Liar x Liar (2021)

A surprisingly decent watch!

I won't lie, I wasn't planning on watching this movie; the whole step siblings' love thing seemed so weird... But I really like Mori Nana so I decided to give it a chance. And honestly, I kinda liked what I saw. I won't lie, the two step siblings falling in love was still weird but the movie was actually quite pleasant. The story, if not special, was fun and really fluffy. The romance between the two leads was really cute. There were quite a few comedic moments that I loved and Minato's narration was hilarious! I loved how supportive all the characters were! I would definitely recommend Liar x Liar if you want a relaxing and romantic movie to pass the time.

What I enjoyed the most was the acting because Mori Nana really carried this entire film. Her acting was so heartfelt and her expressions, body language and mannerisms were just so damn adorable & genuine. She deserves to be the romantic lead in more dramas and movies, and I hope she gets more roles like in this the future. I wasn't too impressed with the ML tbh. His acting seemed very wooden and he had little chemistry with the FL. I was more taken with Koseki Yuta - his acting was great and, as usual, he had amazing chemistry with Mori Nana and I honestly shipped them more than the main couple. He is another person who deserves more main roles. I also liked Mayu Hotta's scenes and I wish there was more of them!

Next, this movie is absolutely gorgeous to look at. The cinematography and lighting was very good, as can be expected from a Japanese film and I kept wanting to take screenshots every few seconds! The OST was also very pretty to listen - I particularly liked the rendition of Pachelbel's Canon in D, even if it is a bit cliche to use it in romantic content.

All in all, I would rate this movie around 8.0/10.

P.S. If I got a cent for every time I watched a movie or drama where two stepsiblings fell in love, I'd have $0.02. Which isn't a lot but it's weird that it happened twice.

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Fluffy watch

I never read the manga so just hopped on in this b/c it sounded interesting and the ML is soft on the eyes.

Let's be honest ... no one is watching this for an earth shattering, award winning performance of some mind bending show.

This is what it is intended to be - a piece of fluff.

It's one of those you go into for nothing more than gluttonous enjoyment.

The characters had great chemistry, the story was cute and cavity inducing (sweet sweet), and sailed on through from start to finish with no problem.

Over all I enjoyed it.

The story is not too far fetched, not all that 'taboo', and certainly not incest.

It's going on the list with my other "fill the weekend" movies / shows.

And shout out to ECOTV for being the first on subbing it - you're the real MVP.

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This movie kept me so stressed. Lol it was like a yo-yo: "does he know? He knows. Wait he doesn't know. He knows. How does he not know?" It was never ending. Lol

But on the real, this was such a cute and fluffy watch. I know it will probably weird a lot of people out but eh to each their own. Even if you removed the "step siblings" situation, it's still a cute fluffy show.

Gotta say though, this is the first time I've watched a movie like this so it was definitely unique.

I just hated how he treated his sister. Like i know he says he was angry but why take it out on her? I legit thought he hated her guts so it always broke my heart seeing how he would just turn sour in a instant from Mina to her. I guess i get it but i also don't? I'm glad they worked it all out and got that special supportive ending.

Wasn't a fan of the SML, I liked him up till he said it was "disgusting" and really hated him when he did what he did in the hotel. Okay, you were making a point and testing something..... but you didn't have to be rapey about it. That was so gross and made my skin crawl. The fact you even went through that even if it was a "test" shows how nuts you are, bro. No, just no.

I didn't expected to love this movie as much as I did. Lol I know I cracked a lot of "I'm stuck, step bro" jokes but I really did find this movie cute.

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There's depth. This ain't your shallow, fluffy shoujo.

Ever grew up closely with someone in your childhood, only to drift apart once you grow older? I feel we've all had that happen.

The beginning half is rather slow and rocky. It starts off episodic, introducing the cold dynamic between Minato and Toru. But once you keep watching, it becomes a lot better. Minato basically ends up dressing as her high school self, "Mina," and bumps into Toru on the street. And from there, Toru asks her out because she looks like his first love.

The story becomes a lot deeper than your basic shoujo/josei. It's supposed to be cringey because Minato is pretending to be someone else. Once Mintato accidentally dates Toru, she learns there's more to Toru and she starts examining what she's been missing out on their relationship. They're step siblings that basically don't get along. While she's with him as Mina, she starts grieving over what she could have had with him: he could have actually been in her life instead of her pushing him away. At the beginning, she even tells Toru to not talk to her while they're attending the same college. As the story progresses, you learn that Toru is the reason why she's a germaphobe and why she incessantly cleans.

I found that to be a lot more interesting. She met Toru as a child but once they grew up, they drifted apart. She basically thinks that Toru doesn't like her, not even as a person. I can feel the deep longing Toru had for Minato. It came across as purer. My heart did skip a beat. The ending felt a lot more romantic; I was so turned off by the way the manga handled the ending.

