for a kiss. Kyaahhh!

Next we see Rita and Hatori walking while holding hands. Hatori suddenly withdraws. She tells him not to worry because she’s aware it was just a meaningless kiss. But Rita admits he wanted it to happen, that’s why he’s in deep sh*t. Tehehe! They continue to talk in a restaurant where Hatori assertively declares her love began since time immemorial. Before Rita responds, Adachi arrives. Talking about ill-timing! He then guarantees to resolve things properly tomorrow.

The next day, Hatori is on cloud nine. Guess she’s the heroine after all. 🙂

Hatori and Rita’s moment at the fireworks display becomes a full-blown gossip. Adachi hears of the rumor and talks to Hatori about it. First off, she thanks Hatori for being her substitute and since she’s back, she can go back to the back scene. Hatori then reminds her that she was the one who said she won’t harbor ill-will if Rita comes to her.

Outside, Hiromitsu shares a piece of his mind. He tells Adachi to stop being the victim because no matter what her tricks are, it won’t stop Rita and Hatori’s bond.

It’s time for Rita to discuss and end things with Adachi. But the scheming girl has already figured out how to stop the break up. She tells him she forgives him for what happened and she’s also willing to forget everything. But since he insists that it won’t be a one time thing, she feigns suffering from a severe illness. She further blackmails by appealing to his pity, saying words like “she won’t make it alone” and such.

With a heavy heart, Rita tells Hatori he won’t break up with Adachi. Hatori doesn’t believe him and ask if he doesn’t like him even a little. But he’s firm with his decisions, saying thank you for loving him and sorry for causing her pain. Demn! Thank you and sorry in one sentence is always taboo! Both can only cry in misery. Cue in the dramatic rain. In Hatori’s brokenhearted state, she tries to call Hiromitsu but cancels the last minute.

It’s raining pretty hard and Hatori is sopping wet. She accepts that it’s over between her and Rita, fully aware that their love story ended before it even began. Hiromitsu finds her moping alone. He got worried that he missed her call and looked for her. Her initial reaction is “Where’s your umbrella?” Tehehe!

Hiromitsu: You don’t have to think about anything else. You don’t have to be in pain. Just look at me and only me.

Hatori turns to Hiromitsu and soon they became a couple. Meanwhile, Rita is still trapped in Adachi’s web of lies. He can only look longingly at Hatori from afar. That’s what you get for being a douche!

Hiromitsu’s birthday and the school field trip falls in one day. Hatori plans on having a surprise birthday gift for him. She asks Nakajima for suggestions but the latter has none. She doesn’t need any since she’s fine now. And besides, Hiromitsu is a good guy for choosing her, even if it’s such a waste on him. Tehehe!

The group enjoy skiing. They stop by a souvenir store and there Hatori sees Rita’s Mom, now having a happy family of her own. She worries about how Rita will take the blow. She shouts a name of some Japanese actor and the crowd goes wild. She runs toward Rita and grabs his hand. She’s still holding his hand after that and so Hiromitsu reminds that she let go since it’s safe already. Tehehe! Adachi feigns being sick again and drops to her knees. Hiromitsu then sees through her disguise.

That night, Hatori unexpectedly bumps into Rita and joins him in one awkward elevator ride. They talk civilly and each tells where they are going. Hatori is going to meet up with Hiromitsu for his birthday celebration and Rita will take care of Adachi. Suddenly the elevator door opens and they catch a glimpse of a familiar sunset view. They remember their childhood days and old-feelings rekindle.

Hatori leaves first. Rita tries to take a picture of her but clicked too late. He settles on browsing through his phone’s picture, which are mostly pictures of Hatori. Sad. 😦

At Adachi’s place, Rita overhears her bad-mouthing Hatori. Thinking she was talking to someone, he immediately crashes in. But she’s the only one there. She was talking to herself as a way of booting out stress. She’s not the goody two shoes he thinks he knew. As a matter of fact, she has been lying about her illness. She likes him but how far should she go? She’s already tired. Rita owns up to everything she went through. It’s his fault she’s suffering. Adachi hugs him. Nope, he’s not. If she haven’t met him, she’ll still be the same old self-conscious bullied victim. Because of him, she knew love. That’s why she wants to hear what he really intended to say.

Rita: That girl, even if I said she was in the way, she’d persist to stick with me. She’s rough, direct and so stupid. Even before she’d cause so much trouble. Sometimes I get annoyed when I’m with her. But the truth is no matter where or who she went with, she’d get along with everyone. She didn’t need me. She cries immediately. She gets angry immediately and hits me suddenly. For someone like me who has nothing, Adachi you needed me, saying that you were able to change because I was with you… but still it won’t disappear. I love Hatori.

He bows and begs for forgiveness. And though she can’t forgive him, she’s letting him go.

Meanwhile, our other couple is enjoying the sights. But everything must come to an end so Hiromitsu opens the much needed talk. She doesn’t need any push. She readily admits that she’s in love with Rita. He may have pushed her down the deep pit for countless times but her heart remains undeterred. And though she likes Hiromitsu, she can’t deny the fact that she loves Rita. She knows she’ll regret her decision but she hopes he finds someone better than her. Hiromitsu willingly give way. After all, love doesn’t need reasons .

With that settled, Hatori looks for Rita. She panics when Nakajima told her Rita met up with his Mom.

Hatori finds him sitting on the edge of a tower. Thinking of the worst, she shouts his name and runs as fast as she can. Thankfully, she finds him well and unharmed. She irritably tells him not to do things that will upset her. And all he could say is “When I’m at high places, I wonder if you’ll find me. But the truth is, I should be the one looking for you”.

He knew that she made a scene at the souvenir shop because she was afraid he’ll find out his Mom was there. But he already saw Mom before she shouted his name. He had a talk with Mom and ironically he’s fine. He was okay all along because he’s not alone. She was always there for him. He further ask if she’s all right that he’s empty. Figuratively, that is.

Hatori: That kind of Rita is my hero, you know? In this entire world, you’re the only one for me!

Rita: The most peculiar hero.

Hatori: Then you’re just the perfect hero for a failure of a heroine like me.

Hatori: In this world, we are our own individual heroines.

The End. ❤