RipDelight This is a tender, generous movie that likes its characters and presents them as real people, full of flaws and strengths.

Chirphymium It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

Grimossfer Clever and entertaining enough to recommend even to members of the 1%

Ezmae Chang This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

danjakubik "Midnight Sun" 2006 JapanViewed: July 25, 2007***.5 Very GoodThis film falls into the category of "pure love", which is all the rage, now in Japan. Though the film lacks some realism and details, it is emotionally convincing. A 16 year old girl in Japan has a rare disease where exposure to sunlight can prove fatal. "Midnight Sun" is both a family drama and adolescent romance. The film moves at a very leisurely pace. I was impressed with this film, though not perfect, gets all the emotions right. Plenty of time is allowed for character development and story. The sense of isolation of the girl is quickly established. Unusual for the genre of adolescent romance, we see the involvement of the parents. The director is in touch with real feelings and situations and knows how to express them in a natural way. I felt early on in the film, it would be unique and special. The leading character role is played by a real life musician. This is Japan, so parts of the song lyrics will not quite make sense, but somehow feel right for the individual expressing them.Emotionally, the film succeeds very well, expressing the melancholy and isolation of the girl. The parents and best friend character are well written and acted. The use of humor is effective and helps to balance the film from becoming too sad. Near the end, the film takes a narrative leap, perhaps to save time, but I felt this weakened the film a little. If you're a romantic and feeling based person, you will definitely enjoy this film. I know some will be cynical to this film, which is all about characters, situations and emotions, and lacks a little in realistic details. Overall, this film is better than usual for an adolescent romance-family drama story. I took this film seriously, because it realistically expresses the characters, situations and emotions. Recommended for romantic at hearts of all ages.

UniqueName76 There's few things that are memorable about Midnight Sun, I suppose if the movie's main song catches you, you will take the most from this film. Otherwise you'll be pretty bored most of the time. A girl who has some rare disease called XP, is forced to live her life at night. She often watches this one particular guy from her window as he goes about trying to learn how to surf.The movie is quite forced, the director tries to force upon you a slow movie by extending several shots and scenes unnecessarily, there's not much depth, some decent amounts of humor though, which is nice, but overall I found it to be yet another average Asian movie, nothing more.

eng90031 When looking at the movie poster, I was preparing to expect another one of those extremely sappy, corny Japanese love/romance films. The pace was slow for the first 10 mins or so, something perhaps viewers would take note of to allow them to absorb the general feel of the surrounding. ie. in a quiet, small laid-back, seaside Japanese town and the weaving of the plot slowly into the picture. But what surprised me is that the film is extremely honest, believable and heartrending at the end. It kind of made you believe somewhere out there someone is living such a life. Still, it evokes mixed emotions within me as I was watching the plot unfolds. Perhaps it was the slow pace of development of the story that made it seem so real a story as it allows for natural progression of humour (when the female protagonist (a creditable performance by Yui) is still pining for Koji) into sweet, saccharine love (when they were in a relationship), to the relationship's inevitable conflict and its rather touching resolution and finally to a sad, tragic ending. And before you knew it, you'd be wishing Kaoru was still alive in the film at the end. In short, the movie excellent evokes powerful emotions that makes it a perfect emotional roller-coaster ride in the 2 hours of screen time.

DICK STEEL I'm a sucker for romances of such nature, and I thought romances usually fall broadly under two categories - one bearing films like Midnight Sun, and the other being romantic comedies. It's a sweet love story between a busker with a great voice, and an unskilled surfer dude. It's a tale about a love with an end date put on it, and it makes you wonder if it's only with an end in sight, that you try and make the most our of everything, rather than to waste time and take things for granted.Japanese singer Yui plays Kaoru, a girl inflicted with a rare disorder, which makes her nocturnal. She cannot go out in the sun as the UV rays will wreck havoc on her skin and kill her, and so, from birth, has been kept indoors most of the time, and let out an night to allow her to do what she loves most - busking at a secluded corner at her neighbourhood. She has a crush on Koji (Takashi Tsukamoto), a surfer dude, an average guy with an average life. Each night, she observes him, without his knowledge, from her bedroom window, until one day when she picks up enough courage to make the first move.Welcome to the world of Japanese romance movies once again, where beautiful cinematic shots are used to enhance locales and make them so integral in the story. Where love is saccharine sweet, and the leads oh-so-beautiful. The songs too, written and sung by Yuri, grows on you, and I won't be surprised if the soundtrack for the movie is selling like hot cakes.What I thought raised the movie to a different level, is how parents are involved. Usually, in most romances, the parents are out of the picture. Here, they are so very much part of the entire set up, and while they do take the backseat at times, there're scenes dedicated just for the parents, and especially the father figure. It's always especially painful to see your child suffer under an incurable disease, and as a parent, incapable of lifting a finger to help, because you just can't, definitely hurts. Here, the melodrama works full steam, but I thought it was a nice touch to be inclusive of those who always provide unconditional love - parent to child.Clocking at two hours, the initial pacing is a bit slow when establishing characters and premise, but once that's done, the movie's a breeze. It's an excellent date movie, so guys, take your lady love to this movie, and of course, Yui is opportunity for you to ogle ;-) Remember to bring those tissues!