THIS MOVIE WAS AMAZING!! I came for Imada Mio, Meme, and some fluffy romance tropes, and I walked away happy.

now look, the plot was extremely fast paced and rushed, which makes sense since they had to compress so much manga and light novels into one film. the lore and worldbuilding was all given over voiceover and I absorbed *none* of it. I had no idea what was going on in terms of the magic system wise throughout the movie but it didn't matter because....

I came for the romance and the romance delivered. Imada Mio and Meme were just so cute together, their chemistry was decent too. my fav trope is a couple healing each other and I was 100% left satisfied on that score. yeah, the FL cries and whimpers a lot and can be a damsel in distress but it makes sense bc of her awful childhood. it was heartwarming watching the ML build up her confidence and strength thru sheer kindness. and it was so touching to see her melt his heart. another fav trope - seemingly badass general is actually a shy, awkward softboi? check ✅. and Miyo turns out to be badass and not defenceless and worthless like everyone told her before her marriage... but I won't spoil it.

I loved seeing other actors I stan in this:
- Tao (she served so hard I didn't even mind all the flashbacks scenes with the admittedly gorgeous kimono)
- the Kanokari ML. no, idk his name. yes I appreciate him. yes we exist.
- the ML from Neko.
- my new crush, Takaishi Akari from JK to Haijin. even tho the latter was so evil in this. nice acting tho.

my only complaint would be that this movie needed more time with the couple instead of the fantasy/action elements. bc, let me be honest, I didn't come for that and neither I did the rest of audience I think.

otherwise I really loved this movie. as a romance movie, it was a solid 10/10, but I wish that was all it was. shoutout to the sound effects, visuals and gorgeous cinematography as well.

so, overall, i'd say this is a solid 8.7/10. def lived up to the hype.