Japan Film Festival (JFF) 2024 came to the Philippines and formally opened last February 1, 2024. Offering a selection of Japanese movies ranging from Anime to Live Adaptations, JFF2024 circles around the theme of “nostalgia.”
“We chose films that will make our audience feel nostalgic and remember their own fond memories and feelings.” says festival director Yojiro Tanaka.
Among the movie line up is “And Yet, You Are So Sweet” (なのに、千輝くんが甘すぎる) starring Naniwa Danshi’s Kyohei Takahashi and actress Mei Hata. The story premise around Maaya Kisaragi (Mei Hata) being rejected by her crush. Vowing to “not confess to anyone ever again”, she was overheard by the campus crush, Sui Chigira (Kyohei Takahashi), during a library duty. Upon meeting again, he proposed that they play a “pretend unrequited love mission,” and the movie moves forward from there.
“And Yet, You Are So Sweet” started its first screening in Manila, at Shangri-La Plaza, on February 3. It was an understatement to say how shocked most Nanifams (Naniwa Danshi Fans) were when the first screening for the movie was jam-packed and sold out, with a long queue for the tickets. Nanifams, who I watched with, said they were confused yet happily surprised at how the first screening turned out.
The audience was very reactive throughout the movie. Everyone was squealing, making jokes, and absolutely enjoying the whole show, and there was never a boring moment with the audience that watched the movie that day. After the movie, Filipino Nanifams gave away photocards to those who watched the movie. The photocard had the movie’s schedule, the actors’ details such as their names and social media accounts, as well as a QR code directing to additional information about the movie and even the link to the music video of the movie’s OST “Special Kiss” sang by Naniwa Danshi.
Several movie-goers happily took the photo cards as souvenirs and even chatted with the fans. A few of them were even extremely happy finding out that they were fans of Kyohei and amazed by their dedication to promoting. Even the cinema staff helped out in giving away the photocards and received their own copy of it. It was cute how excited everyone was, talking about and trying to promote Kyohei and Naniwa Danshi through this movie screening, where some even brought their friends and family members to watch it with them. After the movie, fans also took turns taking photos of the movie posters along with their merch.
Aside from the February 3 screening, I also attended the February 8 screening. Although the tickets were not sold out, the cinema house was still pretty full, with only several rows empty. Likewise, the audience who watched the show was still very reactive throughout the whole thing, and side comments were given here and there. Although I wasn’t able to attend the February 5 screening, a friend of mine who attended mentioned that there were a lot of people who watched the movie and also gave loud reactions.
The movie was not only watched by Nanifams and STARTO Fans, but also the general public of all ages and occupations. It was fun seeing even the grandmas and aunties enjoying the show, and as the festival director said, it surely did elicit some kind of nostalgia in them, too.
I also met new Nanifams at the screening, and they said it was also their first time meeting other Nanifams after they became fans of the group just a couple of months ago. It was nice discussing and fangirling with them as they expressed how surprised they were also that many people watched and enjoyed the movie.
Although it may be argued that the number of people who watched correlates to it being a free admission, it was still a fact that those who went took their time to watch the movie and enjoy every minute of it. Not only did the movie made us feel butterflies and the feeling of nostalgia, it also gave a way for Filipino Nanifams to bond together and promote Naniwa Danshi.
Admission is free and is on a first-come-first-serve basis. “And Yet, You Are So Sweet” will be available at SM City Seaside Cebu, SM City Iloilo, SM City Baguio, SM City Davao, and UPFI Film Center from February 17 to March 2, 2024. Information about the movie schedules is available on the Japan Film Festival Philippine’s official website.
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I’m not a Nanifams (I’m a Snow Man fan), but I’m still really glad that Nanifams got to see this film in theaters and it was so well received!
Thank you so much for commenting! It’s amazing to see the boys crossing the borders of countries, even if it’s just by movies. I hope more fans can enjoy similar events in the near future too.
No problem! I’m looking forward to, with fingers crossed this becomes more common soon!