Hynavian

Love My Life is one of the many works by Ebine Yamaji 「やまじえびね」 sensei on the relationship of two lesbian woman and the different reactions and implications of their families and those around them. The Live Action was spun from the manga, also titled Love My Life, and it was aired in the Egyptian Theatre, which is devoted to gay-and-lesbian-themed films, in December 2007 at Los Angeles.

Raised by a single parent, university student Ichiko Izumiya decides to come clean with her dad regarding her relationship with Eri Joujima, who is a law student. Unexpectedly she gets more than what she expects and she learns that her parents are gay; her dad is gay while her deceased mum was a lesbian. Her parents were good friends who tied the knot because they wanted a family.

Meet the father-in-law session.

Thus Ichiko has the consent of her dad and the support of “Take-chan” (he’s male and he’s gay), and she tries to get pass university while keeping her relationship with Eri hush hush from acquaintances around her. The film very much touches on the biasness and prejudices that society has on gays in general and the dilemmas and pressures they face in day to day life.

There’s no lack of humor in this film. I laugh when Ichiko burst into the living room to interrupt her dad who was reading magazines of hot bods man; to be caught red handed by his daughter LOL what an awkward situation. As Ichiko always hangs out with “Take-chan”, I laugh so hard when a schoolmate of hers confesses to her that she likes “Take-chan” because she thought that Ichiko was Take-chan’s girlfriend.

Ichiko and “Take-chan”.

The actress portraying Ichiko is sweet looking and is quite different from manga Ichiko. Though Ichiko in the manga does not smile that much and I doubt that she’s such a sunshine character, the actress has that sunshine smile that will warm the heart of whoever she’s smiling sweetly at.

Eri and Ichiko.

The actress staring Eri manages to bring out Eri’s coolness and calmness that’s portrayed in the manga, great job there. The supporting actors, Ichiko’s dad and Take-chan, also did an excellent job in portraying their characters likable to all, bringing the whole viewing experience up one notch.

Visual-wise, I prefer the film to the manga as Ichiko’s hairstyle is so much moaaar cooler in the film than that in the manga. The film follows the manga closely though certain minor details are different; like hairstyles. The kiss scenes, they’re good kissers, and the sex scenes in the film were artistically done and kudos to the professional actresses for a job well done.

Its remarkable to be able to spun a 90 minutes film from a one shot. The film is a little draggy towards the end, especially the portion where Ichiko suffers love sick from not seeing Eri because Eri has to concentrate fully on her studies. However, all is forgiven with such a sweet ending that makes up for everything. Overall, Love My Life is a sweet slice of life film to catch.

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