Norio Sakurai Danger in my heart is a charming romantic comedy and slice of life manga running since 2018. Danger in my heart was adapted into an anime in 2023, and the second season was completed in 2024. With the release of Danger in My Heart: The MovieShin-Ei Animation's hit adaptation is officially back with an anime film that recaps the first two seasons while also featuring the hotly anticipated moment manga fans have been dying to see in an animated film.
For fans of the series (or newcomers looking to dive into an anime love story with a surprising amount of emotional depth), HIDIVE brought the film to North America for a limited screening just days after the film's domestic release in Japan. Danger in My Heart: The Movie is playing in theaters for one more day, so get your tickets for the February 18th oak screening as soon as possible.
Watch The Dangers in My Heart: Season 1
Danger in My Heart: The Movie Recaps Seasons 1 and 2 in an entry-level movie
Anime recap films are hard to pull off. More often than not, they feel like awkwardly stitched together montages that barely have a coherent story and cut back at awkward points. Danger in My Heart: The Movie it definitely has some issues, but aside from one particular scene that didn't fit into the final act, I actually forgot I was watching a recap movie for 20 minutes. By focusing almost exclusively on its two main characters, Danger in My Heart: The Movie it's surprisingly beginner-friendly.
Anime fans will likely be disappointed by the omission of the slice of life and more comedic moments, but the result is a film that flows well from scene to scene without feeling too awkward. There are a few montages dedicated to building Kyotaro Ichikawa and Anna Yamada's relationship, but they are so well-paced that you wouldn't even know they were recapping the episodes worth of the story unless someone told you that you were watching a recap beforehand.
The art direction and soundtrack really shine. Several scenes are framed from Ichikawa's perspective, leading to first-person views that put you in his shoes. The characters are animated smoothly and the film's color palette and fashion sense for the characters really stand out in a great way. If there are any problems with the animation, it's the poor use of CG during the film's opening and closing concerts and the overuse of Bloom at certain points. The score is strong throughout, featuring soft melodies that feel right at home in the genre, but the real musical kick-off is that of space band Primary COLOR. The main theme, Tsuzuku, is particularly fantastic and perfectly closes the end of the film.
The film tightens the pace of the anime to make Ichikawa and Yamada's relationship the heart of the story
Condensing 25 episodes of an anime into a 102-minute movie is no easy task. Naturally, anyone who isn't Ichikawa or Yamada has no character development in the film. The supporting cast is very poorly defined. This is rarely a problem as the film does a great job of simply focusing on its romance, but there's one scene at the end where Ichikawa reflects on the fact that he's made friends and grown out of his shell that just doesn't land because as far as the film goes, none of it was actually seen.
However, this is not a major problem Danger in My Heart: The Movie makes the right call and makes Ichikawa and Yamada's relationship the heart of the story. Anime romances have a bad habit of feeling too slow and dragging out love stories, but Danger in My Heart: The Movie it's wonderfully succinct, building their relationship and growing their characters with each scene. It's a testament to the film's strong source material that the character development still has the same emotional depth and charm as in the manga and anime.
Ichikawa's growth from an insecure loner definitely hits harder in the anime and manga, where you can follow his gradual development, but his romance with Yamada honestly works a little better in the film due to the tight pacing. There's less teasing and more emphasis on active build-up towards the end of the film, which sticks the landing the way few anime romances actually do).
Danger in My Heart avoids the pitfalls of anime romances with an ending that truly engages
By far the best part Danger in My Heart: The Movie is the fact that the story is actually willing to commit to its romance. All too often, anime romances drag things out with constant banter and relationships that ebb and flow too much to be concrete. Confessions and kisses are often saved for the very end of the series (if they happen at all), resulting in unsatisfying arcs that simply drag the story out too much.
Danger in My Heart: The Movie doesn't have this problem, thanks in large part to a new scene at the end of the film that adapts Karte 127 from Danger in my heart manga. Ichikawa and Yamada's relationship seems fully developed and fleshed out, so their big moment at the end of the film lands with a lot of weight. Knowing that there's more to the story and that the manga continues to shape their romance makes the ending difficult: once there's more to see Danger in my heart Season 3 is finally airing.
Danger in My Heart: The Movie it's not perfect, but few anime recap movies are. Even with my problems Danger in My Heart: The Movie lives up to its main attraction: the love story of Ichikawa and Yamada. The two have a truly charming relationship, and watching them slowly fall in love and grow alongside each other truly evokes the excitement, awkwardness, and fun of young love. Whether you're an anime fan just looking for a refresher or looking for a new series to pick up, Danger in My Heart: The Movie is a great movie with a lot of heart.
- Release date
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2023 – 2024-00-00
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Shun Horie
Kyotaro Ichikawa
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- A satisfying romance arc
- Fantastic soundtrack
- Strong art direction
- Recap suitable for beginners
- The supporting cast is poorly developed
- The CG animation is sparse but crude