The manga is funnier than the movie, but I'm glad the story was streamlined, without taking anything away. It takes volumes for Toru to find out she's pretending to be Minato, whereas in the movie, Toru has a brain. The love triangle didn't drag out as long as it did in the manga. And I'm glad that Minato put down a lot of boundaries while she was dating Toru as Mina. The manga was a lot more graphic in the romance scenes, and I found that to be too much to handle. Whereas the manga didn't sell me on their relationship, the movie did.

I wished there was your classic love confession. I get that Minato's been wanting to know what Toru really thinks of her. They basically apologize to one other, explaining their feelings: how they both thought they had hated each other, which makes sense. But where was the love confession? We get it on Toru's end, that he's been in love with her since they met. But we didn't really get that on Minato's end. Because that is kinda a big bomb to drop, when she's assumed he's hated her all this time! Toru assuming that she's ok with it. But what if she wasn't ok with that???

Toru's the better love rival than her "so called male friend" who forced her to go to a hotel with him.

My verdict: skip the manga and stick to the movie. The manga did better in the beginning chapters, but the movie made the story a lot more concise and tolerable.

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i dont know why I like sibling romance this much

i know it's super weird and I don't know any country in the west that make tgis kind of romance. I would be so weirded out if this happened in real life. but in these japanese romance movies it kind of works. It might be because they are so innocent, you never really see them do anything other than hold hands and have awkward hugs. it was a sweet ending to this one as well. however, I actually cheered for the second lead even though I knew he would not be the one she choose in the end. because that is the way it always goes. I found him to be more charming than Toru. well, it was a cute story and I enjoyed watching it. but how stupid is he if he was fooled by a wig and makeup? He claimed to have loved her forever, but still didn't see it was her in other clothes? yes its a movie but gosh he was gullible.

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Not Good Enough

Japanese Movie " Liar X Liar " is the typical shoujo drama with a light mood and a fluffy romance.

However the story, other than predictable and rushed, was odd as well. The relationship and their kiship wasn't well handled or explained from the start. And even though the bigining was enjoyable, funny and felt more original and out there compared to other japanese movies with the same theme, that didn't last long, and the story fall into cheesy tropes and awkward angst.

The performances, on the other hand, were pretty good by every actor and actresses in the cast.

So, overall, three out of ten.

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Like another japanese rom-com I've watch, I can't really enjoyed it at first but when i start to get a grip on the story, then i can enjoy it without any worries. It also happened when I watched this movie.

Anyway, after Toru started renting his own apartment for Mina, this film started to heat up, the conflict surrounding the illicit relationship between step-siblings was really presented seriously, supported by the acting of the actors who acted quite as needed but very effectively sent emotions to the audience, in this case it's me. They were really doing a good job.

There is one surprising piece of information that I only found out after watching this, which is that non-blood related siblings can get married. I was like what the heck, I googled it and found something in Quora that explain this, you can marry your step siblings but in Japan, it also still assumption tho.

That's all I want type. Thanks.

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Interesting and unexpected

주로 내가 본 다른 일본 드라마와 비슷합니다. 처음에는 언어의 장벽 때문에 이해하기 어려워서 짜증이 났습니다. 그러다가 그냥 포기하고 무슨 말을 하든 자막 없이 그냥 봤다. 나는 여전히 영화와 그것이 어떻게 묘사되었는지를 즐겼다. 흥미로운 캐릭터와 잘 모르겠지만 이 영화를 기반으로 한 책이 있습니까? 누군가 답이 있으면 알려주세요!
어쨌든 미나토가 이중성을 바꿔 미나가 된 후 내 마음은 적기를 꽂았다. 나는 등장인물이나 그냥 일반적인 사람들이 거짓말을 하고 상대방이 사랑에 빠졌을 때 거짓말을 하는 것을 싫어합니다. Mina/Minato는 그 부분을 감당할 수 없었고 나는 영화를 끝내고 다른 것을 볼 뻔했습니다. 전화를 걸었지만 Toru는 영화를 저장했습니다. 당신이 본다면 그것이 의미하는 바를 알 것입니다. 이럴때 미나가 짤릴줄알았는데 다행히 잘 마무리 되었습니다. 나는 이 드라마를 좋아했고 더 많은 일본 드라마를 보려고 노력하고 있습니다(한번만 이해할 수 있다면!)

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Surprising & unexpected

I looked forward to this movie ever since the trailer came out. It has such an interesting plot line which is sweet and light. I would say that it was a bit predictable but some of my predictions were wrong which made the movie more engaging.
I could understand some people’s hesitancy to watch a step-sibling love story but the ones I’ve seen are heartwarming and comedic.
*spoiler but I have questions about a particular scene: flashback- Minato comes home to see a girl leave her brother’s room which prompts her to check on him. This reveals that Toru’s clothes are on the floor while he is sitting on his bed under his blanket. This indicates a possible love scene. But, I wanted some clarification about this scene since we learn that Toru has loved Minato ever since they first met as kids and so I wonder if he went through with it or not to distance himself from Minato. (Let me know if they explain in the manga!)
I give this movie a 8.5/10 because I would’ve like to see more authentic, romantic scenes between Toru and Minato (not only Mina). The FL acting was on point and provided a naive and comedic character. The ML acting was sufficient where he conveyed a lot of emotions.

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